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Wing Notes |
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Newsletter
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February
2007 |
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men and women |
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www.auswingriders.com |
Australian Wing Riders Association (Qld) Inc |
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Wing Notes |
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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF
THE AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION QLD INCORPORATED |
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EDITOR:.............Bevan Bradford Phone: 07 3822 3512 Mobile 0408 714 000 E-Mail: mail @ auswingriders.com Wing Notes is produced with the
object of keeping members informed about matters of interest to AWRA
members. A electronic copy of each
issue is available to every financial member of the AWRA. Copies are also distributed to selected
motorcycle dealers in the greater |
Submissions
for inclusion in Wing Notes should be with the Editor no later than the Friday
following the monthly meeting, i.e.: Friday after the 1st Monday of the month. DISCLAIMER: Although Wing Notes will
endeavour to reproduce submissions in their original form it reserves the
right to edit submissions as it sees fit.
Views expressed in contributed articles in Wing Notes are not
necessarily those of the AWRA or the Editor.
Wing Notes is produced with care, in good faith and from
sources believed to be accurate at the time of writing. |
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Management
Committee: |
Meetings: |
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President Clint Lovell (07)
3398 3437 E-mail: |
Secretary Val Thomas (07)
3848 0498 E-mail: secretary @
auswingriders.com |
Meetings are held
on the 1st Monday of
every month |
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Vice President Rob (Bear) Harriss
0409 052 218 E-mail: RHMRS @
iinet.com.au |
Treasurer Geoff Mead (07) 5529 5034 E-mail: meady @
auswingriders.com |
Next
meeting: Australian National Hotel, Cnr. |
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The
adventurous Goldwing rider |
Upcoming activities: |
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25th February Pot Luck at Ray and Val’s 1st March Membership due 5th March General Meeting at Aussie Nash
Hotel 10th March Theatre night 18th March Ride day |
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Member’s Notices Memberships
are due at the end of February. Please
complete the membership form at the back of the magazine or from the website
and send it with your subscription to: The Secretary, Australian Wing Riders
Association (Qld) Inc, |
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The President Speaks…. |
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The Secretary’s Desk…. |
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G’day everyone Aren’t holidays great? This year for the first time in a long
time, I actually got to take a good break from work. A time to do all those jobs that have taken
a back seat while more important things like, Ulysses’ AGMs, club rides,
social nights, kids cricket and soccer and all that stuff take priority. At last, a chance to clean out my shed. Once holidays started I started on the jobs
that needed to be done and tried to prioritise them. After all, I had to get my tanks in before
it rained, I had to get the pergola fixed before it fell down, I had to
rearrange the front garden before someone we know really got upset, I had to
get the patio up before the breakfast, I had to get Greg moved and store some
furniture and things in my shed. Well, holidays are over and I’m back at work. It felt like I never stopped doing jobs at
home and I didn’t get to actually clean out the shed and see if I could get
rid of some of the contents. With the
extra stuff I had to store, the shed now has less room in it than when I
started holidays February’s magazine is finally finished. Sorry there was no January mag but it’s a
bit hard when there are no contributions.
Never mind, here it is so ‘till next month, Happy reading. Bevan |
Hi all, Belated Happy New Year everyone. You’ll all be glad to know my leg has healed up
fine. Forgotten hadn’t you. Not to worry, we all have our lives to
lead. Here’s a bit more of ours. Finally sold the 1500 last month to a lucky bloke in
Maryborough. That meant a long-awaited
trip to Spicky’s place and part with a goodly portion of it. I know I could have gotten all the stuff
over the internet for cheaper, but after waiting all this time I needed the
stuff NOW. He’s good for that. Prices were OK too, and the peace-of-mind
factor is nice. So look out for all
the pretty extra lights on the night run this weekend. Charleen and I are going to Reciprocatively, a couple of GoldWing riders from
Albuquerque, New Mexico will be visiting Brisbane and staying at our place
for a couple of nights in mid March.
We might do a BYO BBQ on one night.
Stay tuned. Lots
of great riding weather coming up as the cooler months approach, so let’s get
out there. Cheers Clint |
Hello everyone, Happy New Year everyone. Another new year to look forward to, and
together with more rides and new destinations we can keep enjoying our wings
and friendships. My current objective is to finalise the details for
our Annual General Meeting in Our first project at home is to have a water tank
installed; it has developed into quite a challenge already – finding the tank
has proved harder than we thought.
Thommo is scratching around and making the plot for them – not a
pretty sight either! Our first social is a Pot Luck on our deck – welcome
to you all. Thanks to Bill’s quick
thinking as our original plan did not work out. But having being inspired with BearandJayne’s efforts we will keep working on our rides as well. Here’s to a great 2007. Safe
riding everyone. ValerieandThommo |
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Children
would all be brought up perfectly if families would just swap kids. Everyone
knows what ought to be done with the neighbour’s kids. |
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As usual my story is not written on or actually near
the day of our outing - We had a great roll up for such an early start. 28
humans and 16 ‘wings! A quick, sheepish phone call before we started off to
let Plainland Hotel know how many of us were actually going to be there, a
tentative booking for 20 had been made.
