hills ulysses - Ulysses Club Inc.

HILLS ULYSSES
BUGLE
THE
HUB
August 2013
Page 1 of 34
ULYSSES CLUB PURPOSE
To provide ways in which older Motorcyclists can get together for companionship and
mutual support.
To show by example that motorcycling can be an enjoyable and practical activity for
riders of all ages.
To draw the attention of public and private institutions to the needs and views of older
riders.
HILLS ULYSSES
The Hills Group was formed in January 2002 and our monthly
meetings are held at The Castle Hill RSL 77 Castle Road, Castle Hill, every third
Wednesday at 7.30 pm.
Members also meet every Saturday morning at 9.00am - 10.00am for coffee and eats at
the Deli and Kebab Shops, 538-540 Old Northern Road, Round Corner Dural.
Your Committee
PRESIDENT: Chris Bell
RIDE CO-ORDINATORS:
Ph) 02 9629 7953
Mobile) 0414 414 002
John Kerr
Mobile) 0421 459 577
SECRETARY: Les Mustafa
Mobile) 0425 416 944
Shannon Kinsella
Mobile) 0402 032 310
TREASURER: Slav Ukrainec
Mobile) 0401 988 511
GENERAL MEMBER: Rory Gibson
Mobile) 0413 564 308
Ph) 02 9683 6724
James Schofield
Mobile) 0407 664 004
Communications Officer:
QUARTERMASTER:
Brian Donovan
Mobile) 0409 090 872
Articles for The HUB to be sent to brucewwalker@hotmail.com but always phone first.
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Contents
PRESIDENT WRITES – August 2013...................................................................................................... 4
Ride To Alice Springs ................................................................................................................................ 5
Mount Kaputar Adventure 2013 - Chris Sweet ....................................................................................... 10
A Visit to the Oracle ................................................................................................................................ 12
Coco DE MER ......................................................................................................................................... 13
A-Z of Australian Made Motorcycles 1893 – 1942 ................................................................................. 14
TEN SONGS TO LISTEN TO WHILE RIDING MY HARLEY ........................................................... 16
LESSONS FROM POLICING: MENTAL CONDITIONING FOR MOTORCYCLING – Johnny
Walker ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
SPEED TRIALS AT BONNEVILLE ...................................................................................................... 21
MOTORING.Thursday 21st January 1925 ............................................................................................... 23
Carberry Motorcycles .............................................................................................................................. 25
WARATAH MOTOR CYCLES. ............................................................................................................ 31
Branch Sponsors ...................................................................................................................................... 33
Contributions to the HUB are always welcome. ...................................................................................... 34
Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 34
Page 3 of 34
PRESIDENT WRITES – August 2013
Welcome to the August 2013 Edition of the Hills Ulysses Bugle and my fourth effort at producing a
contribution as the President of the Hills Branch.
Earlier this month we received the sad news that Vic
Leslie had passed away after his 12 month battle
with cancer. For those newer members, Vic served
as Treasurer on the ULYSSES National Committee
for several years, was a Life Member of ULYSSES
and a Dearnley Medal recipient and a good friend to
our Hills Branch. Vic and his wife Lyn took part in
and filmed the inaugural ride of our Hills Branch
back in 2001 and they have had a long friendship
and association with our Branch since our humble
beginnings.
Unfortunately I was in New Zealand at the time Vic
passed away and so was unable to attend his funeral,
however, our Branch was well represented at the
Funeral by a number of our Members and Committee.
On a brighter note – Our very own Phil Waesh and his Sydney contingent of 300 plus Black Dog Riders
departed Castle Hill on Saturday the 17 August 2013 for Alice Springs. The Hills Shire Council are
great supporters of our Ulysses Branch and the Black Dog Event and so arranged for the closure of the
main street in Castle Hill for the departure of the Sydney contingent of the Black Dog Ride. Councillor
Robyn Preston made for an enthusiastic Starter for the event and certainly brought to the role a lot more
style and flare than her predecessor, Angry Anderson.
Along with several hundred well-wishers, Channel 9 News and Simon Bowder were in attendance to
film the departure. Simon will be accompanying the ride to Alice Springs and will be recording several
News Stories along the way. Simon is now riding his “Police Special” Harley Davidson and I am sure
this will receive pride of place in any interview that he arranges.
Our Hills Branch Ride Calendar continues to be a source of pride for our Branch, offering a diverse
weekly assortment of riding destinations and social events, organised by a broad cross section of our
members. We continue to attract new members on a regular basis, often through our high profile
Saturday Social at Joes Deli at Round Corner Dural or our busy and diverse Ride Calendar that is
visible to all Ulysses Members via the National Ulysses WEB Site.
That’s it from me - Thanks again to Bruce for his efforts in producing this latest edition of the HUB.
Thanks also to those Members who contributed articles and photos for publication and to our Sponsors
for their continued support of our Hills Branch (Sponsor details can be found on back page). I hope to
see
you
at
our
Saturday
Social
(Church
/
Joe’s
Deli).
Chris Bell
President – Hill Ulysses
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Ride To Alice Springs
From my home to Alice Springs it’s approximately 2900kms and whether I go via Broken Hill or
Mildura, the distance is the same. Riding in company is the way to go and so it was that Cynthia on her
Harley Dyna Super Glide Custom and me on my Carberry met Mal Gillies on his Moto Guzzi and Ian
Lyons on his Royal Enfield Electra at Pheasant’s Nest on Saturday morning 20th July. We rode the
motorway down to Yass and turned off to take the more scenic but longer route through Harden and
Junee to meet Gary and Joy Eyles on their Wedgetail equipped Harley Davidson Road King at
Narrandera. The weather deteriorated during the afternoon and we were battling strong headwinds and
showers of rain. Ian was a little ahead and stopped at Bethungra for fuel. I pulled over and realised the
clutch actuating mechanism had broken, again. This is
a not uncommon occurrence on the Carberrys due to
the stronger clutch springs. The last time mine broke
was in Maryborough (another installed in the
Bunnings Carpark) and I always carry two spares. The
general store owner allowed me to carry out repairs
under the awning out of the rain. Mal had ridden
through without stopping so Ian left to chase after him.
With the rain and wind chill factor, the air temperature
had become rather nippy so I appreciated my long
woollen thermals purchased in Aldi a couple of weeks
back. Cynthia and I refuelled in Junee and about 5
kilometres out I noticed she wasn’t behind me. I
Figure 1 - Wet Renmark
turned back and found her stopped at a corner.
The Dyna was dead, nothing, kaput. We phoned the NRMA at about 5:10 pm just as it was getting dark.
It was freezing cold, very dark and it rained every 15 minutes or so. We had no shelter and Cynthia sat
dejectly hunched on her bike. It seems the NRMA had trouble finding us and finally he turned up at
8:30pm. The problem was a simple one and I was annoyed that I hadn’t investigated as I’m sure I would
have found loose battery terminals. The Harley gave no further trouble for the entire ride. We returned
to Junee and found a motel room. The proprietor generously made us a plate of toasted cheese and ham
sandwiches having taken note of our wet, bedraggled and thoroughly chilled persons.
The ride from Junee to Narrandera, I discovered
coming back from Mildura last year, is quite
interesting and scenic with towns such as Ganmain
and Coolamon a little off the beaten track. We
arranged to catch up with the others at Euston and the
run from Narrandera through Hay was against fierce
headwinds. The Carberry spluttered to a stop about
one kilometre from Euston, out of fuel. Getting 170
kms out of a tank that normally gives 300 kms gives
an idea of the winds we had battled. My arms felt
about 4 inches longer due to holding on for so long.
But finally we were all together.
The next day we rode through Mildura and Renmark
to Burra which is a quaint little South Australian town
with some interesting old buildings. I understand it was founded by Cornish tin miners. It had started
pouring rain after a relatively fine day. But the weather cleared the next day and we proceeded through
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Figure 2 - Wet Burra
Peterborough and over Horrock’s Pass down to Port Augusta and up the Stuart Highway to overnight in
Woomera. For a town that can house 7000 people Woomera seemed rather quiet until I was told that the
present population is only 160 now that the military has moved out. The houses all seem to be well
maintained with lawns mowed, hedges clipped etc. We stayed at the caravan park which has some big
buildings which once housed officers and other ranks. I was told that the Woomera Pub is four star and
quite plush but we didn’t go there.
