Wing Notes

 

Newsletter of the

 

 

 

April 2009

 

Victorian Group Ride

What’s Inside?

 

 

The Editor Writes

The President Speaks

The Secretary’s Desk

Victorian January Ride

Big wet in Coffs Harbour

Qld Ride Calendar

April Meeting Minutes

Membership application

 

 

www.auswingriders.com

Australian Wing Riders Association (Qld) Inc

P O Box 1321, BURPENGARY DC, Qld 4505

 

Wing Notes

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION QLD INCORPORATED

 

 

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.  An 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 Brisbane area

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.

 

 

Management Committee:

Meetings:

President

Eric Madjeric  (07) 3888 1687

E-mail: magic @ auswingriders.com

Secretary

Deb Madjeric  (07) 3888 1687

E-mail: secretary @ auswingriders.com

Meetings are held on the

1st Monday of every month

 

Vice President

Bill Carter (07) 5564 8996

E-mail: carterbm @ bigpond.net.au

 

Treasurer

Bill Carter (07) 5564 8996

E-mail: carterbm @ bigpond.net.au

Next meeting:          4th  May 2009

7:30 pm

Breakfast Creek Wharf, 192 Breakfast Creek Rd, Newstead, Brisbane

 

 

Bob’s Wedgetail’s been painted

Upcoming activities:

 

19th April                South west hinterland ride

24th April                Social ride - Fasta Pasta, Morayfield

Change of Address

 

Could everyone please note a change of address for the association.  It is now:

 

AWRA (Qld) Inc

P O Box 1321,

BURPENGARY DC, Qld 4505

Notice:  Membership Renewals

Memberships were due at the 28th February.  All renewing members must submit an application for renewal to enable the association to maintain correct membership records.

Renewals can be banked electronically to the association account and the account details are on the web site renewal form.  If renewing by post, there is a renewal form at the end of this month’s magazine.  Complete the form and either post the form and cheque to the Secretary or bring the form and the money to the next meeting.

Non-financial members exceeding two months will be removed from the membership list.

The Temporary Editor Writes…..

 

The President Speaks….

 

The Secretary’s Desk….

Gidday all,

Well, the AGM is over for another year.  Some positions have been filled but there are still a few to go.  

Having been involved with numerous groups and committees over the past 35 years, I am only too aware of the chances of getting committee members at an AGM.  I know we have members that have not liked the manner in which the committees over the past few years have always ensured there were nominations for each position prior to the AGM.  This was actually done for a very good reason.  Early nominations meant members were not “put on the spot” in front of everyone but given the opportunity to consider what it meant to be on the committee.  Sometimes it may have appeared to shut out those who did not nominate, but no politician should go into an election without being sure they could form a team to work with.  The process ensures the committee can form immediately after the AGM with a good mix of members. 

Last month I was a bit unsure whether it would be my last magazine or not.  This month there is no doubt in my mind, this is definitely the last.

Once again, there is a dearth of infotainment for you all but there was no doubt of the sentiments of the members I spoke to at the AGM, “Just publish it with no content” was the cry.  Well as much as that goes against the grain for the standard of output I produce, here it is.  Funnily enough, those who said publish anyway, did not take the opportunity to send in a story.

 It was very disappointing that no one felt the desire to “do their bit” for the Association by stepping forward to take on the magazine editor role and provide the key communication media for the group.

It’s not like it’s a difficult job, just a bit of work if no one else contributes.  It just needs a few skills with some word processing software of your choice, print the content to a PDF file and send it to the Web Master, then print and post out copies to those who don’t have web access.

Go on, I dare you, take it on.

Ride safe and don’t become a statistic.

 

Bevan

After waiting an extra week since I wrote the above and getting an extra story from Bob and Fran, thanks guys, here is the magazine.

 

 

Victorian Ride – January 2009

The first ride for 2009 started on the Tulla side of Melbourne at Gladstone Park.  Lindsay arrived at 8am to make sure he didn't miss the ride, and enjoyed breakfast at Macca's next door while he waited for the rest of us.  We thought the ride start was 9am - oops, who hadn't read the times in the mag??  Luckily Steve and his son Robert and Craig arrived and confirmed 9.30am was the start time. John & Kaz arrived - with minutes to spare. 

