Motorcycling
After disappearing into a near by phone booth, I pull on my leather jacket, grot, ripped jeans and become….
SLY The larrikin bikie!
There are many times throughout my life when I didn’t have a car, only my bike. In fact around 1980 I had 9 different motorcycles, mostly Kawasaki inspired by things like the “Kwaka 9” and all the Kwaka’s in the Mad Max movie. I also had a Bultaco Persang 250 trials bike, that you probably have never heard of, and a Yamaha XT 500 trial bike.
Why do you like Triumphs then?
Because Craig Westbury gave me a ride of his Triumph Bonneville when I was 19. It was such a cool bike that I wanted one immediately. But Craig’s advice…. “Finish thrashing the bags out of your Jap crap, then get a Triumph whenyou don’t need to prove anything” It may be just my observation, but it seems that every boy when he was 20 wanted a Harley but never had the money to afford one. Now they have turned 40, and look back at unrealised dreams. So now they have the money, go out and buy a Harley; brand new leathers, helmet and all the fancy kit, but they have forgotten how to ride and only ever take their bikes out on sunny Sunday afternoons when the temperature is above 25 degrees. So stay off the roads on Sunday afternoons… especially the Great Ocean Road. It’s a jungle out there!
What bikes do you have now?
After returning to live in Australia from Nigeria, I brought the family car. I then decided to buy a brand new Triumph. I had been reading about the 100 anniversary of Triumph Motorcycles (est 1903) but at the local bike shop, they shook their heads and said “They were all sold before they were even built!” So I decided on the new replica Triumph Bonneville. But in the showroom next to the Bonneville, was the Speedmaster! Anita said “Are you sure you want a bike? What will you do if it rains?” Well… just like the old days, pull on the wet gear and ride. The hardest part is cleaning all the crap off the bike later! (And she sometimes lets me use her car if she doesn’t need it, but that’s a secret. Dont tell anybody I drive the car sometimes when it rains!)
Triumph Speedmaster
Triumph wanted to re-live the old Bonneville days and produced this reproduction. It has the same parelled twin cylinder engine, except the cranks are set at 270 degrees to give a different exhaust note.
I had an old fox tail lying around and put it on the back like the boys in the 1950’s. My mate Jeff then suggested I get the number plate to go with it. We looked it up on the internet, and yep, it was available. So I went down to VicRoads and got the number plant “FOX”. Now everyone in town knows my bike!
1972 Triumph Bonneville
Right hand change – positive earth. The way the world should be!! My mate’s brother found this bike for sale out in the bush of Western NSW and brought it home as a present for his girlfriend who loved old bikes, thinking it would buy him some brownie points. Unfortunately she couldn’t kick it over so he sold it to me!
It’s a 1972 Bonneville “V” and Triumph’s first ever 5 speed gearbox. It has the dry sump with oil in the frame, another advancement that Triumph abandoned after this model.
This one is an export model and was originally sold to Canada before it found it’s way to Australia.
My biggest claim to fame?
In my late teens I became addicted to drag racing which was introduced to me by my Queenslander cousin Steve Dye. So I wanted to drag race a bike. I started racing Kwak 500 tripples which culminated in me winning the 1983 Victorian Drag bike championship at Calder race way. I still can’t believe I pulled that one off but have the trophy on my mantle piece to prove it!
So what about Mad Max then?
When I was at the impressionable age of 18 and cruising around on my Kwaka-9, a motorcycle reveered nowdays as a classic, Mad Max hit the big screen. It was filmed in the rural areas around the my home town where me and my mates rode our bikes during the day, then went stalking the back roads late at night hunting for foxes that dared look into our spot light.
We went to our local drive in many times to watch this movie, loading up my mates sidecar with blankets and beer we thought we were pretty cool riding as a group together amoungst all the cars, pulled up under the speaker wrapped ourselves in a blanket and cracked open a beer to watch the movie. It’s still the best movie EVER made! (The second Mad Max was OK but a little weird, the others just lost the plot trying to get the attention of the Americans.)
Even Santa chooses to be transported by “TRIUMPH”!!!
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