But no problems. Anyway
a quick briefing and we were away up the highway to Plainland. Much joviality as usual, |
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weather
was fabulous, service was grand. After
leisurely eats we headed back towards Laidley but turned off to head through
Forest Hill, Gatton. Helidon Road and onto the highway again. Missing the by-pass road, always a good
thing. Along the Helidon Road we passed another group of riders with those
‘H’ bikes. Every one woke up (sorry we are all always a little quiet after a
feed) to make some sort of comment and wonder where the ute was! Sure enough
along one came purely coincidental I expect but the timing was
wonderful. We
turned off the |
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group
navigating Toowoomba was a little challenging and we must have got stopped
(red’s fault) at every set of traffic lights until we were on the outskirts
we finally got the go (yay green) to hurry up and leave! We took the right turn for Murphy’s Creek
and as if this road isn’t nice enough we had a little playful detour through
a little ancient tunnel, which I think must’ve been a stock route at one
stage, under the railway line guided by Clint and Charlene. Charlene got some great video footage of us
all coming through here and other little parts of the day. Have you checked it out on the ‘net yet? Anyway back on the highway and straight down to After everyone else had left BearandI were just putting our helmets on and a car drove
straight up to us (not even turning to park) and we held our breath wondering
if it was going to stop....well, it |
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did and who was in there but DonnaandAndy
Reggett. They were travelling up to
Plainland for lunch, seen all the ‘wings but not us, so were looking out for us
to say ‘Hello’. Well, that rounded off what we thought was a great
day! Thanx for the company. Take Care JayneandBear |
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P.S Just a reminder for all the newer members or those
who have not led a ride. It only needs
to be somewhere you like to go. Others
may not have been there, but even if they have the company is always
different and fun. It doesn’t even have to be a very long ride, some
destinations seem like it but aren’t.
A picnic is lovely as well. We don’t have to spend money to have a good time. JayneandBear |
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A lawyer defending a man accused of burglary tried a
creative defence to get his client off the hook. "My client merely
inserted his arm into the window and removed a few paltry items. His arm is
not himself, so I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an
offence committed solely by his arm." "Well put," the judge replied with a grin.
"Using that same logic, I sentence the defendant's arm to one year's
imprisonment. Your client can accompany the arm or not, as he chooses." The defendant smiled. With his lawyer's help, he
detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench and walked out. |
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Dandenong Roundup 14 Jan 07 The first ride for 07 was a late starting ride as we
headed off at 10.00am for a 214 km ride around the Dandenongs and out to
Nerrim and back into the Dandenongs. Only three riders for todays ride John,
Karen, Steve, Casey, John and Marg. The starting point was Reg Jeffrey Honda
at the foot of the Dandenongs and after a short chat we hit the road up into
the hills, riding in the Dandenongs is always a pleasure and somehow gets rid
of the stress of life in general. We did a few roads we had not done before
and then headed to Nerrim for lunch at piggy’s and |
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you guessed it the store was full of porcelain pigs.
The food was great and just enough to fill the body for
the ride back over the Dandenongs heading towards home. We stopped at launching place for a short drink stop
and after our goodbyes we headed home, at Ferntree Gully Steve and his
daughter Casey headed towards That
brought the end of another good day on the bikes with great company and good
weather. John G |
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The difference between men and women Let's say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else. And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realise that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?" And then there is silence in the car. To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship... maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of. And Roger is thinking: Wow. Six months. And Elaine
is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship,
either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think
about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily
toward... I mean, where are we |
going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person? And Roger is thinking: So, that means it was... let's see... February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means... let me check the odometer... Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here. And Elaine is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment... maybe he has sensed, even before I sensed it, that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected. And Roger is thinking: And I'm going to have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say; it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600. And Elaine
is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so
guilty, putting him |
through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure. And Roger is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty... scum balls. And Elaine is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centred, schoolgirl romantic fantasy. And Roger is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their... "Roger," Elaine says aloud. "What?" says Roger, startled? "Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have... Oh God, I feel so... (She breaks down, sobbing.)" "What?" says Roger. "I'm such a fool," Elaine sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse." "There's no horse?" says Roger. "You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine says. "No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer. "It's just that... it's that I... I need some time," Elaine says. There is a 15-second pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work. "Yes," he says. Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand. "Oh, Roger, do you really feel that way?" she says. "What
way?" says Roger. "That way about time," says Elaine.
