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Wing Notes |
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Newsletter
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March 2008 |
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The Group at
the Best of All Lookout |
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www.auswingriders.com |
Australian Wing Riders Association (Qld) Inc |
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Wing Notes |
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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION QLD INCORPORATED |
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EDITOR:.............Bevan Bradford Phone: 07 3822 3512 Mobile 0408 714 000 E-Mail: mail @ auswingriders.com Wing Notes is produced with the object
of keeping members informed about matters of interest to AWRA members. A electronic copy of each issue is
available to every financial member of the AWRA. Copies are also distributed to selected
motorcycle dealers in the greater |
Submissions for inclusion in Wing Notes should be with the Editor no later than the Friday following the monthly meeting, i.e.: Friday after the 1st Monday of the month. DISCLAIMER: Although Wing Notes will endeavour to reproduce submissions in their original form it reserves the right to edit submissions as it sees fit. Views expressed in contributed articles in Wing Notes are not necessarily those of the AWRA or the Editor. Wing Notes is produced with care, in good faith and from sources believed to be accurate at the time of writing. |
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Management
Committee: |
Meetings: |
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President Bill Carter (07) 5564 8996 E-mail: carterbm @ bigpond.net.au |
Secretary Val Thomas (07) 3848 0498 E-mail: secretary @ auswingriders.com |
Meetings are held on the 1st Monday of every month |
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Vice President Rob (Bear) Harriss 0409 052 218 E-mail: RHMRS @
iinet.com.au |
Treasurer Geoff Mead (07) 5529 5034 E-mail: meady @ auswingriders.com |
Next meeting: 7th Aprtil 2008 New Farm Bowls Club, |
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Talking
bikes again |
Upcoming activities: |
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15/16 March Overnight ride to Armidale and home via 16 March Reg Jeffrey ride over the mountains 18/19 April AWRA (Qld) Inc Annual General Meeting in |
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Hiccup
Cure The doctor's receptionist was startled when a nun
stormed out of the surgery and left. She asked the doctor what had happened and he said,
"I told her she was pregnant." "Doctor!" said the receptionist.
"That can't be!" "Of course not," he replied, "but it
certainly cured her hiccups." |
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The President Speaks…. |
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The Secretary’s Desk…. |
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Gidday all, Rather than talk about the magazine this month I want to remind you all that we have moved into a new AWRA year and that means two things in particular. The first is that memberships are due. Here has been no change to membership fees and paying your fees is as simple as going into the members area of the website, filling out the on-line renewal form and doing an electronic deposit to the AWRA bank account. The details are all on the electronic form. Alternatively, you can print or use the renewal form from this magazine or the website fill it out with a pencil instead of the keyboard and post it together with a cheque to the address stated on the form. I do need the renewal form as it gives me your up-to-date details so the association and other members can contact you. Secondly, it
also means that the AGM is due soon and for this year, that is earlier than
usual and will be held on Saturday 19th April in These two things are related as you will not be able to attend the actual annual general meeting unless your membership is current. If you are posting the info in, ensure you do that in plenty of time to ensure you show as a financial member. So get organised, if you haven’t booked your accommodation, do so now and come along and have a great weekend and celebrate the existent of the Australian Wing Riders Association. Not only that, you have a great opportunity to meet many of our Victorian members as they arte coming in force this year which is great. See you there Ride safe and don’t become a statistic. Bevan |
Hi all, I am writing this on Sunday afternoon while most of the club is enjoying the final stages of what I am sure was a great ride weekend down through Stanthorpe to Armidale, and then across to the coast and home. Mary and I are just sorry that we could not make it on this trip, but sometimes other things get in the way. This was punctuated by the phone call we received from the party mad mob all screaming at once into the phone. We have been on the sending end of these messages, so it is only fair that we received one. Thanks everyone. There will be more trips like this one, as this is what it means to own a Goldwing or Valk and be a member of our great club. To cruise the highways with great friends, and party whenever the engines are silent, does it get any better? What about the last social ride put together by Ray & Val? After a full summer period where it was difficult to raise a sweat, the day turned out to be a stinker and we rode into a blast furnace on the way to the starting point at Greenbank. It felt like I had a hair dryer blasting in my face, and on two or three occasions I seriously considered turning back. I was pleasantly surprised how many people came and it turned out to be one of the best social rides of the year. We got to see one of the best personal collections of memorabilia I have ever seen, we got to ride a Bon Trike, we had a great meal in Paddington, and enjoyed the ride up to and fantastic view from the top of Mt Cootha, and a terrific ride back down to the Gold Coast. Great ride Val and Thommo, you really know how to put it together. I hope everyone has booked your accommodation for the AGM as that is going to be a great weekend. If you would like to be on the Management Committee, the nominations are on the website, so don’t be shy – your club needs you. Keep it up Bill
