nuts & bolts northern slow run wheels in the park slipping clutch jp pistons easter ride riding in moresby strathgordon run manx classic tt st helens overnighter richmond vintage show
AU TU M N E DI T IO N M AY 2 0 1 8
official magazine of
THE BRITISH motorcycle club of tasmania CONTACT Please address all correspondence including membership inquiries to: The BMCT Secretary postal- c/o South Hobart Post Office, Tasmania, 7004 e-mail- secretary@bmctas.com monthly meetings Last Tuesday of each month, 8pm. in the Social Club Rooms, upstairs at the Tas Fire Service building, Argyle Street, Hobart.
All welcome, please come along.
President
Gary Smith
M:0407870493
Vice President
Chris Owens
M: 0448 900 082 E: chris@designforpower.com.au
Northern VP
Mick Lemon
M: 0400 660 926 E: mick.pam59@bigpond.com
Secretary
Matthew Shepperd
M: 0417 001 426 E: bmctsecretary@hotmail.com
Treasurer/Public Officer
Nigel Reid
M: 0417 585 954 H: 03 6265 1237
Magazine Editor
Kent Moore
M: 0408 483 883 E: kentdmoore@gmail.com
Webpage
John Menezies
M: 0418 297 234 E: mezzabolicsteroids@gmail.com
Clubman Records
Rob Walch
M: 0417 514 450 E: robert@walchoptics.com.au
Librarian
Dan Murphy
Technical Officers
John Rettig Jim McCulloch Ken Hall Mick Lemon Martin Heatley
Club Auditors
Casey Overeem Francis Hall
Committee Members
Rob Walch Richard Bullough Jegs Nuttall
H: 03 5267 2510 H: 03 6249 8731 H: 03 6265 9017 M: 0400 660 926 M:0499 845 280 H:6326 5331
www.bmctas.com
Nuts&bolts Once again the annual general meeting has been held, there have not been any changes to the office bearers and there are a few new committee members. Our display at the Richmond town hall was held during March, this has been a great success, raising funds to support ongoing events within the club. Thank you to Howard and all the club members that assisted with the set up of the display by ferrying bikes to and from, manning the door and staying overnight to provide security. The club rides have been enjoyed by all members and now with the weather becoming cooler perhaps shorter rides may be the order of the day. There has been much discussion re when the next Tassie rally should be held, several members were keen to see it being held next year 2019, the rally committee has met and it has been decided that the next Tassie rally will be held in March 2020, the main driver around this date being selected is that the Veteran rally will be held in Ulverstone in March 2019. Ken and Francis Hall are organizing the veteran rally and if you would like to obtain more information please contact either Ken or Francis. There will be an update on the Tassie rally later this year with expressions of interest being called for before December. We have a overnighter to Port Arthur on the 15th of July this is always a great night away, lock it in to your calendar. Safe riding during 2018 Gary Smith See and be seen !
A few words about the club magazine... The content of the magazine is generated by its members and put together by the editor for publication. Club rides need reports and photos taken for every ride...., so at muster on the day of the ride can this be organised by the ride leader/organiser. Other articles must be a combination of text and photos/images seperate not combined in one word doc or similar. Text as images does not work so any scanned images of text will need to be typed up by the contributor. When submitting to kentdmoore@gmail. com please indicate in the subject line of your email BMCT article. Thanks!
northern slow run
sunday april 22 BY glen G’day One and All,
In the North last Sunday, the weather man turned out to be true to his word, being mostly sunny or partly cloudy depending on whether your a glass half full or half empty kind of person. In fact you couldn’t have picked a better day for riding if you tried. Slightly crisp, clear, no wind, warming sunshine, next to no kamikaze bugs and a great bunch for company to boot ! We also managed to coax a few older machines out to enjoy the day which was fantastic considering a couple of regulars with older machines were overseas at the All British Rally. We had a variety of older makes and models represented. Pre-war was Melanie and myself on Norman the Norton and Mick with the beautiful JF Enfield. Post war saw Tony on the trusty Ariel, Graeme over from the NW with his beautiful Velo and Nigel with his Daytona out to take advantage of the fabulous the day. There was also some of the regulars on their more modern machines just out to enjoy a jaunt through the countryside with us. Maureen on her beautiful Thruxton, Wayne on the Guzzi, geez I love the sound of that machine, Shon on the SR, Paul on the pull over driver bike, Steve and Adele on the BMW mobile lounge and last but not least Stephen on his BMW HP2 Sport Rocket Ship, a fairly rare beast as not to many made. A leisurely pace was set making sure all the older machines weren’t pushed too hard, well I wasn’t sure they’d keep up with Norman to tell you the truth ! We took in some wonderful roads out through Longford, Cressy, Blackwood Creek, Bracknell, Whitemore and on to Westbury. A couple of the fellas on the faster modern machines took off for a bit of fun up front scaring the beegeesus out of me on their way past. I wasn’t sure whether to include the Blackwood Creek section or not as this added quite some distance but it was such a wonderful day and everyone’s bikes seemed to be purring along nicely. The Western Tiers were a stunning backdrop to the green pastures and deciduous trees turning colour with the changing seasons. Unfortunately being the lead bike along with just being in a kind of hypnotic kind of riding rhythm meant I didn’t really stop
at all for photos along the way although Melanie got a couple of shots from the pillion seat of some locals that seemed reluctant to stick to one side of the road ! All machines made it to Westbury after a journey throughout the countryside of nearly an hour and a half without a single hiccup. Fantastic, I decided to celebrate this milestone with a giant chocolate eclair, mmmmm. Couple of regulars from the NW also joined us here Noel on his CB along with Jim whom.....well I never did see what he arrived on. The time slipped by as tales were told and tucker consumed. As we were donning our gear in preparation to leave, I had great pleasure in telling Shon and Tony just how reliable Norman was and that nothing ever goes wrong with him. As I pulled out of the carpark and accelerated up the road I noticed the speedo which had been working on arrival had ceased to function and didn’t for the remainder of the day. That’ll teach me for opening my big mouth ! Next casualty was the Royal Enfield around 15mins later which dropped a master link from the main chain bringing Mick to a rolling stop. Gloves were thrown on the ground in disgust and Mick set about sorting the chain out while a couple of riders searched for the offending link.
Sorting a chain out would have to be one of the filthiest jobs one can do on the side of the road. I just stood around grinning, sorry Mick. Cue Tony and his Enfield rescue tin complete with master link, something I must admit I’ve never thought of carrying. Believe it or not, the main part of the master link was also found down the road but a bit worse for wear. The group was thinning out as riders peeled off to head for home at Bridgenorth and others that had left us back at Westbury. The last casualty for the day was Nigel’s Triumph Daytona which blew a fuse just short of Exeter rendering the ignition inoperative. It had happened before though and was quickly diagnosed, replaced and we were on our way. I think three riders headed for more coffee and banter at the Burt Munro’s Cafe whilst Norman soldiered on with Melanie and I for home where I discovered that I’d lost a nut and washer from one of the bolts holding Melanie’s pillion seat to the guard. Always something, although it could have been far worse. Could have been all four nuts along with Melanie missing !! All in all just a fantastic days outing in the beautiful Tasmanian countryside. This really is a riders paradise :)
A leisurely pace was set ...
wheels in the park
GEEVESTON
by KERRY DICKSON Each year this show gets bigger and better and why wouldn’t it. Heritage Park is a great venue for cars and motorcycles to gather and show-off their various points of interest. There is something for everyone to enjoy, be it the vehicles, the food, the music or just taking in the general atmosphere. Several BMCT’ers arrived mid-to-late morning and disappeared in all directions to check out the caliber of vehicles on display. Peter BENDER had several of his bikes on display which garnered LOTS of interest. They looked resplendent under the trees Ron FELLOWES took out an award with his 1910 FN complete with chair as did Fred BENNETT with his BSA Golden Flash. Kerry DICKSON received an ‘Encouragement Award’ for riding the 1948 Panther 600. Well done to the organizers for putting on a wonderful day.
