Mt Bunninyong Fire Tower Sunday 11^th March, 2007

Geoff Jones (leader)	Yamaha R1	Tony Saccuzzo (3^rd ride)	Kawasaki ZX7R
Steve Cowburn (rear)	Honda CBR954	Matt Brice (1^st ride)	Suzuki GSXR1000

Some housekeeping on the R1 after the hot and bothered Trafalgar ride last month. Replace both tyres from shed stock, Metzler M1 front and Pilot Power rear, replace rear pads, change the oil, fit a cleanable S1 oil filter with magnet, refer KandPengineering.com.   A fancy piece of billet aluminium that I played with for some time before fitting, such is the quality of the piece, now out of sight inside the fairing. I am rather anal about all things oil on this bike. Maybe the fact that it flashes a bright LED when the level drops by about 200ml has me searching for the right mixture of breathers, filters and oil. I could also disconnect the sender relay and play "out of sight, out of mind", a cheaper option I think. Evolution Yamaha did the tyre fitting and serviced the forks, omitting to change the seals. Wandering around the new showroom also resulted in a new helmet, AGV GP-PRO, in mainly red to match a polished R1 and a new pair of gloves, as you do.

Sunday morning ritual walk the dog, rustle up the Sunday paper and brekky for Val and then hit the road for the West Gate start point. Down the freeway for a few K's and notice oil at the bottom of the left fork. Dark mutterings about dealers but push on and hope the leak is slow.

Fuel up and wait for the throng. Small throng today for a mainly open type of ride. West of the city does not present too many twisty options and the main club group were on the return boat from Tassie,

Take the ICE data, chat to Matt about corner marking and tackle a clogged freeway where road resurfacing has the four lanes merging to one.  The long weekend traffic is heavy. Filtering gets us through and a regroup at the Duncan Road exit delivers us to a long wait at the rail crossing before leaving suburbia behind and starting the long straight run to the Brisbane Ranges.  Coming up to a T intersection at a "brisk" pace I disturb a pair of magpies: one flies off but the other decides it's Nathan Buckley and does a head high tackle, brutally connecting with my left shoulder/neck area. New visor gone and thoughts of a collar bone problem crosses my mind as I get the R1 slowed for the approaching T intersection. Apart from the visor, all seems OK. Memories of a similar duck contact many moons ago while pre-riding this area on a ZZR600 come flooding back. That hit resulted in a black eye. This one resulted in some black bruises under my chin and neck.

Closer to the ranges, through Anakie and Maude, sees the road delivering more sports-bike action. Running without a visor adds a few vision problems due to my glasses vibrating and collecting tears which dry onto the lenses. Noticing a fast closing GSXR in the mirrors, I get over the vibrating glasses and get on with the job in hand, covering ground.

Through historic Steiglitz and into Meredith for fuel and food after around 110 km. Meredith is hosting a music festival and there is more traffic than the usual: four cars instead of two. A police booze/drug car was pulling up cars coming into Meredith from the festival site; no interest in the ride group however. Section of dirt here is dry as chips, due to the drought, and badly corrugated with piles of loose gravel to add to the mix. Straight stuff to Mt Mercer, then north through Grenville, Garibaldi and Durham Lead to Bunninyong fire tower.

Up the tower for a look, back to the bikes noticing a koala in a tree. Then off through Yendon, Dunnstown and Milbrook to cross the Western Freeway and pick up the twisty but rather rough road to Spargo Creek from the Moorobool Reservoir. On to the road from Ballan to lunch in jumping Daylesford. Parking at a premium as always but a table for four is found at one of the bakeries; small group rides do have some benefits. Talk the talk then off on the final leg before a cake fest at Gisborne.

Through the Wombat State Forest to Trentham and on to the always improving run to Greendale.    Surface works are removing many of the "tank slap" bumps that are a feature of this section when tackled at "get to the cakes" speed.  Through Myrniong and on to the Old Pentland Hills road, sweepers running over, under and beside the Freeway, to the Bacchus Marsh exit and fuel, the R1 about one litre from dry. Matt decides to forego the cake thing but stays with the ride until Toolern Vale where we three turn left and climb over Mt Gisborne to a rather selfish ride end for me: home.

Steve, Tony and I enjoyed Val and Melissa's  scones with jam and cream,  shortbread tart, caramel slice,  sandwiches, fruit punch, coffee and tea.

The bird event of the day prompted Steve to tell the tale of how the Brits tested airliner visors by firing chooks from an air cannon at the screens. If the screen survived the chook hit, it was passed as airworthy . The Americans took to this method but none of their screens survived. After much head scratching they approached the Brits who informed them that chickens are available non-frozen.

Remains of magpie removed from Dri-Rider and helmet, forks redone with new seals, replacement visor and mounting plate fitted. See you on the road.

Geoff Jones