The MTCV Home Page has taken 297 hits during August and 9521 since April 1996. See more information such as magazine articles in the Members-only section. Note: the password to member section has changed and is only available to financial members. Do not divulge it to non-members.

Road Conditions Reporting Line: (03) 9854-2899 where motorcyclists can report road conditions and give suggestions for improvement on any road in Victoria. Vicroads now has an email address for the same purpose: [email protected]

Seen at the Social Sip held on August 5^th were Lyn Duncan. Eddie Seitz, Rhys Williams, Ian Payne, Craig Morley, Jon Riddett, Ben Warden, Les Leahy, Ric Brabbin, Rob Langer, Kirsten Anderson, Bruce Saville and Peter Philferan. Thirteen people, considerably down on previous months. The consensus is that it is time to move. The atmosphere and targeted clientele combined with the hike in food prices will see us move to the Whitehorse Inn Hotel. This venue has good cheap meals, off street parking and "old pub" style atmosphere! It is situated just down the road at No 5 Burwood Road, Hawthorn. Be there for the October 4^th meeting.

The Club has a new post office box number. Our new postal address is PO Box 4132, Melbourne University PARKVILLE VIC 3052. Our old one will still work for a year or so.

Ken Wright has purchased a new Aprilia RSV1000 to replace his slightly damaged R1, destroyed on the Melbourne Cup weekend, almost a year ago. His recovery has been hampered by the discovery of more broken bones in his lower back. We look forward to seeing him back riding and participating in Club activities and fully fit. Go Ken.

The motorcycle Internet site ‘MCNEWS’ has quite a strong tipping competition running on local and international motorcycle races with Rhys Williams currently leading the "World Supersport" category. Well done Rhys.

This subject of a Club Name Change was discussed at our last Committee meeting at some length with a consensus reached that for we as a club to survive we must attract NEW members. Unfortunately our "touring" name does little to encourage riders to join our club. The die-hard touring types join either the Ulysses or BMW clubs as they have a reputation at being "good" at organising this type of ride. While we are very good at running "sports" type rides, our name does not give this indication. Therefore a change to the "Motorcycle Sports Touring Club of Victoria" is proposed as this name better represents our activities. Ian Payne (President)

Dear Members, here are just a few reasons why I think the Club needs a name change. We are in the 21^st century and bikes have changed as have riding styles. The Club used to have a diverse group of riders, but these days all our rides seem to head in the sport touring direction. We have shorter rides (quick fangs). There is definitely a lack of enthusiasm and participation in longer events such as weekends away. To replace members from the past we need to appeal to riders of 'today' of the sport touring orientation. Even though the Club's reputation for sports riding is well known amongst enthusiasts and ex-members, we have not been able to replace members who have moved on to more 'niche' clubs. Bike clubs are more specific these days. eg: family orientated, social, race, dirt, motoX, etc. It would be ridiculous trying to sign up a bunch of motoX riders as we do not offer rides that suit them. The same applies to signing up a bunch of touring bike riders. Therefore why have a name that is misleading and wrongly reflects our Club and what we are about. Best Wishes, Kirsten Anderson (Your Social Secretary)

The Ballan Hillclimb on the 19^th of August was certainly a lot of fun and also very competitive. While enjoying some coffee and cake after the event, Ian Payne noted that Geoff Jones was already discussing next year’s event with his wife Val. Geoff stated that the easiest way to make it more competitive for him was to buy "a new Kawasaki ZX9!". Val didn't disagree which can be interpreted as approval. Expect Geoff to be on something bright and shiny, circa 1999, either a Yamaha R1, Kawasaki ZX9 or Honda CBR919. R1s are going for bargain prices at the moment.

