OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 79
OUT’N’ABOUTPrecisioninstrument
BRIAN FORTH reports...
In theAdelaide Advertiser on 14th August, 2017
there was a photo of three young children with
an old Precision motorcycle, taken in 1978. I
made a number of enquiries and came up with
the story and history of the bike, which I believe
could now be in Victoria.
This bike (a 1917 Precision Big 4 1000cc) was
once used by the father of Doug Burton a local
of Mt Bryan. His father was a shearer and rode
the bike from shearing shed to shearing shed
until finally it was dumped in the rubbish tip.
Then along came Ron Truscott and Graham
Flavel, members of VVMCCSA looking for old
motorcycles. They spoke to a local named Stan
Hucks – also of Mt Bryan – and asked him to
keep a look out for them. Ron soon received
a call from Stan who had found the remains of
an old bike that no one could identify, so they
collected it and conveyed it to Adelaide. When
it arrived, Rex Eckert’s (of VVMCCSA) children
Geoff, Allison and Allan (with Mrs Eckert in the
background) were photographed with the bike,
which was revealed to be a Precision. The bike
then found it way to Bob Jones (another
VVMCCSA member) who restored it and rode it
for a time before selling it on. Thanks to
VVMCCSA members Bob Jones, Dean Govan,
Terry Parker, Phil Jenner and many more
members and friends for this information.
Reborn Daytona
DANIEL XUEREB explains his love affair with a
1968 T100R Triumph.
“This bike belonged to my father-in-law, Robbi.
It was the first time I rode a motorcycle of this sort
of age and the first time I rode it, I didn’t want to
stop. When I got back they were worried I’d run out
of fuel because I was gone for so long. So after when
Robbi hinted that he was looking at buying some-
thing a bit later model and was going to sell it,
I said ‘Great I’ll buy it’! I rode it for a while before
making the decision to rebuild it. I thought this will
only take a few months, but with two kids and four
years later she is finally finished.
“Robbi bought the bike from his friend Ralph Briotti,
who brought the bike from America in parts and
rebuilt it. Ralph was a very experienced bike builder and Renowned Historic racer, I was fortunate to meet
Ralph and see his beautiful collection of motorcycles in his humble little shed in Cervantes WA. Ralph passed
away in 2014 and I dedicate this build to him and his family. I started disassembling, which was a hard
decision because I knew I wouldn’t be able to ride it for quite a while. At this stage we were living in WA so
I sorted the frame and parts for powder coat and chrome, got the rims re-spoked and powder coated black.
It was difficult to picture the bike in my mind in how it would look. I decided to move away from original
paint colours which wasn’t easy but on the tank and fenders and I went with the sapphire candy blue with
old school black tram lines. I felt it needed less chrome, so I decided to delete the chrome on the bars,
headlight, forks and rear shocks. When I picked them up– from Stevo at Hellboy Restorations they were
perfect, just as I had pictured in my head. I ended up sending him the cast aluminum front brake cover
and he did it in black, also the rear tail light.
By this stage we were living in Ballarat so while we moved across the country very little happened
while we settled in our new home. Once I got my new shed set up it was time to pull the motor apart.
The crankcases were in much need of a freshen up so I completely disassembled the engine and hydro
blasted the cases and fitted
new bearings. Internally the
motor was in good condition,
so I just cleaned the pistons and
put in new rings. I sent the bar-
rel to Stevo and he suggested
the black with polished fins type
look, and I am glad he suggest-
ed. Overall the motor came
together quite well. There wasn’t
a great deal of spare time with
raising to boys but slowly the
parts came off the shelf and
The Precision after restoration by Bob Jones. The model she started to take shape.”
has unique square finning for the heads and barrels.
The Precision as found after being brought to Adelaide.
In the photo are Mrs Rex Eckert (background) and her
children Geoff, Allison and Allan.