Well,   I'm usually late, and right on time when it's a good day, but this morning, I was 6mn early and I got flogged with the lead, so I won't be early anymore!   12 souls gathered at the 7 Eleven, and by the time I got there, it was decided that we'd head to Broke, the lead, well, was sorted as I arrived, and this doubtful choice proved that some were looking for some adventure, because if everybody knew how to get to Broke, I certainly didn't!   Amongst all the information I had to gather and the multiple questions such as: "which way" and "where do we have smoko?" I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to choose a TEC as well as welcoming Rob and his S1000XR, our virgin of the day, so no clapping and since he left at Jerry's, we'll say he's only been half done so still half a virgin in my books, so we'll give him another clap (as clapping, not the disease) next time he shows up.   Mark, because he was last and wore a high viz ve...

 Today was the last UNB Wednesday Explorer ride for 2022. The usual crowd (just we two) decided that coffee-with-a-water-view was the go, so we headed off down to the Akuna Bay Marina Cafe for just that. Here we bumped into Keith B and Mum, doing just the same after a spot of kayaking. All very pleasant. On our return our dedicated Informal Pres. MTC did some necessary roadside signage repairs, and I spied some super-cheap 98 octane at the Terry Hills servo. Everybody happy and enjoying another splendid day on Gods Own Northern Beaches - what more could we want?. And today being the last scheduled UNB ride till 1st January 2023 it's perhaps appropriate at this time to wish all UNB riders, socialites and OlFartz, and also the Midweekers,  a Happy and Safe Festive Season, and keep those brownie-points in hand for more rides in the New Year. See you then!    Geoff W 

 Twas the week before Christmas and nobody stirred cos they were all somewhere else partying!!! Geoff W and I made the sum total of riders at St. Ives. It was a cool night with a gale blowing but we were ready for anything?? My left indicator was back in operation with a temporary fix that wasn't waterproof so all was good with the world. We headed for Borgnis Street for old times sake and the fact that they usually put on a pretty good show. It was still fairly light at 8pm when we arrived so we didn't get the full effect of the lights but I think there are fewer houses in the street decking their halls with lights etc. Not as good as when Moss and Jane lived there. After doing the lap of Borgnis Street we headed to Narrabeen to check out Gondola Street which I reccyed earlier in the week. Again the sun hadn't set and the lights hadn't come into their own completely. Off to Elanora Road to see some excellent lights near the roundabout near Lumeah Avenue. Not bad.  With...

  The ride group elected a leader and he didn't argue, amazing! The ride was to be a Wollombi Loop which most were happy with, outstanding! There being no newbies and everyone knowing the way to Jerry's for smoko no corner marking was announced and no TEC identified. The route was follow the old road to the end, regather at Somersby turn for Mangrove Mt and the right for Jerry's at Kulnura. Well um - it kinda happened like that, just with a lot more confusion and interim gathers, random corner marking and traffic lights/roadworks. We had just arrived at Jerry's when 5 Hwy Patrol cars and 2 bikes rolled in to the carpark ..... honestly guv it wasn't us it was that other lot ... turns out they were having a coffee catchup. Nevertheless the group rolled out of Jerry's with a sigh of relief and it was a quick trip up to Slacks Park at Wollombi for lunch. There were a couple of challenges provided by the latest road repair crew with quite a bit of gravel in corners f...

  Thank you to the weather gods for a near perfect summer riding day. Not too hot, no rain and a breeze to keep us comfortable in all the gear.   We had two new Dave’s riding with us today so they were given an obligatory dose of the clap. One on a VStrom and the other on a Harley but sadly only one made it to morning tea. We also lost the dromosagnosian Danny at the same time 🙁   So here’s the thing, apparently the new corner marking system, whilst very effective, needs a couple more tweaks to go with the TEC not waiting for latecomers to refuel.   The Leader has an obligation to pick a spot for the corner marker that is safe, gives enough warning to the ride group AND    is very visible. The Marker has an obligation to mark the corner as and where requested, with indicator and arm signals to the ride group and not randomly decide to turn into the corner, stop in the shade where they are hard to see, side on so ...

  Ride Report Sunday 4 th December Ride to Ettalong   Another fine and sunny day. Today’s ride was to Ettalong Beach with lunch planned at the Club. A get-there-by-ferry option was advertised but I had no news of any takers. So I rode over to St Ives for my customary $3.80 morning coffee, and a prearranged blinker lens fitment to the Italian Stallion. Who says I’m a hoarder? I’ve only had that Hella lens for probably 50 years. Now it was worth keeping, wasn’t it? By 10am and with no further attendees we two departed for PITS, passing by a Harley horde at Berowra 7-11. Who knows where they were going but they certainly didn’t go up the Old Highway. PITS was busy, the Mazda MX5 club and all the full-leather bikie boys were there. Also Suitcase arrived. Another coffee stop and a chance to take in the scene. 11am! Onwards! Down the Old Highway to Gosford and round to East Gosford, then a detour to Rumbalara Reserve. The big hill just east of Gosford cbd. Very s...