SLIPPING CLUTCH BY SIMON BEARD TRIUMPH CLUTCH SLIPPING?
3 Worn clutch drum:
The following notes are based on my experience with pre-Hinkley Triumph clutches. Other British motorcycles have similar designs so the information may have a broader application. The following assumes that the clutch is adjusted correctly and that the slippage under load is a mechanical problem with the clutch - not maladjustment.
The tags on the friction plates wear grooves in the drum and this is fine until you replace worn-out plates with new ones. The new ones are fatter and no longer align with the grooves and this can cause the plates to separate under load – and the clutch slips.
1 Dodgy plates:
If the clutch is pushed to the limit (top gear, full throttle, up a hill) and there is vibration in the system that shouldn’t be there – it can cause the clutch to slip. This was explained to me with the following analogy. Imagine you have a brick on a plank and the plank
Don’t use cork plates – if they start slipping they will glaze and you will need a lift home. The friction plates (of the post-cork type) are rarely a problem although don’t rule them out if you can’t find anything else wrong. The plain plates are also rarely a problem although you need to check that they are neither bent nor bowed (as in concave) - they must be truly flat! While you are about it, pull the clutch in and kick it over in neutral and check that the pressure plate runs true. If not, screw in the appropriate clutch spring nuts until it does. Typically, you should see a couple of threads exposed above the spring nuts.
2 Outer and inner clutch drums not parallel: (...causing plate separation under load) a) End plates on the inner clutch drum have worn holes: The spider is supposed to be a neat fit in the holes in the end plates. If not, the inner drum can twist on the spider (because it’s loose in the holes in the plates) putting it out of line with the outer drum. b) Loose end plates: If the the screws holding the plates to the inner drum have loosened off far enough then again the inner drum can twist on the spider putting it out of parallel to the outer drum. Centre-punch the screw heads so they don’t come undone. c) Over-length rollers: This is a problem on pre-unit clutches (the outer drum can wobble because the plates don’t hold it steady like on unit construction ones). Note also that over-length rollers will lock when assembled and wear out the bearing insert in the outer drum. Rollers should be less than 1/4” in length (the book suggests 14-18 thou under).
4 Loose alternator rotor and/or hardened shock absorber rubbers:
is raised up at one end so that the brick is about to slip down the plank – then a few light taps on the plank will be enough to make the brick begin to slip. The point being that if the rotor is loose and hammering, or the shock absorber rubbers are hard and not damping the engine pulses, then the clutch may slip. A loose rotor can have very serious consequences. I had a loose rotor which expanded and locked itself to the stator at about 70 mph - which in turn locked the rear wheel. Just before this happened I could hear a sound that was a bit like a stick being dragged along the ground – if you hear that sound make sure your hand is on the clutch lever... Simon Beard – if you have any queries contact me at sbe44574@bigpond.com.au
JP PISTONS BY TIM . NEW ZEALAND This commentary relates to JP pistons made in Adelaide for the Indian-built Royal Enfield 500 Bullet of the 1990s-early 2000s. I obtained this advice after I had had two incidents of new JP pistons nipping up in my 1938 600cc Panther M100, and was told by a rider of an AJS 500 that he had had the same problem with a JP piston after rebuilding his engine. On the first occasion the nip-up in the Panther was severe enough to warrant a rebore to 20thou after which the new, $246, 20thou oversize JP piston again nipped up, despite care in running in. The damage was less severe this second time and Gorringes were able to save bore and piston, but new piston rings were needed. I had been corresponding with members of the RE Club via a forum on a onceexcellent web-site, aussieenfields.com, and there had been numerous comments about the life of the Indian RE Bullet 500 piston, many of which had disintegrated by the 10 000km mark, wrecking the engine. The discussions included what would be the best piston to replace the Indian-made effort before it destroyed itself and the motor. JP in Adelaide had been providing the replacements, and these had been found to be nipping up. The issue had been researched by one “Tim” in New Zealand, who had had some considerable experience of dealing with the problem, so I applied his advice to the problem of my JP piston in the Panther, having discussed the issue with Gorringes, who were very helpful, and who modified the piston accordingly. During the discussions on the forum Tim had also advised that other after-market replacement pistons from the UK were noted for problems. This is the type of difficulty we all face when rebuilding engines of old British bikes. In the past the Panther Owners’ Club have experimented with Rover and Volvo pistons and recommended me to JP in Adelaide. The following is from Tim in New Zealand, pretty well verbatim. Note; Tim refers to the Indian-built RE Bullet 500 of the 1990s-early 2000s, but this might be relevant to other British singles; it has worked so far for the Panther 600. The issue is NOT an oiling problem in either the RE Bullet 500 or Panther 600. I accept no
responsibility for what may happen to your bike if you follow Tim’s ideas. If in doubt, talk to JP and perhaps a good automotive engineer in Hobart. Below from Tim, NZ Piston seizure in the bore: IF the scoring is from bottom of skirt, thrust side only, and up across the rings to the very top of the piston lands, then your issue was NOT skirt clearance, BUT top land clearance. Top land diameter must be NO LESS than .028 smaller than nominal bore size. Otherwise you stand a high chance of initiating ring-land seizure. Once the rings are gripped in the ring groove it will result in chronic blow-by and all oil being blown off the thrust face of the bore; instant seizure, which I have encountered after 3000km with a bore well run in, and at as low as 250 km. I prefer the top land diameter to be no less than .030 smaller. I also very lightly chamfer the outside bottom edge of the piston skirt to maximise the amount of oil on the bore at all times. What the Piston Maker’s hand book says is the ‘right’ specification manufacturing tolerance for the JP RE 500 Bullet piston
DOES NOT WORK! Hence after going through eight of the pistons in succession I soon established what did and did not work! The Gudgeon pin MUST be a loose slip fit, the oil holes for the gudgeon pin MUST be chamfered, the top land MUST be no less than .028 smaller than the bore, .030 has a better margin for error. The sides of the ring grooves should be lightly chamfered with a fine file to minimise the effects of ring lands running on the bore. If the circlips JP supplies have a long tang on them, to ease fitting, cut the tang off! If you are going to run a skirt clearance greater than JP’s advised .005” then you MUST also reduce the piston top land diameter so that it is at least .030” smaller than the bore. JP pistons have more metal in the crown than is required, and the crown expansion of the JP Bullet 500 piston is more than JP makes allowance for. TimN.Z.
EASTER RIDE BY BOB FINDLAY Easter Ride Report from the South- Bob Findlay. Sunday being Easter Sunday, it was decided that on Monday we would resurrect our British bikes for a riders’ choice run. A fair number met at Kennedy Lane (a random though has just occurred; is there a Lois Lane in Tasmania? We have a Batman Bridge) in Salamanca Place although as it was all blokes the word “fair” may not be applicable. It was decided, after some standing around and yapping, that the venue for the ride would be Dunalley and so five of us set off, me on the British Motor Works 650, and others riding at least two other British bikes. And this is where warps in space-time occurred. I set off second to last, that is, there were three bikes in front and one behind. The assorted traffic lights between the bridge and I ensured that I soon lost sight of the others and although I ran down to Sorrell at or a few miles an hour below the various speed limits, I was never overtaken by the
following rider. The traffic returning from assorted places to the south was very heavy (for Tasmanian roads) and no-one either coming or going either way was doing more than 60mph, so we had a continuous slowmoving traffic jam just about all the way to Copping, after which I finally overtook the large camper van in front and proceeded at a more normal speed to Dunalley. I still had not seen the other four. In Dunalley I rode gently past the cafe on the right searching assiduously for at least the 3 bikes which had left Salamanca Place before me, wandered across the bridge to the pub to see if anyone was there, turned round and wandered back to the cafe now on my left (strange how things move around) and stopped for a coffee secure in the knowledge that the rider behind me would turn up, although he seemed to be taking a long time about it. He didn’t. At the cafe, now behind me, I received a couple of nice comments about the British Motor Works (it has got BSA kneepads on
the tank) got on the bike, and decided to return to Hobart along the coast road via Dodges Ferry. I had no sooner set my sights on turning that sharp right hand bend after the bridge when I glimpsed 4 bikers and 4 recognisable bikes at a table at that fish ‘n chip shop on the left. So I turned round to join them. Now; three had left before me; one had left behind me. Yet all had got to the fish ‘n chip shop before me, and all three who had left before me had got to the fish ‘n chip shop after I had arrived in Dunalley. An interesting puzzle whose principle clue is a large yacht leaving Frederick Henry Bay to sail to the East Coast. The ride back was uneventful. Being now bored by riding behind a traffic jam I cut back through Cambridge and that lovely twisty hill to Risdon Vale where alas, but probably sensibly, the speed limit is 37.5mph. And arriving home at 2pm, I had a pleasant cup of tea.
