When’s to old to ride?

IMG_0620

This is probably one of the best questions out there for some of our older members the simple answer to it is never it keeps you young but in reality you seem to know yourself as the bike may feel unwieldy actually you may have had a medical procedure and your strength to man-handle or even kick your machine to life can be daunting. I recently read of a guy in Queensland 91 yo old still enjoys riding his motorcycle a 500cc I believe and he’s happy, I have ridden everything from a Munch Mammoth to a Honda Z50 and all configurations from cafe-racers to choppers  and most of the Indians made now and from the past, the bikes I feel either uncomfortable or not confident in that I had owned in the past are now no longer in my garage, they have been replaced with either cruisers or easy riding British bikes and if the weather turns foul unless I’m caught in it I drive a 4 wheeler, I don’t have to prove anything. These days my motorcycling is for my enjoyment so at 64 yo where do I see myself in say 10 years if my expiry date does’nt come up, hopefully still riding my 2015 Scout which suits me to a “T” it’s small and at the moment easy to push around and has a good turn of speed and power, I have raced sidecars in my youth with reasonable success and still have a 1944 Chief with a “chair” its a bit wearing riding it but like the old chap pictured above it does’nt fall over when stopped, this may be a advantage as I get older, most of us have ridden now since they were a teenager and one day inevitably your son or daughter will say “Dad don’t you think your to old to ride a motorcycle now” if your fit the answer is “No” if not it will be a sad day because you have admitted that your old!

Proposed Constitution and whats in it for you

Your new Committee have been hard at work and by now you will notice that of the 19 agenda points raised at the Committee meetings over 16 have been acted on already, the copies of the minutes have been sent to all financial members by now. So what are all the items on the agenda, read and find out but the current committee has done more in a month than has happened since the association has started in 2010 and this I know because I and a couple of others have  been around since then, the thing is though all the committee members from day one in 2010 till now have all given up their time and put in bloody hard work to make sure you are enjoying yourself, I believe that’s the basis of this Association and even know somebody will always “grumble”we are in there for the majority not the minority and that’s where our strengths lie. The Classic example of this was on the weekend it was one of the best and enjoyable Crazy Horse Rallies we have ever had and I believe all that attended would agree, we changed a few things and with a great ride and perfect weather, personally I was in heaven. Your new Committee has planned a few more “surprises” next year 2017 with Chris Horner organizing a new 4 day Rally in Dunkeld somewhere in March it is a “hub” type rally based on the very successful Gypsy Tour format more on this later. Also plans are afoot for the Christmas Party to be held at Owen Jones’ new property as the Gisborne event has been cancelled, more on these events in the future. So the proposed Constitution, its been on the website in Members Area’s  and will go in Smouldering Embers e-mag next week you have 21 days and the proxy form or attend the meeting this needs to be acted on pronto then its off to Corporate Affairs to be approved after that, to all those involved, Daryl Colt, Ken Hager, Chris Horner, Peter & Helen Hale, Martyn Goodwyn, Guy Allan, Mark Barthelmie, Peter Kime, and others on the previous and current committee’s that have all had a go at getting it to this form we are grateful and thank you. The light is in the tunnel and we need to go forward, most members wont notice any difference at all and thats the way its meant to be.

New Clubman of the Year

img_1855

Our new Clubman of the Year is history making as Gary Hogg is the first Associate Member to win this prestigious award, the IIRA only presents one trophy a year and this is the big one for us as well as the receiver. Gary pictured above with his wife Bev has probably been the best organiser we have ever had and yearly has new routes planned for the Crazy Horse and Rain in the Face rallies and without asking freely gives up his time for all members, I am proud to say that I count the man among my friends and its is well deserved.

Is it still viable to spend so much?