I looked for a turn-off to Lake Graindler where the Aussie version of Bonneville Speed Week is held
each year but saw no signs. I think I’d like to go there to compare the US experience with an Australian
version. Coober Pedy Caravan Park was our next overnight stop. This involved the longest stretch of
road without a roadhouse fuel stop of about 270kms. I wasn’t even on reserve. By then it was
Wednesday and Mal and Ian decided to push on to Alice Springs in the one day with an early start on
Thursday. I was having a lot of knee pain due to my riding position and needed rest stops every 100 or
so kms. At the Marriot Rest Stop about 40kms south of the Northern Territory border Gary’s Harley
refused to start. We tried jumper leads from my bike and a car that had pulled in but the Harley starter
motor just made a clicking noise and that was it. There was no phone coverage. Taking Gary’s details
Cynthia and I rode the 60kms to Kulgera (the first and last pub in the Northern Territory) and rang the
NRMA on the public phone there. He was towed back to Marla (the last town in South Australia). The
public phone we were using eventually refused to work as its money box was full and it wouldn’t allow
any more calls.
Cynthia and I overnighted in the Kulgera Caravan Park attached to the pub and rode into Alice Springs
the next morning. Yet another of my rear tyres had worn out. This was the third Dunlop K81 I’d had on
the bike this year. I found a front tyre for a Harley Davidson at the dealers which would fit (the
convention is that you put a front tyre on backwards if you are putting it on a rear wheel) and it was
installed next morning. As it was the AGM of the Royal Enfield Club of Australia (RECOA) a ride had
been organised out to the Ross River Resort for lunch. We caught up with the rest of the attendees there.
RECOA Members had come from NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania. Two Royal
Enfields were ridden from WA but others were towed. The actual RECOA AGM is reported elsewhere
but let me report that the dinners we enjoyed at the Heavytree Caravan Park pub Bistro were excellent.
Ian Lyons discovered he had torn the teeth off his rear
sprocket with a loose chain. He made an arrangement
with Ray Jones, Ulysses and RECOA Member, to
have the sprocket off Ray’s unregistered RE and that
was done on Monday morning. Gary and Joy missed
the AGM and were towed into Alice Springs on
Saturday night. The problem was not resolved until at
the Harley Dealers on Monday and found to be a
defective battery cell.
On Sunday morning Jeff Cole led a scenic ride out to
one of the “gaps” and this was followed by a barbeque
put on by Cheryl and daughter at the old Telegraph
Station. Cynthia and I had dinner with Jeff and Cheryl
Figure 3 - Lunch at Ross River Resort
on the Sunday night. Hills Ulysses Members may
remember Jeff and Cheryl who rode their REs to Pirate Pete’s one Saturday some years back. We first
met Jeff at Queanbeyan for the second RECOA AGM which also coincided with the Canberra Ulysses
AGM in 2005. Jeff and Cheryl and Cynthia and I have kept in touch over the years meeting regularly at
our Ulysses AGMs. Jeff is on the Organising Committee for the Alice Springs Ulysses AGM to be held
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in 2014. Ray Jones and his wife Carol are other Alice Springs Ulysses/RECOA mates that we keep up
with at Ulysses AGMs.
The other Member of interest is Garry Hardwicke who
with his wife Peggy hails from Georgetown in
Tasmania. Cynthia and I stayed with them in February
when we were down there – I wrote an article about
their friend and 50cc motorcycle fan Jim Fruin.
Cynthia and I last lunched with Garry and Peggy at the
Maryborough Ulysses AGM and after that event they
bought an Aussie Trike and rode around Australia
anticlockwise before heading up to Alice Springs for
the RECOA AGM. What a holiday they’d had!!
Unfortunately I didn’t get time to hear a longer version
of their adventures. I will. They left Alice Springs
early on Monday with the intention of being back in
Tasmania by the weekend of the 3rd/4th August.
Ian Lyons wanted to be back in Sydney by Friday 2nd August so Cynthia and I having made up our
minds to attend the Alice Springs AGM next year decided to defer our visit to Ayres Rock and Kings
Canyon, and accompany Ian. Mal Gillies and Mark (aka Sophie Whiptank) from Victoria set off for the
Rock. Mark was on his KLR Kawasaki 650 with its huge semi-transparent 35 litre fuel tank. We headed
for Marla in South Australia with Ian intending to join us before nightfall.
Figure 4 - Norm and Merrilyn from WA
Figure 5 - Not all Royal Enfields at Simpson’s Gap
By now I had solved the issue of my aching knees. I discovered that I could strap my legs together
using one of my Andy Strapz. I could still get my feet on the ground but the elastic was enough to stop
my left leg especially, from flopping outwards and causing my knee to twist. I could now ride 200+kms
without a stop provided my Air Hawk seat could do its job. Ian arrived and we had dinner together in
the Marla resort complex. As well as the caravan park there are about 40 or more motel style rooms at
the resort.
Page 7 of 34
The next day we rode to Pimba on the Stuart
Highway. The turnoff at Pimba goes through
Woomera 6 kms away to the hinterland of SA, Roxby
Downs, Oodnadatta and those sorts of places. We
hoped to ride from Pimba to Broken Hill on
Wednesday ensuring we could make it back to
Sydney on Friday evening. Five kilometres north of
Port Augusta I though Ian had ridden over a nasty
snake which had leapt about under his bike. But when
I got back to where he’d stopped his drive chain was
missing. The call to the NRMA for RAA assistance
took longer than it did for the truck to arrive and we
were soon at a motorcycle dealer’s in Port Augusta.
Sadly the motorcycle mechanic who fitted the new
chain had a rather disagreeable sense of humour and
took forever fiddling around as he knew everything
there was to know about motorcycles and had a bad
word to say about every make known to mankind. I
though Ian might hit him. Then to add to Ian’s
frustration we went to lunch in what may well be the
slowest Hungry Jacks in all of Australia (if not the
world). Ian at least was able to let himself go and
enjoy the twisties of Horrock’s Pass. We pressed on
Figure 6 - Simpson's Gap
and reached Yunta by nightfall. Ian and Cynthia voted
that we continue on to Broken Hill in the dark. It’s almost 200kms and I wasn’t too keen but we had
seen very few dead animals by the roadside so I figured if we took it easy it would be okay. But with
such feeble motorcycle headlights I found I couldn’t do much over about 85/95kph. Make a note to
investigate HID lights.
We shared a luxury cabin at the Broken Hill Top
Tourist Caravan Park and enjoyed the benefits of my
membership of that organisation. On Thursday we
intended to ride from Broken Hill to Nyngan, but
disaster was waiting for me. Funny noises started in
my Carberry and Ian rode on ahead. Finally I stopped
in a Rest Area 120 kms west of Cobar as the bike
would go no further. It seemed that maybe rear wheel
bearings had given up. With no phone coverage
Cynthia rode on after Ian. She took a motel room in
Cobar, purchased wheel bearings, Ian had his muffler
welded up by the motorcycle shop in Cobar whose
service was very superior (especially compared to that
Figure 7 - Rock Wallabies at Heavitree Resort
in Port Augusta) and all for $40, and the NRMA were
contacted. I waited nearly three hours, played Spider Solitaire on my IPad and talked to one of the
caravan owners camped in the rest area before rescue arrived.
On Friday morning my inspection revealed that the rear sprocket had stripped all its teeth and my bike
would be going nowhere under its own power anymore on this trip. Cynthia and Ian left to ride home
which they did with Cynthia getting back to Baulkham Hills at 6:45pm. This was quite a feat as her last
stop had been at Orange. The Harley had performed faultlessly for nearly 6000kms with the exception
Page 8 of 34
of the minor hiccough at Junee. Cynthia has earned the right to skite about that ride. Ian was back at
Minto at a similar time having not spared the throttle. Two hours later me and my bike were deposited
in my driveway. Ben, the driver, was excellent company and after a half hour break set out to drive back
to Cobar.
We hadn’t been to Central Australia before. The road
wasn’t quite what I expected. Yes, it was boring and
monotonous but not nearly as monotonous as I
expected. South Australia is the state of Grand Vistas
and really the only state that has such views where you
can see 30 or 50 kilometres across valley floors to
distant mountains and hills. Tarmac roads wind away
to tiny distant pinpoints. These views are common in
the western United States but not in most of Australia
because it is so flat. The Stuart Highway is fairly
straight and flat but it bends and rises and falls enough
to keep interesting and the scenery is better with an
attractive variety of things to look at – well, it’s
Figure 8 - Going Home From Cobar
reasonably interesting and I think more so than the
crossing to West Australia. If you just look at the road you will be bored. The area around Alice Springs
is characterised by rows of mountains several hundred metres high. Over millions of years rivers have
cut gaps or chasms through the lines of mountains. It makes for very interesting scenery when riding in
the surroundings. There is much to see within easy riding distances from Alice Springs. If you’re
looking for exciting riding, flicking your bike through tight corners and shifting your weight to get the
maximum from your machine you won’t find it here. Your tyres will have a wide flat section in the
middle. Sit back and enjoy the ambience. Generally distances are huge. Roadhouses pop up with
enough frequency to never cause worries about fuel. The only worry relating to fuel is how much it
costs.
