Vintage salt shakers return to the sand

Every second year the Levis Motorcycle Club, South Australia’s oldest, hosts the Sellicks Beach Historic Motorcycle Races in early March. More than 60 races are held over the two days on this suburban Adelaide beach, honouring the original annual races that were very popular in the 1950s. Over 160 solos and sidecars from around Australia, all built before 1963, race up and down the beach, just like their forefathers did.

19yo Cameron Rende was blisteringly fast when the 810cc Triton was on song. Sadly clutch troubles blighted his efforts
A couple of weeks after racing a pre-war BSA at Sellicks, Phil Allen was competing on a Ducati 851 in the Superbike Masters at the Sydney ASBK round.
Bringing a knife to a gunfight — David Whitehead brought his 1950 Vincent Rapide down from Queensland.
Beach racing is nowhere near as easy as it looks.

 

Casey Stoner? No, it’s Ian Macarthur on his hand-change Harley
Davo Johnson gets ready for the meet-and-greet opening run to the beach. Just the week before, he was testing a Savic for AMCN
Here’s how to cover your racing line in beach racing!
Normally you’d be arrested for doing this on the beach!
A novel sidecar cornering style
Program cover
The weather turned to autumn wind and drizzle on the Sunday after a perfect Saturday
This beautiful BSA twin outfit eventually succumbed to a dropped valve
Very raw Lito scrambler in action
Victorian Stacey Heaney raced both a Honda and a Triumph at Sellicks

 

BEHIND THE LENS

Iris Allen is an emerging motor racing photographer who is mostly interested in photographing motorcycles. These have included the Oz BEARS 2024 race meet in Phillip Island, Victoria, and the 2025 Sellicks Beach Race in South Australia. She enjoys shooting the motorcycling events, as she grew up around the people and the machines. Her goal is to catch the action shots, as she understands that the riders look for these elusive shots that are different. She doesn’t mind getting out in the weather either, as long as she is close to the action. She hopes that she can continue on with this, as she finds the sport interesting and exciting!