BMWMCQ JOURNAL MAY 2023

The Committee

President- Tony Gray

Ph: 0409 493 605 president@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200GS (The Grey Ghost)

R60/6

Vice President - Paul Hughes

Ph: 0409 814 633 vpres@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200GS, Tiger 900

BMW Clubs Australia Delegate

Secretary- Geoff Hodge

Ph: 0413 180 101 secretary@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200RS; R75/5, R51/3

Treasurer - Darryl Gowlett

Ph: 0438 083 996 treasurer@bmwmcq.org.au

R80GS; K100RS4V; K1300R

Events - Ben Nazzari

Ph: 0448 594 833 events@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200 RT, R100GS

Editors - Cindy & Duncan Bennett

Ph: 0401 610 671 editor@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200C; Triumph Tiger 900’s

Records- Greg Gaffney

Ph: 0411424 219 records@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200RT

Tools/Service - Bill Luyten

Ph: 0438 123 747 tools@bmwmcq.org.au

R1200GS; R1150 Rockstar

Regalia - Duncan Bennett

Ph: 0458 293 569 regalia@bmwmcq.org.au

Dealer Liaison - Don Grimes

Ph: 0411 601 372

R1200GS; K1300R

This Issue - MAY 2023

Club Details

ABN 30 351 243 651

On The Cover

Tony Gray’s photo of the “Grey Ghost” at Lake Rotoiti upon their return to the South Island of NZ from the North. Taken just outside St Arnaud.

particularly, by careful, courteous, considerate riding, especially when riding with the Club, and rendering assistance to all road users in difficulty.

2. Improving the service and availability of spare parts for BMWs in Queensland using the advantage of a united effort.

3. Decreasing maintenance and running costs by mutual assistance on mechanical problems.

4. Organising day trips, tours and outings.

5. Encourage and support Regional Ride Groups

6. Affiliation with other clubs/associations where such affiliation would be of mutual benefit.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this Journal are those of each contributor and are not necessarily shared by the Editor, management, and / or membership of the BMWMCQ. The Editor reserves the right to refuse any advertising or delete any material which could be considered or interpreted as questionable, libellous or offensive, without consultation.

The riding weather has been magnificent. This time of the year is the best to enjoy some magnificent scenic rim (and further) day trips on your trusty steed. Hope you have got out and enjoyed it. In this edition we have Tony and Jane moving to the North Island and part 2 of Cindy and Duncan’s epic South American jaunt. Tony Malone also shares some wisdom for us. None of this is to be missed.

By the time you read this edition, the Cane Toad Rally will have been and gone. A full report will be in June’s journal along with lots of photographic evidence. There is a recurring theme of “safety” in this journal , as we partner with the Queensland Government in trying to make motorcycling safer in this state. You can all help here.

Dont forget to contribute to YOUR journal with a story or photos on your wanderings. We are all interested.

Paul

NEXT

Thursday 4th May

rEports

Tony Gray President’s Report

Ihavespoken previously about the State Governments ‘Ride to Zero’ Road Safety Campaign in which members of the BMWMCQ have been heavily involved. The campaign’s intention is to reduce (ideally eliminate) the major cause of motorcycle rider fatalities on our roads - single vehicle accidents caused by rider error.

The program has followed a bottom up rather than top down approach involving the input of riders and their representatives. That is where the BMWMCQ has been invited as a responsible motorcycle club and I am very pleased to say that suggestions we have put forward are being pursued in their plans - rider training, education on road rules, messaging through advertising, rider mentoring programs, high exposure Policing. At the end of the day none of this will have an impact unless there is an attitudinal change for those who are 10 foot tall and bulletproof and to whom rules do not apply - yes we were all young once but it is not just the young who are adding to the accident statistics. We all have a part to play.

The ‘Ride to Zero’ program was unveiled to the media by the State Transport Minister, Mark Bailey, at a roadside gathering at Mt Coot-tha on Easter Monday. I was invited to represent the club with the request to bring my bike - clearly there is a greater impact with some props included. Unfortunately the Gray Ghost, our R1200GS, was still in a shipping container somewhere on her way back from NZ (another story). Her older sibling the R60/6 was pressed into service for the day and she turned out to be quite the media tart getting plenty of attention from the gathered media as well as the Minister. The occasion was well covered by all of the mainstream media which can only be a good thing.

Gary Bennett is compiling the list of suitable bikes for our Centenary Bike Display on 23 September. We have solid interest but there are still plenty of gaps so we want to hear from YOU. Please do not make your own call that your bike will not be suitable - let us decide. We would much rather have too many than too few applicants. If you will be around on the 23rd of September and will be able to bring your bike into Reddacliff Place in the Brisbane CBD then complete and submit an application form. Details are in the journal and on the club website. This centenary is a once in a lifetime opportunity so don’t defer and risk missing out. We will also be requiring plenty of helpers on the day so even if you don’t have a BMW for the display you can still be involved. This type of event is something that can bring the whole club together.

Jane and I have been very busy with family matters since returning from NZ but we did manage to get along to the coffee morning at Little Tree Bake & Brew House in Samford Village. There was an excellent turnout with new members Rich & Jackie and first event attendees George & Graham as well us the usual list of suspects. Everyone seemed to have a good time at a very good venue and that is what the Club is about - meeting like minded people in a pleasant environment and unwinding from the pressures of life. Well done to Ben our new Events person as he becomes familiar with this very important role on the Club Committee.

Tony

Photo opposite of Tony and The Minister, Mark Bailey , at the Launch of “Ride to Zero” safety campaign.

BMWMCQ Club Events for

MAY 2023

Thur 04

7:30 pm Club

Meeting Geebung RSL Club, 323 Newman Road, Geebung QLD. Meals from 6pm

Sun 07 May

9:00am Club Led Ride O’Shannesy’s Hotel Clifton

Meet at Blacksoil BP at 9.00 am for a 9.30 depart

Ride Leader Ben Nazzari

Events Coordinator

Sat 13 May

Wed 17 May

Sat 20 May

9:00am Coffee Meet-Up The Flying Nun Cafe Samford

9:00am Mid Week Ride BYO Lunch Maroon Dam 9.00am for 9.30 depart

Meet Caltex Springfield Central

10.30am Sunshine Coast Brunch The Nest Cafe Gumland Dr. Witta Qld

Sun 28 May 12:30pm Monthly Lunch Ride Tumbulgum Tavern

EXTERNAL EVENTS 2023

Events Coordinator

Paul Hughes

Steve Maney

Events Coordinator

2023 EvEnts CalEndar

BMWMCQ Club Events for JUNE 2023

RIDE MEETING POINTS

Paul Hughes Vice President’s Report

back to another journal. I have been out riding quite a bit this month in the scenic rim. The weather has been very co-operative to say the least. I am in the planning stages for my short escape when the editors return from sucking on Tequilla and Tortillas. It will never replace Pinot and lamb.

Welcome

The club website now has the full details and booking information for our 100 Year of BMW Celebrations. If you would like to display your bike, the application form is there and I would encourage you to fill this out and send in now.

The Celebration Dinner Registration is now active on the same web page. Several people have already registered. You dont have to be a “logged in member” to register for the dinner. I would ask you to register NOW, or as early as possible, as we do have a limit on numbers and quite a few people from interstate are attending. I have to thank Greg for the awesome work he has put into getting the web page and booking system installed.

By the time you read this journal the Cane Toad Rally (our largest event so far) will have been run . I hope to have seen many of you at the rally. I intend this year to be tyre puncture free, but just saying that may have put the hex on me ..lol.

Ride often and ride safe

Paul

CommittEE rEports

Darryl Gowlett Treasurer’s Report

G’day Everyone,

Another month has passed by and I think I blinked and missed it. This report’s a little early this month as we’re all gearing up for the Cane Toad and offering Paul as much lead time as possible to collate the Journal. Aren’t we nice? But fear not, whatever we miss now will show up in next month’s scintillating spreadsheet.

G’day Everyone,

Income for the month was all memberships, with the disbursements being administration for $224 for the PO box at South Brisbane, and $29 expenses for Paul attending the Clubs Australia AGM. Bill Luyten hit the ground running as our Tools Officer and purchased a couple of relevant workshop manuals, and Tony Gray printed some flyers advertising the need for BMW’s at the 100 year concours.

Another month has past by and I think I blinked and missed it. This report’s a little early this month as we’re all gearing up for the Cane Toad and offering Paul as much lead time as possible to collate the Journal. Aren’t we nice? But fear not, whatever we miss now will show up in next month’s scintillating spreadsheet.

