98 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
RALLY REPORTSRUDGE
Rudge RallyJudging Results
CLASS RIDER BIKE
Best Veteran Graham Goodwin 1911 500cc Single Speed
Best Vintage Rick Nabkey 1927 350cc Sports
Best post-vintage Warren Young 1937 500cc Special
Jim Wallace Memorial Rick Nabkey 1927 350cc Sports
Rob Hart Memorial Ben Morgan 1932 500cc Ulster30th Australian Rudge Rally
- 3-4 March, 2018 – Orange, NSW
Rudges in the Central West
Report and photosfrom Rudge Enthusiasts Club
The 30th rallywas based at the Conobolis
Caravan Park, Orange, a beautiful area over the Blue
Mountains, west of Sydney. Numbers were down
but Harry Scoble (from Victoria), now 86 years
young, was very proud to be riding with us. We had
23 Rudges and 30 people including two new riders:
Ben Morgan on his freshly restored 1932 full radial
Ulster and Rick Nabkey on his 1927 350cc ‘Sports’,
while Graham Goodwin had finally finished
restoring a 1911 500cc single speed veteran.
Friday afternoon saw the gathering of ‘clan
Rudge’ with much fun while renewing friendships
and getting to know the new faces. Riders
registered and received their ‘Goodies’ bag and
celebratory bottle of 30th Rudge Rally wine (a top
vintage by all accounts.) Locals, Bernie and Liz Schell
had spent twelve months planning the routes to
keep us on the better roads with visits to local
places of interest. They did a great job organising
corner marshals and support vehicles as well. Liz
had also spent the previous month, by the look of it,
cooking up a storm for our delicious morning and
afternoon teas.
An early start on Saturday morning was called for
as we had almost 200km to travel with two
interesting stops. We left Cook Park in central Orange
at 9am. The roads were very motorcycle friendly with
plenty of bends and pleasant scenery, but little traffic
to contend with. Our first stop was Manildra. The
‘Amusu’ (amuse you) picture theatre is one of only
two remaining original picture houses in Australia.
The old motor mechanic workshop next door is now
a museum – primarily movie cameras and movie
memorabilia including hundreds of original, authentic
posters along with other interesting everyday items
too. We had our fabulous morning tea, then were
ushered into the Amusu Theatre for a showing of
three silent movies, car chases of course. Allan Tom,
who set up the picture house in 1923, had previously
run a travelling picture show. His daughter, now in
her 90s, was our usherette. She does enjoy people
coming to visit, so we made a fuss of her.It was then on to Canowindra for lunch. Not
everyone needed to eat so wandered around town
after a welcome beer at the local club. It had been
a hot trip. Unfortunately, Grahame Heath had a flat
front tyre on the return stretch to Orange, but a local
motorcycle shop delivered a replacement tube to
the caravan park that afternoon and would not
accept payment. Good people! The evening ‘get-
together’ and presentations was at the motel
restaurant next door to the caravan park. A lovely
meal and great company.
Sunday began with a Rudge ‘swap-meet’ at the
caravan park followed by more of Liz’s spectacular
morning tea. We left the park at 10am and rode
the roundabout way via popular motorcycle roads
towards Bathurst before turning back to Millthorpe.
A shorter run of about 100km as some riders
wanted to get away early for the journey home
that afternoon. We stopped in the historic ‘town’
of Millthorpe where there is a very interesting
museum full of early implements and machinery.
The main street has plenty of old buildings, some
now trading as cafes and antique shops.
For those still around at 2.30pm we hopped into
several cars and Bernie led us out to visit a local car
club member’s home, a beautiful 1920s farm house.
We were treated to his Chevrolet collection of
several veteran cars and a couple of trucks. The
eye-opener was his three ‘big wheelers’, basically
horse carriages with a motor. They were designed
to persuade people to transfer from horse drawn
vehicles to motor cars and the large wheels handled
the rough tracks well. He has restored them all
himself with the help of the apprentices he teaches
at the Technical College.
As Russell Court, from Victoria said, “This is the
rally that keeps on giving”. Keen to contribute to
that theme, Russel and several other Victorians
have offered to plot the runs for next year’s rally
at Corryong, Victoria (just over the NSW border).
We look forward to another great weekend at our
31st Annual Australian Rudge Rally.■Graham Goodwin with his
newly-restored 1911 model.Dan Morgan with the Rob Hart
Trophy for the Best Rudge.