Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, is 100
Years Old!
More than 100 years ago motorbike
riders were using Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
as a meeting place. In 1903 the first motorcycle shop opened there. It's been a
bike precinct ever since. Probably the oldest bike centre in the world,
certainly the oldest in Australia.
It's the only one in a city's central business district. It's a tourist
attraction in its own right, a gateway to the world-famous Grand Prix Circuit
on Phillip Island,
and the starting point for some of the best motorcycle touring in the world. Elizabeth
Street, Melbourne is unique.
It's the heart and soul of Victorian motorcycling.
It isn't just Ulyssians
that have great memories of Elizabeth Street
and a sense of the history of the area. In 1986 I began lobbying for special events
to be held in and around Melbourne's
motorcycling precinct in 2003. I was too young (36) to join Ulysses then. I
wrote a short history of the Street for Australian Motorcycle News
2003 has some important motorcycling
anniversaries:
The Motorcycle Riders'
Association of Australia's first meeting was held at the St Kilda Inn, on May 16, 1978. - 25 years ago. From
1986 to 1990 the MRAA Melbourne Toy Run was held in Elizabeth
Street.
It was 100 years ago that Melbourne
motorcyclists rode to Tooradin and the RACV was
started.
Harley Davidson celebrates its'
Centenary this year. Jumbo jets have been chartered to fly more than 500
Aussies and their bikes to the USA
for a grand tour and party. What a way to mark Harley's 100th birthday. I hear
you can still get a seat on one of those jets.
Harley Davidson's celebrations
include sending a spectacular show to OZ. The Open Road Tour will feature the
cream of Aussie rock bands. It will showcase three major exhibits. The Journey - 100 Years of
Harley Davidson. The Machine -
Rare bikes from the Harley Museum.
The Culture - The
style of the company and the people who ride their bikes. The show will
have music, food, drink, and atmosphere you won't believe, no matter what you
ride or even if you don’t ride.
But, the Harley 100 year party won’t
happen in Elizabeth Street,
or anywhere near it. Victorian riders will be heading
to Sydney, a town that knows how to put on a big show. In fact Melbourne's
not doing anything to commemorate our motorcycling milestones that I know of
(tee shirts excepted, of course). No exhibitions of
historic photos, news clippings or memorabilia. No
street festivals like the Italians have in Lygon Street or the Chinese in
Little Bourke. No special promotions around GP time. No film festivals, no
street banners, no plaques, no parades. No Harold Parsons Memorial or tributes
to our road and dirt bike World Champions. It's as if 500,000 Victorians who
use motorbikes and scooters for work, education, play, tourism, sport, on the
land and in the military, do not exist.
Every attempt to promote the Elizabeth
Street Centenary has been met a negative attitude and a mountain of
bureaucratic inertia. Even the name, The Elizabeth Street Precinct, which the
MRAA started, has become the Market Precinct. I have been trying for more than
a decade to get the Council's bureaucracy to set some sort of guidelines for
activities. 100 years!
I heard a bike business contacted
the Lord Mayor, Cr John So, about doing something but so far zero.
In spite of the massive boom in
commuter cycles and scooters there just isn't the political will to encourage organisations to invest their time, money and expertise in
promoting the City's motorcycle precinct. I'm disgusted. If you are too, send
your suggestions to the Lord Mayor, John So, at [email protected] or write to GPO Box
1603M, Melbourne 3001.
Damien Codognotto
OAM, MRAA Life Member, Ulysses Club 21208.