Did you ever consider, as a corner marker, the sounds the Club makes as we wind our way through the varied areas of our weekly rides? Being a corner-marker may mean you are having a high adrenaline day and are on the pace, moving through the ride with surgical precision, leaving everyone else in your wake, amazed by your skill. Or it may be that the "hounds", as Ian sometimes names the faster riders, have waited for the rear rider of the day to pass before another display of "derring do".

So, here you are at the corner, correctly positioned of course, waiting for the rear rider to appear and signal you on. If you have a bladder of rather vintage age, as I do, a quick slash is taken and corner-marking resumed. What to do, if the ride is strung out and time at the corner is more than a few minutes? Play pick the bike of course, and may be even the rider, as we all seem to have different riding styles that have a distinct sound as we approach a corner.

The easy gets of course are the bikes with engines other than 4 cylinder 4 strokes as fitted to UJM [Universal Japanese Motorcycle]. Particularly the V-twins, especially Ducatis with that glorious boom as the come down through the gears, enter the corner, sweep around and as they are close you hear the rattle of their dry clutch for a moment before they accelerate away. "Basso Profundo." The Japanese V-twins from Honda and Suzuki, which in standard form are rather quiet, all seem to be fitted with various brands of after market pipes when on Club runs, and so have that lazy V-twin beat, similarly easy to identify.

Triumph triples have their own sound as do the twins such as TRX Yamahas. RGV 250's seem to be back in some numbers to supply the mozzie-like drone and the smell we all love to hate. Guzzis make V-twin music, and the VFR Honda, the only V-four around, sounds great.

Back to UJMs. While being the most common engine layout, all built by four Japanese manufacturers, they come in a range of engine sizes, have varied intake systems and a variety of cam drive locations, giving each its signature sound.

Next time you’re on a corner listen in and pick the hoon.

Perhaps due to the late release of the itinerary or maybe weekends away are just no longer popular. But whatever the reason the lack of response deemed this Weekend did not proceed!

I did the right thing and booked the accommodation at the famous Tanswells Hotel in Beechworth, even mapped out an interesting route for the run up and thought of some things to do over the weekend but all to no avail as no one wanted to go.

The weekend away was discussed by the committee and it was decided to call it off. I then rang the pub to cancel our rooms and even went out to Whittlesea on Saturday morning to ensure that there was nobody waiting.