THE OLD BLOKE'S BLOG
Welcome to The Old Bloke’s Blog! Well, it's more than just a blog actually; it's a blog combined with general news, things of interest, and smaller items etc.It is, basically, a traditional type blog of things that I've been doing that will, hopefully, be of some interest to the reader. But, as I said, it's more than that; it's also where I put items of interest that I've come across that aren't big enough for a separate article. So don't think that it's all about me! Some of it is, but it's also a newsy kind of thing, relating stories of interest, products I've discovered and so on.It's set out month by month, going down the page - so for the latest entries, scroll down to the bottom.For previous installments in this Blog, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the button there.I hope you find it interesting!JULY 4, 2017. The warmest day in Sydney for 6 weeks, it said on the weather report tonight. So I picked a great day for a ride! Forecast in my area (south of Sydney) was 20. In the Southern Highlands it was 14. South-west of Sydney 20 also. I've headed south down the coast a bit lately, so wanted to go somewhere different. The south-west area of Sydney (around Picton, Campbelltown) sounded good.
At Picton for lunch, I thought of going home through the Highlands, and checked the weather on my phone. At Picton it was 20 and sunny, and hardly a breath of wind. In the Highlands it was 13 with wind gusting up to 46kph. Easy decision! On to Campbelltown, along Menangle Rd. I like that road - I've even doubled back and ridden again a couple of times: it's undulating and curvy, with interesting countryside to experience. Then on to Appin, and along the recently re-opened Broughton Pass road. The weather was beautiful! I was rugged up fairly well, and was nice and warm all the way. Stopped in traffic in Campbelltown I was even getting a bit too warm, but was soon underway again. Yep, I picked a good day for it! JULY 5, 2017. If you’re interested in mechanical things, this will interest you. I read today that KTM have produced what they claim to be the world’s first fuel-injected 2-stroke Enduro bike. Contrary to what I initially wrote on Facebook, they didn’t actually claim it to be the first fuel-injected 2-stroke motor. Fuel-injected 2-stroke motors have been used in some small scooters, and particularly in outboard boat motors and snowmobiles since the l990s. But having this technology in a larger motorcycle, and in particular a competition dirt bike, is new. So they claim anyway. They say the engine has the low-end torque of a 4-stroke, while still giving the snappy power of a 2-stroke. It also has the fuel-economy of a modern 4-stroke, they say. Europe will see the bike – which is officially a 2018 model – around about now; Australia will get it in January.
This is interesting though. If you know anything about the workings of a 2-stroke motor, you’ll realise that this is radically different to the normal principle of how a 2-stroke works. KTM’s version is also different to the way fuel-injection has normally been applied to 2-strokes in the past. Where others have injected the fuel into the combustion-chamber, KTM have injected it into the transfer port (before it gets to the combustion-chamber). The bike will also have oil-injection, so you don’t have to pre-mix the fuel and oil. But, while that wasn’t usually fitted to racing bikes in the past, the technology is not new of course – 2-strokes had oil-injection back in the 1970s.JULY 9, 2017. I went to a show-n-shine / demo ride day today, put on by City Coast Motorcycles. Sadly, I didn't have time for a test-ride, as I had family coming; but I did get to look around the bikes on display. Some beautiful bikes there! Here are a few examples. (By the way, the display was at a bowling club, and they used bowls to mark where the bikes were to park).
For what it’s worth, while I was there I had a look at the range of new bikes they had on display too. There was a good selection of BMW, Triumph and Yamaha bikes there. I sat on a few. For my preferences, the ones I liked were the Yamaha MT-09 Tracer (but it needs the optional “comfort seat”, or a custom job), and the Triumph Tiger 800. The Triumph felt good. Also one of the BMWs, but I forget which one. (I’m an old bloke, remember!). A very enjoyable, if short, visit to the event. JULY 22, 2017. Fraser Motorcycles at Wollongong had an open day today.
