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Wing Notes |
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Newsletter
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June 2008 |
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Victorian
members coming to the AGM |
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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: New Farm Bowls Club, |
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Mike
and Marie’s new ’08 air bag and nav |
Upcoming activities: |
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20th July Progressive dinner ride 26th July Capalaba Ten Pin Bowling - Dinner
and games 12-14th Sept Goomburra Camp Grounds Weekend |
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MAN OF THE HOUSE The husband had just finished reading a new
book entitled, 'YOU CAN BE THE MAN OF YOUR HOUSE'. He stormed to his wife in
the kitchen and announced, “From now on, you need to know that I am the man
of this house and my word is Law. You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight,
and when I'm finished eating my meal, you will serve me a sumptuous dessert.
After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me and we will have the kind
of sex that I want. Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax.
You will wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe. Then, you will
massage my feet and hands. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and
comb my hair?” The
wife replied, 'The bloody funeral director would be my first guess'. |
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The President Speaks…. |
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The Secretary’s Desk…. |
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Gidday all, Well, can I just say a big thank you to all who have contributed to this month’s
magazine. After months of begging for
contributions, this month I have enough material to even hold some over to
next month. So an early thanks to next
month’s contributors as well. Don’t
let that stop you potential contributors from sending in more stories. Especially those who made the ride back from
Townsville far more exciting than just coming down the coast. Obviously many members have been enjoying the great
weather we have been having. I for one
have finally been enjoying my bike, so much so that after a slow start with
the January weather, it suddenly has to go in for the 6,000klm service. At least three members have moved up to 1800s in the
past few weeks. So much so that I
think for the first time we had a ride where 1800s out numbered the 1500s. It didn’t last long though with the social
ride had the 1500s in greater numbers, even with a ring-in 1800. Keep writing, Ride safe and don’t become a statistic. Bevan |
Hi all, Mary and I have been having trouble readjusting to
the chores of life at home after three weeks away. We attended the Ulysses
AGM in Townsville, and from there we headed west to Townsville and then home
via Longreach. What a great trip. We travelled 5,200 kilometres
towing our fully loaded trailer, and had no trouble except for a broken
trailer rack, and my helmet visor came unscrewed. We love travelling on our bike, and prefer to travel
without accommodation reservations as it gives us freedom of how far we want
to travel each day, and how long we stay at each location. Up until now we have only been caught without
accommodation in our chosen destination a couple of times, but on this trip
it was far more difficult as this is the peak time up north, (travellers
migrate north for winter), and we had to book ahead. We buy our Goldwings to ride, and it is just
fabulous to get up each morning in a different place with the prospect of a
new destination, with new things to see, and the anticipation of a day doing
what we like to do best – ride. Start planning your next trip now. I would like to thank our Vice President Bear for
attending to the meetings, and our wonderful Committee for their continued
efforts during my absence. Keep it up Bill
Carter |
Hello everyone, Quiet time at my desk, finally filed correspondence
and our A.G.M. details, now it is time to the serious business organising our
Christmas party. Please confirm your
booking with the Bribie Island Motel, and we must make a decision about our
meals. In the meantime we can really enjoy rides this time
of year. Thommo and I enjoyed a
surprise ride with Bevan and an American visitor Len, up to Special – Apple Peeler machine as seen demonstrated
at the Zanatta’s Parsley Patch. Members who requested one will be able to
collect their unit at our monthly meeting for the princely price of
$30.00. Thanks to John and Gwenda for
their prompt delivery to us, and I have to say Thommo and I have been eating
heaps of apples since using this unique machine. We have had a busy month with our week-end away to Bevan should have plenty of stories from all of our
excursions, so get writing and give us all the news please. In the meantime, ride safely and see you
soon. See
you soon, and safe riding. Valerie |
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Coffs Capers
in May 2008. No matter how hard we tried we just couldn’t take
the time out to make the round trip to the Ulysses A.G.M. in Townsville, so
we were only too pleased to accept Meady’s invitation to join him on a
week-end ride to Our rendezvous is BP Station, Yatala Friday
afternoon. We are the last to arrive,
so I quickly order our coffee so we can have a chat with everyone before we
set off- Ian ( Meady’s
brother-in-law), |
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Therese and Bevan, Bear and Jayne, Winston and Jan
(whose boots made quite an impression with the boys!) This is the beginning of a very eventful
and fun week-end, and we are all in high spirits and keen to be on the
road. With Bevan taking the lead we
set off onto the highway with plenty of other travellers thinking the same
“getting away for the week-end”. We
had a very slow patch from Nerang along the We make it to Ballina just on dusk, and pulled into
the golden arches for a much enjoyed stretch, food and drinks. Also, this is the time to pull on the warm
gear, Jayne and I are (dare I say – pros) when it comes to warm gear. You name it, we wear it – extra jumpers,
scarfs, gloves – |
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even Thommo changed into his all-weather jacket, and
then it is back onto the road. Our
next important consideration is fuel, which is our next quick stop and then
it is cruise control down the highway with just occasional banter on the
2-way. It was getting considerably cooler, but the night
was glorious and the highway was ours.
