Lavers Hill via the Great Ocean Road Sunday 16^th December, 2007

Cliff Peters (Leader)	Suzuki GSXR 1000	Rob Langer	BMW R1150 GS
Geoff Jones	Yamaha R1	Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000RR
Ron Johnston	Suzuki GSF 1200	Ern Reeders	Honda CBR954 RR
Kurn Bridgeman (2^nd ride)	Honda CBR600RR	Cameron Stevens	Yamaha FZ6
Peter Jones	Yamaha R1	Andrew Kennedy	Honda CBR1000RR
Jean Eldridge	Suzuki GSF 250	Peter Feistl	Suzuki GSXR750
Denis Lindemann (1^st ride)	Honda CBR600	Randal Leacock	Kawasaki ZX9R
Willeem Vandeveld	Honda ST1300	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6 (Rear Rider)

I faced the usual dilemma: with the sky overcast, I had to decide whether to wear my leathers or wet weather gear. Being a GOR ride and ending up at Lavers Hill I decided on the wet weather gear. It is easier to take it off than not have enough clothing and be cold.

This was my second ride with the club since my bike accident at the end of July. At the end of October I was able to start the repairs to my bike. Accident damage was minor cosmetic: I had to re-bush and replace the bearings in the swing arm and cushion lever for the rear suspension, and weld the right hand rear foot peg bracket on to the frame because it had been dropped too many times. Back to the ride.

Julie and I drove to the farm on Friday and I came back with Cliff on Saturday on the bike. That way I could have my cake and eat it too.

Shell Westgate on Sunday saw a lot of people. I even met people that I had only read about. That’s what happens when you are out of the system for four months. Cliff dobbed me in to take the names and ICE numbers of all the riders so he could go and have a gas bag. It should have been the other way round.

Cameron Stevens rolled up on a brand new 2007 Yamaha FZ6. About a month earlier after having all that trouble with his GSXR1000 ignition cuttout, he hit a parked car in the middle of the road which threw him through the air and wrote off the bike. He received a week long concussion headache, enough to forget about the troublesome GSXR and buy a Yamaha ha ha ha. It’s all good and so is Cameron.

Time to go, almost. Cliff gathers the troops around, gives them the run down on where we are going and that I would lead the ride from Moriac on the way back. Cliff wanted to leave from there to go home.

Slow crawl across the Westgate, down the freeway, past where the four kids got killed in the Commodore the week before. It was fenced off with shade cloth on six foot poles with lots of messages and wreaths.

About a couple of clicks before the Little River turn off, the traffic was banked up as far as the eye could see. I saw flashing lights and thought it was a Booze Bus checking everybody, but when we got there, there were two tilt tray trucks and a caravan smashed to bits taking up two of the three lanes. In the paper the next day there was a photo of the owners picking stuff up from the crash site. The caravan was two days old. It was clipped by a 4WD and that was the end of the caravan. A terrible mess.

Back roads to Batesford, crossing the Geelong bypass; it will be good when that’s finished. At Stonehaven, at the corner of Friend in Hand Road and the Hamilton Highway, they have cut some of the trees down. A bit further past the airfield at Ceres, Cliff stopped. His oil light had lit up, on the previous right hander, but it seemed okay now. Next stop Moriac General Store, a welcome sight with a few of us hanging out for something to eat and drink.

Soon we were on our way again. We stayed together till Deans Marsh, but once through here, we started to spread out. I had made some adjustments to the rear suspension so I was monitoring its behaviour and wasn’t going fast, just cruising with half a dozen riders at the back of the pack.

A bit over half way to Lorne, I came round a corner, spotted the black line and saw someone parked under the Armco. My brain went into overdrive. Who is it? Are they alright? Quick check in mirrors, nobody coming, pull up on wrong side of road, get off the bike and rush over and help out. It was Kurn Bridgemann on the CBR600. I gave him a hand. By then others had stopped to help. There was no broken levers, no fluid leaks, only a broken screen, mirrors, indicators, and scratches to fairings. The usual minor cosmetic stuff. I think Kurn was shaken but not stirred. He said he would ride to Lorne and go home, but he turned up at Lavers Hill and said, “I didn’t come all this way to go home”.

The rest of the ride to Lavers Hill was uneventful. Since they have dropped the speed limit, its crap, but there are still people writing themselves off, whether they be in cars or on bikes.

At Lavers Hill, some of us filled up with fuel. Over lunch a bit of talk the talk, reminisce, usual stuff. Randal Leacock on the ZX9R was there already. He had missed the start pickup.

Heading home, more people filled up with fuel at Apollo Bay. Off again to Skenes Creek and up the Forest Road which I love. I picked the pace up, just wanting to settle into it quietly, not having ridden for 4 months. I was happy with the way the bike was going. Before Gerangamete, motorists flash their headlights, indicating you know what. Where the main drag has that sharp 30 km/h right angle corner, they have now installed a speed limit sign. The cop car, a VE Commodore, was parked straight ahead, picking you off if you didn’t slow down for the corner. We all got around alright, so that was good.

After Barwon Downs, we did an interesting little detour through Murroon instead of going the other way to Deans Marsh. I hadn’t been on that road before. We arrived safely at Moriac, another welcome stop. I was starting to warm up in my Dri-Riders. More talk the talk.

Cliff left for home and I led the ride back to the Lara servo where we usually stop. Kurn mentioned that the reason for his crash was that he used to ride motocross and had automatically applied the rear brake on his 600, but the bike stood up and he ended parking the bike you know where. He asked if the incident would get a mention and I said it would. He showed some concern, but I told him it was okay. I think he was a little embarrassed, but it happens to all of us and he was okay with that.

At the break-up at Lara, I advised all to ride sedately due to the speed cameras on the freeway. Peter Jones was early to leave the break-up and was later seen at the side of the road with two police bikes checking his license. (Ben, if you have his contact details you may wish to give him a call. I did. It was only a license check for the reason “You’d be amazed how many riders don’t have a license.” …Ed.)

For those that were left, it was out to the Freeway and home. For me it was 600 clicks door to door, for Cliff a lot more. A good time was had by all: good weather, great company and only one incident.

Ron Johnston