Wandering Walgett Wildcats

It’s been a number of years since I specifically went anywhere to watch motorcycles racing, in actual fact, and this is showing my age a little bit, it was mainly Amaroo, Oran Park and Bathurst in the late sixties and early seventies, I had always felt that it was around that time, that, it had become less of a competitive sport between riders and machines and much more a competition between big name sponsors, it seemed that the average joe blow, who, in a quite a few cases rode to the track on a street registered bike, removed its headlight, and headed off round the track with his number plates still on, no longer had a place in the scheme of things any more. Obviously those riders were still out there somewhere, continuing to punt their machines around, and for a skilful few there was always the chance to hit big-time and get in a team with a rich sponsor, however, for the spectator at major tracks the feeling of being a participant when you arrived, engendered by the fact that you were able to get up close to the riders, talk to them and watch as they worked on their bikes had gone, and they had been forced to distance themselves from the bikes and riders becoming merely bums on seats in the grandstand just watching a small portion of the overall event go past them. Quite frankly, for me, it was easier and cheaper once in a while to just watch it on TV.

Well, it goes to show you just how wrong a person can be, as, having just been to a world class race track at Eastern Creek to watch the 2007 Barry Sheene Memorial Race Meeting, put on by the Post Classic Racing Association of NSW (PCRA) I can, without reservation, say that real motorcycle racing that you can get up close and personal with is most certainly alive and well. Along with the big four Japanese marques there were bikes such as Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Vincent, Rudge, BSA, and Norton to name just a few, and astride quite a few of those bikes were riders of a vintage that probably went close to the machine underneath them. Whilst in general, most of the teams had fairly comprehensive tool kits, there was, nostalgically in a couple of the garages, old biscuit tins filled with well worn spanners still being used. Scuffed leathers, evidence of a lax moment in some past race lay crumpled in a corner, a forgotten stone cold half cup of coffee sat on the floor surrounded by parts as its owner worked on his machine, and judging from the grease and oil evident under the finger nails of nearly all and sundry, including wives and girlfriends, it was obvious that all hands had been on deck to get their respective bikes ready for the next race.

Like their big money counterparts that we are so familiar with, the riders that day had strict scrutineering rules to comply with regarding the bikes, a few changes in line with improving safety are permitted, but in general the bikes are pretty much as they would have been when they were originally made. With the vintage of some of the bikes it becomes obvious that the scrutineer’s knowledge of older obscure motorcycles has to be extensive, not to mention them also needing a working knowledge of the original after market parts commonly used back then, items such as chewing gum, and number eight fencing wire. I certainly don’t think the average bloke would be able to tell you if it was genuine forty year old Wrigley’s Spearmint or a lump of Hubba Bubba chewed up last week, let alone remotely know if the wire came off a five strand fence just outside of Tamworth in the fifties or was just pinched from the one along the back straight earlier that morning. To the scrutineers I tip my hat, and bow my head in awe.

With such a diversity of bikes running there was something there for everyone, the races, held over two days, comprised of mostly five or six laps each and they ran smoothly without long delays in between them thanks to a host of very experienced volunteer’s trackside. Also on offer for the public were a fairly comprehensive swap meet and a show and shine, couple that with vendor’s displays and a good selection of food available from a number of outlets, plus a couple of raffles for biker orientated prizes, well I reckon you can’t ask for much more, and of course the main thing is the fact, that, if you choose to be, you can be right in amongst it all soaking up all the action of the pits ,the riders and machines and just basically having a bloody good time.

Obviously the photos and words in this report only scratch the surface as to how good it was on the day, so I suggest that you drop in at the PCRA site www.postclassicracing.com.au for a look at what they are doing and have coming up in the future, who knows, you may even end up racing a bike yourself and getting your photo up here next time I go.

Thanks to all the riders and volunteers who made it such an enjoyable weekend, also thanks to fellow Wildcat and eldest son “Budge”, for a lot of the photos in this report.