RIDING IN MORESBY BY BOB FINDLAY Motorcycling in Moresby In around 2002 I was reintroduced to the charms of riding motorcycles, after an absence of 27 years. For some reason or other I had once again brought our car to Pit-Stop Engineering in Port Moresby, whereupon the proprietor, who had just bought a magnificent Centennial V-Rod Harley Davidson, introduced me to a 1996 Indian RE Bullet 500 that he was selling for someone who had become disillusioned by falling off it. There was a minor dent or two in the tank and that was all. And the cost was a mere $600 with only 2000km on the clock. I gather this was one of 6 Indian RE Bullets of the same year that had been imported into PNG as agricultural machinery. So that was that. Port Moresby has three country roads that are comfortably rideable; one southwest
for about 50 miles towards a village called Kwikila; one for about 50 miles northwest towards a place called Kerema; and another that heads west into the raskol-infested hills of the Sorgeri Plateau and the start of the tourist trap known as the Kokoda Track. They are rideable because they are tarsealed for 50 miles, after which one takes one’s chance. Whilst PNG’s tar-sealed roads are normally an interesting combination of tar-seal and potholes, when they are not tar-sealed they are commonly better seen as trail-bike or 4-wheel drive experiences awaiting a foreign aid project for their repair, or for the “Dakar Rally In Mud”. And thus I joined the group of bikers in Port Moresby. There was a very large Harley Davidson with quadraphonic speakers and drink holders, there was the V-Rod Harley gleaming in chromium glory, there was a Harley 850cc Sportster or something of similar name, there was a Suzuki thing which would do 240kph, there was a Ducatti
Monster that would do 270kph, there were Japanese bikes of other sorts, and there was me on the little grey Indian Bullet 500. Every Sunday we would go for a run, meeting for breakfast at the Weigh Inn Hotel in the salubrious suburb of Konedobu and then would head off either northwest or southeast. With no revenue-raising cameras and no police on the roads and no known speed limit outside Port Moresby, life on the little grey Enfield trying to keep up with the group was one superb vibro-massage at between 110 and 135kph. Getting overtaken by the 270kph Ducatti on full throttle followed by the 240kph Suzuki was a bit of a shock. Being struck by that sudden Italian BLAT followed by a Japanese HOWL to witness two furiously vanishing dots in the distance would turn anyone’s hair white. The little grey Bullet had its all-Indian quirks.
One was to repeatedly leak at the cylinderhead gasket. After the third attempt to reanneal the gasket, I was torquing down the cylinder head nuts to 22ft lbs when one kept on torquing at 18ft lbs until the stud snapped. It hadn’t stripped the thread in the alloy crank-case, but it had snapped. It had stretched and necked before snapping. So I removed the cylinder-head studs and took them to the local engineering shop where they were tested; the test indicated that they lacked the strength of mild steel and so had been stretching under the 6.5:1 compression. So I got new ones made from high tensile steel and that stopped the leaky gasket problem. The alloy of the head was rather soft, so as one tightened the nuts of the cylinderhead studs, the alloy of the head would flow into the thread on the studs, which effectively locked the head down but created difficulties when removing the cylinder head next time. It took a 1-ton carjack wedged alternatively under exhaust port and inlet manifold to ease the head up enough to repeatedly insert wooden wedges by hammer to ease the head off the studs
Then I checked the spark plug. It was a grade too hot. Yet despite searching all the automotive dealers in Port Moresby for the correct spark plug, there were none to be found. So I sent to Australia for a couple of the correct spark plugs, and that solved the problem. The piston had survived. The bike to its credit started first kick, each and every time. Royal Enfield could (nay, should) have given Velocette a good lesson in startability. The bike could be started by hand with no trouble, by pushing down on the kick start once the piston had been set in the correct position. The paint was clearly pre-aged to allow rust, obviously for authenticity as an older model of machine. One had no difficulty in finding at least 5 neutrals between 4 gears, which was useful. And it did not leak oil, even though it was thrashed repeatedly. That was also a characteristic of the 1954 RE Meteor 700 I ran in Hobart. Velocette (and others) could
flexibility and common-sense and that is a serious comment based on many years of residence. Motorcycling in Morseby was, despite all the evil things said about PNG, quite safe. All drivers immediately saw the bikes because they were so different from cars and so made way for us; the only problem was the potholes and the villagers who would hear us coming and line the roads to try to “high-five” us as we rode past. I did politely question the sanity of someone riding at the occasional 270kph as no-one in PNG has any concept of either the lack of visual impact of a bike or the speed at which some folk wish to die; and slow-moving country roads tend to be just slow-moving country roads in any country, but the rider said his reactions were much faster than mine as he was younger than me, which, me being about 15 years older, I understood perfectly. We only had one unpleasant incident. On one run the Ducatti rider hit a stray dog, which came off far worse as the bike and the rider stayed upright and moving, though I am not sure how. On the return down the road about half an hour later I was in the lead with another rider as we passed a couple of villagers lugging a log across the road to make a road-block. It seems that it had been their dog which had been killed, for which they wanted compensation. No doubt it was PNG’s best hunting dog and was cared for lovingly by the family who were duly heartbroken and needed counselling; most of the village dogs that I have seen in PNG are treated to starvation and mange, but I doubt not that there could be exceptions. We stopped at the top of the rise to watch the proceedings below as the rest of the bunch came to a halt at the log. The former owners of the dog were persuaded politely that discretion is the better part of valour on such occasions and that if any compensation was to be paid, it should be paid to the Ducatti rider for the severe and life-shattering fright he had been given.
that ran through the barrel. Then there was the pinging problem; the bike started beautifully and ran delightfully until the engine warmed up and started pinging. On repeated runs I repeatedly shifted the distributor’s setting but the pre-ignition just kept on pinging on. We retimed the ignition using a dial gauge for precision. We discussed weak springs in the automatic advance-retard mechanism.
