Early morning fogs and mid afternoon oil spills - Post Classic Racing ...

Early morning fogs and mid afternoon oil spills didn’t stop us from having another great 

day at the races. Thankfully the great Rick K. turned up with his camera and captured it 

all for us once again. 

The Pre Modern and New Era Warriors hit turn 1 for the first time. 

They’re a colourful bunch. 

One of the most beautiful machines out there at the moment is from team 

OzLaverda. Next years Barry Sheene Festival of Speed will hopefully 

be hosting the Laverda National Rally.

I am Borg. Resistance is futile. 

You will finish behind me. 

The day started out 

dry but very foggy 

and that meant a 

slightly delayed start 

to the racing. Why do 

they build race tracks 

in places with such 

colourful weather ? 

You have to take 

your hat off to the 

flaggies and 

officials who brave 

the elements to keep 

us out on the track. 

After Suzii dropped one of her contact lenses on the track, she asked for some help to find it so racing was 

stopped and everybody chipped in to find the missing item. 

Now what really happened was a bike dropped some oil on the track which then caused a few people to 

crash. Even after cleanup work, race officials offered to end the day on safety grounds and gave everybody 

the chance to inspect the affected areas of the track. The riders chose to race on under yellow lights, (yes 

lights) and no further incidents were reported.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The stylish new 

range of PCRA clothing will have you back on all the 

‘must invite’ lists around town. Individually hand 

made from the finest imported and locally produced 

materials. When these were previewed at the Milan 

show earlier in the year, it caused a media frenzy. 

But seriously, the shirts look great and so do the 

fleecy jackets both of which sold out at Broadford. 

Really nice, soft jackets in red or black with the Post 

Classic Racing Association logo on the front. Available 

in a range of sizes, but be quick or you could 

miss out. The shirts are $26 and the jackets $36. 

The official PCRA aftershave, “Monoxide” will be 

available in the new year and can be pre ordered on 

the website.

Ray Nelson explains how much fun it is to grow old 

disgracefully. 

GONE RACING !! (OR is age an issue)?? 

Hi guys – just a quick few notes and tips on the humorous & serious side of my efforts to get back into racing. 

Should I go racing? I am around 59 but still feel fine, and hope to be known as the old guy on No. 28. 

I have been trying now for around 3 years to get started on this gig, after one of your loyal members suggested 

I buy a bike and go racing. I’ll drop him in it, ol No. 46 – big Al. 

So !! after buying a bike that needed difficult to obtain parts and am still trying, we then moved house, bought 

a race ready bike, stored that bike while building a new house. Moved into the new house 2 nd half of last 

calendar year. Now 2010 has to be the year to get it all together. 

Being an older rider and maybe not as sharp in the memory bank department - checklists are definitely the go. 

Make a list of everything you may possible want, try to load it into the car/trailer/ Ute /truck and if it does not 

fit then wind back to the necessities. A good friend – No. 24 Mike Murray, was very helpful with this. 

Plan - get the gear- for those not in the know or who have not asked you might need any or all of the 

following: 

Racing licence 

Log book 

Membership card 

Racing fuel log book 

Race number approval (good old No. 28) 

Leathers – two piece are best as you can remove your jacket in the hot weather 

Boots 

Helmet , approved, of course, and in good condition 

Back protector 

Sunglasses for eg the winter sun sets down the main straight at Easter Creek 

Earplugs 

Helper – crew chief or similar. 

Food, water, table, electric jug etc. 

Progress to date – have now participated in two race meets, 

Race meet No 1 – Wakefield Park, 16 May. 

After a few problems due to poor preparation on my part, my entry was accepted by a very understanding Jan 

Blizzard. We, Marie – crew chief, and myself decided to make a weekend of it and visit friends in Canberra 

on the Friday and then moseyed back to Goulburn, via Wakefield Park, on the Saturday afternoon to unload 

etc. Practice session on the 16 th – no nerves and used new rollers for starting and felt ready to rock, but ran 

off on turn 2 after missing a gear and the bike stalled. Must remember to add revs and avoid missed-shifts. 

Returned on trailer. There were three races for my class. First race – all OK, gently, gently, safety vest gives 

everybody the nod that I am slow and please pass. 2nd race – too slow out of the pits, started from pit lane, 

that is OK, learning turns, but track seemed to suit point and squirt; only up to 4 th gear on straight. Bike is 6 

speed and 8-10,000 power band. 3 rd race – Good – O for dogs all well trying to get better lines. Felt relaxed 

and enjoyed it. Result – 3 rd overall for day as I completed all the laps. Crew chief ecstatic!! 

Race meet No 2 

Eastern Creek, 27 June. 

Just a tad apprehensive- bigger track, higher speeds, faster corners. Practice – only ran wide on one corner, 

all else OK. Turn 1 is great fun.

Race 1 – let all the others go as 

started at rear of grid and had a 

good run after being lapped by 

the faster guys – those buckets 

can really fly!!. Race 2 – Could 

start on 4 th row, but chose to start 

at rear again, getting a better feel 

for the bike and more revs 

needed down main straight. 

Had good run following the 

lady in pink and white from 

“Bucket garage”!!. 

Race 3 – elevated to row three to 

start, but chose to start at rear 

again. Gave it heaps and surely 

felt as if front wheel was up and 

Pic by Nigel Owen. 

passed 4 or 5 others. Good run 

got past lady in pink and white. 

Result – third overall for day and big Al says I must be getting faster as he did not lap me in the last 

race and also by lap times I did manage to go 3 secs faster !!. Crew chief ecstatic again and always 

says safety first, not speed. 

Thanks to all as I find it a great camaraderie and everyone is willing to help and give you space on the 

track. Wearing the safety vest is a good attribute when you are learning the ropes as these were my first 

two race meetings. 

Ol No. 28 continues to live. 

The Whole AASA Thing 

On the 30th Sept. Peter MacMillan and Marcus de Caux met with the managers of Wakefield Park and 

Winton Raceways, which together with Queensland Raceway, have formed a breakaway group from 

CAMS and MA. This group is known as AASA and no longer recognises CAMS or MA permits. 

Peter and Marcus met with the managers to discuss the insurance issues relating to PCRA promoting a 

race meeting under AASA at Wakefield Park. In discussion with AASA they were assured that the 

insurance cover was equal to MA’s policy. 

There are a few points our competitors need to be aware of: 

1. There is a blanket fee of $5450.00 per race meeting with AASA. 

This covers permit fee and unlimited rider levies. 

This may be substantially more expensive that the MNSW fees depending on the number of 

competitors. 

2. All machines must be scrutineered each day of competition. 

3. One Event Licences will still be available. 

They will not be MA issued licences – rather those issued by AASA. 

These can be applied for through AASA and will only be issued once in each 

calendar year. 

4. MA Licences are recognised by AASA at this point in time. 

5. Should members apply for a AASA full licence please be aware that these will not be valid for 

racing at MA permitted events – eg Island Classic, Barry Sheene, Broadford. etc

One man gives us a unique perspective on his Wakefield weekend. 

T’was Satdey arvo. I’ve always loved the ride down to Goonburn. Something about the joint.. 

The closer we get the better. They have the worlds best AM station, 1368 AM. I mean who else has Donny Osmond on 

radio after hours? 

Anyway, We pulled up at the Paragon. I’m an alcoholic and the chief mechanic is a teetotaller so it was an easy decision. 

The club? Pub? Or any of my 7 other choices were discounted. Paragon it was. 

We jostled for position. I told the attractive waitress we wanted to be near them. The racers. Like Mick, Casey and 

Wayne. Those blokes. Them. The table of knowledge. The fount of incarnation. The legends. 