 The five wings set off on new roads for all participants (other than us, as it's our back yard!).  With planes flying in over us we meandered through steep gullies including the odd wooden single lane bridge, and roads winding up and around the hills towards Sunbury, then the obligatory straight stretches, through beautiful country, Lancefield to Mt Macedon where we stopped for  coffee. 

Lots of other bikers there too, lucky we made it first! 

We headed off towards Trentham along the back road and on to Daylesford where we stopped for lunch.  As usual, the wings and riders attracted considerable attention, and unfortunately while we were parking for lunch, a car rear ended the one in front turning right - too busy admiring the bikes.  Nasty hearing the thump and tinkle of glass that followed.

 Lunch finished we headed back to Trentham and on towards Ballan through a state forest, on to Bacchus Marsh, then to Gisborne experiencing quite different countryside again. 

Came out on to the main road at Sunbury, then wound down into Bulla to refuel and head off home.

PS - it's lucky we aren't still out there somewhere .. on leaving Daylesford the GPS completely spat it and we (mainly Ken) adlibbed it all the way home.  Ride not quite as we'd planned, but we had fun - and no U-turns! 

 John especially enjoyed being able to float along behind (as he put it) and just enjoy the ride.  Great weather, 26°, a good day had by all.

 

Ken and Christine

The big wet in Coffs Harbour

Today in the mail we got a card from the folk at the AGM at Hastings Point wishing us well.  A big thank you to all who signed it.  You have no idea how we were looking forward to making that trek north after arranging some relief managers and booking Buddy the dog into the kennel.  Two afternoons before we were to leave, we were sneaking off on the Thursday, I looked out our  kitchen window to see an ocean of water across the park behind the motel.  I just had time to grab my car keys and was actually walking in water to get into the car. By the time I got that out and returned with the keys for our old ambulance workhorse, it was too late. Sadly it stayed put and got well and truly wet. 

Next on the agenda was getting the Wing out to higher ground.  I had to ride it along the footpath out front of the motel to get on the road as the water in both driveways was way too deep.  I took it to a motel on the southern part of town where I know the manager and left it there.

We ended up with about 12 inches of water, (old blokes like me still talk feet and inches), through the ground floor rooms and the reception. This was mid afternoon, by midnight the water had gone and left in its place stinking mud.  I don’t know what was more upsetting, the flood or missing the weekend away; we were really looking forward to it.

Then came, as Meady calls it, "Rescue 1" followed by "Rescue 2".  Meady arrived on the Thursday night

with young Kyle and the next day Rob and Jayne turned up loaded with 2 generators, a pump and a pressure cleaner.  The pool was pumped out and the rooms stripped and pressure cleaned. Fran and I owe these folk a big thank you. They helped break the back of the cleanup. Mind you they were living in upstairs rooms with no power.   The insurance assessor came and took the details and now I’ve started preparing all 8 rooms for a coat of paint.

Now to something more fun.  No doubt most of you know that we bought a Wedgetail Outrider for our wing.  Years ago Fran broke her spine and since has picked up the new knee.  The back pins and knee annoy the security at airports with one Negro lady in America pulling a gun on her at an airport check point.  Anyhow, I was always worried that

because Fran has trouble getting on and off the bike that one day it might fall on her and since the majority of our riding is done alone I would never get it off her and we all know how easy it is for them to topple.

On the way home from the Bundy ride after Thommo took us on a Cook’s tour of the back streets of the western suburbs of Brissie, I think I saw a sign for Ayres Rock at one stage, I stopped at Bear and Jayne’s for a week.  During that week my Wedgetail outfit that was consigned to Mainfreight in Coopers Plains, took an unexpected trip round the country before arriving back at Coopers Plains.  Rob took the next Friday off and fitted the Wedgetail.  The recommended time is 2 days for fitting but Bear did it in 1. 

We set it up as per the Yank specifications and on the Sunday I rode it home to Coffs. Man what a different ride that was.  It now leans out on corners instead of into them and there were some corners where I backed off real quick thinking I’m not going to get round this one.  I emailed the chap, (Big Al), in Geelong who sells them in Australia and said "Man, this is scary stuff."  He told me the first 1800 outfit he sold was to a suspension engineer who played around and came up with a new set of settings.  I reset it to these and what a difference.  It’s now great to ride. Once again I’m indebted to Bear. I can’t speak highly of the Harriss family, oh, and I’d better not forget Meady whose red car I wizzed about in for the week. Poor

Meady cops so much rubbish from everyone but he's way up there in our reckoning.

