ROAD SIGNS IN AUSTRALIA

This was the view from John Jenning's Thruxton, somewhere in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. That night our group occupied a former elementary school turned hostel; I shared a room with 14 other men, all over 60. I bought earplugs and a bottle of Chivas Regal, for a sound night's sleep. Didn't hear a thing!

CT ASHBY'S ZENITH

CT Ashby on his Zenith, Brooklands 1925. Zenith motorcycles held more over-100mph lap times at the Brooklands track than any other make, and the competition machines were personally supervised by Freddie Barnes, owner of Zenith. The bike is stripped down to the essentials, with a big pillow strapped to the tank for rider comfort on the notoriously bumpy Brooklands bowl. The crucial components; big 1000cc JAP ohv engine, Harley forks with an Andre bump damper, 'square' ML magneto at the front of the engine, two big fishtail mufflers poking beyond the rear wheel, 21" wheels front and rear, and a a dummy rim rear brake. Ashby, always a practical rider, is wearing a turtleneck sweater under his collarless leathers, and what looks like a kidney belt to help with the pounding he must have recieved while doing 110mph. I owned a similar machine, which I'll show in a future post.