What makes a good bike show? After hanging out at the first Machine Show in Australia last weekend, we think we’ve found the answer.
The ingredients: A sleepy country town, autumn sunshine, and a grassy showground surrounded by trees. Plus strong coffee and craft beer on tap, a selection of fine food trucks, and a killer music playlist.
It’s a measure of Matt Machine’s status in Australia that some folks rode for twelve hours to get to the show. The reward was an unusually laidback crowd and a truly jaw-dropping squadron of custom and classic bikes.
It rained heavily the day before the gates opened in Braidwood, NSW, thanks to the ferocious Cyclone Debbie. But come Friday lunchtime, the sun was out—and the roar of machines rolling through the gate punctuated the still air.
Picking out the winners with Matt Machine and industrial designer Andrew Simpson was a difficult task. But Brado Miller’s turbocharged Harley shovelhead (above) caught our collective eyes, along with Dave Dunn’s lovely Ducati Pantah 500 racer (below). Yes, these are older bikes—the show is for machines built in 1987 or earlier.
Top marks to Matt and his partner Sophie for putting on an amazing event, and we’re pleased to hear that plans are already being made for a return in 2018. In the meantime, enjoy these magnificent images by Pete Cagnacci, courtesy of Throttle Roll.
Machine Show Instagram | Facebook | Matt Darwon/The Machine Files
Second from left above is the legend himself, the Born Free invited builder Matt ‘Machine’ Darwon.