There were lots of bikes on display, test-rides, and a jumping-castle for the kids. No test rides (again!) for me today though; I came down with a cold a few days ago, and was not feeling well. But it was a great atmosphere, with all the bikes! There’s nothing like a big bike shop with a crowd of rumbling bikes outside to fire up the senses! Actually, all that “motorcycle ambience” was a bit too much for me – so I went for a short ride this afternoon. I rugged up in thermal gear, and didn’t feel cold while riding, so I don’t think it adversely affected my cold. I haven’t been riding much recently, due to other commitments and cold weather – this was the first time the bike had moved in almost 3 weeks, so it was good to get out, even if only for a very short run. JULY 30, 2017. Today was forecast to be the warmest July day on record. When the temperature topped out at 28 degrees it surpassed the previous record (set in 2014) by almost 2 degrees. Blue skies and total sunshine added to the appeal of the day – a great day to be out on the bike! Oh, um, apart from that bit about gale-force winds! Strong enough to blow the paint off the tank, according to the forecast. (“Severe weather warnings” issued). So maybe not a good day to be out. Our house is sheltered a bit from the wind, but there was hardly a breath of wind here. A check of the weather radar revealed there was some wind – about 20kph where I live, up to about 40kph down south, and as light as 8kph north-west. I’m still battling the cold I mentioned in the previous post (which turned into flu), but on a warm day, I should be okay to go out. Maybe not stray too far from home, in case I end up riding home in a hurricane. So I decided on a short run before lunch up to the famous Robertson Pie Shop. The wind got fairly strong between Albion Park and Macquarie Pass (gusts up to 56kph I saw later), but it didn’t bother me, and there was no significant wind at journey’s end or on the return.
Macquarie Pass is a bit of a mess at the moment, with road-works reducing traffic to one lane in each direction at two spots. (During the week it is actually closed). It was significantly cooler (about 20 degrees) on top of the mountain.I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bikes on the road! Everyone taking advantage of the nice weather! On the first of the roadworks section, the traffic-light was red (of course!) and I was stopped about 4 cars back from the front. A couple of bikes behind came past and stationed themselves at the front of the queue. I don’t bother doing that, but it is often done. It’s okay when there’s just one or two bikes, but when about 30 bikes try to do it …! When we passed the other end of the section there was a long line of cars stopped at the light, and about 30 bikes had all come past trying to get to the front of the queue. At the front there was a gaggle of bikes surrounding the front car, then back from that a line two or three bikes wide beside the cars – so that they were stopped on the wrong side of the road. It was actually a bit of a squeeze for cars going up to get past them. Not good! JULY 30, 2017. While I was at the Robertson Pie Shop I got talking to a couple (husband and wife) who had had their seats re-done by MJM Custom Motorcycle Seats at Goulburn. I’ve seen this bloke’s work before – he does a great job and is highly recommended.
The seat on the left was on a Honda VFR800. You can see the coloured panel on the side – which isn’t a perfect match, but still looks okay – and the whole finish and stitching etc is great. I thought the standard VFR seat was fairly comfortable anyway, but the owner said it was much better now. Before he would start to get saddle-sore after a couple of hours, but now he could ride it all day. The one on the right – his wife’s – was on a Honda Repsol replica. The colour-matching panel is perfect, and looks so good - like it came from the factory that way! But fancier than a factory would produce! And more comfortable, so they said. So if you are in the market to have a seat refurbished, or customized to suit your riding requirements and your position on the bike, get in touch. (Ph: 4821 6166). AUGUST 1, 2017. Thanks to Rod for this. It is a comparison test of various helmets, where protection and comfort are rated. (For each helmet, the results of the various aspects of each test are given). It makes interesting reading! Especially looking in detail at the results on various helmets. As is usually the case with these tests, the more expensive ones aren’t necessarily the best. Click here.
