The MTCV Home Page has taken 260 hits during September and 6704 since April 1996. See more information such as magazine articles in the Members-only section. I have added a couple of more months’ magazines for 1999. Have your say on the Visitors Page.

Road Conditions Reporting Line: 9854-2899 where motorcyclists can report road conditions and give suggestions for improvement on any road in Victoria.

Seen at the September Social Sip at the Blackburn Hotel: Ian Payne, Bruce Saville, Rob Matricciani & Mandy, Rob Wordie and Harry Miller. Next social sip on October 19^th will be at the Elgin Inn Hotel, 75 Burwood Road Hawthorn.

Geoff Jones collided with a duck at 200 km/h (private property) with his head, while pre-riding his Snake Valley Epic the previous weekend. His sustained a smashed visor, broken glasses, a black eye and a numb nose. The Shoei helmet was badly cracked and grazed and had to be replaced. The duck is no more. As if riding a bike isn’t enough pain ….

Points towards the Club Participant of the Year are awarded on the following basis: 1 for attending a ride (or social sip or meeting), an extra one for leading or rear riding, and a point for magazine articles up to a maximum of 2 per month. Half points are awarded when people share, for instance, the rear riding position. See the spreadsheet for your score. If there is an error please tell Ben who will amend the table. After a third of the year, commencing at the May AGM, the following top 9 are listed: Ben Warden (26.5), Ian Payne (25), Wayne Grant (16.5), Ron Johnston (13), Rob Matricciani (13), Rhys Williams (12), Jack Youdan (12), Rob Langer (12), and Geoff Jones (11.5). The winner gets their name etched onto the annual trophy.

Coming up in November is the annual Melbourne Cup Weekend which will see us heading to Orbost, Bombala and Walwa over the 4 days. Those who went on it last year have already indicated they will be there again this year. Probably the best roads in the country. We avoid the highways where possible. Big days, big kays. In some ways the defining essence of the Club and motorcycling. Probably stay Orbost first night and Walwa the next two nights. Orbost pub rough as guts, Walwa Pub silky smooth. We’ll probably get roped into the Calcutta again. No more than $20 a night and that usually includes breakfast. Get motivated. Put your leave form in. Just do it.

Welcome to the many new members who have joined the Club since March. They include Shane Ingram riding a Yamaha R6, Vince Melot from Belgium riding another R6, Tim Dahlgren on a Suzuki TLR1000, Ken Wright on a Yamaha R1, Steven Philp on a Honda CBR600, Chris Burn on a Suzuki TLR1000, Greg Hales on a Suzuki TL1000S, John Curry on a BMW R1100RT (he is looking for a real sports bike and apologises profusely), Danny Carr on an Aprilia RS250, Kirsten Anderson ona Yamaha XT250, Martin Hastie on a Honda Blackbird, Priya Munasinghe on a Honda CBR250RR, Phill Radcliffe on a Honda VFR750, and John Murphy on a Kawasaki ZRX1100. The Club needs new blood (bad phrase that) if it is to survive and grow. Things are looking healthy.

Western Yamaha in Braybrook are having a 10 — 50% off Sale on Friday the 13^th of October.

The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is at Phillip Island on 27^th —29^th October. Look out for the Yamaha YZF500 two-seater. The bike, piloted by Randy Mamola, is capable of 275km/h, two-up!