Income for the month was all memberships, with the disbursements being administration for $224 for the PO box at South Brisbane, and $29 expenses for Paul attending the Clubs Australia AGM. Bill Luyten hit he ground running as our Tools Officer and purchased a couple of relevant workshop manuals, and Tony Grey printed some flyers advertising the need for BMW’s at the 100 year concours. Ciao, Darryl

Ciao, Darryl

Geoff Hodge Secretary’s Report

BMWMCQ General Meeting Minutes – 13 April 2023

Venue: Geebung RSL

Meeting Opened: 7:30 pm

Apologies: Cindy & Duncan Bennett, Rosi & Steve Johnson, Charlie Brown.

Minutes of Previous General Meeting: Accepted: Paul Hughes

Seconded: Michael John

Number of Attendees: 33

New Members (Name & MC): Nil

Visitors: Rich Shapland R1200RS (Shorncliffe, formerly from Devon Eng).

Returning Members: Nil

Treasurer Report: As per Journal Report - no questions

Editor Report: Editors are enjoying South America. Paul Hughes looking for more articles & photographs for the May journal.

Tools Report: Bill has purchased 2 new manuals for the R series of wetheads to 2016 and for the F700/800 series. Considering a second bike lift for the service days at Rob Wynnes.

Regalia Report: Nil

Records Report: Currently 265 financial members with 17 renewals come this month

Events Report: As per Calendar. Midweek ride to Cressbrook Dam and lunch ride to Maryvale Pub are forthcoming.

Secretary Report: Mail in: Confirmation letter from Bank of Qld on term deposit @ 4.3%

Newsletter from NSW Touring Club

Dealer Liaison Report: BMW has new web based program to look at & purchase a new BMW.

Offers on R310/F900/S1000R models. Special service packages available to suit annual Kms travelled. BMW is retrofitting drain valve on wethead drive shafts. Don has been able to confirm through personal test that a BMW key fob passed the full auto clothes wash cycle.

Clubs Australia Report: SA & ACT Clubs have a special 100 year shirt design available for purchase until the end of April. See FB for details.

Vice Presidents Report: As per AGM Report

CommittEE rEports - mEEting minutEs

President Report: Report on Ride to Zero Motorcycle Safety launch. 100 year celebration gaining momentum - QPS, TMR, RFDS invited to attend Centenary Bike Display. Forms available at meeting for members to take and offer to BMW riders they might meet on rides to promote participation in the display.Two new 100,000km mileage awards to be made, Chris Robertson (author of the Golden Ride the clubs first 50 year history) & John Eacott. Awards to be presented when recipients are available at a club event. Toowoomba Bike Display was unable to be attended due to very short notice we received.

General Business: Frank Hills request for more led rides in the events program had been discussed at last committee meeting. Status quo to remain ie: monthly led ride + mid week ride. Coffee catch ups and lunch venues are a case of make your own way or arrange to meet other members . Use FB event page to notify others. Always looking for ride leaders for the two monthly led rides.

Frigid Digit has one cabin remaining but plenty of camping available.

More assistance required for the Canetoad Rally.

Closed: 8:15 pm, next meeting 4 May 2023

Hola from the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest and flattest salt pan.

Regalia is very important out here, particularly hats. Uyuni has an average April morning temperature of -1.3°C so the beanie is essential, and given they only get about 1mm of rain here per month the BMWMCQ bucket hat is a star keeping the relentless sun off. If you want help getting a stylish and useful regalia item for the coming cool season, don’t hesitate to send me an email.

Duncan Bennett Regalia Officer’s Report regalia@bmwmcq.org.au

Burned bonce easily avoided on the Salar with the well-used and excellent BMWMCQ bucket hat.

Conferring with another Regalia professional in Purmamarca (Permanent Marker) Argentina.

Bill Luyten Tools Officer’s Report

Well, I’m back!

Not sure how this happened but I’m here again.

The club will be scheduling another service day soon and expecting it to be in June, will update you when we have locked in a date.

We have just purchased a couple of workshop manuals to add to our library.

models in the range have been examined too, the GS Adventure, Luxury-tourer RT, R Roadster and RS Sporttourer. In all over 1300 photographs have been taken.

Repair Manuals

I have various Repair Manuals available to borrow mainly for older bikes as well as the addition of the above manuals.

Tools for loan

There are special tools available including the GS911WiFi and 3 pin diagnostic tools.

Special Tools

• 34mm socket for rotating crankshaft

• Twinmax electronic carburetor balancer (Twin BMW engines)

• Vacuumate (electronic synchronization of throttle valves up to 4 cylinders)

Product Information

Complete coverage of BMW F650, F700 & F800 Twins (06 - 16) --Easy-to-follow photos--Complete troubleshooting section--Valuable short cuts-- What’s covered: F800S 798cc 06 - 10F800ST 798cc 06 -

12F800GT 798cc 13 - 16F800GS 798cc 08 - 16F800GS

Adv 798cc 13 - 16F800R 798cc 09 - 16F650GS 798cc 08 - 12F700GS 798cc 12 - 16

• Clutch alignment shafts (3 sizes)

• Compression gauge (cylinder pressure)

• Steering head bearing puller and seating tool

• Gearbox output flange puller

• GS-911 Wi-Fi Diagnostic tool (Wi-Fi and USB Version)

• GS-911 3 pin Diagnostic tool (for older bikes)

• Tyre Pressure Monitor Sensor (TPMS) tool

• Enduralast hall sensor tester

• Brake bleeding tool (suction bleeding via the brake caliper)

Product Information

*R1200GS*1170cc*13 - 16 *R1200GS Adv*1170cc*13 - 16 *R1200RT*1170cc*14 - 16 *R1200RS*1170cc*15 - 16 *R1200R*1170cc*15 - 16 Coverage of BMW’s R1200 range covering the liquid-cooled engine models. Focus of the manual is the world’s most popular travel enduro, the R1200GS, an example of which has been fully stripped down, photographed and rebuilt. Other

• Compression tester

Club Tool Loan:

$50 deposit (refundable) for GS911. Tools and spares can be picked up or brought along to the next meeting or Club ride.

tools@bmwmcq.org.au

CommittEE rEports

Ben Nazzari Events Officer’s Report

Hi Everyone

This being my first month in this role I’m absolutely loving it.

The time I have spent socializing with club Members has been fantastic, from the GM to Coffee Meet Ups and Mid-week rides. I couldn’t be happier with the support and kindness everyone has shown and as for the first mid-week ride in which I asked David Harvey to lead he didn’t hesitate, so a big thank you to him for a great day.

I’m really looking forward to future rides and get togethers with more of you and I will be putting it out there for lead riders for the mid-week and Sunday led rides.

On a more serious note, I was out for a social ride with a mate Daryl Masterson in Kenilworth, we left after lunch and headed out towards the highway. We passed a guy on a Harley who was waiting to turn left across our lane (in his own turn lane mind you) and another guy and his wife who were friends of his ran, directly into the back of him. We turned around to assist to find pieces of bike all over the road, luckily he wasn’t hurt too bad but his bike was a write off I’d say and I guess what I’m trying to point out here, is that life can change in a split second so please be aware and pay attention I know it goes without saying but sometimes it’s good to hear it.

Till next time keep it upright.

Ben Geoff Hamon attended “The Heritage Ride Day” held by Morgan and Wacker.

A NEW ADDITION TO THE CLUB LIBRARY - BMW CLUBS ‘THE BOOK’

We have received this impressive tome from BMW Group Classic where the responsibility for BMW Clubs internationally resides. The preface is written by Helmet Kas the Head of BMW Group Classic and supported by Scott Blazely the Chairman of the BMW Clubs International Council.

It is a heavy volume running to over 300 pages with impressive photographs and descriptions of many clubs and a list of all affiliated BMW Clubs worldwide, both car and bike. It is not a book you would sit down and read but a reference source if doing any research or as a contact when planning your overseas travels. A key statistic is that there were around 800 BMW Clubs in 78 countries with over 230,000 members when the book was compiled in 2022. My simple maths brain equates that to an average of 287 members per club placing the BMWMCQ quite squarely in the average size.

What is not average about our club is the year it was founded - 1958. This places us as one of the oldest BMW clubs in the World and from what is recorded in this book we would be the second oldest BMW Motorcycle Club in the World behind only the UK & Ireland Club founded in 1951. The South Australian Club was also founded in 1958 so one could assume there was some form of collusion in the foundation of our two clubs or it may have just been a co-incidence. There are three older clubs in Germany and one in Austria but these are all combined car/bike clubs. The car club of Great Britain is also older having been founded in 1952.

