1st Weekender on my GT.........

[Aussie Dave]

Took this....

1290GT after 500km day ride to......2017.jpg (74.76 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

for a 1300km round trip to the Annual Restorer's Rally held at Inverell in NSW Austraylia.....

to see stuff like this....

Royal Enfield with DT250 motor Inverell Restorers Rally 2017.jpg (64.47 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and this...

Vintage bike and sidecar Inverell 2017 .jpg (67.17 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and this....

XS650 Bobber at Inverell 2017.jpg (77.53 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and......

XS750 remember them.....at Inverell 2017.jpg (71.61 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and.....

Moto Marin too shinny to photograph 2017 Inverell.jpg (70.9 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and....one of my first new bikes when I was 17yo....

CB360 1974 Inverell 2017.jpg (76.94 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and...lots of these....

Inverell 2017 Historical village Windmill and restored bikes.jpg (65.99 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and these....

CB750 ally at Inverell 2017.jpg (72.73 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

and so much more.......

Then I had to ride home and go back to work........
but this gave me a laugh - an adventure CB750 -

1970s Adventure Bike at Inverell 2017.jpg (66.87 KiB) Viewed 7447 times

The GT was super comfy on our less than perfect back roads and now has a bit over 3,500kms.

That WP suspension is very nice once it loosens up......and there's a setting to suit all styles..

[NiteKreeper]

Well that looked like fun!
But why have I never heard of this "Restorer's Rally"?!

[JDS1290SDr]

^^ Im surprised Tancaker hasn't invited U

That would have been I a great ride. Its nice to look at these old bikes. I don't think id want to ride one for to long. Look at how far we have come. HP, performance, handling, comfort. The GT sure seems like a good package.

[NiteKreeper]

^^ Im surprised Tancaker hasn't invited U .

Lol - let's just say I'm not expecting a delivery of chocolate eggs from the UK this week...

[Steel32]

Looks like you had fun!

[Aussie Dave]

Cheers Nite Kreeper.......they hold it every year - and there are probably other rallies around the traps - but if you want to go next year you can email/phone the organisers:-

Inverell M/C Restorers Club Inc Peter (0427 286 547) or Judy (0427 208 114) or better still - Email to greeks54@bigpond.com and they will email the entry form and details. (invites usually come out about March with entry deadline 1/4/18......if you want the full experience).

I have entered in past years and gone on the ride with all the old bangers.....great fun, but this year my friends and I just lobbed at the gates at the Hysterical Village paid $2 and wandered in......we were off on our own ride down to Guyra and Urala on some roads we had never ridden.......but the rally is very well orgnised and the lunches/morning teas etc are typical country eat fests.....plenty of great tucker!

Lots camp at the village, but we live it up in nearby 3.5 star motel accom.......maybe see you there next April eh?

Inverell is a very pretty, clean, prosperous town and the roads and scenery are superb.......

[Aussie Dave]

Now boys, be nice, my friend in the UK was in a dark place with his GT playing hard to get......

We all get this way when stuff goes really wrong, but it reads like he is back on track with his GT..

Imagine no riding for 3 months while snow and ice cover the land......I'd be going nuts in a week....

Anyway, I've been rained on, and splattered by thousands of bugs, so I've lost the right to call myself a sunny Sunday morning rider... .....and thank Fek the weather has at last turned cool.....that summer shite just about did me in.....stinking hot sweaty humid awful anti bike weather......now for some proper air-conditioned autumn chill - and no more sweaty pants, helmet, jacket, gloves, socks......

Cheers all.

[NiteKreeper]

Haha remember a few years ago we had a 48-degree day the weekend before Australia Day?
Me and 3 mates rode to Taree that day, for the Troy Bayliss Classic weekend - the soles of my boots literally melted somewhere around Newcastle, and I had to glue them back on in the bar when we got there...
The other side of that coin was leaving Phillip Island at 6am after the 2015 GP, expecting to make it a couple of hours down the road before breakfast. But someone's GPS was saying it was -5 degrees, so I think we rode about 30 minutes and stopped at a Maccas for an hour. As did an entire Maccas car park full of bikes...
So yeah, definitely only good weather for me too...

I've put the show in my diary, so you'll probably see me next year.