After about 8 or 9 bottles of red, we agreed that Spooky Borg’s technical knowledge was 1) flawed (unlikely) ii) a result 

of a bad haircut, and iii) a recrimination of my superior riding skills and the distinct lack of red wine we’d had in the last 

10 minutes. I note the chief mechanic put it down to Spooky Borg’s orangeness. I concur. Sheesh! 

So we wake up. In a parallel universe. Its grey, freezing, and the coating on the VFR is 4 inches thick. 

Hideous asparagus piss doesn’t dislodge the ice. I want my mum. 

I am, however enlivened, by the brethren, the riders briefing and Big Mark Brown calls me a pussy for the 3 rd or 4 th time 

that day. I assure him it has nothing to do with the lack of testosterone, its got something to do with the fog covering the 

track. When you cant see turn 3 its not cool, its f#cking freezing... 

Snow skiing? Great, go for your life. This is motorcycle racing. 

Practice was a hoot. Paul Grant Mitchell, who’s a talent, got towards the holding bay and pissed off, maybe faster rubber. 

Came out, put in an awesome first turn and binned it big time in 3, Impressive. Bastard got up and won the rest of the 

races. The lot. Brett Clark on the ultra fast blade did really well and I love being lapped. I get to see the blokes who make 

our sport so appreciated. I should note the fashion on the field stakes was won by Neil Crockford, who is not only a great 

racer, but has the sexiest boots in the sport. 

And on that note, if anyone tells you sport is dead, they haven’t been to a PCRA meeting. 

Michael Onrust and his cohort Nigel Taylor held up an end in the NE 1 fraternity and a youngster who’s name suits him 

to the ground, Pace by name, Pace by Nature, Well done young man. Keep an eye out for James Pace. 

I’m lead to believe Harley Borkowski and Crazy Dave Abbott fought it out in the 400’s or NE3 or PM 7 or Sony Wii. In 

any event, it’s a credit to our sport. Talent like that is hard to come by. 

I know you all want to thank the officials for the day. I’m not here to bang on about it, but without 

volunteers, gratis, mugs level sport doesn’t exist. They deserve your exultations, and if you have a spare crown lager in the 

ute, Rod, Jan, Sue, Marcus, Peter, Arthur, Skeeta, Morrie, and the worlds best collector of trashed machinery Ross ( I 

think) is a tribute to the sport) are thirsty. If the rumour is right and you’re retiring, my friend, we wish you well. Get a 

bomb and come and giggle your arse off at the back of the pack. Or the front. 

The day did have a bizarre bent to it. Something went bang, oil on track, team meeting, Rod on the 

warpath. I don’t think (ever since the underarm bowling incident) that I’ve seen a meeting of the minds 

as such., and then the surreal track walk. For that, I thank the officials for their forward thinking, even if turns 5*8 were 

under a yellow flag. Safety is paramount . 

It may or may not be the correct forum to bleat about the closure of Oran Park.. I realise you are here today for the love of 

your sport, and politics, well that’s someone else’s bag. I would however encourage you to approach your local member 

(that’s a politician, not your doodle), They don’t want us on the road and they take away a race track. Make some noise. 

See you all at the next shebang, possibly Broadford, and if you go to the Island to watch the Worlds best, give me a call. 

Turn 12, Friday arvo for cans and giggles. It doesn’t get much better. 

Stay safe. 

Fat Cho #29

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF 

The Post Classic Racing Association of NSW (Inc) 

24th October 2010 

Dundas Sport and Recreation Club, Dundas 

Meeting Open 

1.35pm 

PresentRussell Fairbairn, Ken Lindsay, Marcus de Caux, Allan Murray, Sue Dorling, Richard Easton, Suzii Stevens, Martin Kopp, 

Rob Francis, Rick Kwok, Peter Waldron, Keith Higgs, Paul Borg, John Olip, Stephen Kairl, Howard Wood, Scott Waters, John 

Simms, Robert Seiler, Peter MacMillan, Matt Hanna; Kym Hanna; Peter Wade, John Kelsey, Jason Patterson, Daniel Pfeiffer, 

Walter Murphy, John Lawson, Greg Phillip, David ???, Alan Brown, Stuart Lomax, Steve King, Craig Ralls, Lindsay McKay, David 

Kirkwood, David Morrisey 

Apologies 

Chairman 

Julian Hardy 

Tim Sandford 

Minutes of 2009 AGM and EGM:The pervious AGM and EGN minutes were distributed and read by those present. 

Matters arising from previous minutes: 

No matters arising 

Motion: Proposed Seconded Vote 

“That the AGM minutes be accepted as read” John Kelsey Allan Murray Carried 

“That the EGM minutes be accepted as read” John Kelsey Ken Lindsay Carried 

Typo in EGM, Keith Higgs was elected as Vice President not President. 

. 

REPORTS 

President: 

Thank you all for attending the 2010 AGM. 

The PCRA has continued to go from strength to strength with a very healthy Bank Balance and successfully run race meetings. 

We are the envy of many other clubs and promoters in the way we conduct and organize our race meetings. I had an email last 

Thursday from Scotty Brown President BEARS Aust MCRC asking if there could be mutual benefit in sharing track time with us. 

ARDC the managers of Eastern Creek Raceway invited us to a meeting to get our support for the extension of the track to be able 

to run two tracks simultaneously or one larger track. 

Similarly we were invited to Bathurst to lend our support to the proposed new tracks designed to enable motorcycle racing as well 

as club car racing reemerge at this iconic venue. 

So you see we are looked upon as a formidable part of the Motor Sport community in NSW as well as Australia. 

Our Race Meetings this year have been hampered by the lack of racing venues in NSW and as a consequence of this we had to 

go interstate and hire Broadford Track for one of our meetings. The feedback from this was very positive and with a bit of fine 

tuning it could be a successful way of overcoming the lack of facilities. 

The team I have worked with for the past four years have been inspiring in their dedication to the club and their hard work and 

enthusiasm. None more so than the current committee members who have worked tirelessly for the betterment of the PCRA, some 

times under difficult circumstances. 

Not detracting from the rest of the extremely hard working committee I would like to personally thank Peter MacMillan for his 

enthusiasm and dedication during the last year as Treasurer. The amount of time he spends behind the scene for the club is 

amazing. 

I will not be standing for the position of President this AGM and will give full support to my successor. 

We will be loosing a very hard working member of the team of people who make our Race Meetings successful. That person is 

Ross Day who with his wife Lyn stock and transport the club trailer to all the Race Meetings and runs around doing the pickups 

needed when you crash your bikes. We need someone to take his place when he retires this year after many years of dedication.

Please someone or a couple of people steps forward and take over this very important job so as to continue to enable us to have 

successfully run Race Meetings. 

Thank you again for your support over the past four years. I have enjoyed my time as President of the PCRA for the most part, 

with this position comes some detractors but when you have a supportive team around you it makes it easier to overcome the 

problems and resolve them. 

I now hand you over to our Vice President Keith Higgs 

Thankyou 

Rusell Fairbairn 

Vice President: 

When I stepped up for the role of Vice President, I had little idea what was going to be involved. I was hoping for some 

vice....sadly, I got a lot of headaches instead!! My email traffic has probably trebled, ditto phone calls. Some days I spend more 

time doing PCRA stuff at work, than actual work, but don’t tell the boss...luckily I am the boss. 

I believe the past 12 months have been very successful for the club. 

If we measure success by the fact that the two tracks that we have left here have been very happy to give us race dates and 

have told us they like us, our meetings have all been good, the bank balance is +ve and the vast majority of the membership are 

happy as Larry. 

