All posts by Craig Lemon

New postal address

Due to changes to the ‘service’ we have been receiving from Australia Post, we have once again been forced to change the location of our PO box.

With immediate effect, our new address is:

PO Box 499, Balwyn, VIC 3103

Please start using our new Balwyn address from now on.

Annual Club Rally (21-23 Nov 2025)

Start date: Friday, 21 November 2025
End date: Sunday, 23 November 2025

Come join us for our annual, national Rally at the Bethanga Recreation Reserve in north-eastern Victoria!

Bethanga is about 20 km east of Albury/Wodonga, making it reasonably central for NSW, ACT, and Victorian members!

Entry is only $15 pre-paid (in our PO Box by 31st October), or $20 on-site.

As usual, everyone is welcome, so feel free to bring friends & family!

Rally-goers from Melbourne are invited to meet at Yea at 9.00am on the Friday, to ride en masse to Bethanga (via Tolmie, Whitfield, and Beechworth).

Evening meals Friday will be available at the Bethanga Hotel and in the sports pavilion at the reserve.

Evening meals on Saturday, and breakfasts Saturday/Sunday will be available in the sports pavilion.

Saturday night entertainment: TBC

AGM: The Annual General Meeting will be held at 8.30am on Sunday 23rd, where there will be the presentation of the 2024/2025 Annual Financial report, and an election of committee members for the next 12 months.

To download an Entry Form for the Rally, click here.

For more info, email the Club at:

Rally badge 2024

In the lead up to our annual Rally, we take time to carefully choose a worthwhile charity to donate a portion of our Club funds to. The chosen charity often influences the colours we choose for the Rally badge.

This year, the Committee has decided to donate to Arthritis Australia.

Using colours that the charity uses on its website, we have a two-colour design for this year’s badge. Everyone who attends and has paid the Rally entry fee will receive a badge.

We hope you like it!

For more info on the charities we’ve supported previously, please click here.

Saturday night entertainment (23 Nov 2024)

We are pleased to announce that Saturday night’s entertainment at this year’s Rally will be provided by bluesman, The Lone Vanguard, a.k.a. Dale Lindrea.

Dale is a full-time, professional, blues-driven bass player, who performs solo as The Lone Vanguard, and also in bands such as The Vanguards, Plezurhounds, and Collard Greens & Gravy.

He performs regularly at venues such as The Drunken Poet, Beneath Driver Lane, Moon Dog Wild West, Bellarine Estate Winery, The Blues Train, The Blues Tram, Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society, and many, many others.

Don’t miss The Lone Vanguard, performing in the Bethanga Rec. Reserve sports pavilion this Saturday night, 23 Nov 2024!

A message from the Bethanga Rec. Reserve Committee

The following is a message from the Bethanga Recreation Reserve Committee regarding hospitality arrangements for this weekend’s Rally:

The bar will open at 3.00 pm on Friday 22nd. Bar hours are 3.00 pm Friday to 1.00 am Saturday, and 1.00 pm Saturday until 1.00 am Sunday. We will have available for purchase, beer, including craft beer, red and white wine, pre-mixes, soft drink, and bottled water. Any special requests, please let us know.

Friday night we will serve a selection of casseroles with potatoes and rice. Price will be $25.00 pp. Dessert will be available for $5.00. Dinner service is scheduled to begin at 7.00 pm. The local pub is also available and under new management. Meals are good. On Saturday night we will serve roast meat and vegetables, similar to previous years. Service will begin at 6.30 pm and price is $25.00 pp, with dessert available for $5.00. Breakfast will be available on Saturday morning from 8.00 am and on Sunday morning from 6.00 am. Big brekky is $15.00 pp, and a simple toast with spreads, juice, etc. is $5.00.

Cash and card will be accepted, but unfortunately, no cash out.

We look forward to welcoming you to Bethanga again this year.

Warm regards,
Maree
Bethanga Recreation Reserve Committee of Management

For Sale: 1980 Honda CB125N

Type: For Sale
Location: Beechworth, VIC
Date Posted: Tuesday, 13 August 2024
Price: $2,500

Description:

  • Honda CB125N 1980
  • Frame no. CB125N 1005420
  • Engine no. MD33E5 100043
  • As seen at numerous Bethanga rallies
  • Currently living in Beechworth
  • $2,500

“This is not an original bike, although it looks fairly standard at a quick glance. I have owned it for 16 years and had it on club plates for most of that time. The engine and electrics are from an SL230, so it has electric start, decent lights and can actually get out of its own way if needed. Top speed is about 120 kph, but it’s a really willing and gutsy engine. The bike handles surprisingly well and is very stable in corners. Great fun on something like the Granya Gap or Mt Hotham.

“The engine has done about 23,000 km. The rest of the bike has probably done a bit less. The front sprocket and O ring chain are nearly new. The original seat vinyl has recently cracked, but the foam and base are sound. Rearsets are fitted at the moment, but normal footpeg mountings are included.

“I’m not asking for a higher price because some work will be needed for a RWC – the exhaust is very loud, the left-hand blinkers are not completely reliable and the brake light only has a switch on the back brake. VicRoads have never asked me for an engineer’s report, but the next owner might not be so lucky.

“Spare frame and 1970-ish tank included.

“Contact me for more details and heaps of photos.”

