Tag Archives: Rallies

2023 Rally Report

The Rally was a great success again this year!

Thanks to three days of fine weather, attendance was good (~115 people registered), and there was a great selection of bikes on display.

Show ‘n’ Shine

At Saturday’s Show ‘n’ Shine, there were eight award categories. Congratulations to the following winners!

  • Best stock SR – Garry Compton
  • Best modified SR – Stewart Ross
  • Best XT/TT 500no entries this year
  • Best 4/5 valve (XT/TT/SZR/SRX 600/660) – Rob Keays (SRX)
  • Best non-SR – Greg Rocke (Honda FT500)
  • Peoples’ choice – Tom Hallahan (BMW R90S)
  • Best rat bike – Ross ‘Slab’ White (BMW K100 outfit)
  • Longest distance – Andy Carmichael (all the way from Townsville on his SR500!)

Saturday night raffle

A number of companies kindly donated items for Saturday night’s raffle, resulting in many lucky people winning some great prizes!

A big “thank you” to everyone who donated prizes:

  • Andy Strapz, Seaford (VIC)
  • Deus ex Machina, Camperdown (NSW)
  • Ikon Suspension, North Albury (NSW)
  • Vanem, Lane Cove (NSW)
  • Yamaha Australia

Hospitality

The Bethanga community provided delicious meals for us over the weekend in the sports pavilion – a wonderful assortment of curries on Friday night; a succulent selection of roast meats on Saturday night; decadent desserts; huge, cooked breakfasts, and hot and cold beverages.

Thank you, Jo, and the Bethanga Rec. Reserve committee for making the Rally such a delight for all those who attended! 😋

Thank you also to the Bethanga Hotel and Bethanga General Store for also providing delicious meals and refreshments to us over the weekend.

Annual General Meeting

At Sunday’s AGM, nominations for the Committee were heard, and the following elections were made:

  • President: Jeff Gillman
  • co-Vice Presidents: Paul Newbold and Stewart Ross
  • Treasurer: Craig Lemon
  • Secretary: Mike Haysom

Congratulations to Jeff, Paul, Craig, and Mike, who retain their positions for another 12 months, and to Stewart Ross for joining the Committee as a co-Vice President.

Charity

For our annual charitable donation, we chose this year to give $1,000 to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre. Subsequently, the colours we chose for this year’s Rally badge reflect the colours used by the ASRC in their corporate branding.

2023 Rally – A Club Member’s Report

Drew Jackson, Rick Carbis and Andy Carmichael rode all the way from Townsville (QLD) to attend the 2023 Rally in Bethanga!

Here’s Drew’s account of the long ride down and back.

Then There Were Two.
Alternatively:  Three SR500s to Bethanga 2023.

The idea of riding our SRs all the way from Townsville to Bethanga on the Hume Weir was first floated by Rick after riding to the annual SR500 Club Rally from Warwick in 2022. “Why don’t we ride all the way next year?”, asked Rick. My silence should have been sufficient response. Then Andy, who had an SR with a very worn engine, said he’d like to do it if he didn’t have to camp. The stories we told about getting soaked in 2022 and then riding home via Tumbarumba and Batlow in the cold discouraged the camping option. I had intended to do my usual thing and carry [trailer] the SR to Warwick and ride from there.

Bike preparations were still under way at Andy’s place two days before departure. My bike received a new set of sprockets and chain, tyres, valve check and oil and filter change. I added Slime to my tyres to prevent sudden deflation and to seal any small punctures. I added some zip ties, chain lube, a litre of 20W-50, and a roll of Gorilla tape. The others packed enough tools to do an engine rebuild on the side of the road.

We departed on Sunday morning from the BP service station at Cluden after a coffee. Our first stop for fuel was at Charters Towers. My bike had used 6.6 L to cover 140 km. The next fuel available was at Belyando Crossing, the only fuel available between Charters Towers and Clermont – a distance of about 370 km. The fuel here is expensive. Clermont was next where we refuelled and had lunch at the Commercial Hotel. Rick’s SR refused to start after lunch and needed a new plug to get it going. Our destination for the day was Emerald and the trip meter ticked over 639 km – 10% of the journey done.

