Motorcycle mayhem in the 60s.

**sacc51** · 4th July 2017, 01:31 PM

Prior to buying my first motorised vehicle I had absolutely no aptitude for mechanical systems. I was always interested in motor bikes and so having worried my folks, and all around me, for 16 years and 9 months I raided my bank account and bought a 1963 A65 650cc BSA Thunderbolt. Man does that sound like a beast – Thunderbolt. $200 was a lot of money to me in those days, I think my wage at the time was around $20 a week. Anyway, I paid the $200 to my brother’s mate and my brother rode the Thunderbolt home.

For the next couple of weeks I was content with sitting on the thing and making motor bike noises with rubbery lips, dribbling down my chin in the process; but, eventually it got the better of me and one day when the folks weren’t home I started the bike up and zipped down the road a couple of blocks, as fast as I could go in first gear, I didn’t know how to change gears at this stage. A couple of days later, same deal, folks out so I went for a longer spin, again in first gear all the way. Along the way I came to a skidding halt at a stop sign and watched a copper on a bike ride past. That put the willies up me and I didn’t go for another ride until I got my learners.

Once I had my learners my old man instructed me in changing gears, giving hand signals and so on then he climbed on the back and I took off – silly man he was. I think around 20 times every minute he was pounding on my shoulder and telling me to slow down, pay attention to stop signs and all manner of things I thought utterly ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Fortunately, he lived through that experience.
On the day I went to the Vic Park Police station to sit my practical test, my old man gave me some advice, give good hand signals, don’t sneak up in between vehicles, accelerate slowly and keep the speed down to 25 mph. I managed all that except the hand signals. My brother had tuned the Thunderbolt for me, he was an apprentice mechanic and at the time the 250cc MX state champion, a year or so earlier he had also won the Claremont Speedway Champion of Champions title on his Goldy stock bike. Unfortunately, MX/stock bike tuning was a little different from road bike tuning, race bikes are tuned so they don’t idle, and so, my Thunderbolt required a hand on the throttle at all times lest the motor stop. Giving hand signals on a bike that doesn’t idle is a very strange affair: take you hand off the throttle for a hand signal and the bike’s engine dies, double that with changing down gears and it results in a strange jerky ride. Halfway through the ride I lost the copper, I think he just gave up on me to be honest, eventually I returned to the station to find the copper standing beside his bike, tapping his foot and displaying his best ‘not so pleased’ look.

So on my test ride I had: rode up between cars, stalled the bike every time I stopped at an intersection, made some really weird looking hand signals, lost the copper and rode around the streets of Vic Park unaccompanied. The copper gave me a stern look and pronounced I had failed the test – dismally, ‘You can’t tell me you bought a big bike like this to idle around the streets at 25mph’ he added. At this point my old man stepped in saying it was his fault as he had told me not to go over 25 mph and asked the copper for a re-test. Eventually the copper agreed, gave me instructions on the route I should take, mounted his bike and off we went.

I didn’t mess around this time, I grabbed big handfuls of throttle and took off like a scolded rabbit. Halfway through the ride I discovered the copper had disappeared – again. When I returned to the station he wasn’t quite so angry this time, he said ‘that’s a little better, but I’m not sure the roadgoing public are ready for you yet’ Once again my old man stepped in and the copper wrote out my licence. That was a travesty as the next couple of years were to testify.
Two days later after gaining my licence I was returning from the fish and chip shop, an off duty female copper must have missed the blinding flash that was my bike and me speeding through the intersection, she nicked the back wheel of the Thunderbolt sending the bike and me off the road. The bike stopped and fell over when it collided with a fence. I, on the other hand, kept going, straight over the handlebars and introducing my head to a rather solid fence. Concussion is a strange beast, I can remember lying on my stomach, pushing myself up and toppling over before I got a foot from the ground, I kept trying but just couldn’t even sit up. Eventually some good Samaritans bundled me into a car and took me to the local Doctors surgery.

A day or so later I had recovered and was ready to inflict myself on the road going public again; unfortunately, my bike wasn’t, the headlight nacelle and a few other bits and pieces were bent out of shape so the bike stayed in the garage for a few days whilst I fixed it up.
rode the bike to and from work everyday still wrestling with hand signals and dieing motors’ fortunately, one of my workmates Garth, new a bit about bikes and showed me how to adjust ide speed, what a revelation, riding a bike that didn’t die everytime I made a hand signal. A few months passed and one night riding home after working overtime a Triumph Herald pulled out in front of me as I was riding down Wellington street in Perth. I slammed on the brakes and realising I was not going to avoid him threw the bike sideways and slid along the wet road in a good mimicry of a speedway rider. Both wheels hit the drivers side caving in the side of the Herald, must have hit a bump or something for both wheels to have left the deck like that. Anyway, this wasn’t my fault, the driver apologised profusely agreeing to make good any repairs. Damaged this time was the headlight nacelle again, gear lever, handlebars and nice gouge marks in the right muffler, never heard from that guy again and I couldn’t contact him so repairs were up to me. Easy, the bike sounded better with a louder exhaust so I left that as it was, the nacelle found its way to the bin and I mounted the headlight using a couple of bits of ½” x 1/8” steel bent and drilled to suit. A big hammer fixed the gear leaver and I was ready to roll.

