WING NOTES
May 2004
Australian Wing Riders Association (Qld) Inc
P O Box 719, Ashgrove
Queensland 4060
www.auswingriders.com
Management Committee
President
Bevan Bradford (07) 3822 3512
E-mail: Bevan.L.Bradford@mainroads.qld.gov.au
Vice President
Lionel Jacobson (07) 3265 6000
E-mail: darling3@bigpond.com
Secretary
Val Thomas (07) 3848 0498
E-mail: ashgrovestationery@uqconnect.net
Treasurer
Eric Madjeric (07) 3886 9845
E-mail: magic@auswingriders.com
Meetings normally held 1st Monday of every month.
Next meeting:
7th June 2004
7:30 pm
at
Australian National Hotel
Cnr Stanley St and Wellington Rd
East Brisbane
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Wing Notes |
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OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION (QLD) INC.
EDITOR:.............Clint Lovell
Phone: 07 3398 3437
Mobile 04 1819 2040
E-Mail: clinton@lovell.com.au
WING NOTES is produced with the object of keeping members informed about matters of interest to AWRA members. A copy of each issue is sent 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.
The Editor Writes & Secretary’s Desk
Report – Bill and Mary’s Geelong Trip Pt 1
Bike Trailers – Experience by Mal & Tina
Report – Bill and Mary’s Geelong Trip Pt 2
Meeting Minutes (Members Only)
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on a title above to go to that item
Click on any AWRA Logo bike to return here
Hello All
Thanks to everyone for getting the required Stuff to me on time this month. We have a full magazine for us all. The ride calendar is full too. I couldn’t fit it all on the page so make sure you look at the website for full details.
Just a little hint I’d like to share with everyone. Before departing for Geelong, we replaced the rear tyre. Checking everything as we went, the rear brake pads were very low. Naturally, they were replaced straight away. All went well (except the tyre suffered a puncture). Shortly after our return the pads on the left front disk hit metal, necessitating travelling all the way home from a weekend away without using the foot brake. Lesson: on the GL1500, rear and left front disks are on the same circuit and both sets of pads should be changed at the same time.
Note to anyone who is unfinancial: your access to Wing Notes will expire shortly.
Contributions for this magazine can be emailed to info@auswingriders.com or posted to 47 Breslin St, Carina, Qld 4152. Photos and slides can be scanned and returned.
Clint
The Secretary’s Desk
Hi Everyone
Time sure flies when you are having fun – and here I am nominating to stay as the secretary, along with the rest of the committee, for the next 12 months. Remember we are only the cogs for all of you, so please keep letting us know what to do (nicely hopefully), and our delightful club can only keep growing and improving - like a good wine!
My next important duty is looking after our Social Night which has been booked at the Australian Woolshed – Bush Dance for Saturday 10th July 2004 @ 7 pm to 11pm the theme is Christmas in July which I guess we can ‘dress’ for the occasion. The cost includes a 2 course Buffet dinner including Dessert, tea and coffee. Fully licensed venue (no BYO).
Cost is $39.50 per person – we can save $5.00 pp if we pay in full before the night, so let me know if this will suit you.
Address is The Australian Woolshed, 148 Samford Road, Ferny Hills, Q. 4055
Phone No. 07 3872 110 – Booked with Kellie – 13 couples = 26.
Here are the ragers Annette & Larry; Mal & Tina; Lionel & Mary; Eric & Deb; Peter & Michelle; Jayne & Bear; Donna & Andy; Turbo & Wendy; Ken & Joanne; Neville & Jennifer; Des & Joan; Bevan & Therese; Valerie & Thommo.
This is really hard work guys!! But this is it for now, and my assistant has to e-mail this to Clint, and we will see most of you at our AGM on the 15/16th May.
Valerie.
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More curios from the Internet (supplied by John Gilbert) |
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Novel use of a Valkyrie |
Only in America |
Here I am, writing this early again so Clint gets every chance to get the magazine out before the AGM. This coming weekend sees the Association celebrate its 5th AGM. 5 years and 12 of the original members still ride with the group. Not a bad effort; over 30%. There must be something about the friendships and the bikes we ride that keep us enjoying each other's company. I have enjoyed my past 12 months as President and look forward to the opportunity of undertaking the task for another year.
I'm a bit disappointed in the numbers attending the AGM, not as high as in previous years but I guess people have other things on. Anyway, having over two thirds of the membership at an AGM is terrific, just that I have become used to seeing almost everyone being there. It's not too late to contact Val if you want to participate.