The foresight of our founders Hugh Yorston (First President) and Robin Palmer (First Secretary) should never be forgotten. Hugh was a native of the Orkney Islands off the Coast of Scotland and a Spitfire Pilot during WW2. He was a much travelled individual and split his life after the War between his homeland and Brisbane. Maybe the genesis for starting the club in Queensland was the knowledge of the club in the UK that had been formed seven years earlier. We may never know.

CommittEE rEports

Greg Gaffney Records Officer’s Report

Ihaven’tbeen out on my bike too much lately. Had a small but nice ride to Samford last Saturday for a coffee catch-up. The weather was glorious now that the temperature is cooling down. Looking forward to the lunch ride to the Maryvale Hotel next weekend.

New Members:

records@ bmwmcq.org.au

Geoff Osborne, BELLBOWRIE, R65LS

Justin Vacher, SAMFORD, R1250GS

Ray Crampton, GUMDALE, GS1250 Adventure

Cheers

2022 rEgalia

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Metro - black/charcoal or black/royal - $21

Swiss -$37.50

Note: a bag order small surcharge may apply - talk to Daniel!

Cotton

As worn by Liam Neeson’s collateral damage in Taken II!

Ladies Vests Non-Ladies Vests $48.00

Yeah,youdon’t needa warmheadinQLD now.Abitsweatyevenfor

AH742 - $17 100% Wool Beanie

AH770 - $17 100% Cotton Beanie

ICE Tee - $26

Club order form for shirts, bags and hats

Send this form to daniel@goldstarembroidery.com.au or call Daniel on 0403 150 857

Name: ___________________________Email address:_________________________

If delivery is required an additional fee is charged. Delivery required Yes or No:______

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Swiss

Headwear order:

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Cap AH230 - $15 each

Bucket Hat Sandwich AH695 - $17 each

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Wool Beanie AH742 - $17 each

Cotton Beanie AH770 - $17 each

There are also heaps more colours, styles and fabrics available through Gold Star Embroiderycheck out the website at goldstarembroidery and call Daniel - he knows all about BMW regalia!

RIDE TO ZERO

The joy of riding is hard to surpass It’s so much more than going out fast

To feel “as one” with your favourite steed

Knowledge & skill are all you need

Refresher courses to keep you alert

Helping to keep you from being hurt

Protective clothing & helmets - a must

For there’s always a chance you’ll hit the dust

First time riders out testing their skills

Or returned older riders looking for thrills

Statistics are proving more needs to be done

So every biker comes home from a run

Ride to conditions whatever the speed

Look out for each other - the Biker’s Creed

Expect the unexpected & stay aware

The road is there for us all to share

It doesn’t matter your bike’s model or make What’s more important is the care that you take Regular maintenance so nothing is missed

Don’t let minor issues be dismissed

Your ride might be your daily commute

It might be your weekend “go to” pursuit

It might be your Tourer with panniers full They all seem to have that magic pull

Everyone wants to enjoy & have fun

But road safety is priority number one

If that means slow down or stop for a while

It could be you’ll make it home with a smile

Take extra care if you ride in a pack

You really need eyes both front & back

You too can be a Road Safety Hero

Just follow the tips from “Ride to Zero”

Ushuaia Turn

By Duncan Bennett Member #4171

Chile & Argentina – still

We left Chargentina at the end of Day 11 in El Chalten. Things had mainly gone right so far, but the big exception was Cindy’s leaking drive shaft oil seal after her crash in the gravel coming out from Estancia Angostura. These seals often leak, but calling this a leak was a bit like calling Niagara Falls a drip. Hence I didn’t really believe it could be the seal, they don’t normally fail completely, but it was coming from behind the drive sprocket so there weren’t many other options. Day 12 would reveal all.

Glacier about 70km away. Not quite up there with Pucon, but certainly in the tourist ball-park.

Day 12 was a quick blast 2-up down the road with a raging tailwind heading east, a turn south including a stop to take a photo of a giant metal fish – reason for being uncertain, and then another stop for grey fox viewing, and a struggle up the road heading west into a raging headwind. Cindy was on the back due to the Tigresa still resting injured on the back of the support vehicle, with parking in the correct orientation apropos of screaming wind direction the only challenge. Sounding a bit like it should be in Saudi Arabia, El Calafate is a bigger town and way bigger tourist draw than El Chalten mainly because of the huge Perito Moreno

Swinging into the Quixote hotel in El Calafate, the priorities were distilled into an all-you-caneat lunch, get to a laundromat, and await word from Ride Leader JC that he had the oil seal. The first two completed without significant incident, apart from some of the laundry items being clean right up to the serving of lamb off the spit at lunch, we got the call from JC that he had the seal. Slight problem though, although the inner and outer dimensions were correct, the seal was 10mm thick rather than the Triumph preferred 5mm. Damn, might be too thick, but when the

The Ushuaia Turn

Giant metal fish without much explanation

Grey fox and sand-storm Tiger

2023 south amEriCa part 2

alternative was waiting until Ushuaia we’d give anything a go. So round to a mechanic’s place out in the El Calafate wind-blasted ‘burbs to give it a go. First, take the sprocket off, the mechanic had the right socket. As soon as the sprocket was pulled off the shaft two very round small pebbles dropped out, and the reason for the oil leak was revealed to the world. When Cindy had crashed onto the left side, the bike was still running and the chain dragged a whole lot of gravel into the sprocket guard, and unfortunately into the tight space between the engine and the sprocket. Two naughty pebbles had been running around on the oil seal, causing it to fail after a few kilometres.

The sweet smell of oily victory hangs in the air 13 is normally considered unlucky; not in the case of our Day 13 with Cindy’s fortunes restored and she also had by far the cleanest motorcycle. Naturally the day was all about the Perito Moreno glacier, so after a walk around town with the usual following of publicly owned dogs, and rugged up against the expected cold, off we went. A pleasant ride across the usual Patagonia barren landscape, we were through the park entrance gate and into the concrete winding road along the edge of Lago Argentino. This glacier grows and has apparently often reached the opposite shore requiring blasting to let the water flow out of the lake.

Oil seal racetrack

Let’s give the new fat seal a go then, and to general surprise after a test run it appeared to do exactly what a seal should do; seal. Even a reasonable gap between the seal and the sprocket so no risk of it being grabbed. Still oil dripping from everywhere though, suspected to be just the oil which was coating most of the bike. After hugging the mechanic (Cindy took on that responsibility) a trip to the washing facility had the Tigresa spotless-ish and definitely not leaking any oil at all. Success. Cindy was back in the game. The vino and the cervasas tasted extra good that night.

Perito Moreno, a rare growing glacier

Back to El Calafate, pick up laundry, and off to town to exchange more USD for pesos and sample beers and wines with the result. Differences with Australia in pubs are notable –all table service and many places have no paper menus, so reliance on the local network and pub Wifi to get the virtual menu is high. Usually the phone is handed over to a member of

staff, who can’t get it to work and so give you their personal phone to scroll down the menu and punch out a few Snapchats. Day Cat Horsey, Spanish for 14 was almost a direction repeat of Day 12; east then south then west but now back into Chile and the famous Torres del Paine National Park. The easting was okay from a wind direction perspective, but cold didn’t adequately describe it, bloody freezing and the ice warning went off on the bike. Weren’t too worried about ice on the road, just on the fingers.

with guanacos they are on par with kangaroos.

Patagonia landscape from the highest and coldest

lookout

Whilst on the subject of Patagonian fauna, which we weren’t but are now, we’d been told that we’d see guanacos. Everyone was excited about this and assumed if they just caught a glimpse of one in the far distance, they’d be lucky. The inevitable happens – the first guanaco brings on a wild frenzy of trying to get a photo, only for it to run away and all hopes are dashed. Then 50m up the road there is another, wow we are lucky. Another 100m and a big mob are standing looking bored just off the road. Are we the luckiest people to travel to Patagonia since Charles Darwin or what? Then one runs across in front causing some mild emergency braking. Then every 100m or so groups of four or five are standing around just off the road, then nothing for a kilometre or so and one forgets about them, and suddenly one is standing like a statue well camouflaged and just off the road, praise Zeus I’m glad that didn’t go for it. Then for the rest of Patagonia and about 50 near collisions

The not-even-close-to rare or endangered guanaco

Down to the turn-off and over the border was fairly easy, just a quick stop at an easily accessible wind sign in one of the worst places for it. Apart from our 80kmh winds heading to Perito Moreno we’d had it pretty easy so far, and today was quite balmy. Surely when we got into the park it must improve.