Some hard decisions were taken in that time. I stand by every one of them. The biggest but easiest decision was to make the 

BSFoS a free standing Historic Event, and not a club championship round. Having it as a PCRA round totally limits it to being 

nothing more than that. Having it as a historic race meeting means we can attract sponsors, interstate riders and international 

riders and it becomes the biggest historic event outside the island classic. That is what it should be. And that is how it will be. 

2011 will be massive. 

Good to see P6 as developed by the club is now looking like it will get recognised by MA largely based on our rules. That means 

we can then develop P7 over the coming years, as some of the older classes run out of riders and bikes. 

We are also looking to enhance all our meetings in 2011 by providing a free BBQ at the end of the day, and we will be looking to 

swap the chef work between the classes of riders – notice will be in the Supp Regs!! 

Thanks to all the people that have worked so hard to make this club what it is. 

Keith Higgs 

Secretary: 

No Report 

Membership Secretary: 

The 2010 year saw the membership increase by 5%, from 260 to 273. Ninety nine new members joined the association, with 

eighty six members deciding not to renew their membership. Of the members who did not renew, eighty four were full members 

and two associate members. Of the full members 40% resided in the metropolitan area, 59% resided elsewhere within NSW and 

1% were interstate members. Of the new members, 40% are from the metropolitan area, 48% from elsewhere within NSW, and 

12% are from interstate 

Race Admin and Scrutineering 

The 2010 race year has been a challenging year in more ways than one. 

The closure of Oran Park has depleted our race meeting venues considerably. 

In previous years we have simply presented our preferred dates to the various race tracks for consideration and confirmation. 

This year we have been required to attend numerous meetings with the executives of the two remaining tracks in NSW to secure 

enough dates to continue our rounds of the Club Championship. We have also been required to look outside NSW to ensure 

enough rounds to warrant a Club Championship.

Unfortunately the travel and expenses incurred to this end have resulted in some members not being able to attend all race 

meetings. Added to these expenses are of course the Australian Titles and the Island Classic race meetings, and those 

members wishing to travel to the Island for the MotoGP. 

2011 looked to be of a similar nature. However I am pleased to report that Eastern Creek has commissioned another track, 

and Bathurst Council is seriously considering opening up their existing track, with modifications, to accommodate domestic 

motorcycle racing – although not in the near future I’m afraid. 

Our race calendar for 2011 is very close to being finalised, with the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed confirmed, one other 

round confirmed at Broadford and, fingers crossed, all other rounds in NSW. It is our belief that the Australian Titles will be in 

Tasmania and the NSW State Championships are still on offer. 

I wish to thank Jan Blizzard for her continuing efforts as our Race Secretary and also Kevin Hartup and his team from 

Annadale/Leichhardt for their continuing support of our Club and our race meetings. 

I would also like to add my sincere thanks to all our committee members and volunteers, who contrary to the belief of a few, 

have worked tirelessly to ensure our Club has remained true to all its members. Under what could be considered as tough 

circumstances they have continued to provide a level of competition and camaraderie other organisations can only envy. 

I wish to offer Ross and Lyn Day my heartfelt thanks for their years of tireless support. Seeing the club trailer entering an 

empty race track first thing in the morning was a sign that the day would be a good one. 

In closing I would also to thank Sue who, whilst no longer holding the banner as Race Admin, has supported me in every 

way. 

Marcus de Caux 

BSFoS 

Once again the 2010 BSFOS proved another success for the PCRA. Many may argue that success is measured only in 

dollars/profit made, but I disagree. This meeting was a success on many other levels. 

Changes to the race format resulted in an increase in entrants for classes which previously had been declining & helped to 

bring the event back towards being one of the premier historic race meetings within Australia. 

We had a number of riders from Queensland as both solo & sidecar racers as well as a group of riders from New Zealand 

including Sam Smith & the late Paul Dobbs. Warwick Nowland, twice World Endurance Champion enthralled the crowds 

while bashing fairings with Robbie Phillis. 

It is important that we acknowledge the sponsors & supports of the event for without them the BSFOS would not be able to be 

a stand a-lone event. 

I would like to thank the PCRA Committee & Barry Sheene sub-committee for all their support & help over the last couple of 

years & I look forward to riding at next years event. 

Cheers 

Muddy28 

(Scott Waters) 

Promotions and Sponsorship 

General observations 

We got a lot of new members this year. The enquiries coming through on the web site are predominantly for the Pre-Modern 

class. 

Entries to the meetings have been full except Broadford even after going full electronic delivery of Supp Regs. 

It is surprising how few people outside of our own community actually know about the PCRA and the type of racing we do. 

There is a lot of scope for us to improve overall awareness of the Club. 

What we did this year: 

Calendars – distributed to members and Island Classic competitors 

General Flyers – distributed to members to leave with their local bike shops 

Ads in Cycle Torque and AMCN – promote specific meetings to attract riders and spectators

Month Ads placed Meeting promoted 

November 2009 

May 2010 

Cycle Torque 

AMCN 

Cycle Torque 

AMCN 

Wakefield Nov 2009 

Wakefield May 2010 

June 2010 AMCN June 9 2010 Eastern Creek June 2010 

July 2010 Cycle Torque Eastern Creek June 2010 

September AMCN Broadford 

October 2010 Cycle Torque Broadford 

November 2010 Cycle Torque Wakefield Nov 2010 

November 2010 AMCN – to be placed Wakefield Nov 2010 

What we didn’t do this year: 

Sydney Motorcycle Show 2009 – Clashed with the Oran Park 6 Hour, Wakefield 1 Hour, so we had no people to man 

the stand and our likely audience would be at one or other event anyway 

Approximate Costs: 

Advertising - $3800+GST Net. AMCN/Cycle Torque ads at special rates, Co-sponsorship from Scotts Motorcycles 

(Luke Elwin), Opulence (Kirk Osgood) and Web Enterprise Solutions (Rick Kwok). 

Graphic Design – AMCN free, Cycle Torque Ads designed by Rick Kwok at no cost. Promotional flyers designed by 

Rick Kwok at no cost. 

Printing of A3/A4 flyers – free courtesy of Matt Hanna 

Calendars - $3 each courtesy of Howard Wood Tecnoprint 

General Comments 

The advertisements we placed were aimed at riders and spectators alike, but primarily at riders as each rider brings $250 in 

entry fees over 6 meetings and brings their friends and family with them. We did get a good number of spectators at the 

Wakefield Round in May. 

Spectators bring little or no revenue to club (BSFOS excluded) until we start to get large numbers which is unlikely to 

happen given the general status of club meetings in any Sport. 

(Spectator numbers at Wakefield are generally poor as gate entry is set to Sat $15/Sun $25 which is considered steep for a 

club race. We didn’t charge spectator entry fees at Eastern Creek and Broadford rounds.) 

Even free entry is not bringing spectator crowds which shows awareness and/or interest is low. 

Future Promotional Activity: 

Develop a plan to 

Attract new members/riders 

Attract spectators 

Attract sponsors 

Sydney Motorcycle Show is not on in 2010 so we lose the opportunity until 2011 

We should do more of the same but do it better: 

Wakefield 1 Hour - attracts a lot of new riders being a non-championship round with the opportunity for new riders to 

pair up with existing riders and learn the ropes. 