Since our meeting I have worked on the MRAQ request for the "top five issues affecting motorcyclists". Having put our suggestions together I have asked for feedback from some of the members that put forward ideas the other night. Once I have this, I will ask Val to send it to MRAQ. I think it is good that we have an opportunity to input some ideas. It is easy to sit back and complain and expect others to achieve what we would like, but without our input, how will those "others" know what concerns us. If you feel strongly on a motorcycle relevant issue, maybe it's time to have your say and participate.
By the time you read this I will have signed off the flag colours and may even have the flags. See you at the AGM.
Keep the shiny side up
Bevan
New location - 65 Jalomy St. Boondall Qld 4034
Please ring for an appointment
As this is a private residence - NO cold calls at premises please.
The decision to go to the Ulysses AGM in Geelong was not an easy one for us for a number of reasons. Over the last year and a half we had both experienced a lot of stress in our personal and professional lives and we desperately needed a holiday, but could not decide what to do.
As much as I liked the idea of going to Geelong, my initial thoughts were that it would not provide us with the relaxation that we needed. The fact that we would be camping didn’t exactly thrill Mary either. She has a strong belief that “4 star accommodation” is camping.
After tossing around ideas such as a cruise, and just going to the beach and “veging out”, the thought of riding the Great Ocean Road became the main reason for making the trip.
Once that decision was made, we decided that we would take the opportunity to see a bit more while we were away. This meant unfortunately, that we would not be travelling with the group from the AWRA. I love riding with our club, but Mary and I often go for rides on our own too. Both are great for different reasons. Over long distances, the safety and camaraderie of travelling in a group should not be discounted, but riding on your own the freedom to stop and sight-see when the mood takes you is also good.
I sat down with a map and stated to plan the things that I would like to see. These included a visit to some “rellies” in Lake Cathie, (near Port Macquarie), the Jenolan Caves, the War Museum, and a couple of others. I loosely planned a route, and estimated some times, and then we went to the meeting of AWRA members that were going to the AGM.
Clint had very efficiently planned a route that fairly closely resembled ours which gave me some additional ideas for things to see that I hadn’t thought of before. We decided to leave on the Tuesday before the main group, to do some sight-seeing and meet them in Young on Sunday night. After further adjustment to our schedule, we finally met them in Omeo on Monday afternoon.
A very strange thing happened a couple of weeks before we left. I received a letter from someone that I had never heard of, wanting information about my family. Believing it was a scam without reading it through, I was about to toss it in the bin when something made me change my mind. I read it through and it contained information about my family such as birth, death, and marriage dates and lines of heritage. I contacted the sender by phone to find that they were compiling a family tree, and knew more about my family that I did. If that wasn’t enough, they live in Corryong, and we were passing through there on our trip. Without hesitation they insisted that we stay with them. They turned out to be a delightful retired couple that made us most welcome, and became a highlight of our trip.
The route we selected took us down the Pacific Hwy to Port Macquarie where we stayed with some relatives on the first night. That first day was 39 degrees, and as we had worn our DriRider coats for the cold down south, the heat nearly killed us. I asked Mary if she wanted a break at Macksville, and when we pulled in she was a white as a ghost. We just sat in the air-conditioned restaurant until our temperatures came down. **HINT: Drink plenty of water and have lots of stops in the heat, as heat stroke will overcome you when you least expect it. We then cruised down the coast though Tuncurry and Forster to Newcastle for lunch. From there we had an easy ride over to Singleton where we stayed the night.
The next day took us down the Putty Rd to Windsor where we had fish and chips in the sea food shop that was voted best in the Sydney area. It wasn’t cheap, but it was very good. After lunch we went to Katoomba via Penrith and did some sight-seeing. We went down a cable car to the bottom and the scenery was absolutely breath taking. Mary is a bit scared of heights, and her eyes were like the bottom of beer bottles. We rode the steepest railroad in Australia back up which also had Mary speechless except for a few words I can’t print here. It is so steep that when you get in you are lying down, so that you are standing up when it ascends. I have to say that the scenery in this area is spectacular. From there we went to Lithgow for the night.
