62 MOTORCYCLE TRADER
A
pproaching the next major
instalment of my unlikely career
as a MotoGP god, winner of public
adulation, sheep stations and the
affections of demented sex freaks,
I felt supreme confidence. The better
the rider, the greater the knowledge, the
greater the doubt, so supreme confidence
is granted us less-talented riders as a
consolation prize.
The Mt Mount Tarrengower Hillclimb
is the favourite meeting of the Historic
Motorcycle Racing Association of Victoria
(HMRAV). Along the way it celebrated
its 90th anniversary, with a beautiful
collection of classic racing motorcycles,
a smattering of red-plate bikes and the
usual assemblage of ancient cars from the
Bendigo Car Club, the club that runs the
meeting, so we try to remain polite.
Some of the bikes were returning, some
were new and all looked as fine in the
shade of old gum trees as they did blasting
up the curving mountain road.
The run itself is a 1.6-kilometre sprint
from the base of Mt Tarrengower, near
Maldon in central Victoria, to just below
its summit. For those who confuse
hillclimbs with drag racing, the main
difference is we remove our high heels.
Dave Reidie’s celebrated the 90th
anniversary of the event by racing his
similarly aged 1929 FDH Harley-Davidson.
Ken Mundy’s handsome 840cc T150
Triumph Trident was the fastest red-plate
bike at 48 seconds.Ken was pipped by Stacey Heaney on a
Honda CB750 at 46.6 seconds. Stacey was
riding the Honda after the XS650 Yamaha
she won on in 2017 ceased to proceed, on
account of a broken crank pin.
Ta f f y Rosser and Butch Stevens
returned with their Honda 350/4s, with
Taffy turning in a strong 59.7 on a lightly
modified bike. Subtle reminder: Taffy
is 80. He remains the model to which
I aspire.
There were three hand-shift Scouts
which, while perhaps not the world’s
fastest Indians, were far from slow for
80-year-old machines. Mike Panayi won
‘king of the mountain’, again, on his 750
Norton Manxman while his son Chris won
the Post-Classic 350 class on a Honda.
Ken Maher’s 1962 920cc Norton won best
presented bike and was third in the Classic
Unlimited.
This year Team Lemmings (Death Before
Courtesy)/Motorcycle Trader campaigned
a ’72 Yamaha XS650. Gary at Triumph
Performance Parts in Maldon got the
much-neglected XS up to speed.
That would’ve been fine but, thinking I
should also contribute, rebuilt the clutch,
thereby reaffirming the adage that trying
is the first step on the way to failure. A
four-year-old child could understand how
to rebuild a clutch without difficulty. The
problem was nobody had a spare four-year-
old. It was not so much that I failed the
clutch building test – I just found several
new ways to do it wrong.CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Trevor
Spiers (BSA B33 500,
53.6sec); your self-
effacing author (55.3);
Stacey Heaney went
faster on her Honda
750 Four (46.6) to
Dad’s 54.1; the catering
service was a little
showy; Phillip Watson
and Indian 750 (73.1);
David Reide (66.9)
leads the pack back
down the hill.Taffy
turned in
a strong
59.7 on
a lightly
modified
bike.
Subtle
reminder:
Taffy
is 80Mount
Tarrengower
Hillclimb