"Oh," says Roger. "Yes." |
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Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks. "Thank you, Roger," she says. "Thank you," says Roger. Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn. When Roger gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it. The next
day Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they
will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail,
they will analyse everything |
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she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either. |
Meanwhile, Roger, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Elaine's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say, "Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?" And THAT'S the difference between men and
women! |
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The The
parting words were, “Just make sure we get damper for breakfast”. A few weeks before Australia Day, I
couldn’t see any reason why the breakfast would not go off without a
hitch. After all, I was on holidays,
only had a few jobs to do around the house, move a garden, install some rain
water tanks, install a patio, rebuild the pergola, and the list goes on. The deal with Spanline was; the patio had
to be completed before 26th January. And it was.
We finished it at 3:00pm on the 25th. The rest of the jobs were no problem. Just constant work to make sure they were
finished but unfortunately I forgot I was supposed to check the rules on
lighting up the camp fire to create a bit more authenticity to the damper but
so be it. I can always do them in the oven. |
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Friday
dawned as a good looking day with a forecast for higher temperatures. This, combined with the rain we had meant that
the humidity would be high and the bay breeze needed to keep us cool would
not arrive until at least 10:00am. Up
early and mix two dampers to feed the expected 30 or so people, warm up the
barbie to cook the lamb chops to show Sam we are true blue Aussies and also
to cook up a few pancakes, snags and a slab of bacon. With all preparations complete, the first
Goldwing rolled up the driveway.
Within an hour the driveway was full with the neighbours still
commenting on the value of machinery that was parked there. With the pancakes underway the morning started with
everyone doing the usual social meet, greet and swap stories as the cooking
continued. This exercise is getting
bigger each year and next time I will have to be more prepared with an
assistant cook and maybe a bigger BBQ.
This time I was lucky and I can’t thank Kevin |
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enough for his taking over as chief
cook while I rushed around checking dampers, getting cooked ones out of camp
ovens and putting the next one in. Breakfast
would have been later and probably over cooked if he had not come to the
rescue. With everything cooked and the
temperature and humidity rising, breakfast was served with orange juice and
bubbly. Note for next year, more
orange juice and bubbly. Don’t under-estimate
how much Goldwinger riders can eat for breakfast! Kevin and I thought we had cooked |
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enough of everything but the line for
the bacon and eggs seemed like it was never going to end. That was lucky really, if everyone had
wanted more snags or chops we would have had a problem. The second damper was
now ready so with these sliced ready for a topping of Golden Syrup everyone
finished off a hearty breakfast. Now I had built the
patio to make the most of the afternoon sun but this was not afternoon so the
benefits were certainly not apparent.
There were two options it appeared.
The first was to move all the chairs to the eastern side of the lawn
and take advantage of the shade from the gum trees. This proved to be a welcome relief for
those who moved. The second option
taken by Thommo and a couple of others, I won’t name Bear and myself, was to
sample a few ports to help the coffee go down. This solution may not have been as cooling
but on a winter’s night port has insulating qualities and keeps out the cold,
were we just checking if it kept out the heat as well. After a quick
clean-up and putting the dishwasher to work, a ride to the local Cold Rock
Ice Cream shop seemed a good idea. Taking
the long way round provided a good hot morning ride and the ice cream was
certainly appreciated. If you didn’t
make it along, I hope you can next year. Bevan
and Therese |
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Bear and Thommo getting their
Christmas holiday exercise |
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A couple of months ago, I participated in a club
ride day and was disappointed to observe that some of the core “courtesies”
we as riders and |
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participants
are supposed to be extending to our fellow members were being blatantly
ignored. I’m talking about maintaining
contact with the rider either in front or behind you. The Ride Information section of our Member Information
Booklet available on the web site clearly states a number of courtesies that
are expected of participants: * Rides are conducted in accordance with normal
traffic regulations and everyone is expected to maintain their own
appropriate "safety net" of distance from the rider in front of
them. These are legal requirements and
everyone is expected to obey them. * As a Participant in the ride I should make sure I
maintain ride speed and provided I feel safe doing so, remain in contact with
the rider in front of me; this is particularly so where passing lanes are
involved. * As a Participant in the ride I should make sure the
following bike is maintaining pace with me and is regularly in my mirrors This particular ride involved several sections of
twisties, which I enjoy pushing on through just as much as most others but we
had a new member and another member, both of whom do not have a lot of
Goldwing experience. The resulting mix
saw the ride group break into three sections.
Those in front pushed along, at a legal but constant speed, while the
leader of second group attempted to keep up with those in front without
losing the new member who was a bit slower through some sections, this
resulted in excessive catch-up speeds but eventually loss of the lead group,
and a third group lead by a member with limited experience on a large
motorcycle which then lost the middle group. Those in the centre group had no CBs so were not
aware of turnoffs being advised. This
resulted in them missing a turn, the new member returning home, and a lucky
catch-up to the group for the others.