Friday we went to the Jenolan Caves. I had received several warnings about the road to the caves before we left home, and also in Singleton, but none of it prepared us for it. Most of it is quite good except the last 8 klms which is narrow, steep, in poor condition, with very sharp bends, and big drops off the side with no railings. This road is a loop road that returns back up to Bathurst. The return leg to Bathurst has some dirt, so I intended to come back the way I went in but when we got to the caves, we were informed that the road is blocked for several hours to allow the busses to come down.
We had a great time exploring the caves, before ascending the road to Bathurst. Once again I was warned by locals to be careful on the road, but if I thought the road down was scary, the road back was a nightmare. Where the road down descended to the valley floor in about 8 klms, the road out ascends the same height in about 3klms. It is like riding up the stairs of the Empire State Building with no sides. Very narrow, very steep, and with 15klm / hr U turn corners where you climb 10 metres in the length of the turn. A motorcycle needs momentum to keep it upright, and there is not a lot possible there. To make matters worse, we met a car on the first corner, which set the scene for the rest of the climb.
After doing a lap of Mt Panorama, our intention was to spend the night in Cowra. We rode the rest of the day in the rain, and when we got to Cowra desperate for a hot shower and some rest, we discovered that there was not a bed to be had in the whole town. We pressed on the Boorowa, and had a very pleasant night in a motel next to the hotel where we enjoyed wonderful hospitality and a couple of drinks as well. The next day we went to Canberra and spent several hours that the War Museum before spending the night at Queanbeyan.
The next day was a spectacular ride down to Cooma, and along the Alpine Way past Mt Kosciusko through Jindabyne and Thredbo to Corryong where we spent the night with my new found 4th cousin. Along the way we did some sight-seeing in the Snowy River Scheme.
The next day took us along some of the most spectacularly scenic motorcycle country on the planet. We travelled the Kiewa Valley Hwy & the Great Alpine Rd over Mt Buller, Mt Buffalo, and Mt Hotham to Omeo. The road is in pretty good condition but is steep, very high, and with hundreds of 35klm / hr corners. There are no guard rails, and the distance to the valley floor was breath-taking. Mary refused to look over the side, and when I told her that I thought our heads were hanging over the side of the mountain on the inside corners, she just about wet herself. There was no snow at the time but we could see the ski slopes. I can’t imagine anyone standing at the top of that mountain on slippery boards.
That night we met the team in Omeo and had a great night of revelry and discussing the Mt Hotham part of the trip. The next day’s trip to Geelong was to start early, so Mary and I were up in time to see Lionel coming out of his room in his jocks. I was shocked, but I don’t know what happened to Mary. Her mouth came open, she was unable to speak for a long time, and our relationship hasn’t been the same since. I think the ride from Omeo was good. I don’t recall seeing a lot of it as most of it was a blur. Clint set the pace for the first few klms until he disappeared, and we didn’t catch him until Bruthen where he was having a sleep on the side of the road while he waited for us to catch up.
We followed the Princes Hwy for most of the way, before turning off to Sorrento to catch the ferry to Queenscliff, and on to Geelong and the AGM. It was a great trip down with lots of “WOW!!” moments.
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Pot Luck at Clint and Charleen’s
It had been a while since we had a Pot Luck night. It’s pretty simple really, everyone brings one pot of their favourite recipe, they all get put on the table and we all tuck in. The Social Calendar said “Arrive from 5pm” and so around five people started drifting in, some tackling the steep driveway and a few coming in through ‘The Tunnel’. Pretty soon we had five bikes parked in the back yard and a couple of cars out the front, with the drivers offering lame excuses as to why they couldn’t ride. Eric’s excuse was the lamest of all!
As everyone had brought hot pots and the kitchen oven was never going to be able to keep them hot, they were spread out on the table. There were dishes from all over the world, with South American spices and Thai noodles alongside European and Australian dishes. WOW! We all armed ourselves with plates and eatin’ irons and got stuck in. The first round was great and most of us backed up for a second round.
The tables were just about cleared when yet another bike arrived. Bevan and Therese were late and for some strange reason had expected us to wait for them. With all that food on the table getting colder by the minute – No Way! Not long after, Winston and Yolanda arrived, but they weren’t expecting any food and had just called in to say Hi and for Winston to show off his latest gadget, a Street Pilot. WOW!
Next came Dessert and luckily for our waists, only Mary C and Therese had brought a Pavlova and Lemon Meringue Pie. There were also Chockies and Bickies for coffee time. When we all twisted his arm, Winston reluctantly agreed to have some desert.
All stuffed full, we sat around and yarned for quite a while before people decided it was time to crawl out to the bikes and overload the poor unsuspecting suspensions, and drive home. Yet another jolly good night was had by all.