[scrubrunner]

thanks Dave, +nuthery didn't know about it, will have at it next lap of the callender thingo

[Aussie Dave]

Cheers lads, so I will loose my righteous exclusivity next year eh?... .....

I was the only "Orange" bike in the graveyard.....errr, carpark, and oddly enough, car drivers and van towers all know what a KTM is........they didn't know what my Caponord 1200 was (prob thought it was just another bloody Ducati... )......

[Aussie Dave]

G'day from Aus......took my 1290 GT on the 40th Anniversary Duke Club of Queensland (that's one of the big states of Aus-land......except when we don't think the rest are as right as we always are... ).

So I was the only KTM amongst a sea of Italian Bevel Drive and Belt Drive Desmo Ducati's..... (and a few of them MS1200 things).

They put on a great spread and even had a special guest to do an after dinner "Hard Chat" interview!

So 37 now rare 1970 era Bevel drive Duc's were arranged around the room (there would have been 40 but some had to pull out due to flu/crashes/etc)......the moto of the meet was "Ride-em, Don't Hide-em".....

It was a wonderful sight to see so many gleaming classic beauties lined up while we pigged out on some nice tucker......and desert.....

Hope these pics are good enough - my poor little phone cam doesn't do indoor very well.....

The Old & the New SS900 Bevel & MS1200.jpg (71.13 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

MHR flanked by 750 Sport's.jpg (49.49 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

Ahhh my pretty....SS900 & 750 classic Sport.....bellissimo......jpg (48.04 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

Another Streetfighter......jpg (51.63 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

Eye Candy Everywhere....DCoQ 40th.. Bevel & Bullshit .. ride 2017.jpg (51.85 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

More Bevel's....Ride em, don't hide em!.jpg (50.49 KiB) Viewed 7270 times

Must congratulate these intrepid Ducati riders......they rode all of them there (not slowly) and drank lots of beer, and had a great night followed by another day of riding around the Tenterfield region in northern NSW.

Damn, I should buy a proper camera......but I had a couple of Toohey's Olds in me - that must be why the pics are not so sharp....

[NiteKreeper]

Not personally, but I know of a few bevel-drive owners through other forums/associations.
They're hard-core, alright...

[Aussie Dave]

G'day all, though no longer my first weekender on the Gt......I'm booked in at Inverell again for the restorer's rally 13-15April 2018. My Ducati mates are having their Bevel n Bullshit weekender on the same date so I can't be in two places at the same time no matter how clever i like to think I am... ......

I'll be joining up with some of them from Sunday anyway, and hope to ride all the great roads in NSW over the following week......(missed it last year as work was relocating... ).

Anyway, maybe I'll see some more Orange Power in the car park......though the ride (full entry fee) is well worth going on (great lunch) and nice to see the old stuff in action (well organised, back up vehicle for full participants, local museum/other visits often included, etc etc)........contact details in post above Apr11

Cheers from stormy heat wave Queensland

[mick shere]

Looking forward to the piccies, glad you are having reasonable weather, it sh*t up here

[Aussie Dave]

Cheers Mick....... I suppose heatwave humid and unsettled stormy weather is still way better than a foot of cold damp slippery stuff.... .......but it sure saps motivation.......I just did my weekly washing this morning - instead of suiting up and riding off into the mountains.......how suburban is that

It's Saturday here in the land of Oz.....lets see.....coffee with old farts ( don't tell them I said that ) then grocery shopping in aircon supermarket , stay for lunch until can't stand the music and noise any longer......home to read a bike mag until its cool enough to mow the grass.......gonna have to make an effort to get out early on Sundaaay...... .......bugger, suns gone out.....grey rainy skies.....half dry washing on the clothes line.......groannnn.....shoulda gone fer a blast.....

[Aussie Dave]

I survived....... hoooEeeee double by pass surgery complete with VF rythym complication and emergency Angiogram........ and 6 hits with those Defibrylator pad things....... oh what a "Bang" that created inside my empty skull......

Anyway - I must apologise to Aussie GT riders looking to attend the 2018 Inverell Restorers Rally.

I'm unable to attend and will miss meeting any orange bike enthusiasts. My breast bones will need 3 months to knit before I am permitted to Drive, and probably another 3 months before it is safe enough to risk a ride