Cynthia and I have enough of a taste to ensure we will be attending the Ulysses AGM next year. We
won’t both ride as I suspect accommodation along the way may be difficult if you’re not camping. Most
likely we’ll tow bike or bikes on our trailer behind our camper.
Our RECOA AGM was a winner and thanks to Jeff for organising. Because of the destination it was
inevitable that we didn’t have a big roll-up, however I expect to see a lot more people at our AGM at
Bega in October next year.
Bruce Walker,
President, Royal Enfield Club of Australia Inc.
Page 9 of 34
Mount Kaputar Adventure 2013 - Chris Sweet
The road to Mount Kaputar National Park has one of those signs that you pass on the way to somewhere
else.
On my trips to service computer systems at the Local Councils and Cotton Co-Operatives I must have
passed the sign in Narrabri around 20 or 30 times. On each occasion, I said to myself, “I must visit there
sometime”.
The first sometime was in April of 2005 when I
managed to cajole 10 other Ulyssian’s to join me on a
ride of around 600km’s with a road of unknown quality
at the end to get up the mountain.
In 2005 the 50+km’s from Narrabri to the top of the
mountain was mostly dirt or gravel.
So, what’s the attraction you may ask?
The first attraction is the opportunity to ride some of
the nicest roads NSW has to offer. Starting with the
Bell’s Line of Road to Lithgow, then onto Coolah via
Mudgee and Ulan. Coolah is a lovely little town with a
bit of fame from the “Black Stump” nearby. In fact we
had lunch at the aptly named “Back Stump Inn” and only mildly scared the locals by arriving in mass
on a variety of motorcycles. All told, we had 21 riders in transit to the event this year, most via the tar
with a few intrepid adventurers accompanying Gideon across various dirt roads.
The run from Coolah to Gunnedah was next, although from there to Narrabri is a bit of a transit stage.
From Narrabri it’s all uphill.
Mt. Kaputar rises 1508 metres above sea level, so in the last 20km’s from the park boundary, the road
climbs around 1.2km’s vertically before the cabins and camp grounds are reached. The road is now a bit
of a doddle as all but 6kms of the road is paved, although there is the occasional patch of deep coarse
gravel to get the heart pumping, along with precipitous drops and lots of winding bits.
Once there, the cabins are welcoming, have log fires, cooking utensils and all the cutlery needed to feed
a horde of hungry Ulyssians. Bonhomie was now on display as everyone worked like a well oiled
machine to get the fires going, the groceries unpacked and the first meal of the weekend underway.
Food you say? How did enough food for 20 get up the Mountain?
Thanks to a bit of lateral thinking, it has been possible
to arrange for the local supermarket to pick the food
order and a very accommodating local home delivery
guy to drop off at the cabins. This saves a lot of
mucking around, lightens the bikes and results in a
nice cold beer from the fridge at the end of the day,
magic.
More magic is found in the views down onto the
surrounding plains, it is like looking down from a light
aircraft.
A bit of info about the Park itself, located north east of
Page 10 of 34
Narrabri, off the Newell Highway, Mount Kaputar
National Park is a must see on your NSW road trip
with volcanic peaks rising more than 1300m above the
surrounding plains.
There are quite a number of things to see & visit,
Sawn Rocks (a spectacular organ pipe rock display),
the Waa Gorge, the Governor (a massive volcanic rock
wall) and walking trails and lookouts around the peak.
Saturday divided up into two groups, those who
wanted to get lost with Gideon and those that hung
around for a walk up to the peak with a beer and
sausage sizzle after. Quite a number chose the sausage sizzle and a beer, the others almost got to visit
Moree after missing the Waa Gorge Turnoff and were a bit late home.
While some had a nanna nap after lunch, a now smaller group followed the leader around the volcanic
structures that form the crown of the park, we probably walked around 5kms in total and experienced
more wonderful scenery.
As can be seen from the photos, the weather could not
have been more perfect.
Even in the tents, it only got down close to zero on
Friday night, with around 18 degrees being the norm
during the day, very comfortable walking weather.
Although, on Saturday evening, everyone looked a bit
knackered.
More enjoyable roads awaited the return trip. On
Sunday, after breaking camp and tidying up the cabins,
we got started down the mountain around 9 a.m. and
headed to Scone via Gunnedah and Quirindi. After
bite to eat, it was back home, all safe and sound, via Jerry’s Plains, the Putty Road and the Grey Gums
Cafe.
Gideon’s dirt contingent made another day of it by heading off in to the Pilliga, and arrived home on the
following Monday.
What a wonderful three days away, with great company, interesting roads and a bunch of riders that
stuck together both on the road and in helping make the event so pleasant and entertaining.
All the best from your ride organiser,
“Skip” Sweet
Page 11 of 34
A Visit to the Oracle
“ORACLE”, from the Ancient Greek, is defined as a source of wisdom – somebody (or something)
considered to be a source of knowledge, wisdom or prophesy.
And so it was that Bob Baldwin, Ian Lyons, Mal
Gillies and myself set off for a camping weekend at
Taree and a visit to see Sir Frederick Garland and his
dear wife Enid (nee Potts). For those of you who may
not be in the know, I can claim kinship with Sir
Frederick as his wife Enid and my wife Cynthia share
a Great, Great, (Great?), Grandmother. The other
connection to our little band is that Ian Lyons comes
from Taree and his older brother and Sir Frederick
were mates messing around with motorbikes way back
when. In fact Fred is the fount of knowledge of all
things Royal Enfield having been a devotee of that
marque for sixty five years. Fred is the Oracle.
Bob Baldwin, Wayne Russell, Cynthia and I had
visited Fred some years before so it wasn’t new to any
of us.
McGraths Hill MacDonalds was our meeting place and
from there we proceeded up the Putty Road. Mal took
us on some biker friendly back roads and we crossed
the New England Highway at Branxton and powered
up through Gresham and Dungog to Gloucester and on
through Krambach to Taree – actually Cundletown.
We erected our tents on the river bank in the Van Park
near the airport and walked to the pub where we were
joined by Fred for dinner. It was all very convivial.
Fred was his usual cheerful self and told stories and
reminisced about the old days with Ian into the night.
Now Ian had been having some problems with his rear
brake and put the problem to Fred. Fred insisted on
opening his workshop and tackling the problem hands
on. He was immediately able to suggest a solution and
he and Ian set about the task. There was some
hammering and some welding, not much swearing and
no cursing and a few laughs as the rest of us sat around
watching the deft hands of the master and his
apprentice (Ian) at work. Not unexpectedly Ian has had
no difficulties with his back brake since.
Due to a late start we decided to set off straight down
the Pacific Highway. My Royal Enfield G5 was not going as fast as it usually does and I put it down to
a slightly more restrictive muffler which may have been creating back pressure. Somewhere around
Bulahdelah I felt intense burning in my right heel. The hot exhaust which has no guard due to a
Page 12 of 34
different muffler, was burning through the sole of my
boot. In fact it had burnt right through and only the
inner sole separated my foot from the fire. Bob and I
stopped a couple of times but I managed to avoid
further contact between my boot and the exhaust. I
caught up with Mal and Ian at the Wyong Service
Station but somehow we were separated and rode
home from there in the dark on our own.
It was one of those great little weekends where
although we didn’t get to the Nabiac Motorcycle
Museum – we’ll save that for next time – we had a
great ride shared with good friends and spent some
time with Fred who is a wonderful bloke. The Ulysses
Club is all about those shared rides with like-minded people. It’s what we do.
Bruce Walker.
Coco DE MER
This has absolutely nothing to do with motorcycles however in the interest of improving the general
knowledge of our readers the coco de mer or double coconut grows on just a couple of islands in the
Seychelles Group in the Indian Ocean and has been a sought after item for collectors in Europe for
centuries. Sailors originally thought they grew on the bottom of the sea and floated to the surface. Some
in collections are polished and decorated extensively.
The nicely symmetrical item pictured fetched one
thousand six hundred and twenty five pounds at
auction in the UK recently. Sailors are notorious for
having wonderful imaginations and I guess there are
some anatomical similarities if you can really stretch
your imagination.