Carter |
Hello everyone, Yippee our Constitution has been updated, and what a splendid achievement from everyone. Thank you for your serious considerations which all contributed to a very successful result, and a huge “Well Done” to our boys on the committee for their dedication and expertise in finalizing this important document. Our main objective coming up is our Annual General Meeting, and due to our business and family commitments I am resigning as Secretary this year. Please contact me on 3366 7288 if you are interested in taking over this position. I can only stress that it is not difficult, and for all my statements about ‘looking after the team’ I can honestly say that the boys really look after themselves very well. If there is a difficult task at all, it is booking our parties – now how hard is that!!? Apart from the Secretary post, we really would appreciate new faces on the committee. So please put your thinking helmets on and get your nominations in as soon as possible. Thommo and I have booked in to
the Jackie Howe Motel for the two nights, and we have a good group coming up
from We have some great rides to look forward to before our A.G.M. and our new summer weight Honda Jackets are great during these warm days. Ride
Safely. Valerie
& Thommo |
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Reminder: Annual Memberships are now due for renewal
especially if you want to participate in the annual general meeting. |
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A proper look out the curtains revealed a cloudy sky
with a few blue patches here and there. No real rain clouds to be seen so the
ride is a goer. After a brisk shave, shower and shampoo, I’m making myself
presentable when Vicki is awoken by the insistent ringing of the telephone.
She |
Morning
tea was had at a lovely beach park, with views out across the Broadwater (see
pic). Time to head off again, so mounted once more, we head up to the hills.
A short foray through the metropolis and out and up we go. An escort was
provided for a short while from the rear by one of our true heroes, the boys
that do everything they can to uphold their interpretation of the law. But as
we are such law abiding citizens, they soon lost interest. We arrived at the Best Of All Lookouts right on time
for the wind to start blowing. The walk (yes, that’s right, WALK) all 350
metres of it, to the lookout was refreshing, and a magnificent view was
beheld (see pics).There were a few somewhat out of breath by the time our
trusty steeds were seen again. Next stop, Only a short ride to Purling Brook Falls (see pic),
dismount again and another shock, YES, more walking, another 300 metres to
the lookout. |
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answered
to a bright welcoming voice from Valerie enquiring as to the ride
probability; it’s all good I say, so Ray and Val will be there. Off we head up to Stapleton, already there were a
few wings so all is looking good for a reasonable turnout. By We headed off towards the Gold Coast keeping off the
freeway; we had all types of scenery, from urban sprawl to rural country. |
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Back
to the bikes and on to lunch at the Mary had a few friends over for lunch (see pics
again) and time had come to depart again. I had decided to go straight down
to Mudgeeraba, but on Bevan’s advice, I succumbed to his suggestion to go via
the roads, there’s just no accounting for some people’s lack of enthusiasm. Once onto the highway it’s up to regulation speed
and a stop at BP Coomera for coffee and farewells. All up a great day, great ride and terrific friends
all combined |
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to make more magical memories. Have a Magical Day Phil and Vicki Editor’s
Note: The
homestead where we ate lunch was decorated with various stories and photos
and stories of various things, including the fabled Yowie. Hence the (poor quality) photo below. The first person to spot the drawing
thought it may have been Clint’s long lost brother! |
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Quick
Jokes It was time to sit down with my son for a
question-and-answer session about sex. I asked the questions and he gave me
the answers. Did you hear about the man who applied for a
job where security was important? They said they were looking for a man who
could keep his mouth shut. He told them he could. They said, "OK, we'll
see," and started him at half the minimum wage |
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Morag’s Chocolate Cheesecake Slice Base 150g plain chocolate
biscuit crumbs (1.5 cups) 55g butter, melted 70g chocolate dots Filling 250g cream cheese 1/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 100g white chocolate,
melted Topping 100g dark cooking
chocolate, melted 1 heaped tablespoon butter |
PREHEAT OVEN to moderate
180deg. Brush a 20 x 20 cm tin with melted butter or spray and line with
baking paper extending over 2 ends. 1. Combine biscuit crumbs and butter in bowl; stir
until combined. Press mixture into base of prepared tin. Sprinkle evenly with
chocolate dots. 2. To make filling; using electric beaters, beat cream
cheese in small bowl until creamy; beat in sugar until smooth. Add eggs,
gradually, beating well after each addition. Add chocolate; beat until
smooth. Spread over bade. Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool, cover and
refrigerate until firm. 3. To make topping; melt butter in microwave in over
water, when just starting to melt add butter, mix well until all is melted
and spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate until firm, then cut. |
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hundred
kays through back country roads and I pulled up for some fuel and lunch at
Wyangala Dam right on the 700km mark at North again through |
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I had my trusty GPS back by now and set out a route
to take just over 1800km mostly backtracking my ride south. Departure time was |
guess, something had to give. At Gunnedah at I refuelled at Manilla ( |
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crossed the What the GPS failed to inform me was 10km along the The road didn’t look too bad though so I decided to
go for it despite the falling darkness.