The Wedgetail people liked the pics I sent them so much, they are using it in their advert in the next Riding On magazine. They said I have taken the finishing off of the Wedgetail to a new level.

 That’s about all, except we are looking forward to getting a chance of doing another club ride sometime in the future.  The next couple of months are already put aside getting the motel up to full capacity again. I’m sure there will be an opportunity for a club ride somewhere.

 Bob & Fran

This guy goes up to a bar located at the top of the Empire State Building in New York. It looks like a nice place, and he takes a seat at the bar.  "This is a nice place. I've never been here before," he says to the guy next to him.

"Oh, really?" the other replies. "It is a nice place. It's also a very special bar."  "Why is that?" the first guy asks. "Well, do you see that painting on the far wall? That's an original Van Gogh, and this stool I'm sitting on was on the Titanic."  "Gee, that's amazing!" says the first guy.

"Not only that, but you see that window over there, fourth from the right? Well, the wind does strange things outside that window. If you jump out you'll fall about 50 feet before the wind catches you and you're pushed back up."  "No way! That's impossible," the guy scoffs.  "Not at all. Take a look," the other man replies, and with that he walks over to the window and opens it. He climbs over the sill and falls out. He drops 10... 20... 30... 40...50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh -- he comes right back up and sails back through the window. "See? It's fun. You should try it," he says.   "Try it? I don't even believe I saw it!" the first man shouts.

"It's easy. Watch, I'll do it again." And with that, he falls out the window again. He drops 10... 20... 30... 40... 50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh -- he comes right back up and sails back through the window. "Give it a try. It's a blast," he says.

"Well, what the heck, I'll give it a try," the first man says, and proceeds to fall out the window. He falls 10... 20... 30... 40... 50...60...70...80...90... 100 feet and splat -- he ends up as road pizza on the sidewalk.

After watching this, the second guy casually closes the window, heads back to the bar and orders a drink. The bartender arrives with the drink and says, "You know, Superman, you're a real jerk when you're drunk."    


AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION (QLD) INCORPORATED

QUEENSLAND RIDE and SOCIAL CALENDAR

Date

Start Point

Destination

Ride / Social Event

Ride Leaders

19 April

Ride

BP Stapleton 8:30 for 9:00am start

South West

Heading Sth West from Yatala. Bring Smoko, buy lunch.

Final hurrahs and Ice Cream will be had at The Strawberry Farm, Ormeau.

Larry and Annette

24 April

Social

Friday

Shell Nudgee

6 for 6.30pm

Fasta Pasta

Morayfield

Meet at Shell Nudgee and ride to Morayfield for Pasta.

NOTE: This social is on Friday 24th of April, instead of the 25th(ANZAC DAY)

Eric and Deb

9 May

Extra Ride

BP Blacksoil

Tentative 8:00am Start

Laidley

World record attempt. 5000+ bikes needed.

Further info on web ride calendar

Bevan

17 May

Ride

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

23 May

Social

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

21 June

Ride

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

27 June

Social

TBA

TBA

TBA

TBA

RIDE COORDINATOR:      Phil Merlo – Tel: (07) 5533 7260; Mobile 0419 140 957.  E-mail: pme75181 @ bigpond.net.au

RIDE DATES:                         Unless otherwise arranged, rides will be on the 3rd Sunday of the month

SOCIAL DATES:                  Social rides are 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 Val Thomas.

                                                  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.

                                                  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.

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 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.

·                      Ride at your own skill level and respect the road rules. Monthly and social rides are for the enjoyment of members and guests.  They are not race or competition events.

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.

Marketing

A man is looking in the classified ads for a job. He notices an advertisement for a toothbrush salesman and figured that couldn't such a bad job. So, he calls in, he goes in and they hire him. The next day, he heads out to a neighbourhood to make some sales. Five hours later he comes home and says, "Man, I only sold one toothbrush. That's not enough"

So the next day he goes to a richer neighbourhood, thinking maybe those people would buy more toothbrushes. He ends up selling two toothbrushes. So he goes to his boss for advice and his boss says, "Look, you're a great guy and all, but you gotta come up with a gimmick or something."

So, the salesman thinks about it and, later that night, he finally comes up with one.

So the next day, he sets up a booth near the subway with a sign that says "Free chips and dip".   A guy walks over and puts the chip in the dip and says, "This tastes like shit."

And the salesman replied, "Yeah, it is. Wanna buy a toothbrush?