Old Bike Australasia – July 21, 2019

OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 33

racing a Triumph single in Clubmen’s events he
managed to purchase Maurie Quincey’s very
successful 350 KTT Velocette in 1951. There was
precious little road racing to be had in NSW, so
Roger and Aub both moved to Victoria, where there
were more than half a dozen tracks operating, albeit
mostly on an annual basis. Both joined the big
Hartwell club and to satisfy his passion Roger also
competed in scrambles in both solo and sidecar
classes, sprints and trials, and excelled at them all.
To pay for all this, he worked at a car dealership in
Melbourne, driving taxis to supplement his income.
It was while competing at the Australian TT at Little
River, between Melbourne and Geelong in 1953 that
he met Doug Fugger, who was a keen racer and
successful businessman, based in Albury and later in
Sydney when he owned the prominent Ford
dealership Nuford at Lakemba. At Fugger’s
invitation, Roger moved to Albury and worked as
Sales Manager at Riverina Motors and Motorcycles.
With another ex-Quincey machine, the long-stroke
350 Manx Norton originally brought to Australia by
Ken Kavanagh, Roger developed into a polished
competitor, winning the Victorian Grand Prix at
Victoria Park, Ballarat, and the Victorian TT at
Fishermen’s Bend. He also attracted the attention
of prominent sponsor Jack Walters, who provided
a 125cc MV Agusta on which Roger won the
Australian Grand Prix at Bandiana.
In his quest to find the competitive edge, Roger
arranged to buy a new ‘full bin’ fibreglass fairing
made in Melbourne by ace photographer and former
top Clubman racer Charlie Rice, and Bob Edmonds. In
fact, Barker carried out much of the track testing (at

Darley and Ballarat) for the fairing before it was put

into production. These shells were marketed under

the name of Rimond and other customers included

the Hinton brothers, Eric and Harry Junior, Jack Forrest

and Jack Ahearn who took them to England for the

1957 season. Rice said that around thirty were built,

although this design was banned from international

racing from 1958. Barker was quoted in the British

motorcycling press as saying the fairing was worth

12 mph and 200 rpm on tall gearing.

Roger was becoming restless for the big time, and

when he gained the coveted nomination for the

Australian team to compete at the 1957 Isle of Man

TT there was no holding him back, except for the

fact that he had little money and no competitive

machinery. Walters stepped in to solve the latter

problem, ordering two new Manx Nortons from the

Victorian agents which Barker would collect from

the factory in Birmingham. And so on February 27,

1957, Roger packed his Rimond fairing and his

racing gear and set sail for England aboard the

P&O liner Arcadia, accompanied by Bob Brown

who would also form part of the Australian TT

squad. Barker had arranged to purchase an Austin

van from Keith Campbell and was soon set up for

his Continental debut on the cobblestone streets

at Salzburg, Austria, scoring a pair of seventh

places, followed a few days later by the traditional

meeting at Mettet in Belgium. Despite the atrocious

conditions, which included light snow, he finished

ROGER BARKER

Winning the 1957

Australian 125cc Grand

Prix in January 1957 at

Bandiana on Jack

Walters’ MV Agusta.

On his ex-Ken Kavanagh

350cc Norton with new

Rimond fairing, Roger heads

onto the main straight at

Darley, Victoria in 1956.