Bill Watson Veteran all-rounder
At 91 years of age, Bill Watson is probably the oldest motocross rider in the world. And he’s not finished yet!
Raised in the goldfields of the wild west at a time when Kalgoorlie mineshafts were only outnumbered by the red lights of Hay Street and the pubs along Hannan Street, Bill Watson’s apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner was a natural for the mechanically-minded youngster. And though he’d soon purchase a 1930 Velocette 350 KSS on the drip feed, Bill’s scrambling debut was on a mate’s BSA B31.
Less than a year later Bill had traded the Velo on a brand spanker, a 1947 Triumph Speed Twin and shortly after that he’d destroyed the gearbox in a local scramble. At the post race BBQ Bill was disconsolate, mentally comparing his apprentice’s pay slip against the probable cost of a new gear set. And no doubt wondering whether a new pair of football boots might not be a more affordable investment. Ken Marshall, the local Triumph dealer, impressed by Bill’s progress, urged him to stick with scrambling, offering use of his workshop, access to spare parts and, later, becoming somewhat of a mentor to the aspiring racer. This made the situation so much more difficult when Bill decided the Triumph just wasn’t
working for him. “The terrain was all ironstone around Kal,” he recalls “and it seemed there was no way I could get the big twin to hook up without buggering another gearbox.” Ken had helped me tremendously and I felt like a turncoat, but I knew I’d be better on a big single. I needn’t have worried.
Ken was full of encouragement, so three doors down the road I bought a new BSA Gold Star 500.”
Swapping sides
His indentures done with, Bill was honoured with a job offer in Sydney building the then state-of-the-art 50,000kW Powerhouses at Pyrmont. He had no hesitation preparing his Gold Star for the 3,000km ride across the continent. Finding digs in a Coogee boarding house he was soon a member of the Maroubra MCC where he became mates with Les Fisher; the pair spending most weekends together. “I enjoyed my time in Sydney,” says Bill. “At Easter, Les and I volunteered as flaggies at Mount Panorama and we both competed in a big short circuit event up around Mudgee way. Most weekends we’d be racing at Wallacia or Frenchs Forest so I had an 11.5:1 piston sent over from home. Friday nights I’d pull the BSA apart in the boarding house washroom, change the piston, cams and carburettor and, with a gallon of ethanol in my lap ride out to Wallacia, race all weekend, then ride home illegally in the dark on Sunday night.
Sometimes I’d have to ride through traffic on ethanol on Monday to work. Dodging between the taxis and the trams, now that was interesting.”
The Powerhouse project complete Bill returned to Kalgoorlie on the Gold Star and continued racing locally; swapping the tired BSA in favour of a new 1953 swinging arm model. The major race of the year, The Goldfields Scramble was a 20 lap event over a 2¼ mile (3.6km) circuit cut through the 10 metre high mine tailings, and Bill admits it was some years before he had any great success.
More so than in the eastern states, ‘Round the Houses’ events were very popular in the west and Bill became a regular competitor; often with the benefit of valuable assistance and advice from the Gibson brothers – Harry, Wally and Reg – wealthy confectionary manufacturers, motorcycling patrons and contemporaries of the legendary Phil Irving.
Bill recalls many late night ‘round table’ with Irving and the Gibsons discussing the means by which any motorcycle could be induced to provide more power, last longer and often do both. “I was like a kid in a lolly shop,” says Bill. “Those blokes seemed to have the outlook of ‘doesn’t everybody know that’?
There was always so much to learn.”
The weekend warrior
Naturally Bill was acquiring a few secrets of his own. “We would often ride 400 miles to Perth, compete at The Ropeworks (see OBA 27 and 74) and ride home late on Sunday. The circuit was built in a limestone quarry and the chunky rocks buried in the sand were hard on the riders and harder on the bikes. The regulars became very suspensionconscious. I remember Les Sheehan turning up with a genuine ‘works’ AJS scrambles bike for the
Aussie titles in 1955.” Bill provided the unasked-for opinion that, powerful as the AJS may be, the ‘Jampot’ units on the back would not last more than three or four laps before boiling, only to be told the units were very special. Subsequently the AJS units did survive the first 25 miles (10 laps) but come the lunch break there was a flurry of frustration and urgency around the AJS as a set of Girling dampers was grafted on to the frame. This alleviated the suspension problem allowing Sheehan to use the full power of the engine, only to break both front frame down-tubes in the second 35 mile (14 lap) leg of the 24 lap race.
The Ropeworks was also the venue for Bill’s first State Title and the highlight of winning the Teams Event; Bill on the 500 Gold Star, Peter Nichol on his indomitable 350 Gold Star and John Rock on a 250 BSA. And, though Bill was a teetotaller, on such occasions he stayed for the Sunday night celebrations; making it a long hard ride back to Kalgoorlie to ‘clock on’ the following morning. However blokes with Bill’s can-do attitude and skill sets were never short of unique job opportunities. Hand picked to head up a new power installation in Dakar, on the east coast of Africa – later to become a famous two-wheeled destination – Bill, having just proposed to future wife
Mary, passed on the opportunity. “If I’d have called the wedding off I would have had to go to Africa.
And stayed there” he laughs.