Palm trees have all been blown away

Not really. It was variable dirt roads in the park, but a bit better than earlier experience so no major dramas, and the scenery was frankly epic. Cindy and I were bringing up the rear, and noticed that everyone had stopped in a picturesque spot at a nice time for a rest and photos. Neither of us noticed there were no palm trees, and the wind coming down off the

2023 south amEriCa part 2

appropriately named Towers of Paine was just nasty. On a stopped motorcycle, one normally has a foot down, but even with said foot on the leeward side there is not enough strength to hold the bike up if a big gust hits it. Scott and Gina went down, that was more than enough for us and we took off again, battling a few gnarly bits until pulling thankfully into the Pampa Lodge. A few beers and off we went for a nice dinner in a very rural rustic setting. Our accommodation had some of the most spectacular views we’ve ever had out the bedroom window.

Some of the better scenery we’ve ever ridden into

would see us back about 1pm with everyone doing the nags at 2pm. Trouble started from the get-go, at 9am the roads were closed in the park due to +100kmh winds. We received the message at 9:30am, the roads were open but the guide was no longer available. Never mind, we’ll do it ourselves. Off we went, backtracking at speed and dodging a grader to where Scott and Gina had fallen over, and up toward the Towers of Paine. Parking the bikes carefully to ensure they were head-on to the wind, off we went. A nice waterfall viewing platform gave us a taste of the wind situation; it ranged from dead calm to insane within moments. We decided to push on and perhaps summit something, but after 3km we nearly ran out of track just under the peaks. Back at speed to the bikes and then even more speed to the accommodation, with gusting winds and slow moving buses making it more challenging. We made it back in time for the horse riding, unfortunately. Horse riding always seems like a fun thing to do, but one should note the huge drop-off in pony club enrolments since motorcycles were invented, and recognise this is because horses you’ve only just met are rarely compliant or comfortable. Mounted up, the peculiarities of one’s beast must be learned, usually the hard way. Cindy’s was a magnificent and quiet yet dignified beast. Back in 2002. Now it was an aged slow walking struggler which set the horse convoy pace from the rear. Mine was totally fixated on its own needs and spent the entire 3 hour stroll finding things to eat and drink, but it did win the race back before my legs had totally stopped working due to the highly cramping stirrups.

Room window views not bad

We had a free day the next Day 15, but two activities were on offer – a walking tour up in the park and a 3 hour horse riding tour. As the walking tour involved riding around 30km on the dirt roads to get to where we would meet the guide, only 4 bikes were up for it. A 9am start

What an aged care resident horse looks like

Day 16 plan was the Pacific port of Puerto Natales via about 50km of variable dirt road completed without dramas. A refuel and we decided to get a coffee, before becoming totally lost in the ‘burbs and doing some of the more challenging gravel of the trip just getting back onto the highway.

2023 south amEriCa part 2

while brushing up on a bit of Magellan history. Strangely there wasn’t an office to buy a ticket, rumour was that it was part of the national highway so crossing was free.

Typical Estancia bus shelter

Pressing on, we stopped for a quick lunch at the Hotel Rubens and travelled at our own pace across the plains and valleys of southern Patagonia before reaching the Atlantic along the Strait of Magellan.

The ferry arrived, we rode on, and then went up on deck for the crossing. With the end in sight, news came that we actually needed to buy a ticket and so we joined a queue. David got to the window to hand over his 8300 pesos and the ticket printer broke down. There was no back-up plan such as another printer or just letting the few remaining punters get a freebie, the printer just needed to be fixed or no-one was getting off. Luckily it was fixed as the ramp was lowered, and the late leavers had to dodge between moving vehicles to get back to theirs. No-one was inspecting tickets so the whole thing had been a bit of a shambles, but we’d successfully reached the Land of Fuego. A bit of an open fuego and a hot chocolate would have been appreciated about then, the wind was getting strong and it wasn’t exactly tropical.

Looking worried, but this wasn’t the real ferry

A bit further and we reached the end of the South American mainland at the Punta Delgada ferry terminal. We were a bit early so wandered about, nothing was open and it mainly became about sheltering from the sun and the wind that had been off-shore here for 10,000 straight days

Lined up and ready to board

A final 42km into Cerro Sombrero, which means Hat Hill, and pointing into the wind saw us fuelled up and into the accommodation with various other adventure motorcycling parties. Hat Hill is not a thriving metropolis, so the dinner was in-house and frankly magnificent. In a strange twist, the Hosteria Tunkelen accommodation in Hat Hill is the most expensive of the trip, a good example of supply (very little) and demand (lots). Up not too early for Day 17, the ice was attacked using the heated seat, before heading

2023 south amEriCa part 2

to the final border crossing back into Argentina. Successfully done, we pushed on in the rather vicious biting cold to reach the top of the pass, and then down into the big one; Ushuaia.

Day 18 was a milestone day. As we’ve ridden to Deadhorse in Alaska, the furthest north one can get by road, it was a good feeling to ride to the southern end of the road a bit west and south of Ushuaia. It took two attempts, during the first we were told that foreign motorcycles were no longer allowed, but National Park officials were argued by JC into letting 4 in at 10am and then the remainder at 12 noon. We were in the back half so went back to town to buy some shoe glue for a damaged boot sole – Bunnings self-service hardware doesn’t exist in Argentina but armed with “pegamento para zapatos?” and showing the hardware customer service technician the boot in question, some pegamento was bought. A stop with the bikes at our Triumph shop haunt to show the staff what modern Triumphs look like earned us a couple of stickers, then back out to the fin del road National Park for the second attempt, this one successful.

Triumphant at the Ushuaia entry sign

Lots of photos at the entrance gate, then to the hotel which was a few blocks up from the very touristy main street, and by up I mean up, the side of the hill running down to the waterfront is very steep. We had two nights in Ushuaia, so after a wander about the town and a celebratory beverage, we did some more wandering up into the cruise passenger-riddled tourist strip to purchase a few souvenirs and get some photos near the original Fin Del Mundo sign.

We last saw this sign in 2015 while on an Antarctic cruise

Fin Del Riding South

Back into town, we made another stop at the

new Ushuaia sign which attracts tourists like a dead horse attracts blowies. Cindy did the usual and parked highly illegally, and the pressure was on to clear the crowds before someone in authority turned up.

reversal of Day 17.

Ushuaia is full of signs, this is the new one

A bit of dinner and a proper Pisco Sour at the Irish Pub and the momentous day was done. Only north from there didn’t start terribly well on Day 19, it was raining and bloody cold. Everything that could be jammed under suits, helmets, and gloves was jammed. It started off miserable but by the time we hit the snow line up at the pass it felt like fin del los dedos, or end of the fingers. 1°C in the rain isn’t much fun.

Lined up for yet another border crossing

Warmed and lunched on the Argentinian side, we headed west which was OK. Then the road turns due north for about 70km, and this was not OK. We’d thought the 80kmh wind in Patagonia up around Rio Mayo was bad, but that was a mild breeze compared with the 9095kmh gusting crosswinds we experienced on this section, which are truly terrifying. Travelling at 80kmh near the middle of the road, a vicious gust pushed me halfway across the lane, then another vicious gust pushed me to the edge; for a second I was riding at about 30° lean along the painted line on the edge which drops off into loose gravel, praying that there wouldn’t be another gust. Then luckily a truck went past me and I was sucked back into the middle of the lane. There is nothing that can be done but to just hang on and press on, stopping is out of the question. Luckily it had calmed a little by the time we got into Hat Hill, and it was a very happy group that arrived back into the same hotel. The winds were so strong that the ferry had been closed, and stories abounded of people waiting for it to re-open while cowering behind any solid object – a parked truck was actually blown over.

Looks better than we remember it

The stop at Tolhuin could not have come earlier, and at least the rain eased off a little afterward. We pushed on to the South Atlantic proper at Rio Grande for a refuel, and then off to the quick border crossing back into Chile, a complete

2023 south amEriCa part 2

We had successfully made the U (Ushuaia) Turn and heading north…stay tuned for the next instalment!

Still nippy

Day 20 was a transition from west to east, for a long time now we would be on the Atlantic coast. Up and using a card to scrape ice off the seat, we headed to the ferry, which had re-started operation at around midnight. Neatly queued and trying to find a 34mm socket to adjust JC’s 850GS chain amongst the plethora of trucks, we watched the ferry drive past to a different ramp, causing a minor panic as we chased it down the coast. The payment system was understood now so no dramas getting off at the other end, and heading to the east at the T-junction the 40-odd km to the border with Argentina, our 4th crossing

Finding the Way

Members

enjoying Maryvale Pub on a Club Lunch Ride

By Life Member Tony Malone

In 2014 I purchased a R1200RT; the new liquid cooled ones with a wet clutch. She looked wonderful, Callista Grey metallic matte, and the features were simply out of this world. One of those was the Navigator V, and while (sometimes) I am very stuck in tradition one often needs to come to grips with technological advances; pushrod days are over. And so, when I was going somewhere that I was not familiar with I would enter the address into the Navigator, and it would tell me how to go. Amazing!

