70 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
Tim Thompson’s bequest of the KRTT 750 to John
Twaddle was in recognition of all the hard work he
had put in to the machine. John got it going again
after Tim had bought it, mainly by returning it to its
original factory specification. With a known baseline,
John worked on improving and developing the
machine for Tim to race. John was well placed to
look after the machine as he had owned and
repaired a number of Harley-Davidsons and worked
at McIvor and Veitch in Dunedin who subsequently
became Harley-Davidson specialists. John competed
successfully on the KRTT 750 in hill-climbs, road
races, BEARs, circuit races and beach races until the
mid-1990s. A knee injury forced him to stop riding it
and eventually convinced him to sell the machine.
The machine also took part in some road rallies,
including a national motorcycle rally, complete with
open exhausts.The current owner John Shand knows John
Twaddle from his time at McIvor and Veitch, so
when he found out the machine was up for sale
he made John an offer he could not refuse. When
Shand picked up the machine he was amazed at the
large number of unused spares that came with it,
a number of which were still in their original black,
red and white H-D packaging. Unfortunately some
parts could not be used as they were made for the
later “lowboy” framed twin carburettor KRTT. John
had enough later spare parts to build a 1969 twin
carb engine, which he put in an early XR750 frame
(something the factory did), which is now on
display in his front room.
Over the years the machine had been updated
and modified so John Shand decided to return it to
the state that Alf Groves raced it in in the early
1960s. Re-instating the twin magnetos, twin plug
cylinder head and other period parts was relatively
simple. The machine has been rebuilt for
demonstration runs at events but it will not be
raced. The only concession to modernity is a Mikuni
carburettor, so much easier to live with than the
capricious Linkerts and later Tilitsons. ■I am indebted to John Shand, John Twaddle, Ashley Bell
and Ray Sharp for their help in compiling this article and
helping to sort out the facts from the fiction that
surround this machine and its owners.1960 KRTT 750 HARLEY-DAVIDSON
Alf Groves’ modifications – the additional
magneto and drilled cylinder heads.John Shand inspecting the
mountain of KRTT spares.
The KRTT as it arrived
at John Shand’s home.TOP The TT front brake with dummy air scoop.
ABOVE TT rear brake. BELOW Alf Groves’ modifications
– twin plug cylinder heads.