Golden gating

JON MUNN, prolific purveyor of all sorts of wonderful motorcycles from his business Classic Style Australia in Seaford, Victoria, makes an annual pilgrimage to USA, and always dresses in style – we like his choice of shirt! “The Moto Melee is an annual rally that I attend in California that is restricted to about 100 riders and a pre-1970 age limit on the bikes. The rally is always the weekend after Father’s Day in the USA. We meet on the Friday evening at the San Francisco Motorcycle Club for a ‘meet and greet’ and pick up our rally bags and then have pizza and drinks. On the Saturday morning we meet at the Presidio in San Francisco, which looks across at the Golden Gate Bridge. We register and show our bike rego and insurance and receive our route instructions and map for the next three days. We then head off across the bridge and head north on Hwy 1 for about 30 miles and then turn right and start a diagonal route to the north east across California, ending up at Red Bluff in the NE corner of California, just below the Oregon border and situated on the Sacramento River. This is our first night spot after about 350 miles. The next day, we head due west across the mountains for about 150 miles until we reach the Redwoods. The mountain crossing is amazing, fullon mountain winding roads, an amazing challenge. We then continue via various routes, ending in Fort Bragg on the Pacific for our second night stop. On the Monday, we return to San Francisco by various routes ending up at Chenery Park in San Francisco for our farewell dinner and prize giving at the Chenery Park Restaurant. We cover anywhere from 850 to 1,000 miles over three days, which is hard work on both bikes and riders. I have done the ride for the last six years now and keep my 1969 Triumph TR6C over there for this rally. The whole ride is a challenge and we spend a lot of time on the road helping others who break down, and helping them to complete the ride each day. With old bikes and rough terrain, it takes a heavy toll on some machines. The photo of me in the road with my bottle of water was taken after we had repaired one of the girls’ bikes that had stopped dead. Great fun!”