A few months later I was riding over the Garret Road bridge in peak traffic. I didn’t notice the car in front had stopped as I was gazing down at the river. I smashed into the back of a VE Valiant, two weeks old it was, over the handlebars I went landing on the boot lid bending it like a banana. No idea how fast I was going but the force of the impact bent the forks back so far the rim of the wheel was touching the right side engine side cover. I got the bike home , removed the forks and had them straightened then I was back on the road for some more mayhem. Bike brakes in the early 60s weren’t the best of things, the A65s brakes when applied would cause the front of the bike to oscillate up and down but not really do much else, The rear brakes simply locked up. I never worried too much about the brakes, never having the front drum skimmed or even looked at the rear brakes, bikes are meant to go, not stop.

Now, I’m only 17 and a bit you realise so I’m bullet proof, but better than that, I’m the best rider in the world, I can speed around corners almost flat. As it turned out I was flat going around corners – a lot. Those poor old chrome mufflers didn’t have a lot of shape or chrome left on them. I’d gone through half a dozen gear levers and brake pedals, handlebars, levers and so on, but still I hadn’t learned.

My best trick was sitting at the lights waiting to turn right. As soon as the lights turned green I’d grab a handful and blast around the corner in front of the on coming traffic. I managed to live through these follies. Another trick was to blast around the causeway roundabout in Perth, just to see how fast and how low I could go, my brother even accompanied me on one excursion. He was too much for me though, I couldn’t go as fast or as low as he seemed to want, professional, amateur I guess. Along the way I was learning about motor bike engines and such, I had taught myself how to tune the bike, timing, gapping the points, adjusting mixture and idle speed and so on, no thanks to the brother who had no time for me and constantly complained about having to fix my stuff ups. Around this time I had developed an interest in show bikes and café racers and so one day stripping the side covers, oil inlet pipe and so on I forgot to stop and found a box of parts and a motor bike minus an engine. Not to worry I gathered a heap of parts and sent them off to the chrome platers, made some drop bars and a few mods to the frame. Cut the side covers down to resemble Lightning side covers and a few other bits and pieces at the same time I saw an ad in an English bike magazine for cams and twin carb manifold for the A65, fortunately, I never got around to sending off for them rather I set about putting it all together. I also replaced the rings on the bike at this stage. I learned a valuable lesson here, when replacing rings you should also remove the carbon build ring at the top of the bore, if you don’t it will result in having to buy a second set. I resprayed the bike and it looked smick but was still missing an ignition switch so just twitched some wires together down by the coils.

Unfortunately, the left petrol tap had a slight leak and when I pulled into a servo for fuel I reached down and pulled the wires apart. This of course ignited the petrol and the bike went up in a ball of fire , me sitting astride it and suddenly there were no people around, they had all fled. I dropped the bike quick and rolled away as quick as I could. Fortunately, a young attendant grabbed an extinguisher and doused the flames before they set alight to the bowsers. So much for the new paint job. I pushed the bike home, must have been 5 miles, and rewired the thing and was ready for some more mayhem, albeit on a rather charred looking bike. At the time I had my eye on a 1966 BSA Spitfire.

These things were hot, they came with GP2 carbs that could run on alcohol. Not many knew at the time, the Spitfire, running on petrol, was a faster bike than Triumph’s Bonneville, running on alcohol??? Fortunately, an XM Falcon panel van entered my life around then, probably saving my life, and that was the end of the A65 and motor bike mayhem, just for a little while, once motor bikes bite you you tend to stay bit for life!

**Chris Parks** · 4th July 2017, 05:42 PM

The days of bikes, I made the choice between alcohol and bikes as I couldn't see me living if one didn't go and the grog won, cars stayed upright when you drove them intoxicated. My mate though found a BSA Bantam and the task was to get it going so everyone gathered around the bike and we finally succeeded. John wasn't the brightest guy, these days I suspect he would be diagnosed with Autism or similar so we convinced him he could ride it around the back yard which was pretty damned big and he gave it a go. The only problem was the dunny in the yard, he headed for it but couldn't figure out how to stop before he hit it so in the door and out the back wall and everyone cleared out until his parents had calmed down. The world can be grateful that I never got a bike license, I was dangerous enough in a car as the insurance companies can testify to.

