Laverda Concourse

The annual Laverda Concourse Bike Show was on yesterday and Eddie, Dodge, Grasshopper and myself rode in to check it out. On a perfect winters day across the river from the city centre and beneath the Story Bridge there were plenty of bikes to drool over - choppers, sportys, oldies, trikes and even scooters - the full gamit of two/three wheeled pleasure was on show. All up we spent about 3 hours catching up with familiar faces and looking over what was on display - Grasshopper even had his FXR there, trying to entice someone into buying it, although I dunno how he went!

I got a few photos but there was a lot more on show - click on the pic below to check them out.

12 Gage Kustom Open Day & Bike Show

On Sunday, myself and Dodge headed down to Springwood to check out the first 12 Gage Kustom Open Day & Bike Show. Was a good turn out and organised pretty well considering it was held in and around their store with not much room. There were some sweet bikes and lots of custom Triumphs, much to Dodge's liking.

We met up with Steve, Taffy, Billy and some of the others from the Village. They looked a bit worse for wear after the previous nights Xmas drinks. Also caught up with Kiwi Jim and one of his mates, both on Road Kings. Check out the pix below!!

From there Dodge and I headed down to Steve and Denita's place at Ormeau. We checked out some of his pics from the previous days ride and then decided to head down to the Lost World pub for lunch. We spent a few hours there recounting the events of Saturday and also working out where to ride next Saturday. In the end I think we decided on heading west to Bunya Mountain.

Later on, we headed back to Dodge's place and I headed home.

God Squad Memorial Run & Gold Coast Bike Week

Kat And I woke early on Saturday and thought we would do a bit of a pre-ride ride out to the Port before heading across the city to the Mt Cootha mustering point for the God Squad run. Cruised along the waterfront at Manly and Wynnum in the warm morning sun - beautiful - the water was like glass and the view out to Moreton Island was sensational. We eventually made our way onto the motorway heading out to the Port. Always something happening out there and we both find it really interesting. Did the circuit around the wharves watching all the cranes loading containers onto trucks and then headed inland towards the city.

Finally made it to the carpark at Mt Cootha, paid our ride fee then rode in and met up with all the others from the Village. Did the usual walk around checking all the other bikes out and caught up with a few people I hadn't seen for a while. One bike that I thought looked really good was Alleys V-Star - Spokes gave it a birthday with new paint, solo seat, various bits of bling and some 14 inch apes. These are what really caught my eye and I am now keener than ever to put a set on the VTX - anyway, I need a new clutch cable. Another stand out was the Road King with a gazillion lights on its rear end - dunno what purpose they served but man it looked freaky.

Anyway, we finally headed off around 11am - reckon there would have been about 300 bikes all up. Headed down the Centenery Mwy and at a few points you could see the bikes stretch off into the distance - looked and sounded great. Turned onto the Ipswich Mwy and then onto the Logan Mwy. We left the Logan Mwy and then followed the pack down the Mt Lindsay Hwy - Eddie pulled off to the side and Dodge pulled up to help him. Found out that he lost pressure in his hydraulic clutch and ended up on the trailer of the support vehicle.

After turning off the highway for the road to Tamborine a few of us pulled up - Grizz told us that it would be better to let the group head up the mountain and then we would follow on the empty road - that was a good call. After about 20 minutes we re-mounted and took the road through Tamborine and then up the mountain - was a really good ride with no-one to bother you and we all rode at our own pace. It did start to rain a bit as we neared Mt Tamborine but that only lasted a few minutes. We finally reached the Eagle Heights Pub not long after the main group.

Now the Eagle Heights is a great pub - it has a beer garden with the best view, spanning from the top end of the Gold Coast all the way down to the border. I was told that Mel Gibson had the place built but never moved in and so the buyers converted it to a pub and built the motel part of it - good move I say - that way we all get to appreciate the view. We lined up for the BBQ lunch and then sat and ate in the sun - beautiful.



We decided to leave the pub whilst they were giving out all the gear, again to avoid the riding in the large group along the not so great roads. Only one problem with that plan - Eddies Drifter was still on the support trailer. A couple of the guys went out and fixed the clutch problem - dunno what they did - think they bled the reservoir and adjusted the lever. Anyway, we ended up having to move the trailer sideways a few feet so we could get the ramp out of the trailer - it was stored on the back end of the trailer, pushed in from one side and this side was up against a stone wall. After a bit of jiggling and lifting, we managed move the trailer, remove the ramp, get the bike off the trailer and back on the road.

