If you are looking for some affordable, restored classics you can ride away, there are seven on the block at the upcoming Shannons Sydney Winter Auction on August 26 – most with ‘no reserve’.
The highlight for British motorcycle enthusiasts is a 1970 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120R (photo above), presented in restored condition and expected to sell in the $12,000-$16,000 range.
There are also two classic ‘intra-War’ BSA twin cylinder 500cc solos: a restored 1941 BSA WM20 and an unrestored, but complete 1946 M20. Each is expected to sell with ‘no reserve’ in the $7000-$10,000 range.
Unrestored 1943 BSA M20
As an alternative for British classic motorcycle enthusiasts, there is a single-cylinder, 125cc 1948 Royal Enfield ‘Flying Flea’ motorcycle. Presented in useable condition and offered with ‘no reserve’, it is expected to sell in the $4000-$6000 range.
Royal Enfield Flying Flea
There are two great Japanese 1980s dirt bikes: a 1980 80cc Suzuki RM80T and a mighty 600cc 1983 Honda XL600R –both fresh from similar ground-up restorations and neither being used since completion.
Honda XL600R
Each is offered with ‘no reserve’, with the Suzuki expected to sell for $2000-$3000 and the Honda for $3000-$6000.
Japanese collectors may be interested in an unrestored example of Yamahas first road model – the 650cc XS-1.
This original classic is in good rideable condition and expected to sell with ‘no reserve’ in the $9000-$13,000 range.
To view all Shannons August 26 Sydney Winter Auction lots, visit www.shannons.com.au
Some 26 Australian and New Zealand dealers will again take on dealers from the United States, Europe, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, India, China and South America to win the title of Custom King.
Voting for the top ANZ contenders is now open to the public here until 15 August 2019 to select five finalists.
An expert judging panel will pick the winner in late August.
Last year the donor bike had to be a ride-away Harley-Davidson Dark Custom motorcycle.
This year dealerships can select their base bike from any of the Harley-Davidson model family excluding CVO and Trike.
There will be three build categories – Dirt, Chop or Race.
Five global finalists will be showcased at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan in November when the 2019 Global Custom King will be revealed.
Keith Waddell, Harley-Davidson ANZ Marketing Manager says:
Harley-Davidson ANZ dealers proved last year that we are a force to be reckoned with on the customisation world stage. With this year’s choice of 25 models and three design categories, dealers are excited to step up to the new challenge, showcasing not only our local talents but the range of what is possible to our customers both young and older.
Dealers have a maximum customisation budget of up to 50% of base bike value.
At least half of the parts and accessories used in the build must come from the 10,000+ Genuine Harley-Davidson Parts & Accessories catalogue.
The Laverda Concours is the biggest and best motorcycle show in Queensland and one of the biggest in the nation. The concours gets its name from Club Laverda Queensland who began the show in 1982 with the Ducati Owners Club who later pulled out.
It will be held this year on Sunday, July 21, at the Redland Showgrounds.
Honda CB750 display
About 30 Honda CB750 models will on display to celebrate the bike’s 50th anniversary.
Honda 750/4 Club spokesman John McNair says their display will include race bikes, some with Rickman kits and a racing outfit.
“Some will be in their original unrestored condition and some will be pristine restored bikes,” John says.
“We will have several from among the first 50 sold in the country, including sandcast and even a diecast model worth up to about $30,000.”
Free concours entry
The Laverda Concours gate price for spectators remains at $10 for over 15s with free on-site motorcycle parking.
However, Concours event manager Bryan Horn says they have removed the $10 fee to enter your motorcycle in the concours.
“That’s big news and should equate to more bikes in the paddock,” he says.
“We want to focus on enthusiast clubs this year.
“Not only will the Hondas 750/4 Club have a display but there will be a special trophy supplied by Oliver’s Motorcycles for the best Triumph Bonneville to mark its 60th anniversary.
“I’ve also had a call from an historic motorcycle club member in Rockhampton who says he is bringing his 1959 model,” Bryan says.
“We are keen to highlight the vibrant enthusiast motorcycle club community here in the great South East.”
Concours details
The Concours starts from 6am with some 60 trophies available and $2000 for the best machine of the day.
Motorcycles, scooters, trikes, etc entered for judging must be in running order.
The event is alcohol free and raises funds for Make-a-Wish Australia. Over the past 15 years the club has donated more than $92,000 to the charity.
There will also be trade stalls, entertainment plus food vendors and children’s rides. However, there will be no dyno this year.