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April 17 – been raining on & off for a couple of days. My job had been washed out at 2pm. God, what’s the weather going to be like tomorrow, I thought.
Ding ding bells ring in my head.
“Telephone to Glory,
Oh what joy divine,
I can hear the current moving down the line,
Made by God the Father for his very own.
You can talk to Jesus on the royal telephone.”
Ray Thomas can do it, why can’t I? (We’re not religious, no really we’re not.)
Woke up at 2:34am – no rain. The road outside dry. Back to bed. Woke up at 5am. Road still dry. Beauty it worked. Sun was coming out! What a lovely day for a ride.
Arrived at BP Morayfield South about 7am. Gecko and Kay were waiting for us. We grabbed Macca’s for breakfast. Rusty and Marie and friends Ray and Linda turned up around 7:30am. They’ve already ridden for an hour to get this far.
Shortly after a ride to a ride, we arrived at BP Stapleton around 8:35am. A couple of bikes were waiting.
By 9am official starting time, we had 9 Wings and 18 people. Everybody waited to go. I gave them a quick rundown on the ride, advising conditions of roads, speeds etc.
9am+ we headed off for Jacobs Well. I had to change the route here a little because I knew there were road works the other way. I just had my bike professionally cleaned!
We wound our way down to Jacobs Well through Pimpama, Willowvale, Upper Coomera, Maudsland, Mount Nathan, Nerang, Advancetown to Lower Beechmont, then on to Beechmont for a smoko break and a chat.
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Photos by Jayne Harriss
Back on the bikes again, we headed through the hills to Canungra. Then on to Mt Tamborine, down to Tamborine Village, throwing a left and then left again towards Canungra, turned right into Biddaddaba Road and on to Beaudesert. Turning left into Beaudesert we headed out on the Bromal Road, eventually coming out at Cedar Grove near Jimboomba. We made our way down the Mt Lindsay Highway and turned right into Camp Cable Road going through to Logan Village Hotel where we had a very reasonably priced lunch and enjoyed ourselves to boot. Nothing like good food and good company.
This was the end of the official ride.
The raffle was won by Bevan and Therese. Second was won by Rob and Jayne. This was the first time that Bevan has won a raffle that wasn’t his own, so he didn’t make us redraw it. After much conversation, the majority of us headed north, peeling off at our relevant turnoffs, leaving in the end, Ray and Linda, Rusty and Marie to continue onto the Sunshine Coast.
Although only around 200km on the official ride it was in Annette’s words a “labour intensive” ride – slow speed limits and tight corners.
I enjoyed it immensely and from comments from all the other riders, I think they agreed. (I hope so.)
‘til next time, take it easy.
Larry.
Pro Honda’s Goldwing expert, Marcel, changing Lucille’s rear tyre after the
Ulysses AGM trip.
BIKE TRAILERS (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly)
The few trips I had achieved in my very early years (one up) resembled a beach ball trying to balance two wheels with every conceivable extra tied to whatever section of the frame that could be reached.
Picture it. Sleeping bag on handle bars, tank bag, saddle bags, back pack and of course the extra helmet stuck on the sissy bar to give someone in need of a lift. (What a joke, I mean where would they fit) .
Married and many years later after joining the Ulysses Club I decided that if Tina and I were to take the AGM’s seriously and maintain a certain degree of comfort then a trailer was the go.
I took a liking to the Classic Ultralite, 350 litre capacity, good looking, light, and ice box included.
Unfortunately the first day I picked up the trailer I rode over to my brother-in-law’s and successfully rolled it over on his footpath. John was impressed and even suggested it might travel better with the wheels facing down.
Our first trip was to Mt. Gambier AGM. (Yes, new paint job!)
The trailer bounced along the highway lifting completely off the ground over grids which reminded me to slow down a tad.
Day after day of repacking and sitting on the lid to lock down convinced me that rather than taking valium a larger capacity trailer was required.
Next came the Classic Mini Tourer Deluxe. 450 ltr capacity. very sexy (that got your attention) reasonably light and yes the ice box.
So it’s off to Mudgee AGM. Not sure whether it was the queen size bed or pool table that shifted but this trailer bounced as much as the Ultralite and had an added interest in trying to tip us over around slow corners or pushing us down sloping mountains. Come to think of it any mountains not just sloping ones.
