2026 AGM
Our club annual general meeting will be held at the clubrooms on Sunday July 26th followed by a light meal supplied by Baz Graham’s family. All positions are vacant, so if you are considering a committee position, this is an ideal opportunity to nominate and learn the ropes in a welcoming environment. Committee meetings are held every 3 months at the Irymple hotel and conducted in a formal but genial manner. Please consider nominating to assist our great club and to keep us moving forward.
Vale Terrence Moose McGowan
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Moose after a prolonged battle with cancer. Moose was a very colorful identity in the Sunraysia region and all round nice bloke. His contribution to the local arts via his murals on local buildings, his Mildura Brass Band membership and various committee positions in local progress and arts groups made him a very valuable member of our community. He received numerous community awards and will be sorely missed. Moose was also a very passionate motorcyclist having raced speedway for many years and running a very unique museum in Merbein with some beautiful classic bikes and speedway memorabilia on display.
Our club will be meeting at Banjo’s bakery 15th st Friday 24th at 9am then proceeding to Northwest Funerals 9.45am for a 10.30am service. There will be a very large group of motorcycles so arriving early is recommended. After the funeral we will be following the funeral cortege as a group down 16th st, right into Ontario then left into 11th and then onto Merbein via Ranfurly way. After the service at the Merbein cemetry there will be a wake at the Mildura Motorcycle club rooms. Please click the button below to view an article on Moose that was written in our Spring 2025 newsletter. Our sympathies and thoughts are with his wife Cassandra and family.
RIP Moose.
Easter Good Friday Mall display
Seems like an eternity ago during this long winter but great weather and huge crowds greeted us again in our annual display. We may have lost our grassy knoll location but we still put on one of the best displays. Thanks to the members who brought their bikes along.
Pictured above right is Jim and Jan Bray’s trusty Beemer K100 with the even more trusty Annie astride the lambswool. Ask Jim how he dropped the bike in front of the locals at a remote outback pub during an around Oz bike ride with Jan onboard.
2026 Lifeline Ride
Well over a hundred motorcycles fronted up for another well organised and very spirited annual Lifeline ride that supports the district in projects like the Irymple Call Center. The number of calls that are handled locally are quite large and very surprising in number so funds raised are put to good use. Good to see local member Jade Benham on the back of a Harley again supporting the event. Even better was having local 5x Australian Superbike Champion Josh Waters as ride ambassador with a bike provided by Ducati Australia. Josh is such an easy bloke to talk to and works very hard in his local window cleaning business usually on a Monday morning after driving home from a race round the day before. It was interesting to talk to him about the current state of play in the series and the current crop of young riders coming through.
Best of luck in the future Josh.
Out and About
I caught up with our club’s best friend Norm at Lake Boga on a ride to Phillip Island for the world superbike round. Norm does Roadworthy inspections on our classic machinery and is brilliant to deal with. It’s worth giving him a call to discuss your bike prior to the 2.5hr drive down to Lake Boga
For Sale
Chris Sibley has this immaculate Jayco Outback Swan for sale.
It is a 2022 model with bag awnings fitted and independent suspension.
Excellent buying at $30,000 contact Chris ph 0429951513
2026 Mallee Meander
Our annual Mallee Meander was conducted over the May 16 – 17th weekend. Inclement weather didn’t stop over 50 bikes participating on various rides around the district. The decision to base our event out of Apex Caravan Park proved to be a winner. Quite a few riders camped/caravanned/annexed over the weekend which allowed a few ales and reds to be enjoyed around the campfire at the end of the day’s proceedings. A huge thankyou to members Tony Huntley and Chris Sibley for fronting up to cook brekky in the great camp kitchen every morning at 6.30am and the whole Meander organising team. Well done chaps!
Saturday night tea was supplied by Alan Lay catering in a very relaxed atmosphere with entertainment provided by our own very talented Ian Smythe.
Our rides included The Sunraysia Early Pioneers Museum out at Dareton which was brilliant and showcased the spirit and ingenuity of our early settlers to tame the Mallee and create a livable prosperous environment for us all. The Botanic Gardens was next, with more great food and a bonus train ride. Again a great example of hard work taming the Mallee. Sunday saw us visit Baldwin boats for coffee and biscuits and a viewing of the restoration of the “A11” Outrigger log barge circa 1911 by a very dedicated group of enthusiasts who included our President Rob Ferguson. The final stop of the weekend was the Wentworth Jail and Museum with a fantastic meal provided by Wentworth Rotary. Nobody went hungry this weekend and lots of good riding in mildly damp conditions.
Thanks to Gordo for letting me have a ride on his immaculate Honda CB400/4.
Click the button below to view Ian Smythe entertaining us at our Saturday night Meander dinner
I recently returned some borrowed books to a local lady who is a retired arts teacher at several local schools. Turns out she has an interesting background being the swinger on road racing sidecars and has raced all over Australia during the 70’s and 80’s. Of most interest was the fact one of her sidecars was powered by a Konig race engine, very rare!
You can find out more about Konig race engines by pressing the button below
One of the the returned books titled Modern Motorcycle Mechanics featured some incredibly detailed drawings from the era by some very talented technical draughtsman pictured below.
Well that’s a wrap from another big edition.
Hope to see you all at our AGM and safe riding.
Cheers Graeme