As we were approaching Grafton, Meady confirmed that we would be
taking a short-cut around Grafton, which would save us about 20 minutes on
the trip. Well, we duly took a quick
left and proceeded along a very “dark, twisty and rather steep track”. Now right now I was not very happy, in fact
I was letting Thommo know that we will NOT be doing this detour EVER– not for
anything, let alone a measly 20 minutes!!
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To be honest it felt like a good 20 minutes on this
track anyway, and boy was I relieved when we came out on the highway with
real lights again!! Mind you everyone
else seemed quite non-plussed about my discomfort, but they certainly were
made well aware that this person was not impressed with THAT detour! Be warned; take it at your own peril. Settled down to enjoy the rest of our ride, decision
was made that we would continue on to |
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our respective rooms. Someone is hungry – so we all follow and we
have a very delicious Chinese meal at the restaurant opposite the motel. I have to admit here that I wasn’t hungry
but I believe I ate the most, washed down with pots of hot green tea. Then we were
entertained by the restaurant owner who had miscalculated the menu total, and
he was trying to convince Bear to settle the bill (where’s Bill when you need
him?!) Anyway, after considerable
persuasion by our very cool Winston – it was eventually settled with minor
adjustments to everyone’s payout. Now it is party time, and it is amazing what appears
in a very short time. More nibblies
and our favourite drinks and we are invited into Bob & Fran’s penthouse
and the fun begins. You know the rest
“what happens in Saturday morning we gradually and slowly made our
way down town for breakfast. It is
reasonably quiet too, and after pulling ourselves out of a rather trendy
clothes shop, Therese, Jayne and I joined the rest for breakfast in a little
side-walk café. It was difficult to leave the shops, but we really had to get
back to organise the ride. We
assembled in the Motel driveway, and watched Fran wrestle with her helmet –
beginner! Lots of practice Fran, it
will get easier! Out on the highway
and we are heading for What a life, cruising on our wings enjoying blue
skies |
and breathtaking views, it is magic. Of course our destination is the next stop
for coffee and scones – and hey presto we arrive at that leafy little town
Bellingen with all the cute coffee houses.
Which one to choose? After
checking out all the eateries, we settle down under the trees and soak up the
charm, enjoying our light lunch and the company. We gather up to enjoy our ride back to Coffs, and a
couple of us drop into Butterfly House to check out this tourist spot. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about our
local butterflies, and then on our way back to the motel we decided to
purchase some Back at the Motel we are making party arrangements,
and with the kind permission of Bob & Fran we set-up under the awning
with again, all manner of nibblies and drinks appearing for our
enjoyment. Food – are we really
hungry? We talk ourselves into going
for a walk to a recommended café for take-away Fish & Chips – and what a
good idea it turned out to be. We ate
all the fish and chips as well! We are a lot more subdued tonight, but of course we
have to ride home tomorrow. We agree
that we do not have to be up very early anyway, we are reluctant to see the
week-end coming to a close. We will
have breakfast down the highway – suggestion was the Truckies stop at the BP
with no detour – phew! We were calling
it an early night, and Bear was really early (not very well – so-much-so) it
was Thommo’s turn to put Bear to bed – and there are some very interesting
photos. Bear believes it was something
he ate/bad ice?! Sunday morning and we have to thank Bob & Fran
for their splendid hospitality again – we will be back |
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soon folks.
