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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.
Monthly Club Rides
Being a ‘social club’, we wish to encourage Club members to meet up and ride together on a regular (or, at least, semi-regular!) basis.
The Club endeavours to schedule rides for the third Sunday of the month (unless riding to a specific event).
However, we also need the support of members to make this work! Everyone has a favourite ride, or bit of road! If anyone would like to come forward with a suggestion for a ride, and/or would like to lead a ride, please let us know, or specifically, our Club Ride Captain, Tony Jones (0419 150 669).
Tony will happily assist anyone in bringing an idea to fruition, i.e. choosing a date, ride leader, meeting point (see suggestions below), and advertising the ride on the Club website.
A ride doesn’t always have to be to far flung destinations, hundreds of kilometres away. You may wish to suggest meeting up for breakfast somewhere in Melbourne so that the commitment is only for a few hours, and not the whole day. Overnight and/or interstate rides are also options, but would obviously require a bit more commitment and planning.
Some suggested meeting points:
- BP Western Fwy, Rockbank
- BP Calder Fwy, outbound
- BP Cooper St, Epping
- United West Gate Fwy, inbound
- United West Gate Fwy, outbound
- Naked Racer Café/Antique Motorcycles, Cheltenham
Final request: The Club would like a brief report following each ride, for posting on the website, from someone who attended. A photo or two would be good too.
Single Issue, Autumn 2019
Big thanks to Guy ‘Guido’ Allen for putting together our Club newsletter for Autumn 2019.
To view the newsletter, go to the newsletter page (click here).
Note: Members must be logged in with their membership no. and password to view the newsletter page.
Speed Week 2019 – Good luck, Brian!
Speed Week at Lake Gairdner, South Australia, runs Monday, March 4 to Friday, March 8, and returning to the salt in 2019 is Brian Fullard from Melbourne, with his heavily modified 1976 Yamaha TT500!
Brian will be trying to beat the record of 121.237 mph that he set in 2016 in the ‘M-F 500‘ category.
He will also be competing in the ‘MPS-F 500‘ category (see pic), trying to beat the current record of 128.608 mph (set in 2017 by Mark Youman from Townsville on a 1990 ‘Yamasaki 500’).
We wish Brian all the best in his record-breaking attempts!
More info at www.dlra.org.au
Yamaha recommences production of the SR400
You may recall that production of the SR400 ceased in 2017, to allow Yamaha Japan to re-engineer the bike to conform to new motorcycle exhaust gas regulations.
Well, after a 12 month hiatus, Yamaha has announced that production of the SR400 will recommence in 2018! The new model will be released in Japan on November 22 in two colour schemes: Yamaha Black (classic!), and Greyish Metallic Blue. In addition, a special 40th Anniversary Edition (in Dark Orange Metallic Brown) will also be released, limited to 500 units.
Features of the new SR400 include:
- “Accuracy improvement of O2 feedback control realising excellent environmental performance and fuel economy”
- “Adoption of a canister to reduce the discharge of evaporated gasoline to the outside air”
- “A new muffler with improved bass and crispness”
It is currently unknown when the 2018 model will be available in Australia.
More info: Yamaha Motor Co.
Old Bike Australasia, issue #73
Check out issue #73 of Old Bike Australasia magazine! Featured on the cover is a great shot of a Club member’s (Brendan’s) SR500 at Lake Pedder during one of the Club’s trips to Tasmania. There is fascinating article on the SR500 inside the magazine, and many more great pics!
Copies of the magazine are available from www.mymagazines.com.au, and digital versions via the ‘Old Bike Australasia’ apps for iOS and Android.
The Club is now on Social Media!
The Club website is the primary source / depository of Club information (notices, events, photos, technical information, etc.). But with the prevalence of smartphones & tablets in our lives (and the instant notifications that these devices make possible), the Club has decided to sign-up to Facebook and Twitter!
From now on, whenever something new is added to the Club website, we will also update the Club Facebook and Twitter feeds.
This gives the Club another way to keep members up-to-date with all the latest information (especially Events, e.g. Sunday rides, that may be organised at short notice).
Please click on the link(s) below, and ‘follow’ the Club on Facebook and/or Twitter today!
Vale Rob Rode
We are sorry to advise that Club member, Rob Rode, has passed away – while out riding with mates in South Gippsland on Saturday, 20 January.
Anyone who has attended the Club’s annual Rally in Bethanga in the last few years will remember Rob from his winning of the ‘Best Stock SR’ award for the last five years in a row (2013-2017), with his immaculately presented 1984 SR500.
In Rob’s honour, the Committee has decided that the charity the Club will support this year will be Kidney Health Australia, a charity that was close to Rob’s and his family’s hearts.
Our sincere condolences to Wendy, Katie, Mathew, and all of Rob’s family and friends.
RIP Rob.
