2002 Bunya Mountains Rally

Saturday 4th - Day 1

We spent about an hour tasting the wine, cheese, and buying supplies for dinner tonight. Next was a short tour of the town visiting the peanut silos and watching some of this year's harvest being unloaded. It was then off to the Peanut Van to lay in supplies of the freshest peanuts available anywhere. Next stop was a working farm harvesting peanuts. We watched as the mechanical monsters picked bushes off the ground, separated the nuts from the bush and loaded them into field bins on top of the trashers. Amazing to watch a huge machine pull up beside a truck, go down on one knee (to clear the side of the truck) and then lift the bin full of peanuts to full height above the truck bin and then empty itself. With the amount of dust floating round, we now know why tractors have fully air-conditioned cabs.

All 19 arrived back safely (holding the peanuts and wine bottles) to prepare for dinner.

6:00pm the entrants for the Gordon Trophy were summonsed to the judging area. Sorry guys - I didn't write down the names - but there are photos of the bikes. Look above here to see bikes entered and the winner - Col Rogerson from Kingaroy HMCCQ.

Sunday 5th - Day 2

The day dawned clear and a little crisp. Nothing like the wet and cold of years gone by. A little sunshine and everything was looking good for a 9:00 start. 54 riders registered for either the 101 mile long route (over the mountain top) or short route. Rider briefing was 8:30 with the first leg sheets handed out. The last three riders registered about 8:45 so it was a bit rushed for them to get set for the start.

9:01 - first three were out and on their way. I was last out on the '33 Matchless at 9:21 and a bit as I had to pack the camera and get ready to ride. As it turned out, I had set my average of 38 mph a bit high as I lost 11 points on the first leg over the mountain. I would have been closer if there had not been a secret checkpoint not far from the bottom of the mountain. I took too long (to careful) going up the big hill and then took it very carefully over the dirt section. I thought a secret checkpoint would have been after the first stop as the mountain would have spread out the field. Maybe that is why they are secret - to catch people like me!

Morning tea was 30 minutes, self timed at the Goodger store. There was tea, coffee and cakes for all (and a couple of visitors). This is the time and place to thank the ladies who did the catering. Time for a quick chat, take the dog for a walk behind the nearest tree and off again to see if I could find lunch. Funny thing - I was last out at the start but beat 3 moderns in to morning tea after the Honda 4 in the group played up.

I dropped 11 minutes to the secret checkpoint, then 1 minute to the morning tea checkpoint and 2 minutes from there to the end for a total of 14 lost points. 14 minutes late over 100 miles on a bone shaker is not too bad as I only had 200 mile up on a rebore before I went on the rally. After a B-B-Q lunch it was down to the trophy presentations. The winners are at the top of this page. That's it for the 2002 Bunya Rally. I will be back next year for another assult on the mountain.

This is my 1933 CS Matchless Sports Tourer parked up after completing the rally. Not the best mount for this rally - but a hell of lot of fun anyway. It had been suggested I must have run out of oil as there wasn't any leaking on the ground. I can assure you the tank is full and there are only very small oil leaks - unlike past years when the gaskets leaked like sieves. For the recent rebore, I fitted a 86mm Gold Star 3 ring piston and new cylinder sleeve. Previously it had been bored from 85.5mm to 89mm - the walls were too thin and caused overheating problems when really pushed going over the top of the Bunyas. I now run Hi-Unleaded with a splash of two-stroke oil. To see some better shots of the Matchy, go to my Matchless page. As you would expect, a short stroke 500cc 4speed bike is quite quick if you can hang on to it and with twin exhaust ports, the exhaust note is far more pleasant than the usual thump of a pommy single.

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