Webmaster number 2 (Guido) has been doing some research for the IIRA & I have re-produced the article here for Association Members & others. At this time I would like to thank Guy for his assistance with the website especially seeing in the next month I am unable to do the job. Gentleman you will be in good hands. Phillip Whites latest Road-test has been posted in full on the Tech Articles area about testing 105 cu Bomber from Kings Mountain, enjoy.

 

Hi Phil

Have been talking to you about the red plate user issue and made a couple of calls to VicRoads…here are some observations.

A few theories have been offered, including: Only the owner can ride it;

You have to be a red plate club member to ride it. I very much doubt either is true.

The problem with both is neither are founded on reliable info – for example a cop who pulls you up and grumbles is as unreliable as you can get in this area. They are far removed from the design of the system and the whole red plate scheme is just a minor blip on their much broader workday radar. Paul of the SR500 Club chased this at VicRoads recently and concluded: “The young lady at VicRoads definitely said that the rider just had to be licensed to use the vehicle, not the owner. She did not mention the bit about being a member.” Again, unreliable, but much closer to the mark. Universally accepted third party insurance rules say the vehicle (bike, car, boat, plane) has to be registered and the user hold the appropriate license.

The key part for red plates is the registration – a club permit is not in effect unless the rider (no matter who) is signed in to the logbook for that day. My own enquiries this afternoon tend to back that up.

So, if you and I share a bike for the day, we both need to be entered into the log book and have signed it. And have the appropriate license. If a cop pulled you up and tried to ticket you for not being the owner, or not having proof of club membership, I’m fairly confident it would fall over, so long as the logbook was in shape.

It’s worth noting that my advice here is not carved in stone, as the situation is still surrounded by confusion, so carrying any paperwork you have, including your club membership card, would nevertheless be wise.

Guy ‘Guido’ Allen

 

 

 

 

 

Just a demo on the Smouldering Embers area of our site under Membership click on this area to see a demo of how this App works, you can flip the page manually by clicking on page corner with your cursor or if not click the forward & backward arrows this is only in trials at the moment but can be used for Smoke Signals in the future.

Looking into the Willy’s Jeep 70th Anniversary Advert ( see link below) brought a very interesting 1943 Jeep autobiography link which I have added to the library in our YouTube area, that got me also searching for what the Germans were doing to the more than 5000 Indians that were captured from the French government after overthrowing their country, the Germans painted them all Wehrmacht Blue & used them throughout the war, interestingly a film was shot of WW11 German Rifleman on maneuvers in France early in 1943 unfortunately all in German but great footage & I would like to think some are C340 Indian Chief’s.  Meanwhile check out the new YouTube links yourself

Just had a  new member mention the 70th Anniversary Jeep advert on TV at the moment (click highlight below), the one where in the beginning the Australian Army is testing the 1942 Army version, then it crosses to the current Chrysler version, the new member mentioned that when the Jeep was first made it was a Willy’s, & Ford made it during the war as well under contract. Got me thinking do old Jeep owners accept the current versions, I bet they do so the relevance to us is the same as Indian & Victory. 1942 was the year Springfield Indians were tested against the the first Willy’s General Purpose (GP) nicknamed Jeep unfortunately  for Indian, but great for the war effort the Jeep was far more practical than a motorcycle or a outfit for that matter, the rest is history we all know how it turned out. A Jeep is a Jeep & a Indian is a Indian no matter what era or year.Motorcycling Australia are starting to send out renewal forms for the Roadside breakdown cover it’s now $29.00 for us as affiliate members to their Association, which is a $10 saving over the normal rate this is excellent value sign up now

Jeep Advert

 

For all you long suffering Springfield owners with a Timmerman electric starter we have resolved the problems, which are many the see-sawing is a major issue also misalignment of the case which causes the sprag to misalign badly. The sprag was never designed for any of this & was made to be immersed in oil. The Timmerman standard system does none of this it required a complete rethink. Phillip White, Robert Gosper & your Webmaster have hit a solution that requires some re-machining, but then it is rigid & the new sprags do not rely on you using WD-40 for lubricant every couple of months we are currently testing the prototypes but they are good so please contact either Phillip or myself for more details.

Yesterday I visited Victory Motorcycles Melbourne on my 2002 Gilroy  the sales honcho Ant Clark is very enthusiastic about the future of Indian in Australia, but there is about 12-18 months before they will be here do yourself a favour & visit the future home of Indian this showroom is remarkable & would leave a lot of prestige car showrooms gasping, it is really that exceptional & the staff are welcoming & more importantly not pushy. I hope to arrange a group visit in the next few months, this is the first Indian dealership in Elizabeth st Melbourne since the forties,you can be sure the dealerships in Perth & Sydney are equally as impressive so for our interstate members please visit & make yourself known as a IIRA member. Ant was telling me his dream is to eventually ride a handchange Indian so the boy is keen to get right into the whole of it especially linking the old & the new which is what we are all about. Meanwhile 30 brand new 2010-2011 models will be here in September so contact John Smith for details of one of these if you need to purchase this year.