IMG_0609

Sentiment has a lot of power over emotions or for that matter monetary matters, many people lavish lots of both on old motorcycles and the results can be mixed take for example the Indian above you could just leave it alone after new tyres and some fuel/oil, exhaust system etc and your off, the question is for how far or for how long. I had a similar 1921 Scout to this about 25 years ago and did just that it lasted under 12 months and used oil I decided a “tear down” would help but unfortunately it had “tram tracks” that were worn deeply into the rear cylinder, hence the oiling problem and lack of power. I decided it was to much hassle and sold it to a chap that restored it, of course now I regret that and it wouldn’t be so daunting a problem in 2016 but one cannot dwell on what could have been I never regretted buying it but I do a little selling that Scout. So if I would have kept it I would have restored it and these days that’s very out of fashion I would have spent lots of money and even more time on it but then because it’s such a early model limited my riding on it because of today’s traffic, not very sensible, a practical person would just spend the money and buy one already finished and restored in the long run much,much cheaper way to achieve a sensible outcome I think. Needless to say many still restore and end up very over capitalised on a machine I have recently noticed a $50,000 741 army Scout in Bike Sales .com these sell for less than half that figure and a good Chief would be available any day for the same amount, I think a little more sanity is needed and a level head these days as sentiment is to expensive

Burt’s record today in 1967

image

103 YEARS TO LATE

IMG_1925

It’s Fournales for me!

imageimageimage

A few weeks ago I fitted a new set of Fournales to my 2015 Scout, as most people are aware by now the Scout is a quite amazing machine but comfort and the cheap rear standard shockers let the otherwise superb machine down. I had tried the Ikon shocks which are reasonably priced but unfortunately we’re not up to the standard, surprisingly as I have them on other makes and they are a good product, I believe there is a “fix” for them made by a member in Albury, this adds to the price of course and I had decided to wait for Fournales Aust (0407 511454) to import Scout types called “Air-Spring” they have no springs and ride on a air-oil combination. After fitting them I found the motorcycle was transformed, no “topping out, or harshness in the rear suspension at all, this combined with the Corbin seat it’s a revelation, and now I look for excuses to ride it more often. I have now owned this new Scout for 10 months and somebody recently asked me how I like it, well the answer to that is if it was written off or stolen I would go straight down to Scotty McConnell at Indian in Elizabeth st and get another one, I ride lots of motorcycles as its my job, both old and new and I have bought various makes new in the past with some immediate regrets, this bike is better than I hoped for or expected and to tell you I’m a bit jaded about the industry is a understatement after working in it for 38 years now, every motorcycle is the greatest at least in the manufacturers eyes unfortunately they rarely are for the customer! The New Scout made by Polaris is fantastic for its price and I’m proud to own it as much as my Springfield versions

New “News” Area

download

I am starting  another page called News this will be for more general items like Harley Friday and such things as the Stop Press Area is fairly diluted now with everything and needs to go back to its roots. With over 1.25 million hits on our site in 6 years its the most popular page only followed by the Calendar and then the Contacts Area, so be prepared for the changes over the next few weeks.

Another successful monthly run

IMG_1808IMG_3353IMG_1806IMG_3350IMG_3351IMG_1804

With a perfect Sunday morning yesterday in the middle of Winter we had over 24 Bikes turn up at Mark Barthelmie’s new shop Crazy horse Moto, and 22 were Indian’s. All the Indian Owners were emptying their wallets on the extensive range of parts and clothing Mark has in stock covering all Indian models from 1928 to 2016, plus for the rest of us a nice BBQ was provided with food and drink. In all a great day thanks to all at Crazy Horse for the hospitality and food, to those who attended without you it would have been a “flop” your support was appreciated

The best accessories

IMG_1901IMG_1903

There are lots of accessories on the market when you buy a new bike, genuine or aftermarket a hard choice but sometime the aftermarket parts are better and cheaper, other bits the genuine is best. When I bought my Scout the genuine wire wheels and handlebars were reasonable, the genuine windscreen was worse value and not as good quality the same as the standard saddlebags. The same with the rear shocks and a number of other items all those were aftermarket and I’m happy and surely that’s the main thing, funny thing about motorcycles is that the accessories area are a big market item quite the opposite with cars, most people get things fitted with cars on the assembly line or maybe a tow-bar later, but in bikes it’s a whole gamut I know H-D have a catalogue the size of a phone book, one item is pictured above I suppose when you have reliability problems it would be handy