Yamaha XS-1: German roots, Japanese bred.
Aimed at the traditional British buyer, the XS-1 was a polyglot machine that remained in production for 13 years. Legend has it that the machine that became the Yamaha XS1 was nearly a Triumph. This […]
Feature
Ken Rivers: Conquering a Continent
Having played his part in Hitler’s downfall, young Ken Rivers emigrated to his brother’s dairy farm at Victor Harbour, just south of Adelaide. Despite the Government’s catchcry ‘Populate or Perish’ 1952 was a time of […]
27th Frostbite Rally: Frost-free in Warwick
The classic motorcycle rally scene is booming all over Australia and New Zealand, and OBA is proud that we cover many of these events each issue. The motorcycles range from true veterans, some more than […]
Suzuki Colleda: This is the one!
Australian motorcycle buyers of the 1950s and ‘60s were treated to many of the first Japanese offerings with the Colleda TA 250 being one of these now very rare examples. Colleda is a Japanese word […]
BSA B66: Get your kicks on the B66
In OBA 10 we featured Doug Fraser’s remarkable Empire Twin. Now it has a brother…the B66. It has to be shared right here and right now: the B66 is the best motorcycle BSA never made, and […]
Hartley needed a big heart: Hartley Vale Circuit NSW
Six kilometres of flat-out dirt was a test of the brave in the 1930s…. and you can still try it any weekend. Reaching Lithgow, the first stop over the blue Mountains from Sydney, was an […]
John Dunscombe and The Flying Bedstead
They called him The Professor, and his acolytes were numerous in the fertile area for sidecar racers, Maitland, near Newcastle. John Dunscombe, who died in 2005, was a wiry little chap who lived in a […]
Hunter Piccaninny: Melbourne-made miniature marvel.
In the early 1950s, the Ultra Lightweight class was a hot-bed of two strokes, but one hand-built DOHC model could run with the best of them. The story of the Hunter Piccaninny really has to […]
Ducati 916: Tamburini’s masterpiece – Ducati’s saviour
What makes a classic? The striking beauty of Massimo Tamburini’s design is simply breathtaking, but sheer beauty is not enough to make any machine an instant legend. But in this case, underneath the svelte exterior […]
Zen, Motorcycles, and the Metaphysics of Quality
What is it about motorcycling that makes us so passionate about it? Sure we have our different tribes: Harley owners, Ducatisti, Adventure Bikers, Café Racers, etc. But it doesn’t matter which tribe you belong to, […]
