BUNBURY (WA)
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1971 - INDIAN HARLEY CLUB
The Indian Harley Club was originally the idea of a Bunbury motorcycle collector and previous racer Harold Braund.
Harold who had a large collection of vintage motorcycles felt there was a need for a club as he was sure there were others out there that shared his passion for vintage Indian and Harley Davison bikes.
The first Recorded meeting for the club was on the 15th of June 1971, it wasn't until the 31st of July that the club beame an incorperated body and adopted a constitution
The club originaly only accepted Indian and Harley Davison motorcycles, but in November of 1979 the constitution was changed to allow other makes of motorcycles to be apart of the club.
The first few years of the clubs opperation the membership was quite small so the monthly meetings would be held at the members homes but as the membership grew the meeting were moved to public venues such as the St Johns Ambulance Hall in ? or the PCYC Hall in Bourke Street
As time passed the club would move to its current base, The Bunbury Motorcycle Club's venue at the Shrubland Park Motorcross track on the North Boyanup Road.
The club as we know it today is very active and hold many events, The two day rally the club runs is one of the biggest held in the state, this event has been run yearly since 1974 and attracts a large amount of entrys, The club is also the orginiser of the annual toy run held just prior to christmas to raise money for the Salvation Army Christmas Apeal, this event sometimes attracts more than 400 riders.
(Editorial Eric (Bolt) Blythe)
Eric (Bolt) Blythe recalls: while researching the Indian Harley Club I came across many of the original members names, such as Fred Pitter, Rob Menzies, John Head, Ian Inglis, Collin Pitter, Len Glen, Norm Baxter and Norm Hart.
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2014 - BUNBURY REPORTER NEWSPAPER REPORTED
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Memories of Bunbury facebook feature
2020 / 1930's - HAROLD BRAUNDHarold Braund first began riding motorcycles in the 1930's.
By the late 1940's Harold had imported a Vincent Black Lightning motorcycle at a cost of 540 pounds, That was a lot of money back then, but after all they were very rare with only thirty one bikes ever built, they were at the time the fastest production bike in the world.
In April of 1950 while a member of the Eastern Districts Motor Cycle Club, Harold set a club speed record on the Vincent at 122mph over an 1/8 of a mile.
Following in Harolds footsteps is his grandson Wayne Patterson, The leading motorcycle repair shop in the South West as well as the Ducatti agent, Wayne has earnt the respect of the motorcycle community over the years for the riding abilities on the dirt, speedway, road racing, stunt riding and most lately Drag racing, Wayne's son Tod is also very gifted on any type of motorcycle as well as a motorcycle engineer.
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That would be a very cheeky young Harold Braund on that BSA motorcyle. Photo: Wayne Patterson. |
Harold astride his BSA motorcycle in the early days prior to the Vincent Black Lightning. Photo: Wayne Patterson.
