Who’s News April 2008
The MSR Home Page accumulated 670 hits during April. Total visits are
43,475 since April 1996. We are in the process of developing the new itinerary
which will be published on the site in the next week or so. If anyone is
interested in leading, or can offer an interesting destination or route, please
send information or talk to any of the committee. Any help is much appreciated.
Seen
at the Social
Sip, Mark’s Place, 3rd April: Peter Feistl and Kate Stewart, Peter Philferan,
Stoimen Stojanov, Ben and Julie Warden, Trevor Harris
and Barbara Rolfe, Jean Eldridge. Dennis Lindemann, Paul Southwell, Daniel
Hasnat, Ron Johnston, Nic Jacka, Pina Garasi. 15 people. Congratulations to former member Daniel
Hasnat (nee Danny Kosinski)
and his wife Monica on the arrival of their first child, Oliver. He is now 4
months old.
The Club Participant of the Year is based
on aggregate points accumulated at 1 point per ride, an extra point for leading
or being rear rider, and 1 point per magazine article (maximum 2 per magazine).
Attending one or more days of a weekend event scores 3 points for leading, 3
for rear riding duties and 2 points for participating.
The count is for the
2007/8 year ending at the 2008 AGM in May. The final top ten totals are:
Pina and Misho have been great for the Club out on most rides, work
permitting. Given Pina’s count is based on only 8
months riding, she would have been challenging the leaders over a full year. The
top 10 order remained the same for the past month. Nic held onto 10th
place despite spending last month overseas in
Front Cover: photo taken outside
Marysville Bakery on the fateful Eildon via
Welcome to new member Danny Hain riding a Honda CBR600. He
had the misfortune to hole his radiator on his second ride with us but that did
not deter him from persevering with riding with us. We wish him a many long,
safe and happy rides with the MSR.
Welcome to new member Ken Goederee riding a brand new 2007
Honda CBR1000, adding it to his stable of bikes including his purple R1, Hayabusa and Suzuki 1800 c cruiser. He is already modifying
the CBR to make it more comfortable by lowering the footpegs. He signed up after the recent ANZAC day epic
ride into Gippsland, his second such big ride, figuring we were pretty much
like him: a bunch of old and fanatical bike nutters. We wish him also many safe rides.
News from Greg Trainor re: Sunday 20 April crash:
Dom Rafael suffered a dislocated shoulder in his fall three km from Yarra
Junction. He was able to click it back into place by rotating his arm within a
few seconds of standing up. It was his first Club ride and he was introduced by
member Greg Trainor. The bike was a brand new 800 km old 2008 Hayabusa which
suffered lots of minor cosmetic damage as it jammed up against the Armco. Dom was pulling up at the time due to losing
all feeling in his right arm, a prior condition which hadn’t been a problem before
to such a degree. There was slippery leaf litter for the last metre or so just
before the Armco causing the front wheel to fold under.
Dom extends a sincere
thanks to members Dave Ward and Darryn Webster who facilitated the relocation
of his bike back to Yarra Junction.
Greg’s wife (since March) did some ferrying back and forth between
Thornbury and Yarra Junction, allowing Greg to ride the mighty ‘Busa back to Dom’s house. He loved it. A visit to the local GP in Yarra Junction
cleared Dom of any lasting damage. Congratulations to Greg on his recent
marriage. Now we might see him on some more rides?
Email (12/4) from Jean Eldridge: Bike still "out of order" with rec reg issues. In the process of being resolved and should be up and running next week. I'm still riding with you guys each week in spirit. We will back out for another run before too long. I miss riding and it's hard to get my hoon fix commuting along the car park that is Ferntree Gully road each day. See you soon.
Email (9/4) from Peter Jones after his R1 crash on the
I'm feeling much better and still thinking of how fast this happened. I
remember the bars crossing up and then bang, I hit the ground and the bike
sliding up the road.
My last off was over 20 years ago on my Z1000MKII. Alcohol softened that
fall but it’s still clear in the memory.
After you left to continue the ride my lift arrived after about an hour.
Then a two hour trip home. From home I went
to Box Hill hospital. They said a six hour wait and advised I should
go to Knox Private as I was covered by TAC. I was told to make sure I
stayed the night so I didn't have to pay. (TAC waive the excess if you
have an inpatient stay for at least one night, otherwise you’re up for the
first $500 in medical bills.)
Went looking for Knox Private. After half an hour of looking,
the bumps on the road through the Land Cruiser were taking their toll. I wanted
to go home.
Next day went to the local GP. He advised bruised or possible
fractured ribs. Couldn't do anything about them but sent me of for x-rays
anyway. He seemed to find my cries of pain amusing!
