Brook James is an Australian lifestyle photographer, motoring enthusiast and founding member of the Fitzroy Thumpers MC; a group of mates who ride bikes, drink beers and have a good time!

 

Brook, your days seem to consist of mixing business and pleasure; photoshoots, working on bikes & auto upholstery projects, Land Rover restoration, camping trips etc - it’s an envious lifestyle that most men stuck in the office or on site dream of. How do you manage to carve out time to fit all this in?

It’s a struggle I tell ya, as of lately it has been really tricky trying to manage everything and sometimes I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew. But I make it work somehow, prioritising things is super important.. work during the week, work on/fix the toys after work/dinner and then play on the weekend, it’s something like that. I called it early on in life though that I would never work an office job and give in to the 9-5 rat race that never appealed to me, I much prefer to choose how I spend my time, time is super important.

Tell us about the Fitzroy Thumpers and how did this idea came about? 

This came about a couple of years ago between a few mates over a few frothys. We were super vibing old dirt bikes at the time and thought it could be fun to buy old shitters, fix them up and then document it all along the way eventually heading bush and capturing us flogging them. We still don’t really take it seriously, it’s still just fun between mates but we are looking into doing a few collabs with brands and creating some merch. Fun fact - none of us live in Fitzroy ha.

You recently ventured into the High Country on your 1974 BMW with a group of mates for a camping trip. Tell us about the experience and what’s next on the list?

That was the thumpers first excursion, we were super pumped to finally have the chance to escape the suffocating inner city especially after all the lock downs. We loaded up the bikes Friday after work and set off with no real plan of attack. I was sporting a BMW r75/6 1974’, Elton (Thumper #2) was on a DRZ400 2005 I believe and Mickey was riding a Triumph Thruxton 900, a nice mix. We rocked up late to a camp spot at the bottom of a cliff, it was dark, we forgot head torches so we were setting up camp in the dark which wasn’t ideal. Elton whipped up some food on the trangia while myself and Mickey got the fire roaring and set up the tents. It was a chill night sitting by the fire exchanging stories and sipping whiskey. The next day we rode to the King Valley where we had accom locked in.The ride was unreal consisting mainly of tight twistys and a few dirt roads to really keep us on our toes. 

Our next trip is planned for Robe over the long Easter weekend where we are taking the 4wds + a few dirt bikes & camping on the beach.

Brook James @brookjames_
Fitzroy Thumpers @fitzroythumpers

 

THE RUGGED BACKPACK
UTILITY BLANKET