The Pudding, the legend...

[spacey1]

The infamous Pudding has visited the BMW MCC WA on a couple of occasions over the last couple of years.

Keeping track of the pudding - AdvRider
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/k ... -1.268417/

The Pudding

[spacey1]

2015 May

[spacey1]

2016-August

[spacey1]

The Pudding was rolled across the South Australia - Western Australia Border at the annual Border Run, post-covid. Bailey from South Australia and Goldie from Western Australia performed this task under supervision of the Eucla Police. Here, the event is re-enacted as entertainment at the BMW Motorcycle Club of Western Australia 50th Anniversary event at Gloucester Park, Perth, Western Australia on Saturday, 19th October 2024.

[bmwlefty]

It is currently touring around Perth areas.
Was taken on the Heritage Ride, now awaiting a short journey through the Hills.

[spacey1]

THE BEAR, THE BORDER, THE BMW MOTORCYCLE CLUBS, AND THE BIG SISTER PUDDING

Document compiled by BMWMCCWA member Chris 'Bozo' Fitzhardinge.

The story of the Pudding dates back to June 1977 when Erik Jansen and his wife Sandra were over from South Australia to attend the inaugural Black Duck Rally at Lake Dumbleyung. They had travelled on a BMW R75/5 from Adelaide. The Pudding was purchased in Adelaide by Sandra and was regally transported in top end Krauser Panniers, purchased in Munich, to Western Australia. It was not consumed at the Black Duck Rally, organised by the BMW MCC WA, that was attended by 300 people and 250 bikes.

This meant that the first motorcycle event attended by the Pudding was the June 1977 WA Black Duck Rally.


Erik and Sandra’s Badge from Black Duck Rally 1977

BMW MCC WA Member Bear (Russell Payne) and Catherine Edwards threw a farewell meal at Bear’s rented accommodation, 19 Alvan Street in Mount Lawley, Perth.


19 Alvan Street Mount Lawley Birthplace of the Pudding and the Border Run

Erik and Sandra took the opportunity to leave their unconsumed food with Bear at the send off including the Big Sister Old English Plum Pudding which was placed in the Alvan Street pantry. They were lightening their panniers for a rapid motorcycle trip to New South Wales. It is reported that it was a solid session and that consumption of the Pudding became a secondary consideration to celebrating the friendship between Bear, Catherine, Erik and Sandra, Joane Gilbert, Geoff Littlewood and Pam as well as other BMW MCC WA members.


The Pudding in the Pantry at 19 Alvan Street during 2024 Heritage Ride

19 Alvan Street was well known to BMW MCC WA members for Friday night and Saturday night social events and was the scene of some energetic parties.

Bear was the ride organiser for BMW MCC WA and was complicit in encouraging other club members to regularly travel on outback roads to the eastern states. He had travelled over 100,000 kilometres on his BMW R90S, including forays to the east, in two years. He was awarded the BMW MCC WA Sportsman of the Year Award for 1976/77.
Later that year (1977) it was decided that the friends would catch up at the newly constructed Border Village on the first weekend in August.

News of Bear’s trip on the weekend of August 6 and 7, 1977, attracted other club members to join in in the event. Goldie (Ian Gill), Bear, Erik and Sandra, Boomer (David Leach), Pat Henderson, Catherine Edwards, Joanne Gilbert, Murray Leach and John Addis participated in the first "Meeting" that would by 1978 be known as the "Border Run".


BMW Motorcycles at the Border 1977 for the "Meeting"

Bear took the Pudding with him to the inaugural Border Run in 1977, being the second motorcycling event attended by the Pudding. It was returned to Erik and Sandra Jansen who took it back to Adelaide.
Later in 1977, BMW TC NSW members Rob Edgar and Tom Cordukes who had been in Perth, visiting Bear, at Alvan Street, dropped in see Erik and Sandra in Adelaide resulting in the picture with the Pudding taken in November 1977.
It is thought that one of the early events attended by the Pudding was the End of the World Rally at Quorn.


First Border Run 1977 Goldie, Erik, John Addis, Murray Leach, Bear, Dave Leach, Joanne Gilbert and Cath Edwards.


