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

Hitting the ton

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Golden memories

May the force be with you

Subscription questions?

Update your club listing

Mat gets mobile

Guzzi Festival off

Sydney Speedway: third time lucky • The new $70 million Eastern Creek Speedway finally hosted its first meeting on March 12 (for cars only). Originally schedule for January but cancelled because of construction delays, the second date of February 26 was rained off.

SA Festival plans ahead

Colin Brenchley • Born 13th Feb 1936, COLIN BRENCHLEY grew up in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney where he assisted his father Colin Snr in running his businesses, including car businesses, taxis and hotels, including the sprawling Sylvania Hotel in Sydney’s south.

Brendan J Akhurst • Readers of Australian motorcycle magazines will be familiar with the work of cartoonist BRENDAN J AKHURST, although few would have met him.

Geoff Martin • A member of the Tasmanian Motor Cycle Club, GEOFF MARTIN passed away peacefully on the 3rd of March 2022 aged almost 92.

Longford Motorama, Tasmania • The Longford Motorama was a huge success over the two days of the March long weekend with perfect weather. Day One was spent with cars and bikes of the era doing laps around the Symmons Plains circuit to the delight of the public who were able to buy laps in the passenger seat of many of the cars.

TOTAL DOMINATION • When Graeme Crosby left his native New Zealand for Australia in 1976, his absence left a massive void that had to be filled. Dave Hiscock was just one of a line of production bike riders yet he went on to dominate the NZ racing scene like no one else in his time.

A real survivor • Twice written off, this rare New Imperial has managed to survive due to the efforts of the family that has owned it through three generations.

Last of the long line • BMW’s legendary pushrod flat twins stretched from 450 to 1000cc over nearly 30 years. Derek Pickard looks at the last and sweetest of the layout.

A mighty midget from Munich • There were several very quick 250s from Germany in the mid-1950s; among them NSU, Maico, Adler… and Zündapp.

French farce? • Vive la France! That’s been the unanimous sentiment among motorcycle manufacturers the world over for the past 75 years, especially in Japan. For alone among the Western world’s top five mainstream motorcycle markets, France has had no post-WW2 industry of its own producing anything other than scooters and niche models like Sherco offroaders or Brough Superior and Aston Martin hyperbikes. That’s made the huge French market – currently Europe’s No.1 for motorcycles – a top target for exporters the world over.

Born to be Mind • The release of the 1969 movie Easy Rider focused the world’s attention on a counter culture lifestyle of the young, part of which was the two customised bikes that Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) rode across America to the New Orleans Mardi Gras with the proceeds of a drug sale stashed in the stars & stripes tank of Wyatt’s bike.

Rowley Park Speedway Brompton, Adelaide SA • There have been many Speedway tracks in and around Adelaide, but to most fans, the biggest name of all, and the most fondly remembered, will always be Rowley Park.

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