The Harley Scramble - The birth of Australian Motocross

history of HARLEY SCRAMBLE - INTRODUCTION: THE BIRTH OF AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS

Photos: [Left] Thousands of fans at the Harley Scramble start-finish line at the Rope Works circuit in Mosman Park (WA) – inerts include photos from the first event in 1928 and five-times Harley Scramble winner Peter Nicol; (Top right] Four-times Harley Scramble winner Les Clinton won two events before and after World War II (on the same Harley 9 years apart); and [Bottom right] the inaugural program cover in 1928 – the first open scramble inviting riders from all clubs.

Australia's first and biggest annual motocross event since 1928

Starting in 1928, from its 10th anniversary WA's Harley Scramble attracted more than 10,000 people annually, peaking at 20,000 in 1955

Since motocross began in 1924 (scrambles as it was called in the early days), the sport has attracted thousands of competitors and fans in countries right across the world. More than 50,000 people now attend the annual Motocross of Nations and indoor stadiums are filled for major supercross events.

Throughout the history of the sport in Australia, three outdoor motocross events stand out as attracting the largest ever crowds – around 20,000 spectators.

Two of these were international events with riders, teams and fans coming from across the country and world – the 1992 Motocross of Nations at Cosy Creek, Manjimup in Western Australia and the 2000 Grand Prix at Broadford in Victoria.

Amazingly, the third event attracting similar crowd numbers was a National event in 1955 – the Australian Motocross Championships when it was combined with the famous Harley Scramble at the Rope Works in Mosman Park, (15kms east of Perth) in Western Australia.

Established on 17 June 1928, the Harley Scramble was Australia’s first and, to this day, the biggest ever annual motocross held in this country.

The inaugural Harley Scramble was held just four years after the sport was invented, with immediate success and enormous crowds from the very beginning. For 36 years it was Australia’s premier annual motocross event and the track was considered by the top eastern stater’s as the best in the country.

The event was a big success from the beginning, attracting over 5,000 spectators at its inaugural event. This figure continued to grow each year with a record crowd of 10,000 recorded at the 10^th Harley Scramble in 1934. Then numbers increased further after World War II in the late 1940s and 1950s when the English manufacturers started making special competition motocross bikes and the sport really boomed across the country.

Photos: Starting almost a century ago (in 1928) the Harley Scramble at the Rope Works circuit at Buckland Hill in Mosman Park (WA) is Australia’s biggest and longest running motocross event, reaching up to 20,000 spectators at the combined 1955 Harley Scramble / Australian Championships (Photo 1952 by Jack Lorimer), an equal sized crowd attended the 1992 World MXoN at Manjmup in WA (by Peter Kitchingman) and 2000-01 World MX GPs at Broadford (VIC).

View documentary or Preview EXTRACT, featuring Peter Nicol's incredible story

Harley Scramble documentary – The birth of Australian Motocross ~ AMX History (40 mins)

Harley Scramble extract – The birth of Australian Motocross ~ AMX History (3 mins)

Large rider entries, big crowds, huge prizemoney and prizes

From racing 1200cc American Harley street bikes to lighter British scramblers

This new style of racing attracted enormous crowds each year – even more than the Nation’s biggest ever National Mister Motocross series in the 1970/80s and famous Manjimup 15000, which peaked in the 1980s with the prizemoney one year reaching $30,000 and crowds of up to 15000 people.

Like the Manjimup 15000, the Harley Scramble also offered big prizemoney. When Peter Nicol won the combined event and two National Championships in 1955 at the Rope Works circuit, he collected £130 pounds plus trophies. At the time this was almost half a year’s salary for the average worker (equivalent to $50,000 in 2023). He used this money as a deposit and to furnish his new house when he got married. This was the first motocross event in this country to be televised.

From the beginning, the Harley Scramble received great media coverage continuing to increase each year with the motorcycle trade and oil companies becoming involved in supporting the event. The event became a breeding ground for Western Australia’s top riders who dominated the Australian Championships in the 1950s and 1960s when the titles became a truly National competition with the top riders becoming household names.

In the early days, the racing bikes were street machines – Harley Davidsons up to 1200cc – with suspension being non-existent. When racing began in 1946 after a five-year break during World War II, many families did not have cars so there were no trailers or transporters, like there are today. To get to the circuit, riders would travel there on their road bikes and strip them down for competition mode, with brakes being optional. Henderson’s bus company ran a shuttle service from Perth to the circuit for spectators to get to the track.

Australian motocross legend Bill Watson would ride (with his girlfriend and future wife Mary on the back) from Kalgoorlie to Perth and return in one weekend to contest the event. This was a 1,200 kilometer return trip on top of the 100 km race distance – 10 laps of the 4.2km Rope Works circuit in the morning and 14 laps in the afternoon.

Photos: [Top] When Peter Nicol won the overall Australian Championships / Harley Scramble in 1955, he made almost half a year’s salary and used it for a deposit and furniture for a new house; [Centre] Bill Watson returning to Perth from Sydney across the Nullabor Plain on his 500 BSA Gold Star. Bill would ride 1,200 kilometers from Kalgoorlie to Perth and return to contest the Harley Scramble, then be back at work in Kalgoorlie on the Monday; and [Bottom] Transportation over the years from the 1940s when riders rode their bikes to the track through to the larger transporters used by the world’s top racers today.