Northam The Northam Motorcycle Festival is stepping

Northam Motorcycle Festival bigger and better than ever
By Trevor Hedge
The Northam Motorcycle Festival is stepping up a gear for 2008 with a new range of initiatives set to bolster the event firmly into the consciousness of all WA motorcyclists.
There truly is something for everyone this year with the weekend of 29 and 30 November including virtually the full gamut of motorcycling activities.
It is hard to judge exactly which event is the headline act as the biggest drawcard will vary from person to person according to which way they like their festivities served.
Race fans will be able to enjoy the first ever Australian Supermoto Championship round to be held on WA soil. A unique attraction of the Northam event will be that instead of the regular converted go-kart track layouts, the third and final round of the national series will be staged on the roads of Northam. The last time WA enjoyed ‘round-the-houses’ style racing was at Collie in 1996. The sight of supermoto machines slithering their way around Northam will be a sight to behold.
Angus Reekie (KTM) won the opening two rounds of the 2008 Australian Supermoto Championship and has been confirmed as a starter in the event. He will go head to head with Aprilia star Josh McFarlane. Local riders Brett Stewart and David Gellatly will test the eastern states pilots but it will be Italian Champion Davide Gozzini setting the pace. The International TM rider won the most recent round of the World Supermoto Championship in Sardinia and has entered the Northam event in what is a major coup for the event.
Plenty of mock racing has been conducted at the NMF at previous events, with Historic demonstration laps a particular highlight, but 2008 marks the first time real competition has been a feature of the event.
The high flying Yamaha Showtime Stunt Team will provide the aerial freestyle acrobatics while at tarmac level Australia’s premier motorcycle stuntman Matt Mingay will be back to burn through plenty of rubber.
The annual Making a Difference (MAD) ride will run in conjunction with the Northam Motorcycle Festival this year. The ride to Northam will depart from Mundaring at 10am on Sunday morning, November 30th. The Mundaring departure point has been staged to allow riders staying in Northam over the weekend to easily head back to Mundaring on the Sunday morning to join the ride. All fund raising efforts from the ride will be put towards spinal injury research and rehabilitation.

Last week we had a friend who got back from Singapore for a short holiday and we decided that a group of us would meet up somewhere for a meal and chat.
A friend suggested that we meet up at the Northam Beach Cafe & I was like whooaah … is he sure? Hey I have my reason here. This place to me is pretty much ‘historical’. This is one of the spot which was pretty much badly hit by the tsunami which hit Penang like 2 years ago. Anyway, what the heck, we just went since he said it’s there. Oh by the way, the food court is located at the beach front along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. There’s a small turning leading to this place which is directly opposite the Northam Hotel.
When we were there, my first impression was this place is not bad at all. They renovated the place after the disaster and worked on the deco and this place is as good as it was before the tsunami struck. It’s an open air concept food court and being at the beach front, this place is real windy and relaxing.
Lightings are litted up which gave the place a more relaxing ambience. Hey, no expensive deco here, ok ? It’s a food court, remember? Well, there’s a range of local food available here ready to keep your taste buds busy. Some not so common stalls I noticed here is that it has a seafood stall and also a japanese stall that sell sushi and sashimi.
So, pay a visit to the Northam Beach Cafe when you drop by to Penang. It’s a pretty relaxing place to enjoy some local delicacies with the wind softly blowing at your direction and accompanied by the sound of the waves from the sea . Cheers.

Northam The targets for reliability and availability are very demanding but are achievable with the hard work that all the staff put in. Of particular annoyance are broken or damaged windows not least because of the cost - £850 to £900 each - but film on the glass helps to protect against scratching whether accidental or deliberate. The contracts are all commercially negotiated and Eddie illustrated the statistics on reliability and availability using graphs.

Maintenance policy is based upon unit replacement with faulty modules being taken off the unit and replaced which ensures that the units can be put back into service quickly, while each faulty unit is repaired. This is done in house or using local companies, whenever possible, as it takes much longer to send components back to the German manufacturer. Eddie talked about the benefits of working together and clear communication between all interested parties which, together with the rigorous checks and controls, ensures that they are able to achieve the high standards and targets set. Group photo - judging by the smiles a successful visit, and proving that it really is wheelchair accessible. Bob Ellison
After the presentation we were all able to take a tour round the depot where Eddie continued to provide an excellent explanation of the work currently being done. This included showing us the interesting and varied equipment used in maintaining the SWT Desiro fleet including wheel reprofiling, which was in action doing some contract work on wagons, and all the other facilities. Again, as at our earlier visit to the SWT depot at Wimbledon, everyone was quietly and calmly getting on with their individual tasks and there was the same air of quiet efficiency as we had seen before. As well as all technicians being able to carry out all tasks although they may have their individual specialities, he particularly highlighted the good communications both within the depot and outside as being one of the reasons for its continued success.