AUGUST 14, 2017. I’ve linked to articles written by my friend Phil Hall a number of times on the site – from stories of rides, to comments on certain subjects etc. He has his own motorcycling-themed web-site. Today he published an article that I just had to share. It concerns the issue of SMIDSY – you know, the old “Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You!” scenario. In most cases when we hear this we instantly blame the driver – he (she) is stupid, blind, or maybe both. But perhaps there is a good reason why he / she didn’t see the motorcycle? Phil discusses the issues here.
He makes some great points there. We, as motorcyclists, need to take care and ensure the driver has seen us. Even the issue of speed / acceleration is a good one – the driver may indeed look, but if we get to where the car is quicker than he / she expects a vehicle to get there, then they aren’t as totally negligent as we might accuse them of being.
But the issue he mainly discusses in the article is vision: most modern cars are severely restricted when it comes to vision. A higher waistline, resulting in shallow windows, and thick pillars that again restrict vision; all these things are factors that contribute to a driver not being able to see a motorcyclist. Yes, of course the driver should be aware of these restricted areas of vision and make extra effort to check those blind-spots, but they often won’t. They do look, but don’t see, because of these restrictions. On the left is a photo of the rearward vision out of my car. It’s also (like Phil's) a Toyota, but that is irrelevant; most modern cars have these restrictions on vision. 
Click here to go to the front page.Click your BACK button to return to the previous page.
Click here to go to the previous installment of my Blog.
AUGUST 21, 2017. Rod sent me the link to this story on how motorcycle sales are booming in India. The market is growing so quickly that sales have almost trebled over the last decade. Most bikes are small-capacity, and scooters, etc, but Royal Enfield – which is considered a “Big bike” over there of course – is charging ahead in sales. Monthly sales have almost trebled in just 3 years! Check out the full story here.
AUGUST 23, 2017. I'm lucky to live in an area that has some great riding roads and some great scenery; all within a short distance of home. A short ride before (a late) lunch today took me past this beautiful scenery. The view is from Saddleback Mountain, coming down towards Kiama (about 40km south of Wollongong, on the NSW coast). A bit hazy today from smoke, but still a great view. An enjoyable place to ride too – with some big climbs on narrow back-roads.
AUGUST 23, 2017.
Filling in a bit of time today before picking my wife up, so went to a bike shop. (As you do!). The new Triumph Thruxton looks great, doesn't it! Reminds me of those old Manx Nortons.AUGUST 26, 2017. Today I went to AMCA Australia’s inaugural National Meet, which was held at Bulli. AMCA Australia is a local branch of AMCA in the US. AMCA stands for “Antique Motorcycle Club America”, and the organisation caters for bikes 35 years old and older. The local branch was established some time last year I think, with a view to starting up a local annual National Meet. It’s been a long time in the planning, but it was held over the weekend of 25th – 27th August 2017.
As well as displaying a wide range of old bikes, there was a swap-meet, and lots of swap-meet type parts on sale all weekend. There were technical seminars and demonstrations too. So a lot to see and do!I went there today to have a look. There were lots of old Harleys around; and some other old and rare motorcycles too. Nortons and Ducatis were also present in reasonable numbers. The very rare included a 1917 Excelsior and a 1904 Minerva Relay. The Relay was a bike made by Blacklock & Fuller, cycle manufacturers in Albury. It used a 300cc Minerva engine and a BSA frame. The bike was ridden by Alf Fuller in the 1905 Sydney to Melbourne Reliability Trial, and achieved 3rd place. A fascinating machine! There were some Japanese bikes there, including a number of Kawasaki 900s, a Honda CBX1000 (the 6-cylinder), and a small 2-stroke Suzuki. A range of historic speedway bikes attracted quite a bit of interest too. A highlight of the day today was an auction, with about 30 bikes going under the hammer. The auction – and indeed the whole event – had been heavily promoted through their website and also their Facebook page. The bidding was pretty slow. I didn’t watch the whole auction, but I watched part of it. A 1944 Indian Chief was passed in at $25,000. Also passed in was a 1929 Harley, when bidding stopped at $80,000, and a 1959 Triumph Trophy, at $10,000. However a 1929 Indian in need of restoration was sold for $40,000. The big seller, during the time I was there, was an immaculately restored 1940 Indian. It boasted all original parts, with matching numbers and had been restored in the US. It hadn’t been ridden since the full restoration. It sold for $102,500. It was an interesting day, seeing all those old bikes! And the auction was interesting too! Click here to go to their web-site and see a lot of photos of the event.AUGUST 30, 2017. I read today that Harley is killing off the V-Rod. Here is a link to the article I read. That's a pity really. I didn't like it, (I thought it needed a hinge in the middle to go around corners!), but it was probably the most unique model in the Harley range, and for that alone was worthy of continuing.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2017. “Four strong winds that blow lonely ….” So goes the words of an old folk song. I’ve been reminded of that line quite a bit recently, with the spate of windy weather we’ve been having. Today was a good example – another day when (like yesterday actually) I wasn’t working, I’m pretty much over my flu, the sun was shining, but … warnings of almost gale-force winds! Again! I did consider going for a short ride, but, no that wind really is strong! Although it would’ve only been a short ride anyway. For the past couple of weeks or so I’ve been affected by pain from a possible cracked rib, or pulled muscle, or tendon or something in my side – presumably from coughing. I’ve had x-rays and other tests, but nothing has shown up – which is probably good, as some of the possible causes were nasty! But that is all clear. So, probably a muscle or tendon or something. Or a cracked rib – which has happened once before from coughing, and which, apparently, doesn’t always show up on an x-ray until it begins to heal. The pain has settle a bit now though, so I could’ve gone for a short ride, except for those …“Four strong winds that blow lonely…”
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017. Exactly 4 weeks to the day since I last had the bike out, (see 23rd August above), I went for another (short) ride. I realise that, by some people’s standards, 4 weeks off the bike isn’t very long. Readers in northern Europe and UK for example, will often have several months off the bike while roads are generally covered in snow and ice. But 4 weeks seemed a long time for me; and especially, perhaps, because I haven’t been riding much in recent times, due to unsuitable weather, having the flu, having trouble with my back, and other commitments. My ride was mainly along a winding country road that is an enjoyable road to ride. All up I did about 70km, with a relaxing cuppa at a favourite café in the middle. But it was good to get the bike out, and I came home feeling relaxed and having enjoyed being on the bike. I guess you really don’t need to go far to enjoy it!
OCTOBER 3, 2017. I just heard that Ducati is re-introducing the 659 model from this month. Not to be confused with the 695, or the 696, or any similar such confusing numbers, this is a LAMS bike from the big Duke, which of course those other ones mentioned above were not. This was – and presumably still is – a 696 with the engine detuned and shrunk internally to fit under the 660cc LAMS limit. It sold well when it was in Ducati’s line-up before, so I think it should sell well for them now. After all, it’s a Ducati that learners can ride, so that’s got to be an attraction right there!
OCTOBER 3, 2017. Rod sent me this link to a mostly pictorial report on the 2017 China International Motorcycle Fair. Lots of photos, and details of the bikes. Most of the brand-names you won’t recognise, although Zongshen and Loncin are names that you might. Zongshen is huge in China! Loncin is not far behind. Then you come to a brand you will know, Aprilia: ah, but many Aprilia models are made by Zongshen! Some Japanese bikes were there – most notably, Kawasaki. Oh, and there was one bike with a Ducati sticker on the tank. Except it wasn’t a Ducati, it was some other Chinese brand, rather cheekily wearing a Ducati sticker! It’s fascinating to look through the photos and see just how huge the Chinese market is, and how many manufacturers there are. Thanks Rod!
OCTOBER 7, 2017. I went to a Show N Shine at Bargo Public School today. (Bargo is a small town south-west of Sydney). A big event, with lots of cars. Not many bikes, but there were some. Here a couple of photos.