Registrations have opened for the Australian leg of the Women Riders World Relay 2019 with 150 signing up in the first day.
Click here to check out the 13-day route from Perth across the bottom of Australia and up the east coast on the day 180 of the rally.
Aussie relay ambassador Christi Hartwig is expecting the Australia leg will have more participants than any other country with thousands already expressing interest.
The Women Riders World Relay is the idea of UK office manager and keen rider Hayley Bell, 27, to alert the motorcycle industry to the growing number of female riders.
Hayley Bell
“Women Riders World Relay is an opportunity to celebrate female motorcyclists and gain worldwide recognition, as well as to raise awareness of the fastest-growing segment of the motorsport industry,” she says.
It started at John O’Groats, Scotland, on February 27, 2019, and will be relaying a baton from woman to woman and from country to country over the next 12 months. Womwen continue signing up for the rally along the way, but more than 14,000 women had registered by March.
The women have since ridden through the British Isles, Europe, the Mid-East and the Baton is currently in Pakistan, the 41st country on the global route.
Previously it traveled through Turkey and at that time it had traveled over 31,000km passing through 1279 registered Guardian’s hands.
The baton arrives in Perth from Indonesia on August 25 and should receive a warm and enthusiastic welcome from Aussie women, says Christi.
“I have built a team to assist me, creating a route throughout Australia,” Christi says.
“I’m pleased it’s generating positive feedback. The women are excited, they want to ride!”
Christi last year became a moderator, team manager and tasker for the relay and is now the Ambassador for Australia.
“I’d like to unite, inspire and encourage female riders throughout Australia,” she says.
Relay with purpose
Hayley says she started the relay to show the motorcycles industry the female market that is “so blindly overlooked”.
“I’m tired of going into motorcycle stores and seeing four variations of pink leather jackets that look as though they have been thrown together as a half-arsed attempt after they have spent months creating fantastically designed men’s suits,” she says.
“I’m not preaching feminism, nor am I subjecting myself or our group to being labelled as ‘anti-man’.
Australian relay itinerary
Day 1: 25 August 2019, Perth to Norseman 772km;
Day 2: 26 August, Norseman – Nullarbor RH, 905km;
Day 3: 27 August, Nullarbor RH – Port Augusta,764km;
Day 4: 28 August, Port Augusta – Adelaide – Mildura, 702km;
Day 5: 29 August, Mildura – Bendigo – Melbourne, 553km;
The National Motorcycle Museum in Nabiac, NSW, is expanding its horizons to include some veteran cars and classic toys to attract a wider variety of visitor.
However, don’t think motorcycles are being abandoned.
Five years ago when I last visited the museum on the Central Coast of NSW they had 800 motorcycles. Now they have 1000 and are gathering more at a rate of about 40 a year.
There are many other bike, car and transport museums in Australia, but none has such a strong showing of bikes from right throughout two-wheeled history. They even have a replica of the first bike, an 1885 Daimler Reitwagen (ride wagon).
Bike collection
Owners Brian and Margaret Kelleher ran a motorcycle shop in Canberra and for 18 years they built up a sizeable collection of bikes, so they opened a museum in 1988.
They sold their bike shop and moved to Nabiac in 2000 where they opened the current museum and they are still buying bikes to squeeze into the huge facility.
Margaret says it is the “biggest known collection in Australia that is open to the public”.
Even so, they have several sheds full of more bikes to rotate through the museum.
“We are a museum not a dealer,” says Margaret.
“However, the maniac (her husband) keeps buying more.”
Brian in a high-wheeler
Expanding horizons
Brian says he will consider buying anything that comes up.
“We weren’t getting enough visitors as just a bikes-only museum so now we have toys and cars to attract more people.
“But Margaret keeps saying she’ll leave me if I buy another vehicle.”
The oldest bike in the collection is a 1911 FN, the newest is a 2000 Suzuki TL1000 and the rarest is a Vincent Black Knight which was the test bike for the Black Shadow.
But Margaret’s favourite bike in the collection is a 1937 Coventry Eagle.
“It’s the first bike built especially for women as it’s skirted so you don’t get your dress caught in the drive.”
She says they get more than 10,000 visitors a year and there is certainly a lot to keep them entertained.
Not only are there about 1000 bikes, scooters and sidecars on display, but there is a lot of motorcycle memorabilia such as posters, helmets, jackets and more.
At least 80% of the bikes are “close to running order” and they include just about every marque you have ever heard plus many you haven’t, including some rare Australia models.