Did the ride down to M1 then rode further down to Nerang and took the turn off for the Carrara Sports Complex. Bike Week was happening!! We rode in and parked in amongst a sea of bikes - wish it was like this all the time. Flashed our cards from the God Squad run, passed the metal detector (why is it that only the guys were scanned??) and we were in.

The first thing you noticed was the mud - it had been raining pretty heavy a couple of days before and with all the foot traffic, the once grassy park had been turned into a stinking muddy bog. There were some stalls that looked as it they had been literally dropped into the middle of the mud. Had to feel sorry for some of these guys coz the conditions stopped a lot of people from wandering around - a lot of people stuck to the sealed access road and higher parts. There were a lot of camp sights off to one side - dunno how they coped with all the mud. There also seemed to be heaps of cops there just watching everyone enjoying themselves - I think they must have been a bit worried that something similar to the Angels / Finks showdown from a few months back might occur. I reckon they went a bit overboard.

Anyway, we spent a couple of hours wandering around admiring the choppers and checking out some parts - didn't find the bling I was looking for but did find a place to buy some ape hangers (my next project)!! These guys also had a couple of their choppers entered in the comp and I think they ended up winning "Best Chopper". We also managed to catch up with a few people throughout the day - Pheonix and Benita from VTXOA and a couple of other guys I know.

Later on in the arvo we managed to get hold of a couple of drinks and sit down - the band was playing off in the distance to our left, bikes reving madly on the dyno to our right and a steady stream of people passing. Every now and then you would hear a something start - a chopper or the rocket powered ute - and people would move in the general direction. It was good just to sit there and watch it all after walking around for so long.

After seeing everything we wanted, we decided it was time to head home. Managed to catcht up with everyone else and decided to leave with them - fueled up and then headed up the M1 to Brisbane. Was a good day.

Gold Coast Bike Week

Fark time flies - can't believe that it's 12 months since the last one!! Looking forward to checking out all the bikes and the associated bling-bling!! And can't forget those scantly clad babes that make us old codgers feel so . . . well. . . . make us feel SO bloody old!!

Don't think I could have timed my intimate meeting with the road much better - just so happens I need some more shiny bits to cover the road rash on the X, and there are plenty of vendors offering their wares. I'm sure I'll find what I'm after.

We are planning to do the Memorial Ride on Saturday which starts at 9am at Mt Cootha in Brisbane and ends up at the Carrara Sports Complex down on the coast where it's all happening. Also thinking about heading down to Cavill Ave on Thursday night to check out the Ride In Show & Shine but will wait and see on how the weather turns out.

So if your local come and join in, otherwise I will post as much as I can of what I see so make sure you come back and check it out!

The First Bikemania

Got myself and Cass organized and headed into the showgrounds to check out the first Bikemania - supposedly the best thing since sliced bread so the promoters were advertising. Now I don't want to sound too negative BUT I thought the event set up was piss poor.

First up the day was hot - when Cass and myself got there at about 9:45 (15 mins before the gates opened)it felt like it was already 30 degrees and there was already a queue about 500 mts long stretching up the street and around the corner. We had to stand waiting, sweating in the queue for about 45 minutes just to get to the entry booth. As we waited more and more people kept rolling up and the traffic just kept getting worse. When we finally got to the entry booths I was amazed to see there were only three girls sweating their little ass's off in the booths - obviously the promoters severely under estimated the number of people they were expecting.

Anyhow we finally got in and headed into the first pavilion. The first thing that stood out was there were hardly any dealer stands - I wanted to have a look at what was on offer from the bike manufacturers but was disappointed. A few accessory stands selling stuff like clothing, glasses, intercoms, helmetcams and the like, but not as many as I was expecting. We wandered around checking out most of the stands and I ended up getting a pair of sunnies. I was hoping to find someone to do some chroming but there was no one there.

From here we headed over to the pavilion where anyone wanting to sell their bike could have displayed it for a fee - now there is either not a lot of bikes for sale in Brisbane or people just didn't bother with putting their bikes in. I reckon there was a total of about 30 bikes on display. Again, I was expecting a lot more bikes to be on display the way the promoters were building it up.

After grabbing a drink and chatting to Grasshopper who was waiting outside at the gate for Eddie, we went up to the choppers. Now this pavilion was good - lots of nice bikes on display and some of the paint was awesome. There were a few 300 ass ends which just looked sweet and quite a lot of variety amongst what was on display. I still reckon that the prices are over the top but then again, if you've got the cash, why not? We also checked Eljay out doing his tricks in one of the the corners - man he can control that bike!


