Roger Barker – A short life
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 81 – first published in 2019. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Charles Rice, Keith Bryen, OBA archives. In 1957, Roger Barker, originally from the NSW country town of […]
Isle of Man TT
Moto Guzzi 350cc – Greatest ever single?
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 82 – first published in 2019. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Bryen collection, OBA archives, Jim Scaysbrook, Bob Rosenthal. Five straight World Championships. That’s the enviable record of […]
Norm Aldridge – Make haste, slowly.
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 89 – first published in 2020. Story: Bob McGlinchy and Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Paul Arnott and Aldridge archives. Some, perhaps most, motorcyclists make their reputations for going […]
Moto Guzzi Galletto – Something to crow about
Story and photos Jim Scaysbrook Moto Guzzi have always been famous for their innovative approach to motorcycle design and engineering. The Galletto (“Cockerel”) was so far ahead of its time that it would still be […]
Laverda 1000 3C – Don’t touch me!
Story and photos: Jim Scaysbrook • Period photos: Lindsay McKay To find a motorcycle sold new in 1974 that is still in absolutely immaculate condition, just as it was when it rolled off the showroom floor, […]
Velocette Model O: O what a feeling!
Story: Dennis Quinlan and Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Dennis Quinlan archives. Could the Velocette Model O have saved the company? It had everything going for it, but the timing wasn’t especially good. When Velocette decided to […]
G45 Matchless: The temperamental twin
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Keith Ward, Dennis Quinlan, Keith Bryen, Jim Scaysbrook “The G45 was very simply a touring motorcycle, anything but inspiring.” These are the words of Australian international racer, the late Keith Bryen, […]
Jack Findlay: Don’t call me Cyril
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Karel Zegers, OBA archives Mike Hailwood once told me that around the original 14 kilometre Spa Francorchamps circuit, there was no one better than Cyril John ‘Jack’ Findlay. That’s high praise […]
Tony McAlpine: The wild colonial boy
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Byron Gunther, Trevor Evans, Keith Bryen Wallace Anthony, or just plain ‘Tony’ McAlpine, died on the Queensland Gold Coast on September 26th 2005, aged 84. With his passing went perhaps […]
Tom Phillis: A bridge too far
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Charles Rice, Keith Ward, Tom Perry The feeling of disbelief that followed the death of Tom Phillis on the Isle of Man in 1962 was palpable. How could Tom, fast […]