OCTOBER 18, 2017. Aggghhhh! Frustrating!! I mentioned in my entry on September 6 above that I had been suffering some pain in my side. Well, that eventually settled down, only to be replaced by back pain - sciatica-type (although not specifically sciatica). This flare-up actually goes back before the pain in my side. It began as a numb feeling down my right leg after I'd been standing a while. After I'd walked a short distance it was okay and felt normal again. A bit weird, but I've had back problems (often with referred pain down the leg) since my mid 20s, so I didn't worry about it particularly; and the pain in my side was more of a concern. But then that sensation in my leg after standing developed into quite severe pain after standing for even a short time. So, off to the doctor again. He sent me for a CT scan. I last had one of those in 1995. The process is much faster now than it was then! Back then there were some potentially serious problems shown up. Obviously those problems are still there, and mainly concern stenosis (narrowing of the space where the nerves exit), which results in nerves being pinched or aggravated. The good news is that my reflexes (when they bang you on the knee) are still good, and there is no loss of strength in my leg. So it is working okay, just painful! I'm begun physio, but they aren't actually doing much. They say they can't change the structure of my back, so give me exercises to help support my back better. I need more core-strength, I know, but the exercises work the areas where the pain is, so just bring on pain. So it's probably a case of doing what I can to help it, but otherwise just waiting out the pain, and hoping it gets better. In the meantime it is very frustrating!! I can't walk far before the pain sets in. Trying to walk around the Show N Shine event I described above was at times excruciatingly painful! And of course, being on the bike is probably not good for it! Sitting, in general, is okay, and I have considered going for a short ride sometimes - like today - but decided against it. And there always seems to be something else (safer for my back) to do, so the bike remains in the shed!
OCTOBER 22, 2017. I got an email a while ago from The Bike Market; which is a web-site in the UK that produces an independent motorbike and scooter buying guide. Here is the link to their site. www.thebikemarket.co.uk. They had come across my test of the 2007 Triumph Speedmaster, and asked if they could use it on their site. That was fine by me, so I did a brief edit of the report and sent it to them. I got an email back today saying the report was on their site. (Here is a link to the review on the bike). It appears (scroll down a bit) with the very generous description of, “an awesome review of a 2007 model from The Old Bloke”. (With a link to this site). The web-site is fairly new, I presume, but growing rapidly, and expects to be getting 100,000 visits per month by the end of the year. They have asked if they can use more of my reviews, which I am happy to do, so there will be more appearing there soon.
NOVEMBER 8, 2017. If you’ve read my article on “Buying A Helmet” you will have read that the age of the helmet is an important issue, and something you should be looking at. Don’t assume that helmets in the shop are “new” just because they are in the shop. I’ve seen helmets up to 5 years old sitting on the shelf. (Usually discounted, but with no stated reason for the discount). Today I was at one of the MCAS stores and, just out of interest, went looking for the date-of-manufacture on helmets. I looked at quite a lot of helmets, and only found the date on a very few. I looked at Shoei, Arai, Shark, Nolan, and Bell; and couldn’t find the date-of-manufacture on any of them. I looked at the chin-straps, at stickers inside the helmets, and pulled the inner lining away to look for stickers hiding under there; but I couldn’t find the date. AGV and RJays were the only brands that I found dates on. Both of these had a sticker or tag inside with the date prominently displayed. (The dates were mostly 2016 or 2015).
