Royal Enfield Club of Australia
2022 Winter Rally Narooma
11th – 13th June 2022
By Craig Katen
The lockdowns of 2021 prevented us from holding the Winter Rally at Narooma last year. It was decided that since all the planning had already been done by our local Rally Organisers John and Lucy Frost from Tuross Heads, that we would continue as planned and hold it at Narooma this year.
As you can see from this drone shot by Paul Selwood we had great weather and a spectacular location and as it turned out, a really good attendance with 33 people and 21 bikes, 12 of them being Royal Enfield’s.
Attendees and bike details are as follows
| Name | Partner | Bike | ||
| Bruce Walker | Cynthia | |||
| Bailey Marklew | Classic 350 Signals | |||
| Mick Jones | Classic 500 Military | |||
| Bruce Butler | Janece | Classic 500 Trials Works Replica | ||
| John Frost | Lucy | Classic 500 Classic Tan | ||
| Brian Quintal | Himalayan Gravel Grey | |||
| Paul Selwood | Himalayan Gravel Grey | |||
| Mark Hurley | Interceptor 650 Ravishing Red | |||
| Garry Proudlock | Interceptor 650 Ravishing Red | |||
| Richard Mulcaire | Interceptor 650 Orange Crush | |||
| Craig Katen | Jenny | Interceptor 650 Orange Crush | ||
| Anthony Wright | Interceptor 650 Glitter and Dust | |||
| Charles Todd | Interceptor 650 Ventura Blue | |||
| Don Havelburg | BMW 650 | |||
| Jim Pennington | Honda Shadow | |||
| Peter Jackson | Johanne | Triumph 1050 Sport | ||
| Ken Hensby | Helen | Triumph 1050 Sport | ||
| Johnathon Daniel | Vera | Honda ST1300 | ||
| Richard Shennan | Susan | Norton Commando 850 | ||
| Garry Eyles | Joy | Honda Sidecar | ||
| John Wright | Viv | BWM sidecar | ||
| Roger McCall | Narelle | Harley Sidecar | ||
| 22 | 11 | |||
| ATTENDEES | BIKES | Enfields | Non Enfields | |
| 33 | 21 | 12 | 9 |
Ride Down
I had posted that I was going to arrange a ride from Sydney on the Saturday morning and I had discussed meeting Mick Jones from Shellharbour somewhere in the Southern Highlands. Our planned route had road closures and in fact most of the passes leading from the Highlands to the Coast were closed at one point due to landslides associated with the recent heavy rains with only Picton Rd and Kings Hwy open. Fortunately Macquarie Pass roadworks were completed and Mick was able to meet us at Robertson and lead us back down the to the Coast.
New member Bailey had registered for the Rally and expressed interest in riding down with us and some new members Matt and Karen Howell had contacted me on Facebook and said they could not attend the Rally however they would like to ride part of the way with us.
In discussion with Paul Selwood, Mick Jones and I planned a route with this in mind and since Bailey lived in Sydney’s West and Matt and Karen were from Mt Annan, we decided to meet at Narellan McDonalds at about 8 and leave around 830.
I agreed to meet Bailey at Eastern Creek Shell at about 715 and ride to Narellan with him, so I left about 645 with the sun only just up it was about 3 degrees. I had the heated grips on power level 1 MILLION and still had cold hands as, due to no hand guards, my palms were roasting and my knuckles were frozen. Since I was on the Interceptor I chose to wear my leather gear and not my new fancy Dainese Gore-Tex outfit so I had as many underlayers as I could fit under neath the already too small jacket and pants I had bought 10 years ago when I was 10kg lighter. I even managed to shove some foam gardening knee-pads in my trouser legs to stop the cold penetrating the leather and freezing my kneecaps.
Anyway I warmed up slightly traversing the suburbs from Northmead to Prospect (which are all 50 zones) until I got on to the Great Western Hwy which is 80 and I cracked opened the throttle to find that ; 1) the bike accelerates quite good in cold dense air (BTW I just relocated the Intake Air Sensor of my Booster Plug to up near the steering head for a better Air Fuel Ratio) and 2) with what I was wearing 80kPH was the maximum wind chill I could tolerate.