Tina spent a lot of time looking for toilets. Anyway bottom line was that it had to go.
Trailers seemed to lack adequate suspension. The rubber mounts just weren’t working.
I searched the web and found a spider, sorry trailer, with springs and shockies for sale in Adelaide. It was owned by Steve Baines who was Mayor of Coober Pedy and a fellow Ulyssian .
Steve sent me a picture. It was a Shadow box trailer 500 ltr capacity with pyramid type lid and looked so ugly I had to have it. (Had to buy an icebox from Classic trailers so there went any profit in the sale)
Third trip to Geelong AGM. What’s happening, no severe bouncing, stayed online, didn’t feel as if it was attached at times but still having trouble closing that lid.
Must be the Tina connection.
We rode back from the AGM with Gordon, Lionel and Mary and over a few quiet drinks Lionel came up with our now adopted name for the trailer. “FUGLY”
In conclusion we have :
The Good - Strong locks (Tina proof), great suspension, no worries about break-ins at home as all our belongings are in the trailer.
The Bad - Rear tyre wears in half the time.
The Ugly - A trailer resembling a box with pyramid type lid can only be affectionately called “FUGLY”
By the way, several fellow Wing riders have since told me that rubber mounted trailers should only have low pressure in the tyres.
Bugger !!!
Regards
Mal, Tina & FUGLY Goodwin
The Ulysses AGM has to be one of the largest motorcycle gatherings in the world with over 5,000 attendees. The parade while small in distance, was mind boggling with the number of bikes. How often would you see 4,600 bikes in a parade – no where else in Australia.
It was great to spend time with our friends, and to catch up with past acquaintances was excellent. The trades were fairly well represented, but it was difficult to get the test ride of your choice, at the time you wanted because of the demand. The accommodation in Tent City was rudimentary, and we were grateful to Eric for taking some things of ours down with him.
Mary and I took the opportunity to ride the Great Ocean Rd, as well as to take a trip into Melbourne to look around. The GOR is a ride that every motorcyclist should do at least once, as the scenery is stunning, (not to mention the ride). They have their fair share of idiots as well, (like Mt Glorious), and we were confronted by one clown on a sports bike coming around a corner towards us riding on the limit, using all of the road, knee down, sliding with no way out if something went wrong. We all like to ride quickly from time to time, but because we are on the same corners at the same times as these idiots, they endanger us as much as themselves. The sooner they lose their license the better from my point of view.
Our return trip saw us once again on our own as we all had different agendas and time availability. Mary and I went back over the Queenscliff ferry and down to Philip Is. The trip over on the ferry on the way to the AGM was calm, but the trip back had all motorcyclists standing by their machines to stop them falling over as the ship tossed and turned in the rough weather.
Phillip Is was nothing like I had imagined, and what I thought would be a 45 minute flying visit, turned into about 4 hours, and we didn’t touch the surface of what we could have done. What really stunned me was the number of surfers in the water in their wet suits as the weather was very cold and windy. It is no wonder that the Victorians come to QLD and swim in winter.
We had intended on taking about 6 – 7 days to come home, but once the headlights were pointed north, we were keen to get there and kept going where we might otherwise have stopped. We followed the coast for most of the trip home, and covered 2,400 klms in 4 X 600 klm days. Overall the trip saw us travel over 5.600 klms in 16 days with 5 days at Geelong. We had good weather for most of it and we only rode in the rain for two days all up. One day going down, and the second last day coming home. You would have to be happy about that.
At the start of the story I said that I wasn’t sure if two weeks on a bike was the therapy that we needed, but it turned out to be exactly what we needed. WE LOVED IT, and we are already planning our next trip. We saw great sites, rode the best bike roads in Australia, and had great company at the AGM. I haven’t concentrated too much on the AGM in this story because there were other attendees that will do that better than I. We would certainly recommend that trip, or any other motorcycle holiday as the best tonic for stress in your life. Go do it.
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Social Coordinator - Wendy Beddows Ph; 07 - 3812 4166
e-mail: nnikki69@optusnet.com.au Turbo's Mobile 0421304144
RIDE DATES; Unless otherwise arranged, rides will be on the 3rd Weekend 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 Eric.
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.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY:
It is the personal responsibility of each motorcyclist to be 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.
WOO'S WOES:
Once again I’m asking for suggestions, Ride and social dates to think about are: September, October, November, and December, so put on the thinking caps and this will see us with a full calendar for the year. Wendy.
