Neville Doyle – Gentleman Tuner
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 87 – first published in 2020. Story: Peter Smith • Photos: Charles Rice, OBA archives In the annals of motorcycle sport, there are some famous names behind the […]
Ron Toombs
Tracks in Time: Moorebank
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Alec Fisher, Michael Andrews, Greg Heath In the early post-WW2 years, the now-densely populated southern and western suburbs of Sydney were dotted with scrambles courses: Holdsworthy, Glenfield and the Southern Districts […]
Bryan Hindle: One quick chemist
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Merv Whitelaw, John Hiscock, Rob Lewis, Dick Darby, Greg Heath, Ken Duperouzel. Is there a stereotype motorcycle racer? If so, Bryan Hindle probably would not have fitted the bill; teetotal, […]
Ray Curtis: A born showman
Spectacular and successful throughout his long and varied career, Ray Curtis never had top machinery, but that didn’t stop him always putting on a show for the paying public. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Dick […]
Gregg Hansford: Talent to burn
The Gregg Hansford versus Warren Willing battles define the ‘seventies period of Australian motorcycle racing. Yet despite prodigious skill, both left careers unfulfilled… for different reasons. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Rob Lewis, Michael Andrews, Warren […]
Yamaha YR-2: A line in the sand
The Japanese factories wanted 350s for the booming US market. Yamaha got there first. Story and photos: Jim Scaysbrook Yamaha called their first 350 the YR-1 Grand Prix (at least they did in USA), which […]
The Henderson Matchless: Home-spun hero
What started as a Gold Star BSA and evolved to a Matchless G50-engined Norton, eventually became the 4-valve Henderson G50 – a mighty quick single. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Bill Forsyth, Dick Darby, Gary Reid, […]
Len Atlee: Quite a career
Towards the end of the 1960s, a group of callow youths from the south of Sydney, though somewhat intimidated by the stories they’d heard, decided to take the plunge and ride their shiny new Japanese […]
Chesterfield Superbike Series: Part 1
These days, the term Superbike has slipped into the language as a definitive term just like Biro or Hoover. It proliferated in Europe and particularly America in the mid 1970s, but make no mistake, Superbike […]
Ron Toombs – King of the Mountain
In one of the sport’s greatest ironies, Ron Toombs lost his life on the very circuit where he was the acknowledged master. Had Ronald Arthur Toombs still been with us, he would have turned 80 […]