Calendars 

Flyers in bike shops 

Develop a member discount program with suppliers who can also become sponsors 

Continue advertising in AMCN and Cycle Torque, especially in the period between now and the start of the 2011 

season 

Approach riders in other Clubs/States 

Rick Kwok

Trophies 

Barry Sheene Festival of Speed 

I feel the Barry Sheene trophies were well accepted & had no complaints. Would recommend similar for 2011 

One Hour 

The One hour trophies were also well accepted however, not all categories were covered in the endurance events & will be 

rectified for this year. 

Club Championship Rounds 

I feel the trophies for this years club Championship rounds were of less standard than previous years, mainly due to budget 

restraints. Some people commented trophies were fine but had several comments about the poor standard. I feel the quality 

of trophies are important. We have become a very professionally run club & a high quality of trophy should be used & recommend 

the budget be raised for 2011. 

Club Championship End of Year 

Trophies were of good quality & recommend similar for 2010 

Thanks 

I would like to thank Dan Pheiffer & Fred Holland for their help with transporting trophies to the track & Suzii Stevens & Marty 

Kopp for their assistance setting up trophies for presentation at the track. 

New Era 

Hello, I’m Robert and the current New Era Representative for the PCRA. I am also a member of the New Era sub-committee 

which currently still has 3 members, but is basically dissolved. At the moment I race a P4 Honda CB500/4, a NE F1 Kawasaki 

GPZ900R and a PM F1 Kawasaki ZX-7RR. 

Following a brief report on NE and Pre Modern. 

The entries for New Era and Pre Modern have been very strong with both formats providing an easy and not too pricey entry 

to road racing. No more excuses for bench racing. The PCRA were lucky to introduce these classes when they did, because 

(in my opinion) it kept our club going in hard financial times. Now the PCRA is surely the strongest road racing club in NSW. 

Historic Class – New Era 

As you all may be aware, over the last year, there has been a process going on with MA to get New Era recognised as a 

historic race class (P6) for 2011.Submissions were asked for from individuals and the State Historic Sports Committee’s of 

which I am a member for NSW. The NSW committee put together a draft which was close to our existing rules. This was 

forwarded to MA, where it was reviewed by the National Committee along with other submissions both private and through 

other state bodies. I believe the final submission has been given to the MA board for rubber stamping. 

The main difference being going away from a formula based system to a capacity system as currently in historic racing. 

If that has happened yet I do not know. What the final rules look like I do not know. Hopefully this situation will not go on for 

long. We will all have to see in a couple of months. 

Unfortunately, I have to tell this to people enquiring about New Era via our website (shock horror! – it works) or through other 

means of contact. I cannot tell people to commit their hard earned to a bike, when not sure what the rules will be. I hope this 

situation will be over soon and the mad rush to get bike ready for this New Era will be on in earnest! 

I guess the other thing that needs thinking about is the change in race format that New Era becoming historic might bring. 

Will we lose the formula based classes and for example run the NE 125’s in PC/FE 0-250? Should NE be split away from Pre 

Modern so the class can become the showcase it should be? 

Should we split the formulas in PM too since it seems in historic racing that is the way to go. We have a large number of 

750’s (19 of 24), 600’s (10 of 19) and GP 250’s (9 of 19) which could justify their own class. This might be fairer on too. So 

along the lines of 125, 250, 600 and 750/Superbike? The next couple of months will be interesting. 

Too many questions. How will they be answered? It is important to get this right. 

One thing I can say is that the PCRA is the strongest road racing club in NSW. So I am hopeful that the coming year will see 

us get even stronger. With the BSFoS we have the biggest race event in NSW. And I personally can’t wait on having the 

newly historic New Era bikes mixing it up with all the others in the fastest forty race. I might even scratch on to the grid with 

my GPZ! 

Thank you for your time and I am happy to stay on as New Era Representative. 

Happy racing 

Robert 

MotoLite and SuperLite 

Like all classes, Buckets have suffered the loss of Oran Park. This has greatly reduced events for the Club Championship & 

the Bucket Nationals. The figure 8 has generally been accepted as the home of Bucket racing since 1988. The Bucket Nationals 

were run at the Figure 8 in 2008 & 2009 but was a great loss this year. However with cooperation of the PCRA 

committee the Bucket Nationals will return to Wakefield Park in September 2011.

The One Hour was again very successful with large quality fields in both Superlite & Motolite categories. Of course the highlight 

of this event would have to be Garry Briggs & myself crossing the line together to win our respective classes. 

One disappointment was the exclusion of Buckets from the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed. Although negotiations were not 

ideal concerning this issue & some friction was felt, it has been discussed & future negotiations will be conducted in a much 

more professional manner. There were several Bucket competitors angered by this exclusion, however I have done my best 

to explain the situation & hopefully tempers have calmed down & the club will move on. The BRA expressed their disappointment 

with the “Yellow T Shirt” protest. This was a one off light hearted protest only & apologize if any offence was taken. Besides 

this issue the PCRA committee have been great to work with & look forward to the future. 

Ken Lindsay 

MNSW Delegates 

For those unfamiliar with the role of “delegate” we attend the state delegate meetings of Motorcycling NSW Limited. These 

usually occur on the even months of the year at Granville R.S.L Club, usually on the third Thursday in the evening. Consistently 

well attended meetings, if sometimes overly long. 

The meetings are a means to report on activities and to learn what the other disciplines are doing, to hear from the MNSW 

Limited board members, and to raise and discuss issues, as anyone sees fit, within our sport. It is a right, not a requirement, 

of the PCRA as an affiliated Club, and as a delegate you may vote on motions put forward: e.g. new club affiliation. If you feel 

so inclined minutes of all meetings are available on the MNSW website. 

At the start of the year the closure of Oran Park had a few delegates reminiscing about the old days and appeared to also 

lead to subsequent discussions, in every other meeting, about the issues and options in finding a suitable site. Changing strategy 

this year MNSW has resorted to commissioning a Company to locate a suitable piece of land to purchase, in some way, 

to create a NSW “Broadford”. If/when this happens it will most likely initially be a dirt track. 

The best buzz was when Allan Cunnyhame was invited to speak about his proposal for a new track at Bathurst in August. He 

came with professional drawings, enthusiasm and answers to all issues. I’m sure you have all come across information, news, 

letters, etc…. All that is missing is a suitable benefactor or political will. 

MNSW moved into new premises just before Christmas 2009 and recently was able to lease out the old one – finally. Combined 

assests of MNSW Limited and MNSW Properties stand at about $4-5M 

MNSW introduced family discounts for licences, (not an MA initiative). This is not the only thing that MNSW has moved independently 

of, or quicker than MA. There is certainly some friction between these two bodies and this has been highlighted with 

the former President of MA, now a Club delegate, vocally attending meetings. 

MNSW held their AGM in May and although Robert Seiler missed out on a position on the board he, and Lyall Komura- 

Cairns, and John Imrie secured all three vacant positions on the Historic Road Race Committee. 

John Simms 

Robert Seiler 

John Olip 

Club Newsletter 

The club newsletter continues to grow and currently I am producing and posting 3 copies a year. These are also being uploaded 

to the club website and are available for viewing under the 'forms' tab. The third and final issue for 2010 will be sent 

out sometime in November. 

A budget of $6000 has been allocated per year for newsletter printing and postage. Each issue is costing $1500 to print and 

$400-500 to post out. This is based on 300 copies. The next issue may be slightly more as it was decided to send a copy to 

all members on file not just financial members. This will hopefully keep all past members informed and entice some of them 

back to the club. 

Contributions and photographs from members have helped to make it a worthwhile read and the newsletter has been well 

received by the members. I am happy to continue in the role of Editor for 2011. 