Now the RT might have felt a bit offended when I purchased one of those R1250RT Option 719 things (hand pinstripes etc.) and sitting under the house for around a year while I was out enjoying 100KW and semi-active suspension I think that she worked ways of getting back at me. I should have taken her out on the town from time to time, but never really got around to it. She sullenly plotted revenge.

Time moved on, and due to disappointments in some respects (no-one wanted to buy my 1200) I sold the R1250RT. One of the consolations behind this was that I had (I thought) a perfectly good RT, which would do the job while waiting for the new arrival. After apologising and asking for forgiveness I fired her up again. Sadly, we were not reconciled as I had hoped! The Navigator started to play up.

It started out with little irritations, not responding when I pushed the icons and keypad to enter destinations. It would then change the map view all by itself, and sometimes that was difficult to override as the screen would not respond to my pressing on the icons etc. Sometimes it worked fine, but then would fail completely. Simply turning it on an off (the rebooting trick) did not work.

She was cracking a fit !

Within the Club I sought some advice, and one

thing suggested was to update the device. I had not done this as thought it would cost money. Exploring the Garmin site proved that it did not. I think it updated to version 3.5, and while this might have caused some small changes in behaviour the overall problem remained. I then started to think of other ways to try to sort it.

One of the experiences was that it seemed to work better in cooler weather. I left it in the freezer one night, and it seemed to work okay the next ride. Thinking that the problems had been solved, I soon realised that I was deceiving myself. The issues returned. The problem was within the device’s heart.

Taking more advice, Paul Hughes suggested that I needed to recalibrate the screen. (If you want to know what I mean here have a look at the web. There are a number of videos which will show you how to do it; remove the device, power off, power on, press into the top left corner of the screen and press the buttons that will appear on the screen after reboot). The problem was that as it was not responding to touch, and so pressing the top left corner did nothing other than to simply allow the device to restart.

Arriving home the other day and turning the machine off, the Navigator gave the usual advice that it was turning off in 30 seconds, and if I wanted to do that now to press the cancel button. This I did, and out of the ordinary it did. Then realising that it was in one of those rare moments of responding to touch I tried the recalibration process. It worked! While turning itself on there were 3 words which kept scrolling down the screen, and lo and behold, what I had tried so long to achieve happened, the button

which I needed to press appeared. I pushed and held this, and nothing happened. I started the process again, and the button appeared. I quickly pressed (not held) the screen. Another appeared in a different quarter. This went on for 20 or 30 occasions, and I wondered if this was another fruitless exercise.

And then it happened! The device told me that the screen was recalibrated, we were friends again and everything seemed to work as it had. I could even input address destinations. Wondering if the forgiveness was complete I took her for the mid-week ride yesterday, and the Navigator V worked just fine. Problem solved.

What I intend to do now is use the 10K services as a reminder, and each time that comes around to recalibrate the device (the fact it had worked for about 6 years and 90,000 kilometres without fail before 2020 deceived me into thinking it would last forever). This should avoid the catch 22 situation of the touch screen failing, which can only be resolved with the touch screen accepting your request to recalibrate. As in life, pushing with greater pressure did not help.

Modern technology is a great thing. However, it seems that we need to develop ways to best deal with it so that it can continue to assist us. Because if your Navigator is not working, you will find yourself lost as I did on some occasions contemplating what it is like when

I amAlone

100 Year Dinner Celebration - Thurs 21st September

Display of Bikes - Sat 23rd September

Thebike display will be run by our club at the central location of Reddacliff Place in Brisbane. We are looking for suitable bikes from all years and all models to display at this special event to celebrate this enormous achievement of the BMW brand that we all love to ride.

Do you have a bike that is suitable? If it is an older BMW (60’s or earlier) and it is completely assembled, presentable, registered or not, we want to hear from you.

If your BMW bike is from the ‘70’s up to latest models and is in good visual condition, special or a rare model, we want to hear from you as well.

We have a target of one hundred bikes, to display an example of as many different models as possible. A selection process will be undertaken from the applications and consideration will given to bikes that fit the above criteria as well as bikes with high kilometres or extraordinary travel achievements.

To nominate your bike please register at: Display Registration

• What Model it is.

• Year of Manufacture.

• Total Km’s Travelled.

• Longest Journey Travelled.

• A Photo.

We want one of every BMW! But do we want this R100R Bobber? Could cook a nice lunch under the tank though...

BMW started production of the BMW R 32 in Munich in 1923. That is definitely worth celebrating!

To see the Promotional Video for the the events celebrating click on the Link below:

https://vimeo.com/796122577

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of BMW Motorcycles the BMWMCQ are hosting a dinner event on Thursday 21st September This will be the warm-up to the Display of Bikes on Saturday 23rd September!

Date: Thursday 21st September 2023

Time: 6:30pm – although there is a lovely bar area if you arrive earlier for a drink

Cost: $60 per person for a sit down dinner with share table style dining

Venue: Royal QLD Yacht Squadron, 578 Royal Esplanade Manly QLD 4179

Nearby accommodation:

Manly Hotel (pub style) 54 Cambridge St, Manly (07) 3249 5999

Manly Marina Cove Motel (next to Yacht Club) 578a Royal Esplanade Manly (07) 3348 1000 Or check out AirBnB listings in the area.

BOOKINGS LINK: LINK TO DINNER RESERVATION

Concours – Saturday 23rd September 2023

This event will be run by the BMWMCQ at the central location of Reddacliff Place in Brisbane, in the CBD.

We are looking for suitable bikes from all years and all models to display at this special event to celebrate this enormous achievement of the BMW brand that we all love to ride.

Do you have a bike that is suitable? If it is an older BMW (60’s or earlier) and it is completely assembled, presentable, registered or not, we want to hear from you.

If your BMW bike is from the ‘70’s up to latest models and is in good visual condition, special or a rare model, we want to hear from you as well.

We have a target of one hundred bikes, to display an example of as many different models as possible. A selection process will be undertaken from the applications and consideration will be given to bikes that fit the above criteria as well as bikes with high kilometres or extraordinary travel achievements.

If your interested in applying to show your bike please use this link to the application form: Link: CLICK HERE

See the Video for the full celebration plans

https://vimeo.com/796122577

NEW ZEALAND - THE FINAL CHAPTER

BY TONY GRAY MEMBER # 3905

Whenwe last left you we had ridden approx 4,000km around NZ’s beautiful South island and were contemplating jumping on a ferry to cross to the North Island. There was the small matter of a Tropical Cyclone bearing down on the North Island to consider but what is a bike holiday without a bit of adventure. To put this story into context it needs an understanding of how the Inter Island Ferry Services function on the Cook Strait.

There is the Nationally owned Interislander Service operated by NZRail and the privately owned and operated Bluebridge Service. Each operator has three vehicle/passenger ferries that regularly perform the 3.5 hour crossing between the Ports of Wellington and Picton. These services carry freight, livestock, buses, trucks, cars and motorcycles as well as walk up passengers. The country cannot operate without these services. We had bookings on Interislander heading North on 11 Feb and returning South on 28 Feb in order to have our bike back to Christchurch on 3 March for its return passage home. Our first passage gave an insight of what lay ahead - late notice that our ferry was delayed so rather than having an afternoon to look around Wellington we arrived late at night.

We were keeping a close watch on the cyclone’s path and had decided to avoid the east coast and keep to the centre or west coast but hey this was NZ with Auckland at 36 degrees South so not Tropical North Qld. Hardly severe cyclone territory. We ventured north on Hwy 1 across the infamous Desert Road (always wet & cold for us) then took shelter in a cabin at a fairly remote park on the southern edge of Lake Taupo as Cyclone Gabrielle started to vent its fury on NZ.

We sat out a day as the wind bent and broke trees around us, power & internet services were down but we were safe and had enough food to keep us sustained. The park operators generously put on a sausage sizzle for their clientele on their gas BBQ. Reports we were getting were sketchy but the coast east & south of Auckland around the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty & Hawke Bay had taken a severe battering over several days. Access to the impacted areas was almost impossible and recovery efforts slow to be implemented. A National State of Emergency was declared on 14 February. We got the distinct impression that the country was in a state of shock and that they had been ill prepared for such an event. This was somewhat surprising given they have had to deal with major earthquakes on a regular basis. The final tally accounted for the loss of eleven lives and a damages bill estimated at $13.5 Billion NZD making it the costliest tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere (source:wikipedia).

