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.

Old Bike Australasia

EDITOR’S LETTER

BLOW YOUR OWN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A licence to thrill

CLASSIC COB OUT IN THE SHED

BUZZ BOX OLD BIKE NEWS

BUZZ BOX Under the Chequered Flag

BUZZ BOX Pheasant Wood’s big plans • The stripling Pheasant Wood circuit at Marulan, 30km north of Goulburn, has already come a long way from its origins in 2009 as a Spartan driver training establishment, but there’s more coming – a lot more.

HOW SUZUKI SAVED THE SENIOR • After years of domination by Agostini and MV, development (and interest) in the premier Senior GP class was stagnant. Then, just in the nick of time…

BULLNOSE • Like many early British motorcycle marques, Sunbeam’s antecedents date back to its origins as a bicycle manufacturer, because cycling was the company owner’s hobby.

MEMORIES of a very short (and very tight boots)

Win the holiday of your dreams with a $15,000 voucher!

On diplomatic service

WALKING THE DOG • Whilst Ducati is known for its motorcycles, it wasn’t until 1946 that the first Ducati motorcycle was produced.

Sole survivor

YAMAHA V-MAX 1200 Outa myway1 • There was something funny going on in the mid ‘eighties, bike-wise that is. It was okay for small shops and home tuners to build mega-monster bikes with car engines, multiple turbocharges, nitrous oxide injection and all sorts of other demon tweaks, but a conservative major Japanese manufacturer?

Quaint and quirky FLAT TWINS • It is a common misconception that Douglas were the only company to use the fore and aft flat twin engine layout. Douglas were by far the biggest user of this engine layout, building them from 1907 until the outbreak of WW2, but they were not alone.

Granville Bradshaw • Granville Bradshaw was a controversial figure, described as an excellent conceptual engineer and a great salesman.

2021 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS More of everything • You have to hand it to Triumph; they don’t stand still for long. The all-new 2021 Speed Triple is a prime example. The model it replaces was pretty good, but this one is even better, with more power, improved handling, and enhanced electronics. And it’s fast. When I collected the Speed Triple from the service manager at Triumph’s Parramatta, Sydney outlet he warned, “This thing is a weapon!” He wasn’t kidding.

Old BIKE Out'n'about • Welcome to Old Bike Australasia Out’n’about – a forum of people, places, history and happenings.

The loneliness of the lockdown • Something weird happened during our weekend away at the start of Brisbane’s August 2021 lockdown. I probably won’t see the likes of it again. Or in these times, perhaps it will happen to someone else next week. Who can tell?

The Fleet Street Norton • The sequence of events leading up to my acquisition of a Norton Dominator 88 of approximately 1959 vintage now escape me, but I still have a few photographs taken in London in August 1977, showing the bike in front of a bleak looking tenement building. It was for sale, and since I visited UK fairly frequently in those days, I reasoned that it would make stylish transport if I could find somewhere to store it between trips.

From small beginnings… • For many of our generation and some younger ones, our first riding experience was on either a Deckson, Deltek or Grand Prix...