Category Archives: Current and past bikes

1924 ‘Around Australia’ Douglas

1924 Douglas
Kevin with his 1924 Dougieon his way around Australia

This little Douglas was ridden around Australia by Kevin in 1995 to commemorate and replicate the five month trip that was made by Arthur Grady in 1925, the first person to circumnavigate the continent on a motorcycle.

Sponsored by National Geographic, Kevin made the arduous trip at the age of 57 in ten weeks. The Douglas was restored to be as close as possible to Grady’s original bike. It now sits in the Motorlife Museum in Wollongong.

1950 BSA ‘Bantam’ D1

This gorgeous little 125cc bike is wonderfully original and while it hasn’t run for a few years, it certainly did. Kevin always has a soft spot for these bikes having also raced on a Bantam in the 50s/60s.

This is an early plunger frame D1 .

Bantams were made by BSA in Hall Green from around 1948 and each bike was test ridden on their famous track before being shipped out for sale.

Nowdays, Bantams are a popular classic bike to restore and run with their size  making them easy to house, manoeuvre and ride.

Original Dusting Sidecar circa 20s/30s – SOLD

This is an original Dusting sidecar made in Australia circa 1920s/30s. These were a generic sidecar that were attached to various motorcycles. This particular sidecar had been set aside to be used with a Henderson. It is in its original condition with the leather seat intact and the Dusting logo can still be clearly seen.  The sidecar fittings are for an outfit with the sidecar on the left, ie. for UK, Australia, New Zealand or South African roads. As well as the fittings, the sidecar has its wheel and two mudguards, transfers and booklet.

This is on sale through ebay. The eBay auction starts 02 Oct, 2014 at 19:30:51 AEST and ends 10 days later.

1958 Adler 250cc ‘Favorit’ – SOLD

Engine and frame no: 500639

The Adler is a relatively rare German motorcycle which has been increasing in popularity amongst collectors quite recently. The ‘Favorit’ model is rarer still. Most Adlers in Australia are MB250 models and there are estimated to be only about 30 of them in the country.

Kevin was a fan of this 2 stroke manufacturer, no doubt due to the role they had inspiring the development of the Yamaha YD-1s in the 60s and because the bikes were fitted with unique ‘Eberspaecher’ exhaust pipes to enhance the power through ‘back pressure’. He was also known to race on an Adler.

This particular bike was manufactured in the very last year of Adler production and was fitted at the factory with 18″ Sprinter forks rather than the regular 16″ of the Favorit – a rare but not unknown occurrence.

The bike was never restored and is in its original condition and even has its original ignition key, speedo, Bosch horn and Denfeld seat. It is not currently running, the chain is broken, the exhaust needs fitting and new tyres need sorting out. The clutch has also not been fitted properly. It will need a bit of work to get it back on the road.

It comes with a complete new exhaust system which Kevin had acquired for the bike as well as an original pipe and baffle, original exhaust clamps, a complete (and very rare) spare chain guard (black) as well as half of its original blue one, a carburetor cover and side horn box cover (black). It is missing tank rubbers but is otherwise remarkably complete.

This bike will be sold through Shannons auctions.

Many thanks to Michael Liebig for his help with our understanding this bike as well as to various members of Adlers Oz who have provided incredible assistance. We have donated an Adler toolkit to this group in gratitude.