The source for the above information was
CLASSIC BOAT Magazine. I also used a
Google search and for those who would like to have one of these in their possession, there are some for
sale on Ebay.
Page 13 of 34
A-Z of Australian Made Motorcycles 1893 – 1942
By Robert Saward
Publishing Date 1996
A Review by Bruce Walker
It’s hard to believe that Australia had a thriving motorcycle
manufacturing industry in the years leading up to the First World
War. Elements of the industry survived through to the 1940s and
there have been sporadic attempts to produce an Australian made
motorcycle since then. For those who know me, the Carberry
Enfield being perhaps the latest in the progression.
Author Robert Saward has uncovered some 396 makes of
motorcycle and there is a website devoted to Australian made
motorcycles N.A.I.S. (not appearing in Saward) in which a few
more are listed. The book is the result of painstaking research into
old newspapers, magazines, brochures and pamphlets to uncover
names of people, factory addresses and the makes and models now
long forgotten. I understand Saward has an appendix for sale
which features more up to date information.
Many of the stories are the same. They start with a man with a
vision. Sometimes he has a partner and a prototype is made. Publicity is sought and the fanfare goes
out. Some financial backing is found and the announcement that they are going into production is made.
Perhaps one or two or even a dozen bikes are made and either the money runs out and/or squabbles
arise for one reason or another and production is
stopped. Whether anyone made any profit is not
mentioned, nor are we told whether the man with the
vision lost his shirt or not.
In recent times a company set out to make 1300cc
Vincent engined bikes in Queensland, there was the
Hunwick Harrop and the Carberry Enfield, all failed
although Paul Carberry succeeded in making the most
bikes.
A one man company in South Australia makes JAP
based V twin engine to order and the 1600cc Irving
Vincent can be ordered and bought from a company in Victoria provided you have a cool $120K. I
guess people aren’t knocking down doors to buy one. (As an aside, a company in Austria makes a
replica Brough Superior for an eye watering US$250K, Moss Engineering in the UK makes replica
Scotts and there are at least three companies making Manx Nortons – one in the Netherlands and one in
New Zealand. But for each of these companies, making motorcycles is a mere sideline and they can
recoup their costs by charging what they like – take it or leave it.)
Page 14 of 34
The key to survival and longevity of production in the motorcycle industry appears to belong to those
companies which are already established and making something else besides motorcycles and thus have
resources behind them. I can only think of two companies that started out on a shoestring making only
motorcycles and built up into existing major world players: Honda and Harley Davidson. And of those
only Harley Davidson started out making their own engines. Most of the companies listed in Saward
used proprietary engines from Fafnir, MMC, Zedel, Minerva, JAP, Sarolea, MAG and many others in
the earliest days, moving to Peugeot, and Precision engines in the years that followed. De Luxe,
Reading Standard, NSU, Dalm and the
ubiquitous Villiers engines were all
used. Saward has an Appendix which
lists 47 makes of proprietary engines
used at one time or another. The
supply of engines from Europe during
WW1 was very limited hence the use
of De Luxe, Reading Standard and
others sourced from the USA. Few
Australian companies made their own
engines.
The flashest of the local makes was the
GCS (the initials standing for George
Cyril Stillwell) built between 1912 and
1926. The later models were built by
A.G.Healing and Co. about which
author Saward has written a history.
Figure 9 - Circa 1914 Bennett and Barkell seen in Tasmania
Healings were agents, builders and
importers of everything motorcycle. They dominated the industry in the early years. (See above photo)
Bob King’s Lennox motorcycles used a home grown
engine design between 1913 and 1915 and the Mona
made by Quirk’s in Brisbane (a company which I
believe still exists) featured the highest level of
Australian made content including the engine which
looks suspiciously like a Douglas. Raw materials
shortage due to the war stopped production in 1916
after around 100 machines were made.
Whilst many of the manufacturers were at a cottage
industry level there were some quite big companies
such a Healings, making many over quite a span of
years. Approximately 1700 Lewis brand motorcycles
were made in Adelaide prior to WW1. Waratah were
Figure 10 - Another view of the Australian made the longest running marque surviving until around
Bennett and Barkell – the primary chaincase looks 1948. They were made up from imported Sun
like a more modern addition.
components and used Villiers engines.
Saward’s book gives a fascinating insight into an industry which, like another early pioneer industry
which it paralleled, namely feature movie making, was crippled and eventually destroyed by the weight
of imports. Both industries rivalled that in the rest of the world such was the pioneering spirit. But
sadly, unlike movie making in Australia which has seen a revival since the 1970s, government backing
and encouragement of motorcycle production unlike car production, has not occurred.
Page 15 of 34
TEN SONGS TO LISTEN TO WHILE RIDING MY HARLEY
Title
1. D’yer Maker
Artist
Comments
Led Zeppelin
All time favourite song
(narrowly beating every Beatles song ever recorded)
2. Cocaine Blues
Johnny Cash
3. Born To Be Wild Steppenwolf
So politically incorrect – Love it
No brainer
4. Road Trippin’
Red Hot Chilli Peppers The name says it all
5. Highway Star
Deep Purple
Studied for the HSC listening to this
(that explains a lot)
6. La Grange
ZZ Top
Must include one ZZ Top song
7. Radar Love
Golden Earring
Ideal road song
8. Vertigo
U2
Had to include something after 1970s
9. Fuel
Metallica
Just listen to the lyrics
10. White Room
Cream
Had to have one Cream song
Compiling this list was not as easy as I thought.
How did I leave out The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, AC/DC, Creedence,
Greenday, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Great southern Land by Icehouse ...... the list goes
on & on.
Obviously most of these songs are from my formative years of the 60s & 70s.
They are not necessarily my ten all time favourite songs but I could certainly listen to all
of them on a great ride.
If you don’t know any of these songs, it may be worth checking them out on Youtube.
Anyway, these are my ten. Let’s see yours.
Steve Kiddle
Page 16 of 34
LESSONS FROM POLICING: MENTAL CONDITIONING FOR
MOTORCYCLING – Johnny Walker
Life critical lessons from the sharp edge
This article is based in part on the author’s many years working with
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is modified from his ‘Hits
and Myths of Motorcycling’ Published in Australian Road Rider.
PERCEPTIONS - We see with our eyes but we actually perceive
through the filters in our brain.
EXPECTATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS
We see and hear what we expect or are conditioned to see/hear.
Conversely by NOT seeing or hearing what we don’t expect. Add in
speed, stress, preoccupation, learned habits and previous mental
conditioning and the consequences can be serious and at times
deadly.
On a typical Sunday ride with our friends or club members we have
to be more vigilant than if we are on our own. It’s easy to form an
expectation that the bikes in front have gone into a corner well because that’s what this group always
do. We assume that they are always fast but competent. It’s easy to assume that their chosen corner line
is the correct one at that speed. There are serious consequences if this assumption is incorrect: riders
have been killed by following a leader, who was a bit tired from a social night out, going right off the
road. When following a group of say 15 riders in close formation it can be dangerous chaos when one of
the riders in front suddenly pulls of the road to blow his nose or clean his visor and the group all pull
over at the same time assuming he or she has a problem.
That happened to me on my first group ride and 3 bikes collided. I have never stopped with a group
since. I always go past then stop and look back or ignore it completely and keep going. Also in groups
we can misconstrue the signalling, shouting, waving and pointing that goes on meaning very different
things to different riders. Just pulling up to your favourite cafe in a large group is fraught with potential
mistakes.
PERCEPTIONS OF OTHERS
Riders often assume they can hear what’s coming up behind. In an ‘others perception exercise’ during
an advanced driving course I was advising on, a marked police car with siren and lights on came up
behind a bus full of experienced highway police. They were told to look directly ahead and to listen to
an instructor talking to them at the front of the bus. Hardly any of them saw or heard the police car until
it was either very close to the rear of the bus or right beside it. Now you know why many people don’t
hear that ambulance right behind them. How often have you only heard a high speed car or bike
overtaking when it is suddenly almost on top of you ? That’s a heart thumper as in “shit where did that
come from ?” . If you had changed lanes at that point in time you wouldn’t be reading this blog. From
an evolutionary perspective we are highly tuned to focus sharply ahead at potential threats, that is, the
road ahead and the corner coming up. Your hearing can be dramatically attenuated from behind.
