All British Rally 2019

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This year (April 26 -28) I finally got to hang out at the All British Rally at Newstead, Vic – despite being in the ‘leper colony’ reserved for non-Brit bikes. Steve towed the “Mother Ship” to the event with his, Marty and my camping gear, along with his 1938 Norton. With stretcher beds, camp chairs, hooks for hanging our gear, LED lighting and my powered fridge, this set up really takes camping to a whole new level of comfort!

Above: Steve giving his ’38 Norton a run.

Above: Andy’s recently completed BSA 350cc Gold Star.

Marty and JT getting into the spirit of things.

Above: a beautifully engineered, home built V twin BSA.

We had a marvelous time sitting around the fire on Friday night talking bikes and life in general with like minded motorcyclists. On Friday night the temp dropped to below zero, and were were glad to be in the Mother Ship, rather than in tents.

Saturday saw plenty of frost about and a cloudless, blue sky. After a designated ride around the back roads of central Vic, the bikes rolled into the historic town of Maldon, and take over the main street.

 

After taking in all the displayed bikes, Marty and I did a quick ride to Bendigo to catch up with old friends.

On Saturday night Andy, Simon and Stan did an incredible job of feeding a group of 11 hungry motorcyclists with a pig on a spit. This was sensational!

 

Some sat around the fire and chatted well into the night, while Steve, Marty and I went over to where the band was playing and got into the spirit of things. Saturday night’s low temp was 10C warmer than the night before.

Below are some random shots from the weekend.

An interloper in the form of an immaculate GT 550 Suzuki.

The BSA Motorcycle Owners Association of Vic are to be commended on this incredibly well run event. It will become a permanent event in my diary.

Suzi’s and the Squirrels

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I introduced a friend to Andy for some advice re Suzuki two stroke restoration. After we’d poured over some of Andy’s projects, we took a short ride to visit my old mate and mentor, TK – and had the opportunity to look over some rare motorcycles in his collection. A few pics below:

Andy’s BSA Gold Star nearing completion.

Above – some of Andy’s restored Suzuki 2 strokes.

Below – one of TK’s Scott Flying Squirrels. This is a 1927 model – he also has a mint 1930 and several other bikes under restoration.

My boyhood hero & mentor – still offering sage advice!

What a grand day!

 

 

Andy’s Engineering & Restoration

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The Procrastinators gathered at Andy’s on 9 October so that Steve could get some engineering work done to get his ride on mower usable for spring, so that I could get a mobile solar panel wiring problem fixed (that’s a euphamism for Jules soldered it and stuffed it up!), and more importantly, so we could have a damn good catch up with plenty of banter. And as an unexpected bonus Andy cooked us a delicious lunch with the nicests steak I’ve had in a very long time.

Below: some pics of the BSA Gold Star that Andy is building / restoring.

Below: The maestro at work!

And steak – prior to potatoes and onions being added!

Thanks fellas for a great day and especially Andy for sharing you skills so readily.

Living the dream on a Bridgestone 90 & some farnarkling at Kellys

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I’m in the process of digitising some old pics of our motorcycling exploits. Below are three shots from the very early days of the Westcoast Procrastinators, Andy, Steve and I aboard Andy’s Bridgestone in Osbourne St Ocean Grove (Vic) seeing who can outdo each other. I’d forgotten that we weren’t that big on safety gear in those days and I’m pretty sure that I didn’t have a licence either!

Jules doing a lap – with our jointly owned FE Holden in the background and Steve’s Datsun 1600.

Steve – the rebel without a cause!

Righto fellas – this is how it’s done! Andy giving us a riding lesson.

Rod, Jules & Steve. How many Procrastinators does it take to change a tyre on a Kawi Mach III?

Experimenting with a 4 into 1 on Steve’s Honda Four. L –>R, Rod Menzies (facing), ‘Bugs’ Halliwel, Steve, Lex Mousley & Jules (standing)

An older pic of Steve’s ES2 Norton.

Jules’s Yamaha CT1 from a slide by Ron Kelly

Our mentor (& hooligan) Tom Kingston in Pearce’s back yard