Now there is even more with a small collection of cars and an ever-expanding collection of classic toys to keep the kids entertained,
Margaret says their son also has some classic bikes on display at the Taree Motorcycle dealership.
She is proud to say every bike has been bought in Australia, preserving our automobile heritage.
Nabiac museum hours and prices
The Museum is in Nabiac, NSW, 140km north of Newcastle before Taree on the Pacific Highway. It is open every day except Christmas from 9am – 4pm.
Admission prices: $15 (adults), $45 (under 14), $10 (students 14-17), $45 (family). Group prices also available.
Riders will be spoilt for choice this November as two major motorcycle events compete in NSW and the Melbourne Moto Expo returns.
The events will be run over three consecutive weekends, stretching the motorcycle industry resources.
Meanwhile, other states are missing out altogether.
Competing events
Moto Expo
The biannual Moto Expo has been held in Sydney and Melbourne for the past few years and even included Brisbane in 2014.
This year the Sydney Moto Expo, which is owned by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, will become the Australian Motorcycle Festival and move from Sydney to Wollongong from November 8-10. The Melbourne Moto Expo will also return to Melbourne Showgrounds on November 23-25.
These events are run by Troy Bayliss Events which the three-time World Superbike champestablished after retiring 11 years ago.
Some motorcycle companies have complained about the expense of displaying at the biannual Moto Expos, resulting in some brands being absent.
Consequently, the organisers have now chosen to change the NSW event from a Moto Expo to the Australian Motorcycle Festival and move to Wollongong where Harley-Davidson Australia held two Harley Days festivals in 2016 and ’17.
While NSW and Victoria get a wealth of shows and festivals, other states are missing out.
A Troy Bayliss Events spokesman says they continue to talk with manufacturers about a major motorcycle show returning to Brisbane.
“At this point we don’t have enough manufacturers willing to support more than one major exhibition each year,” he says.
“We would love to come back to Queensland soon.”
Inaugural festivals
Stunt displays
The inaugural Australian Motorcycle Festival will be held at Wollongong’s Lang Park on November 8-10 and include Round 3 of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship.
Instead of just motorcycle displays, the event will feature test rides, motorcycle demonstrations and stunt riding.
Similarly, the inaugural Freak Show of Motorcycles, which will be hosted in the same town as the HOG rally, will feature hillclimb, custom show, flat-track exhibition racing, stalls, music, outdoor cinema, trade show, globe of death, donuts and burnouts in a closed-off arena.
The Troy Bayliss Events spokesman says they are “glad we haven’t clashed on the same weekend as the HOG Rally”.
“We had actually discussed dates very early on to ensure we didn’t clash with HOG Rally, along with numerous other manufacturers so we did not clash with events such as Snowy Ride, ASBK and other events taking place in November and October,” he says.
“It’s great to see so many motorcycle events in Australia, hopefully more major motorcycle events are taken to the wider community to promote the motorcycle Industry in positives ways.”
To mark the model’s 60th anniversary, this year’s RACQ Motorfest on July 14 at Eagle FarmRacecourse, Brisbane, will honour the enduring charm of the British bike with a special display.
The RACQ is calling on owners to bring in their old and new Bonnevilles.
“Bonne ville” may be French for good city but the model is actually named after the Triumph motorcycles that set speed records on the famous Bonneville salt flats of Utah.
1959 Triumph Bonneville
The Triumph Bonneville legend began in 1959 with a bike based on the Tiger 100. It was powered by a 650cc parallel twin with twin carburettors and a separate gearbox, and was capable of 115mph in standard form.
From 1963, the gearbox was included in the engine in the one unit which made the bike stiffer andthe T120 model even included oil in the frame.
These bikes were rockets in standard trim, but were often stripped down, tuned up and raced around the cafes of London by young leather-clad “rockers” who referred to them as “cafe racers”.
In the 1960s, Bonnevilles were so popular it became hip to be photographed on one.
They were the favourite ride of movie stars such as Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, James Dean and Paul Newman as well as rock stars Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Elvis.
Bob Dylan even famously crashed his Bonneville in 1966.
No wonder Bob crashed riding with his feet off the pegs!
Fading popularity
Despite updates to a 750cc engine, disc brakes and electric start, the Bonnevilles faded in popularity in the 1970s as the more reliable and smoother four-cylinder Japanese motorcycles took over.
In fact, one of the selling tools to get people off Bonnevilles and on to Japanese bikes was to place a glass of water on the seat and start the engine. A Bonneville’s 360-degree unbalanced parallel twin would shake the glass off the seat while the water in the glass would hardly stir on the Japanese bikes.
