I have to admit this last Easter weekend for me has been a pleasant surprise....I consider myself an active motorcyclist, but until Easter had only given the reports of the Broadford weekend motorcycle activities in Victoria a cursory glance.
Boy have I missed out on some great times....
Let me explain....
Years ago Motorcycling Victoria, the controlling body of motorcycle sport in the State of Victoria, Australia purchased land some 90 km north of Melbourne.
It was first purchased by Motorcycling Victoria in 1972 and is currently approx. 420 acres in size. It currently has circuits suitable for Road Race, Motocross, Supercross, Speedway, Dirt Track, Enduro and Trials.
A specialised pee wee circuit is also at the complex.
Some of the acreage acts as a buffer zone from nearby farms to minimise noise complaints.
All venues have toilet and catering facilities and on such a big weekend, several 30 seater buses continually circle the venues to ensure ease of getting to any and changing venues.
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A+ for the venue.....
Then Honda Australia has acted as a major sponsor for this Easter weekend festival of motorcycling.
A+ for Honda Australia.....
As mentioned it is a practice weekend, so all the venues were in operation and as a bonus for spectators and participants alike, Velocette was the theme marque this year....
The Velocette Owners Club of Australia was alerted to this just over 12 months ago and former Club vice president, now committee member, Richard Fanning, aided by his lady Melva Thomas who did a splendid job all weekendgreeting Velo people, supplying them with information and so on, organised the Velocette side of the day...
So how many Velos were there?
Best count was 102 over a great range of models......
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Melva greets Velo people....
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A really interesting NZ built special..... the engine is a 500 KTT built from patterns made for the job...including the 4LS front brake.....
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A brace of dirt track Velos on David Morse's trailer....
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Bruce Phillips 250 KTT special.....
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Stuart Hooper, only home 2 weeks from the salt flats at Lake Gairdner trailered his record breaker the 1800km to Broadford...Aust.Velo OC membership secretary, Peter Underwood tries it for size.....
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The Elsbury 250 Velocette, successful in Victoria in the 1950's.
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The ex Jack Hogan 250 DOHC Velocette special...Smith frame ( copy of a UK Beasley frame), with 1936 works Velocette DOHC cambox and a Carey alloy head. Won the Lwt. 250 TT at Bathurst in 1955.
The DOHC cambox with another cylinder head was brought to Australia in 1953 by Keith Campbell with a pile of Velocette racing parts and purchased by Jack Hogan then.
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The 250 Eldee built by Les Diener and now owned by Motorcycling Australia.
Accident damage occurred then the visiting UK motorcycling journalist Alan Cathcart "blotted his copybook" by dropping the model during a practice run.
Minimal damage to the bike....
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Chris Roberts on my old mk.8 KTT with another of my ex bikes behind...the Carey head/Smith framed MAC.
Boy have I missed out on some great times....
Let me explain....
Years ago Motorcycling Victoria, the controlling body of motorcycle sport in the State of Victoria, Australia purchased land some 90 km north of Melbourne.
It was first purchased by Motorcycling Victoria in 1972 and is currently approx. 420 acres in size. It currently has circuits suitable for Road Race, Motocross, Supercross, Speedway, Dirt Track, Enduro and Trials.
A specialised pee wee circuit is also at the complex.
Some of the acreage acts as a buffer zone from nearby farms to minimise noise complaints.
All venues have toilet and catering facilities and on such a big weekend, several 30 seater buses continually circle the venues to ensure ease of getting to any and changing venues.
Then Honda Australia has acted as a major sponsor for this Easter weekend festival of motorcycling.
A+ for Honda Australia.....
As mentioned it is a practice weekend, so all the venues were in operation and as a bonus for spectators and participants alike, Velocette was the theme marque this year....
The Velocette Owners Club of Australia was alerted to this just over 12 months ago and former Club vice president, now committee member, Richard Fanning, aided by his lady Melva Thomas who did a splendid job all weekendgreeting Velo people, supplying them with information and so on, organised the Velocette side of the day...
So how many Velos were there?
Best count was 102 over a great range of models......
Melva greets Velo people....
A really interesting NZ built special..... the engine is a 500 KTT built from patterns made for the job...including the 4LS front brake.....
A brace of dirt track Velos on David Morse's trailer....
Norm Trigg..to the right, well known world wide for his "Norm's Technicalites" . Becoming a "bible" of Velocette information.
The Hunter Picaninny DOHC special, built in Victoria in the early 1950's.
The DOHC cambox with another cylinder head was brought to Australia in 1953 by Keith Campbell with a pile of Velocette racing parts and purchased by Jack Hogan then.
Accident damage occurred then the visiting UK motorcycling journalist Alan Cathcart "blotted his copybook" by dropping the model during a practice run.
Minimal damage to the bike....
