All posts by Craig Lemon

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1976 Yamaha TT500 sets new speed record!

Brian Fullard from Bike Mart Ringwood (VIC) has set a new speed record on his 1976 Yamaha TT500 at Speed Week 2016 at Lake Gairdner, South Australia!

On 2 March 2016, Brian attained 121.237 mph in the M-F class (Modified-Fuel), surpassing the previous record of 111.666 mph set in 2015 by Vaughan Shaddock on a 2008 Yamaha WR450.

This is how Brian described the week on Facebook:

Back from the salt. It was a bit hot over there, 41°C under a quick shade Tuesday and 48°C Wednesday after a short shower! We started with the Keihin FCR carb and fairing on and ran 116 mph. We then put on the Mikuni and ran 118 mph. We then took off the fairing and retarded the ignition timing about 10° as we had advanced it on the dyno the Friday before we left. We ran 119 mph, so we put in a larger main jet and ran 121 mph on a 111 mph record for naked [M-F] class. The bike would rev to 8 grand in 4th gear, but when I changed into top, it would drop back to 6500 rpm and hardly improve. We then tried 6% nitro and I revved it to 8000 rpm in what I thought was 4th gear, but I was already in top, it was pulling so hard. After realising I was in top gear, I opened the throttle again, but the bike sputtered and died. I had damaged the piston.

Bad luck, Brian, in having some ‘tuning challenges’ this year, and damaging a piston, but…

Congratulations on setting a new record in the M-F class!

Good luck in getting the TT500 ready again for next year.

Note: Brian still holds the speed record of 126.627 mph in the MPS-F class (Modified Partial Streamlining-Fuel), set on his TT500 in 2014 (which, sadly, he was unable to improve upon in 2016).

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Above: Brian Fullard’s 1976 Yamaha TT500 in 2014 (with full fairing on for the MPS-F class). Photo courtesy of Dry Lakes Racers Australia.
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Above: Vaughan Shaddock’s 2008 Yamaha WR450 in 2015 (M-F category). Photo courtesy of Dry Lakes Racers Australia.
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Andy Strapz has a new HQ!

Andystrapz Kangaroo stylisedAfter 15 years crammed into a tiny, old factory in Frankston (VIC), Andy Strapz, long time member and valued sponsor of the SR500 Club, has a new HQ!

And there is a Grand Opening on Saturday, 2 April! See Events for details.

Situated near the junction of the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Fwys in Seaford , the new HQ offers much easier access for visitors.

New address: 1/95 Brunel Rd, Seaford, VIC 3198.

If approaching from the North, take the Rutherford Rd exit off Eastlink / the Frankston Fwy (passing Gravity Zone Seaford on the left).

Link to Google Maps

Rallies

2015 Rally report

The Rally was a resounding success again this year!

Thanks to three days of clear blue skies, attendance was good (112 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 – Rob Rode (1984 SR500)
  • Best modified SR – Luke Pirotta (SR500 engine in a GSX-R400 frame)
  • Best XT/TT 500 – Peter Taylor (1976 XT500)
  • Best 4 Valve (XT/TT/SZR/SRX 600/660) – Paul Newbold (1983 XT600 Ténéré)
  • Best non-SR – Maurice Thompson (Kawazaki Z900)
  • Peoples’ choice – Leno Pirotta (Triton)
  • Best rat bike – Ian Hamilton (Honda CL90)
  • Longest distance – Millsie from Warwick, QLD

Saturday night raffle

A number of people and 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:

  • Deus ex Machina, Camperdown (NSW)
  • Andy Strapz, Frankston (VIC)
  • Limerick Castle Hotel, North Melbourne (VIC) – meal voucher
  • Russell MacDonald – 2 nights accommodation at a hotel in the Melbourne CBD
  • Victorian Motorcycle Wreckers, Heidelberg West – parts for the trophies

Saturday night entertainment

Big thanks to Back Porch Fridaze 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 President(s): Andy Hunt, Craig Lemon
  • Treasurer: Mike Cowie
  • Secretary: Tony Jones

The Club wishes to thank Andy Hunt for being a dedicated President for the past 7 years! Andy chose to decline nomination to be President again, and accepted nomination for Vice President instead.

