Report – 2019 Geelong Revival Motoring Festival
Words & Photos: Mike Ryan
Perfect conditions greeted participants and spectators for the eighth running of the Geelong Revival Motoring Festival this past 22-24 November. And while the event is predominantly a four-wheel affair, bikes are welcome and have been a part of the Geelong waterfront show every year.
Round the Bend
As the name suggests, the Revival is a resurrection, specifically a resurrection of the Geelong Speed Trials, which were first held at the bayside Victorian town in 1956. Back then, a section of Ritchie Boulevard – a public road on the Geelong waterfront facing Corio Bay - was chosen for a timed quarter mile (400m) sprint course.
That course presented a unique challenge, though, as the road is curved and not a straight shot like traditional drag strips. Then, as now, the curved track arguably favoured riders more than drivers, as motorcyclists could lean into the bend and adjust their lines to “straighten” the curve in the Ritchie Boulevard sprint course.
In the early days of the Speed Trials, all sorts of contemporary competition machines were campaigned, but as the event evolved, it became more a showcase of historic machinery and something of a nostalgic motorsport event.
Last held in its original format in 2003, several initiatives in subsequent years tried to bring speed trial action back to the Geelong waterfront, but none were successful until a cadre of passionate local enthusiasts launched the Geelong Revival in 2012.
Each year since, the Revival has seen all manner of competition machinery – new and old – bring the sights, sounds and spirit of the original Geelong Speed Trials back to the ‘City by the Bay’. The same stretch of Ritchie Boulevard is used, too, albeit with modern safety barriers and the latest timing technologies, but entrants still face the same challenges in mastering the tricky course now as they did back then.
Sprint Variety
While cars make up the bulk of entries in the Geelong Revival sprints, there’s been a healthy representation of bikes each year, with the two-wheel sprints and accompanying static bike display, (which was supported by local businesses Geelong Harley-Davidson, Nevermind Adventure and Motorcycle Shed), dubbed ‘Motorcycle Mecca’.
There’s always variety in the starting list for the sprints, too, and 2019 was no exception, with everything from a Harley WL to a near-new Ducati Panigale in action. Throw in a Kawasaki H2, Buell 1125CR, Aermacchi 350, various Yamahas from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, plus a ’71 Triumph Trident, Honda CBR 750 Hurricane, Suzuki RG500 and Kawasaki GPZ 750 Turbo, just to name a few, and you couldn’t fault the diversity of the field. There was even a Kawasaki KX125 that’d you’d be more likely find on a motocross track!
The cherry on top, though, was a Vespa PX200 scooter. Yes, it was rough, and yes, it was slow compared to some of the other entrants, but this Revival regular never failed to bring smiles to the crowd each time it buzzed its way down the sprint course. This machine also showed the fun, relaxed nature of the Geelong Revival and how most competitors don’t take their times, or themselves, too seriously.
While the cars were split into ‘modern’ and ‘historic’ categories, running on separate days, new and old motorcycle classes were combined and most entrants ran on both 23 and 24 November. Modern bikes were categorised into Super Stock, Supersport and Road Registered, while the Historic side of the ledger was mostly made up of Period 4, 5 and 6 machinery. Naturally, the fastest runners could be found in Super Stock, with litre-class and larger sportsbikes, like a Suzuki GSX-R, Honda CBR 1000 and the aforementioned Panigale in this group.
Super Saturday… and Sunday!
On his 2014 CBR 1000RR SP, Michael Smith set the pace early in the Saturday practise session with a 10.25-second run. He’d go on to record the exact same time on his third (of four) runs that day to be fastest across the entire motorcycle category, followed by Justin Kaiser with an 11.01 on his ’06 CBR 600 Supersport. As a group, the Supersport class was the quickest, with all riders in this category recording runs in the 11-second bracket by the end of the day.
In the Historics, Rod Lay knocked out 11-second times across the board on his P6 Yamaha FZR 400, while Ben Mundy, on an ’86 Suzuki GSX-R 1100 (in Period 6 Unlimited), wasn’t far behind on each of his four runs.
Ken Mundy was the best in Period 4, with several 12-second runs on his ’71 Trident 750, while Revival regular Rodney Wright was in a class on his own – literally – with his Harley WL, so was unchallenged in the Vintage category.