The winds where we stayed were gusting to 125kph which was too much for many of the pine forests. We were unable to leave until the afternoon of the 13th after a path out had been cleared. We crossed many areas with trees and power lines down as we tracked west to Hamilton.

The transformation was stunning - apart from some fallen trees it was business as usual. A mere 2 hours away there was total devastation. It reminded us of Brisbane in the floods - if you chose not to venture into an impacted area then you could stay in your own little protected bubble impervious to what had happened to your neighbour. This was our first visit to Hamilton and it is quite an impressive City sited on the Waikato River with Hamilton Lake and the very beautiful Hamilton Gardens with themed Gardens - our favorite was the Surrealist Garden.

We had intended heading north to the Bay of Islands and on to the most northerly road accessible point of NZ at Cape Reinga. Unfortunately land slips and fallen trees had the roads north of Auckland closed. Our plans became very much a work in progress being dictated by road closures. We turned south to New Plymouth where Mother Nature had something else in store for us.

We had walked across to the main street from our Motel for a relaxed Thai dinner on a balmy evening with a late twilight. We were seated beside a timber framed plate glass window when the frame & glass started to groan and creak under the weight of some invisible force. Next moment our chairs started to shake and we came to realize that we were experiencing our first earthquake. The whole thing settled within about 30 seconds and then quick as a flash our host came bounding out of the kitchen clutching his smart phone to announce to the patrons that we had just sat through a 6.1 (later ungraded to 6.3) magnitude earthquake. It appears that a lot of New Zealanders have the GeoNet app on their phone. The quake was off shore and quite deep so didn’t cause any notifiable damage. Just to put this into perspective, in preparing this story I looked up the NZ GeoNet site and it shows the last 100 earthquakes to be recorded - those 100 quakes had taken place over the previous 4 weeks - average 25/week. We now hoped that with a trifecta complete - Heatwave, Cyclone, Earthquake - Mother nature would allow us to peacefully continue on our travels.

New Plymouth is another of NZs comfortably sized towns around 50,000 population, big enough to have good amenities but small enough to be relaxed and within an easy walk to explore. It also boasts some impressive Architecture and street art.

It’s main feature however is its proximity to Mt Taranaki. We were yet to see the summit of this impressive mountain as it is often shrouded in cloud. Although we did grab glimpses the clear summit image still managed to elude us. We had ridden around the back of the mountain and up to Dawson Falls Lookout at just over 900 metres and as far as you can ride. Back down to Stratford and the start of the Forgotten World Highway or otherwise known as State Hwy 43. This had been closed for a couple of days and just reopened.

State Hwy 43 is touted as ‘New Zealand’s oldest heritage trail, the Forgotten World Highway is remote, mysterious and scenic’. From a motorcyclists perspective it is a great ride with a good mix of tight & twisting tar and some good gravel with a highlight being the Republic of Whangamomona. Yes, this area declared itself a Republic in 1989 and has boasted among its Presidents a goat, a sheep and a dog.

It has an impressive old pub and when we arrived it was lunchtime and there just happened to be a pair of airheads parked out front - an R90 & R65. Opportune time to stop for a pie and a chat. Graham & John aka GG & The Killa, were members of the Velocette Owners Club and the BMWs both bore NZ plates but the boys had distinctly Aussie accents. In another case of ‘it’s a small world’ it turned out they were good friends of one of my Melbourne based riding buddies (also a Velo & BMW man) and were in NZ for a Velo gathering. They had borrowed the Beemers from a local for the ride up to the Whanga Pub. Unfortunately the R90 had a few electrical problems and wouldn’t restart so some roadside head scratching required.

We stopped the night in Taumarunui after a thoroughly enjoyable day. On the ride out along State Hwy 41 we rode up to the Waihuti Lookout and were greeted with stunning views across the Tongariro National Park with the peaks of Mounts Tongariro & Ruapehu out-

n Z - north island

The weather was superb so we planned our 400+km return trip to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse. It was a brilliant ride with good roads & scenery of 90 mile beach and its famous sand dunes, very light traffic and excellent weathernothing could spoil that?

standing on this clear day.

Next stop was Rotorua as we awaited news on the reopening of the roads further north. Rotorua is famous for its Maori culture and sulphur fumes. It has earned a less desirable reputation in more recent times wherein a lot of Motel rooms have been booked out by the Government for use as emergency housing. The evidence of this is clear as you move around town so need to be careful to make sure your steed is safe if staying overnight.

Or could it? It was late afternoon and we were cruising home with about 50km left in the day’s journey. We stopped at a major bridge construction site on the Kaeo River and turned off the engine while waiting 5+ minutes for a

We heard from friends Grahame & Gloria on their Triumph that they had been able to get through to the Bay of Islands with detours so northward bound we went. Pictures we saw of what remained of State Hwy 1 in the Brynderwyn Hills were quite frightening - the land slips had just swallowed the road so a long cleanup and rebuild lay ahead. We managed to get through OK and enjoyed our first visit to the Bay of Islands.

green light. Fired up the bike when we got a Green and had only moved a few metres when our world went black - yes the bike was as dead as a Dodo. Off on a safe piece of ground I removed the seat to find the battery had dead shorted through the rider seat support bar. This had generated a lot of heat even melting the nylon straps of the tank bag. The battery was toast. How the bar came into contact with the battery terminals remains a mystery.

When travelling solo as Jane & I prefer to do we need to have some strategy to deal with such eventualities. I was running the options through my brain when Brent pulled up in his

coast to Whangarei.

We caught up with Ian at his beautiful bayside home at One Tree Point, south of Whangarei, but declined the kind offer to stay the night.

We wanted to avoid the notoriously bad Auckland traffic the next morning but with hindsight we should have stayed. A word here about accommodation on the North Island. We had pret-

4x4 and offered his help by way of jumper cables. The battery was dead so this was not an option. Brent lived in the small village of Kaeo not far away and offered a spare battery he had recently removed from his Kawasaki cruiser. He took off home and promptly returned with the much smaller battery but it did the trick and the Gray Ghost was mobile again. Brent refused any payment for the battery or his assistance, just happy to help a fellow biker in need. What a top bloke. The small Kawasaki battery was not going to meet the ongoing demands of the GS so I contacted Chris, my counterpart in the BMWMC of NZ and he put me in touch with Ian, their area rep in Northland. Ian directed me to an auto electrician in Whangarei about 70km south where I picked up a new battery the next morning. The only disappointment was that we couldn’t risk turning the bike on & off with the smaller battery so made a B line for Whangarei. We thus missed our planned Ferry Crossing to Russell, the first capital of NZ, then around the

ty much pre-booked the South Island accommodation as February is their peak tourist month. We were ‘winging it’ on the North Island as the school holidays had finished and the North does not get the tourist numbers that swarm over the South Island. Unfortunately there were several compounding factors that reduced the stock of tourist accommodation. The take up of spaces for emergency housing as experienced in Rotorua, the shortage of hospitality staff that forced some places to close or have limited access, the cyclone that forced a lot of people out of their homes or they were unable to return due to access road closures and finally the ferry services that were in complete disarray stranding people anywhere within a days travel of the ferry ports.

We passed to the west of Auckland and pulled into the reasonably sized town of Tuakau. In the sparse carpark of the Hotel/Motel we were contemplating what beer would be best with dinner. Notice on the Motel said staff had gone home so into the pub. No we can’t help you. Surely there is a phone number - No. Any other places in town you can recommend? - No. Thus begun a seemingly futile phone search for a bed for the night, Jane reading out phone numbers and me calling with the same response, NO. The light

had disappeared from the day, I had reinstalled my clear visor and we were contemplating a night in a bus shelter - then a glimmer of hope! Yes, we have one room left but it’s a twin, we’ll take it. Muffled female voice from the background, no the wife says it hasn’t been made up. I don’t care we will still take it, we are Australian so no worries. How far away are you - oh about half an hour I said with absolutely no idea where this Motel was. OK we will stay open and I will tidy up the room for you. OK Jane where was this placeNgaruawahia and 47 minutes away according to Dr Google. Now I do not want to tell any porkies or get myself in trouble with the NZ constabulary but the Grey Ghost pulled into the River Bed Motel with engine sizzling just under 40 minutes later. Our unshaven new best friend welcomed us making some light comment about thinking we were coming from Australia, handed us the key and turned out the lights as he was a shift worker and was due back to the grind at 6am.The less pressing matter of dinner then raised its head, it was ticking towards 9pm so we dropped our gear and hit the supermarket as the doors were being closed. Hardly a cordon bleu meal but kept the worms at bay and we chalked up another mark on the experience belt - always better in the retelling than experiencing.