I had good lights, ABS, Ultra-Seal in the tyres. What could go wrong? The big ‘wing handled the dirt surprisingly
well. I’m not an accomplished dirt
rider by any means, but by leaving it in 4th gear and travelling at about
70kph I had good acceleration with smooth power delivery to avoid wheelspin,
and brakes that worked well. Several
times. The kangaroos were out feeding
and jumped out on to the road several times before hearing my shoo-roo
whistles. I ignored the many rabbits
but missed them all. Made it to the next intersection and the small pub
at Graman, where several roo-shooting buggies were parked, only to find there
was still 20km of gravel until Ashford.
Double Damn!! Oh well – nothing
for it but to push on. To go around
would add 100km to the journey and fuel was getting low. At the 10km mark after many braking efforts for the
roos, I saw lights coming up behind. I
hoped it wasn’t a local from the pub, half tanked in his shooting buggy and
wanting to overtake what probably looked like a Christmas tree pottering
along the road. Didn’t really want him
to start shooting roos either. Despite
the dark, the roos and the road, I increased my speed to over 80kph and not
long after saw the welcoming sight of road-marker posts and lovely black
stuff. Through
Ashford and onto the |
regretting that earlier ‘spirited’ riding behind the
Commodore, but it probably wouldn’t have made much difference. The fuel light came on and I was 75km from
the nearest servo at Tenterfield and 110km from my intended next stop at
Stanthorpe. GoldWings usually only do
a max of 50km after the warning light comes on. A bad miscalculation. It was However, I have travelled through this way many
times and knew that within range was Glen Lyon Dam. Now closed, but if I had to wait until
morning at least it would be better than being stranded. I made my way there driving at 80kph to
save fuel. Sure enough all closed up,
but a sign on the door said “If closed, go to the first house.” Worth a try. I (finally) found the house in the dark
with the help of the mobile phone. It
was out of service area but still useful as a weak torch. The owners were only too happy to help me
out with some fuel and came down and opened the bowsers and served me with a
smile. What wonderful people. I filled right up – price? – who cares. The standard Iron Butt ride in Arriving in Stanthorpe I was back in
civilization. Phone coverage, a servo
and a 24hr Maccas. What could be
better? I called Charleen to let her
know I was OK, had a coffee and apple pie and set out for the last two hour
run into home. I arrived at The bike was a mess – again – but it had to wait
until the next day to be washed. Clint |
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An
Irishman was terribly overweight,
so his doctor put him on a diet. 'I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a
day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you
should have lost at least 5 pounds. When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by
having lost nearly 60lbs! 'Why, that's amazing!' the doctor said, 'Did you
follow my instructions?' The Irishman nodded...'I'll tell you though, by
jaesuz, I t'aut I were going to drop dead on dat 3rd day.' 'From the hunger, you mean?' asked the doctor. 'No, from the flamin’ skippin' |
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Thommo’s Social Ride This particular venue has been a long time in the
making. Peter Luke and Thommo (aka Tom
Cat) are boyhood pals and Thommo has long admired his mates skill and
memorabilia collection at his Greenbank residence. So what better opportunity to include a social ride
on our wing, with the club, visit the Lukes and check-out a different
eatery! We just happen to choose the
week-end that was fine and very hot – and I mean hot. |
under the house verandah in a very cool shady area
for our afternoon tea, and Joy contributed to our B.Y.O. with two freshly
baked cakes with icing, and they were still warm. Yumm! Pete then asked if anyone was interested in having a
ride on his trike? Well – the fellas
all went bashful and hesitated with ‘ah – no thanks’ except young Scott who
quietly said he was tempted to give it a go!
