Introducing myself and hopefully finding out some information.

[Tiger_DFT]

Hi, I'm trying to find any information on my Mentor in the 1950's - the Late Mr Neville Watts.

Hello,

I grew up in East Ivanhoe, a Melbourne suburb, Victoria, Australia in the 1950's.

I had a truly wonderful mentor - the late Mr Neville Watts -  who helped me with my entree into motorcycles....James Motorcycles, BSA Bantams, homemade Go Karts etc starting when I was around 10 years of age.

He used to explain to me (patiently!) how to get these worn out motorcycles to run and even helped me rebuild a 350MAC Velocette for my school metal work classes. He was a wonderful mentor and meticulous ex aircraft engineer who tried to teach me very well!! I was very lucky to happen to live just a few doors away (East Ivanhoe, Melbourne) and this time is very special to me.

He raced Douglas motorcycles on cinder tracks in Melbourne I think in the 1930's -1940's. Does anyone recall him. I'd love to hear anything you may be able to share.

I'm now living in Perth, West Australia and a good friend has decided to reduce his motorcycle collection. He has offered me a 1914 Douglas that I believe is complete and running but requiring a careful restoration. This prompted me to search for information and Google found this site for me....a wonderful find!!

I'm now scouring this site to find out what I can about 1914 Douglas motorcycles....because of my mentor, these bikes have always been in the back of my mind!!

Cheers
David Tweddle
Busselton
West Australia

[cardan]

Hi David,

What a lovely memory!

I know nothing about Neville, but a quick look on Trove ( http://trove.nla.gov.au ) shows that he did race his Douglas, with some success, at Aspendale in the late 1930s. The attached article shows he could get quite a move on! The racing would have been "clubman" on this venue at this time.

Good luck with finding out more.

Cheers

Leon

[cardan]

Oh, and yes you should get the 1914 Douglas, and you have until September 2017 to get it ready for the National Veteran Motorcycle Rally in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. http://vvmccsa.org.au/nvr

Leon