THE BACK END | HERITAGE Compiled by: Warren Jack
A LAP
WITH
AWhat was the bike that got you started?
I started saving for my first bike at 14 and
had enough to get it two weeks after my
15th birthday in 1966. I had a job
delivering milk in the mornings to pay for
it. It was a second-hand YGS1 Yamaha 80
I bought from Craig Brown [one of his Kiwi
mates]. It was a rotary-valve two-stroke and
cost me $105. I moved to Australia in
1969 and arrived in Sydney on my 18th
birthday. Myself, Craig, Ross King and
Chris Wargrams all decided that there was
more fun to be had, more girls to meet and
warmer weather in Australia as well as
bikes being a lot cheaper. I landed with
$700 in my pocket and we all immediately
bought road bikes. Ross and Craig got H1
Kawasakis, I bought a T500 Suzuki Cobra
and Chris a Kawasaki Avenger 350.
When was the move into dirtbikes?
The Cobra was moved out in favour of a
TS250 Suzuki trailbike. By then I was
working at Ryan’s in Parramatta, who were
the Montesa importers, and a new Cappra
came in. I got rid of the TS for a T20, just
to get to and from work, and bought theCappra. Laurie Alderton was the workshop
manager and he offered me some room on
his trailer to get to MX meetings. My first
race was at Moorebank and I won the
B-Grade event. From then I was hooked
and moved up eventually to a 400
square-barrel Maico.
Did that early success continue?
Well, I won the NSW 125 title in 1971 on
a Hodaka Super Rat then, in 1972, I won
the NSW 500 and Unlimited titles on the
Maico. In 1974 I took home the Australian
125cc MX crown and in 1976 I came third
in the Grand National in Victoria.
Does a certain win stand out for you?
The Australian 125 title was a satisfying
and exciting win, that was at Manjimup,
WA. My first ride on a TR500 Suzuki road
racer is a good memory as well, as I beat a
few big-name riders of the day, Ginger
Molloy and Geoff Perry, so that day stands
out for me. Sometimes you just have a day
when everything falls into place and that
also happened to me. At one meeting I
won all my motos, five wins from five starts
in Bundaberg, and also at Queanbeyan.
That was about the time when sponsors
started paying riders as well as supplying
bikes and I was one of the earliest riders to
be semi-professional when, in 1974, I was
paid by Honda NSW to ride the bikes.
Have you tried other types of competition?
I’ve been lucky enough to have had a go at
most forms of motorcycIe racing and made
A-Grade in short circuit. I won the 125
class at the Hattah Desert Race in 1972, I
rode in the Orange Qantastic Two-Day
Enduro on a TT500 in 1976 or ’77 and
finished on Bronze. I also did quite a bit of
road racing, mainly production in the
Castrol Six-Hour for example. I managed
second in the Calder Two-Hour and second
in the Surfers Paradise Three-Hour. I’d
pretty much have a go at anything on two
wheels. I even did a bit of beach racing.
Which races do you wish you hadn’t missed?
I wish I had done more enduros as it was
more of a challenge, with more unknownLEGEND
Four Kiwis decided in 1969 that Australia was the place to be for
affordable bikes and better riding. They all went on to make names
for themselves, one of them being Brian MartinI drifted from
bikes and found
interests like
squash, triathlon
and cycling
territory than repeated laps on a MX track,
and a lot more scenic as well as you got to
ride country you normally could not get
access to. One of my great regrets was
that, just before I retired from MX in
1977, I had a ride on a CCM four-stroke
that Jim Scaysbrook owned. It was a most
beautiful thing to ride and I wish I had
bought one and had a final fling before
hanging up the helmet.
Do you still ride today?
I drifted away from bikes and found other
interests like squash, triathlons and
cycling, I actually ran a marathon in 1997
but four years ago I bought myself a
VFR800 roadie. The annual trip to Phillip
Island and weekend runs through the
Adelaide Hills are great fun. I wish I’d
gotten back on a bike a lot sooner.
Any bike that was a personal favourite?
The CR125 that took me to the Australian
title and the Maico 400 radial head. It was
a gorgeous thing to slide in a corner.
You also did some stunt riding in the iconic
Aussie bikie movie Stone that came out in
1974, tell me about that.
The race between Captain Midnight and
Stone was done by myself and Craig
Brown. He stood in for Stone on the
Norton and I was Captain Midnight. At first
they wanted us to do it for nothing and we
had a bit of a Mexican standoff for about
half an hour before they finally agreed to
pay us. It was a joy to do it but you had to
deliver what the director wanted.158 | APRIL 2016 http://www.adbmag.com.au