have learned a lesson from Royal Enfield as to how to manufacture oil-tight primary chaincases, among other things. The name “Royal Enfield” had never been entered in the PNG Transport Department’s data-base, so the young lady handling registration kindly decided that it should be a Matchless 500 and so solved the problem with no Australian-style of bureaucratic stupidity; PNG is to be admired for its
There are advantages to riding in a topical climate, as one does not have to dress for warmth. This, however, has its disadvantage when one gets knocked off by a fool when one is on the freeway, particularly when one is wearing one’s office clothes of formal walkshorts, shirt and white knee-high socks. The road-surface can feel quite soft when one is sliding along in front of the bike, which is probably something to do with one’s skin abrading. Helmets are certainly useful. All
of which put an end to my motorcycling in Moresby as the front forks had got badly twisted and bent, the headlight smashed, the handlebars bent and the rear crashbar ripped off. The crash-bars on the front survived and had protected footpegs and other items. One is advised to remove one’s thumbs from behind the handlebars when one senses that one is about to go over the top. The wreck was collected by Pit-Stop Engineering and, as I was due to go on my overseas leave from which unexpected circumstances decided me not to return, the bike was kept at Pit-Stop Engineerng until sold, for $600, to another afficianado who, I have been told, repaired it to enjoy motorcycling in Moresby. Bob Findlay
STRATHGORDON RIDE BY MICK LEMON There was a fair bit of excitement in our camp leading up to the Strathgordon Ride. Janet’s Bonnie, aptly named Ol’ Faithful coz it always fires up and never seems to let us down (touch wood) had been neglected over the last wee while, sitting patiently in the back of the garage awaiting our attention, so we decided to give him a freshen up. It started with the replacement of drivechain and the front and rear sprockets. On T140’s, it’s a bit clunky to get a good view of the front sprocket so I was glad that once I’d removed the primary drive and clutch assembly that the front sprocket had obviously “had the dick”. In hindsight, the front sprocket had never been replaced in the 20 or more years Janet’s had the bike, so it does make sense. It’s probably gone through two or three chains and a rear sprocket, but not the front Once the front sprocket was replaced, the clutch and primary drive assembly was reinstalled with an extra full turn on the clutch spring nuts just for good measure. A quick check showed a maximum runout of 12 thou so no further adjustment was warranted. The rotor was refitted with suitable clearance to the stator, the primary chain adjusted, primary cover stuck back on and 150ml of engine oil dropped down the hole. The front forks had been leaking for a good
while so the stanchions were replaced and new seals fitted, with each leg getting equal amounts of synthetic 10W suspension oil. With the front end disassembled, I also took the opportunity to re-grease the steering head bearings, and replace the front brake fluid. New hoops, Avon Road Riders, had been sourced and fitted through Brett at Cycleworld a cuppla months back but the wheels weren’t reinstalled at the time as I’d noticed a rumble in the front wheel bearings. The wheel bearings were still sitting on the bench awaiting fitment and although the rears seemed fine, they were also replaced for good measure. So on the wheels went with a wheel alignment to make sure everything was pointing in the right direction. We also took the opportunity to replace the rear brake fluid but I was having trouble getting the fluid to flow, even with vacuum applied. So off came the master cylinder for a clean and rebuild with copious amounts of PBR rubber grease to keep it all slippery and supple. I greased the brake pedal spindle during the re-assembly but once completed, there was still no fluid flowing through to the rear brake calliper :-( So off came the reservoir and once dismantled, the ports were found full of hardened goop - so no wonder I couldn’t get fluid to flow!!! A drill-bit was used to remove the goop and after a bit o’ fiddlin’ and cleaning, all was
tickety-boo again. So back in it went and the system was bled with new fluid. Sweet :-) And finally, the remaining service items were completed - new engine oil with new oil filter, gearbox oil topped up, rear swingarm greased, the carby, throttle, speedo and tachometer cables lubed, spark plugs gapped, tappet clearances checked and adjusted, and finally, the water manometer connected and the carb balance and idle mixture tweaked. So me n’ Ol’ Faithful were ready for the onslaught but with a couple of days before the ride, Maureen came round on her Thruxton for lunch. As we milled about, we agreed it would be a good idea to check over her scoot too and wheeled the wee beastie into the shed. After fussin’ over various bits n’ pieces, nuthin’ much needed our attention although we fixed a loose speedo by replacing a couple of missing screws, improved the wheel alignment and made a slight improvement to the carb balance. The weather for the weekend was forecast to be sunny with a bit o’ cloud and with no substantial rain in the forecast. Maybe a bit o’ morning drizzle. Maybe, so ‘king yeehaa. On the Satdee mornin’ I woke early (normal for me, weird for some) and went out to the shed to set Ol’ Faithful’s tyre pressures. After brekky, I whacked a few bits n’ bobs into
the saddle bags and after an initial priming prod, Ol’ Faithful barked into life. I warmed him up and he soon settled down to an idle. So off I toodled towards the museum carpark grabbing fuel along the way. Now Ol’ Faithful has always been a temperamental ol’ bugger when it comes to fuel. He pings his head off with 91, pings a little too much with 95, and is seemingly just right with 98, with the odd “tink”, “tink” under load. Maybe we should call him “Goldilocks” ?!?! I’ve dicked about at different times over the years trying to reduce the pinking by retarding the ignition with no affect, so I really should fatten up the fuel a bit with a cuppla bigger main jets, but having managed to control those nasty explosions well enuff with the use of higher octane fuels, I simply haven’t gotten ‘round to doin’ it. So anyhooz, I found me some 98, filled up the tank, and made my way to the museum. The other notable characteristic of Ol’ Faithful is that he’s got more piston slap than a busload of German tourists wearing lederhosen’s at a polka festival - one day when I pulled up at a Toy Run, a well respected ol’ timer came up to me and suggested I check the valve clearances. He didn’t believe me when I told ‘im it was piston slap.
MERCHANDISE CAPS & beanies
$15
POLO SHIRT
$25
POLAR FLEECE
$37
$20
MEDALION cloth badge
see gary smith for purchasing any of the club merchandise.. some items are available for purchase at the bar at meetings.
I arrived at the carpark and the assembled throng were lookin’ a wee bit excited, and I must admit I was feelin’ the same. The group included Mick (Suzuki V-Strom), Phil (Honda Pan-European), Martin (Harris G80), Mike (BMW R1200GS), Moira (BMW F650GS) and Wayne (Indian Scout and it’s newly fitted 20’s style pan seat and dirttrack bars). The air temperature was lowish so most were wearing over-pants to keep the lower appendages warm-ish. At least it wasn’t going to rain with all that wet weather gear !?!?! After some greetings, a bit o’ banter, and Maureen’s arrival on the Thruxton (normally I’m the last to arrive or leave), we donned our gear and motored off. Glen led the charge on his Beemer with the rest of us in tow. Up the climb outa Lonni (possible spelling error), onto the Bass Hwy for a bit before turnin’ left at Pateena Road and headin’ towards Longford and on to Cressy. The air was coolish and Ol’ Faithful was lovin’ all that cold, dense air. A stop at Cressy to collect Nigel (Kwaka
W800) and Jodi and John (KTM AdventureR) before heading for the Poatina. I was lucky ‘nuff to get a tow up the hill. You know how it goes, when ya got someone in front you use their progress to read the road, making ya that wee bit faster. So anyhooz, I grabbed onto that piece of string dangling off the back of Moira’s Beema and got dragged up the climb. Many, many thanks Moira :-) Too much fun aye!?!? As we got close to the top we rode into the clouds so temperature and visibility dropped significantly. Figuring we were going to be riding through this for a wee while, I was questioning the forecast and thinkin’ that it mighta been a good idea to bring some wet weather gear. Fortunately, as we neared the top and began to roll onto the plateau we emerged from the cloud and with that, the sun popped its head out. We motored past Martin who was parked on the side of the road tending to his luggage, continuing on to