Page 17 of 34
STRESS AROUSAL AND THE IMPACT ON PERCEPTION
In an “Oh Shit!!” situation, for example, and run wide hitting some gravel or run wide on a corner
with approaching traffic we can experience a very high level of (fight/flight) arousal. In that heart
thumping, narrowing and amplifying perception moment we may react instinctively and
inappropriately. What is good for facing a tiger doesn’t apply on a motorcycle at speed. Forward vision
is amplified and narrowed at the same time our peripheral and rear senses are attenuated. As you will
discover later your 'pre-conditioning' could be fatal.
As our muscles brace for survival fight/flight action we are likely to grab the front brake lever or over
twist the throttle aggressively which on a sharp downhill corner could be fatal. In other words our own
survival physical stress arousal triggered from deep within the limbic system in the brain, good for tiger
threats, is completely inappropriate. Try this at home. Right after a really stressful phone conversation
try to write a note on a small yellow sticky pad. At the very time we need to be calm, focused and alert
we are wired to fight or flee.
MYTHS AND FALSE BELIEFS
In research into serious injuries from assaults, police officers reported that they had held certain beliefs
or myths that reduced their alertness levels or appropriateness of response. In a similar way our very
belief systems can put is in danger.
Consider the following:

I know the road, it’s always quiet this early. It’s only a trip to the local shop I don’t need my
jacket or gloves. The tyre pressure was OK yesterday and looks OK to me. It couldn’t happen
here. I can handle it. I’ll wake up on the ride. I’ve got away with it every time so far. They are
all myths. So when you check out your tyres you might also check out the myths in your head.
They are the internal beliefs that influence your perceptions and riding decisions.

I didn’t check mine one night when “I can handle it” was dominant in my head and I went,
against the warnings of my mates, and rode in the dark in the Warrumbungles. I hit a full sized
kangaroo when it landed on top of my windshield which deflected some of the hit. One second
later I would have been dead.
THE TEN FATAL ERRORS
These errors were identified after analysing police officer fatalities over many years. 7 of the 10 apply
directly to riders and I have added 3 to bring them up to 10. These are marked with an *
1. Complacency, apathy
2. Getting caught in a bad position
3. Not perceiving danger signals
4. Relaxing too soon
5. False perceptions/assumptions
6. Tombstone stupidity
7. Fatigue and stress
8. Irregular bike maintenance*
9. Believing your own myths*
10. Riding beyond skill to keep up*
Page 18 of 34
STAYING ALIVE- THE AWARENESS SPECTRUM
In a police officer-survival manual the concepts of managing awareness is well defined. It has its
origins in assaults and fatalities. So its pedigree is definitely at the sharp edge. (The Tactical Edge:
Surviving high risk patrol, Charles Remsburg, 1985) If riding at speed is not at the sharp edge what is ?
In essence we control our perceptions and awareness as different risk situations occur.
We, as riders can learn from these five levels of awareness.
1. Condition White: (environmentally unaware, daydreaming, loss of concentration)
This can be deadly. Experience tells us that if something happens suddenly such as a car braking
suddenly, a ladder falling off a tradie truck, gravel left over by a council on a corner, diesel fuel on the
road we can suddenly go to Condition Black which is paralysis or panic reacting instinctively but
inappropriately e.g. grabbing the front brake or even worse freezing up.
This is avoided by constantly being alert and using the following conditions.
2. Condition Yellow (alert but relaxed)
This is appropriate for most motorcycling conditions on clear dry roads, good visibility minimal traffic,
gentle curves and good weather. It is the equivalent of 'general patrol awareness' in policing. Perceptual
focus is wide ranging.
3. Condition Orange (danger, volatility, threat)
Things have suddenly changed, there is a danger up ahead or indications of potential danger: declining
quality of road surface, pot holes, construction crew working, an animal on the road, moss and so on.
Your perceptual focus is on the source of the threat and must narrow while the danger is present. No
point glimpsing at the trees beside the road or chatting to your pillion at this point. That can come later
when the need for focus changes back to condition yellow as the threat moment has passed.
4. Condition red
There is a life critical threat ahead. An accident, a carpet underlay has come off a tradie truck (my
experience), animals moving onto the road, a truck with an overhanging steel beam braking hard dead
ahead. Your perceptual focus must narrow right down to the end of the beam that your head could be
impaled on or the wombat in the middle of the road as you take braking and avoidance action.
Once the risk has been reduced you can go back to orange or even yellow BUT NEVER go back to
condition white while you are on your bike and moving.
I constantly scan the ground and riding situations ahead from yellow to sometimes red as I ride. It's an
easy habit. I mentally check that I am never in condition white which can lead to condition black and
the potential for panic, loss of control and preconditioning fatal mistakes.
STRESS CONTROL
There are many environmental factors that add to stress: noise (we become more alert above 65db),
caffeine (coffee, tea, energy drinks) research suggests that more than 250mg of it affects motor skills
and increases stress symptoms. Perceptions of non life-threatening situations trigger stress responses,
e.g. public speaking, never mind a hairy moment on the road is one of the biggest for most people.
Luckily most of our stress is of a positive nature giving us energy and a buzz and most riders know that
a bad day can be a good day after 10 minutes riding - probably keeps a lot of older bikers like me awake
all day.
Page 19 of 34
If, however, we run wide into the path of a truck (one of my moments) or brake a bit too late, slide on
gravel at the edge of the road we just might over react as described previously. Stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenalin help to maintain high heart rates and to release sugar stored in the liver for
quick energy. Hands turn to ice as blood shift to the core and muscles brace, blood pressure goes up,
perception narrows and amplifies. Its all about the fight/flight reaction and is based in the ancient limbic
section of our brain. You need to be able to control this.
REGAIN CONTROL THROUGH 5-4-5 BREATHING
Pull over, or ride a bit slower and apply this breathing technique. You don't have to shut your eyes. By
teaching it on the advanced police driving school we increased times and reduced driving errors
significantly. Its very simple: breathe in through your nose and slowly count to five saying 'in
relaxation' then hold it for at least a count of four saying to yourself, still, calm, steady, relaxed or
whatever phrases will work for you, then exhale very slowly through your mouth in a count of 5- 1
saying 'out tension'. Modify it to suit but keep the 5 - 4- 5 routine. It will bring you back down to a
centred and focused place very quickly if you practice it.
MENTAL CONDITIONING
In a Condition Black loss of awareness and its ensuing stress arousal/panic we can make an error 0f
judgement that has been inappropriately conditioned into us. For example police officers during target
shooting used to be taught to always pick up their spent cartridges by the range instructor. This
conditioning proved fatal when in a real life survival situation an officer was found shot with the spent
cartridge casings in his hand. Neatness and a tidy shooting range conditioning in a situation where parts
of a second in responding are crucial proved fatal. They then rethought all their range experiences to
mirror actual high stress situations.
Apply this to motorcycling. By shifting your awareness to meet the situations on the road you are less
likely to go into 'black' and panic. Consider this when you shift from cruisers to sports bikes or a
standard gearshift to a paddle. An even bigger change is if you move up from a scooter. What have you
been conditioned to do that could be a life-critical danger to yourself of others in a 'black' situation ?
This is crucial when you ride in a other country. Every now and then when I am under stress and
distracted I will find myself at the Canadian side of my car looking for the steering wheel.
Do you practice mental conditioning in real situations? Have you done advanced training to reinforce
the right cornering set ups at speed? Do you visualize the right responses riding at speed in the same
way a golfer hits that ball a thousand times in his mind or a springboard diver prepares for that dive? If
a SWAT or TRG police officer visualizes the right tactics before an entry you should do it also.
Combine it with 5-4-5 breathing and just as you set up your bike for a fast run so also set up your brain.
© John Walker, 2013-06-09
John Walker is a behavioural science consultant in private practice. His details can be found at
www.walkerwilson.com.au or directly at 0408 162 811
Page 20 of 34
SPEED TRIALS AT BONNEVILLE
Classic Motorworks in the USA is the supplier of
parts and accessories and I think, the importer of
Royal Enfield motorcycles. The US market is
fairly small with only around 700 REs sold each
year compared with Australia which sells 150
bikes yet has a much smaller population. Their
internet sales company address is NField Gear
but buying from the US comes with very
expensive postage as they insist on using private
mail/courier services rather than the US Postal
Service. Interestingly, delivery within the US if
free provided you spend more than a certain
(low) amount of money on your purchases.
