John Burrows
A legendary figure in the Melbourne motorcycle scene, JOHN BURROWS passed away in September at his home in Aldgate, South Australia.
‘JB’ was born in 1933 and raised in Box Hill on the eastern fringe of Melbourne’s suburbs. At the age of 17 he bought his first motorcycle, an ex-army Matchless for £30 and had his first completion outing at Springvale in 1951. Within two years he had risen to the top in scrambles, winning the Australian 350cc title in 1953. Before long he had abandoned pattern making as a profession and slipped into the motorcycle trade, later forming a partnership with Keith Stacker and opening a shop at Malvern, selling a wide variety of makes and eventually landing a Honda franchise. The shop became the centre for the scrambles fraternity, selling all the British accessories as well as bikes. With the enduro scene booming in the early ‘seventies, JB went to USA and rode an OSSA in the ISDT in Massachusetts. In the latter years of his business life he branched into tyres as the Victorian distributor for Metzeler. ■