the Highland Lakes Road and turned towards Bothwell. It was still quite cool so those odd flashes of sun were welcomed and you found yaself hopin’ for more as you rounded each bend. So onward we travelled across the highland plains and along those wonderful meandering roads. It was good motoring and an enjoyable jaunt through the highland lakes country. Eventually, we reached Bothwell and turned into Alexander Street stopping at Sealy’s Store (nee Bothwell Store) as planned. Quirky n’ quaint with excellent coffee and superb food - I fully recommend the Rabbit Pie, and Maureen was well pleased with her Date Scones still warm from the oven. After a feed and a water and copious flapping of the gums, we fuelled up and motored off towards the Lyell Highway and Hamilton with more of them lovely winding roads. Tucking in behind Nigel at the back of the pack, he and I trundled along, passing Glen when he stopped and waved us through, and then a wee while later, sighting Mike at the Lyell Hwy intersection. Mike was gesturing for us to go right so sensibly, that’s the way we headed. As we neared Ellendale Road only a couple of miles down the road, Nigel seemed uncertain which way to go. To be honest, I had no idea either but motored past Nigel full of confidence to go straight, until, at the last minute, I spotted Moira showing that Ellendale Road was where we needed to be. So Nigel and I threw out all our picks and negotiated the turn into Ellendale Road in a very, very untidy fashion - there were bikes and limbs going every which way. So we stopped for a moment for us to have a good laugh before setting off again. As Moira and Mike rode into the distance, Nigel and I continued along Ellendale Road, stopping for a slash due to the coffees consumed earlier in the day, and a little while later, successfully negotiating the turn onto the Gordon River Road at Westaway. So down the road a mile or so to The Possum Shed on the banks of the Tyenna River for lunch, and a meeting of more crew from the east and south, i.e., Melanie (joining Glen on the Beema), Ian (Hinkley Tiger Sport), Dean and Suzi (Hinkley Bonnie) and Bill (Meriden Triple)….I think that’s everyone. Humble apologies if I’ve missed ya. During lunch, Maureen and I discussed the need for fuel and we agreed to head to Maydeena rather than back tracking our way to Westaway. So off we toodled along the Tyenna River. It was another of those runs where we weaved our way through relentless sweeping bends keeping each other in sight. An absolute delight and ‘king yup, way too much fun ……….. again :-)
Whilst filling up at Maydeena, the rest of the mob gathered to refuel before setting off again. Well most of us. For some reason, I was lagging getting my gear on but I eventually got my act into gear and after a wee while, headed off in pursuit of the mob. I’d not been along this section of road before and if the bit between Westaway and Maydeena was good, this section was ‘king awesome. Absolutely magic. So I picked up the speed a bit, picking a pace where I didn’t have to dive on the brakes too much, just needing some front brake to scrub the speed with the odd bit o’ rear brake to bring the back into line if I went in too hot. All the time picking gears so I had good engine speed to exit quickly. ‘king yup, ya wooda loved it :-) Having filled with 95 at Maydeena, I was only getting the occasional tink, tink, on those steep climbs, feathering off the throttle to keep the strains and stresses to a minimum. After a good while of sweeping through the forests with a broad grin on my dial, I sighted some traffic which included much of the crew that had left Maydeena ahead of me. Fortunately, just as I caught them up, the road straightened and was able to see past the group. With no oncoming traffic, I ambled past those at the rear whilst being careful not to give anyone an unsuspecting fright, before tucking back
into the group to negotiate a bend, taking the next opportunity to resume overtaking and get clear. Once through, I hooked back into the inviting road keeping an eye on my mirrors as I dragged others from the congestion. First Mike, then Jodi n John. As each approached me I moved to the left and turned to give ‘em a big cheesy grin as they swept past. ‘king yup, way, way too much fun :-) I continued on for a wee while before noticing a rattle at the rear of the bike. The noise came in at a couple of different engine speeds. Thinking Strathgordon was only 5 or so miles away, I continued to ride through the bends, changing through the gears, whilst trying to identify the sound as the engine RPM moved through those critical points. Before too long, an advisory sign detailed another 60 kilometres to Strathgordon - that’s 35 miles in old speak!! Being much further than expected, I decided to pull over to see if I could identify what was making all that racket. Finding an open area in a cutting on the right hand
side of the road, I pulled over and started to check the rear of the bike. I found that cracks in the licence plate had increased in length and were getting precariously close to breaking through. I’d actually noticed the cracks when doing the maintenance on the bike but figured it had taken 20 odd years to get that far, she’ll be right?!?! Now normally I’d have a few cable ties in me kit but they were one of the items that I’d omitted in my haste, so I decided to pull the plate off and sort it once I got to Strathgordon. As I continued to remove the plate, the group started to sweep past so I gave each rider the thumbs up and waved ‘em through. Once the plate was off, I stuck it into me dilly back, prodded Ol’ Faithful back into life and continued on me way. The road started to straighten out as the stringy bark forests gave way to a more tortured and scrubby terrain, still winding, but curves of a larger radius. With the lower and more open habitat of the Button Grass Moorlands, the vistas increased. The
sight of the mountain ranges through this section is fairly spectacular, so I was rubber necking as I motored along. After a wee while, I saw the assembled throng stopped and milling about at the intersection of Scotts Peak Road. Understandably, everyone had a grin from ear to ear. After some chatting, lotsa back slapping and some photos, we started to don our gear again. I hadn’t takenmuch off, gloves only, so it didn’t take me long to get ready. Rather than wait and knowing the next stop would be Strathgordon, I decided to head off and gave Ol’ Faithful a good handful to facilitate the climb from our parking location. I do like the sound when ya give ‘em a handful. Who doesn’t aye!?!?
honest. Fortunately, the advisory speed signs on this wonderful island are consistent so you know when a corner is likely to wind up based on the posted recommendation. So as I continued to motor along I approached a ute and once again the gods smiled as the road straightened and the double lines turned to broken lines, albeit up and over a bit of a climb. So I leaned on my right hand and overtook the impedement whilst Ol’ Faithful “tink, tinked” from the 95 I got from Maydeena. Due to the pinking, I continued to feather the throttle whilst trying to maintain a suitable passing speed, and managed to get a few cars ahead as I crested the hill. Then I hit a
pothole that was in the middle of the lane. It musta been rather large coz it launched me out of the saddle. I was mindful that the ute was behind me, so kept leaning on the throttle as I settled back into the seat and got the bike straight again. Still in disarray. Something didn’t feel right and it flashed through my mind that the saddlebags had come off. I had a quick look and the bags were still there but were precariously close to the rear of the seat and seemed rather close to falling off. Not wanting to lose me spot to the ute, I grabbed each bag in turn, pullin’ them forward and back under me butt. Phew, me thinks as I imagined all me gear gettin’ run over. So I settled back and continued the last little bit into Strathgordon. Once the assembled throng had booked into the lodge and had dropped there bit n’ bobs
at their respective digs, we jumped back on our scoots and rode the 8 miles to the Gordon Dam. Well ain’t that a spectacular bit of engineering? So we took some piccies, and ponced about the place havin’ a good sticky before heading back to base camp for beers, banter and a good feed. To cut a long story shorter, the night ended at some time around midnight with a group of us milling about our bikes, sizing ‘em up to assess the various riding positions…..well that’s my recollection anyway. Seemed like a good way to end the night although the next morning Mick told me that as we lay in our cribs chatting about our joyous day and how Bill had headed back to Hobart before the critters began to emerge for the evening, I fell asleep as soon as I’d got to the end of my sentence and
It wasn’t too long before I sighted the headlights of the others in my mirrors. The road led across a valley full of tarns, before running alongside a larger Lake Pedder. The corners included more of those faster curves with the odd tighter bend to keep ya
immediately started snoring. He was somewhat befuddled how I could manage to do that - perfectly normal says Janet.
breakfast, before heading back to our digs to brush our pegs and freshen up, before assembling for the ride home.