We didn't see this one coming: (August 30) Motorcycle manufacturing giants Suzuki Motor Corporation and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. will join forces in a strategic business alliance, it was announced in Japan yesterday. In a response to intensifying competition in the motorcycle and ATV markets, Suzuki and Kawasaki have joined forces to collaborate on product development, design, engineering and manufacturing. Suzuki and Kawasaki will, however, maintain entirely separate marketing and retail networks throughout the world including Australia. This new strategic alliance is expected to increase profitability and competitiveness for both brands through the use of shared resources, commonisation of parts and joint-purchasing arrangements. "Quite clearly this is a very significant announcement for both companies, with the primary benefit being that consumers will get access to the best possible products at very competitive prices," Perry Morison, Suzuki Australia's General Manager for Motorcycles, said. "It's evident that both manufacturers will be strengthened by the financial benefits created by various aspects of this strategic alliance, while maintaining entirely separate brand positioning and personality."

Dianne Welsford recently had her bike serviced and got a bit of a shock while out riding a couple of days later to find oil spewing out onto the rear tyre! Seemed the mechanic didn’t tighten one rocker cover bolt very well.

The QL Club is holding its annual "Black Night Rally" on the 14-16 of September. The rally will be held at the Kevington Hotel, approx 10km south of Jamieson. For details ring Jeremy 03 9878-6207 or Corey 03 9727-2727. Some of our members attend this event on a regular basis.

It seems the Great Ocean Road is under increasing police surveillance. Just ask the 2 Dave’s (Ward and Moore) who when out recently on a ride were stopped twice in as many kilometres and given a verbal tongue lashing on both occasions. It seems Mr Plod is making a ‘special’ effort to make motorcycles unwelcome on this stretch of road! Or is it just our Daves?

Thanks to Geoff Jones for inscribing Dave Ward's name on the very prestigious Hill Climb trophy. In the four years it has been running, Tim walker has won it twice and Dave the other two times. Geoff has organised it each time and we are indebted to him and his family. The trophy will be presented at the September meeting.

A listing of the Club Participant of the Year points is printed deeper in the magazine. In covers 4 months from May to August, or one third of the Club Year. Points are awarded for every function attended - rides, meetings, social sips. An extra point is awarded to leaders and rear riders and for magazine articles - maximum 2 per magazine. The top 6 are Ben Warden (23), Ian Payne (21), Geoff Jones (14), Ray Walker (13), Ron Johnston (11) and Dianne Welsford (10), ie all those in double figures. Importantly the Committee is very active, filling 4 of the top 6 places.

And now some useless information from the Internet. See what happens when I have half a page to spare!

A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

A goldfish has a memory span of 3 seconds.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.

A cockroach can live nine days without its head before it starves to death.

A polar bear's skin is black. Its fur is not white, but actually clear.

Elvis had a twin brother named Aaron, who died at birth, which

>> > > >is why Elvis' middle name was spelled Aron: in honor of his

>> > > brother. It

>> > > >is also misspelled on his tomb stone.

>> > > >32- Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't

>> > > >wear pants.

>> > > >33- More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in

>> > > >plane crashes.

>> > > >34- Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left

>> > > >hand.

>> > > >35- Shakespeare invented the words "assassination" and "bump."

>> > > >36- Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes on one foot.

>> > > >37- If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually

>> > > >turn white.

>> > > >38- Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

>> > > >39- Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than

>> > > >left-handed people do.

>> > > >40- The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"

>> > > >uses every letter in the English language.

>> > > >41- The names of the continents all end with the same letter with

>> > > >which they start.

>> > > >42- TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the

>> > > >letters on only one row of the keyboard.

>> > > >43- The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read

>> > > >left to right or right to left. So is Glenelg.

>> > > >44- A snail can sleep for 3 years.

>> > > >45- American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one

>> > > >olive from each salad served in first-class.

>> > > >46- The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

>> > > >47- Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with a

>> > > >population of 1,000 and a size of 108.7 acres.

>> > > >48- "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English

>> > > >language.

>> > > >49- No president of the United states was an only child.

>> > > >And last and definitely most important:

>> > > >50- The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it.

>> > > >Yummo...........