ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

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April 2008 Club News

Indian Harley Club’s Excellent 2 Day Rally

With no back-up vehicle the adventurous (some might say foolish) ride to Bunbury consisted of Andrew on his 1959 250 BMW, Don 1944 Indian 1200, Matt 1956 AJS 350 and me (Bob) 1951 AJS 500. We were averaging around 50mph with a tail wind and warm weather - perfect.

This was to change after the Northcliffe turn-off when it started drizzling, turning into rain. I stopped to put my wet weather gear on (a little late as my jeans were soaked) catching up with the others in Manjimup. There’s roadworks riding through the town and by the time we’d got there it was sloshy mud, well that was a waste of time cleaning the bike wasn’t it? The rain eventually stopped by Bridgetown so we were able to take our wet gear off when we stopped at Balingup for a coffee.

Superb old Indian
We then had a good run through to Bunbury where we turned into the Motocross grounds which the Indian Harley Club were using as the base for the Rally. Jan and John were already there, John riding his BMW sidecar outfit and Jan towing the camper. Mike and Gloria were also there after trailering their 1956 BSA 350.
After saying our hello’s to various people we put up our tents. Don, Matt and myself then rode into town for some dinner.

We parked in the centre of the main street enjoying a nice meal and deciding to head back before dark.
Unfortunately Don’s Indian refused to start, it had decided to stop charging and the battery was dead.
Matt and I headed back to camp looking for a trailer. Dave Weeks volunteered his services and we returned to town with trailer in tow getting Don’s bike safely back to camp.

The next day Don bought another battery, cleaned up regulator and generator and success - back on the road. Matt had a bit of trouble with the rocker oil feed pipe and had to remove the tank to clamp it - problem fixed. Huw and Elina arrived on his 1964 600 BMW. Then the Rally started, with around 160 bikes. It was as usual very well run and we passed through some beautiful country part of which took us along the Donnybrook to Kirup Road and from Kirup to Nannup via the Cundinup Road ending up in Nannup for lunch.

The afternoon section of the rally took us on the Nannup to Balingup road (one of the best in the State). We eventually finished back at the Motocross grounds where we camped. Matt and I did a bit of maintenance - mainly chains and oil, ready for the next day’s Rally and the ride home. The evening meal was superb and the quiz that followed was good fun. It had been a great social day catching up with different riders I hadn’t seen for a while and meeting new people.

Next morning it was a shorter ride, but once again through some very nice country, it's great having a change from riding our Albany regional roads. Morning tea was supplied at Waterloo and the ride finished around lunchtime.

Bob and Matt: Ajay MenDon had to be home early and left that morning. Matt and I decided to pack the tents once the Rally finished, say our goodbyes and head off towards Nannup where we would stay the night. We had a great run through to Balingup and once again down to Nannup, by the time we had the tents up and bikes sorted (Matt adjusted the tappets on his AJS) it was nearly 6 pm and it was down to the pub for a brilliant roast dinner, beers and games of pool.

Next morning we packed and headed towards Bridgetown, what a great ride, weather and road perfect. We met Andrew there and took the Winnejup Road (what a great road this was) to Frankland. We stopped at Tone River and Doug Simcock pulled in on his Triumph - small world isn’t it - last time I’d seen him was Coral Bay some years before.

When we left Andrew’s rear tyre was a bit flat, so he pumped it up and this took us to Frankland. Shortly after Andrew was at the side of the road with the tyre flat again, we put some of that slosh stuff in it, but it wasn’t long before it was again flat. We took the tube out and tried patching it - but there was too many holes.

In the meantime a local had offered to look after it at his place. So eventually Andrew hopped on the back of my bike for the rest of the trip to Albany. I think he’s taking a spare tube in future ha ha.

But what a great weekend thanks for the company and the Indian Harley Club for organising the event.
P.S. The AJS ran beautifully and we covered 646 miles - over 1000kms.

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