The Best Early Indian Photo Ever!

Over 40 bikes and 70 club members during a rest stop on a 1927 Gypsy Tour rally.

A very detailed poster of massive A1 size including the text from this recently discovered original newspaper article about the rally.

You can click on the article for more readable text.

The poster was reproduced from the post card sized original shown resting on the top left corner in the above picture and in the featured section below.

Several of the bikes in the photo displayed signs that read: Gypsy Tour - Melbourne to Sydney.  Ivor greeted the group in Bairnsdale and organised the photo to promote his business.

Looking at the bikes in the photo we concluded that it was likely to have been taken in 1927/28, and contacted the State Library of Victoria (Australia) for assistance. They discovered a newspaper article from the Sydney Morning Herald, dated 29/12/1927. Although it was printed without a photograph, it clearly described the group in our photo (The Indian Motorcycle Club of Victoria) mentioning some of the characters and bikes. The article also described the route taken, condition of the roads, and what activities were planned on arrival.

Those seeing the original photo, suggested that if I ever had it reproduced, they would like a copy. With permission from the Sydney Morning Herald to reproduce the article, I decided to combine the two and have some printed in A1 poster size (24" high and 33" long and supplied in a mailing tube) to swap for parts to complete the restoration of a 1928 Scout 101 which my father John and I are working on.  Dad and I are at site 138 of the Bendigo Swap Meet each year.  So yes, my grandfather's photo has helped us particpate in our expensive hobby.

Members of the current Indian Motocycle Club of Australia have organised a re-run of the Gypsy Tour just over 80 years after the original event. Click this link for more information about the 2008 Gypsy Tour rally including an itinerary and entry form.  Since the release of the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, public interest in the history of Indian Motorcycles has intensified, so the Gypsy Tour Rally is sure to be a quite an attraction.  

Darryl Woodhouse