ARALUEN PUB RUN
24 FEBRUARY 2008
There was a very good turn out of classic
and modern bikes for the run to Araluen. Breakdown support was provided by
Greg McFawn (although Greg couldn’t make the trip, his ute was driven by his
son, accompanied by his girlfriend). The route to Araluen went past the
airport to Queanbeyan, then up the Kings Highway to Bungendore and Braidwood, then down the mountain to Araluen. On
such a nice day for riding there were many motorcyclists out and about on the Kings Highway, and in both Bungendore and
Braidwood there were lots of bikes stopped in town. Alas, Bill Lewis had too
much work to catch up and was only able to come to the start of the run and
thus missed out on a lovely ride on a nice sunny Sunday with a moderate tail
wind.
Allan Boyd made an early detour back home
to fix the lid of the top box on his BMW, but then caught up to the group after
Braidwood. We lost the two Ariels at Bungendore. John Waldron only intended
riding his VB side valve to Bungendore and Peter Holdcroft, who is still
running-in his 1950 Square Four, had some concerning oil leaks and chose not to
complete to full distance (rather than tempt fate and end up loading the bike
onto the breakdown ute if the oil leak worsened). Unfortunately, the
breakdown support vehicle didn’t tow a trailer (no tow bar) and with two
occupants already in the cabin of the ute, meant that the rider of any bike
loaded on the back had to either squeeze in the ute or hitch a pillion ride on
another bike.
After regrouping in Braidwood we headed off
to Araluen, but not entirely without incident. Mick Gentlelman’s lovely T100
lost electrical power when a lead broke off the rectifier and shorted on the
rear guard, blowing a fuse. With a piece of wire provided by Steve Keough and
some rudimentary rewiring of the power lead with the fuse removed, he was back
underway. On the way to Braidwood, John Astridge’s prize winning 1970 T120
Triumph Bonneville lost its battery side cover. Fortunately Kate, his pillion,
alerted him to the situation and the side cover was found and it only seemed to
suffer scratches, but will need repainting. John’s T120 also suffered a broken
spoke in the rear wheel and for safety he found another ride home for Kate.
The arrival of the Club run in Araluen
doubled the population for the day. The pub struggled a bit with the influx
of orders, so lunch was not what you could call “fast food”. After lunch
members made their own way home, but this time riding into a headwind that had
picked up a bit. Allan Boyd took a scenic route on his BMW scrambler, whilst
most rode back the way we came, splitting up at Bungendore for the north side
members to ride home though Smiths Gap. My brother Rusty (visiting from the NT
for my 60th birthday) rode my 1970 TR6 and suffered a speedo failure
at Braidwood on the way home. Fortunately for me the speedo was overhauled by
Doug Bryant in time for me to use the bike at the Taree Rally on following
week-end.
Steve Keough captured the ride on digital camera (as usual), but he had a
little competition with Craig Mill also seen to be capturing the start of
the run. To see photos of this run, go to Steve
Keough's unofficial Club web site.
Col Hill
ROLL CALL
| Arki Jaatinen | MV Agusta F4 750S | 2000 | |
| Peter White | Yamaha XS750 | 1978 | |
| Ernie Seary | BMW 1150RT | 2001 | |
| Len Skipper | Triumph Bonneville T100 | 2007 | |
| Denis Murphy | BMW R1200 | 2005 | |
| Mathew Spackman | AJS 18 Scrambler | 1950 | |
| John Waldron | Ariel VB 600 | 1948 | Bungendore only |
| Peter Holdcroft | Ariel Square Four | 1950 | |
| Mick Gentleman | Triumph T100 | 1968 | |
| Colin Markland | Honda CB350 Four | 1973 | |
| Jack Markland | Harley Davidson 883 | 2002 | |
| John Holder | Honda 650 | 2004 | |
| Craig Mill | BSA Bantam D175 | 1969 | Start only |
| Lisa Mill | BSA Bantam D1 | 1953 | Start only |
| Ian Brock | Vincent Comet | 1951 | |
| Floyd Primmer | BMW R80RT | 1983 | |
| Bill Lewis | BSA Rocket III | 1969 | Start only |
| Ollie Walker | Honda ST100 | 1983 | |
| John Broad | Yamaha SR500 | 1979 | |
| Col Hill | Triumph T150 | 1969 | |
| Rusty Hill | Triumph TR6 | 1970 | Visitor from Alice Springs |
| Greg Carmody | Triumph T150 | 1973 | |
| Dick Holland | AJS M31 | 1961 | |
| Steve Davey | Norton Commando 850 | 1974 | |
| Dick Stubbs | Suzuki Burgman | 2005 | |
| John Astridge & Kate | Triumph T120 | 1970 | |
| Ron Allen | BMW 1200C | 2003 | |
| Allan Boyd | BMW R80GS | 1984 | |
| Gary Rankin | BMW K1 | 1990 | |
| David Sykes | BMW R60/5 | 1972 | |
| Steve Keough | BMW R75/5 | 1972 | |
| Don Burrows | BMW R75/5 | 1973 |