We had bought forward our return ferry to the South Island as there was so much of the beautiful east coast that we had to avoid because of the cyclone and we were getting more than a little worried by the horror news on the Inter Island Ferry services. We had re-booked from 28 Feb to Saturday 25 Feb with Interislander. Of their three ferries one had broken down and was out of service, a second one had broken down at sea and left 800 passengers floating in the strait for 11 hours so it had been reduced to freight only until they were satisfied it was reliable. Bluebridge had, for reasons known only to them, sent one of their ferries to Sydney for dry-dock routine maintenance, during peak tourist season! Their second ferry then broke down leaving them also with one operational ferry. To further compound the problems the cyclone had forced the cancellation of services for a day with the huge seas and a lot of their operational staff were impacted by the cy-

clone and couldn’t or wouldn’t return to work. All of that lay ahead of us!

Ian from the BMW Club had pointed us in the direction of some great riding roads and a very special Farm Stay outside of Mangaweka which was a trip highlight and certainly compensated for the problems encountered earlier. The Manawatu Scenic Route along the valley of the Mangawharariki River to the farmstay and then the road out to the east on the Rangiwahia Road was spectacular and somewhere only the locals know & use. We did have to dodge a lot of landslip debris along the valley but that was a small price to pay.

We made our way back south where we caught up with Chris the President of the BMWMC of NZ who was also a wonderful host and very welcoming. We had been invited to stay with

Jane & Grant our Moto Guzzi riding friends who we met on the South Island. Their place at Upper Hutt was an ideal location to get to our ferry in Wellington. I reasoned that we could ride as far away from Picton as necessary to avoid the accommodation calamity caused by the ferry disruptions. All was going well until we received an SMS message that our ferry was now due to leave at 5pm. Assuming it left on time we would be getting offloaded sometime between 8.30 & 9pm. OK hit the phones and internet for somewhere to stay. The reports we had read had not been exaggerated - there was absolutely nothing to be had within a few hours of Picton. It looked like we were going to stay in the ferry offices; then a dim light bulb went off

in my brain while studying the map. There was a truckers stop south of Blenheim and about 35km from the Ferry Terminal, and they sometimes have accommodation for truck drivers.

Maree politely answered my phone query with a YES, she had something available for that night - a shipping container! I immediately accepted and gave her a metaphorical hug down the phone line. A little further into the

As it transpired the ferry left over an hour late, we arrived very late into Picton and of course it was raining. We did find our container and were really not surprised to find four other motorbikes with their riders staying in the oth-

conversation I mentioned that my wife will be most pleased to not be sleeping under the stars - oh there are two of you, this is only a single! Doesn’t matter, after 44 years of married life I think we can handle that. OK I will turn a blind eye. Thanks Maree. Maree then proceeded to give me directions as to how to find our shipping container as we would not be arriving before they closed for the night. This involved 2 roundabouts, a yard full of Kenworths, a key under a mat, access through 2 kitchens, left at the caravans via a truck office et el. Ah what if I get lost - oh OK here is my personal mobile number if you have any trouble - what a treasure. I have been in multi star hotels in my past work life where the staff could take lessons from Maree.

er containers. The shipping container was self contained and really very comfortable. Next morning, as directed, we headed to the truckers cafe where we met the tattooed Maree who was cooking up breakfasts. A delightful lady and very generous with the bacon. The transition back to the South Island was like a veil had been lifted as we were now assured of getting the Grey Ghost back to Christchurch. The weather returned to perfect and all was good with the world. We explored the Marlborough wine country and the beautiful Lake Rotoiti and crossed back to the west coast with the few extra days we now had available.

We explored the coast up to Karamea north of Westport which was all new to us but excellent riding save for the loose gravel on the multiple sections of road repair. The former coal mining town of Denniston on the hills behind the coast

is now a popular tourist destination. There is much to see with information boards and restored mining artifacts providing a very interesting sidelight from the main coast road. The twisting road alone makes this a worthwhile diversion for the adventurous motorcyclist. We crossed the Southern Alps again, this time via the brilliant roads of Arthur’s Pass. The east coast road is a brilliant ride and we managed to catch up with our Triumph riding friends Grahame & Gloria at Kaikoura for our last days together riding back to Christchurch comparing notes on what had been a fabulous six weeks. Our distances were similar above 9,000kms and both bikes had performed faultlessly apart from our battery problem. A thorough clean, dinner with Dave Milligan of Get Routed before we bade farewell to the bikes and flew home via Wellington. Our NZ cousins are a friendly bunch and their roads and scenery are spectacular. Think of Tasmania on steroids. We will get back there again as its really not too far away.

Introducing……Club Mileage Awards

Have you clocked up 100,000km, 200,000km or more on one bike?

To celebrate the epic achievements of these milestones, the Club will be issuing Mileage Award Medallions and Certificates to those who qualify. It can be for any make and model of bike that has reached these impressive kilometres in your ownership, and must still be in your ownership.

To nominate your bike, email our Secretary, Geoff Hodge on secretary@bmwmcq.org.au with:

• Photo of the bike or you with bike - this photo will feature on your certificate so a good quality photo will enhance the certificate

• Where and when purchased and mileage at time of purchase

• Photo of the odometer to show the kilometres.

Presentations have started at the monthly meetings – so get your details in!

Christopher Robertson’s BMW R100RS with 149,940 km. He bought the bike in October 1995 from a Melbourne Dealer

BMWMCQ TRAINING COURSE SUBSIDY

Your club encourages all members to continue to improve as a rider and offers a financial incentive to foster greater uptake in rider training. A broad interpretation of training has been adopted to include First Aid Training and Traffic Accident site safety management. The intention of the subsidy scheme is to not only improve the road craft of individual members but also to enhance the safety and enjoyment of club runs and events for all participating members.

These are the simple rules to qualify for a subsidy:

1. Every financial member is eligible.

2. Subsidy is limited to one in three years for each member eg subsidy February 2022 re-eligible February 2025.

3. Subsidy provided in the form of a $50 reimbursement after course has been completed and invoice presented to the Treasurer.

4. The applicant must present details and receive approval for the intended training course from the Club Secretary prior to the course being undertaken.

There you have it, an incentive to help to make you a better and safer rider. If you undertake a course please let us know your thoughts on the success of the course, positive or negative.

Tony Gray - President BMWMCQ

AN EXTRACT FROM THE JOURNAL NEARLY 30 YEARS AGO. NOTE THE STATISTICS REPORT AUTHOR. EXTRACT COURTESY OF GARY BENNETT.

MAINTENANCE TIP - TUNING TIPS

By Tony Gray, Member #3905

Oneof the beauties of the much loved series of ‘airhead’ BMW Motorcycles is their simplicity. They are a very easy motorcycle to service and maintain and will return to their respectful owner years of reliable service. Many of these bikes are approaching (or have reached) 50 years of age and are still being used as daily rides, a true testament to their solid design and construction.

Keeping one of these bikes ‘in tune’ is relatively straightforward but does require much more frequent attention then their modern cousins without cable clutch & brake operation, points ignition and carburetors. Getting the carburetors synchronized requires a deft touch and a tuners ear but there is a simple device that makes the operation easier. I first saw one of these devices on a Youtube video - they were available from a supplier in North America. Following the old Chinese proverb of ‘anything you can do, I can copy’ I made my own for just a few cents. All you need is a couple of 4mm dia x 65mm steel bolts (standard pitch is 0.7mm) and 4 spark plug threaded caps. Cut the heads off the bolts then run two of the plug caps onto the bolt leaving enough exposed thread so it can still be screwed onto a spark plug. A drop of superglue to join the caps together and lock onto the threaded bolt and you are done. You now have two spark plug cap extensions.

When tuning the carbs you remove the plug cap, thread the extension to the spark plug, reinsert the plug cap and run the engine as per normal. With the spark plug extension now exposed you can use a long screwdriver to earth one spark plug and adjust the carburetor on the one active cylinder. Reverse the process to adjust the other cylinder. The engine will run perfectly on one cylinder.

Something Mid-week

Oflate I have been experiencing a few problems related to my shoulders. This has caused interference with my current occupation of driving buses, and so being unable to work I have some free time. One of the things that I have generally been unable to take part in are the mid-week rides, but Wednesday 19 April 2023 was an exception. Knowing that the excellent ergonomics of BMW motorcycles means that while I might suffer constant pain and discomfort in general day to day activities, even while resting and sleeping, while typing, and generally most all the time (even when pushing the machine out of the garage), while riding my BMW that pain simply seems to disappear. Must be the endorphins.