Ian Hamilton

Phone: 0448 952 349
Email: gu121@iprimus.com.au

Change of day for monthly general meeting

The day of our monthly general meetings is moving from the last Tuesday of the month to the last Wednesday of the month with immediate effect.

The reason for this is that our venue, The Palace Hotel, South Melbourne, is no longer open Tuesday nights during winter.

Therefore, our next monthly general meeting will be Wednesday, 31 July, 2024, from around 7.00pm.

See you there!

Membership renewals now due

We’re now two weeks into the new financial year, and if you haven’t renewed your club membership, now is the time!

You’ll be pleased to know that annual membership is still only $25.00.

If you have a motorcycle on a Club Permit, it is particularly important that you maintain your membership. Permits are not valid unless you are a financial member. If your Permit is not valid, then your motorcycle is effectively ‘unregistered’, and there are harsh penalties if you are caught riding an unregistered motorcycle.

There are a few different ways of paying your membership fee:

  1. Cheque made payable to ‘SR500 Club Australia’.
  2. Australia Post money order made payable to ‘SR500 Club Australia’.
  3. Direct bank deposit: Westpac, BSB 033 068, Acct. No. 164 061. Please enter your name or membership number in the Reference field, or e-mail us to let us know that payment’s been made.
  4. Pay by cash at one our monthly general meetings.

If you also wish to order merch and/or pre-pay for this year’s rally, forms can be found on the website:

Assault on the Salt – an Adventure Trip to Lake Gairdner

Here is a report from Club member, David Merritt, on his adventurous trip to Lake Gairdner for DLRA Speed Week in March 2010, at which he reached a top speed of 104 mph on his SR500.


It began early on Sunday morning. The next few days would see the result of months of planning. Once I had opened my mouth and announced that I was going to race the SR on the salt, there was no choice but to follow it through.

Picked up chief engineer, Simon, and brolly dolly, Rina, before daylight and headed north out of Adelaide. Mid-morning found us in beautiful Port Augusta – the wind had icicles in it and the rain was gusting in. Onward to Iron Knob and turn right – no need for a map! Around 160 kays of dirt road later we splashed over a rise and saw for the first time the breath-taking splendour of Lake Gairdner with more water in it than a dry salt lake is supposed to have.

After setting up camp and talking with fellow enthusiasts who had been there longer and more often than we had, we were still none the wiser about when racing would begin; however, the consensus was that something would happen sometime. We feasted that night on Coopers Ale, spaghetti bolognaise, red wine, Big Sister pudding, custard and port. Consequently we all slept well to be awoken Monday morning to the sound of rain on the canvas; however, as forecast, the wind began to blow, we got some sunshine, and scrutineering began. This was an adventure in itself – the SR does not like being push-started at the best of times, and on dirt, it would not play the game, so the roller starter was muscled down the hill to prove the lanyard switch would work. After being told not to use the front brake because there were 150 kays of salt to slow down on, we were stickered and arm-banded up and ready to go racing!

Waiting in the queue the next morning, the mood was upbeat, then onto the salt, at last. We chose a spot in pit lane, set up our pit, fired up the SR and had a couple of runs down the practice track. Managed to get the chat from Animal (the DLRA enforcer) for going too fast on the practice track and paid the price by running on into the water at the end – the SR was literally frosted with salt. Next came the drivers meeting – procedures were run through again and by about 3.30 pm on Tuesday afternoon, things were starting to happen. This was the first year that the DLRA were offering two options – the main track that goes for nine miles and is used for setting records, as well the GPS track where they attach a GPS unit to your bike and use it to record the top speed. It goes for three miles, which was more than enough.

Some quick preparation saw us in the queue not too far from the front. This being the first time round for a GPS track, there were some teething problems and a few delays. With about three competitors in front of us, we fired up the SR and then endured a 20 minute wait before being ushered to the start line. Into first gear and ease away – stalling would have meant going back in the queue and the day was coming to a close. Pin it in first, second, third and fourth, changing up at 7,000 rpm – watch the tacho and into top gear. Lie down, think small and wait for the 3 mile marker – just myself, the SR and a sea of white. Sit up, back off and try to focus on the GPS unit velcroed to the tank – 104 mph, one short of the predicted 105!

As the bike ran without a fairing and the only change I made was to drop two teeth on the rear sprocket, we were happy with the outcome, but as they will all tell you, salt racing is addictive and the thought of making multiple passes over a few days will no doubt bring us back to the salt. We had to leave on Wednesday due to team work commitments and the familiar mix of roadhouse coffee and V drinks saw us back in Adelaide late that night.

The Lake Gairdner experience should be on any petrol head’s bucket-list. Salt lake racing only happens at Lake Bonneville in America and here in South Australia – it’s a high octane adventure in the middle of nowhere.

None of this would have been possible without the assistance and support of my friends Simon (Jeremy Burgess) Willgoose and Rina (Redbush) Grotto – without them this would not have happened.

Thank you also to the SR500 Club – maybe one day I will make it over there for the rally.

New postal address

In all it’s ‘wisdom’, Australia Post has decided that the Kew Post Office, home of our PO box for the last 12 months, is no longer financially viable, and has closed the branch, forcing us to re-locate our PO box.

With immediate effect, our new address is:

PO Box 500, Cotham, VIC 3101

A redirection order is in place for the next 6 months to ensure any mail inadvertently sent to our previous PO Box in Kew, will still get through to the Club. But please start using our new Cotham address from now on.