IN THIS ISSUE:
Welcome to the January 2008 Edition of "THE WANDERER"
Happy New Year to all Wanderers and their families, may it bring you happiness and lots of great riding.
This month kicks off 2008 with Pushy (Ian Dellar) as our Newsletter Co-ordinator. Please give him lots of support with your stories, pictures and ideas.
Its a tough job but with your help it can benifit all members. Its your on-line magazine, so please get behind it and make it even better this year.
Webmaster Col
Pushy's Piece
Welcome to the New Year, boy did we all have a great Christmas and New Year some may even think that the New Year celebrations have not stopped, just gone into low gear as we commence 2008 with a whole range of activities for all Wanderers.
The first thing you will notice will be the change to the format of The Wanderer. We are continuing to find new and interesting ways to produce our monthly Newsletter and hopefully it will meet with your approval.
We have also had a change of Coordinators for the newsletter. Pushy has taken over from Miss Wendy – work commitments have got the better of her. Her talents will be sorely missed. Lets hope that I can keep up the great standards of my predecessors.
What’s Happening This Month?
As you can see, my first up attempt at the newsletter appears to be a bit light on. Fear not, fellow Wanderers, it is only because we wanted to get some information out to you about what we are doing over the next few weeks so you can up date your diary’s
First social functions for February are:
- 2 Feb - Pirate Night at Eds and Mags
- This should be a great night for all you swashbuckling pirates out there
- 17 Feb - “Stick It Up For Prostate Cancer” Ride.
- For more info, please click [here]
- Sat 23rd Feb - 'Relay for Life' Motorcycle Poker Run put on by the Lancefield/Macedon Ranges Branch
- For more info, please click [here]
- 25-27 April – West Coast Rally.
- Entry cost $25.
- Contact Geelong Riding Group on 0419 325 974
Now that we have the formal side of things out of the way, I can get on with the nitty-gritty of this newsletter.
- Ride Reports!
- Photo’s!
- Scandals!
- Whispers!
- Bullshit Stories
C’mon you buggers, we want this Newsletter to be worth reading – but without any of the above, I’m wastin’ my time and yours. Get the message?????
Dear Pushy
Hey Pushy,
My girlfriend left me for a bludger who rides a Harley what should I do?
Miserable
Dear Miserable,
Celebrate, they’re both losers
Hey Pushy
Tom Mathews tells these corney jokes at our dinner meetings. Where the hell does he get them from??
Mystified
Dear Mystified,
.........................
Buggered if I know, but he does need a scriptwriter. Some of them jokes are on the nose, but at least you get a chuckle from ‘em.
C’mon you Wanderers get those dumb ass questions into me and I will give you a smart ass answer – guaranteed to upset or offend
Send ‘em to gopushy@yahoo.com.au Do it now!!!
This space reserved for your:
- Ride Reports!
- Photo’s!
- Scandals!
- Whispers!
- Bullshit Stories
Ride Reports
Notice that there is nothing here???
That’s because we at the Editorial Section of “The Wanderer” are hopeful that someone will start giving us a ride report for each ride that occurs. Doesn’t have to be a literary masterpiece, just something that fills the following criteria
- When?
- Where did we go?
- Who went?
- What did we do?
- Anything over and above the forgoing will make the article more interesting!!!
- C’mon – pull ya finger out!!
- Safe riding and see you next month
Tommy’s Corner
I was at the Fawkner Cemetery on Sydney Road looking at a job and as I pulled in there was a hearse with four chaps unloading a coffin so I waited
until they had finished and continued on my way. About 30min later as I was leaving I saw the four chaps still walking around with the coffin. I thought to myself, “These pricks have really lost the plot”.
I was wondering……………
- • Is a welfare state one that assumes responsibility for the health, happiness and general well-being of all of its citizens except the taxpayers?
- • Why do round pizzas come in square boxes?
- • Once you are in Heaven, do you get stuck wearing the same clothes you were buried in for eternity?
- • If you put your two cents worth in but it’s only a penny for your thoughts, where does the other penny go?
- • If Corn Oil is made from corn and Vegetable Oil is made from vegetables, where do they get Baby Oil?
- • If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
- • Why does a dog put his head outside a car window and its OK but will bite you if you blow in his face?
This month’s Horoscope – Scorpio
You are shrewd in business and cannot be trusted. You shall achieve the pinnacle of your success because of your total lack of ethics. You are a perfect son-of-a-bitch. Most Scorpios are murdered.
Coming Soon
Bubba’s Thoughts
???????
Yep, the Prez has promised to put pen-to- paper and give us his thoughts on a whole range of earth shattering events. So now that we here at the Wanderer have put him on the spot, we should now look forward to a regular Presidential Colum,
Classic Bikes of Yesteryear ~ Coventry Eagle.
