With only one Rally this year we hope this will be well supported, the Mountain View Motel 02 60761766 is waiting for your booking from 13-15 October please mention the Iron Indian Riders otherwise all rooms you will be told are full! Entry Forms will appear in the next Smoke Signals and on this website soon
Quite amazing that these all came from the great grandson Michael Arnott, Arnott’s motors in Benalla were the agents for Indian appointed by Rhodes motors the importer in the twenties and paid for bitumen at Winton Raceway they even named one of the corners after them, interestingly Mr B Arnott crashed his converted Bicycle-Motorcycle in 1907 as the local paper reported in the era. Michael told me there were at that time about 2,000 bicycle shops converting bicycles to motorcycles at that time, such was the demand.
Out today with your editor Martyn distantly related to Burt Monroe it seems almost like the world gets smaller everyday. Previous editions are available to read if you search to toolbar above, please note new steps being instigated for the IIRA to enable Associate members to hold full executive positions on your committee seeing they are a large group in our club it seems they should have a say in the running of it. There is a proxy form sent to all current financial members on this change to our constitution, please return it within the next 19 days.
If your ever traveling to Tasmania and find yourself in St Marys go and visit Crank’s & Tinkers Museum & there is this magnificent reproduced wooden Indian 4 that is on display, unfortunatly its owner is now passed away and was half way through a wooden Brough Superior at that time as equally detailed. So considering everything works like brakes clutch etc and all parts were salvaged from the local timber yard or rubbish tip its a staggeringly exact detailed model that any motorcyclist or Indian owner would love and NO its not for sale.
The main thing about this event beside being a fantastic day out with nice weather forecast is that the $12 entry for motorcycles must be paid online for admission, simply go to the link below and click on the payment link, then print your ticket, easy. This will be our first Sunday ride for 2023 and hopefully a good turn out would be great to see. All details are meet at Ampol Servo @ 9.30 for a 10.00 start or travel direct to South Rock rd Hanging Rock to meet us there
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2023-picnic-at-hanging-rock-classic-vehicle-show-tickets-485806669827
Some years ago before Royal Enfield could legally put ROYAL in their name they were called simply Enfield, of course that made them Enfield-India, eventually David Holder lost the rights to the Royal Enfield brand name and from that point on in 2005 we have had Royal Enfield’s made in India. But hang on back in the fifties Indian Sales started a relationship with Royal Enfield in Redditch UK to provide motorcycles and of course they made USA variants that were customised to suit American tastes and were badged Indian these were sold for quite some years and helped prolong both companies. So what if Indian today got into bed with Royal Enfield and produced as they have in the past something as pictured above for a smaller range of machines which the new company is sadly lacking I reckon they would be onto a winner, what do you think?
The next monthly meeting will be held in February, but the monthly ride will be held the second Sunday at Hanging Rock check the calander
Due to extreme weather conditions 38 Degrees, this event in now cancelled, it may be on later in the year but at this point TBA
I would like to wish all our associate members a Happy New Year and I’m sure it can only be better than 2022 with Covid events ending and normality returned to some degree.
So what did we do in 2022 with such restrictions plenty but for me personally the reinstatement of the Smoke Signals e-magazine was a welcome return, and a huge thanks to Martyn Goodwyn for belting it into a successful quarterly magazine. The next was the fabulous Crazy Horse Rally at Corryong run by Garry Hogg an absolute “blast” and reminded me of how this association is first and formally a riders group, not a social group! Somethings got canceled, the Rain in the Face winter rally which will return this year to Thornton, and the Sitting Bull is being revised for Autumn. The annual Christmas Party was a success and will undoubtedly be repeated and we are at last slowly getting new members, with a considerable amount of ex members returning I consider we have turned a corner.
