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| About Us |
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Moto Leathers is an Australian family owned business with over 38 years in the motorcycle industry.
The Moto Leathers philosophy is simple"to make motorcycling affordable for everyone".
Gone are the days when riding a bike is a cheap alternative to driving a car. The price of tyres, rego, insurance and clothing are all expensive.
Moto Leathers offer a range of quality motorcycle clothing at realistic prices so everyone can look great and feel safe while riding.
The ‘Hardwick Racing’ story began way back in 1972 when Jeff Hardwick Sr. bought a Honda dealership on the Gold Coast. Within 5 years the business grew to three motorcycle shops and a Honda car dealership.
In the early 1980’s Jeff Sr. began selling products & services to the Queensland motorcycle trade. In 1985 Jeff Sr. approached Shell Australia to market their motorcycle oils. Something Shell had never done outside of Europe. Within a couple of years Shell was the number 1 selling motorcycle oil in Australia with Jeff Sr. acting as National Sales & Marketing Co-ordinator. The Shell Advance success story in Australia was the envy of Shell companies the world over. Jeff was very much a man in demand and by the mid 90’s he was assisting Shell with their marketing campaigns the world over. From Europe to America, and the entire Asian continent!
Jeff Sr. returned to Australia after a long stint overseas to establish ‘Hardwick Racing Products - Moto Leathers’. The concept was to sell quality motorcycle apparel direct to the public at affordable prices.
Jeff Sr. retired as Sales Manager of Moto Leathers in the first half of 2009.
Motorcycle Racing
Jeff Sr. has been passionate about racing since his very first involvement with motorcycles.
The early 70’s was the motocross era. Jeff’s modified Honda Ensinore’s competed in state and national MX championships with great success.
In the 80’s it was road racing. Production bikes, GP two-strokes and Superbikes! Favourite events included the Castrol 6-hour, Pirelli 3-hour, and Arai 500 (Bathurst). Hardwick Racing machines were always at the top of the field.
In 1998, Jeff Sr. entered a team in the 500cc World Grand Prix Championship (now MotoGP). The first Australian owned and managed team in the FIM 500GP. The Hardwick Racing team competed on Honda NSR500 V-Twin’s with riders Gary McCoy and Juan Borja (Spain). Despite a lack of power and speed against the V-fours, they were the leading privateer team for most of the season. Gary McCoy was the leading rookie until a crash at Brno (Czech Rep.) ended his season early.
The following year the Hardwick Racing Team entered the 250cc world championship with Tohru Ukawa riding a works Honda NSR250 and Anthony West on a TSR250. The team won the 1998 French and Valencia grand prix’s with Ukawa finishing the season in second place. First place was won by Italian teenager Valentino Rossi. No need to tell you who he is!
In 2000 the Hardwick team continued in the 250cc world championship with Ukawa finishing 4th and West 8th overall.
The team moved back to the premier 500cc class in 2001 with British riders Leon Haslam and Chris Walker aboard Factory Honda’s. The V-four 500 proved a bit too much of a handful for Chris Walker and after numerous crashes he was replaced with substitute riders for the remainder of the season. Haslam had promising results aboard the factory NSR500V2 finishing the season as one of the top rookies.
2002 saw Shell move their sponsorship to the factory Ducati team and without a major sponsor the Hardwick Racing team had to sit out the season. 2003 saw the advent of the 4-stroke MotoGP machines and with spiralling costs the team chose not to compete.
Jeff Hardwick Junior
From a very young age Jeff Hardwick Jr. started riding and racing motorcycles. He tried his hand at everything including MX, Short Circuit, Hill Climb, Road Racing and Speedway. He has ridden everything from early Honda Z50’s, MR50’s, CR’s, XR’s to Maico’s, Jawa’s and a handful of other makes. If it had a motor he would throw his leg over it!
While still a school boy, Jeff Jr. was working afternoons in local Suzuki and Yamaha dealerships. Growing up with motorcycles all his life he knew which career he wanted to pursue. He left school at the age of 15 to work as a mechanic at a Honda dealership and he has never looked back.
In 1988 Jeff Jr. travelled to England to work as chief mechanic for the late Speedway legend Simon Wigg. Simon won a total of 5 world long track championships. Over ensuing years Jeff Jr. travelled the length and breadth of Europe spannering for a number of riders including Australian, British and World Champions.
Jeff Jr. went on to design and manufacture racing components for speedway and dirt track motorcycles.
Jeff Jr. assisted his father for 5 years during their time in MotoGP. His positions included technician and team co-ordinator. In 2003 he had a change of direction working in the F1 Powerboat world championships. He continued with the F1 Boats for the following 4 years.
Jeff Jr. returned to Australia at the beginning of 2009 to take on the role of ‘Moto Leathers’ sales manager following the retirement of Jeff Sr.
Look at our photo gallery for lots of interesting memories from the past.
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