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You have a point there Jerry about the risks of 18 year old motorbiking. At least in my case, 18 was the year of most risky behaviour and I was lucky to survive it and almost didn't. Things were different back then. No such thing as learner approved motorcycles. We didn't even have learner permits then; once you turned 17 you could get an open bike license and go out and buy and ride the biggest, fastest motorcycle you could afford. As far as risky behaviour was concerned, you could get away with a lot. Police numbers were very small and policing was reactive and rarely proactive. There was no random breath testing (not until the end of 1988), no hidden speed guns (they hadn't been invented at that stage), no random roadworthy pull-overs, no roadworthy certificates; I could sit here for an hour and add to this list. We did have police speed radars but they were very rare and very obvious. It wasn't hard to spot a copper sitting on a chair under a tree with a big radar set perched on top of a small table. We didn't do cafe racing, more like pub racing, high speed pub crawls on bikes. In this district now, the police number in the high hundreds, whereas back in the seventies there was probably only about fifteen or twenty at most and usually only two to patrol the whole district after hours. Riding a bike back then was a bit like the wild west. I bought my first bike at age 14, a BSA Bantam 175cc, although I'd been riding the neighbours Francis Barnett for some time before that. At around 15 I graduated to a 250 Honda Dream for a paddock basher around the farm. On turning 17 I got my driver's license. No written test from memory. In those days we had separate license categories for car, body truck, semi trailer (one category to cover any number of trailers, no separate road train category like now), motorbike, and category G which was tractors, harvestors, graders and all sorts of general machinery. I got them all in one go and the only driving test was to drive our old AA160 International truck down the road and do a handbrake start on a sloping rail crossing. I had a neighbour's little Commer semi trailer lined up for a test, but the copper asked me if I'd driven it and was satisfied with my word that I had (8 miles down a straight, flat road). He also said he wanted to see me riding my first legal road bike, a 1957 AJS 500 single, before issuing a license. He knew I'd been riding it without a license but just wanted to check I could handle it ok. I drove the truck home, got on the bike and rode back to town,. As I pulled up in front of the police station, he was standing there with my license in hand, which he handed to me and said see you later. I never even got off the bike. The joys of a country copper back in the day. These days the bike license is the only separate category you have to have. All the others are covered by the highest level category. For example I have mototcycle and heavy combination (semi trailer). HC covers all those under it like car, body trucks, tractors and machinery. If I had a road train license (multi combination), my license would be only two categories, MC and motorcycle which would cover anything you can drive on the road. Around the time I had the AJS at age 17, I also had a 741 Indian unregistered for a restoration project that never happened before I sold it. After that came the Norton Commando and the 18 year old dangerous period. Other bikes I had over the years were a Yamaha SR500, a Suzuki 50 stepthrough and Honda postie bike. I'm not sure if you'd call the last two bikes, more like toys.

Wooden Bridges with the Planks laid along them are a BIG challenge especially when wet or frosted.. OLD ones get big gaps and splinters between the cracks. Nev

Nev, that's what a mate of mine did. He had a Triumph he'd been riding for a lot of years but gave away riding at age 70. He just didn't feel confident with all the traffic these days and health issues from a couple of heart attacks. I don't know how I'd go on the road these days. I haven't ridden a bike on the road for thirty years and it's a totally different ball game here now with the big population and car increases. A mate of mine is 67 and has just taken it up again after a lot of years. He's just recently bought a new Bonneville Speedmaster. One thing on his side, he lives north of here in a slightly quieter area with less traffic, and he rides with his son and his son's mates (all Harley riders) and they are all very protective of him and keep a good eye on him. The Speedmaster is a good old bloke's bike - nice low, very comfortable seating position, good for touring. His only issue with the Bonnie is that it sounds like a sewing machine with the stock pipes so he's ordered a set of straight through drag pipes from that mob in Tasmania that make after market pipe systems for a lot of bike brands.

Genuine question - why is that? I have ridden both faired and naked bikes and I can't discern the difference in awareness. I started late with motorbikes - first learned in Vic when I was 27.. It was fun, but didn't grab me. Next time I took to a bike, learned all over again at 40 - yes 40. It wasn't a mid life crisis thing. I had returned from 2.5 years in Aus. I was working only two doors from the company I left in the UK to return to Aus. That was in Watford and I was in Richmond and there was no easy and safe public transport between them. The car journey was an hour each way (with the odd delay), but after I moved to Aus, the EU expanded to include a lot of Eastern European nations. They preferred to live in the Acton, Ealing, Wembley and surroindign areas right in the middle of my route. The congestion charge came in roughly at the same time causing tradies and the like to take circuitous routes, and my one hour drive became a 2 hour drive each way. It was more of a necessity than a desire at the time. But since, I wish I had taken it up earlier.. maybe not at 18 a I may not be here to tell the tale. I won't bother with wheelies, burnouts, and the like (such as this young woman), but I feel approaching biking at a more mature but fit enough age brough survival instincts further to the front of my mind, anyway: (sorry for the thread drift)

I have finally finished my book with the title Hidden Rivers of Gold which covers the origins of Deep Lead Mining, the technology and challenges, and the final years of mining in the Carisbrook-Moolort area of Victoria which led to huge financial losses and very little gold. Characters involved included the State Premier and a future president of the USA. This was all around the turn of the 20th Century. The book can be purchased through online booksellers including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fishpond, Booktopia and Angus and Robertson. Prices vary a lot, and some are in US$ so check carefully. The book is published by Echo Books.