We are again on our wonderful wings on the grand highway, this time
heading for Back on the highway and soaking up the views,
savouring the day and ride with our dear friends – wish these moments didn’t
have to end. We had a brief rest stop
in the carpark at MacDonalds in Ballina, and decided that we would fuel up at
the Caltex at Reedy Creek. All too familiar territory now, and we have
occasional |
chats to cheer ourselves along. The traffic is rather hairy through
Coolangatta as usual, and we manage to meet up at the Caltex. This is our usual good-bye stop, however,
Meady has coerced us, the Harriss and all of us ganged up to coax the
Bradfords to join us for Sushi at Southport – anything rather than going
home!! Now it really is time to say good-bye. It is getting late, and we do have to go
home after another great week-end with you all. Thanks Meady for the invitation, and for
being an excellent host, and thanks to everyone for making the week-end so
much fun as always – what a wonderful life!! Valerie and Thommo. |
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Mic Mutes Goldwing Intercom
Noise Eliminator Kit It sure is great to get new items for our Wings and
we can always justify them – lights so we can be seen at night – safety
chrome for the daytime – you know the drill. But here’s one I put on recently that really is
useful and even your favourite pillion will be happy with the addition. A problem with the GoldWing intercom is the system
is that it is always on, so the mics are always transmitting. This can often cause wind noise to be
transmitted from one helmet’s mic to the other’s speakers and vice
versa. Not too bad at low speeds, |
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but
on the highway and specially if there is a cross-wind it can get annoying. You can spend big bucks on trying to get
quieter helmets, but we all know how well that works – not. The answer – Mic Mutes GoldWing Intercom Noise
Eliminator Kit. Available from wingstuff.com
or your favourite Simple to install, it took me less than an
hour. Only had to remove the seat, left
side cover, left fairing pocket |
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and loosen the top cover enough to pass a wire
through. Installation is all
plug-and-play with easy instructions. The system works by cancelling the mics out when you
momentarily press the PTT switch on the CB controls. It is a toggle action switching the mics
back on with another touch. Normal CB
transmissions entail holding down the PTT and this action does not affect the
mics. Even if the mics are off, they
work as they should for transmissions longer than half a second. It is an ingenious system. For those with passenger CB controls, the pillion
can toggle the mics as well. No CB? Well
finally here’s a good use for that control box on the left handlebar. Sets are available in 1500 and 1800 versions. I do not know how the 1500 ones install. |
Charleen and I have had them on for a couple of
months and are very happy. The
difference is astounding and immediately noticeable. As soon as we reach highway speeds we flick
off the mics. Our world goes
immediately 50% quieter, the CB still works and any music is not affected by
the AVC if that is on. It also means
one person can sing along with the music without getting whacked from behind.
They even make a difference for a solo rider,
stopping your mic from transmitting wind noise to your own headset speakers. If the Mic Mutes has a problem it is it integrates
too well. Nothing can be seen on the
bike. No chrome, lights or
colour. Oh well, nothing’s perfect. Cheers Clint and Charleen. |
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Celibacy... Many aspects of human sexuality are very puzzling.
Take celibacy. This can be a choice or a condition imposed by
environmental factors. While attending a Marriage Awareness weekend, Robert
and Mary listened to the instructor declare, “It is essential that husbands
and wives know the things that are important to each other.” He addressed the men. 'Can you name your wife's favourite
flower?' Robert leaned over, touched Mary's arm gently and
whispered, 'Self-raising, isn't it?' Thus begun Robert's life of celibacy. |
THE
HAPPIEST FAIRY TALE EVER? Once upon a time a guy asked a girl "Would you
marry me?" The girl said, “No!”. And the girl lived happily ever-after and
went shopping, dancing, camping, drank whole bottles of wine, always had a
clean house, never had to cook, did what ever the hell she wanted, never argued,
didn’t get fat, travelled more, had many lovers, didn't save money and had
all the hot water to herself. She went to the theatre, never watched sports,
never wore flipping lacy lingerie that went up her b*m, had high self-esteem,
never got depressed, never cried or yelled and felt and looked fabulous all
the time. THE END (Yeah.-".like
this is a true story”) |
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Church
Bells I will never hear church bells ringing again without
laughing my head off...Upon hearing that her elderly grandfather had just
passed away, Katie went straight to her grandparent's house to visit her
95-year-old grandmother and comfort her. When she asked how her grandfather had died, her
grandmother replied, “He had a heart attack while we were making love on
Sunday morning." Horrified, Katie told her grandmother that 2 people
nearly 100years old having sex would surely be asking for trouble. "Oh no, my dear," replied granny.