Day two, we were headed for Eidsvold. We stopped for breakfast after an early start at Duaringa, another place with expensive fuel. Rick need some Loctite to secure his throttle lock. After arriving in Eidsvold we had a go at fixing my indicators. There was a blown fuse and they worked with the engine off. Later, we actually fixed them by wiring in a new indicator can. The Star Hotel has increased its prices for the rooms and is no longer on my recommended list.

Day three, we headed towards Warwick, Durong and Dalby. We had a good breakfast in Mundubbera at the bakery. The roads in the Burnett are varied with some narrow bitumen and some that could throw you out of your seat. The roadhouse at Darr’s Creek has good food and coffee; their bacon and egg burgers are among the best I’ve had. We stopped at a friend’s place to admire his collection of classic cars and bikes. We were running ahead of time so I took the scenic route through Toowoomba, called ‘the bypass’. It was then on to Nobby, Steele Rudd country and the home of Sister Kenny who revolutionised the treatment of polio victims. From here we went to the Irish Pub in Clifton for a Guinness before I took them through the backroads to Allora and Warwick. We stayed with my sister in Warwick who has been very generous in hosting small groups of my riding friends over the years. We did a few running repairs to the bikes after visiting the local Repco store. My indicators were fixed (thanks, Andy) and the oil leaking from Andy’s tacho drive was ‘sort of’ sorted. My bike needed some oil – about 150 mL. Total distance so far: 1,639 km.

The next morning, we were off to Gloucester and the very good Roundabout Hotel. They provide a lock-up garage for the bikes and rooms at reasonable rates. We headed down the New England Hwy and had breakfast in Stanthorpe, before tackling Bolivia Hill, before heading to Glen Innes. Here we had a disaster of Biblical proportions – Rick dropped a full bottle of Chivas Regal on the driveway of the servo. It smelt great, intoxicating even, but undrinkable. From this point on I was given the task of transporting the vital supplies as I had plenty of space in my panniers as they weren’t bulging with tools and spares. The ride from Uralla to Walcha is fine, but the ride from Walcha to Gloucester is finer. The long hills required a run up and a downshift on my bike as I had raised the gearing to 17/42. There were lots of big adventure bikes headed for Walcha as there was a big rally on there in the coming days. There were plenty of BMW GSs, as well and a couple of Husqvarna 701s. The last few kilometres into Gloucester were good fun. We had now completed 2,120 km – so one third of the ride completed.

The ride from Gloucester, the next morning, to Singleton was over a road that was just a series of patched patches, but the corners were fun. We got separated in Singleton by the heavy traffic before being reunited at the Ampol on top of the hill. We headed to Denman where we had some more coffee. We took the shortcut out to the Bylong Valley Way. This is a great road with a couple of good twisty sections to enjoy. Our lunch stop was at the Rylstone Hotel, a place with good rooms and lock-up accommodation for bikes, but we were off to Bathurst where Andy insisted on doing a lap of The Mountain.

We indulged him by doing two. It was then to our motel for the night and the Irish pub for dinner and another Guinness. Luckily there was a Dan Murphy’s opposite the motel and a replacement bottle of Chivas was liberated from the shelves. It rained that night and the forecast for the next day was bleak.

An early start had us on the road through Perthville to Trunkey Creek. It was cold so we donned our wet weather gear to keep out the chill. The road from Trunkey Creek to Crookwell is another good ride on a bike – not a lot of traffic and plenty of corners. We had an encounter with wildlife when a kangaroo decided to hop down the road directly in front of me. It stayed on the centre line for some time. Doing a steady 40 kph, this ‘roo was not giving up his spot on the highway. From Crookwell, we went to Gunning, before joining the Hume Hwy to Gundagai. We sat behind a B Double that was doing a great job of punching a hole in the wind which allowed the bikes to cruise along easily. We left the highway at Gundagai and refuelled before looking for lunch. Andy and Rick joined a long line of coffee drinkers at the café. I decided to head off to Granya and Bethanga via Tumut, Batlow and Jingellic. The ride along the Murray Valley Hwy is always enjoyable with the Murray River on the right and good farmland surrounding it. I ran onto reserve just out of Bethanga. Andy and Rick continued on the Hume to Wodonga before turning up at the Rally site.

We eventually went to our accommodation at the Hume Resort to freshen up before riding back for dinner. The food at the Rally was very good as usual, and the desserts were brilliant. It was good to catch up with so many of the regulars. The ride back to the resort was pretty slow.