In my opinion some of the stuff made in the USA is better than
some of the same stuff supplied by the British accessory and
parts supply company. Tuning Royal Enfield motorcycles for
speed is quite an industry and with readily available off-theshelf bits, not too expensive. The old Royal Enfield iron barrel
engines which have a purported output of 22hp (about 17 at the
back wheel) can be pushed up to around 39hp at the engine
with just bolt on bits. The RE pictured (above and left) is
producing 38hp at the back wheel suggesting around 42hp at
the engine. Well over 40 hp can be obtained with
bigger bore and stroking kits. This is not bad for a
pushrod engine which was never designed for
performance.
The biggest kit takes the capacity out to 612 ccs.
Comparing these outputs with other single cylinder
bikes from the past is informative. A Velocette Venom
Thruxton produced 45 hp. A BSA Gold Star was
similar and a Manx Norton from the factory gave 50
hp. The G50 Matchless put out 51 hp, but the Manx
and Matchless were racing, not road bikes. In more
recent times, the 500cc Rotax powered Cagiva and the
Yamaha SR500 both claimed 34 hp
Figure 11 - Royal Enfield used in the first attempt at
Extra reliable Bonneville.
horsepower without too much noise is nearly always the aim as
these long stroke singles can get quite cranky if too much is
expected from them. But tuning a RE single is an inexpensive
way of getting an old-style high performance single. Guy
Brown in Victoria has a racing 612cc Royal Enfield sourced
from Japan. It has been timed at 190kph on the straight at
Phillip Island. The photos show the Classic Motorworks team
and their highly tuned Royal Enfield at Bonneville. There are a
Page 21 of 34
number of Australian names amongst the sponsors.
I suspect it could be a lot of fun to do something similar at South Australia’s Lake Graindler during our
home version of Speed Week.
Page 22 of 34
MOTORING.Thursday 21st January 1925
This article reprinted from a newspaper gives an idea of what motorcycling was like in that era.
Hills Ulyssians will be familiar with what these roads are like now. Try to imagine what they
were like back then.
SIX DAYS' TRIAL.
Twenty-five Riders Finish.
The fourth annual six days' reliability trial of the Motor Cycle Club of New South Wales was concluded
yesterday when the competitors completed their journey of 1004 miles by riding from Singleton to
Sydney, a distance of 142 miles. The morning run was from Singleton to Wiseman's Ferry, via
Wollombi and Mount Manning, 81½ miles, and after crossing in the ferry they stopped for lunch, the
last 60 miles being ridden in the afternoon.
Out of 42 riders who started in the contest on December 26, 25 arrived at the finish yes- terday. During
their journey they had some arduous experiences, the first day being marked by heavy rain and muddy
roads, but nevertheless all competitors were agreed that it was a pleasant journey, and made an
excellent, sporting holiday. Of the original starters 15 finished without loss of points on the score of
punctuality, while those who lost points at all were in the majority of cases penalised for lateness in
arriving in controls, the causes being no fault of either riders or motor cycles. For example, one rider
was penalised 25 points on the first day, the cause being delay through the overcrowding of the punt at
Wiseman's Ferry, which prevented him from crossing the Hawkesbury River until 5.30 p.m., although
he was due in Newcastle, about 100 miles away over a rough, winding, mountain road, early in the
evening.
Left. AJS Circa mid 1920s
The feature of the trial this year was the
remarkable number of low powered
machines, nearly all of British origin,
which competed. Among the original
starters from Sydney were three riders of
Waratah motor cycles with the smallest
engines which have ever competed in so
protracted a contest in Australia, having
only 142 cc. (or about 1½ h.p.) engines.
Another interesting competitor was the miniature side car outfit ridden by Lance Watson with O. Peraho
as passenger, the motor cycle being a 248 c.c. (2½ h.p.) Velocctte, while altogether 26 of the starters
from Sydney rode machines of 500 c.c. (3½ h.p.) or less. One of them was a new model American
machine, the Indian Prince, the first product of a large and established American manufacturer in the
international 350 c.c. class. This machine went very well, but had misfortunes with its tyres on the first
day, causing a loss of points, but otherwise ac- complished a meritorious performance.
The Six Days' Trials are the biggest fixture of, their kind in Australasia, and the prizes are on a
corresponding scale, the outright winner receiving a motor cycle worth £100, with other trophies worth
£25 and £10 for the places, other prizes bringing the value up to £100 for the private owner and trade
Page 23 of 34
rider classes. No distinction was made between solo and side car riders, other than to provide separate
time schedules for riders of machines under 500cc, under 350cc, and over 1000 cc. There was a 'teams'
contest, the winning team receiving gold medals, presented by the Dunlop Rubber Co., of Australasia.
Officials controlling the trial accompanied the competitors around the complete course in a Rolls Royce
car, provided S. Stuart, who has always been a regular competitor in the event himself until this year.
Among the officials ware Messrs. L Adair, organising secretary; and E. Wiseman, the latter of whom
had arranged for the daily result to be broadcasted each evening. The riders were met at the G.P.O. by
Messrs. I White, competition secretary of the Motor Cycle Club. of New South Wales, and W. H.
Neighbour, while the machines were examined by Messrs. F. S. Roberts, H. Delaudro. and S. C.
Roberts. The examiners reported that they were astonished at the excellent condition of all the machines
which completed the course.
The first, rider to arrive was G. Bobbins, and from about 4.25 p.m. they were to continue to come in as
rapidly as the officials could check them. All were agreed that it had been an excellent run, the worst of
the roads they encountered on the first and last days-between Wiseman's Ferry and Gosford, on the trip
to Newcastle, and from Broke to Wiseman's Ferry again yesterday. The latter section was regarded, as
absolutely the worst of the whole 1000 miles tour. The driver of the official car, Mr. S. Stuart, said that
for many miles he could go no more than a walking pace, as there were, great chasms a foot deep right
across the road. into which the car crashed, severely testing the springs. The motor cyclists had a very
strenuous time negotiating this section, but nevertheless most of them succeeded in negotiating the last
day's stage without the loss of a point. The lightweight, low-powered machines gave an excellent
demonstration here.
Altogether 5 of the 12 starters reached Singleton on Tuesday evening. 3 of them having covered the
whole journey this far without loss of points on any account. The other nine all lost various numbers of
points, practically all for late arrival in control. One of them, who lost points on the first day, was
reported to have been penalised a few points for late arrival as he miscalculated the time at which he
was due, and remained just out of the control limit for several minutes before officially concluding the
day's ride. The riders of the lowest powered machines were greatly admired for their courage in facing
the difficulties of the journey, one of them, S. McConkoy, having especially remarked upon in this way.
He reached Singleton late on Tuesday evening with penalties amounting to 20s for late arrivals, and
continued the course with undaunted courage yesterday, but had not arrived at the finishing point.
Those who left Singleton for the last stage of the journey were: I Harris, S. Hills. A. G. Strat- ford. G.
Ainsley, H, Campbell, O. B. Robbins, F. H. Momo. J. S. Moore, S. O. Goodsell. C. Swanson, W. A.
Thomas, E. A. Thouing, C. Thompson, I. Wallis, and L.T. Paton, all of whom hand lost no points, R.
Aítken lost five, H. Grigg and W. Tanner each lost 12, W. Love lost 10, G. Greeve lost 41, Percy
Williams lost 60, R. Maloney 89, G. Davidson lost 112, J. Gladden, lost 170, and S. McConkey lost
303. Four teams were still in the running, the Westen Suburbs and Motor-Cycle Club of New South
Wales, and the Trlumph and Harley-Davldson trade teams. All succeeded in negotiating the rough road
as far as Wiseman's Ferry, the most notable incident of this stretch being that Tom Harris, who in the
last contest on this course experienced some extraordinary misfortunes, adding 44 minutes on the
schedule time After lunch, the journey to McGrath's Hill and along the Windsor Road to Parramatta,
thence via the Parramatta Road to Sydney, was easy.
Page 24 of 34
Carberry Motorcycles
The purpose of this article is to set down some of the history of an Australian made motorcycle which
actually went into production.
The Beginning
Paul Carberry had a vision of making a V Twin
motorcycle engine out of two Royal Enfield cylinder
heads and barrels. A similar project had been done in
the UK some years before. It was called the Norcroft.
Nothing came of it. After years of effort and enormous
personal and financial sacrifice Paul had built a
prototype with cylinders bored out to 535ccs giving a
total capacity of 1070ccs.
Figure 12 - Carberry Motorcycles Number 1
(foreground) Prototype (behind)
Paul had engaged the services of Australian
motorcycle engineer and designer, Ian Drysdale to
undertake the detail of the design to bring reality to the
concept. Paul himself, has a practical engineering
background and had at one stage, a Royal Enfield
Dealership in Indonesia. He has owned and repaired
many different makes of motorcycle.