With further development, I feel the newsletter could become a useful tool in helping to promote the club. 

regards 

Martin Kopp 

Webmaster 

Web site has been running 18 months and working smoothly. Thanks to Marty and Suzii for their hard work sending out communications.

People have been having trouble remembering their passwords. Userid is now being changed to firstname.lastname 

Online membership renewals will be available in 2 weeks with credit card payment. 

A general payment page will be available for making payments to PCRA by credit card. This facility can be used to pay for race 

entry fees, membership renewals, merchandise etc. 

Merchandise will be put on the website and available for purchase 

Club Financial Statement 2010 

Our motorcycle Club, I’m proud to say remains the envy of many other clubs in the country, although there are a small number 

of the club membership who dispute this. Still the fact remains with recommendations this year from the Club’s auditors, careful 

budgeting and much hard work by a few we remain and will continue to remain financially a very healthy club. With the ever 

increasing costs and the present uncertainty around the venues this is paramount if the club is to continue to provide the standard 

of meetings we run at present. 

The race budgets over the past year have been programmed to achieve two main aims 

a. To keep entry fees for each meeting as reasonable as possible for the members. 

b. To return a small profit in order to cover the ever increasing running costs of the club. 

This I feel has been achieved and with the bonus gained through the successful “Last Ever Oran Park” meeting I have been 

able to squirrel away funds to increase our investment account by XXXXXX Members at times have queried the amount in the 

investment account but after discussions with the external Auditors/accountants it is felt that this account should ideally hold an 

amount equivalent to that required to fund a full years race programme i.e $200.000.00. 

The current financial position, as per the Audited Accounts are available for your information. To summarise - the nett surplus 

as at 30/6/2010 was XXXXXXX and nett assets as at 30/6/2010 was XXXXXXX 

I would like to thank the committee for the help and support they have given me during the past 12 months and the many club 

members who have spoken to me at various meetings extending their appreciation and support. 

Peter MacMillan 

24/10/2010 

The Audited accounts are attached as a separate document. 


“That the Financial Statement / Audited Accounts 

be accepted as read” 

Marcus De 

Caux 

Lindsay Mckay 

Carried 

Question Al Brown re Broadford and the Profit/Loss. PM responded that a loss of XXXXX was incurred due to fewer entries 

than budgeted. 

Question Richard Easton: re Amount in investment account and the long term plan. PM responded that we will need to keep the 

amount of money increasing to cover increases in costs. If we do continue to make money then alternative investment strategies 

such as buying property should be considered. 

Question Lindsay McKay. 2 issues affecting BSFoS income. No buckets reduced income as did paying of prize money. PM 

responded no buckets showed only 9 entries down from 2009 so believed did not make any real difference. Prize money was 

covered 100% by sponsorship. 2011 BSFoS already got circa XXXX sponsorship which will have an international flavour, again 

covered by sponsorship. 

Question John Olip: Rationale for running every meeting at a profit. Cant see cost of running club in financial statement. What is 

cost of running club as opposed to running race meeting. PM responded financial reports are from auditors. Cost of EFTPOS, 

phone bills, printing and stationary, promotions, advertising, newsletter circa XXXX

Election of Office Bearers 

Nominations for President: 

Name Nominated By Seconded By Vote 

Keith Higgs Rick Kwok Rob Francis Carried 

Nominations for Vice President: 


Rick Kwok Rob Francis Keith Higgs Carried 

Nominations for Secretary: 


Matt Hanna Keith Higgs Peter MacMillan Carried 

Nominations for Treasurer: 


Peter Macmillan Steve Leembruggan Marcus de Caux Carried 

Election of Ordinary Members 

Role Name Nominated By Seconded By Vote 

Membership Sec Rob Francis Keith Higgs Rick Kwok Carried 

Race Administrator Marcus de Caux Sue Dorling Peter MacMillan Carried 

Trophies Ken Lindsay Fred Holland Keith HIggs Carried 

Promotions Martin Kopp Martin Kopp Peter Wade Carried 

Buckets Rep Ken Lindsay Lindsay McKay Marcus de Caux Carried 

New Era Rep Robert Seiler Robert Seiler John SImms Carried 

MNSW Delegates Robert Seiler Robert Seiler John SImms Carried 

X3 John SImms John Simms Marcus de Caux Carried 

OPEN 

Election of Non Committee Members 

Role Name Nominated By Seconded By Vote 

Flaggie Co. David Morrisey David Morrisey Sue Dorlilng Carried 

Scrutineer Marcus de Caux Marcus de Caux Howard Wood Carried 

OAS Editor Martin Kopp Martin Kopp Marcus de Caux Carried 

Club Gear OPEN 

Public Officer Sue Dorling Marcus de Caux Howard Wood Carried 

BSFoS Coord Peter MacMillan Marcus de Caux Russell Fairbairn Carried 

Agenda Items 

Special Resolution 

1. That the existing Rules should be recinded 

2. That a new Constitution should be adopted by the Association. 


1. The the word Model be inserted before Rules in Sue Dorling Ken Lindsay Carried 

resolution 1 

2. That the word investigated replace the word 

adopted in resolution 2 

John Kelsey Alan Brown Carried

Chairman advised that passing Resolution 1 and not passing resolution 2 would leave the Association without a resolution. 

Resolution Voting 

Vote 

1. That the existing Model Rules be rescinded Lost unanimously 

2. That a new Constitution be investigated by the 

Carried 

Association 

Meeting Closed: 

3:29pm 

2011 RACE CALENDAR (not finalised) 

February 6 Wakefield Park Round 1 

April 1/2/3 Eastern Creek Barry Sheene 

May 14 Wakefield Park Round 2 

August 27 Eastern Creek Round 3 

September 17/18 Wakefield Park 1 Hour 

October 1/2 Broadford Round 4

1996 model 

15,200km 

Racers Edge fibreglass fairing 

2 spare wheels complete with Michelin slicks 

Ohlins rear suspension unit and upgraded front forks 

Braided brake lines 

All road gear in good condition and available with the bike. 

Price $6,000 (negotiable) for the complete package. 

Contact Brian Nicholls at bnmining@bigpond.net.au 

YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY ??? 

This is your newsletter and your chance to tell the whole club something. 

Don’t be shy. 

Don’t worry if you’re not an award winning writer, or bad speller, it doesn’t matter. 

Photos, or anything else of interest wanted. 

Feel free to give your friendly editor a call on 0427 484 366 or 

Email: communications@postclassicracing.com.au

Pics by Nigel Owen , Rick K. & Vanessa Petri 

This round saw the debut of the 

worlds first ever Commuterlite. 

Built by the great Gary Briggs 

And piloted by the shamefully 

fast Steve Kairl, the little 

CBR125 performed well and 

was lapping at 2.14 around the 

big circuit. 

The Commuterlite concept is 

designed to help people get into 

bucket racing without having to 

build something too fancy from 

the ever shrinking supply of 

older bikes.

Rob wonders if it’s too late to take up golf. 

As we all know, with the loss of 

Oran Park it became necessary to 

find new tracks to race on. Broadford 

is home to a great complex 

which is similar to the late Oran 

Park in some ways. The little 

towns of Broadford and Kilmore 

(where we stayed) offer a friendly 

country atmosphere without any 

frills. 

The drive down was predictably 

boring but easy and measured just 

over 800 kilometres from North 

Western Sydney. While much of 

NSW was experiencing a washout, 

Broadford put on 3 days of glorious 

sunshine to welcome the 

Northern hordes. This meant 

crashes were kept to minimum and 

everybody had a really good weekend 

of racing. Those who didn’t 

stay in the townships made themselves 

at home camping at the 

track. The hotel rooms were much 

warmer, so I’m told ! 