We woke early the next morning and arrived well before breakfast. We had a coffee and chatted with other early risers. Breakfast was excellent and we waited for the group to assemble for the ride to Tallangatta. This year there seemed to be a larger number of SR500s on the ride. After a coffee and curry pie, we headed back to the Rally for the Show ‘n’ Shine and the cricket. We arranged a taxi to get us to and from the Saturday night dinner. Again, excellent catering was on offer.

Andy was awarded the Long Distance Award this year. We were only half-way through the ride at just over 3,000 km. The taxi picked us up early so we didn’t get a chance to kill more redundant brain cells.

The return journey was via a different route. Our first stop was at Temora to look at the Aviation Museum. We used our seniors cards to get a discount on admission. Unfortunately, a large part of the collection was in Newcastle. We now had to choose which path to take. I thought heading to Gulgong would be the go, but in the end we headed for Dubbo, Parkes and Coonabaraban. We made good progress until the rain caught up with us just on dusk. We found a motel with a room for three and parked our bikes undercover. There was a Chinese restaurant across the road so that’s where we went. A good bottle of red and a banquet went down very well. The best Chinese food I’ve had in years.

Our goal the next day was Warwick again, but the rain was all around us. We dodged the rain to Gilgandra and only got light rain as we went through Manilla, Bingara and Warialda. I told the other two that the pub at Yetman was a good place for lunch. Wrong! It was closed! So we headed for Texas on the border. Texas used to have the cheapest fuel in Queensland – it wasn’t this time, but it was a lot cheaper than in NSW. We had lunch after refilling the bikes at a takeaway place in the main street. The food and coffee was excellent and the prices very reasonable. Rick went to the op shop to see if he could get a set of rain pants. The lady who ran the shop told him that her husband had a rain suit that he wanted to get rid of, so we waited for it to arrive. Free! It was a good fit. Friendly people, those Texans. We took the road through Green Up. Emus and kangaroos added to the flowing flood-ways. The Sena [intercom] came in handy to warn the others of hazards ahead. I used this road many times when I lived in the area. Then the heavens opened and visibility was terrible. Rick’s SR started to backfire and eventually stopped. WD40 got it running again. We pulled into the Karara Hotel and applied more WD40. We arrived in Warwick tired and wet. We spread out our gear to dry. We had a great meal and hit the hay early.

We were within striking distance of home now and we just wanted to get there as quickly as possible. We went to Dalby, back through Darr Creek for breakfast, and then to Munduberra. Here we refuelled before heading to Eidsvold. We intended to get to Rockhampton, the half-way point. From Eidsvold we took the Abercorn Road past the Bunyip Hole. This is where Rick went off the road and ended up in Rockhampton by helicopter and his bike back in Eidsvold on the back of a tow truck. His new rain suit was cut off in the hospital, as was his new SR Club t-shirt and his TRMCC jumper. He has six cracked vertebrae in his upper back and will require weeks of rest.

Meanwhile, Andy and I stayed in Monto for the night. If you’re going to fall off your bike, then Monto is the place to do it. The locals who came to our assistance were fantastic. The emergency workers were very professional and did a great job.

After all the drama we still had to go to Rocky and we dropped into the ED to see Rick in his birthday suit – all his clothes were in Eidsvold. Luckily, his wife had flown up from Brisbane and she’d been shopping for the essentials. After telling Rick that his bike was in good hands, it was time to push on.

Andy’s bike was starting to go downhill. The engine was struggling. It was amazing that it had made it this far. We headed north to Mackay. I have family in Mackay, so I spent the night with my grandkids and Andy pushed on to Townsville. He made it at about 8:30pm, his bike smoking and leaking oil from many places. I took my time and arrived home in Townsville just after midday. Total distance: 6,272 km.

My bike is still running well; the only casualties being the horn, the neutral light and a hairline crack in the muffler. I have fixed the horn. The bike was filthy, so I spent an hour cleaning it up. It still isn’t pretty, but it is half decent.

Would I ride to Bethanga again from Townsville on a Yamaha SR500? No, I would not! I’ve done it now. Next year, I might ride my R90S all the way.

