I am very keen to get in touch with Robert (Bob) Brackam from Queensland Australia.

Bob was the founder/managing director of Romac/Rollmaster who are well known for their timing chains.

I understand that Bob has now sold these businesses, and is concentrating his efforts on Brit Bikes.

Bob, if you are reading this, please contact me – specifically, I would like to ask you about the two articles you had previously posted on the Historical Motor Cycle Club of Queensland (HMCCQ) site.

You have blatantly plagiarized my work here, and I’d like to know if you felt like you were doing wrong as you were putting “your” article together?

I am a community guy – all the content here on my website is accessible free of charge.

My site is accessed by over one hundred people a day, most people will look at around three pages on the site before they leave and over half of my site visitors making a return visit at a later date.

I am pleased to hear about people using my articles to get their bikes back on the road again, and nothing makes me happier to hear that someone has printed out one of my diagrams and stuck it to the wall in the shed.

However Bob, you can see clearly on my homepage the following note:

All of the content on this site is Copyright 2022 © and owned by Grant Tiller.

Replication and duplication is expressly forbidden without permission from me.

Please contact me.

I even used a bold font to make it stand out.

I don’t mind people replicating my content, if they have the decency of asking permission, and crediting my work.

I have done this many times, and am even pleased to help tweak an article as needed.

What I don’t like, and what I will not tolerate is what you have done:

• You have copy and pasted my entire article – words and graphics.
• You have gone through the article, and taken out the bits you don’t want.
• You have then added a few comments of your own, some of which are technically incorrect.
• You then saved this as a pdf and posted it on the HMCCQ as your own work.
• You have made no reference to me or my site at all, other than one or two pics that have my logo on.

This is not acceptable, not in the community spirit, and frankly I am absolutely appalled and disgusted by your behavior.

In “your” opening paragraph, you chose to keep this part of text from my original article:

Where I do share my personal opinion, it is based on my own findings either on a bike, on the bench or through helping others – so I would like to think I am well informed.

• Is this your personal opinion or mine?
• Are these findings yours or mine?
• Are you well informed or am I?

In closing “your” article, you then proceed to rub salt into the wounds by stating:

In closing I would like to say yes, I have used pictures from the Internet so as I could demonstrate a clear indication of what the subject matter was actually all about. Hopefully you have found new enlightening information that will assist you in your own bike’s endeavours. Robert (Bob) Brackam.

Reading this left me wide-eyed and frankly fuming with anger.

Sure, you certainly did use “pictures from the internet”

But I would also suggest that through pure plagiarism you have blatantly stolen my views, my thoughts and my intellectual property all without reference to me, and crediting my work or my website.

Do you honestly feel this is even remotely OK or acceptable?

Did it not feel totally wrong when you were putting this document together?

Reading about you online Bob, it sounds like you are a stand-up guy and are a well respected expert in your field.

A noted guru in all things timing gear and chain related, having had a hugely successful business distributing all round the world that you have now sold.

You seem to be well known on the track – being part of the Drag Racing scene.

Now you have retired from your business, and are spending your time focusing on brit bikes – notably your love affair with the Triumph T160 Tridents.

So what, in God’s name possessed you to steal content from me in this way?

I wrote to the webmaster of the HMCCQ demanding that ‘your’ articles that use my content be removed from their site immediately.

They were absolutely fantastic, and complied with my wish straight away.

What a superb bunch of guys.

What hurts though, is that “your” article went out, in print in the March 2022 Members Mag. – that is just plain disgusting behaviour on your part.

Publicly, I would like to state here that you Robert (Bob) Brackam are expressly forbidden from using ANY of the content on my site.

If I find that you have, I will absolutely be exercising my legal rights and taking action against you.

I hate to have to write things like this, it leaves a nasty, bitter taste in my mouth.

Grant