A WINNING
AFFAIR
“That is what I can remember
anyway – I don’t write it all
down. A lot of people document
everything and I just stack time
cards in a folder and I can go
back and look,” he said.
“I should document it but it I
don’t – if I had started doing it
when I started racing it would
have been something good to
look back on as everyone knows
the bike.”
Miss Piggie might be an
unassuming bike to look at, but
she sure packs plenty of punch
and has captured the heart of
her owner.
“I am not a brilliant Honda
4 mechanic or anything but
I know a bit and so I put the
engine together for what was
supposed to be one year of
racing eight years ago and it
has been going like a train ever
since,” he explained.
“Believe it or not, Miss Piggie is
built from second-hand parts –
the only new things that have
ever gone on the bike when I
built it was a brand new cam
chain, new primary chains and
tensions, and one set of rings
between four sets of pistons!”
explained Bartley.
“She has very, very few new
parts – sometimes I even use
second hand gaskets which a
lot of people don’t like doing,
but as long as it doesn’t leak on
the track I don’t care what I put
in it!
“The motor I have in her is an
old motor that had been sitting
around for years and years, and
I revived it.
“Once upon a time she had a
side car hanging off her and
was used on a farm. Sixteen
years ago I decided to race it
– taking the side car off it and
putting it on the track. Then
for the last eight years she has
been really powering with this
engine in it.
“She draws plenty of attention,
and I am sure some people want
to shoot me at the moment –
especially the lads out there
with 10-20k bikes with air
shifters and all that and here
I am winning with something
worth probably no more than
1k while manual shifting,” he
chuckled.
“Miss Piggie isn’t the prettiest
bike you have ever seen, but
she is my heart throb. My lady
Penny often says ‘when are you
shifting over with Piggie! She
loves the bike, if I ever say that
I am thinking about painting it
she says, if you touch that bike,
you will never go racing again!
While Miss Piggie has been on
the track for 16 years, Bartley’s
love affair with Honda 4s
actually started way back in the
70s.
“I bought a brand new Honda
4 in 1974 and I vowed I would
never have any other kind of
bike – I have 16 or so on my
block, so I have a few spare
parts!” said Bartley.
“In the early 2000s a few mates
were getting into drag racing
and I got sick of nearly being
run off the road – I nearly died
in an accident just up the road
from home, people are always
rushing out here and I thought,
bugger this, I am getting off the
road and onto the track – the
safest place you could ever ride
a bike!
“If you get a good result on
the track, you have trophies to
polish, if you get bad results,
you have a bike to polish! It is
a win-win!
“Drag racing is great – I love
the challenge and the rush, the
speed, and when you take out
the big top fellas that is what
I love!
“Really I love everything about
it – the people you meet, the fun
you have, just about everything
– I have never met so many nice
people”.
Unsurprisingly, Bartley is a
big fan of the Summit Racing
Queensland
Championship
concept.
“It is a lot of travelling and a lot
of fun for the season – I hope it
never stops. It is one of the best
things out,” Bartley said.
“Even if I wasn’t racing, I would
still go to watch as there is
so much good machinery and
there are so many nice people.
All the tracks are good and all
of the people are good.
“I think this is the best thing
that has ever happened – and I
am not just saying that because
I won it!” he grinned.
For more on the 2018
Summit Racing Queensland
Championships, click here.
Photos by Rogue Snapper Photography