The next mornin’ I rose at about 5:30 and so as not to disturb the others, I grabbed me gear and snuck outside to get dressed. My head was a little jaded, probably from getting a dirty glass during the previous night, and I was about to put me shoes n’ socks on when I got a call from Janet she knew I’d be up and knew it unlikely there’d be anyone awake, and with no one to play with, figured she’d give me a call to keep me entertained. As I wandered about telling Janet about the previous day’s jaunt to Strathgordon, I saw Melanie and Phil emerge to take in the morning views of Lake Pedder and the surrounds. Once off the phone a group of us headed for
The group readied themselves and headed off with me bringing up the rear. It was great to see the area from the opposite direction and it was definitely a differing perspective. So once again I was rubber neckin’ as we all trundled along the winding terrain. The sun warmed our bodies as we emerged from the shadows. After a while I decided to pull over to allow the group to motor ahead. I walked around the bike a cuppla times and took in the view of Lake Pedder, before setting off again. I’d only negotiated a couple of turns before sighting Jodi n John parked at the side of the road so pulled up to them. They had noticed me drop from their mirrors and pulled over to make sure I came through. I
explained I’d stopped to allow the group to get ahead so I could plod along at my own speed, thanked ‘em for stopping, and eased off again ahead of them. With no one in front, I opened up the throttle a wee bit. The Bonnie was feelin’ strong with all that cool air gettin sucked into the pots, and I was enjoyin’ the lefts and rights I had experienced from the other direction the day before. As I negotiated a sweeping left hander that climbed up and over a saddle, Ol’ Faithful was pretty much at full noise as Glen and Melanie pulled out from their parking spot on the right side of the road. There was still lotsa distance between us so it didn’t cause any drama but rather than button off, I kept the throttle dialled on and roared past before settling back into the ride. ‘king yeehaa. The pair of bikes continued on, winding our way across the button-grass moorlands, and similarly, sweeping underneath the stringy-barks once we entered the sclerophyll forests. It is a delightful section of road, and me reckons everyone was havin’ too much fun……. once again. After a good few miles of this joy, I observed some congestion ahead so pulled over to allow the vehicles to motor ahead. I readied to give Glen and Melanie the thumbs up but they knew exactly what I was up to and were doing the same. As we waited on the roadside, we chatted about the joys we’d just encountered and how that invisible piece of string had kept us connected. We continued to blah-de-blah for a while longer before setting orff again. At the risk of sounding repetitive, it was way too much fun. Eventually, we trundled into Maydeena. By this stage, Glen and Melanie had gone from my mirrors, probably due to a couple of vehicles that are likely to have behaved like speed humps some miles back. I motored on through, threading my way alongside the Tyenna River, waved to our crew demobbing at The Possum Shed, continuing to Westaway to fuel up. Martin was there, but the depot had run outa 95 so only 91 was available. Now my tank was low and not knowing how far to the next fuel stop, 91 it was then. I figured I’d only put a wee bit in, enough to get me to the next fuel depot, but before you knew it there was $14 in the tank and not much room for more. Oh well I says to meself!?!? So Martin and I headed back to the cafe’ for some morning tea with lots of discussion and gesticulating about the lovely roads and spectacular landscapes. The staff needed the large table we were on for a group that had it reserved for lunch, so it seemed a good time to set off again. The
adventure bike lads n’ lassies had organised to set off in another direction, taking in tantalising roads n’ trails uninhibited by a loss of a bitumen surface, whilst the Hobartians set off on their merry way, and us Northerners headed for Bothwell via Bushy Park and Gretna before pulling over at the Mark Tree Road turnoff. The signage showed Hollow Tree as a destination but none of us were too confident it was the right road. After some deliberation, all agreed with no mention of Bothwell we should continue along the Lyell Highway. A number of the hills through this section were long and steepish, so I needed to keep feathering the throttle due to that dastardly 91 fuel, losing much momentum by the time I reached each crest. After a further 5 miles or so, we sighted a road sign banging on about Bothwell so we turned north into Hollow Tree Road. The next 20 odd miles of those sweeping roads through the highland country to Bothwell I enjoyed,
a Veglia drive, I had no idea of my actual speed, so during lunch asked Maureen to give me a speed check when we were back on the highway. As we trundled along, I pulled up next to Maureen and she gave me a hand gesture for the speed. Well that was enough for me, and I rode away as Maureen picked another speed and puzzled over why I wasn’t hangin’ around - but I was oblivious to all that. So we continued on our way, occasionally swapping the lead, ambling along next to each other at times, negotiating the joyful meandering roads of the Highland Lakes Highway. I was in the lead as we approached the Poatina Road and thought I had plenty of distance having just passed the 400m sign but the turn popped up way before I expected. I whacked on the right turn indicators and jumped onto the brakes, pointing the bike into the turn. Paul showed his prowess and rode around the left of me, pulling up sweetly. I apologised to the assembled throng and
but Ol’ Faithful kept complaining on the climbs, so as soon as we arrived at Bothwell, I rode into the servo and stuck as much 95 as I could squeeze in. After the excellent food and wonderful hospitality we enjoyed at Ros’s Sealy Store the day before, we returned to sample more of her great food and excellent coffee - as mentioned previously, the Rabbit Pie is yummo and it turns out the Chicken n’ Brie is just as good. All manners of topics were discussed and we musta got quite engrossed in the discussions coz it was a good while before we began to get restless and we headed out to saddle up again. During the freshen up of Ol’ Faithful, I’d noticed that the Veglia speedo wasn’t working so had fitted a Smiths speedo I had laying around. With a Smiths gauge and
grabbed onto the rear for us to negotiate the Poatina on our way to Cressy. Getting towards the end of the ride, we’d all backed off and ambled down the Poatina, pulling up at the Saundridge Road to regroup, before setting off again for the last little bit to Cressy. As we wiggled the legs to get the blood flowing again, I asked the group what speeds they’d been maintaining across the highland plains. With Maureen’s gesturing and confirmation from the others, seems an indicated speed of 70mph on the gauge, is actually around 100 kph. Suitably noted. It was only a blink before we’d pulled up at the Cressy Hotel and with suitable wetting agents readied on the table, we communicated with the dual-sport team
letting them know we had arrived at the agreed destination. It was only another 30 minutes or so before they arrived. They looked like they’d put in a big day and it turns out they’d ridden solidly with only a brief stop for a bite to eat at Moo Food. After more back slapping and loads more reaffirming of a absolutely delightful weekend, we each headed in our respective directions, with me filling Ol’ Faithful with some 98 on the way home. That certainly kept him happy for the last little section home, but once in the shed I got out a couple of 230 main jets and have a job to do in the next wee while. So thank you good people for a fantastic weekend. As was highlighted by Maureen, it was majestical, absolutely majestical……………and if you want the full version, you’ll just have to go on one of the group rides and experience it yourself!!!!
MANX CLASSIC TT BY GREG SIMSON From the paddock. The 2017 Manx Classic TT week. I first visited the isle of Man and the Classic TT in 2015. I had such a good time I returned in 2017. TT week is a week of racing and festivals all based around motorcycles on the Isle of Man. On my first visit I was there for the week of practice leading up to the Senior TT on the Saturday so had a good chance to look around the island and take in a bit of sightseeing as well as checking out the bike activity. I met a few people from some race teams and ended up helping a racer with a Seeley Gold Star from Holland for the week. This time I was determined to be there for the speed week following the main race and to see some of the racing from around the track not just from the pits as I had done previously. Accommodation can be a bit hard to locate for this period so I got in early and made a booking at a B&B in Douglas. However when I contacted some of the friends I made on my earlier trip to let them know I’d be coming over again they insisted I stay in the paddock with them and arranged for a tent to be made available. Friendly lot those Poms! So after a two month trip through China, Mongolia and Russia I found myself back on the Isle of Man just in time for the last practice day and I had no trouble locating the marquis and van belonging to Col who had offered me the place to stay. He successfully races a very nice CB 500 and has a penchant for Coopers Ale. In fact the fridge in the marquis was full to the brim with it a, no room for anything else. Alongside his tent was another belonging to Arthur (in his 70’s) and Gail who I had also met last time. He races a pair of beautifully prepared bikes, a 7R and a G50. On my first visit, a friend of Arthur’s , Bernie from Yorkshire ,(also about to hit 70 years of age), was there as pit crew and he kindly lent me his road bike to do a lap or two of the circuit, an offer I warmly accepted at the time . He was back again this time as a qualifier and was racing a Honda 350 in the junior class. As it turned out his race was delayed and his mechanic had to return the night before so I got to help him on race day this time around. The paddock is a great place to be for this event. There are so many rare and wonderful
bikes around to admire and there is a great sense of camaraderie amongst the people involved with the racing. I was made to feel welcome and really enjoyed myself again. Surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of exotic machinery and the laughter and sometimes not so gentle ribbing that went on late into the evening. Col must be a bit of an expert with the 500 as there was a steady flow of people dropping in at all times of day and night for a yarn and advice and maybe a stubbie of the Coopers. Generous to a fault I saw him lend someone a camshaft as their very expensively built race engine had chewed up the cam and followers during the first day of practice ( how expensive …try GBP10k!!). No questions asked, just “here try this”. As it turned out the guy was able to compete and finish the race and was almost in tears afterwards as he thanked Col saying it had been a dream of his to compete there for so long and if it hadn’t been for Col’s generous offer he wouldn’t have made it. Never did notice what payment or arrangement was made afterwards. Incidentally Col ended up racing with a practice engine built with standard components as he felt it was running pretty well, the specially built race engine stayed on the bench. The race is pretty hard on machinery and rider being four flat out laps of the 61 km road based circuit. Talking with the riders, most of the circuit is taken at full throttle on the classic machinery so things need to be solid and reliable. Col ended up completing the race and winning a bronze replica to boot. The winner of the class gets the main trophy , those that finish within a certain percentage of the winning time get either a silver replica or bronze. Col was sharing his marquis this year with an Australian race who now lives in France. Eric was racing a Honda RS 250 in the lightweight class and I got to watch him strip and rebuild his bike quite a few times during the week. He did all the work himself and I think he went through five or six pistons and rings during the days of practice and racing. It was good to see them just pull a motor down and put it back together on a milk crate in a tent. No fuss or bother. Bernie’s bike was new to him and the day before the race he noticed a broken case stud. It was an important one as it also located a main bearing so I watched the motor come out, cases split, broken stud removed, a new stud sourced and put back in and the motor reassembled and back in the frame, all in a matter of a couple hours. He also successfully finished all practice sessions and the race itself. While there I met a fellow club member.
