Self flagellation on a C-344B Indian is easy and something I have to psychic my self up to ride it, why you may ask, well until today I had a bad set of head stem bearings in my old Army Chief it was a horror to ride, like it had a tight steering damper, a getaway from traffic lights was a mastery in itself without bouncing of car doors either side. A Army Chief isn’t refined and originally with heavy-duty seat post a sidecar rear suspension (replaced on mine) made you feel like you had gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson, those GI’s in the last WWII were a lot younger and tougher than me though, meanwhile with the last 6 months of rain all the roads are in a bad state of repair with pot holes big enough to swallow a B Double, last week the Teepee Rally was on at Llanelly and the roads in that area were atrocious and a few weeks before that a the Crazy Horse Rally in Coroyong as well, I took the new 2015 Scout and was a little smug about my Fournales “Air-Spring” rear shocks but surprisingly it was a pain on even the modern machine. So today I rode the Army Chief and after fitting the taper roller headstem kit I was really surprised how comfortable the old girl is, Guy Allan our esteemed editor and full time journalist with Motorcycle Trader has often told me he finds his old 1947 Chief more comfortable than some modern cruisers, I can believe him the old Springfield models take a lot of beating in the suspension area you need to ride one sometimes to appreciate how good they were thats why next weeks Sunday Ride you will see the old model out on the roads.

Chris Horner is well renowned for running our Gypsy Tours with the fabulous one held earlier this year in Tasmania, combining the famous annual Harley vs Indian Great Race run by the Indian Motorcycle Club of Victoria and Dave Reidie at Harley City, the problem Chris faced and the logistics were staggering but the man has run previous versions, The Run of the Murray and the Gypsy to Perth and back were a couple a his previous rides. The problem now is everyone in asking when’s the next, well its in 2018 The Old Hume Highway and back down the Princes Hwy in the meantime Chris has decided a “hub” rally is needed in-between as usual its limited to 19 people and I can tell you now about ten places will be gone straight up myself included, it will only be open to fully paid up financial members and first preference to Indian Riders as that’s what we are all about. The beauty of these rallies is that you don’t have to attend the whole event and can join in or leave at any point or time, very convenient for those of us that are not retired. There is a plan provided of the units and all the heavy snorers will be allocated in one unit as not to cause inconvenience to other rally entrants we are not kidding on this point, act quickly on this event as after the cut off date 26/11/16 that’s another rally you have missed.

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A new draft is in place regarding ride etiquette this has been tossed around for some time now and needs to be published so we have a little more uniformity,safety and good manners to fellow riders as well as the general members that participate, most of you wont find it much different as its “common sense” the rest should read it through and be aware of what is going to be expected. Pete Kime has spent a fair bit of time on this and if you want to see a adjustment or addition added please contact him

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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.

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