Keen bikers on parade
READER Chris Colley has kindly loaned me a copy of a book Touring and Sporting Motorcycles in Australia 1910-1966 published in the 1980s by motorbike enthusiast Mike Kingwill.
Mr Kingwill, now 71, had been living in Geelong at the time and as a consequence many of the photos in the book were taken locally.
Our main photo shows members of the Geelong Norton Motorcycle Club outside Tom Moloney’s bike shop on the east side of Moorabool St in 1930.
The adjacent business is Kerley’s auction rooms, which remains to this day.
The National Hotel can be seen on the far right.
Mr Colley said the rider on the extreme left of the photo was Ted Bourke, who worked for the Victorian Railways.
Mr Colley also said the lady behind the fifth bike from the left was the wife of the club president. She was not allowed to be in the photo but had got her head in anyway, possibly making it one of the earliest examples of photo bombing.
Kerley’s auction rooms has a copy of this same photo in a frame in their front office, and have even included the actual day it was taken as April 6, 1930.
Mr Kingwill said many of the photos were taken by motorcycle shop owner Tom Moloney, while other motorcycle businesses also feature in the book.
Members of the Geelong Indian Motorcycle Club, for example, can be seen outside MM Matthey’s Indian outlet on the southeast corner of Gheringhap and Little Malop streets, diagonally opposite Geelong City Hall.
Another photo from the 1930s shows members of the Geelong Sporting Motorcycle Club outside Pratts Motorcycle Shop on the east side of Moorabool St just down from Myer St.
Frank Pratt was the brother of the aviators Charles and Percy Pratt, who were based at Belmont Common. The business was later moved to the corner of Moorabool and Myer streets, and became Pratt and Osborne when Norm Osborne became a partner. Contact: peterjohnbegg@gmail.com