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Eastern Run, Sunday 19th July 2009

Organiser: Dan Moriarty

Another Month has rushed by & I am looking forward to another Club Run. This time Dan Moriarty’s “Eastern Run”.

This ride was undertaken sort of in September 2007 but in the opposite direction & we got rained upon fairly well. The rain was so bad in fact we called the ride off at Nairne & all went home. Not so this time.

The day dawned bright & shiny & all looked well. The run officially started at Balhannah so the Veterans did not have to cope with Greenhill Rd. & the “Moderns” started an hour earlier at The Feathers Hotel. By the time we had a few words & called the roll there were around 20 machines assembled ready for the ride to Balhannah. These included Leon Mitchell on his Rudge which he said would not have any trouble with the climb. Brian Kuerschner had made the trip down to the start on his “compy” AJS, so he could turn around & ride back past his house again. But more of that later. A pleasant but uneventful ride to Balhannah followed. Or so I thought. As I mentioned earlier Brian Kuerschner was riding his compy AJS which most will know has an upswept exhaust pipe. However as he rode into the Balhannah Oval I noted the Upswept exhaust pipe was protruding about one foot above his left shoulder. I thought this was a bit much. Following a few more arrivals Leon Mitchell turned up on a rather loud Rudge with a very short exhaust pipe. Brian offered to sell Leon a piece of his exhaust pipe which by pure chance fitted Leon’s bike perfectly. It turned out Brian had picked it up on the way & stuffed it in his back-pack. Leon’s pipe restored & we were soon on our way to Echunga for morning tea.

The local Deli did well, with Coffee Pies, Pasties etc. After the break we turned Left & headed up the steep hill to the next Left towards Mt. Barker. We ran the outskirts of Mt. Barker through Mt. Barker Springs & on to Nairne for lunch. If you reckon you don’t get many ‘chips for a minimum these days try the shop at Nairne. I received a box which is normally used for a take away meal jammed full of chips. Unfortunately we all did the same thing & many were wasted because after feeding all the riders there were still many left over. Geoff & Hellina Barnes on their B.S.A. Outfit & Philip Jenner on one of his Indians joined us at Nairne. Lunch over; it was time to travel the old Murray Bridge Road for a few Kilometres until our turn off to Harrogate. This really is a lovely ride this time of year & although the wind came up a few times we all arrived at Harrogate Sports grounds for a re-group. In order to reach our re-group spot a small ford had to be crossed. I expect a couple of photos of embarrassed riders of Veteran Machines to be included in the Magazine. I wish to say no more. Time rushed on again & it was soon time to leave for Balhannah & the end of our day. Other than one of Chris Harley’s Spark Plugs expiring & Phil Jenner's’s gearbox throwing out most of its oil we all returned safely to Balhannah.

The weather certainly makes a difference to motorcycling & the day was perfect. We unfortunately did not have a backup vehicle & trailer for this run, but luckily did not need it. Thanks to all those who volunteered for marshalling duties & to Dan Moriarty who took the time to organise & lead the run.

Malcolm Gray

Members attending:

Chris Harley 1912 JAP
Leon Mitchell 1914 Rudge
Bob Gill 1913 BSA
David Cant 1925 Indian F.T.O.
Brian Forth 1927 Harley Davidson
Rob Smyth 1929 Cammy AJS
Arnold De Groot 1930 Norton
Bob Mather 1932 Scott
Peter Scott 1934 Scott F.T.O.
David Canty 1940 Ariel
Dean Govan 1948 Velocette
John Mills 1949 Norton
Ken Olsson 1949 Matchless
Ian Baldock 1950 Ariel
Steven Hooper 1950 AJS
David Hooper 1951 Triumph
Neil Hamilton 1951 Norton O/Fit
Don Raethel 1954 Triumph
Nip Kuerschner 1955 AJS
Paul Knapp 1951 AJS Sprngtwin
Kym Moreton 1955 Triumph
Dan Moriarty 1956 Ariel
Daryl Rosser 1956 Triumph
Dave Holbrook 1958 Ariel
Denis Smyth 1958 Triumph
Geoff Barnes 1960 BSA O/Fit
Russell Sadoroshney 1965 Matchless
Andrew Brown 1965 Norton F.T.O.


Peter Langdon 1973 Triumph
Peter Arriola 1974 Honda
Malcolm Gray 1974 DNEPR
Alan Martin 2005 Kawasaki
Pud Freeman 2008 Suzuki

Plus several members in their cars.

Last updated 27 July  2009