After spending a fair bit of time drooling over the choppers we headed downstairs and realised that we had seen all the displays and stands except for the classic bikes. I couldn't work out where they were and they didn't interest me all that much so we decided to go. There were going to be some guys doing freestyle motocross and after we walked out the gate and back to where the bike was parked, we watched em warm up through a side gate. Pretty cool stuff and man they got some serious air.
After they finished we headed home.

Now for a show that had a fair bit of publicity and hype about how good it was going to be, I thought Bikemania was average. Just trying to get in was a joke with only 3 ticket booths - they need to pre-sell tickets and increase booth numbers. A lot of dealers and associated accessory and service shops did not attend. From what I heard it was very expensive to set up a stall there and it was not layed out well. The choppers are what made attending worthwhile, but even they could have been layed out better. And the admission price was a bit rich too - $18 just to get in the gate...eventually.

More pics from the day are here in the top slideshow.

Footnote:
We actually saw Grasshopper and Eddie ride in to the park just as we reached the gate to get in - we then saw Eddie in the line, still a fair way back, about an hour later as we were moving through the chopper pavilion. Don't know how long it took em to get in in the end.

God Squad Memorial Ride and the Gold Coast Bike Show

The first Saturday of Spring...what a beautiful day it was. Got on the bike and met with Slayer & Skids at their place then ventured over to meet up with other Kobbers at the North meeting point at Maccas on Enoggerra Rd at 9am. From there we took off for a warm up ride over Clear Mouintain and back through Samford before heading over to the muster point at Mt Cootha for the God Squad Memorial Run.

We left there at 11am on what was an entertaining ride - lots of cruisers and quite a few Hyabusas in the ride with some riding like idiots but the majority well behaved. Down the Centenary Hwy, Logan Mwy, Mt Lindsay Hwy, Canungra over Tamborine - I managed to leave the road on the way up to Tamborine but was lucky enough to run into some deep dirt that pulled me up fairly quick (I was being an IDIOT trying to keep up) – I quickly turned to make it look like I had stopped to wait for someone (ego still intact!!!) and then rejoined the group near the tail to catch my breath. We stopped at the Eagle Heights Pub for a BBQ lunch. If you ever want to visit a pub with a view try this one – the beer garden at the back of the pub has sensational views of the coastline from South Straddie all the way to the border and the weather on Saturday made it all the better.

After filling up on snags and salad and then some ride sponsor trivia from some of the God Squad boys the ride headed to the Gold Coast Bike Show. What a sight we must have been when the leaders of the ride took a wrong turn and then decided to u turn at lights on one of the motorways on the coast. Anyway, we finally made it to the show and parked for a look. Personally I did not think much of the bike show – lots of tents with wannabe chopper builders – although most of em do look good - and the usual accessory re-sellers ripping everyone off. I must say that I did not get to walk through the main tent due to it being crowded from everyone wanting to see the judging of the choppers. Not to worry – there were a few scantly clad girlies which made it worth the journey. We even saw the Cougar girls mum (she looked about 40 not out - that's age and inches) walking around in her stretched white Cougar top!!

Man it was hot in the sun though so I decided to do the run home to Brissie up the M1 with only my vest on so I fixed my jacket to the rear seat with some occy straps - doh - first mistake. Stopped for fuel at Coomera and then continued until the first Beenleigh turn off when I felt for my jacket and you guessed it – not there . I caught up to Slayer & Skids who I was riding home with and told em to pull over. I told em what had happened and we then decided to head back to find it. We rode over the motorway and headed back to Coomera. As we headed back south I knew that I would not see the jacket again - 400 buckeroos down the drain. We got to the Coomera turn off and rode over the motorway to head north again. The closer to Beenleigh we got the more I cursed, ranting and raving about that jacket until….Slayer pointed to the left of the road and there it was. I quickly pulled off the road and walked back to pick it up copping a bit from passers by I might add!!!! It had been run over a couple of times but because I had zipped it up there was no real damage to it. I reckon it came off the seat just before we got to the Beenleigh turn off and noticed it gone just after loosing it – how lucky am I!! Anyway we continued on up the M1 till I left Slayer & Skids at the Cleveland exit about 5.30pm. An eventful day for sure!!