Jack Overeem was over for the races as well and we hooked up a couple of times and had a few beers in Col’s tent. I did say accommodation was a bit hard to find during race week. Jack found out first hand ,,, but that’s another story. Conditions were good for race day and the senior TT went off without a hitch. In fact over rhe next few days new records were set in several classes. A Paton 500 took line honours in the Senior TT but I must admit a soft spot for the Norton Manxs. They just look right and sound wonderful. The howling MV Agusta 500’s failed to finish this year but an Agusta 350 took the line honours in the Junior TT. The AJS , Matchless, Vincent Comets, Nortons and many others all make for a wonderful blend of sight and sound , especially standing amongst them in the Park Ferme and on the starting line. Ear plugs are a necessity. One day a few of us set out in Col’s van to spectate and we were trying to find a good spot accessible by road. A couple of nice coincidences occurred. One - when we got a up a little side track a racer was sitting on the fence. His bike had blown the engine and he was in for a long wait to be picked up. Turned out he was from Colin’s home town in Northern England and they knew each other. So there was nothing for it but to load him and his bike in Col’s van and take him back to the pits. Had to stop for a scone and cream in a nice little seaside town on the way though. Two – at the end of the same track a Vincent was parked with WA plates. Can’t remember his name but he had been in Tassie earlier in the year for the British bike Rally and had shipped his bike over for the TT and a bit of touring. I also went to the Festival of Jurby , something that I had missed the first time around and cadged a lift in a van to the airfield with a mad Scottish racer who was returning to race at the IOM after a few years away due to a pretty bad high speed crash. He talked me around the circuit as we drove in the van and it was a bit hard to take it all in. “How do you remember all the corners? “ I asked. “There’s only five or six yu gotta worry about” was the reply …”the rest is throttle pinned and just make sure you’re in the right gear”! He gave lots of tips along the lines of ” See that church steeple poking over the brow of the hill there, just aim for that and pin it ”. “ See that tree… don’t tip in ’til you’re level with it” “That wooden post there..it used to be concrete but I took it out with my left leg when I crashed and they never replaced it” … And so on. No way! The Jurby festival is where a lot of historic race bikes, specials and other
exotica are brought out and do a few display laps. Bikes and people everywhere. The highlight this year was Mike Hailwood’s six cylinder GP Honda 250. A very rare thing and reputedly the most expensive bike in the world? It was great to wander around and see a lot of unique machinery up close. A couple of highlights from the time there. Being surrounded by fantastic machinery, seeing the little Honda six cylinder and hearing it run, a good close look at a couple of Brittens and seeing one of them running on a parade lap, but most of all meeting some brilliant people and having a grand old time. They know how to race and they know how to enjoy themselves. Oh, and another couple of laps of the circuit on a road bike offered to me by Dave, thanks Dave….friendly lot those POM’s.
ST helens overnighter BY gary smith With a little bit of organising between members we managed to arrange a fantastic weekend away. The Hobart members meet at 11 am at the fire station to head out to St Helens, the Huonville mob were delayed with a throttle cable breakage and a Vincent with a slipping clutch. We headed out to Orford for a quick coffee stop and then onto devils Corner for a late lunch, the Huonville gang caught up and joined us for lunch. We arrived at St Helens Big 4 cabin Park around 4.30 after check in and a look around the park we made our way to the Bay Side Hotel to meet up with the Northern members who had made their way to St Helens by various routes and were staying in cabins next door. We had 32 people sit down for dinner at 6.30 people with the die hards leaving after last drinks were called at around 11 pm with some going to various cabins to part take a of a final night cap or two The food was enjoyed by all; at least I did not hear anyone complaining. As the evening progressed there was lots of chatter and stories being told. Arrangements were made during the evening for everyone meet in the main street of St Helens for breakfast on Sunday
morning, this gave everyone a chance to look over the impressive line up of bikes and tell more stories. After breakfast the northern members made their way home while some of the Southern members rode to the Bay of Fires. Our ride back to Hobart was trouble free except that the late model triumph of Ian Bond’s had a loose battery terminal and this
was causing miss fire and eventually would not start, it’s great to see that even modern day bikes have little problems and it is not always the older British bikes. We made our way back to Hobart over St Mary’s and Elephant Pass to Swansea for a bite to eat before the final run to Hobart ,most of us would have arrived home around 3.30.
From the feedback I have had most people would like to see the ST Helens ride set as an annual event to encourage more interaction between all club members. Some info on the Northern part of the run….. Saturday morning weather looked great and I was up and into getting ready. Delivered the dog to her sitter, picked up Maureen’s overnight gear and back home to get Big Red (the Carberry) out. Pam was joining us for the weekend – coming in the car as the ride was a bit long on a 200cc scooter with a tiny fuel tank ! That meant I did not even have to load the panniers with jocks, socks and toothbrush etc ! Other starters from the auto museum included Steve and Adele Beams on the Beamer, John and Jodie Brumby on the KTM, Wayne on the Indian, Nigel on the W800 and Maureen on the Thruxton. Meanwhile – Boz was heading from the NW coast to Muz’s on his new Triumph and Bos, Muz and Janet headed direct to St Helens via Weldborough. As Steve and Adele pulled into the museum, the BM brakes brought the BM to an abrupt halt – enough for me to comment “the brakes work!” Steve made a comment “Geez Mick – you are brave – taking the Carberry!” We got underway on time as the clouds started to roll in – heading to Cressy for a coffee via Longford. First junction – Steve pulls over and starts inspecting wheels and saying something was wrong. He continued on to Cressey – but found that the ABS systems on the bike was playing up and locking the back wheel up everytime he touched the brakes ! Yuk ! He decided it was too dangerous and made the call to nurse the bike home to Beauty Point and follow along to St Helens in the ute. I reminded him – this had all happened because he made negative comments about the reliability of the Carberry !!! The curse that happens when reliability is mentioned ! Anyway – it was just great that they made the effort to still join us at the destination. From Cressey we took the back roads to Epping and then via Fingal to St Marys and Elephant Pass for pancakes lunch. Other than a couple of spits of rain prior to Cressy – we escaped the wet. Maureen had put her wet weather pants on at Cressy – so it was sure NOT to rain – thanks Maureen! Warmed and filled bodies back on bikes – and off we went done Elephant Pass to enjoy the East Coast road up to St Helens. Bos, Muz and Janet arrived very soon after us – all great timing! Janet was on the back of Bos’s bike (having swapped halfway) – doing a little research on pillion seats, bike comfort and rider styles ?
