2005 Club Rally
Annual Rally 22-24 Jan 05
Rally preparations at EPIC began on Friday morning with John Broad and Peter
Toet gathering the Club’s paraphernalia from Paul Everitt’s shed.
Mind you, Bruce Pilgrim and Lorraine McRae had literally weathered the storm
the night before, as they arrived on Thursday afternoon only to be barraged
by the torrential downpour and hail. By late afternoon the Rally campsite was
filling quickly. Steve Butcher set up the Registration Desk and computer system
and ‘opened the shop’ for pre-registration at about 8:00pm. We put
on a small sausage sizzle for those of the campers with a bit of an appetite.
This was well received by one and all.
Saturday morning saw the Rally begin in earnest and at about 9:30am that man
with the megaphone, yours truly, called ‘attention in the pits’
and welcomed all of the stalwarts to our 28th Rally. ‘Grand marshal’
Pole then gave the assembled party their ‘riding orders’ (he didn’t
need the megaphone!) and sent the marshals on their way. At about 1015 the Rally
Director gave the call ‘start your engines’ and the trusty steeds
were on their way to Gundaroo. The weather en-route was a welcome mid 20s and
the ride was delightful, topped only by the quenching ale on arrival. The only
mishaps on the way was the severed fuel line on a lovely Big Port AJS (no names,
but I think he was the Grand Marshal’s brother!) and a recalcitrant Honda
CX Sports that would only travel a km or two before the electrics refused to
function any further.
After a refreshment or two, the ‘gaggle’ of bikes returned to EPIC
by the long route via Bywong or the short route directly back. On return the
temperature had risen to the high 20s and the crew were appreciative of the
cold meat and salad lunch served in the air-conditioned Quokka Pavilion. The
bikes were duly parked in their age categories for judging and it was indeed
a terrific sight. Again, we had attracted an impressive array of quality bikes.
The motorkhana events followed the judging and lunch. These were run by Mike
Gilmore, Steve Davey and Rob Hill with guess who on the megaphone. Two special
mentions are warranted: Mike Gilmore’s fantastic run on his RD350 to win
the slalom (he nearly came completely unstuck at the end) with over two seconds
to spare over last year’s champ, Howard Kneebone; and Peter Birthisell’s
persistence on his Indian for the judgement (I think he had about 5 goes)! By
late afternoon it was time to relax and refresh in preparation for the presentation
dinner.
No prizes for guessing who grabbed the microphone for the evenings proceedings.
After a fine feed of ‘Rustler’s Spit Roast’, yours truly began
the raffle draw. There were a lot of prizes to get through, but the gathered
mob showed patience as we got through the draw with the major winners appearing
to be the ‘Shoalhaven Mob’ and the ‘Indian Tribe’. The
formal presentations followed with President John officiating with ‘guess
who’ on the microphone. A complete list of winners is at the end of this
report. Well done one and all; they were all very worthy winners.
Sunday dawned with overcast skies, but a pleasant mid 20s forecast. The ride
to ‘The Loaded Dog’ at Tarago went well, although there were a few
that were not prepared for the sudden drop of temperature as we climbed out
of Bundendore. The morning tea at Tarago was a real treat. We were again spoilt
by the range of sandwiches and cakes laid on by our ladies, washed down by tea/coffee
set up by Geoff Nicho and Rob Woolley. Well done Nerida Barges, Kath Richards,
Helen Harvey and Lyn Nicholas. The ladies from ‘Coffee Here’ mobile
coffee company was also welcomed with lattes and cappuccinos flowing freely.
Harry and Ruth’s wares from ‘The Loaded Dog’ were also prevailed
upon by a few thirsty riders. A highlight at Tarago was definitely the awarding
of the inaugural Ross Everitt Memorial ‘Clubperson of the Year’
award to Nerida Barges. The ride back started cold as a light misty rain began
to fall, but this soon abated as we got nearer Bungendore where the temperature
seemed to rise at least 8-10 degrees (well that’s what it felt like)!
On return to EPIC, most people settled down to a hot roast roll or two and a
relaxing afternoon. Many Rallyists had to pack up shop and head for home, as
Monday was not a public holiday.
On Monday I got to EPIC at about 0830 to be treated to an egg and bacon roll
for breakfast courtesy of our Shoalhaven cousins. Thanks folks, it was great.
By about 0930 we had about 8 riders keen for a whiz around the lookouts. So
Steve Butcher played tourguide with Brain Kille playing ‘tailend charlie’,
whilst a few of us commenced the ‘after Rally cleanup’. The riders
returned at about 1200 and partook of a roast meat roll left over from the Sunday
lunch. The cleanup was finished by about 1400 when we bid farewells and headed
for a well-earned relax.
Judging by most of the Survey Forms we had run another great Rally. We had
received mostly praise and thanks for a terrific weekend, with some other comments
offering suggestions for improvement. Our feature category of ‘Two Stroke
Machines’ had attracted 22 entrants on some lovely, not often seen machines.
It was great to see them. For the record, by machine make, we had attracted
many individual machines, 5 Harleys, 5 Yamahas, 8 AJS, 9 Hondas, 9 Indians,
9 Nortons, 10 Suzukis, 15 BSAs, 18 BMWs and 21 Triumphs, with a total of 150
machines. We had served 146 lunches on Saturday, 170 dinners on Saturday night
and 123 lunches on Sunday. Steve Keough, our Club Photographer took about 800
photos during the weekend. We are also trialling a DVD with video and stills; keep your ear to the ground
on this one.
