Cannonball update Chris Knoop is mentioned in dispatches & Vindian’s

 

Just got this from the Antique Motorcycle Club in America, about how the rallies going, it’s a good read, also in the Sections area of our site the NO 6 edition of the West Australian Indian Club News is posted, more reading on your favorite subject. The next questioned that has been asked is the Vindian, I believe that your webmaster is the leading authority on Vincati,( built 3,with severe input to Big Sids), Indian-Vincent prototype which I own, & the Vindian which I am currently constructing a example at the moment, & I’m  writing a 20 page article on how too make one this will be available in the Members Area & in our quarterly newsletter Smoke Signals soon .The other two in Australia Peter Arundle’s I supplied the majority of the historical data to Lindsay Urquhart that was around at that time for it to be built & the Birthisle one which I found a engine in Sth Australia (ex-Brian Harker), overhauled it & supplied the historical data for its completion, also ratified it’s engine provenance with Vince Farrell (Machine Register Vincent Owners UK). So whats the story on the 4 Vindian’s above, good question in chronological order above these four I have nil details on, the original machine still exists in a form in the Du-Pont Museum in the states, although as it was shipped back to America without a engine Indian Sales fitted a donor engine to see what it was like, it was lasted spotted on the road in the early sixties at Daytona.Any information at all on these or any others that I don’t know about will be appreciated

Cannonball update

Gypsie Tour 2012 is starting

Phillip White & Chris Horner are pictured loading there Indian’s with John Fontanella’s “chocolate Chief” already on board, the others have already left yesterday for Adelaide Sth Aust, the plan is then to put the bikes on the Overland train to Perth W.Aust, then ride back to the “Bay to Birdwood” Rally in S.Australia. These lads are meeting up with a group of the Indian Club of W.Aust for the ride back, basically Perth-Bussleton-Albany- Esperance-Norseman-Eucla-Ceduna-Port Agusta-Adelaide- then back to Melbourne, we are talking in European terms London to Moscow, or San Francisco to New York without the population & 1000’s of miles of  26 wheel Roadtrains & open inhospitable open country, as I have said “no wimp-wristed” tourists touring across heavily populated countryside for these lads, they will have a back-up vehicle, carrying fuel & cables etc but that’s all, the country is similar to the early “Mad Max” movies. Phillip has agreed to write a article that will appear in the Association Magazine next edition & Chris Horner will send photo’s through to me for the Stop Press Area, stay tuned for the next exciting installment

VicRoads ‘survey’ an expensive crock

If you live in Victoria, you may have noticed a lot of publicity and email flying around about a new VicRoads ‘survey’ on road safety.
Here’s an example:
“If you want to:

  1. Be FORCED to wear high visibility clothing – standards yet to be determined;
  2. Be forced to screw a numberplate onto the front of your bike – simply because VicRoads have their cameras facing the wrong way;
  3. Be further restricted in riding you motorcycle, under the guise of policing unsafe behaviour;
  4. Have you licence (car and bike) cancelled for LIFE on your 75th birthday; then

 “DO NOTHING!

“BUT if you have ANY objections to the above then PLEASE go to the web site www.roadsafety.vic.gov.au  and follow the links to complete the survey on road safety.  In particular, take time to read and complete the sections relating to cyclists and motorcyclists.

 “Just remember – if you do not agree with the proposals or the “inferred” proposals, say NOTHING that could be taken as agreement.”

That may sound a little hysterical, but it’s not that far off the mark. VicRoads is proposing 140km/h speed limiters on all vehicles, automatic licence cancellation at 75 years of age, compulsory safety clothing on motorcycles, front numberplates on bikes (or electronic identifiers) plus a host of other ideas.

The survey at www.roadsafety.vic.gov.au is full of loaded questions and assumptions, which makes a mockery of any pretence of VicRoads being a neutral administrator. It’s now clearly running its own political agenda.

I’d beware falling into the trap of answering VicRoads questions its own terms. What it has done is seek to narrow the debate.
For example, it asserts that exceeding the speed limit is dangerous and bad. In many cases that is true, but it’s also demonstrably untrue in many circumstances.
Another point: though it’s called a survey, it is not. VicRoads is offering a position paper and inviting responses to a set of closed premises. It is in no way a survey (the poor access is a clue), and nor does it invite real debate. It wants you to respond on its terms and those alone.

So, if you feel it’s worth a reply, beware replying/debating on their chosen ground. Analyse the issue, and not within VicRoads’ set parameters, and then respond.