Like many British Victorian motorcycle companies in the late 1800’s Coventry Eagle first produced the Royal Eagle bicycle, and around the turn of the century they began to put clip on JAP motors into their bicycles.
By 1903 the company ventured into the motorcycle market, but due to poor sales returned to building bicycles in 1905. With the out brake of WW1 the company were again building limited numbers of motorcycles with Triumph engines for the British army.
In 1921 Coventry-Eagle were producing 500cc single cylinder bikes, and a JAP-powered 680cc V-Twin, and in 1923 introduced the beautiful 976cc V-twin Flying Eight with a top speed of 80 mph, made from 1923 to 1930. The company continued to expand their range untill the Depression in 1929. Production ceased until 1939.
The Coventry-Eagle Flying 8.
A JAP powered V-twin in the Coventry-Eagle range appeared for a couple of years before the announcement of the first Flying Eight in March 1923, and the new model was reported as the motorcycle which should make a special appeal to speed men. So it should, indeed, for it was powered by a special 976 cc side-valve engine which gave the machine a guaranteed 80 mph maximum speed - not at all bad for a side-valve.
The model was continued virtually unchanged until the 1926 season with the appearance of a new overhead-valve version of the Flying Eight. This one again used a JAP power unit, increased to 980 cc and driving through a Nottingham-built Jardine gearbox. Other features were heavy-duty Webb girder front forks, and 8 inch diameter Royal Enfield brakes on both wheels. With a rounded and tapered fuel tank, and an exciting-looking 980 cc V-twin JAP power unit, Coventry-Eagle's famous Flying Eight bears a striking resemblance to a Brough-Superior of the same period. That is not really surprising, for George Brough and Percy Mayo of the Coventry-Eagle company spent some time together towards the end of the First World War discussing the type of motorcycle they would like to manufacture when the hostilities were over, and they found their tastes were remarkably similar.
- Make: Coventry-Eagle.
- Model: Flying Eight.
- Engine: 980 cc (85,7 x 85 mm bore and stroke) JAP 50° overhear-valve V-twin
- Tyres: 3.25 x 19 in front and rear.Frame: Brazed-lug tubular cradle, un-sprung at rear.
- Front forks: Webb girders.
- Brakes: 8 in diameter drums front and rear.
- Weight: 395 lb
- Wheelbase: 59 in
- Manufacturer: Coventry Eagle Cycle and Motor Co. Ltd., Bishopsgate Green Works, Coventry
Though out the 1930s Coventry-Eagle were renowned as producers of ride-to-work models.
They acquired quite a respectable racing record in the 1920s, notably with Bert Le Vack, Teddy Prestwich and Percy Brewster breaking records on JAP engined singles of 250 and 350 cc. But the big Flying Eight was by no means overlooked, and in 1925 H. Harte and Stan Glanfield shared a 980 cc outfit to break many timed records from four to nine hours in Class G (1,000 cc sidecars) at speeds reaching 67 mph.
Even greater glory was to come in November of 1928 when, just before the Brooklands race track closed for the winter, Harold Taylor ( a one legged gentleman) took out a Flying Eight outfit for an all-out attack on the Class G 200 mile record. Harold did the job handsomely, setting up a new speed record of 80.79 mph.
In 1928, the machine had acquired Magdyno electric lighting, Ghost silencers, and a steering damper. By any standards it was a most imposing machine, but the Coventry-Eagle company was changing direction and from now on the main emphasis would be on the unusual pressed-steel frame lightweights rather than the big-twins.
The last over head valve Flying Eight was made in 1930, with the side-valve model surviving for only one season more before it, too was axed.
As Britain recovered from the slump of the early 'thirties, so Coventry-Eagle reintroduced a 'Flying' range of sportsters, but this time they were singles, using Matchless engines, and the twins had gone.
Through out the company history the Coventry-Eagle factory built an extensive range of two- and four-stroke machines powered by Blackburne, JAP, Raleigh, Triumph, Villiers and Matchless engines.
Photos & references courtesy of European Motorcycle Universe, Vintage Bike, British Motorcycle Manufacturers.
WazzARide Calendar
The following rides and Scheduled Social events for the next month are as follows:
| 2-Feb | Saturday | Pirate Night @ Eds & Mags |
Sponsors
YOUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS
| Position | Office Bearer | Telephone Contact |
| President | Bubba | 0418 395 786 |
| Secretary | Ornella | 0422 639 845 |
| Treasurer | JohnT | 0407 427 361 |
| Ride Co-ordinator | Marty | 0401 776 011 |
| Social Co-ordinator | RickH | 0418 138 885 |
| Quartermaster | Lex | 0439 728 435 |
| Webmaster [Non-Committee Position] | Col | 0431 685 268 |
| Newsletter Editor | Pushy | 0415531076 |