With a few exceptions, most of the entrants in Saturday’s sprints returned for Sunday, along with a handful of new additions. These included a Period 4 ’54 BSA B31 entered by Stacey Heaney, while Stacey’s dad Des ran a 1930 AJS in the Vintage class. There was also a P6 Laverda RGS and a pair of Harleys in P3, with an Aprilia RSV4 and BMW S 1000RR joining the Super Stock class.
Kaiser was in the 11s again on Sunday on his CBR 600, while Smith’s departure was filled by Donny Zane on a 2019 Yamaha YZF-R1 in Super Stock. A best of 10.79 seconds in practise augured well for Zane, but he found that time hard to replicate and it wasn’t until his fourth and final run of the day that he was able to match it – that 10.79 also being the fastest overall motorcycle time for the day.
Again, Kaiser was the next fastest of the Supersport class with an 11.10-second best time, while Mark Simpson also got into the 11s on his 2010 Ducati Monster 1000. Most of the Super Stock class were recording times in the 11-second bracket across their four runs, including Rob Kaiser on his ’99 Honda VTR1000 and Dick Lodge on his brawny Buell 1125CR.
After a string of 14-second runs on his P4 ’72 T120 Bonneville on Saturday, Scott Green notched up a couple of 13-second passes on the Sunday before his Triumph declared ‘enough’, while Ken Mundy consistently put his P4 Trident into the 12-second bracket, just as he had the day before.
Ben Munday was the best of the Historics on Sunday, with consistent 11-second times – and a best of 11.13 seconds – on his P6 GSX-R 1100.
Of Sunday’s newcomers, Stephen Majernik ran an impressive 12.05 first up on his Period 3 ’58 Harley KRTT, but couldn’t replicate that time thereafter, which meant his son Andrew, on a ’61 Harley XLH Sportster, got the better of him on subsequent runs.
Stacey Heaney scored a best of 16.51 on her ’54 Beezer, while Des’s best was a 20.70 on his vintage AJS.
Two-Wheel Showcase
A short walk from the sprint course was the second part of Motorcycle Mecca in the form of a big bike display on the lawn of Customs House.
Held on both days, this ride-in display featured everything from Harley baggers to classic Beemers, with classics, veterans and customs to be found, too, as well as modern cruisers and sportsbikes.
Standouts for the JUST BIKES crew in this display included a Yamaha SR500 custom café racer (that we may be doing a feature article on soon), a pair of classic R90S BMWs, a rare C1958 Laverda Sport 100, Kawasaki’s latest supercharged Ninja H2 and a Harley rigid chopper that was just dripping with old skool cool!
On the way from the sprint course to the Customs House display, Geelong Harley-Davidson had set up a pop-up store with current model Harleys on show to tempt spectators, while Nevermind Adventure had the latest from Royal Enfield, Super Soco and Peugeot Motocycles on display at the other end of Ritchie Boulevard.
Finally, in the pit area for the sprints, Honda continued the celebrations of their 50th Anniversary in Australia by showcasing their entire ‘Golden’ vehicle collection that included a CRF 50F, CRF 450R and CBR 1000RR.
Rolling On
Geelong Revival organisers claim the event attracts 60,000 spectators and contributes over $3 million to the local economy. Given the apparent success of the 2019 event, its continuation in 2020 seems assured. With sprint action and static displays, driving demonstrations and passenger rides, kids activities and other family-friendly attractions, all in a great location, there’s not much more that this event needs, except maybe more motorcycles!
2019 Revival Ripper – Yamaha SR500
Making the journey from Tasmania to be part of the 2019 Geelong Revival, this SR500-based café racer ran the sprints on Saturday, then joined the display bikes on Sunday.
With all the classic café racer styling cues and polished to a blinding shine, there were plenty of attractive and well thought out features on this custom, including the competition-style drum front brake and Motogadget revcounter on a custom bracket.
Since it was built, this machine has been used in several historic events, both in Victoria and its native Tasmania.
JUST BIKES has spoken to the owner of this machine and hope to bring you a more detailed feature on it soon.
2019 Revival Ripper – Harley custom chopper
There’s not a lot we can tell you bout this old school Harley chopper, as we didn’t get a chance to speak to the owner, but what’s apparent is the Sportster Ironhead engine with a Holey Drilled air filter cover and custom pipes with fishtail tips, while the chain final drive runs to a more modern touch in the form of a sprocket rotor.
Traditional chopper touches include the front mudguard delete, stacked headlights, mini ape bars and a king & queen seat.
The 7-spoke alloys were polished to a high shine and the coffin fuel tank was a work of art in itself, with flames, fades and plenty of metalflake