Paul joined the Royal Enfield (Owners) Club of
Australia (now officially the ‘Royal Enfield Club of
Australia Inc’) which was founded by his friend
Anthony Wright. The Carberry Enfield, known as the
‘Double Barrel’ was a source of keen interest and
admiration by many in the Club. Following what could
have been a potentially dangerous accident on a club
ride, a decision was made to incorporate the club and
at the first AGM held in Taree Mike Floyd was elected
Vice President.
Mike had recently come into a small inheritance and
wanted to own his own Carberry Double Barrel. A
group within the Club decided to support Mike and
Paul and form a company to build Carberry V Twin
motorcycles. Guy Brown, John Sharp and Anthony
Wright joined Mike and Paul as shareholders of the
company and the go ahead to finance 15 castings was
made. Guy Brown provided the premises and Paul
started work.
Mike Floyd was well aware from the beginning that he
could lose all his money knowing that small
motorcycle manufacturers are rarely profitable and
13 - Paul Carberry (centre) and No.8 at
most fail. He said at the time that to be involved in Figure
Phillip Island
helping to facilitate the production of an Australian
Motorcycle would make him very proud. Also he wanted to own a V Twin Carberry motorcycle.
Page 25 of 34
At some stage the idea was floated that the design could be sold to the Royal Enfield Company in India
and contact was made. Perhaps there was an idea that a profit could be made after all. The Royal
Enfield Company agreed to purchase one of Paul’s V Twin motorcycles. The first production number
belonging to Mike Floyd rolled off Paul’s production line. Paul as a man of enormous integrity and
honesty was determined that the motorcycles bearing his name would be as close to perfection as he
could make them. A consequence of this was that the early ones appeared very slowly partly due to
Paul’s meticulous approach and the need to solve the myriad of inevitable problems as he went along.
Machining was out-sourced but essentially all the bikes were hand built by Paul. One employee assisted
for part of the time.
One bike was purchased by the Indians and was
extensively tested there. The decision was made
by the Indians to not purchase the design. There
was tremendous disappointment for all and
disagreements between Paul and the other
shareholders started. Paul was alone against the
others who were mainly in agreement with each
other. Previous niggles were raised to add to the
disharmony.
Paul was told to complete those bikes which
had been ordered and deposits taken, but no
others were to be built. No more money would
be provided. Any vision the shareholders had of
Figure 14 - Number 2 aka ‘Bulldog’
ever recouping their outlay was completely
dashed. Paul remains quite embittered by the experience having given ten years of his life and
everything he owned to the project. The company still exists although in limbo. There are no debts
outstanding. The makings of two more engines remain.
But the legacy of the Company is that there are a number of
motorcycles out there bearing the Carberry name and Carberry
Motorcycles have been more successful in producing
motorcycles than any other recent company that I know of. The
result was a stylish good looking reliable motorcycle that turns
heads and attracts crowds wherever it appears. Paul Carberry
has ensured his place in the history of motorcycles.
The Failure of the Indian Venture
Each shareholder has their own view of why the sale of the V
Twin design to the Indians failed. Royal Enfield, Chennai, India
has recently announced that they have no intention of making
twins in the immediate future and will stick with single cylinder
motorcycles. Part of the problem will always be that the V Twin
engine is the province of the Americans as the vertical twin is
the province of the British. This is of course only partly true for
post war (WWII) motorcycles (the Vincent is the glaring
exception) but has become the accepted norm.
The evidence for this is the recent Triumph Thunderbird clearly
designed with the US market if mind. It’s a big capacity vertical Figure 15 - Paul Carberry with tester
twin to go head to head with Harley Davidsons and Victory Alan Cathcart
Page 26 of 34
bikes. Dealers and buyers in the US understand big British bikes to be vertical twins and big US bikes
to be V Twins. Although only some 700 Royal Enfield motorcycles are sold in the USA each year
(Compared with 150 in Australia) the US market seems to have enormous influence. The Royal Enfield
people told the Australians that if they were to make a twin it would be a vertical twin as that is what
the market expected. Unfortunately it is likely that the Carberry design came too late for the Indians.
They had moved on.
The old iron barrel Bullet was based on a 1955 British made Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. Royal
Enfield India had stopped making iron barrelled Bullets and moved through the experience of their
alloy barrelled Lean Burn engine (sold as the Electra in Australia from 2005), to the fuel injected unit
construction engine (circa 2007) designed to meet Euro 3 requirements (sold in Australia as the B5, C5
and G5 models).
Paul Carberry’s engine in 2010 was just too antiquated for them. Paul has said that he was really only
presenting a bottom end which could take whatever cylinders and heads they wanted to attach. Perhaps
the Indians didn’t have his vision. Ian Drysdale was happy to modify for fuel injection, unit
construction to whatever they required. But the Indians couldn’t get past the comparison of the Carberry
V Twin with their 27.5 hp UCE fuel injected motors and were not impressed with a flat out top speed of
150 kph and a dyno reading of 36 or 38 hp at maximum revolutions of approximately 4500, which was
all the Carberry they bought could manage. Paul was always certain that the Carberry bottom end could
handle 70 or 80 horse power easily.
Page 27 of 34
The Bikes
The following information is to the best of my knowledge. Some variations in the bikes I may not be
aware of.
The 1070cc prototype belongs to Paul Carberry. It has covered somewhere in the region of 60,000+kms.
Carberry 0001 belongs to Mike Floyd of Clovelly, NSW, Vice President of the Royal Enfield Club of
Australia Inc. It is a standard 1070cc Carberry with iron barrels and 6.5 to 1 compression.
Carberry 0002 belongs to Guy Brown, of Launching Place, Victoria. This was very much the
developmental bike. It is 1070cc with alloy barrels and has had various modifications including high
compression pistons and larger throated carburettors. Until recently it had an English made Newby
clutch but I understand now has another dry clutch which has been specially made in Melbourne. It has
a widened rear swinging arm and an 18 inch rear wheel. Guy has christened it “Bulldog”.
Carberry 0003 was a standard 1070cc iron barrel engine only, sold to a Richard McGleish in the UK. It
is not known whether it has ever been fitted to a bike.
Carberry 0004 was a standard 1070 cc engine only, sold to a Malcolm Pearce in New Zealand. I
understand it has been fitted to a Triumph frame and has been substantially modified for racing.
Carberry 0005 was a standard 1070 cc engine bike sold to Mick Haines of Launching Place, Victoria.
This is the only bike to have changed hands and has been sold to a suspension specialist in Victoria for
A$27,000. Since then it has had extensive modifications.
RE SPECIAL This bike did not receive an engine number. It was a standard iron barrel 1070cc
version sold to Royal Enfield India and taken there by Paul Carberry, Mike Floyd and others. In the
order of build this model is placed here chronologically but may have been constructed before Carberry
0005. It has been seen being ridden around Chennai, India.
Carberry 0006 belongs to Russell Genet of Victoria. It is a standard 1070cc with iron barrels.
Carberry 0007 (right) belongs to Bruce Walker
of Baulkham Hills, NSW, President of the Royal
Enfield Club of Australia Inc. It has standard size
alloy Bullet barrels of capacity 998ccs and 8.5 to
1 Accralyte forged pistons. It has an English
made Newby Clutch and a 18 litre fuel tank.
Carberry 0008 belongs to Mike Floyd, Vice
President RECOA Inc. This visually stunning
version was made as a show bike and has a bright
Cherry Red Frame, a 1070cc iron barrel engine
with higher compression pistons as well as an 18
inch rear wheel and widened swinging arm.
Carberry 0009 belongs to Andrew Lidden of
Mittagong, NSW, who I understand is a collector.
The bike has a 1070cc iron barrel engine.
Page 28 of 34
Carberry 0010 belongs to Tom Neal of Glenn
Innes, NSW. It is a standard 1070cc iron barrel
version. (left)
Carberry 0011 belongs to Mal Gillies of North
Sydney, NSW. This bike is based on the later
Electra Bullets and has standard size Electra
Alloy barrels, pistons and heads with a capacity
of 998ccs as well as a modified Electra frame. It
has an English made Newby Clutch and a 18 litre
fuel tank.
The bike was recently involved in a fire (May
2013) and severely damaged (See Carberry
Flambe on U Tube). It is repairable. Dyno testing
in WA indicated over 42 hp. This is also the most
travelled Carberry having been ridden around Australia by its owner in 2012 and to the Gulf of
Carpentaria in 2013. It has covered over 60,000 faultless kilometres and proven the reliability and
longevity of Paul Carberry’s engine.
