Back to the grind

Back to work after a fortnight of magnificent Touring around Tassie with The British Motorcycle club of Hobart and 140 others, this of course was going to be a combined Iron Indian Riders event which was advertised for 12 months but with a complete lack of interest had to be cancelled! Two Indians did the trip a 741 Scout and a 1946 Chief along with a handfull of old Earles fork BMW’s a ton of Vincents and Brough Superior’s and numerous Norton,Triumph and BSA even a 350 Jawa and a Velorex 3 wheel canvas body car. Weather God’s were good with only severe rain from Zeehan to Strahan the rest of the time superb, I rode the Vincati and it never missed a beat, unlike a few others on badly prepared machines, fortunatly a back-up and luggage vehicle was provided for the whole event which ran for over 14 days culminating in 2,000 klm’s being covered. The interesting thing was when the event is declared every 2 years its completely booked out in under 45 minutes and nearly 12 months before the event is held! I have been on 4 and its the best rally I have ever been on although with ferry, meals, fuel and accomodation can get expensive with a rally fee of $350+ it all adds up, you only live once all competitors were on pre 1969 machines ans the earliest was a 1928 the youngest rider was 30 and the oldest 91

 

A long time between drinks

There has been little to report recently after the Midday Express Ride in January, unfortunately the Quarterly General Meeting was called off the mid January because on the evening picked it was 38C and to damn hot to be doing official duties even know its held in a pub. But by now if your a financial member you will have received your Summer Smoke Signals e-mag, a sterling job by our esteemed editor Ray as usual and at this point I must thank Mark Barthelmie and Sue Heard for the time and effort organising the previous Midday Express Ride, members always enjoy participating in events but fail to realize they don’t just happen without any organising going on in the background, thats why we need people on your committee so it does’nt fall on the shoulders of one or two people. Bearing that in mind we are only a few months away from the next AGM so start thinking which position you would like to procure we always have room for fresh blood and thats very important. Clubs of all hobbies are having a hard time since Covid, ageing members, lack of interest, and people with little or no spare time to spare, lack of funds to participate, we have taken this in our stride with no joining fees only annual subs, no rally fees, quarterly meetings, and 2 rallies a year instead of 4, and 2 only Sunday rides a year, has it increased membership NO, but we still have a staunch number of committed members and changing our constitution to include British and European motorcycles up to 1976  gave us some new extra enthusiastic members. Will it save our/all clubs probably not, but it will prolong it and we must be open minded to accept change otherwise like the dinosaurs we will all be extinct. Unfortunately the killer literally is aging demographics and I reckon that within 20 years this hobby will fail being possibly permits for ICE vehicles and maybe restricted petrol supply combining lots of seperate clubs into one or two huge one will help but inevitably I think we should enjoy what we can while we can.

Midday Express 2026 success

Yes the were more than 4 turned up, 3 Triumph’s, 3 Indian’s, 2 Vindians, 1 Boat Anchor, 1 Honda Fireblade, the weather was marginally hot 32C and the route & BBQ magnificently  planned by Mark Barthelmie and his partner Sue Holmes Saturday evening BBQ was put on for free by IIRA and everyone seemed happy, tons of food and drink. The lunch stop at Port Albert Fish and Chippery on the Quay freshly caught was unique and followed by the unforgettable ride through the Tara Bulga national park and rain forest simply amazing, in all only 1.5 hours from Melbourne well worth a visit, our ride for the day was a shade over 250 klm’s. Our Saturday evening meal at Anatoli Pizza and Pasta restaurant topped off a great weekend. Gary Hogg unfortunately after riding 780 klms had problems with his 1600cc Thunderbird and eventually it was diagnosed as bad battery he missed the splendid ride but was very happy to find a new battery to enable him to go home!

Wrap up, those who missed out on the BBQ, and catch-up as well as a fine organised ride in great weather  to bad, but the next years one will be worth writing in your diary, we used to do 6 rallies a year, we now do 3 because people don’t participate unfortunately! Thank you Mark and Sue

Midday Express revised

 

Iron Indian Ride Sat 31st 2026

Accommodation for the night before is available at Warragul Gardens Holiday Park, 44 Burke St, Warragul,3820 (warragulcaravanpark.com.au). 0418 323 270.

Warragul Views Motel, 50 Rulemount Rd, Warragul, 3820 (warragulviewsmotorinn.com.au), 0356235222

Both only 1Km from M1 freeway Junction (Warragul- Korrumburra turn)

Meet at Crazyhorse Indian at 9.00 for 9.30 departure (tea and coffee available) 60 Colquhoun Blvd, Warragul, Vic 3820. 0466 229 747

Look around 1hr

Leave 10.30am for Meeniyan via Teetora rd going over the Strezlecki ranges to Korrumburra then thru Leongatha, (sorry no time to gather mushrooms) arrive Meeniyan for coffee 11.30ish
lots a cafes here. (1 hr for Tea)

Leave 12.30am heading down the South Gippy Highway to Port Arthur a nice little Harbour with the best fish n Chips in Victoria. Arrive 1.30pm at Port Arthur. The fisherman catches the fish off the coast here and his wife cooks them in the afternoon so the daily catch varies. 1-1.5hrs (depending how busy the shop is ) .

Leave at 14.00pm out thru Yarram and the silo art and then back up thru Tarra Bulga National park. Reckoned to be the last remaining temperate rain forest in Victoria. There can be a toilet stop thru the park. The roads thru here are very narrow, steep and twisty (just so you know) . We come out of the top and head down the ridge where you will see the giant Lou Yang power station (one of the few left now) and we will end up joining the M1 city bound just outside Morwell around15.30pm

2025 Good Riddance, I’m looking forward

Some years are years that stick in your mind forever others don’t eg: 1974-78 I remember working at Mussett’s the Triumph Importer but beside a mad girlfriend or two thats it, a blank I suppose its like remembering cleaning you teeth last night. not significant to remember, anyway plenty of personal ups and downs to make me happy that its in the rearview mirror.

So with a little over a week to go for the Midday Express Ride at Thornton (cancelled due to fires) and the weather forecast in the mid twenties I’m itching to go as it will be the first ride of the year for me next to  the Tassie Tour  11 day ride planned for March, so the All British Rally in April looks to be our next ride unless somebody wishes to organise something. Winter kills off all riding basically so our Crazy Horse Rally 2026 in September at Myrtleford, Pub & Grub Ride October-Nov and virtually thats all beside Quarterly Meetings in Alphington. Quarterly Day Rides have been suspended due to lack of interest at this point unfortunately

 

Midday Express overnighter 2026 cancelled

Cancelled

Christmas party dates

Christmas party date has been moved to 13th December, starting at 11.30 on, we need an idea of numbers for catering so please either contact Wayne or Phil whose numbers are listed in the Contacts Page . Wayne’s address will be found on the Events page, if there is enough interest we may have a ride to Wayne’s earlier to round out the morning

POLARIS SELLS Indian

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