Rob Seilor and Matt Hanna were 

among those damaged this weekend, 

Rob did himself a mischief on 

the Friday practise while Matt got 

to see the inside of a Melbourne 

hospital. Both are recovering well. 

There are less picturesque places to race. 

This weekend we also got to meet an 

amazing man. 

His name is Alan Kempster and he 

showed us what true grit really means. 

Losing both right limbs in a motor 

accident didn’t stop him from applying 

for and obtaining a race licence and 

getting amongst it. 

He’s a great man to talk to and we 

hope to see more of him next year at 

some of our race meetings.

These were really tasty steaks. Nothing 

beats the barbie after a day at the races. 

Volunteer tong wielders are currently 

being recruited. Apply on the day ! 

Is this the 

ultimate race 

transporter? 

I’ve stayed in 

hotel rooms 

that had less 

space. 

Tempting…. 

To say I’m proud of her would 

be an understatement.

Keith Higgs likes them green 

and fast. 

And we all love a project 

(or three). 

Harris Magnum Project 

Part 1 

I am currently building a new bike. It is a Harris Magnum 1 frame with a GPz Kawasaki 1100 engine in 

it. It could be a P5 bike or a P6….yet to be decided! Given I have 2 P5 bikes already, P6 is looking favourite, 

which means I can run better forks and a wide rear rim, and better callipers. There again, to convert 

from one to the other is not too hard, so I might get it log booked for both!! That will test MA!!! J 

This all started when I split up with my girlfriend of a couple years, back in 2008. I decided I needed to 

spend some money and do something new!! Retail therapy I think it’s called…and my bank account has 

been suffering ever since! 

And there is was, on Ebay, a Harris Magnum rolling chassis. It was in the UK, and looked good in the 

pictures. And it seemed a reasonable price too. Cant say I shopped around, it was an implusive purchase! 

In went the bid and before I had a chance to reconsider I had won…….! Turned out the chap selling it 

knew a mate and knew who I was…so it was all easy after that. He even dropped it off at Snetterton at a 

CRMC meeting so one of my mates could look after it for me. 

If you have to ask, then you can’t afford it !

So what’s a Harris Magnum? Well there have been quite a few versions…MK1 was for Z1000s…and 

MKV for much later 1980s bikes. Here is an example of a MK1. 

Wrap around frame, monoshock, 

various seats / fairings / swinging 

arms were used. This is a 

road version. There were developed 

in Endurance Racing and 

raced by Mike Trimby and 

Marty Lunde originally. 

I had a MK1 with an original 

Harris seat (ugly!!!). It had 

ZXR600 wheels and forks fitted 

and twin pot brembo callipers. 

All I had to do was get it to Aus. 

Don’t tell anyone, a container 

full of bikes and spares comes 

over each year for a certain classic 

race meeting, and after a bit 

of negotiation, space was made 

for it. 

Before I had even taken receipt 

of said chassis, a certain PCRA 

treasurer had asked if he could 

have it for a few days so he 

could make a jig, so he could 

replicate it……no probs! 

Anyway, in January it arrived, 

and was duly stowed away in my 

trailer while the race meeting 

was in progress, and even so, 

quite a few people made offers 

for it!! 

Muddy had some space in his 

trailer for the long haul back to 

NSW and he dropped it off in 

Mittagong….. 

I ummed and arrrred and decided I wanted to put a GPz 

engine in it though. For those who are not entirely familiar 

with big Zeds, the GPz crank cases are not quiote the same 

as the earlier cases, and have different mounting points, 

although two remain common with the earlier Z900 cases. 

I had a mate in the UK who had previously done the same 

thing and sought his advice, and he sent over photos of his 

solution, which consisted of a small subframe under the 

engine allowing the GPz front case mounting points to be 

used. 

This was all passed onto Peter, along with a set of old 

GPz cases. Sure enough, a few months later, the frame was 

collected from Peter at a Maccas in Camden. He’d made 

the subframe, and modified the cases to remove the rubber 

mounts and replace them with some aluminium spacers. 

All looked good.Mean time, I had been building the engine 

that I was going to put in the frame, not realising Peter 

was going to modify those scruffy old cases!! Never 

mind. 

I’d been accumulating engine parts for some time, got 

some RC cams from Ebay in the state, had bought a head 

and undercut std gearbox again from Ebay in the states. I 

got the barrels from a mate in the UK, pistons from Ballistic, 

and a head from a chap I had spoken to at BSFoS in 

2009. This was a Powerflow 8 plug job. It was bare, no 

valves nor any of the bits! So valves came from Ballistic, 

and I had most of the other stuff ‘in stock’, retainers, 

springs etc. 

I bought a doner engine from Metropolitans, stripped it 

out, and gave the cases back to Danny Deste along with 

the barrels. The cases needed to be opened out for the larger 

liners. I also gave him the crank to send up to his mate 

in Brisbane to be trued, checked and welded.

A few weeks later, Danny called to say he was in 

Brisbane and someone there had a brand new crank, 

still in its original Kawasaki box, plus two sets of 

cases, and a set of barrels and pistons (1260), did I 

want them?…. 

Well the price was excellent, and it is not often you 

get a shot at a brand new 30 year old crankshaft!!!! So 

bang went the saving account again!!!!!!! 

Whilst at metros, I raided their spares box for a 

slipper clutch from a ZX7r….no one else need go 

looking down there, I got it all. 

So I had all the parts, more or less……Earls provided an oil cooler, Ebay again provided some CR carbs 

which were advertised as 37mm but turned out to be 39mm…still not sure I am going to use them, I have 

another set of 35s which might be better. 

The cases came back nicely opened out. They were pretty tatty cosmetically though, so I contacted a place 

to have them sodablasted. I took some old astralites along too, again they were very tatty so I thought soda 

blasting would be a good idea. WRONG!! The bloke bead blasted both the wheels and the cases!! Not what 

I wanted at all. The cases now needed painting as the finish was dull and abrasive. Not sure what to do with 

the wheels yet, paint them too I guess. 

Now anyone who paints engines will know you are supposed to cure the paint in order to make it resistant 

to petrol etc…..well sh*t for brains forget. Deeerrrrrrrr 

Painted the cases, then decided to flush them out with petrol to get rid of any dust and residue….They 

looked good before doing that!! After? Hahahahaha a right mess!!! 

So I had rub them down and repaint and then…they would not fit in my oven (it is great being single, no 

one gives me grief for curing stuff in the oven nor for cleaning engine bits in the dishwasher!!!). Luckily 

they fitted in the BBQ, so in they went to cure!! It worked a treat. 

The engine went together ok although I discovered the clutch shaft on the GPz C/D model, which was what 

the gearbox was from, is significantly longer than the A/B model, and if I was to fit the ZX7r slipper clutch, 

I needed a shaft from the earlier model. Luckily the engine I had got from Metros was the earlier GPz 

model, so I swapped the pinions between the shafts….put it together and tested it….it would not chang 

gears…hmmm seems I had not put the gears back onto the shaft correctly!! One f them was round the 

wrong way!! With that fixed it all worked fine. Crank in (complete with new hyvo cam chain), crank cap 

on (thanks for letting me mill that off Julian), steel plate on top of that to stop the crank twisting, gearbox 

in, selector drum and forks in and the bottom case went on! Sweet. 

I then needed to assemble the top end and measure the piston to valve clearance AND get the deck height 

right to ensure the squish is optimised without the pistons touching the head. This is not a quick job….. 

good job TV is so boring!!! Again, being single helps here…..although cooking, washing and shopping are 

tedious but have to be done. 