We made a mortar bomb if you want to hear that story, frightened buggery out of a lot of people when we launched it across Woolaware Bay! The cross bow was good to, it went through three paling fences and then got confiscated.

**Fuzzie** · 4th July 2017, 10:19 PM

The license test sound vaguely similar to my experience in the 70's, albeit on a Honda CB100. On the first test out of the Carlton License testing station I thought I had followed the inspectors route instruction, but had no idea where I was supposed to go when I got to the 5 way intersection where I was supposed to turn half right... result fail.

A month later when I went for a re-test, different inspector. Follow instructions, there was actually a tram strike on at the time, decide not to follow the rest of traffic travelling on tram lines to turn right at specified intersection, so pass tram stop left of tram safety zone before turning right, check rear vision mirror inspector is waayyy back but still in sight. Turn right and at next intersection at red signals can't see inspector and figure I've lost inspector at last traffic signal, wait for a while at next lights but no show of inspector so think have stuffed it again and continue on (what I think is) specified course. Arrive back at testing station, inspector is waiting in car park quite jolly to greet me back, pulls a couple of parcels of fish and chips from saddle bag, goes inside and signs off on successful test and hands out the office lunch orders...

12 months later I was wiped out by a car turning right through the Swanston and Grattan street intersection and didn't have much enthusiasm for bikes after.

**cava** · 4th July 2017, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by sacc51

once motor bikes bite you you tend to stay bit for life!

Agree, up to a point - I don't bounce the same as when I was younger, and haven't ridden a bike for several decades.

But I do like some of the older bikes for style and image, and could sit for a long time just looking at them.

**cava** · 5th July 2017, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

We made a mortar bomb if you want to hear that story

Yes please...

**BobL** · 5th July 2017, 11:45 AM

An uncle who was only 8 years older than me lived with us for a few years and most of his mates rode motor bikes so there were often scooters, BSAs, Nortons and Triumphs parked out the front of our place with a gaggle of kids swarming around them.

My first motorised two wheeled vehicle was an old Vespa which was unlicensed and was given to me by one of my uncles mates when I was 15 in the late 60's. It was supposed to become my mode of transport once I was old enough to get a licence but it was pretty clapped out and after taking it to a mechanic, who said it was not worth licensing, we gave up on that idea.

My younger brothers and I drove the Vespa around the neighbour hood and in a nearby pine plantation, 2 or 3 of us used to go fanging through the pine forest at what we thought was breakneck speed but was only probably 25mph with the low branches slapping our faces. We come come home with red faces and smelling of pine resin so mum always knew where we had been and I don't know how we didn't lose an eye or two.

Then the front brakes stopped working and opening up the front hub showed that something oily and greasy had soaked into the brake shoes. We I did what dad did when this happened to the log truck brakes - put them in a fire and burnt off all the oil, so I put the Vespa brake shoes in the chip water heater and lit a good fire. When I came back to see how they had gone they had completely disappeared! A couple of days later when cleaning out the chip heater ash tray I found a saucer size round piece of metal and then it dawned on me the shoe holders were Al and they had melted and fallen into the ask tray.

That didn't stop us riding the thing. One day a brother decided to set up a ramp and see how far he could jump it. This went on for weeks setting up all sorts of records, highest jump, longest jump, jump with more than one passenger etc. Finally all 4 of my brothers piled on and performed what was apparent the "best jump ever" and that managed to bend the frame so that it only had enough belly clearance to move in a straight line. We hacked away some of the footwell so we could still corner in a semi-upright position. A few weeks after that the engine seized and it sat in the back garden till it was carted away with all the rubbish when my parents moved into a retirement unit.

Meanwhile all my mates had real motorbikes. Ducati 250 and 350's, and small Kawasaki's and Yamaha's. I had a few rides on these, and managed to come off the 250cc Ducati the first time I rode it. It had very hard clutch springs and just talking of up the street my hand slipped off the clutch and it took of from under me and I fell off - most embarrassing. Quiet a few of us, including myself, also had VW beetles - well at least they do have an air cooled engine I thought. I didn't get a real motor bike until I was 21. A 3 year old BMW 600 - as I liked the idea of touring rather than racing. I got my licence on my first go at the Fremantle cop station I think mainly because the traffic cop liked my "sensible bike"!