Claremont Speedway became a regular Friday night outing for the newly married couple, a venue where the promoter Aub Lawson introduced ‘stock’ bike handicaps to encourage participation. According to Bill, it was Mary who said to him ‘you could beat half those blokes why don’t you give it a go.’
“It just so happened I had an old 1939 rigid frame Silver Star BSA in the shed” says Bill “and the pre-war models had a bore and stroke similar to a JAP motor. So I changed the gearing and modified the carburettor. They put me off 40 yards handicap that first night and, in a field of twelve or fourteen, my best result was a fourth. Not bad for a rookie I thought.”
“On the drive home the lady of the house said ‘that wasn’t very good, I thought you’d do better than that.’ Well I told her we’ve barely got two bob to rub together and ethanol cost 12 shillings a gallon while petrol was only 2 shillings and 8 pence. The treasurer came straight back at me, ‘if you spent the money on ethanol you’d finish higher up in the prizemoney and we’d be well in front’.”
That’s how Bill remembers it, however unlikely that may sound. And he took no time at all to cast and machine a high compression piston and cast his own brass Wal Phillips style carburettor with a Stromberg butterfly from a Holden grey motor. “Instant power” says Bill. “No steps and stairs it was phenomenal. On or off. It wasn’t long before I was off the maximum 180 yard handicap in a four lap race. If you had a good night you could make more than a week’s wages,” says Bill. “Initially ‘stock’ bikes were introduced to get riders interested in speedway – a progression to a Jawa or Excelsior. But I figured at 13 stone I was too heavy so just kept on with the stock bike until they were phased out.” This money wasn’t bad either. At this time Bill was working at the Harley Davidson-BSA Distributors, Mortlock Bros., and spending what spare time he had fettling three HRD outfits at Claremont Speedway.
Certainly speedway proved an enjoyable means of supplementing the family income, keep Bill fit and hone his reflexes during the off season, though his primary interest was scrambles which, at the time, was morphing into motocross; just as reliability trials were being transformed into enduros. After living in Perth for some years Bill and Mary – now with son Brian – resettled in Kalgoorlie, where Bill continued his motocross career at every opportunity; with an occasional foray into observed trials. “Two-strokes were taking the front foot in motocross” recalls Bill “so I purchased a 250 Maico and spent a few years learning about two-strokes.”
Switching to Swedish
In the late 1960s Bill switched his allegiance to Husqvarna, a marque relatively new to Australia. “I really admired the Swedish engineering” recalls Bill. “Two-strokes were so much lighter and you weren’t fighting all the weight that wants to plough straight ahead in the corners. I’ve stuck to Husqvarna
ever since 1968.” Bill’s first Husky started life as a 360 4-speed later downsized to 348cc where it was the 350 Class winner for five consecutive seasons. Having enjoyed his ‘life begins at 40 moment’, Bill continued to campaign across Australia for the next three decades. Eventually the Husqvarnas became ‘classics’ – Bill along with them. And senior motocross became classic motocross but it was all the same to Bill, now joined by his son Brian. The fleet of Husqvarnas, now numbering fourteen – including a replica of the very first machine to arrive in the southern hemisphere* – resides in
Bill’s workshop under the house. The original survives in son Brian’s lounge room. The workshop houses a lathe, drill press, welders, tools and few thousand spare parts to keep the race team in business. “I can make most of the things we need” says Bill “and Brian is Treasurer for purchases.” In 1998 Bill was Crowned Mr Vintage by the Goldfields Motorcycle Club and, for her support as Flag Marshall, Mary became Mrs Vintage shortly thereafter. Brian has yet to be anointed though for the past decade the family has contested the Vintage Motocross Championships held as far afield as Ararat in Victoria, Coffs Harbour in NSW and Conondale in Queensland.
Having held many executive positions in the Goldfields Motor Cycle Club Bill continued to use his experience and skills on various committees of the West Australian Motor Cycle Association. And for over 30 years of service to motorcycle sport Bill was made a Life Member of Motorcycling WA in 1981.
Thirty-three years later just before his 86th birthday Bill was awarded a Lifetime Competition Licence at the Motorcycling WA’s “Night of Champions Awards,” no doubt thinking it was unlikely to be used. However Bill made excellent use of this ‘free pass’, and the founding member of the Vintage Motocross Club continues to race to this day. We caught up with Bill at the 2019 Vintage Motocross Championships held at Harrisville southwest of Brisbane, where one of the highlights was the family ‘pony express motocross’. With a combined age of 150 years, Bill 90 and son Brian 60 years old, started off scratch, closely followed by Colin and Peter Melcher off a sixteen second handicap. The Watsons managed a fast finishing fourth after Bill dropped the clutch in the rider changeover, stalling the Husky 250 for the inevitably difficult hot kick start.
Worse was to come during a later scratch race in which Bill parted company with his machine and broke his right femur in three places. Only months later Bill was up and about for the re-enactment of the first motor races ever to be held in Western Australia at Lake Perkolilli.
“I was well on the mend” says Bill. “Brian and I had our bikes ready to be shipped in the container for the Australian Titles to be held at Nowra in June 2020 when all the travel restrictions hit. So all I can do is exercise and go for a swim in the pool at Scarborough to keep the batteries charged. And we’ve just managed to organise a local meeting at Narrogin in a few weeks, so I’ll see how the leg shapes up then.”