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.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Old Bike Australasia

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

RARITEE Best Letter

OUT IN THE SHED

KTM breathes again

VMCC turns 70

Racing for cancer care

Trevor’s treasures

FOMSA Motorcycle Only Winter Undercover Swap Meet

Under the Chequered Flag

RACER, RECORD BREAKER, PILOT. • JIM MADSEN WAS ALL OF THESE AND MORE.

BORN 1962 STILL AROUND TODAY • Ever seen one of these? Nope. Me neither, until recently, but then along comes not one, but five. It seems the Honda CL250S is a bit of a mystery, and digging through the usual channels reveals very little about which world markets it appeared in.

HANAI-SAN MOTORCYCLE DETECTIVE • When a classic Yamaha DS6-C rolled into the restoration workshop of the Yamaha Motor Communication Plaza in Hamamatsu, Japan, it was more than just a machine from a bygone era of Yamaha technology. To Hanai-san, Restoration Master and Mechanic, it was a mystery waiting to be unravelled via a series of clues collected over the decades; a puzzle that once solved would paint a picture not only of the bike’s history, but also of its owner.

ADVENTURES IN THE DARK CONTINENT • Prospecting for gold in South Africa was a tough life, but it had its rewards. Perhaps it was a 1921 New Year resolution to make things a little less arduous that prompted gold miner Francis (Fred) Brown, who was based in the rural Sipolilo (now Guruve) district of Rhodesia, to write to Williams, Hunt & Company (Indian agents) in Johannesburg, seeking information on the new Sopwith ABC.

OSSA WITH THE LOT • A RADICAL IDEA THAT ALMOST PAID OFF

Kings of the Cross • Carnicelli Park, Southern Cross WA

THE POWER AND THE GLORY • When you’re harking back more than sixty years, pinpointing exact dates (unless it’s for some thing significant, like a political assassination or a major earthquake) can be difficult. But it is generally accepted that what became the fabled Norton Atlas fired its first shot in November 1961. An earthquake of a different kind, so to speak.

A Scrambler joins the mix • Having clocked up over 30,000 km since I collected my new Interceptor from Motociclo in 2022, I was pretty keen to have a ride on the new Bear 650 – essentially the same bike, but in reality, quite different. Although sharing the same basic platform, it is, after all, quite a major rethink to adapt the 650 concept to a motorcycle that can play varying roles. That’s not to say that the Bear is an enduro bike, but it is more than happy to get its feet dirty.

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

A de-mobbed R75 • This is the story of a BMW 75 that came to Australia after WWII. The R75 was the model made for the German Armed Forces during WWII. About 16,500 of these bikes, along with their sidecars, were produced from February 1941 until October 1944. Due to a bomb raid in September 1944, production ceased at the factory.

Kilcoy Vintage Motorbike Show

A twitchy frog, a jolt and a volt • We probably don’t devote much head time to our bike’s battery till the day arrives when geared up and pumped up for a ride, we open the garage door, hit the ‘green button’ and get bupkiss.

Gary’s FLASHBACK

Reckless Jackson and the Globe of Death • Born Steven Terry...