Triumph suffered a subsequent sales slump through the late ‘70s and went into receivership in 1983 when it was saved by wealthy property developer John Bloor.
He restructured the company, learning from the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, yet the Bonnevilles struggled on for several years with largely unchanged technology.
Bonneville relaunch
Triumph Bonneville T100
Bloor relaunched the Bonneville brand in 2001 with improved technology but with the same retro styling that had made the bike so popular over the decades.
In fact, when the bikes made the quantum leap from carburettors to electronic fuel injection in 2008, they housed the injectors inside dummy carbies to retain the traditional look.
The next major leap in technology was in 2015 when the Bonnevilles became liquid cooled to meet stringent European emissions targets.
Triumph Bonneville T120 and T120 Black
Today’s Bonnevilles are a far cry from the raw and rattly 1959 model, featuring traction control, ABS, selectable engine maps, heated grips, keyless ignition and LED lighting.
Australian Indian Motorcycle owners will next year attempt to set a world parade record for the most Indian motorbikes.
Registrations recently opened for the event on 9 May 2020 and already there are 150 riders who have signed up, says event organiser Christine Keeble.
Christine says there will be “a special offer for extra goodies for the first 300 to register”.
Parade record
“Currently the record is set at 274,” she says.
“We are eagerly watching the US as they have another attempt October 2019, so we may have a new number to chase.”
The “Most Indian Motorcycles on Parade” event will be held at Silverton in NSW where the original Mad Max movie was filmed.
“While this is such a big country, the location was chosen because of its iconic outback backdrop and a major town and infrastructure only a short 15 minutes away in Broken Hill,” Christine says.
“This will be a great opportunity to meet up with Indian riders from all parts of Australia.”
Christine says she started planning the event 12 months ago and it is “gaining interest every day”.
“This is not a bike festival as such, but a focused gathering on Indian motorbike enthusiasts who will have a go at breaking a world record.
“And if that is not achieved it will definitely be the first in the Southern Hemisphere. So records will be set.”
The event will also help raise awareness for the Gift of Life organ donation service.
Meanwhile, the Indian Motorcycle Riders Group will gather at the Cooly Rocks On event in Coolangatta from June 7-9.
Tickets are now available online at $130 for IMRG members or $260 with a pillion and $150 for non-members and $300 with a pillion.
The gathering kicks off on the Friday with a VIP Lounge party with exclusive apparel gift packs.
On Saturday, there will be a group ride around the Gold Coast Hinterland with lunch at the Iron & Resin Garage, a Show ‘N’ Shine and dinner and entertainment.
The highlight will be the riders leading the Sunday Cooly Rocks On Parade.
To celebrate they are giving away a double pass to a lucky Motorbike Writer reader.
Just leave your name and a photo of your bike in the comments section below or on the social media post promoting this article.
The winner will be selected next week and announced in an update of this article on Wednesday.
Biggest show
Mark Hawwa
Throttle Roll founder/director Mark Hawwa says this year’s show costs just $25 at the gate and will be their biggest yet.
“The show this year is two levels with over 50 custom show bikes, a mini movie cinema seating 50 people with free popcorn, a free mechanical bull, food trucks, coffee and more,” says Mark, who also founded the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.
“We are bringing bike parking into the show with over 80 bikes on the ground floor.”
“There will also be eight bands, three DJs, food from around the world, cold beers and bands galore,” Mark says.
This will be the last year the show is held at the Commune, at 901 Bourke St, Waterloo, as they are moving to a new location on King St, Newtown.
“There is a chance this may be the last year in Sydney as we struggle to find venues that fit what we do,” Mark says.
“We are looking at venues in Melbourne and Brisbane for next year.”
Win win win
If you miss out on the double pass, you can also enter the $10-a-ticket raffle to win a Yamaha XSR900 or a $1000 MCAS lucky door voucher.
If you buy your ticket online and save 20%, you also go into the draw to win a Himalayan Heroes Riding Experience in India worth $5000 and includes flights and accommodation.
Motorcycle fans will also be winners with a number of manufacturers showing their latest bikes, including Indian with their new FTR 1200, BMW Motorrad, Yamaha, Scrambler Ducati, Harley-Davidson and Sol Invictus who will show their build in partnership with Panhead Brewery.
Throttle Roll
When: SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2019: 11:00 AM 10:00 PM
Where: COMMUNE WATERLOO (901 Bourke Street Waterloo NSW, 2017)
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