Congratulations to Jeff Gillman (who is our new President), and to Mike Cowie and Tony Jones (who retain their positions as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively).

Members

A joy forever

Letter of the Month, Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, Issue #242, December 2007

By Mike Wischusen, Melbourne

I was in the process of selling my place so had to get my very tired Yamaha SR500 over to my mate Ian’s place for storage 30 mins away. I agreed to meet him at a designated spot at 7.30am as I wasn’t sure where his place was.

The SR had a leak in the rear tyre and would go flat within half an hour.

As many SR500 owners know they can be a tricky bike to start at the best of times, so I pumped up the tyre, tried to start the bike and flooded the engine. By the time I got her started the tyre was already 40% flat, so I switched off as it was going to stall anyway.

I pumped up the tyre again, tried to restart and went through the same process. Kick… kick… kick… flood engine, finally get started, squishy tyre, switch off, pump up tyre… you get the idea? I did this four times, getting more and more aggravated each time and all the while getting later for my meeting with Ian.

I finally got it started with a pumped up tyre, went to ride off and one of the indicators lenses fell out (I previously replaced the lens screws with non-standard ones, Stupid, stupid, stupid!). I turned around, rode back up the drive and got off the bike, which promptly fell over as I didn’t put the side stand down properly. Then I woke up the neighbourhood with a very loud “FFAAARRRKKKKK!!!”

I must have looked ridiculous in full riding kit swearing profusely at an apparently dead motorcycle leaking  fuel all over the driveway. After fixing the indicator I finally got it started with a semi-pumped up tyre and careered madly down the road swearing at anything that moved. I got to Ian 30 mins late with a flat tyre, a bent clutch lever, mangled indicators, and steam coming of my ears, vowing that the Yamaha wasn’t a classic bike as is commonly thought of, but just a “total heap of s@#t that deserved to be set of fire and thrown off the nearest cliff”. An unfair judgement I know as I can only blame myself.

Ironically two years later I have just completed restoring it as my first restoration. I couldn’t stay angry at it forever and it now runs and rides beautifully, and starts first kick.

I love the magazine [Classic Mechanics] and haven’t missed an issue for years. Your series of articles on the XT500 rebuild was a great help during my restoration.

How about a series on 1971 Kawasaki road-trails before I start on my next project, a 1971 lime green Kawasaki 350cc Bighorn? If you are going to dive in at the deep end you may as well do it properly!

Noticeboard

Welcome to the new-look website!

The old Club website (see pic below) was set up for us in October/November 2009 by Rick Kwok (Club member and SR racer from NSW), and his company Web Enterprise Solutions.

Recently, Rick moved on to a new career as a Digital Commerce Manager with a large Australian technology hardware & equipment company. This is exciting news for Rick!

Unfortunately for us, Rick advised us that he would be winding up Web Enterprise Solutions at the end of the year, which has hosted and supported the Club website these last few years.

So… the Club needed to set up a new website!

A sub-committee was formed to look at options, with the aim of maintaining the look and functionality of the old website. Features such as Noticeboard, Events, Classifieds, and Photo Gallery needed to be retained.

We believed that using a free and open-source content management system such as WordPress was the best solution for the Club, as WordPress is well supported and successfully used by millions of websites worldwide.

The services of an IT professional was employed to set up the new website for us. We believed that this was the best way to ensure a speedy and smooth transition to a new, fully functional website before the end of the year. Ongoing maintenance of the website (adding and editing content) would then be managed by the Club, as per usual.

And so, here we are!

All the content from the old website has been copied across to this new site (e.g. Photo Gallery, which is now fully functional again!), and the members-only section has been replicated (Newsletters, Reviews & Articles, and the SR500 Parts List). You will need to login with your Membership Number and new Password (you will have received an email asking you to reset your password) to access the members-only content.

So… we hope you like the new website!

The Club wishes to thank Rick for hosting and maintaining the website for us these last few years, and we wish him well in his new career.

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