Erik and Sandra’s first Border Run Badge


The Pudding in suburban Adelaide November 1977


The Pudding as it was in November 1977

The second "Border Run" was held on the weekend of August 5 and 6, 1978. Bear had moved to Albany and arranged to meet with BMW MCC WA members at Norseman. Participants from Western Australia were Harry Threlfall, Goldie, John, Boomer (David Leach), Bunny (Edith Leach), Tony Appel and Karen Appel. The group from South Australia advised that Erik and Sandra had had trouble getting to the border due to a gearbox failure. A group of seven motorcyclists who just happened to be travelling the Nullarbor joined in the festivities at Border Village.

After the second Border Run the Pudding commenced an amazing life, climbing Uluru multiple times, passing through obscure locations like Rabbit Flat in the Tanami Desert, completing a 2,500 km Iron Butt ride in a day, being reversed over by a tourist bus in Central Australia, travelling 20,000 kms in a three month period and travelling by ferry to Tasmania.

The Pudding has its own web page and has been tracked by Adventure Rider since 2007. It travels with its own bag, can only be carried on a motorcycle and has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Royal Flying Doctor charity. A log book tracks its journeys as well as its own Facebook page.

The Pudding attends Moto GP events, Off Centre Rallies, Desert Raids, BMW Club Rallies, BMW Club Anniversaries and is treated with all the respect of a religious relic. Its hundreds of thousands of kilometres of journeys have meant that its exterior has had to be reinforced in fibreglass resin in 1999.

The encasing of the Pudding in resin has happened multiple times. The first resin application was to fix a split in the Pudding, the second was a complete encasement carried out by Harry the Dutchman of Jerramungup (Harry van der Maat) in the 1990's. The current encasement was carried out around 1999, possibly in South Australia.
Dave Ward (Dumbleyung Dave) reported in 2010 that the Pudding was featured in the Australian Women’s Weekly:

Puddings are loved by Australians as a quick, easy desert. Tinned puddings have become popular treats for camping trips.

One such pudding has actually been travelling around Australia by motorcycle (with members of the Western Australian BMW motorcycle club) for the last 30 years, after gaining a reputation for "just going along for the ride". What started as a joke has become a renowned story.

Desert Pudding


Pudding before it was encased in fibreglass resin in the 1990's

The pudding has rules for transit.

1. It can only travel by motorcycle.

2. You cannot eat the pudding in a survival situation unless you have already consumed all the fluids in the motorcycle and eaten the tyres.

3. In the event of the motorcycle requiring retrieval, the Pudding must remain packed in or on the bike and under no circumstances is it to travel by other means.

The pudding has not left Australia for fear of customs intervention of the suspicious rattle within its resin case.


Pudding at the 2008 Border Run


The Pudding, its bag and logbook


The Pudding and Log Book showing an 'Entry'

Covid threatened to constrain the cross country travels of the pudding. On August 7, 2021, the pudding was rolled from Western Australia, by Goldie, to South Australia, under police supervision. It was collected by Bailey Gifford.


Goldie presenting the Pudding for Police inspection 2021


Reenactment: Goldie rolling the Pudding across the WA-SA Border to Bailey Gifford

Erik and Bear were at the 2024 Border Run that served as a 70th Birthday celebration for BMW MCC WA stalwarts Goldie, Lefty and Raider.


Erik, Bear and The Pudding at the Border Run 2024

Raider was presented with the Pudding by Fiona Fleming to take to the Off Centre Rally at Arkaroola. Raider then brought the Pudding back to Western Australia after the 2024 Off Centre Rally so that it could attend the BMW MCC WA's 50th Anniversary.


Fiona Fleming presenting Raider with the Pudding at the Border Run 2024


Rob Edgar who was involved with the Pudding in 1977

Footnote
It has been challenging to weave a consistent story from the recollections of Bear, Joanne, Erik, Sandra, Goldie, Lefty, Harry the Dutchman, Dumbleyung Dave, Raider and Bailey as well as feedback from social media. This story is as accurate as I can make it given the conflicting evidence. The 50th Anniversary of the BMW MCC WA was a unique opportunity to talk to many characters involved in the Pudding's history and journeys. This has been a most enjoyable task.


Chris Fitzhardinge "Bozo" November 5, 2024

The Pudding (on the web)

Adventure Rider: https://advrider.com/f/threads/keeping- ... -1.268417/

Pudding Log facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/344027165940750/