Motorcycle Report

The quote of the month; Terry Dalton – on the Fish and Chip Run, 26 March, on it being such a great day for motorcycling;

“If you are not out riding today, you need to sell your bike...” Past Events.

4 – 5 – 6th March – Jim Toohey Run. To the West Coast; over Lewis Pass, Blackball, Greymouth (2 nights,) home via Arthurs Pass. About 18 bikes and another 4 -5 as back-up/supporters, great weather, very successful. Saturday there was a run to Ross to look inside a shed opposite the Empire Hotel… Most interesting collection!! Thanks to organiser Mike Glenday. Winner of the trophy was Colin Grant. 9th March – Noggin Night. Met at the Armadillo Café, Prebbleton, for a run to Leeston’s Crate and Barrel for a pub meal. Successful night, a dozen or so diners, but more cars went than bikes… Still, a good number who enjoyed the night out. 19th March – Ride Forever Course, Dan Ornsby. 10 people entered this instructional course, 5 for each instructor. Went off very well, very worthwhile day out. This safety course will be promoted again in 12 months or so; to

promote safety and skills for motorcycle riders. 26th March – Fish and Chip Run. About 26 bikes started at PMH, by the time of the first garage raid near Lyttleton numbers swelled to 30, then onto Leeston for lunch and the second shed. Great day, perfect for riding, one of the better runs we’ve had for a while in terms of participants and destinations.

Future Events.

9th April – Scooter Run. Originally planned for 16 th April, but date changed to take it away from Easter. Organiser is John Benn, with Graham Barnett helping. See elsewhere for more information. 10th April –‘P’ Group – Annual Run, possibly to Arthurs Pass. A good day is planned, look out elsewhere in The Hub for more details. 13th April – Noggin Night. This will be in The Barn; we have a couple of speakers organised who were on the construction team for the Britten Motorcycles. They’ll give a talk on their experiences. 30th April – Fish and Chip Run. The destination will be the aircraft museum at Ashburton Airfield. The word is this is one of the best displays of its type in the country, so well worthy of the effort to get there. As the destination is on the other side of town, the meeting place will be the BP Service Station, Rolleston, meet 9.30 am for a 9.45 am departure. Plan is to ride there straight to the airfield, then a late(ish) lunch in Ashburton before making your own way back the Christchurch. 11th May – Motorcycle Noggin. There is planned a very interesting destination for this Noggin, meeting at a local watering hole where you’ll learn of the destination… More details in the May Hub. 22nd May – Ruff Run. As the Motorcyclists did last year, the section will run and organise a grass Gymkhana Day for the Branch. See the May Hub for more details. That is about it for April,

Cheers, CML

JIM TOOHEY MOTORCYCLE RUN 2022

Friday dawned bright and clear and an eager band of about 16 bikes and riders assembled at Cutler Park for the annual Jim Toohey run. Jan and Royce Baker were there with car to tow the backup trailer and Barry Townshend was Boundary Rider in his car. Tour Leader Ainsworth liberally dispensed helpful information to all and was generally ignored. Route instructions were given out and Stage one was all main road to Culverden on our way to Greymouth via the Lewis Pass. The first casualty loomed up early as the Dominator of Darrell Johnson developed severe incontinence as did the rider when he saw the state of his bike. Wisely he chose to put it on the backup where the Roadholder front forks performed superbly, smoothing out the harsh suspension of the trailer. Culverden appeared without further interruptions and all and sundry retired for coffee, pies etc. or just stood around in the warm sunshine. A short stroll down the road revealed Triumphs 8, Harley, Honda, BMW 2, Suzuki, Norton 2, Puch Twingle, Henderson. Stage 2 was Reefton for lunch, the best ride of the day being the descent of the Rahu Saddle with the combination of sunshine, forest, swinging curves and the slight whiff of two-stroke flatulence in the air confirming Kurt’s earlier passing. Lunch at Reefton was an unrushed affair at various establishments and left Stage 3, a straightforward run to the Recreation Hotel in Greymouth to be completed. Some riders detoured at Ikamatua to visit Blackball and others took the direct route to the Recreation Bar. On arrival a very sociable dinner and evening ensued with no bad behaviour detected. Saturday’s run was a simple affair, a run to Ross to be followed by a lap of lake Kaniere, Kokatahi Pub and back through Stillwater and Blackball to Greymouth.

Arrival at Ross revealed Dave Malcolm MIA and his Hinckley Triumph eventually arrived on the trailer with a pneumatic problem with the rear wheel. After a tour of the shed at Ross the crowd retired to the Empire Hotel for lunch and dining entertainment was provided by Dave Malcolm ably assisted by Pete Lambert repairing the punctured back tyre of Dave’s Triumph. Eventual success was followed by Dave doing a ceremonial ride-past in front of the assembled host on the veranda of the Empire. The afternoon was finished by completing the course with some of the more adventurous going to Nelson Creek. Back to the Rec for drinks and dinner with much socialising and a short sharp awards presentation. Top award went to Colin Grant, a bleedin' Blenheim burglar who didn't even have the courtesy to ride a Pukka bike. God knows what the judges were thinking but one can only surmise that his advanced age and general decrepitude had somehow influenced their decision. Let's hope next year he reverts to his usual ride, a bath chair in the Forget-me-not wing of the Blenheim Home for the Indigent and Slightly Confused. Hard luck prize rightly went to Dominator owner Darrell. A special award of a suitably mounted pop rivet from his rear tyre and a star on the Walk of Fame went to Dave Malcolm for his and Pete’s efforts outside the Empire on Saturday. Sunday was a return over Arthurs Pass for a dispersal at Springfield with the two Blenheim interlopers disappearing towards Tophouse escorted by Paul Ainsworth to make sure they didn't do a U turn and bother us again. And that was that. Hats off to Jan and Royce for their services during the weekend, their movie star smiles and personalities really adding to the occasion, and also to Barry Townshend for his company on the run Great weather, great ride, great company. Colin Grant

Paul presents the trophy to Colin