It wasn’t long and I arrived at the service station and Bailey was standing near his bike. After a quick introduction we left for Narellan via Ferrers and Cowpasture Roads and the Camden Valley Way. Shortly after arriving at Maccas Paul turned up and we had some breakfast whilst waiting for Matt (interceptor) and Karen (350 Classic) . They grabbed a coffee and we had a quick chat about the route before toping up with fuel and heading towards Picton. We winded our way thru the Southern townships attempting to bypass Mittagong and Bowral on our way to Robertson but before long we got detoured back towards Mittagong due to roadworks. Thankfully Matt worked in the area and guided us around the local area to Glenquarry and on a fabulous ride thru the cold and frosty Kangaloon Valley to Robertson Pie Shop where Mick ridden to and Jenny, who wisely decided to drive, were waiting.
We pulled up next to Micks Military Classic 500 for a photo opportunity and went in to warm up and have some food. After that Mick lead us down the Jamberoo Mountain Road and we stopped at Jamberoo Lookout .
The view from here is Shellharbour to the north and Kiama to the south
We then continued down Jamberoo pass through Jamberoo township where we could immediately feel the much warmer coastal temperatures in the valley.
Mick’s route then deviated off to Saddleback Mountain, at that point Karen peeled off towards Kiama to visit her mum and we continued up the mountain and on to the descent where we pulled over for another stretch of the legs and more photos.
Views south to Nowra and north to Wollongong
From here we went to the outskirts of Kiama for a fuel stop and then the back way to Berry where stopped briefly and said goodbye to Matt. From there it was back onto the Prince’s Highway.
We continued on through Nowra and stopped just south of Ulladulla at East Lynne for some pies at the Fuel Garage and General Store and to have a look at the antique motorcycles and memorabilia. They have great meat pies but their mixed berry pies are to die for. Jim Pennington frequents the place almost daily as it is a good excuse to go for a ride and have a coffee and a chat with the owner Bede who is an historic motorcycle and car enthusiast.
Continuing on we stopped at Batemans bay to top up and then on to Narooma to our respective digs.
Meet and Greet
Saturday night we met at Club Narooma for the meet and greet and dinner.
It was good to catch up with everyone especially those from Victoria whom we don’t see too often. Bruce and Cynthia joined us for dinner, they hadn’t planned to attend the Rally but decided to come down and to see an old friend in the area and pay us a visit.
Sunday Rally Ride
We were to meet at the Information Centre, an old Light House in the centre of town on Sunday morning at about 10am for the rider briefing. We had Mark Hurley from Wollongong arrive to join us from Ulladulla where he stayed overnight which made it 20 riders and 2 vehicles.
The ride departed at 1030 and the route took us north across the bridge over the inlet where Lucy had launched a drone to capture us riding over the bridge en-masse.
Here is a link to the footage
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p0zninrm1vaxrh4/Narooma%20Bridge%20VLC%20recording.mp4?dl=0
From there we headed east and continued along the coastline for a few kilometres then thru Dalmeny to the Princes Highway where went north to Moruya and then made our way east again to follow George Bass Drive to Tomakin and onto our lunch stop at Mogo.
When we arrived we arranged the bikes for judging before heading off to explore the township’s variety of tourist shops and local wares and to find somewhere to eat. It was good to see Jim Pennington, from Batemans Bay who came to meet us for lunch.
On the way back Jenny, Paul and I decided to stop at the breakwater to check out the local Seals who sun themselves on the rocks.
Presentation
Sunday night’s dinner and presentation was held at Narooma Golf Club where we were allocated a private room for the occasion.
Longest Distance Travelled on an Enfield – Richard Mulcaire, Ocean Grove VIC – 810 kilometres
Best Non Enfield – John Wright – BMW outfit
Worst Enfield – Brian Quintal – Himalayan (only because it was dirty)
Best Enfield – John Frost – Classic 500 Classic Tan
John was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by Charles for being the Rally Organiser
