Well, Murphy’s Law certainly snuck up and whacked me round the back of the head for this years Newcastle Toy Run, I discovered the night before that the starter clutch on my bike had decided to give up the ghost, in itself not a huge problem as the wife’s bike was not going to be used that weekend and I figured, that, with so many people being there I would be able to hide her Honda somewhere in the crowd and avoid copping the same load of flack I got from my fellow Harley riders the last time I borrowed it for a run.
As the photos show I made it down to the muster point at Sandgate without any problems, and then, leaving a bit before the main body of riders I was standing out on the highway to get a few ride shots before intending to tag onto the end of the run for the ride to the foreshore in Newcastle.

As the last of the bikes went past me I nipped back to the bike, turned it on and hit the starter, click, click… nothing !!!  Tried again, only a faint click this time, and as the backs of the tail-enders disappeared into the distance the realization that Murphy had followed me down there became painfully apparent. A quick check of the usual culprits in this sort of situation proved that the battery had decided that it didn’t like the idea of someone wearing a Harley bandana riding its Honda and had packed it in, leaving me high and dry on the side of the road.

A futile attempt at bump starting it by myself caught the attention of a couple of the bystanders who had been watching the bikes go past and they stepped up to give me a hand, two tries later and the engine finally caught, so, with a bit of a backward wave of thanks to the extra help I headed off down the wrong side of the road as I wasn’t game to risk stalling it trying to turn around in amongst the trees on the roadside. Deciding not to give Murphy another chance I figured discretion was the better part of valour and cutting my losses headed for home, fortunately I made it without further incidents and was quite glad to see the bike finally parked up in the shed, needless to say, there are no photos of the runs end, but, I am sure that in keeping with previous years it was a really worthwhile ride for all who took part in it and the kids are sure to appreciate the massive effort that goes into making this, one of, if not the best Toy Runs in Australia.

Just a little footnote for those that remember Honda’s advertising a lot of years ago when they said that “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” well, I always though it was a bit corny, but, it’s nice to be proven wrong by those "nicest" people who gave a Honda rider a hand when he needed it most.