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Cabinet of
Curiosities
Colin's
collection
December
2025 – Guy 'Guido' Allen
A little way up the road from Adelaide, on the northern edge of the hills, sits a remarkable museum, aptly named the Cabinet of Curiosities. Run by long-term motorcycle industry figure Colin Gitsham, it rejoices in a fascinating collection of motorcycles – dominated by two-strokes – some cars and loads of memorabilia.
Out front of the building is an unrestored and
complete1964 YDS3 250 Yamaha. “It was sold by Pitmans in
Adelaide in 1965 for Au£277,” says Colin. “They weren’t
cheap, but they were solid and reliable. Bikes like this
are what shut down the English motorcycle industry. They
had good electrics, didn’t leak oil and this thing would
probably nudge a ton (100mph, 160km/h) and see off the big
English singles and most of the twins.
“They did a 305 and then the YR1 was a 350 – so they kind
of grew. When they went into the American market, they
grew more and more and that’s what the Americans wanted.
It was the biggest motorcycle market in the world.
“Of course the two-strokes developed into the RD, RD-LC, RZ and TZR series. On the back of the two-stroke road bikes, the race bikes emerged. They first went to Europe in 1959 and it didn’t take them long to start winning races. It was a rapid progression. Of course a lot of their technology, which they improved on, initially came from European bikes.
“They weren’t alone. Scott for example
had a liquid-cooled two-stroke twin that was winning at
the Isle of Man in the 1910s.”
When it comes to road bikes informing the race bikes: “That TR3 (above) is based on an R5. I bought it from the original owner. It did the Malaysia, Macau and Singapore grands prix. He was a Malaysian national, a teacher, and moved here. He was competing at Adelaide International Raceway, second time into the bowl in the wet he crashed and cartwheeled it.”
The bike was repaired, which was a big job. “It came with its full spares kit, in its factory wooden crate and I still have the crate. Barrels, pistons, clutch plates, brake parts, carburettor parts, full set of sprockets.”
It’s very much a runner and Colin has raced it, though it’s not the easiest thing to get off the line. “You have to rev them. They did dead-engine starts in those days. So I might qualify on the front row. I would give it 11,500-12,000 revs and fan the clutch and it would still bog down on me. Once it was going, with 9000 on the clock, you can’t keep the front wheel on the ground in the first three gears. It explodes!
“I’ve got the owner manual and it says the top speed is in excess of 140mph (225km/h). Which is amazing when you think it’s air-cooled, from 1972. Don Emde won Daytona on one, as a privateer.” It was the smallest capacity machine to win the race and the first two-stroke.
See the story of that race, via Cycle World magazine.
“Kel Carruthers (the legendary
Australian racer, team-manager and tuner) bought two
of them when he couldn’t get a factory Benelli, because of
a worker strike. He went to America and paid US$1200 each
for them. That started his Yamaha career.”
See a restoration
story on another example of the TR3, at Motorcycle
Classics.
As for the Cabinet of Curiosities, “I’m retired now and decided it would be nice to put all my bikes on display, as they were all hidden away. Now I open four days a week – people come in and give a donation and I give them a guided tour on all the bikes, the cars, the militaria and memorabilia. While it’s been a wonderful thing and a passion, I’ve decided to sell up and become an international grey nomad. And so the whole lot is on the table, either as a going concern or separately.”
If you’re in the area, drop in. Colin is a very amenable and knowledgeable host.
Contact
Colin Gitsham
Cabinet of Curiosities, 110 Melrose St, Mt Pleasant, SA.
Tel 0400 515 036
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