When I worked in the south west I got to know a motor cycle enthusiast in Albany and visited him many times. He lived down near the whaling station and had a couple of sheds with some 50 old bikes where he used to do up old Harleys and Indians. Got to try a couple out. My favourite was a 500cc single BSA. He also had a souped up little Ducati 350 cc single which went like the clappers.

The BMW was a relatively safe bike and I only came off that thing twice in 10 years. Once was on a gravel strewn intersection in the back blocks of Jandakot, took a left corner too fast hoping to beat a large truck coming fast from my right and slid off right in front of the truck and fortunately kept sliding and the truck missed me by what seemed like inches but was probably a couple of yards. Luckily I was all leathered up and only tore holes in my jacket and a glove and gave me a decent bruise on my left hip.

The other time was out near Bannister on a closed very sandy bush track coming downhill into a carpark. The sand was real soft and I had to keep up speed to prevent getting bogged. As I got close to the car park I could see what was either a local ranger or cop standing next to his car and was a bit worried he would nab me for being on a closed road. As I got to the car park I had to make a sharp right so I slowed right down for the bend and going too slow for the soft sand I ended up flopping over onto the sand. Not even a scratch on the bike or myself. The guy turned out to be a council employee and he just laughed and said why don't you get a trail bike!

I rode the BMW all over the South West of WA and once to Tassie and back. It was my only more of transport for about 3 years. It was very reliable, except the generator light used to come on at odd times but the battery never went flat - just before i sold it I found there was a crack in a solder track on the voltage regulator circuit board that a dob of solder fixed. I only sold it because I moved to the US to work.

Meanwhile one of my brothers really got into bikes and he seems to be constantly turning them over and currently has a stable of 4 (Guzzi, Yamaha, KTM and BMW). When I came back from the US bike loving brother was working FIFO so he used to leave a bike with me and I would take him to the airport. Mostly it was a Ducati 850 or his Yamaha 1200. Riding these bikes every few weeks was enough for me not to buy my own bike again. The last time he loaned me a bike was in 2008? when he went away for 3 months and left his Yamaha 1200 with me - I think I rode it 3 times in that period and that suggested I had run out of bike puff.

If I get a "bike urge" I just go visit him and purve on his stable. Here's a pic of a 1970's Guzzi 850 he did up in 2015. It doesn't look that different from stock but he has significantly modified the frame to improve the handling - he's a mech engineer with many years of experience in doing this sort of thing. He has a beaut home workshop with a proper bike lifter etc. I have done a few bike related jobs for him with my lathe but he does all his own mechanicals and things like TIG work.

MGuzzi.jpg

**BobL** · 5th July 2017, 02:49 PM

Found some pics of the latest bikes bro has done makeover on.

He bought that BMW in SA and rode it back to Perth
I turned up a couple of pieces for it that go under the seat.
BMW.jpg

The KTM
KTM.jpg

**cava** · 5th July 2017, 04:21 PM

Love Guzzi's. I had a T3 in the late 70's and did the IOM track on it. Great bike.
The last bike I had was a Vincent Rapide, wish I had it now - they are worth a fortune

**Optimark** · 5th July 2017, 07:44 PM

The rear end of the BMW looks like it came from the R100GS, well the wheel hub almost certainly did. Not sure if I can see the Paralever (BMW patent from the fifties) on the underside of the rear shaft housing.

The gearbox looks like a /7 onwards, perhaps from the R100GS, which is a later machine.

The tank looks like it is from an R90S, going on the petcock position and tank filler cap, which opens the wrong way if it opens when you are sliding over the tank and it opens; don’t ask how I know.

The crankcase looks very much like the R90S unit, although the timing chain housing is from the /7 onwards series (R90S is a /6).

Rocker covers are almost certainly from an R90S, or they could have been scrounged from a couple of other /6 motors.

Front electrical cover is from a /7 onwards unit.

The oil cooler, if it is a BMW, which it looks like it is, is from the /7 onwards (R100RS onwards actually).

Missing air-box has been replaced with a custom made thing, looks interesting that as it should hold the crankcase ventilation valve, which can sometimes be heard popping when idling.

Hand levers and their associated switches, are genuine BMW made in Japan units from about 1982 onwards, I seem to recollect.

Should turn quickly with that smallish front wheel.

Doesn’t look like it is running the larger sump, which could make life interesting if run at or above 6,000 rpm for a prolonged period. This is assuming it is either the 898cc engine or the 980cc engine. The 898 engine with its large crank throws, churns up a savage oil mist which can force the crankcase valve to remain open and (in the original ex-factory configuration) send a carburettor choking oil mist straight into the intakes, which in turn, chokes the engine and gives the rider the impression, “to be braked”. Which it does quite spectacularly, not to mention the unbelievable blue smoke screen pouring out of the exhausts.