I would like to especially thank all of our sponsors for supporting the rally
with trophy sponsorships and raffle donations. These are listed elsewhere in
the report. Of course, I must also thank sincerely the many helpers that make
our Rally such a success. I am only the front man behind the megaphone and ‘conducting
the orchestra’. We owe a great debt of thanks to the following, in no
particular order (I hope I don’t miss anyone, apologies if I do):
Grand Marshal Pole, all of the marshals, Col and Karin Hill, Peter Davey and
Kath Richards, Nerida and Peter Barges, Helen Harvey, Lyn and Geoff Nicholas,
Rob Woolley, John Sever, Steve Butcher, Peter and Ann Toet, Stew Ross, John
Broad, Harry Julian, Bill Tarplee, Dick Holland, Rally Packing night helpers,
Jon Gough and Lyn Randall, Bob Courtney, Mike Gilmore, Steve Davey and Rob Harris.
A special thankyou to our trophy sponsors and donators as listed below, with
a very special thankyou to our major sponsor this year, Mike Gilmore from Australian
Plasterboard Company, Canberra and Monaro. Without you guys it would be all
the more difficult (and expensive) to run our Rally.
Thanks again,
See you all next year for our 29th Annual Rally.
Bill Lewis
Trophy Winners
| Best Veteran (to end 1918) | 1st Alan Lowe 1914 Matchless 8B 2nd Rob Woolley 1915 Rudge TT 3rd Geoff Nicholas 1909 Triumph Trusty |
| Best Vintage (1919 to 1930) | 1st Frank Dean 1928 Scott Flying Squirrel 2nd Jim Parker 1928 Indian Chief 3rd Geoff Bland 1926 AJS Big Port |
| Best Pre-War Classic (1931 to 1945) | 1st Peter Davey 1937 BSA Y13 2nd Peter Birthisell 1941 Indian 441 3rd Ann Toet 1939 Rudge Special |
| Best Post-War Classic I (1946 to 1959) | 1st Floyd Primmer 1952 Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport 2nd Chris Parlett 1953 Norton Dominator 3rd Colin Sunderland 1954 BSA/JAP Special |
| Best Post-War Classic II (1960 to 1974) | 1st Steve Vidler 1967 Velocette Venom 2nd Dave Betts 1970 BSA Lightning 3rd Paul Chapman 1974 Suzuki GT550 |
| Best Modern (1975 onwards) | 1st Paul Krauth 1976 Bennelli 750 2nd Bill Walsh 1978 Suzuki GS1000 3rd Michael Power 2004 Royal Enfield 500 Bullet |
| Best Outfit | 1st Denis Tobler 1925 Motosacoche Especiale 2nd John Francis 1929 Harley Davidson J 3rd Lyndon Tillbrook 1958 BSA A10 & Tillbrook Sidecar |
| Best Military | 1st Lyndel Hebden 1944 Indian Chief 2nd Jim Carmody 1942 BSA WM20 |
| Best AJS/Matchless | Robert Green 1935 AJS 35/8 |
| Best BSA | Peter Davey 1937 BSA Y13 |
| Best Norton | Peter Houghton 1978 Norton Commando |
| Best Triumph | Lorraine Litster 1970 Triumph Bonneville |
| Best Sporting Interest | Kerryn Darderi 1962 BSA Rocket Gold Star |
| Kid’s Choice | Ann Toet 1939 Rudge Special |
| Best Lady Participant | Julieane Orgill 1970 Honda CB250 |
| Best Junior Participant | Nick Harris 1944 Indian Chief Outfit |
| Slalom | 1st Mike Gilmore 1972 Yamaha RD350 10.68 secs 2nd Howard Kneebone 1950 Jawa Type 11 12.19 secs 3rd Robert Small 1965 BSA A65 12.66 secs |
| Slow Ride | 1st Jon Gough 1966 Triumph 6T 12.97 secs 2nd Rex Beard 1972 Honda CB350F 12.40 secs 3rd Roy Atherton 1972 BMW R75/5 12.08 secs |
| Judgement | 1st Roy Atherton 1972 BMW R75/5 20mm 2nd Robert Popplewell 1970 Jawa 559 70mm 3rd Peter Birthisell 1944 Indian Chief 80mm |
| Hardluck Award (Light up with Lucas!) | Geoff Frost 1982 Honda CX Sports |
| Best Two Stroke | 1st Paul Chapman 1974 Suzuki GT550 2nd Rob McLean 1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV 3rd Frank Dean 1928 Scott Flying Squirrel |
| King (& Queen) of the Rally | Denis & Jean Tobler 1915 Motosacoche Especiale Outfit |
Sponsors:
King of the Rally: Action Motorcycles
Best Two Stroke Bike: Australian Plasterboard Company, Canb & Monaro
Best Modern Machine: Action Motorcycles
Best Junior Participant: Harry Julian
Best Lady Participant: Harry Julian
Best AJS/Matchless: Grand-Prix Karting
Best BSA: Grand-Prix Karting
Best Norton: Grand-Prix Karting
Best Triumph: Eurotune Motorcycles
Best Sporting Interest: Dunster Automotive
Best Outfit: TJ’s Tyres & Accessories
Best Military: TJ’s Tyres & Accessories
Best Pre-War Classic II: Gecko Motorcycles
Donations:
Shannons - $100 donation
Joes Motorcycles:- 2 pairs M/Bike Gloves
Canberra M/CCentre: - $100 Gift Voucher
Dahlitz Motorcycles - Motorbike Cover
Robbos Motorcycles - Cleaning Products
Gecko Motorcycles - $25 Voucher
TJ’s Tyres & Access. - 2 Cleaning kits
The Battery Factory - - 6V & 9V Battery Chargers
Loctitie Pty Ltd - - 3 Loctite Multikits
Castrol Oils - -4 1lt Activ2T Oil