A couple of weeks in advance, I set the shims, changed the plugs and oil, cleaned the air filter, changed the brake and clutch fluids, checked the pads, and put on a good set of tyres (thanks Dave). I pulled the carbies off, removed the jets and blew everything out with compressed air. It is amazing what gets through an air tight air filter. Put it all back together and it wouldn’t start except for an occasional, massive, deafening backfire which nearly blew the muffler off!. Engine cranked okay – battery fine. It had spark at the plugs, a newish fuel pump and plenty of fuel, confirmed by checking float bowls had fuel. Hmm. What next?

I started thinking laterally: maybe the plugs got flooded and drowned, and were shorting up inside themselves. So I swapped back to original plugs. No change. Maybe I had buggered up the carbies, left out the jets or something. Removed, checked weren’t flooding, checked diaphrams were working correctly, checked mixture screws. All good. Hmm. Could I have mucked up the shims? I had moved 10 around, buying 3 new ones. Most of the valves had tightened up one shim size – nothing unusual or engine life threatening. Maybe the cam chain had jumped a tooth upsetting the timing? Getting desperate. But I didn’t have to remove the cams. Not likely to be the problem.

Back to basics. Maybe the battery has enough charge to crank but not enough to fire the igniter. This happened on the last battery, near the end of its life. But this is the new battery, maybe a year old. Put a car battery across it anyway, and recharged the bike battery. Cranks, doesn’t catch. No change. Has spark, has fuel ….

Time for a holiday at Lyn’s new abode, 1 Eildon Road, Eildon, less the bike. Take the Dominator? Bugger it. Take the Magna, Julie and kids, and spend a few days water skiing and sightseeing. Sensational. Best escape for a long time. Lyn and Eddie extremely hospitable and generous with their time. Back to the bike.

If all else fails, seek advice form an expert. So, a week later Jack Ryan from (K&W) suggested I check the coil leads. Yep, I had accidentally swapped them. Same length, same colours. Fired first time, no tank or airbox. I was a very happy munchkin that day. Labelled the leads so that it wouldn’t happen again. I was on a roll.

The occasional drop of engine oil on the garage floor from a leak, was now a steady trickle, forming a pool and running across the floor. Thinking it was the clutch pushrod seal (again) I checked and realised it was my new gasket I had cut out of gasket paper a few months ago. It was weeping profusely. The gasket seems to have compressed – all the cover plate screws were loose. I was able to tighten them without resorting to removing the water pump to gain access. Phew. Another win.

Lucky I had the week off on annual leave to prepare for this trip because it was now off to the bike shop to put a set of tyres on my spare set of wheels (just in case I wore a set of tyres on the trip – I did). Later that evening I dropped the wheels around at Wayne Grant’s abode for transport via car to Walwa. Wayne was towing his bike with his new trailer and had plenty of carrying capacity. I was also able to off-load a tool box, front and rear wheel stands, and 5 days worth of clothes. This confounded the other punters at Yea when I turned up with a half empty seat bag, and they were loaded to the hilt. Thanks Wayne (and Verity) for their generous offer to carry gear. It was great.

The first two days I rode around with only 1/3 throttle action. The other guys convinced me to take the tank off and check for obstructions. Thinking the worst, and finding the bike rideable anyway, and not wishing to take the tank off yet again, I let it go to the second night after the ride. Besides, after 750 km on the first day, in poor light, I just wasn’t in the mood.

After removing the side covers, seats, tank, tank rubbers, fuel tap, and airbox, Wayne immediately said "There it is!" A vacuum hose was impeding the throttle action. I had cunningly routed it a different way in search of that extra inch of slack. Problem solved. Now the bike was perfect! Back together in a trice, having done it countless times over the past week or so.

Now I wouldn’t have to rely so heavily on maintaining a high corner speed and "flat out" riding. What I hadn’t counted on was those dastidly ZX7Rs are 10 kg lighter, have 10 horse more than ZXRs, are geared 500 revs lower in top, and the Tim and Rhys were getting faster and faster to boot with each passing day. The only way to keep them honest was in fact to go into the corners deeper and faster, hoping the fear factor would slow them up a bit. Sensational fun!

