Lavers Hill via the Great Ocean Road Sunday 30^th November, 2008

Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000RR	Bruce Fleming	Suzuki GSXR1000
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Mark Henderson (1^st ride)	Kawasaki ZX14
Rob Zivanovic (3^rd ride)	Honda CBR600	Cliff Peters (leader)	Kawasaki ZX 10
Dennis Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Peter Jones	Yamaha R1
Willem Vandeveld (rear)	Honda ST1300	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6
Mark Copeland	Honda VTR1000	Peter Jessup (1^st ride)	Triumph Sprint 1050
Sam Shymith (1^st ride)	Honda VTR250		13 bikes, 13 people

I was up early on Sunday morning for the ride to Lavers Hill. I knew it was usually a 9.30am start due to the long distance of the ride so I had to be out the gate early. Looking out the window showed the last day of spring providing a beautiful day, so out to the bike house I went. The R1 was ready to go with one last trip left in the Supa Corsas, or so I thought.

I arrived at the Westgate servo at around 9am giving me plenty of time to fill up and check tyre pressures. When done, I took my place in the usual meeting spot and waited for the rest of the riders to turn up. After sitting around for an hour watching the many and diverse people coming and going, from two car loads of youths of middle eastern appearance, business men on BMW’s to Harley riders in their weekend regalia, I realised it was a 10am start!

Eventually everyone arrived and Cliff delivered the information regarding the ride route and the all important (and necessary) road and riding warnings. We had a few new riders joining us including Peter on his Triumph Sprint, Sam on the VTR250 and Mark who I hadn’t seen since the Three Mountain Ride earlier in the year, on his ZX14. The ZX is now fitted with full 4 into 1, PC111, with the secondary throttle valves removed. Mark tells me it goes good now!

The early part of the ride consisted of riding in a rough formation down the highway to the Little River exit and then west to Lara, avoiding the speed traps on the way.

The trip to Moriac was mostly straight road with a few riders taking the opportunity to blow out the cobwebs before the good stuff started. It’s a far better way to get to the GOR as it has a couple of nice fast sweepers which is more than I can say for the freeway. We stopped for morning tea and petrol, for those who dared. I gave it a miss as last time the fuel was crap and it took ages to clean it out of the system. I told Cliff I would do a splash and dash at Lorne and then catch up.

Next Cliff leads us down through Bambra, Deans Marsh and into Lorne. This is a very technical piece of road and I always take it easy as it’s not error friendly. A mistake would cost you dearly, although it’s a great warm up for the coast road.

In Lorne I was able to fill up and get back on the bike prior to the rear rider passing, so I thought I made good time. I’m back on the bike heading down the road, enjoying the scenery, passing all the rubber neck car drivers when suddenly Misho flies past. Where the hell did he come from? I asked myself. Time to get my skates on. He was easy to catch as the cars slowed him down. I got to follow him through a few twisties but he eventually got away. At this time my bike was showing some unusual handling characteristic, moving around, tram lining, and very unstable in corners with a rough surface. Luckily, this is an excellent road with lots of smooth hot mix.

We stopped at Apollo Bay for fuel. I explained my handling problems to Ben who thought I might need some extra rebound, so he put the rear shock up two clicks and I did two clicks on the forks as well.

The ride from Apollo Bay to Lavers Hill was great with very little traffic. We were all very split up, so it was a lonely ride, but still very enjoyable. My bike was still having handling issues now feeling like it was flexing in the middle, following any line or ridge in the road it could find.

We arrived at Lavers Hill, had some lunch and found out there was no petrol. It turned out Ben and Cliff hadn’t fuelled up since the West Gate servo, so out came the siphon hose and the plastic bottle. It felt good being able to contribute here as it’s usually me taking someone else’s petrol.

On the way back to Apollo Bay I was last out before the rear rider. It was a good thing as the R1 really started to play up. It felt like I was riding on marbles, the bike all over the place. I still managed to pass three Harley’s and a fast looking Jag.

Once I pulled into the servo at Apollo Bay I’d had enough; there was something seriously wrong. I told Cliff what was going on so he had a look at the rear tyre and then advised me it was flat! I felt like the quintessential dick head, riding all that way on a flat tyre. The recovery team set to action, Cliff pulled out the plugs, Misho on the air hose then inserting a sharp object into my tyre, (I felt its pain). Ben finally came over with the Stanley knife to clean up the operation.

It’s amazing what a bit of air in the tyre does for the handling.

We headed up Skenes Creek Road and into the Otway Ranges. I had a bit more pace now, the bike feeling like her old self. Unfortunately, my pace wasn’t sufficient to stop Misho from passing me around the outside on a 35 km/h corner. He really has picked up the pace on that CBR. I still felt good and fast with a bald and plugged rear tyre but then I hear this thumping noise at my back wheel. It’s Mark on that Honda Vee FireStorm biting at my heels. He catches me coming into the corners, and I escape coming out. Eventually I lost him after passing traffic.

We arrived in Moriac for a quick break where Ben got his picture as the lighting was now correct. We even got him in the photo, thanks to a Good Samaritan. Finally the last stint to Lara, where most took on more fuel. Then we all said our goodbyes.

Thanks to Cliff for leading a great ride and to Willem for the very onerous rear rider duties. Thankyou to everyone in the Club for being great people who share my passion. Thank you to Ben and the rest of the Committee for managing such a great club. Your hard work is appreciated. Thankyou for putting on a great Cup Weekend ride. I had a ball. I am very much looking forward to more rides with the Club next year.

I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year.

Peter Jones