Mine had a front Brake, Thru stud front engine Mount and a Tapered tank and different Handlebars and headlight .That's a 24 or 25. I'd say with Beaded edge tyres. Looks to be a very NICE bike and all correct. Nev

My first was Honda Elsinore 350- the first 4 valve single enduro bike, a 73? Model. I was a small 13 year old and it had huge compression and no decompressor lever, as such a absolute bastard to start, a renowned ankle breaker from backfires. My first legal was a Yamaha RX 125 smoker then a RZ350R ex Swann race series. Then at 21 a BMW R100CS.

The Red rubber framed Postie Bike would be the Most dangerous. I rode along Bush tracks thru Creeks and alongside railway lines for years On a 1927 Model 101 INDIAN that needed absolutely NOTHING to be done to it other than ME Making a replacement Rotor for the Splitdorf Magneto. That was a very Popular Model. I Paid 5 Quid for it with sidebox. I'd had about 5 bikes before that one. No one in my family was Mechanical OR liked Motorbikes. Nev

Those buildings have been there for e LOOOooong time. Nev

Yesterday it got to 46C inside my place. All I could do was sit on the lounge and read a book with the evaporative cooler blowing cold air in my direction. I went to the kitchen to rinse a glass and nearly burned my hand on the tap. In the afternoon cloud started to build up. Later that evening I watched the lightning in the clouds downwind. When I woke up this morning, my bedsheets and pillow were drenched with sweat. I looked outside and the sky was clouded over, but the clouds were too high to suggest rain coming soon. So I threw my bedding into the washing machine, figuring that in the heat and low humidity it would dry before any rain came. Now it's midday and the cloud has moved downwind. At least my bedding is dry so I can remake my bed for another sweaty night. All week the temperature has been in the high 30s, rising to 40+ by late afternoon. I woke up this morning with no energy. I don't know if that's because it has been too hot to make me feel like eating, or if I've lost electrolytes. It's getting close to midday and the temperature is 36C. After what I have endured this week, 36C feel cool. Luckily I'll be going into see Mum this afternoon. She's got air conditioning.

With such a shortage of housing, the Victorian Government has decided to demolish seven public housing towers designed for the elderly, to be redeveloped. In the meantime, where are these residents meant to go, and what will that do to the waiting list for accommodation? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-06/public-housing-demolition-residents-relocated-private-homes/105619934

It has been raining here for about three weeks. At least the Brit humour shines through on the sign in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/31/climate-crisis-flood-risk-britain

If you're not happy with the location and there are no buyers for it, check in on areas you may like to see if any sellers are willing to do a property swap to your area and cash out the difference either way. You will have to cover stamp duty at the valuer general's valuation, but a good lawyer can minimise it and while they will charge you to do it, it could still save you thousands. I couldn't find a site that handles property swaps, except for vacations, but an uncle of mine did it twice in the good ol' daze.

Regarding the bridge, the local mill stopped running locos some time before the mill shut down and relied on road transport during that interim period. As a consequence, it fell into disrepair and was eventually dismantled due to public risk with people using it for fishing and jumping off it into the water. Eventually the company who owned the mill (Bundaberg Sugar I think it was at the time) came to the decision that their assets had more real estate value than they could make from crushing sugar so the sold it all up so developers could grow houses instead. Sad really to see one of the district's biggest industries vanish after being part of the place since the 1800's. The area had a lot of character when the cane industry was still solid. I live up on a hill and the old tram track used to go past the bottom of my property. Lots of good memories sitting on the verandah at night, listening to the locos rattling past and watching the cane fires out on the floodplain. Burning was not a very sustainable practice but it was very visual. For five to six months of the year it was like having cracker night every night. Over the years they ended up breeding varieties that produced less dead leaf trash and most burning went out of practice. What trash produced was left in the paddock to act as mulch in a way. Obvious benefits like more moisture holding ability, less weeds etc., but they had to develop machinery to be able to work it. There's not much cane grown here these days as it needs to be a high price to break even on trucking it some hours north of here to the nearest working mill. The only time they burn now is if they are harvesting what they call standover cane which is cane that has been left over to the next season or even longer. The more years it grows, the thicker the stalks get and the more trash and leaf growth there is, so it has to be burnt so the harvester can handle it. The sugar content drops as well with old cane. I miss the cane; these days instead of looking down over nice green cane fields, all I see is thousands of acres of weeds. It puts a lot of people out of work when a whole industry collapses. Farmers aside, a lot of the mill workers were multi-generational in their history there. I used to work occasional cane seasons harvesting cane and a lot of mates are local cane farmers or ex mill workers so I have a personal connection to it. I was born and bred in cattle, sheep and grain country so the cane was a big novelty to me when I first moved down here to the coast. Also here there's plenty of salt air to create rusty bits for making rat bikes (just to stay on topic).

