Al Gill  #404

AL GILL  Edmonton.

Age unknown but over 50. Last raced AOTMX Master +50 class with Mr Koll and others. Married for 39 years to Dianne, with son Michael who is an engineer here in Edmonton, and daughter Kirstie who is a teacher in New Zealand. Have one grand-child, Lauren who is a real sweetheart. My biking goes waaayyy back, to the time before computers, even TV, and certainly before twitter, kijiji and ebay, back to “the day” and beyond. Read on.

In about 1962 when I was 11 or so, I found the remains of an old WWII side valve cast iron Norton laying against a shed near my Dad’s farm in Australia. I eventually saved enough money working for 5c an hour to buy it for $5.00. It comprised the engine, frame and wheels. I had to beg borrow and even steal a tank, seat, exhaust, chain, carby, cables and lots moreover the next 12 months. Eventually I got it running with the help of my cousin who was heavily into dirt track racing on a 500 AJS.

I then started to ride it around the farm, and started to teach all the local kids to ride, for a fee of 1 gallon of gas. Every time they wanted to ride it cost one gallon….I don’t think I paid for gas for about 3 or 4 years. At that time I also was into grass track racing and dirt track as a flag-boy, along with tame scrambles and lots of crashing. Later I bought a 125cc BSA Bantam that had won the Oz Scrambles Championship 2 years before. That bike gave me my first big crash when the front wheel and fork lowers fell out when I pulled a wheelie over a hardened cow turd down on the farm….

I then “moved up” to a 250 twin pipe DKW dirt tracker than was slower than the 125 Beeza, but it looked good, all sideways all the time, in any gear, maxed out at about 32.5 mph…..While I was still at school there was a 250 BSA road bike, a very rare Yamaha YDS2 250 2 stroke, 5 or 6 Bantams, another Norton, a Honda 90 and a few I’ve forgotten……then I found girls and the rest is history…

Took a few years break, got married, moved a few times and then got into speedway and dirt track on a rare Hagon 500 JAP dirt tracker that paid for my first house from prize money. That was followed by a Godden 500 dirt tracker, a sponsored ride on a Suzuki 125, a Honda XL250 if you can believe it, a Suzuki RM250, TM400 Cyclone death star and a bunch of others including a Yamaha XS1 650 dirt track sidecar that was fun to drive. I also did speedways, trials, beach racing, scrambles/ MX, hill-climbs, enduros, paved hill climbs on public roads and tons of dirt track all over Australia. Along the way I picked up a few titles, a bunch of broken bones, a head injury/ short coma or two [who knew], and a bazillion memories I wont forget……

Then we emigrated to Canada, and I started all over again learning how to ride MX, ice racing and sidecar ice racing partnered with Dennis Holland. Rode Yamaha and Kawi, then bought a Husaberg 501 in about 1997, had a few breaks from the Old Timers and MX generally, but still kept coming back from numerous injuries and lack of $. Fast forward to 2002 when I upgraded to a new KTM 525, and I won a race or two on the OT circuit, which then led to a KTM 450 in 2008, just before I had a life changing industrial accident which shut down my riding for the past 18 months.

I am now heavily into vintage and old shit, much like I couldn’t get rid of fast enough back in the day. I now own a 1969 Kawi Bighorn, a mint 1980 CB750 Honda, a 1971 Triumph Bonny, 1977 Yamaha DT100 for my grand-daughter Lauren, 1977 RD200 with 1500 km on the clock, 1969 R5 350 Yamaha, 1964 Benelli 400 trail bike and last but not least a BSA 441 Victor Trail in about a million bits……I am also negotiating with the famous Hugh McCourt to acquire a Husky red tank beauty so I can at least attend Vintage days and look the part………I’m really looking forward to the Vintage scene and will help where I can to make it fun and laid back. Oh I forgot I still own one of my original dirt trackers back in Oz.