"Many years ago, realizing our advanced age, we figured out the best
time to do it was when the church bells would start to ring. It was just the right rhythm Nice and slow and
even...Nothing too strenuous, simply in on the Ding and out on the
Dong." She paused to wipe away a tear, and continued, "He'd
still be alive if the ice cream truck hadn't come along" |
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Victorian AGM ride Day 1 The morning for the ride had finally come and Six
Victorian Goldwings lined up in the early morning for the departure to QLD,
with full tanks and coffee under the belt we headed out to the Vic – NSW border on arriving at the border we picked
up our seventh wing. After a very short break we headed on up the Newell
with seven lights in a row we made our way to Dubbo, on the way we must have
hit every locus on the road as most of them were on the front of the first
couple of bikes, we arrived at Dubbo at a good hour and in enough time to
give the bikes a wash and head off to |
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the
bowling club for a well priced meal. With tall stories being shared around, we all
settled into bed ready for the next days ride. Day 2 The bikes were ready to go nice and early as we
headed out on a brisk Dubbo morning we made our way to The ride up was great completion to a task that I
set a couple of years ago of trying to get Victorian Goldwing riders on the
road to an AGM, I hope there will be more to come. |
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To those non club members that maybe reading this if.
you want to ride then come and join us
The ride
home Most of the Victorian members use the opportunity to
call in on friends etc whilst in the warm part of the country as soon after
this ride The ride home for me was with John and Marg going
back the same way as we came up the trip was uneventful with good riding
weather and good company. John Gilbert |
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Victorian AGM ride |
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Easter riding Two AWRA members decided that Easter was a good time
to ride some parts of Easter Thursday had both riders down to the ferry
early to catch the boat across to |
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of the ferry for the ride over the ocean to Day 1 At 0700 hrs on Good Friday we disembarked at
Devonport and headed south to pick up the girls from Launceston airport which
was 50 minutes away. Looking for a
fuel station was a bit of a challenge but we found one open and we were on
our way. The first leg of our trip saw us heading over the top of |
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Day 2 New This morning we headed out to the Strathgordon &
the Gordon Dam, and according to legend the road must have been designed by a
motorcyclist as the road is magnificent with plenty of twists, good asphalt,
no traffic and some of the most picturesque country in Day 3 Today we headed North up to Burnie via
Queenstown. This ride would take us
through some beautiful forested country and cross the start of the World
famous |
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beautiful
Nelson falls and then through the moonscape of some of the worst
environmental devastation which was caused by fumes from the towns smelters
it is recovering now but it will be a long time before it will return to the
lush rainforest that we have just passed through. From Queenstown we found a great bit of
road with long sweeping bends and we were in our element with the wings
waltzing back and forth up and down the hills. After the sweepers we rode
along the ridge line and into Burnie, which is mainly a fishing town. Day 4
Burnie to Today was our last day on the island and we headed
further north to John & Karen Gilbert John
& Marg Brak |
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Fifteen
minutes into the flight from An
hour later the captain announced, "One more engine has failed and our
arrival will be delayed another three hours. But don't worry, we still have
one engine left." A
young blonde passenger turned to the man in the next seat and
remarked........."If we lose one more engine, we'll be up here all day!!!" |
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Our 2008 Annual General Meeting Friday and we are looking forward to a
week-end away, the bags are packed and I have checked that all the paperwork
is safely in order we just have to get away by mid-day on Friday. With a rush we make the meeting place in
time to have a much enjoyable cup of tea with our wing members. The ride to Following the check-in, we were delighted to
meet up with our Victorian members who were already in the party mood. However, we had to go and source our party
supplies before it was too |
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dark and cold, so off to town we
went. The next serious decision was
what to do for our evening meal, and after some considerable discussion the
solution was to order in Pizza. So, the list was made with the
majority favourites, and a veritable feast of various Pizzas were ordered
together with bonus garlic bread and large bottles of Coca Cola, surely we
couldn’t eat it all – but we did!!
Together with various drinks, laughter and antics we had a great night
– as we always say “what happens in Saturday
begins with a very pleasant stroll down town, and of course window shopping
which resulted in |
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some surprising purchases – what
fun. All too soon, we have to start
organising for our important Annual General Meeting, and happily the Harriss’
arrive together with the trailer full of Raffle prizes, so know it is down to
the serious business of our A.G.M. Our Annual General Meeting as usual is pleasant and
smooth, with the opportunity to extend our appreciation to our Victorian
members for their great effort to attend the meeting, and we had the added
fun of distributing the raffle prizes – a great |
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way to spend an afternoon. Then followed an excellent meal with
entertainment supplied by some very talented members - accompanied by a very
loud Juke Box. Thanks Meady for organising
the hire of the Juke Box. Late
supper was magically arranged in No. 1 Unit, and how we can consume more
nibblies and alcohol astounds me, but we do and we are very reluctant to end
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our own room after convincing some
members we will not be awake very early Sunday morning. Sunday and we have scheduled the club photo before
everyone starts their respective journeys home. It is quite a logistic exercise know to get
all the bikes in the one photo, and even more so to get the members to behave
long enough to settle down for our club photo! But it is achieved, followed with good-byes
and well wishes for safe rides for all.