People were staying in a variety of accommodation – but we had a group at the Queechy cottages – so we were into nibbles, wine etc and started solving all the global issues. Mel (Glenn’s partner from Hobart) arrived just in time to join us as we arrived at the pub for dinner with the southern members. What a great turnout. Plenty of mixing, drinking, meeting, eating, talking. Sunday morning saw most people meet in the St Helens “CBD” for brekkie – some getting enough brekkie to last the next fortnight !! As the “southerners” headed out to Binnalong for a short ride – the “northerners” headed out of town going through to Derby for a break – the mountain bike capital of Tasmania !! Whow – has that place changed ??!! Great riding on the way through – although a few of those corners looked pretty slippery- wet and some leaf cover. This ride was the first really long ride I have done on Big Red – and it was nice to have her behaving herself. At last I think I have her pretty well sorted ! (there is that reliability curse again!!). The torque is amazing – riding through to Derby – mainly in 3 rd or 4 th – with the very occasional slip done to 2 nd. I will never wear the cutch out !! – soooo few gear changes and very easy to ride. We were going to stop at Lilydale – but everybody decided to head on home as we were fanning out from that point. I popped into Muz and Janet’s to do a couple of VC bike inspections on the way. A great weekend. Thanks to Gary for doing the main organisation.
richmond vintage bike show BY howard burrows
Yet another annual Richmond Show has been and gone and what a great effort it was by all concerned! I would like to mention a few who put in an effort well above the norm… Not in any order at all…. Chris Owens, Dallas Wilson, Ken Hall, Kerry Dickson, John Rook, John Rettig, Gary Smith, Dave Sowerby, Dan Murphy, Jan Blyton, Jerry Scott, Peter Ferguson, Peter Bender, AJ, Greg Simson, Jegs & Jen Nuttall. I am sure I have left someone of the list… please accept my apologies if I have.
A very special thanks to those that stayed overnight on security duty, they are….. Chris Owens, Howard Burrows,Greg Simpson, John Rook, Jegs & Jen Nuttall, Kerry Dickson & Peter Ferguson. The show raised a tad over $4400 and more importantly was a great public relations display with literally hundreds having their photos taken mounted on some of the bikes (thanks to the owners). Many membership forms handed out and at this stage 5 new members as a result. Lessons learnt….we need more advertising for the show, a delegated person to organise
duty rosters. Many thanks to all who helped out and attended the show…..see you next year.
Yet another annual Richmond Show has been and gone and what a great effort...
a great public relations display...
Combined VMCCT / BMCT Northern Section 2018 Ride Calender
Sun 2nd – Scottsdale Loop 8th/9th – Wed 12th Twilight Sun 16th – Low Head Fog 22nd/23rd & Bridport Lunch Ride. Meet at Westbury Horn Ride. 10am Hotel for Dinner 6.30pm Departure
Sun 30th – Old Bike Run. West Tamar & Beauty Point Fish n Chips
29th/30th
Sun 29th – The Great Brass Monkey Ride
30th/31st/1st/2nd – Easter Long Weekend. Sunday Riders Choice
9th -15th BSA International Rally, Victoria
21st/22nd – All British Rally, Victoria
Big Island Rallies
for a 10.30am Departure unless indicated otherwise. Midweek Rides, Riders Discretion - Every Wednesday 6pm 1 st Oct - 30th Apr. 11am rest of the year. Ride routes and length may vary at discretion of riders on the day taking into account the age of bikes that turn up and the weather conditions. See also our Northern Riders Group here : https://www.facebook.com/groups/NorthernTasmaniaVintageClassicMotorcycleRiders/
For more information contact - Glenn Osborne 0427740411 glennosborne74@gmail.com or Mick Lemon 0400660926 mick.pam59@bigpond.com . Meeting point for all rides is the Automobile Museum in Launceston
Tues 11th
Sun 25th – Ross Motorcycle Rally. 8am departure. Alternatively camp Saturday night Ross
December
Tues 13th
Sun 11th – Mt Roland/Cradle Mountain Run. 9am departure
17th/18th
Tues 9th
October
27th/28th – Overnighter to NW Possibly Corinna, Waratah or Smithton TBD
Sun 23rd – Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride
Sun 4th – Old Bike Run/Display. Westbury Steam Spectacular. 9am departure
Sun 16th – Convicts to Classics at Woolmers. TBC
25th/26th – Launceston Museum Open Weekend. Bike Display Days/Ride. TBC
21st/22nd
23rd/24th
November
8th/9th
18th/19th
Sun 15th – Riders Choice
Sun 17th – Riders Choice
Sun 20th – Old Bike Run. 26th/27th West Tamar & Surrounds. Burt Munro's Cafe
Sun 21st – Old Bike Run. Lilydale & Surrounds
Sun 3rd – Old Bike Run. White Hills & Evandale
Sun 12th – Riders Choice
7th/8th
Sun 1st – Riders Choice
4th/5th
9th/10th/11th – Queens Birthday Long Weekend.
Sun 3rd – Riders Choice
12th/13th
28th/29th
Sun 25th – Old Bike Run. Blessington, White Hills, Evandale
Sun 7th – Gunns Plains & Sun 14th – Dual Sport Surrounds. 9am departure Ride. NE Explorer. 9am departure
Tues 11th
September
Tues 14th
August
Tues 10th
July
Tues 12th
June
Tues 8th
May
Tues 10th
Sun 6th – St Helens / Bicheno Run. 9am departure
Sun 22nd – Old Bike Run. Longford & Westbury Surrounds
14th/15th
Sun 8th – Deloraine 50's Diner. Mt Roland/Gog Range Loop
April
Tues 13th
Sat 17th – Dual Sport Ride. Devils Gullet/Lake Mckenzie. 9am departure
Sun 4th – VMCCT Annual 10th/11th/12th – 8hr Day Lunch Westbury Long weekend. Sunday Riders Choice
Wed 21st – Twilight Ride. Sun 25th – Holwell Meet at Riverview Hotel Gorge/Beauty Point for Beauty Point for Dinner Fish n Chips 6.30pm
10th/11th – NW Motorcycle Show Ulverstone. Sun 9am departure for day trippers
3rd/4th – Overnighter to Strathgordon. 9am departure
Sun 18th – Deloraine Street Car & Bike Show. 9am departure
Sat 13th – Run to Bridport Sun 21st – Old Bike Run. 26th/27th/28th – Australia Show & Shine. 9am Lilydale & Surrounds. Day Bike Display at departure Somerset Surf Club 9am departure
6th/7th
TBC – To be confirmed TBD – To be decided
March
Tues 13th
February
Tues 9th
January
Feed & Yarn Night at 'Cock n Bull' 6.30pm
BRITISH MOTORCYCLE CLUB OF TASMANIA INC.
The Secretary, C/o South Hobart Post Office, South Hobart 7004 Tasmania Email: secretary@bmctas.com The British Motorcycle Club of Tasmania encourages the restoration and safe riding of British and other manufactured Motorcycles. Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month at the Tasmanian Fire Station - Social Club Rooms - Argyle Street Hobart.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION I wish to become a member of the British Motorcycle Club of Tasmania (Inc.) and agree, if accepted, to be bound by the Rules, Constitution, By-Laws or Directions designed to further the interests of Club Members. This includes attending the next scheduled club meeting to introduce myself and be welcomed as a club member. Name: Address:
Phone: Mobile: Email:
British Motorcycles owned:
Other Motorcycles owned: Date: Signature: EFT transaction details: Annual Membership Fee: $40-00 Use surname only for identification
BSB: 807-009 Account No: 51101523
Office use only: The above named person is known to us and we believe him/her to be a suitable person to be elected as a member of the British Motorcycle Club of Tasmania (Inc.) Proposer: Seconder: Approved:
Ride safely, see and be seen Gary Smith