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Old Bike Australasia Issue 7
Price: $11.50 each (Including postage & Handling)

Classic Cob Out In the Shed
Big Pete ‘Cob’ Smith is a regular figure at swap meets around the country and a bloke with his finger firmly on the pulse of the classic scene.

Classic Restore Suzuki GS750B – Part Four
The heart of the matter. Now, where were we with our old Suzuki GS750B? Oh, yes, last issue we had ad nice collection of reclaimed/restored/replaced bits coming together on the shelf, ready for relocation at the appropriate point in time. Meanwhile, while all this extraneous activity was taking place, major surgery was happening to the most significant bit, the engine/gearbox unit, significant because this was Suzuki’s first multi-cylinder four stroke.

Flash Point
There are lots of ways to build engines, be it a four-stroke, two-stroke, side, overhead, rotary valve or even diesel, but something has to go bang inside for it to achieve the desired effect – spinning a crankshaft to turn a rear wheel. Here’s a bit of background and hopefully some useful info on what happens in the hot house.

Grandfather Goldie
Harry Hinton’s victory in the 1938 NSW South Coast Senior Grand Prix at Monkey Flats may well have been the first by a production Gold Star anywhere in the world – but was it achieved riding the very first model out of the BSA factory? Jim Scaysbrook investigates….

The Wow Factory – Barber Museum
Driving through the forest of towering pines, you could be in Germany, or Sweden, or even Australia, but you’re not. You’re 30 minutes out of the city of Birmingham, Alabama, in America’s deep south.

Vic Duggan… passing of a legend
The man who was indisputably the world’s leading speedway rider of the immediate post-war years, Vic Duggan, passed away in Brisbane last year. An intensely private person, Vic rarely spoke to anyone about his illustrious career, but John Chaplin as one of the lucky ones. Here is his story on one of the towering figures from the boom years of speedway.

Tracks in Time – Longford, Tasmania
It’s been nearly 40 years since Longford, 30 minutes south of Launceston, hosted its last motor race. But until a few years ago, you could still drive around most of the public roads that made up this awesomely fast circuit. Then, in the name of progress, a new section of highway was laid, bisecting the circuit, which now lays in broken sections with nature rapidly reclaiming her territory.

The Beanham Family and their motorcycle Empire
If you’re a motorcyclist who is into older bikes now, or in years go by have tinkered with the then-current models, chances are that you have made a purchase from some member of the Beanham family. That could have been from Allparts in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide and later from Modak, also in Melbourne.

John Britten – True Genius
The rods ‘genius’ and ‘tragedy’ are often overstated, but it is surely beyond question that New Zealander John Britten was an engineering genius, and that his death from cancer in September 1995, aged 45, was a tragedy of significant proportions for the world of motorcycling. Though a crowded existence meant he had to combine two full-time careers as a commercial property developer and hands-on two-wheeled visionary with a family life, John Britten’s achievements have received just acclaim the world over. In this first of a three-party story, Alan Cathcart looks at John Britten, the man, and the first of his creations, the Britten-Denco 1000.

Hesketh. The show was a failure but the audience is still applauding.
So many things look fine on paper, even more so in the pale light of an English day and especially when tinged with romantic fantasy. Or so it would seem when, in 1980, Lord Alexander Hesketh decided to single-handedly ‘revive the failing British motorcycle industry’ by producing a single model…known as the Hesketh V1000.

Maurie Quincey – Victorian Dominator
Maurie Quincey is assured of a place in Australia’s motorcycle racing history, by virtue of his domination of racing in the state of Victoria during the early 1950s. One of the best riders to come out of Australia during that period, Maurie was almost certainly destined for international stardom.

Just Like Croz’s
Anyone who was around the tracks (particularly Bathurst) in 1978 could not fail to have been impressed, even gob-smacked, by the antics of the wild, gap-toothed Kiwi Graeme ‘Croz’ Crosby, aboard the Ross Hannan Kawasaki Z1-R Mk1 Superbike.

Price: $11.50 each (Including postage & Handling)