Long-time motorcycle lobbyist Damien Codognotto (http://www.damiencodognottooam.blogspot.com.au) points out:

“In  Opposition,  the  Baillieu  Government  promised  a  peak  body to represent  Victoria’s  325,000  motorcycle  and  scooter licence holders better. The Motorcycle Advisory Group (VMAG) was set up at VicRoads.
“The  Herald  Sun  published  (5 Sept, 2012) a  “raft  of options” including mandatory  high visibility vests, compulsory boots, pants, jackets and gloves   and   front  number  plates  on  bikes. Stakeholders again were not consulted.
“There  is  no  evidence  hi  viz vests work. If some small road safety benefit  over  a  bright  headlight  can  be  gained, it can be gained through voluntary use.
“Protective clothing is used by the majority and should be encourged. A protective gear law/ADR will mean less choice, higher prices and a lot of  top  quality  and  tailored  bike  gear  not  being  available  in Australia.
“Front  ID for motorcycles & scooters does not mean plates or stickers. Police  want  a  tracking  device regulation to fine riders and gather intelligence.  Bikes  are  not  designed to display front ID and very, very few places anywhere require it.
“VMAG  was  bypassed  in  developing  this  raft  of  options. RACV was apparently  included.  The motorcycle options are revenue raisers, not effective  road  safety  initiatives. If that was not the case why not consult  VMAG and develop proposals that will really do some good?”
For me, this is the killer point:
“Why not   wait   for  the  current  Parliamentary  Inquiry  to  make  its recommendations?”
Indeed. VicRoads is wasting huge amounts of money and jumping the gun on an inquiry that is a more open and transparent process.
In the meantime, we got this comment from the Riders Division of Motorcycling Australia: Here’s some interesting figures relating to the issue of Front Number Plates that come Traffic Camera Infringements data presented by VicPol to the recent Parliamentary Inquiry.Motorcycles make up 1.3% of ALL vehicles detected speedingOnly .8% of all vehicles detected speeding are motorcycles that can’t be identified.

Only 5.3% of all vehicles detected speeding are motorcycles with UNREADABLE plates.10% of ALL vehicles with NO front plates or UNREADABLE plates are motorcycles.From a collection of data point of view, there is no difference between SPEEDING and SPEED or between inappropriate speed compared with excessive speed.If the only tool available to you is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

For those of you interstate – don’t for a moment think you’re immune. National transport ministers conduct regular councils and you rest assured many if not all these ideas will be passed on.

All the best,

Guy Allen

New meeting Venue

Meetings:   Pascoe Vale Hotel

12 Railway Pde Pascoe Vale 3044 (03) 9375 9800

 If you’re in Melbourne, here are the details…

When:  Last Tuesday of the month (except December), 7.30pm

GYPSIE Tour Stalwarts, etc Chris & Arnie

As you know the Gypsie Tour 2012 to W.Australia is on next week 14-24th & the boy’s are getting close to roll, this trip virtually starts in Perth so they are freighting their Indian’s by rail, a group of The Indian Club of W.A are joining them to travel across the Nullarbor to the Bay to Birdwood Rally in Sth Aust around 2,500 Klms then another 800 to get back to Melbourne, as I said in the planning “This trip is for men with hair on their chest”, no wimps cruising around our heavily populated area’s for these guys. Preparation has proceeded on most of the Indian’s which are all Springfield & one Gilroy, various semi-restorations to these machines which include everything from top-end rebuilds, larger fuel tanks to a starter motor conversion, your fellow members wish you well. Rod Leamon’s funeral was a good send-off for a great enthusiast, all our committee, including NSW reps were present as a mark of respect to the “Big Fellow” as Ian Rhook was fond of calling him, he will be missed. On a brighter note yesterday was our monthly Association Run & surprisingly the weather was a pleasant 21deg C,  8 people turned up which seeing it was Father’s Day was good, I rode the Indian 344 outfit & I am pictured with our “First Lady” Sandy Barthelmie (president’s wife) I reckon Mark will be after a sidecar soon.I noticed the picture of Arnie the Terminator happily on his Chief Vintage on Facebook, he rode a Indian in Terminator 3, even he saw the light in the end & never rode a Harley-Ferguson after the second movie. Chris Knoop sent a email yesterday about altering the gearing on the Invincible JAP, hopefully this should help on the hills, typically Chris is on a busman’s holiday he is going to enjoy himself but is still into the spanners, you have to give him 10 points for being so keen

Chris has got his bike

 

Chris is Happy

Member Chris Knoop has just sent a report:

After nearly a week of frustration our bike has finally got clearance from customs.The bike was to be delivered into the Harley Dealership last Thursday, so it was awaiting for our arrival.The plan was to have our bike at a show to support Brian Dawars at the Local Kingston Film festival on Saturday,then take our bike interstate to Davenport so we could attend all the pre-start functions at the meet.We received our Bike in store at 8.30 Pm Wed night, basically 7 days late.I must say that the Customs agent here has been great, considering I have called him on the half hour, every half hour for the last 4 working days, and on the 15 mins each other half  on his mobile I dont know what went wrong, nor do I care.This has really tightened the deadline, and we are critical to get there now,we have a few days know to unpack and get our bike back together,then a few days to sort this out and trial this on the roads.We have donated a Traditional Wicker sidecar to the race organisers and this is on display at Davenport. Its a pity we could not have attended, but considering the confusion and drama with customs, we have to remain focused on our Run.We will have the bike back together by Friday, and should be mobile by then.Will be good, as I sort of missed it. Anyway I hope all are well around the world. Please tune in to face book, or the numerous blogs that are online.

http://cksamericanadventures.blogspot.com.au/

Cherio Chris

Vale: Rod Leamon (Funeral Details)

Rod Leamon

I am sad to report the passing of Rod Leamon today, he was always the guy you could rely on at the meetings & served last year a stint as the IIRA secretary.Rod attended  just about every ride on his faithful 344 Military Chief & a mischievous laugh to boot. I personally have known Rod about 4 years & he had worked hard in the road construction industry with John Holland Constructions, but in his spare time he just loved his Indian’s which he had a small number. Rod was always interested in other people & there interests as well, although he appeared tough he was a softie on the inside, I and many of his mates will miss him our sympathies to his family. Funeral announcements : 2-30pm  Friday 31st @ Tobin Brothers 65 Waverly st Moonee  Ponds Vic 3039

Riders Etiquette (Club Runs) & Red Plate details

 

This article is from Motorcycle Sport Book from the 70’s it is virtually up to date for todays riding & can be used for any group. Recently it was suggested at a Committee Meeting that we need more uniformity for our Rallies, Peter Kime came up with this article as with many others about Indian’s that I will reproduce in the next few months, thanks Pete. Meanwhile the Vindian is progressing I expect the painted guards & tanks back next week, & the generator jack-shaft adapter as well, I am up 10 pages in a article on Indian to Vindian which will be available in our Members Area soon, another good reason to be a member. This by the way reminds me to make sure your membership subs are paid as of the end of this month all un-financial members with Red Plate permit machines are un-registered or in layman’s terms $800.00 from the Police if caught! I have mentioned in the past that any one wanting to transfer into our Association with a Red plate machine from another club  can do it easily by bringing your machine to the Machine Examiner (me) and there is no charge to transfer your machine into our  group after I stamp your papers just have to sign up & join us, simple to do & we have many that have done this recently

Riders Etiquette ( click on Highlight)

 

Parsons Rally report

 

Harold Parsons Winter Rally Report (click on highlight)

Indian vs Harley,Triumph vs BMW

Just read a interesting statistic on Triumph marketing on their Tiger model against GS 1200 BMW, it has halved there market in Australia! In 1991 your webmaster was at the launch of the resurrected Triumph at the Cologne show in Germany they were directly opposite the BMW stand, even then I could see they were aiming for BMW riders  with their Trophy range the CEO BMW welcomed the return of Triumph  little knowing how in the future how  their market  worldwide would be effected I bet they regret that welcome now. So what’s this got to do with Indian, plenty it’s a bit like the “Mouse that Roared” skeptical types laugh that Indian will not ever be able to match H-D, sorry they have a multi billon dollar company company behind them with Polaris, their share price is $125 against Harley’s  $7.00 & they have a larger network throughout the world , they are “gunning for H-D”.Harley is severely under threat with old tech engines Indian is testing brand new engines that won’t have design flaws that can’t be changed because of buyer resistance. In my 40 years in the trade I have seen trends range from cafe-racers to scooters, then to choppers onto big -bore Jap bikes, then American cruisers, Euro cafe-racers & now scooters again! A couple of years back Wille G Davidson said that one of his major problems was not the japaneese machines, but a more pressing problem was earlier model H-Ds that were a couple of years old and were selling with low mileage at half the price, so much for the “Solid Gold” campaign the motor company ran a decade ago. This coupled with the fact that Willie G is retiring is probably about as bad as Steve Jobs dying in the Apple Company, goodluck H-D you will need it. The 2 adverts above are now in the Period Adverts area of this site along with many others recently added, there are other areas that are updated regularly including the Trading Post check them out as well