Old Bike Australasia

Old Bike magazine is a must for those who ride as well as the dedicated enthusiast and rebuilder, covering everything from Vintage to early 1980s bikes - marvel at the restoration of machines that could still sit proudly on the showroom floor. Each issue brings you the latest news and results from recent events, race reports and Rally Roundup, along with new and old bike news and reviews, readers letters, Club Directory, What’s On and much, much more.

Fuel for Thought

Old Bike Australasia

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A Very British Makeover ROBIN BRACKETT’S 1929 ARIEL 500CC MODEL F CUSTOM • Customising a vintage motorcycle is a guilty pleasure. Let’s not pretend otherwise. For some people it sits somewhere between heresy and vandalism, the sort of thing you do not admit to in polite company at a club run. Yet here is the curious truth. Almost every enthusiast, no matter how devout their loyalty to factory specification, has at some point looked at a tasteful custom and felt a quiet flutter of admiration. We just do not always say so out loud.

RIDE RADER • What’s happening on two wheels

Veloce Aperion Unleashes a Wild X8 Two-Stroke

Building a Honda CBX Restomod: Sourcing the Chassis and First Moves • There are bikes you ride, and there are bikes that get into your blood. The Honda CBX 1000 sits firmly in the second camp, and my love affair with it runs deeper than most people expect.

Chopper Night Returns to Bulli 2026

Sharpen Your Skills: Advanced Rider Training Comes to South-East Queensland

Macna Heated Grips Bluetooth

Vale Mert Lawwill, the former AMA dirt-track champion

Jan Blizzard O.A.M.

Farewell Sandi Baglin

Dave Bickers Unscrambled by Ian Berry: A Fitting Tribute to a Motocross Great

Saturday Arvo in the Hollywood Hotel, 1964

ZERO COMPROMISE • 1956 AJS 16MS 350 RESTORATION BY SABOTAGE MOTORCYCLES

THE MILITAIRE AUTOCYCLE The Jabberwocky* of Motorcycles • In an era of endless experimentation and way-out ideas, the Militaire was a standout, not just for its baffling concept, but for the fact that it bounced back from numerous bankruptcies.

Bill Bingham THE QUIET MASTER OF THE SPEEDWAY SIDECAR • There is a particular kind of racer who never courts the headlines, yet earns the deep respect of everyone who shares the track with him. Bill Bingham was exactly that man. Across seventeen seasons and two golden eras of speedway sidecar racing, the 1950s and the 1960s, he carved out a reputation as one of the finest outfit riders this country has ever seen. He did it with skill, with consistency, and with a calm that bordered on serene, all while raising four sons alongside his wife Beryl and somehow getting that outfit to the track come what may.

A LEGEND TOO LATE • Some motorcycles become famous because they won everything. Others become famous because they arrived at precisely the wrong moment, carrying all the right ideas, all the right intent, and just enough bad timing to become legend.

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RAISING THE STAKES WORKS REPLICA 500CC VELOCETTE DOUBLE KNOCKER • After the success of the Works Replica 350 Double Knocker, Team Velo, led by Phil Price and Nick Thomson, set their sights on a full 500.c double knocker.

DRAWN FROM THE DIRT JAKE TOBIN’S STREET SPEEDWAY DREAM

The Ekka Speedway: Where Brisbane Roared • The intoxicating smell of Roo5 Methanol. The earth-shaking roar of engines. The spray of dirt flying into the grandstands like nature’s own confetti. For decades, these sensory hallmarks defined Saturday nights at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds. Affectionately known as "The Ekka," this nearly round, or perhaps more accurately "deformed-egg"-shaped, quarter-mile track was the beating heart of Australian motorcycle speedway. It...