The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire PREVIEW - 1929 Douglas DT5 speedway

‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire’ opens at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) on 28 November, 2020, and runs through to 26 April, 2021.

Presenting the motorcycle as a design object, the exhibition will feature over 100 bikes, documenting more than a century of motorcycle history - from the 1870s to the present day.

With speedway being born in Australia, the curators felt it was important to present a motorcycle representing that history. But it needed to have design appeal, too, so they selected this restored example of the type of speedway machine that would have been seen both here and in the UK in the 1920s and early ‘30s.

Born from Douglas’s RA model that had been particular successful in Australia, the DT5 (Dirt Track 500cc – a DT6 600cc version was also available) carried the signature Douglas inline flat twin engine and was one of the most competitive speedway bikes you could get your hands on the late 1920s. Despite being such a narrowly-focussed machine – no clutch, no brakes, etc. - the popularity of speedway meant that more than 1,300 Douglas DT motorcycles like this one were sold in the UK in 1929 alone.

A slightly newer speedway machine, the ‘Huck Fynn’ 1949-50 J.A.P-engined bike ridden by Solo star Graham Warren, will also be on display.

The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire opens on 28 November, 2020 and runs to 26 April, 2021. To purchase tickets, go to: qagoma.qld.gov.au

For more information, exhibition updates and details on GOMA’s COVID-SAFE plan, go to: qagoma.qld.gov.au