Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Picked up Issue 34 of Old Bike Australasia a couple of weeks ago......great mag, great stories about old bikes around Oz...... (this issue has a CB1100R on the cover...)

Thumbing through the stories, one popped up about the Port Kembla TT back in 1996.....I remembered this gig because I almost went along to flag. The original date was meant to be in January - which would have worked - but due to a whole lot of shenanigans it was pushed back to Easter - which didn't work for me at all. So I didn't end up flagging. Back in these days I did a fair bit for the PCRA up at Oran Park and also Wakefield Park and the big name in Forgotten Era in those days was Greg Avery on a ridiculously fast GSX1100....

anyway - looking at one of the photos, I thought to myself " that chick looks familiar..." had a closer look and could it be Mrs Nelso ???

Hell yeah !! Leanne was pegging around on an RGV250 back then - and came 3rd outright in the 250 proddie class The field included names like Craig McMartin who pulled the fastest 250 proddie lap at a 1.40.99. Greg Avery in Forgotten Era managed a 1.36.58, while the lap record will always belong to Trevor Jordan on a ZXR750 at 1.31.17.

Here are a couple of photos of Leanne on the day - 1st photo with Kim Warburton, and I am pretty sure in the second photo, Leanne is right in the middle with the Walden Miller leathers ??

its a great story - unfortunate that the Australian TT has not been held since. Grab a copy of the latest OBA and check it out

Hey...I know someone famous...

Leanne hasn't changed a bit, and has got quicker on a bike to boot

Same leathers?

Awesome

Insex Leathers Gos
I LOVE INSEX LEATHERS, shame Lee is not doing them anymore oh Nice Pic of Leanne

I knew this was in AMCN all those years ago but didn't know it was in other mags. Who would've thought it would still be around. The bottom picture is off the start of the race heading into the first corner. Craig McMartin had the fastest lap times in the race and I was the next fastest but we both kept blowing the starts. I started 3rd on the grid. This pic shows how bad mine and McMartin's starts were. I'm a long way from the front event though I started on the front row and McMartin is the blue leathers just behind me. I'm the one way over on the right with the plain white helmet on, you can just see me between the two bikes. The two guys to the far left were also on the front row, the second one on the left is Chris Wilkie who got first. McMartin ended up working his way back to 2nd and I managed to work my way back to 3rd. It was a fantastic experience, very different from racing on a race track. I think that the guy to the furthest right of the pic with the green and multi coloured leathers is Keith Greentree. Ohh, Memories.... Thanks for posting GOS.

Nice find Gos......

robracer wrote:Insex Leathers Gos
I LOVE INSEX LEATHERS:

That sounds awkward Rob...

Mstevo wrote:Leanne hasn't changed a bit, and has got quicker on a bike to boot

Not quite as fast these days Stevo, which gives you an idea of just how fast she was.

stetto wrote:Same leathers?

Yep, but just recently were painted pink.

Gosling1 wrote: I am pretty sure in the second photo, Leanne is right in the middle with the Walden Miller leathers ??

I think she is a bit further right, between the blue leathers and the yellow, white and blue leathers. You can just see part of the Insex logo and the white helmet.

Nelso wrote:

Mstevo wrote:Leanne hasn't changed a bit, and has got quicker on a bike to boot

Not quite as fast these days Stevo, which gives you an idea of just how fast she was.

Yeh, but the older I get the faster I was.... lol

Oh, and the TT is my (only) claim to fame.... First female to ever finish on the podium in an Australian TT race.

Gosling1 wrote:Picked up Issue 34 of Old Bike Australasia a couple of weeks ago......great mag, great stories about old bikes around Oz...... (this issue has a CB1100R on the cover....

Now I'm confused Gos, was this in a magazine that you bought recently or an old magazine that you had laying around and flipped through?

Nice one Leanne....
You got your moneys worth from those leathers too...