The middle group were a bit luckier with CB contact enabling them to
do the necessary u-turn to get back on the right road, and the front group
having to stop while everyone regrouped.
All in all, not the best way to have an enjoyable ride and encourage
member participation. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the
story. Less than two hours later, the
same thing happened again with the lead group disappearing into the
never-never without a care then again having to wait while everyone
regrouped. I guess it’s not hard to
believe that the rider failing to keep the rider behind in sight was the same
in both cases. Was it you? I don’t know about you, but it really cheeses me off
when I see this sort of behaviour on our rides and one or two members spoil
it for others. I ask everyone to read
the Ride Information section of our Member Information Booklet, available on
the web or by contacting me as the Communications Officer, and become familiar
with the contents, particularly the ride courtesies therein. This will make rides much more enjoyable
for all and also obviate member disappointment and the angry discussion that
could unavoidably occur between members after the ride. Bevan |
Valentine’s Day As early as the 4th century BC, the Romans engaged in a young man's rite of passage during the Feast of Lupercalia On the eve of this festival, February 14, each young man would draw from a jar the name of a Roman girl to whom he would be partnered for the remainder of the festival. Many of the couples thrown together would eventually fall in love and later marry. This practice continued for eight hundred years, until early church fathers sought to replace the Roman deity Lupercus with a patron saint of lovers. Valentine, a bishop martyred almost two hundred years earlier, was the perfect choice. Under the reign of Emperor Claudius 11, all weddings and engagements had been cancelled in an effort to boost military numbers. Claudius II figured that without a wife or sweetheart to leave behind, men would be more willing to fight, Valentine disagreed however and continued to conduct marriage services in secret. He became known as the 'friend of lovers' but was found out and condemned to death. Whilst awaiting his fate,
Valentine is said to have fallen in love with the daughter of the gaoler. He
wrote her a farewell note signed "From your Valentine", thus
beginning a lasting tradition. His punishment was carried out on |
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AUSTRALIAN WING RIDERS ASSOCIATION (QLD)
INCORPORATED
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Date |
Destination |
Ride /
Social Event |
Ride
Leaders |
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25 February Social |
RayandVal’s home Get address from website |
BYOAO (Bring Your
Own And Others), POT LUCK. SOUTH SIDERS,
(Those that live South of the NORTH SIDERS,
(Those that live North of the |
RayandVal
Thomas |
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Social |
Sandgate Theatre night |
Theatre night,
Arsenic and Old Lace, |
Doug and Preeta |
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18 March |
TBA |
Meet at BP Stapleton
at 0830 for a 0900 departure. Bring Smoko, buy lunch. |
JohnandLinda
Long |
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Social |
TBA |
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15 April |
Mitchell |
Overnight ride
visiting various country towns. Watch this space. |
Bevan and Therese |
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21 April |
TBA |
Ten Pin Bowling |
Meady |
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20 May |
TBA |
TBA Be quick to grab this spot |
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26 May |
TBA |
TBA Be quick to grab this spot |
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Ride Coordinator
- Bill Carter – Tel: (07) 5564 8996 e-mail: carterbm @
bigpond.net.au Bill’s a/h mobile 0428 248 160 RIDE DATES;
Unless otherwise arranged, rides will be on the 3rd Sunday of the month, and
Social rides, the following weekend, with other social events as announced
through the year. ** Ride Leaders:
Please check the details of your ride and let me know of any changes.
Ride leaders are also asked to organise 2 raffle prizes for their ride.
Suggested value approximately $10.00 each. Raffle tickets will be made
available from Eric Madjeric. IMPORTANT: Even
if you have not finalised the details of your ride, just supply the start
timeandlocation, the general direction of the ride, and the meal
arrangements. *** Ride Leaders:
Please provide a short pre-ride briefing that outlines the basic safety
precautions that we in the AWRA like to observe when riding in groups, and a
little about the ride and the rest stop locations. |
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PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY ON RIDES: ·
Each motorcyclist is responsible for at
least the following; ·
The roadworthiness of your vehicle
(including trailer) ·
That you are in a fit condition to
control the vehicle, (including trailer) ·
Make sure you have a full tank of fuel
before departing on a ride. ·
That you obey all the traffic rules and
ride in a safe manner. ·
That you ride in a considerate manner
that does not endanger, or unnecessarily inconvenience other road users. ·
To be correctly attired for safe
motorcycling. ·
To have fun and enjoy the day, and the
company. Thanks for all those that have offered to organise rides
and socials; that is what makes this club so great. If you are yet to conduct a ride or
organise a social, please start to plan something so that when your turn
arrives you will be ready. You don’t have to wait to be asked, just let me
know. |
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The casual Goldwing rider |
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Members Notice: Please note that the next General
Meeting returns to the; Australian National Hotel, Cnr. |
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