All posts by Craig Lemon

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COVID-19: Monthly meetings temporarily suspended

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated social distancing and venue restrictions, we have no choice but to temporarily suspend our monthly meetings*, with immediate effect, and until further notice.

Please do follow Federal and State/Territory Government health department pandemic and social distancing advice to ensure you, your families, and communities are safe.

Until such time as the pandemic situation de-escalates, life returns to normal, and we can once again meet as a Club, please… stay safe and stay healthy!

 

Please watch the Club website and social media channels, and the Victorian Department of Health website for updates.

*The venue of our meetings, The Royal Standard Hotel, West Melbourne, remains open for takeaways & deliveries, only. Lucy & Frank will gladly take orders for their delicious meals over the phone – we’re sure they’d appreciate your business during this difficult time.

 

 

 

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Mike Cowie has moved house!

Club member, Mike Cowie, has moved house!

Mike is no longer living at 38 Grant Street, Brighton East (having recently moved south to Mt Eliza).

To anyone who ever posted Club correspondence (e.g. membership applications, renewals, or Club Permit renewals) directly to Mike when he was Treasurer, please do not use his old Grant Street address anymore.

All correspondence to the Club must be posted to:

SR500 Club Australia, PO Box 500, Braeside, VIC 3195

Thanks

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SR500 Club Rally Bethanga 2019

Noticeboard, Rallies

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.

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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.

 

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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

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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:

  1. “Accuracy improvement of O2 feedback control realising excellent environmental performance and fuel economy”
  2. “Adoption of a canister to reduce the discharge of evaporated gasoline to the outside air”
  3. “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.