To quote Banjo Paterson in the Man from Snowy River: “so (I) went”; if not to find the horses by the big mimosa clump, at least to find fellow participants at Dayboro. I was supposed to be there at 08:45hrs, but in my current recovery process I rise at a time more comfortable to myself. This, and needing to refuel at Ferny Grove meant that I was not going to be there on time. However knowing that morning tea was going to be taken at Kilcoy I felt that I would catch them there.

Pleasant conversations were had over excellent refreshments. It was time to leave (Ian leaving the group at that stage, so with me as reserve 11 continued the journey), and we were given general instructions on the way to do, towards Somerset Dam and then Gregors Creek Road towards Toogoolawah. A left turn to the Mt. Beppo road, and right towards Esk then up the Hampton Road turning right to Cressbrook Dam at Biarra. The countryside was green and fresh, and the roads mostly dry. More fortunately there was not much traffic on the road, and so our progress was generally uninterrupted except by some roadworks along the way. Along the Mt. Beppo road past Toogoolawah I saw the sign to Watts Bridge Airfield. I have been to an air-show down there in the past. It is one of the many airfields constructed during the Second

The morning was a little overcast; indeed there was a slight drizzle at my place. I decided to travel through Mt. Crosby, Brookfield and Gap Creek Road to Ferny Grove, refuel and reach Dayboro (45 minutes late, about 10:30hrs) then over Mt. Mee and down into Kilcoy. This I did, the rain remaining light and arrived to find (quoting the Banjo again) the cracks gathered to the fray at CJ’s Pastries Kilcoy. There were 11 motorcycles (mine made the 12th) and we were all solo. It was a men’s business day, so it was nice to look at the friendly staff at the bakery with their feminine charms.

Arriving at Lake Cressbrook I was taken back to a weekend that Dave Bell organised there in the late 1990s. Others had recollections of other events held there. Entering from the road it is quite as descent to shoreline, and there were people out on the lake in their boat. I could hear what sounded like a remote-controlled car, but could not quite locate where the electric buzzing noise was coming from. Taking a short stroll I

World War, serving to defend Australia.

realised that it was a drone. This seems to be one of the realities of modern life, we might have been on camera! The venue not being catered we had needed to bring some lunch. I overlooked this, and was offered a sandwich and iced coffee. The Club spirit remains alive (represented even more so by that rider’s

From there it was over Mt. Glorious (remaining ever-cautious of the wet shaded corners so abundant on that road, and realising the incredibly intrusive nature of lantana, red and white flowers sitting with most of the roadside underbrush), Ben turning left down to Samford and the leader and I to School Road at The Gap, where he turned to home and I carried on to retrace my route from the morning. Traffic remained very light, and over the whole day we were interrupted by few vehicles.

It was a great (for me at least) 450km day, and if I convey my thanks for a memorable Autumn Day and reminding me of the joys of escaping mid-week I am sure it could not be that

pristine R90S). It was a really nice spot.

Participants then decided on the way home, and ride co-ordinator Ben and I joined with David to return over the wall of Lake Perseverance back along the New England Highway to Hampton then down to Esk.

I amAlone

Uyuni Salt Flats Bolivia

photo by Cindy Bennett

MARK MUSTCHIN AT PEACHESTER PARKING NEXT TO A TASTY ROADSTER

GARY STIRLING SPIED THIS BEAUTY AT DAYBORO.

BRIAN FLOYD’S PHOTO OF THE MARYVALE GATHERING

MICHAEL AHLBERG - LIONS ROAD

For thE airhEads

https://www.mmmsbmwboxerworks.com.au/

Below is a link for the Wedgetail Ignition Systems Australia FB site. https://www.facebook.com/wedgetailaustralia

Here is a link to a short and sweet and of course educational video from Mark - how do properly adjusted tappets feel? Watch the video and find out!

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=6p4Q6CHfFIA&t=1s

Confirmation has been received that BMWMCQ Members are eligible for a 10% discount on accessories at Morgan & Wacker. Customers are required to show proof of membership at the time of purchase!

advErtising & BmW supports

Brisbane BMW Motorcycle Specialists

Need your BMW motorcycle serviced? We can also help ensure your pride and joy stays in top nick. Northside Motorcycle Tyres and Service has the latest software for BMWs enabling us to re- set service reminders, and assist with diagnostic testing and component testing making it more efficient to solve any problems with your bike. Log book servicing which won’t void your warranty. Book in for a BMW motorcycle service today with our expert team and you can be confident that Your pride and joy is in good hands.

BMW Motorcycle Tyres & Accessories

Planning on hitting the road soon? Stop by our showroom to check out our great range of tyres, luggage bags and riding gear to suit Adventure or Sport Touring.

FREE BMW Motorcycle Safety Inspection Report

But perhaps more importantly, be prepared before you head off! Book in for your FREE safety inspection report. This simple check can mean the difference between a hassle-free ride versus getting stuck on the side of the road with no phone coverage a long way from the nearest town.

SHOP ONLINE FOR ALL YOUR MOTORCYCLE TYRES & ACCESSORIES WITH THE ADDED BENEFIT OF AFTERPAY “BUY NOW, PAY LATER”

HTTPS://NSMCTYRES.COM 1/14 Paisley Drive Lawnton Qld 4503, Phone 07 3205 6505 Email info@nsmctyres.com

& Aftermarket

1955 onwards) • Accessories • Australian Agent for Hepco & Becker Luggage

and Crash

Flight of the Bumble Bee

By Cindy Bennett, Member #4170

My favourite bike (apart from my Tigresa) on our Ultimate South American trip would have to be the 2021 40th Anniversary R1250GS “Bumble Bee”, low suspension. With the black panniers it looks a striking bike and owner Mick has let me sit on it and promises me a ride before the trip is over!

Mick is a veteran of just about every Compass tour and has done Road of Bones, South American circumnavigation and some African trips and was on the aborted (due to Covid) Asian Overland expedition. At age 72 (and he doesn’t mind admitting this) he is an inspiration and is always up with the leaders in the pack due to his riding prowess. However, he feels that this will be his last major trip on the bike, but is contemplating a 4WD adventure through Africa – so he is definitely not slowing down very much!

Mick is from Launceston and in 2021 went to Southbank Motorcycles in Melbourne to try and obtain a Bumble Bee but was told the wait would be long and no prediction of timing could be given. On a whim he called into Hobart BMW where he knew one of the salespeople and asked the same question, they tinkered on the computer and he was told there was one in Sydney and they could get it in 2 weeks for him. Happy days for Mick, as these bikes in low suspension edition were a rare beast indeed. He shipped the bike over to Europe and spent several months riding around before joining the Compass Expeditions Spain, Portugal and Morocco tour in September 2022. Mick returned home but his bike remained in Europe where it waited patiently for the flight to Santiago in February 2023 in preparation for the Ultimate South America trip.

Mick always engages with the locals in a friendly and fun spirit and being retired from the engineering construction business (with much of his work in a lot of big mines) has some great tales which he regales us with.

The Bumblebee attracts a lot of attention wherever we go, and rightly so!

thE last Word

BMWMCQ BOOK EXCHANGE

NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE!

Race to Dakar Charley Boorman

Extreme Frontiers Charley Boorman (Racing Across Canada)

What If I Had Never Tried It Valentino Rossi (The Autobiography)

The Road to Mali Craig Carey-Clinch

No Room for Watermelons Ron & Lynne Fellowes

A Motorcycle Courier in the Great War Captain W.H.L. Watson

Australia Motorcycle Atlas

With 200 Top Rides (6th Ed) Hema Maps

Overland Magazines - issue #’s 11; 19; 21; 22; 25; 26; 27; 28 and 29.

Adventure Bike Rider - issue #’s 44; 46; 51 and 53

The Touring Motorcycle Jeff Ware & Kris Hodgson

BMW Twins Mick Walker

BMW Boxer Twins Ian Falloon

BMW Motorcycles Bruce Preston

A Century of BMW Manfred Grunet & Florian Triebel

The BMW Story - Production & Racing Motorcycles Ian Falloon

Bahnstormer - The Story of BMW Motorcycles LJK Setright

BMW Company History

1972

BMW Munich

Berry on Bikes - The Hot 100 - Steve Berry

2UP and OVERLOADED

2 x On Tour with Compass Expeditions DVDs

The initiative is being overseen by Jane Gray and you can communicate with Jane via email at:

library@bmwmcq org au

Arrangement can be made with the librarian to pick up & drop off at the monthly General Meeting or other arrangements can be made

A BMW F850GS JUST ON SUNSET IN BOLIVIA