St. George Motorcycle Club - Touring
Poker Run to Huskisson
I arrived at Caltex Heathcote to find a flock of Blackbirds perched on the tarmac, waiting to fly off to our south coast destination. When I say “Blackbirds” I mean the 1100 cc mechanical variety, and these things will leave their feathered friends floundering in their flight path.
Three Honda Blackbirds, 2 Suzuki GSXR1000’s, 1 Yamaha R1, 1 Yamaha XJR 1300, 1 Harley Road King Classic 1450 and a Triumph Sprint ST, with a BMW R 1200 RT catching up a little later on meant that this Poker run was definitely going to be up tempo. The Harley would gouge a few lines through the corners & have to brake a couple of days before everybody else, but on the main roads where the traffic is the main limiting factor, the Harley would cut a swathe through the traffic as the sound & presence of the Harley would part the ways like Moses at the Red Sea. A slightly loose nut behind the Handlebars also helps.
But when It comes to outright horsepower and pulling monos at speed there is not much better then the GSXR’s and R1 with the blackbirds not far behind. I gave my Trumpy a blast off the lights and once the R1 got the clutch out and into the power band, he went past me like I was towing a Harley, of course being two-up didn’t help me either.
The actual ride started by first receiving a card at Heathcote then motivating down the Old Highway to near the ‘Gong’ and then navigating a wet mountain pass that’s really tight and twisty, If I tell you the exact location the Harley rider will have to come around and silence you. At this point even the sportiest of the sport bike riders didn’t want to pass me, blind corners wet roads you know the deal. We picked up a card for our Poker hand at a couple of points and my hand was looking worse than a Alcoholics hand after a big night, shaky. Most others were not too impressed either.
A nice cruise through Jamberoo and into Kiama for a Pit stop showed where all the vintage and veteran bikes we had seen on the way were supposed to be going. There was obviously some sort of rally on and bike show, but I couldn’t work out why there were old bikes going every direction of the compass and of course the odd one broken down on the side of the road. May be the Navigation system in the riders helmets was a bit obscure. We picked up our final participant at Kiama the BM two-up, and we continued on down to Berry were we got our final card so that one rider could head back to go to work that night, poor bastard.
By this time the weather was stinking hot and it was a welcome break to stop refresh and see whose shout it was from winning the enormous poker kitty. After we checked nearly everybody's hand, the best one was a pair of aces, until the air cooled rider whipped his hand out with 2 pair’s and cleaned up a nice bonus.From Berry through Nowra and down to the Huskisson turnoff is pretty tedious but we knew that a cold drink and a feed wasn’t far off. Huskisson pub provided all of the above plus a nice breeze and a place to sit of the sun with a great view.
Suitably refreshed we headed back up the coast with the Berry Bends and the Kiama Curve's providing a bit of fun, when the traffic allowed of course. We made a welcome stop at Jamberoo pub, and that Air Conditioner and Cold Beer was almost heavenly after a hot ride. With 12 people coming along you would think that we would have plenty of point scorers, but unfortunately the Club has confirmed that only financial members can score points towards the Club Championship. So if your not a financial member, $25.00 a year is a fleas toe nail clippings compared to the value you get in receiving this “average” magazine and possibly winning a trophy at the end of the year for accumulation the most points for a rider or a pillion. Plus you get an invite to our club social functions with the massive 90th anniversary last year and Go Kart nights at least once a year, Drag racing nights, a picnic and other Social events, it can be good fun. Other benefits if you become an official is free entry to our Road Race & Dirt Track meetings and even possibly getting involved in National and International Races. If you love watching Road Racing this is the best way to do it. So if you get a copy of this go to the website www.stgeorgemcc.com and download a membership form or write to the P.O. box listed there or Phone or fax the numbers listed on the front page, I might even try and include a membership from in the newsletter. I will email or ring when the next ride is on.
See ya
Trumpy
Touring Pointscore
Hanna Whiteley Terrific Triumph (Bonus) - 367
Gus Bridges Air Cooled Yamaha XJR1300 - 334
Rob Whiteley Triumph Sprint ST 955 - 334