Now, the fact that I couldn’t find the date on these other ones doesn’t mean they weren’t there; it just means I couldn’t find them. After I got home I looked up date-of-manufacture for Arai. Arai were always one of the best – the date being stamped into the leather part of the chin-strap. Well, they now have the date stamped into one of the metal D-rings. (I forgot to look there – I knew some had dates stamped there). In between these two methods, they put the date on a little tag on the chin-strap. I think some other of those brands might use that method: I found a fabric tag on the chin strap right where it exits the leather sleeve, but in each case the tag was stuck up inside the leather sleeve and couldn’t be pulled out enough to see what was written on it.I’m sure (well, let’s say I will assume) that the date-of-manufacture would have been written on all of the helmets I looked at, but there are two points to all of this. Firstly, it is important to look at the date-of-manufacture, so you know the helmet you are buying hasn’t already spent half of its stated useable life sitting on the shelf. The other point is that you need to be pretty eagle-eyed with this, or do come research first, and know where to look. NOVEMBER 15, 2017. I took my bike to my regular mechanic for a major service today. The first time in 6 weeks that I’ve been on the bike – due to my ongoing back problems. (See October 18 above). That was a trip of 11km each way. (I took it out today, and will pick it up tomorrow). I was pleased to find that I felt okay on the bike and it didn’t seem to aggravate my back. So that was encouraging!
NOVEMBER 17, 2017. I picked the bike up from having its service done. A 60,000km service, so it was a major one, although some things didn’t need replacing – like brake-pads. (They are original! The rears will need replacing soon though). A major expense was a new chain and sprockets. They were original too! 60,000km is pretty good for chain and sprockets! By that time my previous bike (actually I sold it at about 55,000km) was on its 3rd chain and I think 2nd set of sprockets. (Smaller bike with a smaller, lesser quality chain though). The mechanic commented that I obviously look after it and don’t ride it hard. But he said it was obvious I didn’t “baby it” either. He mentioned another customer who had the same type of bike and rode it very, very gently. The result was that the cylinder bores had become glazed, and at about 30,000km it was blowing smoke on start-up. (That glazing of the bores happens at running-in time usually, if it is run-in too gingerly). Not a hint of smoke at any time out of mine.
I’d been concerned at a “clunking” noise at slow speed. I was pretty sure it was the chain and sprockets, even though they didn’t look too bad; and I wasn’t having to constantly adjust the chain. But on close inspection there was some obvious wear on the sprockets. Anyway, the new chain and sprockets cured that. It was noticeably smoother on the road too: funny how you don’t notice that slight harshness that comes in so gradually with a slightly worn chain. You don’t notice it (unless it is bad) because it develops very gradually. NOVEMBER 21, 2017. Do you have any rituals when you stop your bike? I read a story this morning (in last month's Road Rider magazine) that mentioned a guy who always stopped his bike by putting the side-stand down when it was in gear; then turning off the ignition, dropping the bike onto the side-stand and getting off. In the story he was riding a different bike, and for some reason turned the ignition off first; then, as usual, dropped the bike onto the side-stand - which wasn't down! Apparently he just managed to stop it crashing over.
I was going to say that I don't have any rituals when I stop, although upon thinking about it, I actually do! I put the bike on the side-stand, then get off, still with the motor running, and then switch off. I didn't realise I always did that until I thought about it, and observed what I did when I was out. Funny how some things get so ingrained that you do them by instinct without even knowing that you're doing them. At home though, I always manouvre the bike into position in the driveway, ready to be pushed into the shed, then put the stand down, get off and then give it an affectionate couple of blips off the throttle (rev, rev), let it return to idle and switch it off. I don't know why: other than, perhaps, just to hear a last quick response to the throttle before ending the day. I don't know, but I always do it. Back when I had a trail-bike, my ritual when I got home was to ride down teh driveway, down to teh back of the yard, turn around and do a wheel-stand back towards the house. Then stop. I stopped that when I got a road-bike! All this reminds me of a funny story – well, it’s funny now. When I bought my first new bike (the second bike I owned), it came with a kill-switch. That was new to me, but I thought it was a good idea - especially on a trail-bike. But I realised that the trick would be to know it was there and use it instinctively when necessary. So, to familiarise myself with this new device, I always stopped the bike with the kill-switch; then turned the ignition off. Sometimes I'd forget to turn the kill-switch back on again, but if it didn't start after a couple of kicks I'd know why and switch it back on again. No problem (and it was a 125cc 2-stroke, so kicking it over was no effort). One day a friend gave me a ride on his XT500 (single-cylinder 500cc trail-bike). I had an interesting ride (wheel-stands are great fun!), came back and turned it off in the usual manner. Later, when we went to go for a ride, my mate was having trouble starting his bike. Kick! Kick! Kick! He was building up a sweat trying to kick-start the big single, but it wouldn’t fire. Then he noticed something. “Did you turn the kill-switch off?” He asked, in a puffed-out voice. “Oh, yeah....... sorry!” He was not impressed!NOVEMBER 23, 2017. Ah, life is good again! Well, no, actually it's not; but it was good to get back to another bit of “normal life” again!
