Atujara Motorcycle Club Inc

[Here is a reply to the popular story written by Alec Ridgeway, Gold Life Member of the Atujara MCC ... Ed ]
Having read a copy of “Chain Chatter” that had been passed on to me by Audrey Diener, & read “How I became an Atujarian, by Alec Ridgeway,” I thought there may be members who would enjoy further memories of the 50’s.

I joined the Club at about the same time as Les after hearing of the Buckland Park events, as I recall things I have been taken to the Park by my uncle to watch car & motorcycle races when I was much younger, another treat I enjoyed was Wayville Speedway!

My membership lapsed during the war while I was in the RAAF, but 1946 saw me rejoin, was it just previous to the war, or shortly after that the club had a fun afternoon at Camden Speedway ? This was a venue that I attend regularly from the time it started. I well remember Les’’s first competitive ride at the “Buff” at Victor Harbour, & still have photos, at the time he had a Velo KCRSS, & I owned the ex Brian Ellis (Motor Traders) KSS, this would have been in 1939 (?). I never rode in competition till after the war & like others, my mount was my going to work bike stripped of lights & mudguards for scrambles. Yes the TT scrambles with interstate riders, I still see Jack French now & then , & of course the shortest TT circuit in the world, up behind the Crafers Pub! Charlie Walker’s comments after he rammed his brand new “Telly” forked Norton off the lower corner first lap in the company of the rest of the field of outfits!

The Horndale Winery Trials up in the Reynella area, out of 40 odd competitors I only recall 6 official finishers! We rode in pairs with the idea of having 2 riders to lift bikes over or across the obstacles, mostly on the 1km way in, & way out from the 6km course that had to be traversed twice in the afternoon, the whole terrain one of steep gullies & hills & long abandoned vineyards & tracks, won by Jack prime & Ray Trevena, but they did fail to report at a control point that was strategically place at the edge of a steep ravine, the idea being a trial of strength in lifting the bikes over or through it, Jack & Ray just sized up the situation as they approached & “gunned” their bikes & leaped across, more or less thumbing their noses at the waiting stewards! Myself, a long forgotten Reynella Club rider on a small Triumph were second & coming in 3rd was our local rider Dud Nicholls, who with his stiff right leg hooked over a steel strap attached to his bike’s front down bar, was asight t behold in full flight. He was one of the organisers, & in view of the course that had been laid out, he carried a long floor board lashed to his bike to assist in the negotiating some of the hazards, – quite legal by the trial rules, which basically allowed Jack Prime & Ray Trevena to retain first place without disqualification, – we couldn’t anyhow as they were two of the state’s top riders!

The TT at Warradale around my home at that time, the pits in a vacant paddock opposite my Uncle’s garage in Morphet Road for the first event, & in Sturt Road for the shortened second event. The first TT taking in part of Seacombe Road, which at that time was a narrow strip of almost non-existent bitumen, the big thrill was the blast down Diagonal Road, with the blind bend across Stuart road. It was here that Ross Twigden went off the road after failure to negotiate the bend, & ended up in the “wormwood” hedge bordering the road.

Around this time I sold my treasured KSS & bought the ex Tuck & Diener work hack, an accumulation of Ariel frame, 16H Norton motor & gearbox, & a “trade box” mead up water pipe & boards, the 16H was soon to become the power dept. of my Holden 3 wheeler, & then my life change and I moved to Kangaroo island. But after a few years & 5 kids the “scramble bug” bit again, mostly due to the presence oD deaB bone. I had been instrumental in Don Dixon’s move to K.I. at that time & “Boney” followed shortly afterwards.

There was almost no motorcycles on K.I. at that time. My wife & I shared the 3 wheeler & a Bantam for awhile, but that had given way to a wrecked “Chevvy” & 2 Vespa motor scooters. Apart from that I can only recall a Royal Enfield, a BSA & a MAV VELO, which I later bought for $4 & retain today re-engined with a Mk.2 KSS & a Velores side car attached.

So it was that I called my long time mate Jim Thurmer who I had known for many years. He was seduced into shipping a load of his stagnate stock to K.I. at bargain prices, these bikes were given a royal welcome at the Kingscote wharf when they were unloaded, & within minutes they had new owners. Thus we had the means of forming the K.I. Motorcycle Club, as I recall the bikes ranged in price from 3 pounds 10 shillings, up to 8 or 10 pounds for an immaculate Mk.2 “Cammy” Velo, the frame of this bike eventually became my MSS road racer here in Victoria, & is still now back in South Australia once more, but hardly recogniseable, but I did run my hand over it for old time’s sake at Phillip Island recently.

Once we had bikes a section of beach front out at Kingscote was soon transformed into a track. Not long afterwards the Jimmy Thurmer Scramble Championships were orginised. Jim supplying elaborate sashes & making the trip to the Island for the inaugural event. These were the days of “ Soapy” Burford & “Mudgey” & others whose names I can’t remember. A sailing sketch transported the “overseas” bikes to the Island, & there followed a weekend of fun that quite a few would remember to this day. The visitors were bundled back on the plane for the trip back on Monday morning, some of them a bit worse for wear! Jim had hopes of creating a road circuit on Kangaroo Island, but alas this was not to be.

We had numerous wrangles with the local council & the club slowly died. Some of the members taking up golf, Brian Wadsworth had “immigrated” from the Morwell (Vic.) MCC & soon married locally. He and Dean Bone remain there to this day. These then are my recollections of the 50’s when wonderful machines of today could not possibly have been imagined. But for us it was a few years of fun after the privations of war. Nothing will ever dim the memory of those times.

Regards Keith & Barbara Hamilton