...it has taken some time for me to find a new one (?)..."
Hi Ian,
Higher in the thread there are pics of Gus Clifton on several racing Douglases of the mid-1920s: a 350 "RA" with a sloping top rail and sloping tank (technically a model TW), a 350 "RA" with a gooseneck frame and flat tank (technically a model RW), and a 500 "RA" with a sloping top rail and flat tank (which was an "unlisted" model but typical of the early batch of RAs that arrived in Australia). Later Gus was sometimes seen on a TT.
Also above I discuss whether riders had separate 350 and 500 "RA" motorcycles, or whether they had 350 and 500 engines that they slotted into their favourite cycle parts. With practice, and engine change could be done in minutes...
Since we've seen Gus on the three different combos of cycle parts, fitted with 350 or 500 engines, it's impossible to say whether his Lake Perkolilli bike is one we've seen before. The bike might have been Clifton's personal property, or one of the Williams Bros fleet, ridden at different times by different riders.
Anyway, it was nice that Clifton thrashed the competition, but there is a huge question: why did he bother? Lake Perkolilli - in the Goldfields of Western Australia - is ASTONISHINGLY far from Sydney, some 3500km via road. But the "road" was rubbish in the 1920s. You could take the train I suppose (several days?), or the boat to Esperance then 400km overland to Lake Perkolilli. I'm tired just thinking about it. I suppose Williams Bros paid him to go to wave the Douglas flag in WA.
Cheers
Leon