THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE HIPSTER We are living the Chinese curse. Our times are indeed interesting.

SEEN THERE, WANT TO DO THAT Life’s a rush – there’s never time to do everything. This is true for one very simple reason: the more you do, the more you find that you see, hear or think of other things that you want to do as well. It’s actually a good thing that my memory is going, or I’d have a head completely full of things I still want to try. And not just general things – really specific ones.

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, the letters are among the most keenly read parts of the magazine. Please try and keep letters down to no more than 300 words. Then you can read many, not just a couple. We do reserve the right to cut them and, unless you identify yourself and at least your town or suburb and state, we will print your email address instead. Please address letters to thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, PO Box 2066, Boronia Park NSW 2111. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity!

CHASED BY THE TOFFEE-NOSES THIS IS WHAT BATHURST WAS LIKE IN THE REALLY EARLY DAYS!WORDS LESTER MORRIS It was a Saturday night at Sydney’s Showground Speedway way back in 1948 which changed it all, and it was very much for the better. It was, as usual, almost a packed house, but one of the unexpected items on the program was the addition of several promotional laps by a large number of motorcycles which differed radically from the skinny, ultra-lightweight Speedway bikes. They were in fact highly-specialised, un-streamlined road-racing machines, which looked extremely impressive, although they were naturally ridden on the slick dirt surface at much slower speeds than the nigh-frantic pace of the races we had already witnessed.

DON’T FALL AND… DON’T GET LOST! DON’T LET IT FALL!Brake-Fix – Price – $17.95 Ever had that heartbreaking shock when your bike rolled off the side stand? To prevent this, Pro Accessories has made available the “Brake-Fix”. It simply attaches to the brake lever and handlebar. Squeeze the brake on, place the Brake-Fix, pull the black lever to sit it in one of the channels and you’re done. To release, simply lift the black lever.

TRACKING THE HIGH COUNTRY BRIGHT, VIC The snow in Victoria’s high country should almost be starting to melt, so now is the time to start planning your next adventure trip around the wonderful high country dirt tracks. If you plan it right, you might even catch the tail end of the snow, which will make some of these tracks slippery with mud. It all adds to the “adventure”. BRIGHT Nestled between mountains, picturesque Bright is the place to base yourself for this ride. All services are available and if you want to treat yourself, there are plenty of high end places to stay and to eat.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM A BIKE I JUST HAPPENED TO BE THERE AT THE TIMEWORDS/PHOTOS BOB WOZGA Hoskinstown Bob has been sending us some interesting variations on “normal” photography, so we asked him how he does it. Turns out it’s quite simple. The camera is an extraordinary time machine that allows people to see again what you saw at a precise moment of time. Photographing what seem to be mundane subjects now can prove to be interesting later down the track. An old shop on the street corner may be bulldozed in a year’s time and an office block put in its place.

CAN-AM SPYDER F3S TRIPLE THE ATTENTIONWORDS/PHOTOS NICK WOOD Until Stuart suggested I pick up the new 2015 Spyder F3S model from Western Motorcycles in Penrith, my only encounter with a Can-Am three-wheeler had been heading down to Dalgety a few years back. I remember this journey well; in fact I still wake up screaming every now and then. The Bear and I nearly joined the Choir Invisible Coming the other way out of Cooma along the Monaro Highway, a Toyota Land cruiser towing a heavy wood chipper, jack-knifed. Had it not been for the gods to decide it was not our time to die, it would not have missed us by inches. We would simply have been splattered. There was nowhere to go. The journey back from Dalgety was also memorable as it rained stair rods the whole way back and I thought if I had to be anywhere right now, it’s riding pillion on the back of the Spyder, with its massive perspex screen and bulky chassis to keep us a modicum of dry.

BARK LOUDER!Running lights from Barkbusters Price – $69.95 Increase your visibility to other road users with the NEW Bark busters LED indicators and running lights, and just incidentally look seriously cool. This great idea from bark busters can be retro fitted to Bark busters JET, VPS and STORM guards. Lights sit on the upper or lower front-facing sides of VPS and STORM guards or upper face of the JET guard. Indicator and running lights are E Mark approved with 15 super bright LED’s per light, with a low power draw.