I must have arrived 6 or 7 minutes late for the 10.30 am Yarra Glen pickup, but I needn’t have worried. Poor old Danny had the VFR in bits and the battery on charge. Despite getting the wiring fixed, it now appeared that he was running a total loss electrical system. He had charged the battery up at home and just made it to Yarra Glen. Dave Moore turned down leading, so after a quick discussion between Ian, Tim and myself, it was agreed that I would lead. A chat with Danny to determine what his plans were — pillion with someone if possible — and what he planned for the route — same as last time.

Bikes galore, the expected 25 deg C forecast temperature bringing out every man and his dog, both from our Club and every other Club. Gathering everyone around I ran through the corner marking system spiel to refresh everyone of the correct procedures. Ron Johnston volunteered to rear ride and we were away.

We headed north along the Melba Highway taking the back road to Healesville, turning left up the Chum Creek Road. Vince followed me along this section, a new front tyre making him a much happier and confident rider. There were a couple of nasty mid corner gravel sections to keep everyone on their toes. Either cars had been cutting corners and throwing gravel onto the road, or, in one instance, a series of car doughnuts had resulted in much more dirt and gravel on the road than usual. Rhys and Darryn joined the freight train as we approached Toolangi, Vince and Darryn corner marking.

Rhys followed me down Myers Creek Road to Healesville where he corner marked. I tootled off through town and around to the Woori Yallock turnoff. Bikes weren’t coming through at the rate I was expecting.

Initially Danny was to pillion with Ray Walker, but this had required a time consuming rotation of a rack. As the process dragged on, Tim volunteered to take Danny pillion, eventually getting underway some 10 minutes late. Compounding the delay, Ian Payne’s Fireblade suffered a puncture and flat tyre just out of at Yarra Glen. He eventually left the ride after plugging the tyre, limping home. The upshot of this was that people were left out in the frying hot sun, corner marking, from Healesville to Warburton. Ken Wright, Vince and Joanne spring to mind. Apologies to all.

This was all happening behind me and I only got the full story at lunch. From Healesville we headed for Launching place and along the Highway to Warburton. I arrived at 11.50 am. It had taken 65 minutes to go 75 km, and it would be another 20 minutes before Ron and the last corner markers arrived. At some stage it seemed prudent to declare lunch to give everyone enough time to regroup and get comfortable.

The task of acquiring names and bikes I duly undertook. The public shaming of Dave Moore resulted in him coughing up his outstanding membership dues. Similarly Sam Allan (CBR600) and Dave Skitt (TL1000S) felt that the MTCV was a worthy recipient of their patronage and became full financial members.

An ambulance came hurtling up the main street a few minutes before we decamped. We would see more of it later. In the interim we set about conquering Mt Donna Buang, this time in the dry, though there were a couple of wet corners where streams spill over the road. A group consisting of Dave Moore, Dave Ward, Bronwyn, Joanne, and Darryn Webster declined the invitation of the mountain and headed directly for the Reefton. Meanwhile the rest of us took full toll of the near perfect conditions.

At the top I upped the damping rate on the front forks by a couple of clicks, something I had been meaning to do for months. As the oil thins with wear and time, stiffening it up yields good results. Obviously the best solution is an oil change, when I get around to it! Meanwhile Danny was running a cornering school with a stick in the dirt. Tim had let Danny ride up the mountain with him on the back. When Tim’s boot touched the ground, he knew he was in for some excitement!

Back down and around to the base of Reefton Spur where Dave Ward flagged me down to notify me that there was an ambulance and police presence on the Spur. I continued, on the lookout. Jeff Hornby kept in close proximity as we travelled in tandem across the Spur, negotiating the ambulance scene. I didn’t really see what all the excitement was about, other than to notice R1’s either side of the crash site. Someone mentioned that they recognised former member Theo Kalkandis who seemed to be helping the police with their enquiries.

Rounding a corner near the end of the Reefton Spur I was uncomfortably surprised by the presence of the police helicopter landed close to the road, and a BMW mounted officer in close proximity. We survived and pressed on to Cumberland Junction for a regroup. By the time all had arrived I counted 40 stationary bikes. John Clowes, Eric Makin, Dwayne and some of their friends were doing the Spurs, as well as numerous other bikes, a lot of which we met coming towards us down the Spur. This made it difficult to pass at times, and the boys were pretty animated at the top, discussing the various close calls.

Onto Marysville and the Bakery for a coffee scroll and drink. Rhys reckoned the first person into the Bakery should grab a fist full of numbers so we don’t have to wait so long. It is incredibly slow. The ride officially broke up here and people starting making their way home in dribs and drabs. The Black Spur was its usual bumpy self. I got a pretty good run after passing a bunch of bikes and cars early on. It seemed that people were regrouping at Healedville but I continued on. Soon enough Dianne Welsford came zooming by, followed by Dave Moore, Darryn Webster, Sam Allan and later Dave Ward. We made our way towards Yarra Glen, from where I followed the TLR through Christmas Hills to Kangaroo Ground.

Home by 4 pm, a round trip of 340 km, home to home. Thanks to Ron for rear riding and everyone for coming and making the ride an enjoyable and fun day. I trust Danny and Ian get their bikes sorted soon. The ZXR clocked over 35,500 km and sounds a bit rattly. Nothing that a new cam chain (or motor) wouldn’t fix I guess.