Congratulations. Whether it makes the Best Seller lists or not, you must be pround of your achievement. At least you have created something that will last into the future. You nver know. Maybe at some time in the future your work will be included in the bibliography of a doctorial paper on the history of mineral exploitation in Australia.

And you can get anything you want At Alice's Restuarant, Exceptin' Alice.

Years ago myself and a mate used to ride our bikes (Norton Commando and Velocette Clubman) across this drawbridge; one of those tasks where you had to hold your mouth right and not look down. What made it extra tricky was that both bikes had clipons. The gap between the two planks would grap the front tyre a bit just to make it more interesting.

That looks like a modern prison

Having your OWN Place is good You can fiddle with it a bit to get More comfortable depending on how Over Bearing the Local Council is. Owing money is like Having Cancer. On your Mind all the time. Nev

Silly Planning isn't it? Europe does it better. Common walls can be sound Proof and secure. CARS must be off the street. Nev

What a lot of people chose to ride Meets the Approval of their PEER group as a priority for a lot of people. Same for the way they dress. Slaves to fashion. Nev

If you go into the reply box, click on the emoticon button in the toolbar and type Groan in the search box, you will get this -

I was part owner of the Fairplay Gold Mine at Higginsville, W.A. from 1972 to 1990, when the mine was sold to a large gold mining company. The brother, his wife and I mined and produced around 600 ozs of gold in that period, utilising the Norseman State Battery (a 10 head stamp mill, owned by the W.A. Govt). Gold was ignored and only worth around $35 oz when we purchased the mine from two old Slav prospectors. But U.S. President Richard Nixon had taken America off the Gold Standard in August 1971, in a staggering display of non-consultative, "executive" Presidential power. It was called the "Nixon shock", and it rattled the worlds financial markets - and led to a rapid rise in the price of gold, now the gold price was no longer controlled by the U.S. We knew this would happen, and purchased the gold mine accordingly. By 1975 the gold price was $160 oz and by 1980, it was over $800 oz, and there was another gold rush on. At that point, our strategy of utilising an under-utilised and cheap source of ore crushing went to hell in a handbasket, as scores of prospectors turned up at the State Battery to crush parcels of ore. A queueing system for crushing was initiated - but even worse - the Govt imposed a very sharp increase in crushing costs to reduce the State Batteries ever-increasing losses (the State Batteries were always subsidised to encourage local employment, bring in gold revenue, and to assist in prospecting work that might deliver new and profitable mines). At that point, we turned to the large (200,000 tonne) tailings dump on our mine, which still held an average of around 2 grams/tonne of tailings. We took on 3 business partners who had experience in heap leaching and cyanidation of tailings, and between all of us, we developed an improved design of tailings leach vats, which proved very effective and very profitable. The benefit of treating tailings was the ore was already crushed very fine, it just had to be set up with the correct pH levels, be able to contain a cyanide leach solution, and to have a simple circulatory pumping system. The addition of activated carbon in stainless steel tanks finished off the treatment process, and it was a very simple job to set up a small, single-cylinder Lister diesel pump to circulate the solution until the activated carbon was full of gold! Then the tanks would be taken into Kalgoorlie to be stripped of the gold, using a caustic solution, by professional carbon tank strippers. The final product, gold "dore" bars were taken into the Perth Mint, which refined the gold to the Internationally-accepted gold bar standard of 99.999 (%) fine gold. After we had re-treated all our gold tailings on the Fairplay lease, we re-treated many more tens of thousands of tonnes of tailings, from numerous other tailings dumps we had pegged. It was a very profitable period for us in the 1980's. Then, after we ran out of tailings dumps of our own to re-treat, we went on to build tailings vats on contract for other operators that needed to re-treat their tailings. We re-treated tailings and built leach vats for well over 2M tonnes of tailings in the 1980's, from as far East as Ejudina, 150kms E of Kalgoorlie, to Burtville, SE of Laverton, W.A. - right through the W.A. Goldfields, to even Marble Bar! It was a very interesting period, and one that was highly profitable, and not a period I'm likely to see again! The sheer pleasure of holding a large gold bar that you've produced and poured, is something that few people experience.

We have Houses to burn in Australia. Everyone wants to live near the coast, but you can't drink or safely swim in the water there, and they have WATER shortages and some of the Worlds biggest Houses in a country where it's good to get outside. Nev

Who remembers George, the talking clock on the phone? "On the third stroke, it will be five pm and twenty seconds. Ping Ping Ping." You can still hear it online at 1194online.com