An Old Friend Returns

Way back during my 20s I'd bought this old Motor Pace frame from a quaint old bike shop in Park Street, South Melbourne. Morton Cycles was one of those shops that the owner, usually an old Bike Rider from the Pre-War or early Post-War era had time to tell you tales of his past racing career.
It always worried me as to where that old motor pace bike frame went to. I also had one of the Australian 1956 Olympic Tandems but I know where that went.

On Saturday night we went to celebrate my father's 90th birthday and I caught up with a few of my old mates from back then. One of them, Buck Jacobs gave me some part time work in his bike shop after I returned from a racing holiday in the US during 1979. Buck and I trained together that year and I remember doing a 220 "MILES" training ride together but that's another story for another blog..........

As I walked into the RSL, Buck cornered me and said he had something in the car for me and I had to guess what it was - No Way could I guess!!!!!

It was my old Motor Pace frame - Old friends always return sometime in your life.

The Motor Pace frame has a small wheel at the front so that you can get closer into the slipstream of the motor bike pacer. Note the front forks. The wheels were usually made from wood.



It's a locally made frame by the name of Ideale by "Pop" Storran. He sold the business in his older years to Bates Cycles in Coburg. Bates never used the name and it got lost in history, as has Bates Cycles now. They had a frame building business in Gaffney Street Coburg beside the railway. Bates Cycles sponsored a few cyclists over the years in the same way Malvern Star did.



The rear ends are slotted so that the inside axle locking nuts slid into the grooves.



The curved tube between the down bar and the head was added for strength. The front forks actually were ridden reversed so that the smaller diameter front wheel allowed the rider to be closer to the motor bike. Note the lug work and the brazed on "I" on the head, lovely craftsmanship.

And maybe this is what it might look like one day (soon)!
This is Hubert Opperman's  motor pace bike from the 1930s and displayed at the Melbourne Museum.

Behind the big motors in Europe

By the way, we have two Australian World Champions at this event. Graham French won it in 1956 and Danny Clark won it twice - 1988 and 1991. He also had two seconds (85/87) and a third (90).
In 1899 Robert Goodson from Australia was second in the amateur event and in 1954, Joe Bunker another Aussie was third in the pro event.

In this You Tube clip, watch for the banner that features Hubert Opperman's name as a rider in the coming program. Opperman is still remembered in Europe as is Sid Patterson by the older members of the bike racing community.