Red Dirt Harley-Davidson Shovelhead Trike Birthday Rally

IT really doesn’t take a lot to find an excuse for the North Queensland bikers to kick up their heels, crank up the fire and get down for a good ol’ fashion party. I recently received an invite to join Red Dirt SMC for a bit of a special shindig up in Kairi on the Atherton Tablelands and what a ripper of a night it turned out to be. This was not just any old party as it turned out, no sir, as it happens they were celebrating the 40^th birthday of one of their member’s trike. Yep, Red Dirt SMC’s much-loved member Blainy’s modified, and much travelled Harley-Davidson Shovel trike, had clicked more than four decades, and if that was not a reason to get it on, I don’t know what is.

The invitation said it all, claiming that over the years the trike had burnt more oil than both Gulf Wars combined and had more breakdowns than Britney Spears, yet, like it’s owner, you just could not stop it.

Both Blainy and his old school trike are a well-known part of the riding scene up here in God’s country. Talking to him on the night about how many k’s he reckoned he’d clocked up on it, he responded with, “Fuck knows — the speedos not been connected for ages.” Fair ‘nuff.

This old Harley-Davidson war-horse had to undergo some modifications due to a fairly serious life-changing twist of fate many years back, with Blainy losing his right arm below the elbow and right lower leg. For the average person, this could have meant the end of their days in the wind. Unless you were Blainy, of course, as he sure as shit had other ideas about that.

So, with some help with some crafty modification work as well as love and support from his partner Juanita, the 80-kick start Shovel saw its way back on to the black top. I’d like to add that it has never stopped since, but as the old trike can be temperamental as old-school kicker Harleys can be, it has gone on strike on occasion. Yeah, you read that correctly, Blainy kept the kickstart; no electric start mods happening for this bloke. 

Riding in this part of Far North Queensland arguably offers some of the best in the country. With Red Dirt SMC situated in the Atherton Tablelands region and flanked by a series of steep twisting mountain ranges, the Kuranda Ranges and the Gillies Range, the latter touted as being one of the Top Ten rides in Australia boasting 263 corners and 800-metre elevation change within a 19 km of road. Asking Blainy what’s the hardest part of riding his trike single-handed up this way, he reckons that cambered roads can be a little tricky, but apart from that, “I just flog the bastard”.

Having joined him and the Red Dirt Crew on charity rides over the years, yeah, that is exactly the method he uses.

By late afternoon, the clubhouse was starting to stack up with riders both from other clubs and individual well wishers rolling in to celebrate with Blainy and Red Dirt SMC. The pig had been roasting on the spit since midday on what can only be described as being something out of an episode of ‘Viking Master Chef’. The porker was slowly being rotated over an incredibly well-crafted metal BBQ replica of a Viking Long Ship and a tip-of-the-hat to the craftsman who built it… and the lads who were doing the cooking. 

While the pig was being prepared, local band AudioScam had kicked off, leading with a tribute song titled ‘Rockin’ in the Red Dirt’ and kept our toes tapping well into the night. I have to say for a three-piece band, these blokes punched out some sensational tunes with all the favourites from The Angels to Pink Floyd.

As the sun set, the temperature dropped, and the well-placed fire drums gathered in a small fan-club as the party picked up the pace. Besides the ambient outside temperature, more cool things were happening behind the scenes as folk chipped in to help with the upcoming face lift planned for the trike in coming months. As the Angel’s once sang, ‘let the night roll on’ and that is exactly what happened.

Later in the evening Blainy, now more liquid than man, showed ’em how it was done, firing the Shovel up with a couple of swift kicks to the cheers of the on-lookers.

Many thanks for the invitation to be part of the celebration; it was great catching up for an awesome night. See you out on the road soon.

Article submitted by Peter Jackson