Ian Hogg A sidecar stalwart
Ian had previously raced a Matchless outfit in scrambles at Bucks Hill, Mount Gambier, and in various events in the western districts of Victoria, and then a 1947 Manx Norton “Garden Gate” longstroke outfit until he went modern in about 1955 and bought a short-stroke Manx outfit from Bernie Mack. Bernie had bought the machine in the UK and raced it there, and later when he returned home to Australia. Ian travelled from Mount Gambier to Melbourne, picked up the outfit and called in to Point Henry scramble meeting at Geelong to spectate and discuss his purchase with his many Geelong motorcycle associates. One of the many admirers was Mavis Bent, one of quite a few female Sporting Motorcycle Club members. Hoggy must have been smitten that day as he and Mavis were married a year or so later.
Ian’s passenger on the new outfit was Des Hastings, who was part of the considerable success of the outfit until a misjudgement at the old Fishermans Bend circuit in Melbourne resulted in a broken collarbone and wrist between the pair, whereby Des promptly resigned from his honorary position as sidecar passenger.
After repairs to the outfit and himself, Ian – a watchmaker at the family business in Mount Gambier – secured the very able services of Phil Morgan from Geelong. Their many victories at various venues included three South Australian Championships, and led to being invited early in the ‘sixties to visit and compete in New Zealand by the A.C.U. of NZ to “improve the quality of sidecar racing in NZ.”
Not everything went quite as well as hoped.
Many delays in the release of the outfit in Auckland resulted in some missed race meetings. Ian was earning poor wages as a watchmaker, and later better money as a motorcycle mechanic at Len Perry’s shop in Greenlane. Mavis found work and Phil was working as a motorcycle mechanic at W. White. Their first race at Pukekohe improved their financial situation somewhat, with a win that was still talked about with amazement in the mid ‘sixties when I raced there.
They had broken the gearbox mainshaft on their first practice lap of the New Zealand Grand Prix on the Wednesday, wrecking the gearbox. With no complete spares to be had, Phil, a toolmaker, machined up two gearbox shafts and gears in the few days before the race, finishing on Friday night. Hugh Anderson had made a Good Samaritan trip up from Huntley with parts to effect an alternative ►
repair but Phil had got his teeth into the job and finished the new shafts and gear cluster. After fitting the gearbox back into the outfit, followed by a quick proving practice run up the quiet suburban street at midnight and a few hours well-earned rest, they arrived back at Pukekohe for the big race, then promptly fell asleep under the van.
I believe the promised prize money was twenty five Pounds (twice a week’s wages) and to help the competition a local motorcycle dealer competing on a 1000cc Vincent outfit (and the fancied winner) put up a further one hundred pounds. Ian later related that having only negotiated “Stable Corner” at a comparatively moderate speed in their one practice lap before the gearbox failure (it being the first corner after the start/finish on the front straight), he approached it during the first lap flat out, passing a couple of fast local starters, and arrived “50 mph too fast and a couple of gears too high”. Realising he wasn’t going to make it he nevertheless put in his best effort and mainly thanks to Phil’s effort who stayed in the sidecar and literally flung himself past the sidecar wheel to help pivot the outfit around the left hander, they made it. Hoggy, never one to miss an opportunity, gave the outfit full stick and as Phil later described the race, “completely rode around or over the astounded opposition” to win the one hundred and twenty five Pounds prize money. At Wanganui, having survived some lurid manoeuvres with a broken rear suspension strut, they won with a temporary repair of two solid steel bars in place of the normal suspension units. As passenger, Phil reckoned he bore the bruises for a long time, especially those from the railway crossing section of the round-the-houses circuit. Years later I mentioned to Ian that it was a remarkable job Phil had done to manufacture a gearbox in two or three days, and asked him how long it had lasted. He smiled and replied that he was still using it as it still functioned perfectly!
Phil Morgan moved to South Africa in the late ‘sixties and at the next meeting at McNamara Park, Mount Gambier, I was asked to passenger with Ian, which I did for several years. However with the more modern frames and engnes coming into vogue we were usually relegated to also-rans.
Ian firmly stuck to the adage that an outfit was a motorcycle with a sidecar attached, and his only concession to a lower riding position was to use 16 inch wheels rather than the original 19 inch wheels. We made a change at this time from the old handbeaten alloy fairing which was getting a bit tatty, to a fibreglass fairing from my 125 Honda as these were no longer allowed to be used on solos.
Some people have mentioned over the years that this outfit had an ex-works Cyril Smith engine and it certainly was a remarkable one. Other than a dropped valve at Phillip Island in 1970 it proved very reliable. Ian even broke his own lap record at Mac Park in 1969/70 revving it to 9,500 and gaining third in the Unlimited Sidecar against much larger and more modern machines, again with the solid rear end as in Wanganui, NZ. I can tell you, when he got the bit between his teeth you learned to really hang on!
Unfortunately Ian’s life ended on 1st April, 1972 when we crashed at the top of the mountain at Bathurst. As his passenger I was lucky to survive but Ian died on his way to Bathurst Hospital, leaving his wife Mavis, young son Colin, and baby Wendy, who later became a motorcycle journalist, sidecar passenger, and now lives in Atlanta, USA where she runs a Ducati dealership.
Ian’s favourite Norton outfit was very badly wrecked, with really only the engine, gearbox and wheel hubs surviving. It was later purchased by enthusiast Ken Lucas from Wangaratta and fitted into a spare solo frame until such time as a suitable sidecar setup could be put together. It was eventually restored to the form that Ian raced it. Ian’s older 1947 Manx Norton, owned by his son Colin who lives in New Zealand) was displayed in the National Motorcycle Museum at Nabiac, NSW for some time before being sold to Mildura.
Ian was very well liked and highly regarded for his ability as a mechanic and a safe but competitive rider by all who associated with him. I feel that it was an honour and a privilege to compete in a unique form of motor racing with such a talented and fine gentleman as my friend Ian Hogg. ■
Footnote: At the time of his death in 1972, Ian Hogg was making his sixteenth Bathurst appearance, beginning in 1955 with Des Hastings as passenger. Over the years he had several different passengers, including Phil Morgan, Kevin Gleeson, Noel Tapscott, John Smith, Rob Kenna, and Mike Johnston.