Mt Baw Baw Sunday 24^th November, 2002

Tim Walker, ZX7R (Leader)	Ben Warden, CBR 929
Ray Walker, GSXR 1000	Rick Cox, VTR 1000 (1^st)
Ron Johnston, Bandit 1200	Mario Ibeas, R1 (3^rd)
Peter Weyermayr, CBR 929	Andrew Symes, RF 900
Trevor Harris, YZF 1000	Darren Webster, TL1000R
Dave Ward, R 1150 GS	Rob Langer, R 1150 GS
Mick Hanlon, R1 (Rear Rider)	13 Bikes, 13 People

Overcast…..it was supposed to be warm today, but I am jumping the gun a bit. It’s 8.30am and I decided to take a trailer load of rubbish to the tip, since I didn’t get there yesterday (Saturday), and I would have enough time to get there and unload and be back home in time to change and get out to Yarra Glen. At Yarra Glen there were 5 people including Ray Walker, rearing to go after a 6 month spell off the road. Mick Hanlon was also there sporting a late model R1, the same as Enzo’s. Good to see some new faces: Rick Cox on a VTR 1000 and Mario Ibeas on a current model R1. Mario’s first ride with the Club was the Licola ride early on this year.

Tim gave everybody the run down on where we were going and explained the corner marking system to the new comers. Then off we go to Healesville, up Chum Creek Road and down Myers Creek Road. Not a bad sprint up and back, a few of us freight training it. Back to Healesville through to Dalry Road to Launching Place and on to Yarra Junction and Gladysdale where the pace starts to pick up considerably. There was quite a lot of gravel on some of the tight corners just out of Powelltown. The road from Powelltown to Noojee is starting to get a bit rough in places and you have to watch, if you are going quickly. At Noojee we stopped for fuel and a bite to eat. Dave Ward, Darren Webster and Trevor Harris departed after lunch and the rest of us headed for Mt Baw Baw. Down to 10 bikes.

I was looking forward to the sprint up Mt Baw Baw. The road surface was in good order, not much leaf litter at all, although Ray had said at the start of the ride to look out for a branch halfway across the road and some gravel, but it seemed okay. There were a few cars on the road making it awkward in some places. It was a little cool at the top but okay. Throughout the day we did have a few spots of rain but it amounted to nothing.

Unbeknownst to us, rear rider Mick had had a bit of a spill. He had passed a car on a right hand corner and hit the bank resulting in broken plastics. Realising Mick was missing the group headed back down. I was last away due to a last minute bladder stop. I caught up to Rick, Andrew and Mario a few kilometers down the mountain and decided I’d do the rear rider thing since the other two were new riders. It was just as well because Rick dropped his VTR on a right hander: He wasn’t going fast when he went down on his left hand side and slid into a marker post, jamming between the mudguard and the fairing, cracking the fairing. Other than that, just a few scratches. I pulled up and gave him a hand to pull the bike backwards whilst it was on its side, and then stand it up. I gave it the once over to make sure every thing was alright and safe to ride. Once that was done we headed off back down hill.

A little further on Pete Weyermayr came past the other way looking for us. Ben was following as well. I stopped and spoke to Ben and told him what had happened and that’s when he told me about Mick and his mishap. Mick’s bike would have been rideable apart from brake lining broken off the master cylinder. Also the muffler had disengaged itself from the headers. By this time Pete had turned around and come back and so we all headed back to Noojee. Rick was taking it easy, (shattered nerves). Rob Langer pillioned Mick, after first toppling over. Luckily his BM seems to be very forgiving in this regard.

Back at Noojee, Mick was on the phone trying to organise the RACV, without much luck. I told him I could pick up his bike with my trailer and take it back to his place. Mick did some more ringing around, gave up and took up my offer. The others went and finished the rest of the ride, while we rode two up back to my place and got the trailer and car organized. Then set off for Mt Baw Baw again. On the way we saw the others at Yarra Junction.

It took an hour and 45 minutes to get back to the bike. We loaded it on the trailer, took a few photos and then headed off home. After a couple of corners I had to strap the bike down again and tie the front wheel in place. Things were going alright till we got back to Powelltown where one of the tie downs snapped and the bike fell over, putting a small scratch in the frame. Luckily, I had 2 new tiedowns with me. The rest of the trip to Mick’s home in Thornbury was uneventful. We unloaded the bike and had a drink and then I headed home.

Mick and I had left my place at 4.20 pm and I got home at 11 pm. I had done 550 kms for the day including the trip back in the car to pick up the bike. I rang Mick on Monday to see how he was. He went to the hospital after I left and had a chest X-ray to make sure he didn’t have any broken ribs. They were just bruised, along with his ego. They put an ice pack on his leg to reduce the swelling. Apart from that, he is okay. His bike was going to Stafford’s on Tuesday. So that was the end, another eventful day. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

Ron Johnston (Suzuki 1200 Bandit)

The Ride continued:

After leaving Mick in safe hands with Ron, the ride continued on. Down to eight bikes now. Tim lead us up his favourite squiggly bit of road rejoining the highway at Neerim Junction. Then down the main drag to Rokeby picking up the Warragul Road. At the top of the hill we turned right at the new, heavily gravelled, intersection and headed for Drouin West and the nice set of twisties heading the back way into Drouin. There are a couple of tricky, blind left hand corners marked at 45 km/h, which I thought could be a problem for the unwary, particularly as the sprinkles of rain were becoming more persistent. Pete and I corner marked in Drouin. The deal was to regroup at the servo.

After a suspiciously long delay, where Pete and I had used the time profitably to discuss tyres and suspension (what else?) we decided to head back. Rob and Rick on the VTR were missing. A few corners back and we met them coming towards us. Rick had in fact dropped his bike for the second time at the aforementioned corner, compounding the existing fairing damage. This time the cracks to the fairing and screen were replaced with smashed items – there was no screen. Again a relatively soft landing – the bike was rideable, but with master cylinder damage. He seemed to have front brakes but the fluid was leaking – which Pete removed from the paintwork.

I suggested that Rick head directly down the highway. On inspection of various tyres, a few others heeded the same advice. Rob Langer (bald rear tyre, horizontal cracks showing, two broken spokes), Andrew (bald front tyre), Mario (bald rear tyre). That left Tim, Pete, Ray and Ben. Down to four bikes now.

We headed north out of Drouin and on to Jindivick, then around to Neerim South and off the highway almost immediately and on to the recently discovered “new” road I had mentioned to Tim. I had taken up station at the rear, which was no hardship, given the company I was in. The pace was fast and controlled. It was late in the day and we had done a lot of twisties. We rejoined the highway at Neerim (not to be confused with Neerim Junction, a couple of kilometres further up the road, or Neerim South, 10 kilometres behind us) for the final blast along the Powelltown road to Yarra Junction. Over 500 kilometers home to home. Shame about all the dramas. Thanks Tim for leading and Ron for sacrificing himself once again.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929R)

p.s. Mick informed me later in the week that his bike was written off and he is now in the market for another R1