SR500 Club Rally Bethanga 2022

2022 Rally Report

After a three-year absence, it was so great to have a Rally back in Bethanga this year!

Despite poor weather and road conditions, attendance was good. 103 people signed in, which consisted of members of:

SR500 Club, Monarchs MC, VJMC, SCUM Tourers, Lemmings MC, BMW Touring Club NSW, British Two Stroke Club, Bendigo Historic MC, Ulysses Club, Albury Wodonga Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club, Veteran Vintage and Classic MC ACT, Shoalhaven Vintage MC, Townsville Restored MC, Cancer Research Advocate Bikers, and Redgate Classic MC.

Subsequently, there was a great selection of bikes to peruse!

Show ‘n’ Shine

At Saturday’s Show ‘n’ Shine, there were eight award categories. Congratulations to the following winners!

  • Best stock SR – Mathew Rode (1984 SR500), again!
  • Best modified SR – Geoff Garlick
  • Best XT/TT 500 – Colin Jay
  • Best 4/5 valve (XT/TT/SZR/SRX 600/660) – Andrew Willcox (SRX600)
  • Peoples’ choice – Chris Rowley (Honda 400 Four)
  • Best non-SR – Greg Doubleday
  • Longest distance – Rick Carbis (all the way from Warwick, QLD)
  • Best rat bike – Mick Kirby

Saturday night raffle

A number of companies kindly donated items for Saturday night’s raffle, resulting in many lucky people winning some great prizes!

A big THANK YOU to the following companies who donated prizes:

  • Andy Strapz, Seaford (VIC)
  • Vanem, Lane Cove (NSW)
  • Yamaha Australia

Hospitality and entertainment

The Bethanga community provided delicious meals for us over the weekend – a wonderful assortment of curries on Friday night; a succulent selection of roast meats on Saturday night; decadent desserts; huge, cooked breakfasts, and hot and cold beverages.

Brett Gilbee and band, Back Porch Fridaze, provided Saturday night’s musical entertainment, who performed brilliantly despite inclement weather!

Annual General Meeting

At Sunday’s AGM, nominations for the Committee were heard, and the following elections were made:

  • President: Jeff Gillman
  • Vice President: Paul Newbold
  • Treasurer: Craig Lemon
  • Secretary: Mike Haysom

Congratulations to Jeff, Paul, Craig, and Mike, who retain their positions for another 12 months.

2022 Rally – A Club Member’s Report

Drew Jackson and Rick Carbis rode all the way from Warwick (QLD) to attend the 2022 Rally in Bethanga.

Here’s Drew’s account of the long ride down and back.

The Year of the Floods 2022

La Niña tried its hardest to stop us getting to Bethanga for the rally this year. With the pandemic intervening in previous years, and advancing age, it was worth the risk to head south and hope for the best. There had been heavy rain and storms in Central Queensland leading up to our departure, so we changed plans and rather than ride all the way from Townsville, we decided to take the bikes in the ute as far as Warwick and then ride the 1,510 km to Bethanga. Rick’s SR500E was a recent rebuild and it had only been on the road for a few weeks, and it was using a lot more fuel than normal, so it wasn’t fully sorted. With just days to go before departure, Rick was still building racks so he could mount his BMW’s Krauser panniers to the bike. While re-jetting his carburettor to fix the economy problem, he created a starting problem. He sorted that out after some advice from a friend. My bike had done the trip twice before, so I used the same old throw-overs and gear. The bikes were loaded into the ute with some modifications so that they’d fit with the tailgate partly closed, and a replica number plate attached. It was fully loaded.

The first overnight stop was in Eidsvold. We stayed at the Star Hotel that is currently undergoing extensive renovations. Our club [Townsville Restored Motorcycle Club] uses the Star regularly. The owner is friendly, and the prices are fair. We arrived in Warwick the following afternoon, unloaded the bikes, and set them up. Rick’s SR was very heavily loaded, and the side stand was struggling to cope. Eventually he shifted the tools to the opposite pannier to prevent it toppling over.

We did a side trip to Brisbane in the ute on Tuesday before arriving back in Warwick on Wednesday and getting on the way, south, at midday. We headed off on the New England Highway and stopped in Stanthorpe to check our fuel economy. Rick’s economy problem seemed to be solved. The hot start button was doing its job, almost. It wasn’t shutting off so the idle was staying high. We turned off the New England at Uralla and headed for Walcha down Thunderbolt’s Way. A very enjoyable ride. We stayed in the Commercial Hotel in Walcha where we were able to keep the bikes in a locked shed for the night.

