Photos and info courtesy of Murray Barnard
A GLORIOUS 102-year-old 350 Douglas, rescued from a shearing shed in Western Australia’s eastern wheatbelt, was one of the stars of the recent Vintage Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet staged by the Vintage Motorcycle Club of WA.
The old Douglas sat in the shed for decades and was in a sorry state when Lat Fuller took possession in 2014. A three-year restoration brought the bike back to life. Douglas was a successful British bike manufacturer in the first half of the 20th Century, building tens of thousands of bikes and gaining plenty of glory at the Isle of Man. (Learn more here.)
The bike delivered Lat a first place trophy at the show and swap meet, held in Cannington on March 24, taking out the Veteran and Vintage class (up to 1930).
Other category winners on the day were Joe Deol’s 1949 A7 BSA (Post Vintage 1931-1950), Gary Tenardi’s 1956 HS Ariel (Classic), Sean Killalea’s 1985 Honda VF1000F2 (Post Classic), and Bowe Wilson’s 1936 BMW R4 (People’s Choice Award).
This year’s event attracted its biggest ever crowd, sweeping in to check out any bargains but also to browse the marvellous collection of 130 machines on display, some of them among the most rare in Australia and possibly the world.
The VMCCWA has run a motorcycle display and swap meet at the Cannington Showgrounds for decades. Always a perennial favourite, the event regularly attracts a crowd of motorcycle enthusiasts, draws bits and pieces out of sheds and enables club members to display their machines. The VMCCWA has over 600 members (including a very active section in Albany on WA’s south coast) and in addition to conducting regular club runs has a parts store and an extensive library for members.
The show this year had a dedicated website (vmccwa.com/vintageshow) which kept members of the public and members informed on show arrangements. The website also carried detailed information panels on most of the machines on display.
The list of machines on display ranged from a 1910 Norton to a 1996 Bimota. In between were machines equally rare and desirable. The criteria for the show is broad and machines on display have been entered not on the basis of quality of restoration, monetary value or popularity. The club values preservation, originality and a love of motorcycles.
Next year, the club has plans to further expand the show and possibly run some of the machines at regular times.