The remaining bunch who are riding back to |
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For members who were not able to
attend our A.G.M. we hope we see you next year. For those who were with us, a very big
thank you for making it such a fabulous week-end. As always us ‘wingers’ sure know how to
have fun. Until next time, ride safely
and enjoy. Valerie & Thommo |
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Dead Man Walking The room
was full of pregnant women, with their partners. The class was in full swing.
The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly, and was
telling the men how to give the necessary assurances to their partners at
this stage of the pregnancy. She said:
"Ladies, remember that exercise is GOOD for you. Walking is especially
beneficial. It strengthens the pelvic muscles and will make delivery that
much easier!" She looked at the men in the room, “And gentlemen,
remember. You're in this together. It wouldn't hurt you to go walking with
your partner." The room
suddenly got very quiet as the men absorbed this information. Then a man at
the back of the room slowly raised his hand. "Yes?" asked the
teacher. "I was just
wondering," the man said. "Is it all right if she carries a golf
bag while we walk?" |
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AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION (QLD) INCORPORATED
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Date |
Start Point |
Destination |
Ride /
Social Event |
Ride
Leaders |
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20 July Ride |
TBA |
Various |
Progressive Lunch. Morning Tea at
………….Lunch at………….Afternoon tea at………….. |
Eric & Deb |
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26 July Social |
Southerners-BP Coomera Others-7Eleven 5.30 for |
Capalaba Ten Pin Bowl |
3 Games of Bowls,
Hot Plate food and Shoe hire $27.40 each. Bar will be open
for Drinks etc. |
Geoff Mead |
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17 August Ride |
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
Winston |
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23 August Social |
Your home |
Bill & Mary’s. (Address on website) |
Usual Pot Luck
theme. Bring along a plate
of mains or sweet |
Bill & Mary |
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Social |
BP Aratula |
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Weekend at Details will be advised
nearer the date. |
Bevan and Therese |
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21 September Ride |
TBA |
TBA |
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19 October Ride |
TBA |
TBA |
Navigation Ride |
Geoff & Julie |
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25 October Social |
TBA |
TBA |
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16 November Ride |
TBA |
TBA |
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22 November Social |
TBA |
TBA |
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6–7 December Social |
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Bribie Island |
Christmas Party |
Committee |
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13, 14, Ride |
BP Nth – Caboolture |
Bundaberg Turtle Sands Caravan
Park, Mon Repos Beach |
Mon Repos Turtle Rookery. Learn about and see the turtles laying eggs
and the hatchlings heading for the ocean. |
Bevan and Therese |
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Ride
Coordinator - Phil Merlo – Tel: (07) 5533 7260; RIDE DATES; Unless otherwise arranged, rides will be on the 3rd
Sunday of the month, and Social rides, the following weekend, with other
social events as announced through the year. ** Ride Leaders: Please check the
details of your ride and let me know of any changes. Ride leaders are
also asked to organise 2 raffle prizes for their ride. Suggested value
approximately $10.00 each. Raffle tickets will be made available from IMPORTANT: Even if you have not
finalised the details of your ride, just supply the start time &
location, the general direction of the ride, and the meal arrangements. ** Ride Leaders: Please provide a short
pre-ride briefing that outlines the basic safety precautions that we in the
AWRA like to observe when riding in groups, and a little about the ride and
the rest stop locations. |
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PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY ON RIDES: ·
Each motorcyclist is responsible for at least
the following; ·
The roadworthiness of your vehicle (including
trailer) ·
That you are in a fit condition to control the
vehicle, (including trailer) ·
Make sure you have a full tank of fuel before
departing on a ride. ·
That you obey all the traffic rules and ride
in a safe manner. ·
That you ride in a considerate manner that
does not endanger, or unnecessarily inconvenience other road users. ·
To be correctly attired for safe motorcycling. ·
To have fun and enjoy the day, and the
company. Thanks for all those that have offered to organise rides
and socials; that is what makes this club so great. If you are yet to conduct a ride or
organise a social, please start to plan something so that when your turn
arrives you will be ready. You don’t have to wait to be asked, just let me
know. |
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