The following morning, we repaired Rick’s cruise control and headed further south, towards Bathurst. This took us to Gloucester, Dungog and Singleton and then onto Denman, where we stopped for lunch and asked about a shortcut to the Bylong Valley Road and whether the road was open. We were told by a council worker that it was open to light vehicles. This is where we further practised the art of pothole dodging. This used to be a great ride, but the state of the road has deteriorated to the stage where it is only a good ride now. The tight, windy bits are still good. 30 kph posted corners are fun on an SR500. We stopped briefly in Sofala before arriving in Bathurst, and naturally we did a couple of laps of the track before finding our accommodation for the night in an Irish Pub that is under new management. We locked our bikes in the beer garden overnight. The Guinness was great and so was the food.

Friday morning, we headed off on the last leg. We turned off the main western highway and headed towards Crookwell via Trunkey Creek. The first time I rode this way there was still a section of dirt. Now it’s all bitumen with lots of corners and very little traffic. The posted advisory signs range from 15 kph to 55 kph. This road is a great way to travel south. We refuelled in Crookwell and headed for Gunning. We needed to get to Bethanga before dark, so we did the unthinkable and took the Hume Highway to Albury. We stopped in Gundagai for lunch. The Hume was boring, but it saved a bit of time. I told Rick that we’d do the more interesting route on the way home – Jingellic, Tumbarumba, Batlow and Tumut.

We arrived at the sports grounds to be met by Marcos who had kindly packed a couple of chairs for us. My odometer showed 1,510 km.

The rally was great, and it was good to catch up with people after all the lockdowns and restrictions. We’ve all aged that bit more.

On Saturday we rode to Dartmouth dam, and that was spectacular. We had lunch at Eskdale before returning to the rally through some light rain. Saturday night was good, with plenty of red grape juice and Rick taking home the Long Distance Award. I’m glad the trophy was easy to pack, as I don’t think his bike had room for much else.
The rain on Saturday night had managed to soak everything in my tent – sleeping bag, clothes, everything. I woke once the grape juice wore off and shivered and shook until morning.

Getting ready to leave meant putting on the least wet clothing we had and putting on our wet weather gear over the top to stop the wind chill. After breakfast we headed off home. It was raining and it was cold, especially around Batlow. Rick had gone numb. Once we came down off the high country to Gundagai, things improved. We headed to Jugiong for coffee, and then Harden and Bathurst and Rylstone. We stayed at the Globe Hotel in Rylstone. Highly recommended. The following morning it was off to Mudgee, Gunnedah, and eventually to Tamworth. Once we were back on the New England, it was an easy ride back to Warwick. I caught up with family over a Chinese takeaway meal after reloading the bikes into the ute for the trip back to Townsville.

The drive back north was uneventful. We stopped overnight in Dingo at the Motel before heading home via Emerald, Belyando Crossing and Charters Towers. The Holden returned 8.8 L/100 km for the 3000+ km trip, which is pretty good considering the load it was carrying.

Next year, Rick is determined to ride all the way – a 6,300 km round trip, depending on how many windy roads he takes.

SR500 Club ‘Virtual’ Rally COVID 2020

Unfortunately, COVID-19 put paid to the idea of having our annual Rally in 2020.

So, we encouraged members around the country to go for rides, locally, in smaller groups instead, on Sunday, November 22, 2020 – the day we would normally have been at Bethanga.

We had groups ride from Melbourne to Whitfield and Beechworth and back, from Baxter to Flinders and back, small groups assembled in Bethanga and Canberra, and a couple of members in SA and Townsville went for solo rides.

Thank you to everyone who participated and sent us photos! You will all receive a special Rally badge for your efforts!

Below are just some of the photos we received. There are more on our Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/247827052431419

SR500 Club Rally Bethanga 2019

2019 Rally Report

The Rally was a great success again this year!

Thanks to three days of fine weather and daily temperatures of 30°C, attendance was good (~125 people signed in), and there was a great selection of bikes on display!

Show ‘n’ Shine

At Saturday’s Show ‘n’ Shine, there were eight award categories. Congratulations to the following winners!

