THE results are in — and The Bike Shed Times‘ most popular story for 2017 was Editor Peter Terlick’s interview and photo essay with the West Australian motorcycle collector known as ‘Toad’.

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Toad’s fascinating story, building a collection of more than 450 bikes — many unwanted and rescued from rubbish tips in the 1970s — was published in November and was a huge hit with thousands of our readers.

In second place for the year was a story about another collector — Ian Boyd with his magnificent array of Vincents (and others). Our story on Ian was posted in May.

Our third most popular story was not about a person, but a very special bike — a brand new 1985 Suzuki RG500 that has never been started and was up for sale in September.

Number four for 2017 was a story in April that looked at two motorcycles you can buy at your local dealer, but you can’t ride on the road. BMW’s HP4Race and Kawasaki’s H2R represent the pinnacle of current go-fast motorcycle technology.

And rounding out our top five was a story that brought together modern technology, classic styling and historic significance — a look at ‘Ducati whisperer’ Brook Henry’s beautiful re-invention of the green-frame Ducati. The story, published in August, was written by Dan Talbot who visited Brook in his workshop on the banks of the Blackwood River in Nannup.

Editor Terlick says he’s delighted with The Bike Shed Times 2017 performance.

“It’s a great job, running a motorcycle website and getting to meet so many interesting bike people and see their wonderful machinery,” he said.

“And being allowed to blast around the place on new bikes is pretty cool, too.

“But my biggest satisfaction for the year actually comes from our statistics. We finished the year with more than 164,000 website hits from 63,000 people, and we now have more than 10,000 Followers on Facebook. Not bad for our first full year in business.

“We’re looking forward to continuing our growth in 2018, giving our readers entertaining stories to read, a successful and enjoyable place to buy and sell special bikes, and giving our advertisers a supportive and cost-effective way to engage motorcyclists.”

 

Our top 5 stories of 2017

 

The man they call Toad

Never-started RG500

Ian Boyd’s Vincent collection

H2R vs HP4

Brook Henry’s moto masterpiece

Also see:

2018 EVENTS

Events: The Bike Shed Times‘ 2018 events calendar is taking shape, featuring a mix of local and international events. Check progress here.

 

 

BIKES FOR SALE

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The Postman
pterlick@icloud.com

2 thoughts on “Toad’s collection, Ian Boyd’s Vincents and that brand new 1985 RG500 are our top stories for 2017

  1. Two incredible stories which Google-flared to earth here in Kelowna, B.C., CANADA, today. But who / what is The Postman? How can one get in touch should an Aussie motorcycle-mag-writing and travel trip be in the plan?

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