Carberry 0012 (right) is incomplete. It will
belong to Paul’s friend Noel of Kuranda (near
Cairns), Queensland. Paul Carberry has taken a
break in the production of this bike but will
resume work soon. I understand the engine is
fitted in a Triumph frame.
This is quite a worked over model and is
expected to develop around 70 hp from
1070ccs. It has alloy barrels and British
manufactured “Big Head” Bullet heads. I
believe it has much larger valves and
carburettors, and hotter cams as well as the
seven plate clutch from the UCE EFI Bullets.
All the engine numbers bear the initials of their owners. My bike has the engine number C11 –
0007BW. C11 standing for Carberry 2011. Paul built 12 bikes and two engines in total including the
prototype.
The Carberry Motorcycle
The engine is a 55 degree V Twin with side by
side conrods. The forged conrods are peened to
give additional strength. The engine has
hydraulically operated tappets and electronic
ignition. Two high capacity oil pumps circulate
and scavenge engine oil.
The engines use a spin-off car type oil filter and
the car type starter motor operates on a ring gear
shrunk onto the right side flywheel. The crankpin
is made of hardened Toledo steel. The cams are
standard Royal Enfield Bullet.
Page 29 of 34
Like the Bullet engine the V Twin has a built in oil tank. The gearbox is a standard Royal Enfield 5
speed with a standard five plate clutch with stronger springs. The frame is a modified Royal Enfield
Bullet version lengthened and strengthened behind the steering head with twin down tubes. The final
drive gearbox sprocket has 25 teeth instead of the usual 17 teeth. Other than the castings, parts are
readily available from most auto spare parts shops or Royal Enfield Dealers.
Bruce Walker, President
Royal Enfield
Incorporated.
Club
Carberry Number 1
Figure 16 - Mal Gillies’ Carberry Number 11
Page 30 of 34
of
Australia
WARATAH MOTOR CYCLES.
TWO NEW MODELS.
THE NEW 1½ H.P. WARATAH MOTOR CYCLE.
“The Waratah motor cycle has for many years been popular in this market as a cheap and light
machine, which offered extremely economical motor transport. This cycle, which is manufactured in
England, has always had a Villiers engine Hitherto the make reviewed has only been available in the
form of a utility type, with a 1½ h p engine. Now, however, a 2½ hp machine has been introduced, and
new models of both types are displayed by the local distributors The smaller is known as the "150," and
is supplied with a Villiers sports engine of long stroke. It is capable of travelling at 50 miles an hour,
and it is said that the normal petrol mileage is about 120 miles per gallon.
The fittings and accessories are more elaborate than those found on
previous examples of this class, and in addition to the engine the
Villiers factory supplies the carburettor, magneto, and electric
lighting system Among the improvements in the electrical equipment
is the four-pole generator, which replaces the two-pole sort
previously installed, and ensures a powerful beam of light from the
headlamp at low engine speeds
It is claimed that the “150" type is very
attractive, not only because of the fact
that it can be driven 120 miles at a cost
of only two shillings for fuel and
lubricant, but also on account of its
comfortable seating and mechanical
dependability.
There are single spring front forks,
balloon tyres, and a soft saddle
upholstered in latex rubber A three
speed gear box is used and there are a
clutch and kick-starter. Leg shields are
a standard fitting and the petrol tank
has been enlarged, and now holds 1¾
gallons. The price of the model “150,"
inclusive of sales tax, is £49/10/.
Many modern features of design are to be found in the latest 2½ h.p. version which is catalogued as the
'250". Its official maximum speed is 60 mph and to meet the needs of faster performance, the forks and
frame have been made very robust and a more powerful headlamp than that of the other model is fitted.
The engine is built in accordance with sporting design and has double ports and an alloy cylinder head.
It develops 10 h.p., an output from 2½ h.p. unit which it is said was until recently procurable only from
more costly overhead valve sports engines. In other aspects the specification is similar to that of the
model “150 " but the mudguards are larger and there are dual exhaust silencers. The 2½ h.p. Waratah
is listed at £50/10/, inclusive of sales tax. “
Page 31 of 34
Waratah motorcycles were manufactured in Sydney, Australia, from before 1911 to around 1948,
although Waratah badged motorcycles were sold into the 1950s.
Initially Waratah motorcycles were manufactured by the Canada Cycle & Motor Agency, Ltd. on
George Street, Sydney, who from at least 1910 built from standard parts, or rebadged BSA bicycles as,
Waratah bicycles. W.A.Williams had been the manager of the Sydney branch of this business and in
1905 he bought it, retaining the name until 1913. In 1913 the bicycle and motorcycle part of the
business was taken over by his sons, Perce and Reg, and the name was changed to Williams Bros. and
later P&R Williams. This business, at 213–7 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, is widely known as the
manufacturer of Waratah motorcycles from 1914 to 1948.
Initially, they made small machines
assembled from predominantly British
components, including Villiers engines, Sun
frames, Druid and Brampton forks. In fact,
in 1921 they described themselves as sole
importers of Villiers-Waratah MotorCycles. Fafnir and V.T.S. engines were also
used.
In the later years (post World War II), they
badge engineered using, it is believed,
Norman and Excelsior machines. They were
Australia's longest running motorcycle
manufacturer. However little information
seems to have survived, presumably
because these were low-value utility machines.
LIGHTWEIGHT'S TRIP 10th February 1926
Veteran Motor Cyclist's Marathon.
WHILE in Brisbane on his annual holidays recently, a resident of St. George of over 50 years of age
decided to return home by motor cycle, and with this idea in mind he purchased a 1½ h.p. Waratah
machine. He gives the following account of his long ride in the following letter received by Messrs.
Morgan and Wacker, Elizabeth Street, Brisbane: "I was unlucky on going home to meet with such bad
weather. I had to take the train for about 200 miles, but I rode for 200 miles altogether by motor cycle. I
am well satisfied with the little 1½ h.p. Waratah, and I had no engine trouble. I have done 603 miles
actual distance now, on 34 pints of petrol, and 2½ pints of oil; that is 140 miles per gallon.
Compression is 100 per cent., and the bike runs sweetly and starts within a couple of yards. Tyres are
quite hard yet. I met with all sorts of roads, and had to climb the range at Toowoomba, too. The
Waratah went over steadily but surely, but, of course, the engine got fairly hot on the long climb."
Page 32 of 34
Branch Sponsors
.
Page 33 of 34
*********************************************************************************
Contributions to the HUB are always welcome.
The content of the HUB depends on you, our Members, to write about motorcycle related matters or
interesting things which you, our Members, get up to (within reason and observing proper decorum, of
course!!) Interesting rides, funny stories of events that happened on rides, group rides, interesting
products that improve or contribute to motorcycling enjoyment, bikes you’ve ridden, a new bike you’ve
bought, books you’ve read, articles which you’d like to share or draw fellow Members attention to, etc.
The list is endless. You can always contact me to discuss the suitability of a contribution if you’re not
sure. Generally I don’t make any alterations to people’s writing other than trying to correct typos or
spelling but if you’re not a confidant writer then I’m happy to help.
Bruce Walker
Editor
Table of Figures
Figure 1 - Wet Renmark ............................................................................................................................ 5
Figure 2 - Wet Burra .................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 3 - Lunch at Ross River Resort....................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 - Norm and Merrilyn from WA ................................................................................................... 7
Figure 5 - Not all Royal Enfields at Simpson’s Gap ................................................................................. 7
Figure 6 - Simpson's Gap ........................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 7 - Rock Wallabies at Heavitree Resort ......................................................................................... 8
Figure 8 - Going Home From Cobar.......................................................................................................... 9
Figure 9 - Circa 1914 Bennett and Barkell seen in Tasmania ................................................................. 15
Figure 10 - Another view of the Australian made Bennett and Barkell – the primary chaincase looks like
a more modern addition. .......................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 11 - Royal Enfield used in the first attempt at Bonneville. .......................................................... 21
Figure 12 - Carberry Motorcycles Number 1 (foreground) Prototype (behind) ...................................... 25
Figure 13 - Paul Carberry (centre) and No.8 at Phillip Island ................................................................. 25
Figure 14 - Number 2 aka ‘Bulldog’........................................................................................................ 26
Figure 15 - Paul Carberry with tester Alan Cathcart ............................................................................... 26
Figure 16 - Mal Gillies’ Carberry Number 11 ......................................................................................... 30
Page 34 of 34