Age: 40 (and getting older!) 

Marital: Single 

Born: Terang Victoria Australia 

Star sign: Never applied for one 

Hobbies: Motorcycling , bushwalking , music 

Qualifications: High school maths / science Terang High School, Toolmaking / F & T apprenticeship RMIT *, Jig & tool design certificate RMIT, Tool & gauge making certificate RMIT (Bleasley Prize year 1 & 3), Higher Production Technician Certificate RMIT (Now called Cert. of Technology - Production), Fluid power certificate RMIT, TIG welding (#7) certificate Casey TAFE, Mechanical Engineering degree - not completed- Monash University. 

* - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology - now RMIT university. 

First Memory of Motorcycling: Very clear memory of riding pillion on the back of a Triumph twin cylinder machine from his parents farm to a neighboring farm during harvest time at about 6 years of age. 

Learning to Ride: On a Honda CT 90 on Uncles farm- taught by cousin who had just learnt to ride as well, probably at 10 or 11 years of age. 

First Motorcycles: First bike was a minibike built by Ian at school & home. Second was a BSA 500 M20 army bike. Third was a BSA Bantam 125 that was modified for offroad. Fourth was a 3 wheeler built by Ian at school as well. Fifth was a Honda GL175 farmbike. Latest count is about 35 motorcycles owned or built.

Bikes Owned Currently: - Honda NX650 Dominator, Honda CX 650 roadbike, KTM 350 offroader, CT 90 Honda - 1967 with 1000 miles, 750-2 wheel drive Dryvtech (uncompleted), 750-V8 Drysdale Superbike.  The Dryvtech 2x2x2 built by Ian now resides in the Donington Motor Museum, UK. 

Competition: Many types of motorcycle events competed in including : - motocross - flat track - roadracing - enduros - desert racing - navigation trials. 

Race results: Suffice to say Ian realised early that nobody was going to pay him to race bikes, although he did win several trophies at his first roadrace meeting including the novice trophy in the 'Ultra Lightweight' class. (He weighs around 125 kg!) 

Greatest Ever Bikes: In Ian's opinion (some won't be popular) 

1. Honda CT 90- in 50/ 70/ 90/ 110cc variants Honda have now built 100,000,000 + and still making them! Any budding motorcycle engineer should study this innovative, compact and tough little motorcycle.
2. Yamaha TZ 750- dominated it's class in a way no other motorcycle has before or since. TZ based designs are still competitive in many classes today.
3a. Vincent 1000- designed by 'accident' by Phil Irving it is still one of the prettiest motors ever made and was the bike to beat for many years in open class competition. Innovative frame & suspension design still looks 'modern' more than 50 years after it was produced.
3b. Britten V1000- very much a modern Vincent. It shares many of the same motor & frame design features. Made in a garage in New Zealand by an unqualified enthusiast & his mates it took on the world's best and beat them.
4. BMW Boxer range- was still winning desert races and endurance roadraces when the design had been written off. Latest OHC boxer continues the tradition of this beautifully balanced and versatile machine.
5. Honda CX 500/650- the venerable 'plastic maggot' won few friends in the styling area but features a motor and drive train that is one of the most innovative and compact pieces of design in motorcycling history.
6. All the Italian racing bikes of the 1950's- Moto Guzzi 500-V8, Gilera and MV Augusta transverse 4 cylinder racers were the designs that the Japanese companies later made their own and ushered in the era of the modern Japanese 'superbike'- pieces of engineering that rival Formula One cars- all at less than a tenth of the price of an equivalent car.

Schoolboy projects :

1972- Minibike powered by a lawn mower engine with a 3 speed vintage motorcycle gearbox & wheelbarrow wheels. Frame fabricated from water pipe and scrap metal. 

1975- Three wheeler built using a Honda 90 motor. Complete frame and leading link front suspension was fabricated from water pipe & square tube . Leyland Mini rear wheels were used mounted on an axle made up of 2 shortened vintage car axles - tyres inflated to a low 8 psi to act as rear suspension. 1976 - Rear wheel steer pushbike built as an entry in a science teachers competition. The aim of investigating the dynamics of a pushbike by steering the rear wheel instead of the front was 'interesting'. It was impossible to ride any distance at all - not even 1 metre. 

Starting to get serious:

1978- A highly modified XL 350 Honda motor was fitted to a heavily modified Bultaco Pursang frame. Ian used this bike in competition including desert races , flat track racing, enduros and motocross. An improvement in the rideability of over the counter bikes put a stop to Ian's building activities for 5 or 6 years - but the idea that the bikes available were reaching a design plateau prompted a new and very radical project : 

1983-1990- DRYVTECH 2 wheel hydraulic drive, 2 wheel steer 250 cc experimental desert racer. Almost every component of this ambitious project was fabricated or machined from scratch. A few components were modified from commercially available parts. 

Non motorcycle related projects:

1986-1997- Ian started a business 'Ausdale Engineering' which has been involved in a myriad of projects including: converting 4 wheeled farmbikes (ATV's) for disabled farmers, converting the swan for the Australian Ballet to radio control, building hydraulic attachments for 4 wheeled farmbikes, building lightweight movie tracking system and camera crane, several large industrial processing machines built, supervised fabrication & installation/maintenance of rolling road dynos at Ford, Holden and in the wind tunnel at Monash University, many small machines built for the cannery industry, production runs of several products undertaken including work stands for Triumph motorcycles & telescopic rowing boat racks. 

His experience with these and other projects has given Ian the background to tackle manufacturing the 750 -V8 with the confidence that there is no problem that will come close to those he has already overcome in the last 10 years. 

1990- A 4 wheeled farmbike (ATV) was constructed as a feasibility study on the possibility of manufacturing these popular farm vehicles in Australia. It used a Briggs & Stratton 2 cylinder engine and a modified snow mobile transmission. The project didn't progress past the first prototype for several reasons despite being a sound design. 

1992-1994- With the lessons learned from the 250 2WD - a 750cc version was designed and the construction started in earnest. Whilst still keen to finish this machine - it has been sidelined by the recently completed 750 cc V8 road bike. 

1993-1997- 750 cc V8 roadbike - the subject of this web site! 

1997- The V8 will be raced and developed concurrently, with any improvements being incorporated straight into the production models- one of the advantages a small 'niche' manufacturer has over the large companies.