Well, that was the only encouragement Pete needed to get his trike
out, and in double quick time it was in the driveway, Scott had his helmet
and he was on his |
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We arrived at the BP on the We made it onto the highway for the very short ride
down to Greenbank, and as we were cruising towards our destination Thommo
casually mentioned that we were entering a gravelled driveway, and just to be
careful! This was met with a few smart
comments – but we all pulled in safely and circled onto the freshly mown
paddock in front of Pete’s hand-built cottage. There are plenty of items of interest from
a ‘garden bed’ (original single brass bed made into a garden-bed) to red-head
match boxes glued around one of the doorways!
The cottage is literally crammed to the rafters, four-poster
double-bed, rocking chair, rocking horse, lamps, tools, tin peddle car,
mower, posters, kitchen-wares it goes on forever, and you could never
remember it all (not even Pete and Joy) can! This is when I relaxed on the verandah, (apart from
quietly suffering with a rotten head cold), this was a good time to chat with
Joy and let the visitors check-out Pete’s pride and joy tool collection. Then
we sat |
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way. By the
time Scott and Pete made it back into the driveway there was a line-up of
those big kids ready to have a go with the trike, while us girls watched
on. This was a rather interesting
interlude to the afternoon, and then it was time for us to make our way to
tea – booked at the Kookaburra Café in Paddington. Thanks to Joy for having us, and Joy left just
before us to drive down to Bangalow to baby sit, and Pete was invited to join
us on his trusty beast for the ride to Paddington. This was a much more pleasant ride in the
cool of the late afternoon, and we took the more scenic path through Our table was ready, and it was at this time
Charleen joined us so we had time to chat while we waited for our respective
orders. The pizzas looked and smelt
delicious (I opted for my favourite pasta), and then it |
was off to Our thanks to Pete for making it such a pleasant day
for us all. On a sad & annoying
note - an idiot driver clipped Pete’s trike in the car park and he has a
badly scarred mudguard, hopefully most of the scrape can be polished
out. But all-in-all a very pleasant
social and thanks to those who joined us to make it such an enjoyable event. Another great way to spend an evening with your best
friends – cheers. Valerie and Thommo. |
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Victorian Ride 17 Feb 08 This months ride started from Reg Jeffrey Honda, and
once all the riders arrived we headed off over the Dandenongs, there is
something about riding through the Dandenongs at 9.30 on a Sunday morning, no
cars, only the occasional person going to get the morning paper/ milk with a
cool breeze blowing around you and you thinking I should have put that liner
in the jacket, however once through the forest and thinking we could have
stayed in there all day we start to hit the heat that will be with us for the
rest of the day. With the GPS
girl talking softly on my hear ( I wish) we wind our way towards the new
Pakenham bypass and anyone that knows Melbourne knows this bypass was the
most wanted road for the east of Melbourne. Once on the bypass we quickly
make our way to Warragul and turn off towards Korumburra being rocked back
and forth by the bends as we cruise our way across the tops of the rolling
hills that so much a part of this country side. We come into Korumburra and do a dog leg and head down a road that we have
not being on before towards Kongwak and we had straight for Bass straight coming off the hills, the only
thing stopping us from getting to Tasmania is a |
bit of water and a lunch stop at the bakery at
Inverloch. From lunch we then head around the eagles rest road,
right along the ocean edge towards Wonthaggi we then make our way towards
Loch and Iam told over the head set that we must come back here as the
Antique shops look good (I knew we should have went somewhere else) and it
wasn’t the GPS girl telling this. We cross over the Highway at Riders on the day : John, Marg, John, Karen, Ken,
Christine, Steve and daughter Casey. John Gilbert |
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Quick
Jokes "I'd move heaven and earth to be able to break
a hundred on this course," sighed the veteran golfer. "Try
heaven," advised his caddie. "You've already moved most of the earth."
A w A developer
wanted to give a politician a new car. "You know I can't accept
it," the politician protested. "That's bribery." The developer
pointed out that he could sell the car to the politician for $20. "In
that case," the politician said, "I'll take two." |
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