The 980 engine ran a deeper (bolt on) sump, this with slightly different crank throws and an 8mm lowered notch for the high mark on the dipstick, resulted in a fix for that interesting peculiarity.

Looks like that unit would weigh about 160kg dry weight, which is quite light for something like that.

Nice looking unit.

Had a more than a few BMW bikes, including a beautiful 1954 R68 which I flogged to death, and a reasonably rare 1961 R50S, also flogged to death.

Still have a BMW motorcycle, although these days I don’t ride too much.

Mick.

**KBs PensNmore** · 6th July 2017, 01:09 AM

I've had 4 bikes in my collection. First was an Adler 250 that had a problem with a slipping clutch. A family friend was a mechanic, so I took it to him to get repaired, unfortunately my father didn't like me having a bike and told him not to fix it. I ended up selling it as it was.
My next bike was a BSA Trials bike with a Villiers motor bike engine, whether this was factory built I don't know. It was fun to ride, except once going up a steep hill, I thought I was in bottom gear, when in fact it was in second. As the front wheel got over the edge, it stalled, rolling me and it into an artichoke patch, had to ride it standing up as I couldn't sit. Ended up having to get wife number one to pull out the prickles.
Another bike was a Yamaha 250 trail bike, fun to ride till they resurfaced the road with hot mix, great until it rained the following day. Another trip home side saddle with "gravel rash". Young, stupid, and invincible just a pair of jeans and T shirt, never again, took ages to heal.
Then was the last bike, if you could call it that, a Vespa scooter, just recently bought a home, a car and another mouth to feed, money being a bit tight, bought it as it was cheaper on fuel.
Can't really remember remember what happened to them, but I know I didn't bend them or modify them.
Kryn

**BobL** · 6th July 2017, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by Optimark

. . . . . .
Nice looking unit.

Had a more than a few BMW bikes, including a beautiful 1954 R68 which I flogged to death, and a reasonably rare 1961 R50S, also flogged to death.

Still have a BMW motorcycle, although these days I don’t ride too much.

Mick.

Cheers Mick,

My Bro's BMW was described and written up in Motorcycle Trader Australia & Cafe Racer Magazines Issue #7 and the Guzzi was in Issue #6.
There is some detail in those articles for those that are interested.

Here is a snip from the mag of the BMW mods

Screen Shot 2017-07-06 at 6.55.36 AM.png

**sacc51** · 7th July 2017, 04:12 PM

Why don't you start up thread on your brother's bikes, posting about Guzzi's and KTMs under Triumph isn't guaranteed to bring a wide audience!

**artful bodger** · 8th July 2017, 09:51 PM

I am definitely bitten for life.
A recent picture of the shed space takers.
DSCF5944.jpg
First one from left is wifey's Bonneville bobber.
2nd one is her old Bonneville....now gone.
3rd one is my ratty old K2 Honda four custom.
4th one is my beloved old Guzzi I bought in 84 and have put about 190,000klms on to. Including a year long round Aussie trip in the mid 80's.
5th one is my mighty fine 1970 Honda 750 K0 with low mileage and original just about everything.
6th one is a Harley 2008 FXST I bought new and has about 50,000ks on it now.
Others have come and gone in the meantime as well.
Frankly, I enjoy them much more than woodwork but they do not pay the bills.

**sacc51** · 9th July 2017, 12:06 PM

Nice collection of bikes. I don't understand Triumph's thinking using such names as Bonneville, Thruxton and Trident for the new breed. These names are from another era of motorcycling, an era when bikes were leaky, unreliable things, remember Slippery Sam and the MACs. The new Triumphs are nothing of the sort. It would be interesting to know if these names helped or were detrimental from a sales point of view. We'll never know I guess!

Still waiting BobL! A new thread with details and pics is required.

**artful bodger** · 9th July 2017, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by sacc51

Nice collection of bikes. I don't understand Triumph's thinking using such names as Bonneville, Thruxton and Trident for the new breed. These names are from another era of motorcycling, an era when bikes were leaky, unreliable things, remember Slippery Sam and the MACs. The new Triumphs are nothing of the sort. It would be interesting to know if these names helped or were detrimental from a sales point of view. We'll never know I guess!

Still waiting BobL! A new thread with details and pics is required.

I think it is helping them, the marketing department obviously does too. Sure the old ones were leaky and unreliable but most of the competition at the time was too. Until the Honda 750 four was released. That bike was/is known as the game-changer.
Although the new Triumphs do not have a direct link to the old ones (a bit like the new Indians) they still have the same name and it appears they are happy to draw on the old heritage.

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