Ken Dyne

My husband KENNETH IAN DYNE passed away on 24th September 2019 a few days after reaching his 85th year following a period of ill health. Besides his sporting pursuits he had a great fondness for motorcycles and at the age of 16 attained his licence. Initially there were Beezas: a B31, B32 Gold Star, Bantam, and a 650 Road Rocket which was once raced up and down Castlereagh Airstrip at 118 mph each way. He and his mates tried their luck at various race tracks, notably Bathurst, Cessnock and Mt Druit where they would run into the Hinton boys and other top riders. Unfortunately they couldn’t compete with the factory bikes but they had a lot of fun. Another of their race venues was on Seven Mile Beach, south of Wollongong.

After living in Brisbane managing the family business (third generation in the wire industry) for many years Ken moved to the Gold Coast in 1986. It was during the mid ‘eighties that he bought his first BMW which we both shared and eventually that turned into a garage full. With his skills as a Toolmaker/Machinist, he restored five BMWs, all historic. There were a couple of Ducatis in the mix as well. At one time we belonged to five motorcycle clubs including The Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners in the US and were foundation and life members of the BMW Motorcycle Owners Club (Gold Coast) having spent many years on the committee.

Ken rode his motorcycles until his 79th year. Over a period of twenty-six years we were well known on the rally scene particularly on our matching R90Ss. Some of our machines have won many awards and trophies. A Celebration of Life was held on 4th October with over 100 in attendance.