Wombat Corea In Earnest

It’s been a while since the last blog now and 4 reasonable rides on 4 consecutive weekends have taken place. Busted-arse tour (already blogged about), Gadeok-do, Goje-do and a super 3-day extravaganza through Suncheon, Jirisan Mountain Range and Gayasan National Park. To boot, “Wombat Corea” as a living and breathing motorcycle riding club is about to come into operation. Plans have been discussed, format arranged and dates set. We are now looking for interested members of the Weiguk and Corean community who would like to take part.

At its core the club and its members will be a gathering of Weiguk (and English-speaking Corean) motorcycling enthusiasts who want to get together and ride regularly, but I would like it to be more than that. I envision a club where, in the shorter term, we can:
Meet new people with similar interests.
Share tips on good rides and places to avoid.
Help each other out mechanically.
Share information on good, reliable local mechanics and ones to avoid.
Longer term Weiguks can provide help and information about living in Corea in general to newer residents who may have problems and queries about their new adoptive land.
Simply have a good vibe and camaraderie between members.

In the longer term I would like to:
Hold events in the community at large, i.e. show and shine, publicized charity runs and such like.
Get involved in a ‘Geumgangsan Ride’ like the one that was held in North Korea a few years ago.
Be financially supportive of active members who incur large bike and riding related expenses, i.e. theft, accident, mechanical.

Here is the guts.

Regular club activities will include an overnight ride and a meeting:
-One weekend a month, usually on the evening of the second Saturday, a regular Wombat Corea meeting will be held (meeting = dinner and a piss up. Meetings will also include a vote on next month’s destination and any other pressing issues).
-The chosen town or city of the meeting will be the destination of that month’s regular ride.
-This meeting will be held in a different town or city every month.
-The meeting destination will be chosen by a simple majority vote and usually be within an easy day’s ride of active members hometowns.
-Meetings will be held 12 months a year, (Exceptions will be made for snow, extremely heavy rain and typhoons, expect for much shorter rides Dec through Feb).
-Membership will come in two forms, Active and Passive.
Active members only will have voting rights on any issues decided by the club.
Active members will be asked to commit \20 000 a month to the treasury. The money raised will be used for any purpose (for the benefit of active members only) decided on by a 70% majority of all active members. These purposes may include:
Financial buffering of larger trips. For example, paying the ferry cost for active members and their bikes should we decide on a Jeju Island tour, paying for the return transport of active members bikes should they irreparably break down on a scheduled event and suchlike.
Paying for alternative activities on the days of scheduled tours cancelled due to inclement weather. For example go-cart racing, clay pigeon shooting, bowling, tucking out at the Outback Steakhouse or suchlike.
Financial support of any members who incur large and unexpected bike related expenses on or off tour like accidents or theft. This would not be to wholly cover member’s costs, but simply to cushion the impact, which can be quite devastating especially given the lack of accessibility to motorcycle related insurance here in Corea.
Any other expenses of active members deemed worthy by a 70% majority vote of the active members.

Passive members will be asked to contribute \20 000 each time they join a tour and meeting organized by Wombat Corea.
Passive members will be kept abreast of all tours and events organized by Wombat Corea and invited to participate in all inclement-weather events.
Passive members will have their accommodation organised and be eligible for transportation fees should their bikes breakdown on an organised tour.

Membership will be by invitation, decided on by a 70% majority vote of all active members.

I would prefer to see as many people as possible become active members of the club, but obviously for people who work most Saturdays or Sundays or people who have other commitments on weekends it would not be worth an active membership. But with a view to encouraging as many people as possible to become involved, passive memberships will be made available.

Finally, the notes written here are ideas in embryo only and club charter and so on will be discussed and decided upon at our first meeting which will be held on the 12th of August at a destination yet to be decided. My suggestion would be Tongyeong. Good riding round trip, Goje Island tour one way, number 77 (40kms of beach road) the other.

Let me know. 010 9856 4452 or wombatcorea@gmail.com

Gadeok-do was given a thrashing the week after busted-arse touring took place. Gadeok-do is a tiny little island between Jinhae and Goje-do. It was good and the weather held out for us, but the island was a lot smaller than we imagined it would be. We rode 4 full hours and never got out of third gear. It would have been a lot more fun on a scooter. It was tight and twisty, uphill and downhill and there was no traffic at all. We enjoyed the ride and it was relaxing by all means. That said; it isn’t super fun to negotiate a 750cc Honda magna for 4 hours at under 40kmph. Parky learnt the importance of motorcycling in long pants when she rested her bare legs up against one of the 4 glowing hot pipes of the magna. Luckily we were within 40 metres of a place that sold live crabs and we got some serious ice on it straight up and it is looking pretty good now.

The next weekend was a magnificent ride to Gujora Beach on Goje Island topped off with pinya coladas at sunset and general magnificence. That was followed up by last weekend’s three day extravaganza through the afore-mentioned places. It is enough to let the photos do the talking for the both of them.