  • Best stock SR – Mathew Rode (1984 SR500), again!
  • Best modified SR – Steven Findlay, again!
  • Best XT/TT 500 – Brendan van de Zand
  • Best 4/5 valve (XT/TT/SZR/SRX 600/660) – Mark ‘Alistair’ Cumberland (SZR660)
  • Best non-SR – Chris Rowley (Honda Super Hawk), again!
  • Peoples’ choice – Bruce Reid (Honda CBX)
  • Best rat bike – Gary Cuthbert (SR500)
  • Longest distance – Drew Jackson (all the way from Warwick, QLD)

Saturday night raffle

A number of companies kindly donated items for Saturday night’s raffle, resulting in many lucky people winning some great prizes!

A big “thank you” to everyone who donated prizes:

  • Andy Strapz, Seaford (VIC)
  • Deus ex Machina, Camperdown (NSW)
  • KEDO Parts Australia, Raymond Terrace (NSW)
  • Ikon Suspension, North Albury (NSW)
  • Vanem, Lane Cove (NSW)
  • Yamaha Australia
  • Motorcycle Trader magazine, Oakleigh (VIC)

Annual General Meeting

At Sunday’s AGM, nominations for the Committee were heard, and the following elections were made:

  • President: Jeff Gillman
  • Vice President: Paul Newbold
  • Treasurer: Craig Lemon
  • Secretary: Mike Haysom

Congratulations to Jeff Gillman, Paul Newbold, and Mike Haysom (who retain their positions as President, Vice President, and Secretary, respectively), and to Craig Lemon, who takes on the role of Treasurer, after Mike Cowie chose to stand down. Thanks, Mike, for all your work managing the Club’s finances, memberships, etc., these last five years.

2018 Rally Report

It was a special year this year for the Yamaha SR500, which has been around now for 40 years, and also it was the SR500 Club’s 20th anniversary! The Rally was very successful again this year, despite the weather on Friday! There was very heavy rain in Melbourne on Friday morning which discouraged a lot of riders from leaving until later in the day. By mid-afternoon, it was very quiet in Bethanga, but as the weekend progressed, more and more people turned up (around 120 people registered) and the weather improved.

Show ‘n’ Shine

At Saturday’s Show ‘n’ Shine, there were eight award categories. Congratulations to the following winners!

  • Best stock SR – Wendy & Mathew Rode (and their 1984 SR500, again!)
  • Best modified SR – Steven Findlay (again!)
  • Best XT/TT 500 – Brendan Van de Zand
  • Best 4 valve (XT/TT/SZR/SRX 600/660) – Scott Wells (SR600 Special)
  • Best non-SR – Chris Rowley (Honda CB77 Super Hawk)
  • Peoples’ choice – Shane Bailey (Kawasaki Z1R Mk2)
  • Best rat bike – Brett Martello (very tasty XT500 Special!)
  • Longest distance – Bill McInerney (900km from Christies Beach, SA)

Saturday night raffle

A number of companies kindly donated items for Saturday night’s raffle, resulting in many lucky people winning some great prizes!

A big “thank you” to everyone who donated prizes:

  • Andy Strapz, Seaford (VIC)
  • Deus ex Machina, Camperdown (NSW)
  • IKON Suspension, North Albury (NSW)
  • Yamaha Australia
  • Court House Hotel, Bethanga (VIC)
  • KEDO Parts Australia, Raymond Terrace (NSW)
  • Motorcycle Trader magazine, Oakleigh (VIC)

Saturday night entertainment

Big thanks to Salty Dog Blues for a great set on Saturday night!

Annual General Meeting

At Sunday’s AGM, nominations for the Committee were heard, and the following elections were made:

  • President: Jeff Gillman
  • Vice Presidents: Paul Newbold, Craig Lemon
  • Secretary: Mike Haysom
  • Ride Captain: Tony Jones
  • Treasurer: Mike Cowie

Congratulations to Jeff Gillman (President again), Paul Newbold and Craig Lemon (joint Vice Presidents), and a warm welcome to Mike Haysom who takes over as Secretary from Tony Jones, who stepped down after serving for 5 years. Thanks Tony you did a great job, and we are glad to have you in your new position as Ride Captain! Mike Cowie continues as Treasurer.