My back is still giving me lots of trouble, but I've found (from taking my bike to be serviced - see entry for 17th above) that I can still ride - for short distances anyway - without it aggravating my back. So today, for the first time in over 6 weeks (apart from the 11km there, and 11km back trip to the mechanic), I went for a ride. Up Macquarie Pass to the Robertson Pie Shop for a cuppa and a read of the latest edition of Cycle Torque. It was good to be out on the bike and doing that again - even if the nerves were a bit on edge, worried that it might upset my back. NOVEMBER 18, 2017. November brings around the annual EICMA show in Italy, where all the models waiting in the wings ready (or almost ready) for next year are wheeled out on display. There are 71 models on display in the photos here. A lot of very futuristic, “way out there” styled bikes, some horrible looking scooters (electric, of course), other electric bikes (ho-hum - no, I don’t like them, even if some of them are powerful!), and lots of interesting things. Hard to pick highlights out of this lot, but ones that stood out to me are the Kawasaki Z900 (what a great looking retro, with links to a couple of past Kawasaki models), new twin-cylinder more modern looking Royal Enfields (there’s a difference between bikes that look like they were designed in the 1950s and bikes that still ride like they were designed in the 1950s!); and on a very practical level, a new version of Yamaha’s MT series, based on the Tracer and called the TracerGT. I like the Tracer; and this moves the styling to a more sports-touring look (which is what it is, after all). But click the link above and check out all the new-comers. (Thanks to Rod for giving me the link).
DECEMBER 3, 2017. Toy Runs have been on this weekend in several areas. The one that I go to is not my local one – I stopped going in that many years ago! – but one that runs from Nowra, a town about 70km away, to the small village of Berry, just under 20km to the north. It has a nice atmosphere to it; and the bikers are generally well-behaved and the ride progresses pretty smoothly. And, as always, a good opportunity to look at the bikes at the start and at the finish. There is a problem though – which is probably common to most Toy Runs – and that is stop-start running, usually towards the end of the run. On a warm day, with the heat off a couple of hundred bikes (or maybe not quite that many), the heat becomes a real issue. It’s not good for an air-cooled engine; and not particularly good for the old rider, either! The past two times I’ve done it I said I wouldn’t do it again next year – but I did. Except not this year. My plan was to go to the end point (Berry) and avoid the slow, hot running. However, with the way my back has been lately (it’s months now since I’ve done any sort of decent ride!), I was concerned how it would hold up doing this. I had the bike prepared, but eventually decided to go in the car. But it was still good being there, contributing to the toy collection, and looking at the bikes. Here are a few photos. (There are lots more on my Facebook page!).
Here’s an interesting one! Yep, that's a V8 engine! The bike is a Boss Hoss, made in USA. The engine is a 6.2 Litre Chev unit, producing over 330kW. Because you need that much power on a bike ... NOT! Crazy! DECEMBER 8, 2017. One of our regular readers, Bill, sent in this photo.
The photo is of his grandmother, aged 17 at the time, in 1928, sitting astride a BSA. Isn’t this a great photo! From what he could find out, his grandmother didn’t ride, but her brothers did, so the bike was probably one of theirs. Great photo though! Thanks Bill.DECEMBER 9, 2017. Some dates for the diary: The final series of Temporary Australians will go to air early next year on 7Mate. There are four episodes listed, to be shown on Saturday mornings at 10am, starting on January 27.
Click here to go to the next installment of my Blog
