At the outbreak of World War II, Kevin Rohrlach was of an age where he was mesmerised by machinery and was already recycling; disused farm implements, wire, leather strapping, bolts,…
Phil O’Brien had a great time on the Continental Circus in 1968-69. He returned with a son born in the Isle of Man, a swag of stories and the inspiration…
In the mid-1980s production-based racing was booming around the world. It came in many forms and with varying eligibility rules, the most radical of which involved ‘silhouette’ classes for highly-modified…
Ray Curtis hung up his leathers almost half a lifetime ago. He was racing at Oran Park’s 1973 Christmas Twilight Meeting when the Campbelltown Police sought him out to deliver…
The hip flask awarded to the first-ever winner of a motorcycle TT held on the Isle of Man in 1907 sold at a different Bonham’s Auction last month, where…
The Grand Prix record books show Mike Duff won at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps Finland’s Imatra public road circuits as a works Yamaha rider in 1964-65, and is Canada’s only GP winner.
In the farming hills overlooking the popular seaside town of Sitges, with its yacht club and marina full of expensive boats, sits an immense kidney-shaped bowl with banked high-speed corners…
Scan a baby-boomer bike nut’s book shelf and you’ll likely see the name Vic Willoughby. His works included Classic Motorcycles, The Racing Motorcycle, Winning Racing Engines, Exotic Motorcycles – A…
Come the retirement of international sidecar superstars Bob Mitchell and Bernie Mack in the mid-1950s, Lindsay Urquhart was quick to identify the opportunities. With old mate Jim Craig in the…
BMW provided two of its then-new R1150 GS bikes, which became a bestseller for the German company after the ratings-winning, seven- episode TV series Long Way Round was…
Between them, the New South Wales provincial towns of Goulburn and Bathurst had a firm grip on the major motorcycle race meetings when the sport was…
At the dawn of World Superbikes 30 years ago, Kiwi Ducati fanatic Dallas Rankine was tearing his hair out. “I bought the first available 851 Superbike…
