ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

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October 2019 Club News

Anvil | Mystery | Perkolilli | India | Chris Rees Memorial | Membership | Calendar

Lake Perkolilli or Bust Ride

Story and pics by Loose Bruce

After the event was washed out five years ago we were keen to go to Lake Perkolilli again. I took some time off work and headed off Thursday am with 4 sidecars and 2 solos to camp at McDermid Rock on the Hyden – Norseman Rd. The flies were very friendly. Next morning we headed up the Victoria Rocks Rd to Coolgardie. 

Heading along a yellow sand road.
Then it was into Kalgoorlie for supplies for the red dust racing weekend. We arrived at Lake Perkolilli Friday arvo. We watched some great machines race around the old track on Saturday.

We packed up and headed for Balagie Rock west of Bullfinch. Great spot and views from the top. Monday we headed down to Westonia and picked up the old goldfields road all the way to York, then on to Perth. Great weather and company over five days and 1,500km.

The Dust

Kylie, Jim, Roy, Lang, Lampo and me arrived at Lake Perkolilli at 2pm on the Friday to find hundreds of caravans and camper trailers already in residence. The bulldust at the entry to the camping area was four inches deep already.

Nice camping spot in the evening.
We nearly turned around and left, but a few others had arrived earlier and had found a great spot away from the hordes. They found us just in time. We went over to a motorcycles only camp spot and set up camp.

After a cold beer to wash down the dust and we were off to check out the old cars and bikes. Forty odd bikes and about 60 cars were entered. They came from far and wide, Tassie being the only state without an entry.

Dusty Rolls Royce.
There were even two cars from the UK. - A Lagonda and a Been which only did a third of a lap before putting a rod through his motor. Lang’s mate was there with his '35 Rolls Royce which five of us scored two laps of the track in.

Cars racing in the dust.
Dust was everywhere, but there was a nice breeze to blow it away. Lots of planes parked infield and three ultra-light planes buzzed around. With practice underway we consumed more beer  while catching up with the bike mob from Bunbury. After practice at 4.30, the track was open to all.

A couple of mates on sidecars went for some laps. Many beers later we were off to the tent. Saturday morning we ran into Garry Taylor for a chat. Then the TT started using a handicap system with eight cars at a time doing two laps, so they all crossed the line close. I don’t know how the ones at the back could see anything. Check out the cars!
Variety of cars.

Bikes lined-up.
The track was wide. Bikes were out next and an 80 year old guy on an AJS got a tank-slapper right in front of the finish. I think he had a few broken bones poor bloke.

Fully-ventilated BSA crankcase.
The day before some guy on a BSA put a rod through the crankcase and cartwheeled down the track. He walked away unhurt. He’s had the bike since he was thirteen.

Scott two-stroke.
Hundreds more spectators were out for the day from Kalgoorlie. All in all, a great event and highly recommend to go to if they have another, but you must like red dust. We packed up and left on Sunday. The winner of the bike class was a BMW R66 from the BMW club.

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