More pictures to come around 300 I believe, the Gypsy Tour “Run of the Murray” is still happening as I write this blog I left Mildura yesterday and rode 534 klms to Melbourne due to work commitments. The great thing about this tour is you can come and go at any time which works out perfect for the self-employed, Mark Barthelmie at Zorro’s being a case like myself, others are continuing till Saturday. I was fortunate to ride one of the two 111″s on the run they performed faultlessly fuel consumption yesterday was 5.8 lts per 100 klms as the trip was 110 klm per hour for a lot of the way although at 100 klms an hour 5 ltrs per 100 (55 mpg in the old money) is very good with screen,top box &  saddle bags fully loaded Chris Horner kindly lent me the machine which now is fully run-in and the fuel consumption has rapidly improved since my first ride. The modern Indian can at 100 kph get 400 klm’s from a tank of fuel it holds 20 liters, the stopping and handling is unsurpassed and definitely far beyond the opposition and the cruise control is “icing on the cake” Meanwhile the others on Springfield Chiefs were going well with no breakdowns the oldest was Peter Kime’s 1938 with its 4 speed overdrive gearbox purchased from the new Australian agent Zorro’s he was sitting very comfortably on 100 all the way and as a stock 74 cu, it was no problems he told me “its got a new lease on life” for him, Ric and Mark Barthelmie rode a 1946 74cu with no problems & it was nice to see Ric & their mother out from the UK for the event, at 75 years old and “dead keen” on what her boys are doing. We had a fellow Don from our associate Club the Indian Club of WAust enjoying his 1944 that he has owned for 40 years he is a very interesting chap as he told me how to up the gearing on a 840 Indian using BMW R 75/5 diff internals 16% higher ratio I believe that would help them as they are under-geared, he had a mate in Mildura a member of the MAD FUCKERS ,(Millewa and District Fully Unrestored Car Keepers) they are an interesting group they specialize in Wars Fought, Revolutions Started, Assassinations Plotted, Governments Run,Uprisings quelled, Chickens plucked, channels swum,Women Seduced, Tigers Tamed, bars emptied, computers verified, orgies organized, Airplanes driven, & wine tasted, trenches dug or so their card says! The guy was driving a 1927 Buick converted to a Ute and un-restored of course, Chris Horners 1947 was running very well, Phillip Whites gearbox was noisy, John Fontanella was happy except for Phillips snoring, Steve York was running in his machine to name a few that were on the part of the tour that I was in I believe Garry Hogg left in Shepparton as he is a baker and had work commitments. The next International Gypsy Tour is one for your bucket list

The Lakes & Craters Rally over the week-end was perfect, great weather, good companionship, fantastic scenery & odd breakdowns what more could you ask for? On Saturday we had a mixed bunch of riders with us from the local area and  we rode to Apollo Bay for lunch Peter Welding & Ian Rhook are always good at picking top rides in this area as they are or have been locals, thanks heaps chaps, the run on Sunday morning to Timboon was although short, memorable and the brunch stop is, as always nice at the Timboon brewery, the natives and tourists of this area were all over the two new 111 Indian’s that attended. A couple of failures our Prez’s 1947 “lunched” his Kabota generator & also the IPE electronic ignition also Phillip White”s A10 BSA that was on loan to John F did the same to a Pazon electronic ignition, this in a way was good as John was driving back-up which saved our Prez it was a good weekend enjoyed by all. Toyota the last car manufacturer is leaving the country in 2017 Ford & GM are doing the same although all company’s will still import into Australia, the killer is loss of jobs, the poster in the middle was produced in WW2 it could be altered to suit today “He’s going North” funny to think they got here in the end, not to rule and are now leaving. The next photo is typically Harley after I read an unreasonably large percentage figure of something about 70% of Harley’s ever made are still on the road (broken down I reckon) this is a “typical Knuckle Dragger” who has yet to discover motorcycles are to be ridden & not carried

Sometime ago I wrote and lamented on the terrible fuel taps available for Springfield models (03/02/2012) & I complained that they all leaked from Starklite Cycles & the hard chrome versions from Greer’s were at the very best worse & the cost more to boot.Today this is in the past as ball valves taps are un-leakable, no more stinking fingers or pools of fuel under your machine, or even worse yellow stained chaincases, at $49.95 a piece this is something you must buy.Zorro’s have them in stock, Mark the proprietor  just sent this review

“Fuel Valve Fits Chief Scout and all bikes wih 1/8 NPT Male input” 

Ever wanted a reliable and modern fuel tap, (Petcock or Fuel valve) a fuel tap that you can turn on and off without using a pipe wrench or adjustable pliers. A fuel tap that will not leak the precious amber nectar and make you hands and garage smell of petrol with the consequential complaint from her indoors.Well now you can have a tap that does all these things and more.  It fits perfectly in the place of your original Indian Chief or Scout fuel tap with modern hard chrome plated ball valve and Viton/PTFE seals this tap will give you hours of reliable use.

 Zorro’s link

 

 

These days Australia Post have fairly well given up with bicycles, they mostly ride Honda CT110 motorcycles & make up the largest number of Honda’s sold against the other brands, nearly double I believe. Meanwhile in 1911 Washington DC was experimenting with those new fangled devices motorcycles, seems a far cry from the Honda although the Indian still has pedals for assistance in escaping from dogs & riding up hills. My imagination always likes to picture some of these things in modern ages a bit like “Steam Punk” is to “geeks” I am picturing a postie on a 111 Chief Vintage trike delivering mail in 2014