Old Bike Australasia

Old Bike magazine is a must for those who ride as well as the dedicated enthusiast and rebuilder, covering everything from Vintage to early 1980s bikes - marvel at the restoration of machines that could still sit proudly on the showroom floor. Each issue brings you the latest news and results from recent events, race reports and Rally Roundup, along with new and old bike news and reviews, readers letters, Club Directory, What’s On and much, much more.

Deathtraps and delusion

Old Bike Australasia

Where there’s a will…

Black Knight BK 415

A bee hive and a BSA

Thunder Rally thunders ahead

Coronavirus claims Festival of Speed…

Shannons Auctions go on-line

Bathurst museum invites bikes

Bulli marches on!

The Motorcycle: Design, art, desire.

Mike Hailwood – the movie

Staintune closes its doors

Last remaining copies

Winifred Wells

Greg Gallagher

Tony Blain

Len Smith

Sponsor extraordinaire • The face of Australian motorcycle racing would look considerably different if not for Jack Walters, who was born in Bendigo on 31st March, 1917. Immediately pre-WWII and until the late ‘fifties, Jack was a competitor himself, but it is his role as a sponsor in which he indelibly left his mark.

TIMID TRIPLE • Yamaha itself could hardly imagine the success enjoyed by the three-cylinder 850cc engine that today powers a major chunk of its model range in the form of the MT-09, XSR900, and Tracer 900. The design has been a sales super-success for the company, and its popularity shows no sign of abating.

Apple Isle extravaganza

The Super Samurai • Arguably the most aesthetically attractive Japanese 250cc over-the-counter racer ever produced, the Kawasaki A1R’s sole purpose was to impress the world markets with looks and performance. Loosely based on the 1967 250cc A1 Samurai street bike, the A1R was Kawasaki’s first attempt to produce a racing motorcycle that could win national titles and lure the buying public.

The mighty mile

The Scout Indian’s saviour •  When it comes to his meticulous restorations, Rob Elliott shows no particular leaning towards any make or model, or even period. He has tackled veteran motorcycles, plus later models from various British and Continental manufacturers, and now the latest to emerge from the workshop after an eight-year restoration, a 1924 Indian Scout.

A MERIDEN MINNOW • It was 1973 and the British motorcycle industry was writhing through a series of very public death throws. Many once great names were already gone: AJS, Matchless, Velocette, Sunbeam, Ariel and (to India) Royal Enfield. Others were hanging on by virtue of mergers, takeovers, and largely, government grants; Norton, BSA and Triumph among them.

Up with the Lark • From the beginning in 1921, when the 498cc Normale went into production, Moto Guzzi’s signature design for their single-cylinder motor cycles was with the cylinder and head lying flat, usually with an exterior flywheel. The exceptions were the 64cc two-stroke Motoleggera of 1946 and the subsequent derivative of the Cardellino in 64, 73 and finally 83cc which continued until 1965, all of which featured an engine with the cylinder and head inclined at 45 degrees to the horizontal.

The Humungulator • Back in 2008, I was part of a group who was set loose in the hills around Bathurst on a fleet of Triumph Rocket III Touring models, and despite premonitions, came back a happy chappy. As the headline read in OBA 8, “I’m a believer”. The Rocket was just that kind of motorcycle; fierce looking, yet docile as a puppy, and a surprisingly good handler.

Let’s try that again • When you have a parent like the long-running Yamaha R1, offspring are bound to be formidable. That’s what Yamaha thought...