Anyway I did that stuff, and then put it together, pistons, rings, barrels. I then shimmed up the head on the 

bench and then put that on and put the cams in. I left the valve timing as that is best done in the frame when 

you can turn the engine over using the rear wheel. 

I painted the sump and baked it in the oven, along with a couple of other covers. 

Then I dismantled a few oil pumps and found the best one from the box full under my bench, bolted that in, 

put the sump on, and bolted the new sub frame to the cases. 

Oh nearly forgot. I took the frame, swinging arm and new sub frame to be sand blasted and powder coated. 

The sandblasters are in Brookvale, and the Powder Coaters are next door, so I arranged for the Powedercoat 

man to collect the frame, swinging arm, and sub frame from the blasters. I chose a nice silver colour and a 

couple of weeks later went to collect. Errrr there’s the frame and swinging arm…where’s the sub frame? 

“Dunno mate that was all I was given!” Round I went to the sand blasters…”oh sorry mate, thought that 

belonged to someone else, he collected all his stuff this morning….it’ll be in Berowra by now”!! FFS!!! 

Anyway he got it back same day and went back to collect it. 

And every cloud has a silver lining, it had been painted black with 2 pack paint and as the engine was going 

to be black, and this was an add on, I decided to leave it as it was and not get it powdercoated silver. I think 

I did the right thing! It merges in nicely and only the original frame shows……you make your own mind 

up!!

While dismantling the swinging arm, it was clear there was something wrong. Part of one of the bearings 

was missing!!! It has a fancy bearing that has a needle roller on the swinging arm axle, and a roller bearing 

at 90 degrees between the end of the swinging arm and the frame. All in one….not an off the shelf item!! 

I gave Harris a ring in the UK and sure enough they had them in stock. I was due to be in the UK in July so 

included a trip to their workshop at Ware in Hertfordshire. There I met with Lester Harris who could not 

have been more helpful He gave me a full tour of the place and we nattered on for ages. We had quite a few 

mutual friends it turned out, so it is a small world! Anyway, I got the new swinging arm bearings and some 

Harris stickers for the tank, and lots of ideas and information. 

The forks and wheels that were on the bike when I got it, were not what I wanted. And the rear shock 

looked a tad ‘used’. That was sent off to Sean at SOS Suspension who did a full rebuild with an Ohlins 

piston, rechromed the rod etc. Different forks were acquired from Metros and some Astralites that I had in 

stock were pulled out, hubs bought from Ebay again, and spacers sorted for them. Again, the callipers that 

were on the bike were not suitable, so some others that I had were brought out and the forks, callipers and 

my spare front wheel from the P&M given to Peter, who crafted some brackets and more spacers. I wanted 

the front wheel to be interchangeable with the P&Ms, so now all I need to do is get the wheel that will go in 

there to match…..more spacers etc needed!!! 

I could not start looking at the rear wheel until the engine was in the frame and the sprockets could be 

lined up. So that was the next job…engine into the frame. Now, a Harris Magnum frame is not a double 

cradle, it wraps round and over, so you have to lift the engine in from underneath. Sounds easy, but believe 

me, in practice is was tricky!!

My 19 years son Edward was over from the UK visiting me, and with his help and my mate Mark also, plus 

a trolley jack and various bits of wood, we eventually got it into place with enough engine bolts screwed in 

to hold it there! It was then I found I could not get the rocker cover off with the engine bolted in the frame!! 

The only way was to unbolt it at the back, jack underneath, let the engine tilt back just enough, not too 

much, not too little, and with a bit of a wiggle the rocker cover can be extracted. That is easy then the 

exhaust is off and every thing else is absent too, like electrics, carbs, breathers, oil cooler pipes etc!!! 

That was another thing, I had bought an oil cooler, lines and blue/red aluminium connectors. These tuned 

Kawasakis run a bit hot!!! These connectors required a spigot to be welded to the Kawasaki oil cooler take 

off point behind the block, and with that done, it was clear the connectors I had were going to foul the 

cases….back to earls for some 90 degree jobbies. The fuel tank had no cap on it, so at the same time I 

bought a nice ally fuel cap, a mere $350!! 

Back to the rear wheel….with the engine in the frame I was able to put a rear wheel into the swinging arm. 

Again I used the spare from the P&M. Hmmm gearbox sprocket was going to need to be offset. Luckily, I 

know a man in the UK who had one spare! And he was coming over soon. So I now have an offset gearbox 

sprocket which will allow the rear sprocket to line up nicely. All I needed were some more spacers!!! 

On the brake side, I had acquired a small brembo calliper and mounting plate from a ducati. That needed 

adapting to fit and guess what, yep, spacers….!!! PETER!!!!! 

So engine in, front and rear suspension in (although front forks need different springs . damping to suit the 

weight of the bike and rider and the fact it is a race bike not a road bike). 

The seat unit that came with it, although not the most aesthetically pleasing, is an original Harris one, so 

although I am looking at other options, I will go with that for now. 

Couple of other things to sort….an exhaust and a fairing. The former is easy, the rolling chassis with engine 

in, is going to Rod Tingate over MotoGP weekend to have a pipe made. 

For the fairing, I am planning on getting a VFR400 top half unit from R&B and making that fit. I have borrowed 

an old one from Levi Nupponen and it seems to be a good fit….just need a bracket/hanger fabricated. 

So right now, need to work out where to put the Dyna 4000 and associated coils, the breather bottle (to be 

fabricated shape and size depending on position) and battery. 

The footrest hangers that came with the bike, bolt onto the swinging arm pivot and the rear lower engine 

mounts. They are designed to take countersunk bolts. However the thread in the swinging arm pivit is M10 

x 1.25 pitch and guess what, you cant get countersunk bolts in that thread, only in 1.5 pitch! FFS…..they 

also need some 10mm spacers!! 

The rear brake needs a linkage, and some errr spacers. 

Part 2 to follow!! 

Higgsy

Southern Lights 

Went down South across the border 

Left the chaos and disorder 

Back there, over his shoulder 

Jim Morrison 

I felt a bit like a fugitive, high-tailing it out of Sydney to Melbourne, running away from the choking city to the 

wide boulevards and parks, fleeing the crumbling NSW race scene to the spoilt-for-choice range of circuits and the sensible, 

adult world of Vic racing. Except it rains a lot here, its cold and there’s nothing quite like the PCRA! 

To put the weather in perspective, I had one qualifying session and one heat with wets on during two and a half 

years of racing in NSW; in seven months here, four out of six race weekends were wet at some point! Good practice 

though, right? 

The historic club down this way, HMRAV, doesn’t run past P5 and the Vic titles and Interclub just run Premodern, 

so that only left Hartwell running any New Era bikes, and small numbers at that. Nonetheless, the guys doing so 

are a star bunch and I was happy to be settling in with like-minded individuals again. Hartwell is pretty big, running all 

the modern classes and roughly equivalent to St George if you like. They do run P3 to P6, however the total numbers are 

usually modest so we are all on the one combined grid. That doesn’t stop some good racing going on. 

The first Hartwell round was back in March at Mac Park, SA, took the VFR750 and the VFR400. Trev had 

been raving to me about the place and I’d watched lots of onboard clips per YouTube, but that still doesn’t prepare you 

for how tight and demanding the place is. It’s narrow too, and I couldn’t help feel like it was a bit of a go-kart track. It’s 

squeezed into a paddock and doesn’t feel like it should have a similar lap time to Oran Park, more like Wakefield. After 

an excursion at the end of the back straight and some slides front and back at various turns, I started to get the hang of the 

place. I didn’t realise Hartwell don’t run progressive grids, which left me wishing I’d put more effort into the Pre Modern 

and 400 qualifying sessions. Anyway, ended up having some good dices with a swarm of 400’s in Pre-modern and a couple 

of P5 bikes in the Historic races so a good weekend all in all, and if you haven’t been to Mac Park, put it on the list of 

things to do before you pop yer clogs. 