  It was a beautiful sunny if cool day for a ride to Dungog. I picked up my trusty GS from Procycles, Hornsby after they had replaced my front and rear wheels following an incident with a giant pothole on the Hume Highway south of Seymour on 13th October. I haven’t ridden since then so I was itching to go. The only problem with the bike was the left turn indicator didn’t work so I would have to revert to the old hand signals. There were sixteen other riders at the Seven-Eleven Berowra also itching to go including a virgin, Jeremy, on a hotted up Royal Enfield. He proudly told us that he drags it and did the quarter mile in 13.7 seconds hitting a speed of 101 mph. So I told him he might JUST be able to keep up with us. The route I planned was Old road to Calga then continue on same road to Somersby where we would take the M1 to the Wyong exit. After that it was The Triangle, Hue Hue road, Wyee road, Freemans Drive to Freemans Water Hole for morning tea. We set off on...

We had a pretty good day on Saturday 12th November. We had the EFTPOS working and had sales of $902 through it.  Thanks go to Graeme Andrews,  Margaret Hogge, Danny Stasenka, Rob McMurray, Neil Simpson,  Mark Witanowski, Erica Sutton, Edwin Davidson, John Warner, Brett Pieper, Ken Miller, Michael Richardson, Terry Fewell and Kevin Hardy for all their hard work on the day. It was very much appreciated.  Thanks also to John Warner, Danny and Terry for the use of their eskies, thanks to Kevin Hardy for picking up the bread, Rob McMurray for picking up the sausages and to Danny for storing the eskies at his place after the clean up.  Here are the official results:  Cash Sales $1,549.95  Mobile Payments $902.00  Total Sales $2,451.95  Cost of Sales $928.70  Net Profit $1,523.25  This is $563 more than 5 March 2022.  Costs were up by $224. This was offset by an increase from $2.50 to $3.50 for the sausage sandwich.  Well don...

  Ulysses Northern Beaches Branch Meeting Minutes Date: 8th November 2022 Meeting opened 7.30pm President Margaret Hogge introduced Mike Ferris of World on Wheels to give a presentation to the meeting. Unfortunately Mike was unable to show his video as the notebook used was not compatible with the Master Builders projector. Instead Mike gave a verbal presentation about the history of his motorcycle touring company World on Wheels. He also talked about his book “Free Back Issues” which he created from his diaries/journals covering more than 25 years of running motorcycle tours all around the globe. It was a very interesting presentation.   President’s Opening – Margaret Hogge (MTC): Welcome to November meeting of GONBUC. Please buy a raffle ticket. Please sign the attendance register.   Apologies: John Warner, Paulette McIver, Geoff Wiltshire. New Members: There were no new members. Visitors: Mike Ferris, Graham Felton (Hills Branch), Tonita. Secr...

  It was the perfect day for a ride, not a cloud to be seen as the bikes rolled into McDonalds car park at McGraths Hill and by 10.00am we had 21 riders. It was great to see a large number of regular Thursday Riders and eight riders including myself from the Hills Branch and one or two from the Sydney Branch. We welcomed two new riders to the group and after the formalities we headed off. It was a very pleasant ride along Bells Line of Road until about 15 kms from Lithgow near the Zig Zag railway the temperature dropped dramatically and you could see rain up ahead. The rain was bad timing with only a short distance to go but to avoid being saturated it was time to put on our wet weather gear so we found a safe place to stop outside the Kia Dealership in Lithgow. The rain came down as we rode to Oliver’s Restaurant at the Shell Service Centre for morning tea. One rider had planned to turn off before Lithgow so we had 20 bikes. During morning tea, one by one 10 riders decid...

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  What a glorious day! Nine UNB starters assembled at St Ives then departed at a leisurely pace via Telegraph Rd, Kissing Point Road, Round Corner and Annangrove Road. A 30 minute stop and chat at World Burger on Windsor Road and then we continued over Windsor Bridge to Macquarie Park to join the assembled throng. Today we were joining an organised gathering of Sydney Basin Ulysses Branches Members – the first of a series of proposed Joint Rides. Tim Shelton from Eastern Creek Branch gave us a welcome and ride briefing. Then  at 11am  we started up, and over 70 bikes headed north up the Putty Road. I was trying to recall when last I’d travelled in such a convoy, and was thinking of the occasion when Number 1 left on his round-Australia ride. How many years ago was that? Or maybe the 100km mass ride down to Portland at the conclusion of the Mount Gambier AGM: wow, that was a great one! Of course it’s not obvious you’re in such a large group when you’re riding, just that bi...