Bike Clubs and what can go wrong

[suzuki59]

And it's at Artarmon 

No sorry guys, well before him there was a guy at Monavale at a push bike shop.I think his first name was Graeme??
Clearly I am an old timer...
FYI I  know Carl reasonably well, and I know where Artarmon is,given I lived in Cammeray for eight years....

PS Carl has also done an excellent job I heard,but that was after I departed Oztralia........

Cheers
Craig

[firko]

sorry guys, well before him there was a guy at Monavale at a push bike shop.I think his first name was Graeme??

Graeme Glover....."The Glove". Nice bloke, bought my Petite Metisse M11 Bully roller off me a few years ago.

[vmxken]

Yep, good old Graeme.  But the other person who probably needed to be mentioned was Brad Fisher, the Club President who finally got Heaven affiliated with MNSW (and another Northern Beaches boy).  I saw both of them last week and both doing well.  Captain Fisher just bought a Pursang to race some dirt track this year (and is also restoring a TY250) and Graeme still has a truck load of Bullys as well.

[suzuki59]

Yep, good old Graeme.  But the other person who probably needed to be mentioned was Brad Fisher, the Club President who finally got Heaven affiliated with MNSW (and another Northern Beaches boy).  I saw both of them last week and both doing well.  Captain Fisher just bought a Pursang to race some dirt track this year (and is also restoring a TY250) and Graeme still has a truck load of Bullys as well.

Yes indeed thanks Ken,good old Graeme and "Qantas" Brad,top guys who did a lot for Heaven.

[HVA61]

Come on guy's , Kel did a good job , but i think he would have been buggered with out Narrelle.

Yes he could certainly be prickly , but he always did what was required , always said what he meant (good or bad) , you always new where you stood , always showed up rain , hail or shine and was generally the last to leave.

He did an enormous amount behind the scene's , just like all Club Sec. do

You may not always think he made the best decisions , but he made them , stuck with it , Kel did real well and made some diffucult decisions during his tenure as all Club sec. do.

Lent more bikes to people who wanted to try it out , then any person i know

I dont mind saying he a "good guy".  "He's a good guy"

We have always been real lucky at Heaven , we always have a bunch of people committed to getting it happening. Every month of the season they bring it for us (weather permitting).

Club's are a good thing , no clubs no fun

[suzuki59]

Yep agreed Shoey,Narelle was an excellent lady.
Poor old Kel just needed a filter from brain to mouth sometimes,which I guess we all can be accused of,depending on how many VB's we have drunk.
 I think on reflection his style worked during the period after Magoo and Mark Austin left-the reasons for which I will not revist- albeit I do actually know what they are,(given I was on the scene then-unlike some other "geography experts" on this forum).

But again to clarify I think its great that Heaven is thriving these days.
The above comments by me,are not in any way a stir about what a great scene Heaven is these days.

Cheers
Craig

[HVA61]

i agree Graig , Heaven is thriving and i think the whole vintage movement , MX , dirt track and vinduro are on a upward spiral.

Over the last few years there has been so many and varied events on offer we have had the rare opportunity to be selective on what events to attend.

All thanks to our hard working clubs and the club officals.

[firko]

Firko the next Penrith meeting is tomorrow night (March 13) 7pm at the Eastern Creek Tavern.

thanks Shaun, natural disasters notwithstanding I hope to be there.

[Ted]

Come on guy's , Kel did a good job , but i think he would have been buggered with out Narrelle.

Yes he could certainly be prickly , but he always did what was required , always said what he meant (good or bad) , you always new where you stood , always showed up rain , hail or shine and was generally the last to leave.

He did an enormous amount behind the scene's , just like all Club Sec. do

You my not always think he made the best decisions , but he made them , stuck with it , Kel did real well and made some diffucult decisions during his tenure as all Club sec. do.

Lent more bikes to people who wanted to try it out , then any person i know

I dont mind saying he a "good guy".  "He's a good guy"

We have always been real lucky at Heaven , we always have a bunch of people committed to getting it happening. Every month of the season they bring it for us (weather permitting).

Club's are a good thing , no clubs no fun

I agree with you there Shoey. Kel and Narelle did a fantastic job, as our current committee do. Something must be right, we never cancel meetings thru lack of participants.

You'se don't know utter totalitarian rule unless you've been under Chris Cater's dictatorship. I was an apprentice under him and got picked up by him most weekends to go to MX or enduro meets in the early 70's. His only rule was do as I do and you better be damn fast at it, and were only talking marking out tracks. If it was too dusty he simply stopped racing and everyone had to re mark the course. It was his way or the highway, but if you ever wanted someone to get the job done , he was your man.
He once rode a bike of mine at Amaroo, crashed it and broke the clutch lever. As I didn't have a spare and had a race to go he went over to a guy and said " you finished racing? Get that lever off your bike and give it to me, which he did" He didn't even give the guy long enough to answer the question.

Some people didn't like him. I did.

[HVA61]

Your right about the big fella Ted

When we were setting out at Classic dirt last year he tried to take over when he showed up and it was a real hoot with all his average to shit jokes.  Cater is a top bloke , real fun fun to be around , never asked you to do anything he's not doing and has forgotten more about track set out then most people know.

hopefully Chris will be there for the set out again this year , heaps of off cambers

[Montynut]

Guys I don’t really think airing any of this on a forum is the best way to go. Heaven VMX has, for as long as I’ve been involved, been lucky to have some of the best people tirelessly putting in their very best for everyone.

As far as I can see all of the Committee members of the five years that I have been involved in the club have had nothing but the very best interests of the club at heart . Kel and Narelle along with Fernando, Dennis, Glenn, Dan, Carl, Bob, Greg H, Mike, Stewart and any others I have inadvertently forgotten are genuinely the life blood of the HEAVEN club, period. Are any of them perfect? Probably not but then let anyone that is perfect start pointing out the issues?

Whether you agree or disagree with Kel or Narelle there is absolutely one thing that is indisputable by anyone and that is their genuine and deep desire that the Heaven Club prosper and is successful. This is just the facts and cannot be denied. Last year every single time that I contacted Kel or Narelle for assistance, help or guidance there response was always positive even if they didn’t agree 100% or even 50% and that I feel is an indication of character.

Can we go back to bagging HL500s now? Or even better start a thread on old Classic MX photos like the Classic Dirt Track Images thread that is now up to 87 glories pages of fantastic photos and positive chit chat . Now that is worth putting on a forum

[pancho]

 I am glad I resisted any impulse to get involved in the some of the discussion on this thread,

 however I am pleased to see it finally sorted itself out rather pleasantly.

  One comment- Slides, stick with it, NMSC member clubs need you.

 Cheers pancho.

[Shaun G]

Son of Satan was at the helm

For what it's worth I took my seat to the above gentlemans sons upholstery business today and I can't help being impressed by what a nice young man he is. As well as being articulate, friendly and interested in what a fat old fart had to say, he's pretty damn good at the wheel of his sowing machine. It just goes to show that the arsehole factor doesn't always progress through the genetic chain.

After years in a self imposed boycott of the club I'm going to rejoin Penrith club. I intended going to the February meeting but unexpected visitors nipped that in the bud. When is the next Penrith club meeting?

Firko the next Penrith meeting is tomorrow night (March 13) 7pm at the Eastern Creek Tavern.

Cheers
Shaun

Bugger sorry Firko I gave you a bum steer the Penrith meeting was last night. Sorry mate

[firko]

DO'H

[Curly3]

You did that on purpose Shaun.