The Walwa Hotel proved to be an excellent venue with very hospitable hosts, Peter and Allie. Peter even jumped the bar one night and had 6 or 7 games of pool with me when I was running hot, and short of opposition. From the second day onwards with the arrival of Bruce we had booked out all the rooms, which was great. We were one big family, security not an issue. The meals were excellent and keenly priced. Everyone remarked on how good they were. At $20 per night including self-serve cereal and toast for breakfast, it was excellent value.

Bikes were parked undercover at night in a shed where various mechanical work was undertaken including sorting the ZXR throttle cable problem, changing Wayne’s headlight globe, Derek’s ritual chain lubing and oil top up, and Derek replaced a joining link in his chain, erring on the safe side.

Day 1 was spent getting to Walwa, 130 km east of Albury on the Murray River. Kathy, Rhys, Tim, Derek and myself met at Yea and proceeded to Walwa via Swanpool, Myrtleford, Lower Dederang Rd, Tallangatta, Granya Gap and around the 80 km of Lake swervery. Top ride, no incidents, other than losing Derek somewhere near Tallangatta. He managed to get to Walwa before us, so no damage. Wayne and Verity arrived via car and trailer, and Geoff Barton played catch up, deciding not to go over the top.

Noting there was still plenty of light and the weather was perfect for tiding, Wayne and I did a quick 200 km loop. We headed back around the Lake, across the Granya Gap, and east towards Corryong. With Wayne now leading he mistakenly took the first turnoff to Walwa, an interesting 12 km of logging truck road which, sadly, turned to dust. Back to the Highway and Corryong, across to Tintaldra and Walwa to join the others for tea at 7 pm. Wayne blew out a few cobwebs on the trusty ZX9, thoroughly enjoying himself. It had been a sensational 750 km for the day.

Day 2 we headed for the Snowy Mountains, after the standard 9 am fill at the opposite side of the road service station. Around the Alpine Way to Thredbo (no fee in this direction) and Jindabyne for food and fuel. Then south to Dalgety and Maffra and into the local pub to see if we could cut down towards Bombala on sealed road, thus avoiding 100 km of radar infested highway. Alas no, so we headed up to Cooma and on to Adaminaby, and the 45 km of magic highway to Kiandra. Then down the Elliot Way to Khancoban and Tintaldra. It was still early, so we cut across to Corryong and back to Tallangatta, now Wayne’s favourite road.

Wayne and Geoff took the Granya Gap route back to Walwa while team green headed to Tallangatta for much needed fuel. There was none. All the service stations (at least 4) were closed, 6 pm Sunday afternoon. And there were plenty of bikes milling around, working out if they could get to Albury or not.

We did run into Peter Philferan on his scooter. He said Walwa was booked out! Well, Tim and I were sharing a 6 bed room and if he had let us know … Back to the fuel problem.

Fortunately I tracked down a Japanese guy who had a special fuel card which operated a pump. We all filled up on his card, and cash changed hands. A quick thrash back to Walwa, after first playing a little game of cat and mouse with Mr Plod. Bruce arrived. Top day.

The next couple of days are covered in the following articles. Day 3 we headed up to Thredbo via Cabramurra, Berridale and Jindabyne and climbed Mt Kosiuszko. Day 4 we headed for Tumut and beyond, up Elliot Way and back through the pine plantations to Rosewood and Tumbarumba. Day 5 we made our way home, the rain catching up with us a couple of times.

Walwa Hotel is 80 km closer to the good stuff than Tallangatta, allowing us to explore further, with less highway risks. I think everyone enjoyed it, though it is hard (enjoyable) physical work riding from 9 am till 7 pm each day, particularly for the fairer sex. Though on paper it looks like a similar deal to the Christmas camp – single location, day trips – it is nothing like it. It is an out and out riding weekend. The rest day climbing Mt Kosiuszko included over 400 km of hard riding!

All up we travelled in the vicinity of 2850 km depending on where you started from. Other than tyre wear, a blown headlight globe, and a self induced sticky throttle, we suffered no mechanical problems. Four out of five days the weather was excellent. Thanks to everyone who came along and made the trip so enjoyable.