I decided to do a round of the Vic titles at Broadford; they don’t run any Historics, just a Pre-modern class, being 10 

years and older. There weren’t many entries, but they were all early R1’s and an RSV1000. Gulp. But the track suits the 

VFR and the advantage faster bikes have is lessened by the nature of the place. One of the R1’s didn’t run in one heat so 

I picked up 2 nd for the weekend, hilarious. They called it the old barge when I picked up the trophy; I politely pointed out 

the VFR is a bus, not a barge! Not so lucky on my 400; I managed to kick the flimsy chainguard with my heel at some 

point during the middle heat, so that it took the brake line (which runs along the top) down between the swingarm and 

the wheel. I couldn’t feel it but it was putting out a fair bit of smoke as it chamfered away the left hand side of the tyre. 

The flaggies were waving the oil flag and I’m thinking, where’s the fluid on the track, I can’t see anything! I must have 

gone round for two laps before the guy on the last turn got right out on the edge of the track waving the flag and pointing 

at the bike – at the same time I’d noticed no pressure on the back brake so thought I was the one dropping fluid – brake 

fluid. I pulled over at the side of the start/finish straight, my mate who was there for the day came up and said ”you’ve 

blown it up, it was pouring smoke out” but it had felt ok, then we looked at the back tyre and Christ! It had worn away 

the whole left hand edge. It was a new tyre too. I was going to park it for the day but pushing it back to the pits beside the 

wall at the start/finish line, it picked up the transponder so I was shown as finishing! (more than 75% completed) So we 

put a new rear on and I did the last heat with about 50 big zip ties holding the chainguard off the wheel! 

On to Winton for Hartwell Rnd 2. Wet, wet, wet. Pre-modern was the first race up on the Saturday afternoon and it just 

bucketed down, I’d never raced in anything like it. There were big pools of water on most of the apexes and you couldn’t 

see a thing, it was just a case of keeping it upright. Had a couple of big moments and I’ve never been happier to see a 

chequered flag in my life (except perhaps the 2009 One-Hour where I couldn’t decide if I was going to vomit or pass out, 

but that’s another story). After that race they postponed racing for about an hour until it eased off. The Sunday was fine, 

it was like a different week. John Rickard had turned up on his 87 FZR1000 (he won New Era F1 at the Barry Sheene 

this year) and I managed to trump him at this round but he got the better of me for the rest of the year in P6 as he got 

quicker and quicker, culminating in pole at the PCRA Broadford round and two phenomenal outright wins on the Saturday 

there.

Hartwell Rnd 3 was at Broadford, again it was wet at some point, best part of the weekend was finishing 4 th 

overall in Pre-modern, with one guy ahead in the points only completing one of the heats, so I was now 4 th 

on points overall and not far off him. 

Phillip Island, Hartwell Round 4. I’d done about 3 laps of the place before this on the VFR at the Vic Titles 

Rnd 2, before the fuel pump packed in and then so did the spare. I’d finally got the FZR 1000 ready (if you 

can’t beat them, join them) for this Hartwell round, but not having spare rims for wets I’d brought the VFR 

as a wet bike. Just as well, given the wet qualifying. Qualified the VFR well but destroyed the 150/18 rear 

wet in the process, it is after all a 250 tyre. I just did one lap too many on a part damp, part wet, small part 

dry, track. But the heats were dry and raced the FZR for the first time. Very different to the VFR, but at 

somewhere like the Island, there is no substitute for power! Closed the points gap again to 3 rd in Pre-modern 

and was 2 nd in class in P6 to John. Yakking in the pits, we all started to notice a big delay in the race that had 

just started. The mood around the place suddenly changed; there were 3 ambulances down just past the 

start/finish line. Rumours of a rider receiving CPR circulated; that generally means only one thing. Racing 

was cancelled for the day and on returning the next morning, the worst was confirmed, he’d past away. The 

meeting was cancelled. Matt McMillan was his name, a keen 600 racer who was on pole. I’m not sure exactly 

what happened but he’d had trouble getting off the line and been hit. I didn’t know him but plenty 

there did and the grief was palpable. I’m sure many of you have faced the spectre of the dark side of what 

we do. I couldn’t reconcile seeing racers with their young families playing in the pits as we all packed up. It 

made me contemplate why I’m doing it and what shape my racing might take in the future. 

Hartwell Round 5 (and final) was back at Broadford and I tried to put any such thoughts out of my mind to 

concentrate on jagging 3 rd in Pre modern for the year. I had to beat one rider by a handful of points, which 

meant finishing ahead in both heats. I managed it and felt relief above anything else. By the way, the guy 

who won it was on a 929 Blade, but 2 nd , by one point, was a stock 400!! Mental. Pre-modern in Hartwell is a 

bit of an opt-in class to give a lot of bikes a second run, so there are a lot of 400’s, older 1000’s and 600’s, 

your 750T’s, RS125’s and everything else. True to form, I just kept turning up and finishing – I was never 

on the rostrum all year, but with only 10 or so bikes scoring in every race of every round, you creep up the 

standings bit by bit if you can always finish. 

Before that last round I had decided to do another Vic Titles round at Broadford to see if I was quicker 

round there on the FZR than the VFR. I wasn’t and I’m still not, which is why I only brought the VFR to the 

PCRA round. More worryingly, I’d had a massive tankslapper on the FZR and then ran out of brakes, so 

thought logically enough it had kicked the pistons back, as the brakes came back a bit after a lap or two. In 

the next heat, no tankslappers but the brakes went completely; for those of you who made it to Broadford, 

arriving at the right-hander at the end of the back straight with the lever coming back to the bar on an 

FZR1000 was not the most comfortable experience I’ve ever had! I was about to park it but they came back 

enough to finish the last lap. It still had the stock lines on and old fluid - I’d simply rushed into getting it 

ready. Lesson learned. 

So to the PCRA round. I’d been looking forward to it for a while and it didn’t disappoint. I was keen to 

catch up with some of the old crew and it reminded me how enjoyable the PCRA meetings are; its hard to 

define exactly, we all talk about camaraderie and the like, and that’s all true, but its more than that. I can 

only say the closest thing that summed it up was how appreciative the local flaggies were to get such a warm 

mention and show of respect. And I was pleased for Marcus’s sake to have a HONDA back on the New Era 

F1 rostrum!! 

So, racing in Victoria? Fast and furious and we’re spoilt for choice. There’s Hartwell, Interclub and the Vic 

Titles series to choose from, plus all the Historic action (which we P6 people might get a slice of from next 

year…..). And the 400? I got chicken and sold it, the 400 guys down here are too good! I just couldn’t 

change my style over from the 750 fast enough nor afford to run two bikes competitively. I guess that makes 

me a one-trick pony – ah well, better squeeze a bit more performance out of the VFR in the off-season then! 

See you at Broadford, October 2011. (note to committee: Please invite HMRAV and Hartwell next year, that 

way we’ll get more locals).

FZR gets its first outing at PI. Power!! 

Pic by SDpics. 

Mixed grids! Broadford June 2010. 

Pic courtesy of Chris Rostron 

Jason Light #38 (or 83 down here, someone’s got my number!)

Early morning fogs and mid afternoon oil spills - Post Classic Racing ...

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