Went for x-rays. Curious nurse asked what happened. I told her
I fell off my bike: BIKE! Very dangerous, very nasty! Then she proceeded to
inflict pain as she manhandled me around the x-ray machine.
Doctor eventually called to advise no fractures and there was nothing he
could do. So lots of pain killers.
The service station you left the bike at provided towing services:
$350.00 for the first 100 km and $2.50 for each km after that. Made sure
the insurance would pay, then asked them to bring it
down.
It arrived at my door step Monday 5.30 pm. Three country blokes in
a tow truck with a bike trailer on the back. They were all very nice
blokes and sympathised with my rib pain.
The bike is now at Dynoverks for a quote and
repair. It looks like they will need to replace the left hand
fairing, swing arm, side stand; all the left hand side more or less but no tank
or frame damage thank god.
I was really enjoying the ride and being leader, the bike
felt really strong since fitting the full Termi
system and I was feeling very confident riding it. Ironically, at
the bridge prior to the return run, I was telling one of the other riders how
you need to have confidence in the R1 front end as it feels you’re always
riding on the front wheel. It will probably take me a while to get this
confidence back and I may need a set of Super Corsa's
to help the rehabilitation process. It is comforting to know a few other
quality riders have crashed on that road.
Thank you to everyone on the ride. Your help and concern was really
appreciated. I am very lucky to be riding with such a group of quality
people. I don't think I will ever feel as comfortable riding with
anyone else.
I was really disappointed I couldn't finish leading the ride and of
course leaving the responsibility to Ben. I hope I get the opportunity to
lead again and without incident. Unfortunately, I wont
be able to make the Dargo ride which I was looking forward to and I know you are
all going to enjoy. Hope to see you all again soon. Thanks
again for all you help.
Emails from Marty Thompson (14/4). He rode with us to Dargo and then made his own way the next day. Here are his adventures:
Cripes...what an epic day today turned out to
be! The run up to Omeo was a wet affair with it
commencing raining at Bairnsdale and not
finishing...ever! At Omeo I had intended running down
the 30kms of dirt to Eskdale and Tallangatta,
then scooting across to Tumby, Tumut
and Gundagai for the run into Young. The best laid
plans...as they say! At Omeo a local advised me
against doing the dirt; he said he drove across it a week ago and wouldn't ride
his road bike across it. With that, I decided to do Hotham!
All went well till I hit black ice three kms
over the Hotham Summit! The bike was almost upright,
with me taking it easy as I could feel how cold it was. (-3 deg C) I had just
literally rolled past a bus and had taken another half dozen corners. After
this was a very gentle bend, with the cliff on its left, casting a shadow over
the road.
Next thing I know it's gone. The back went
first! I tried opposite locking it, but the back just kept coming around. The
bike and I then slid down the road, with the road camber making the bike slide
towards the rock wall. I watched in slow motion as it backed itself around, to
ensure it would hit all the expensive body work! It did exactly that, taking
the luggage, luggage rack and then twisting the subframe,
before attacking the tank and then the screen, dash and fairing! The rocks tore
it to bits! It's a bit ugly, with the list including all the switch blocks,
clocks, bars, levers, engine cover, pipe, rear calliper and line, radiator,
fairings, fairing brackets, instrument brackets and tank! As for me, I'll live,
but I definitely have two broken ribs, a banged up elbow-on the inside where it
broke my ribs, (Jeepers, same ones I did a few years ago!) and possibly a
fractured lower leg (the rear bone, whatever it's called.)
I had no mobile coverage, but the nice bus
driver who I had not long before passed, decided not to run me over, but to
stop. He was also a rider! He took the bride's mobile number and sorted her and
the trailer for me once he got in range. I managed to get everything off the
road, then found an emergency hut 200 metres away in which I stowed my gear and
lit a fire to stave off hypothermia! Gosh it was cold up there.
As soon as the bus driver had gone, it started
hailing! Thankfully, this soon turned to rain. Not to be outdone and just to
ensure I had a completely ruined day, it then SNOWED! I kid you not! It blooming
snowed! So there I sat, 12.30pm till 6.40pm, licking my wounds in front of the
fire, until the bride finally turned up! I did gain some company half way
through the day, with a Kiwi scientist and a Taiwanese girl on a pushbike
holiday. (the bike was one of those lie back jobbies
with the steering by your side and the pedals out in front of you...weird). The
snow stopped them and they came in and set up camp for the night. I taught Ting,
the Taiwanese girl, how to make toast on an open fire! The genius scientist
kept burning it!
We had the bike loaded and headed
back down the mountain around 7 pm. Arrived home 11 pm! Off to bed now...I'll
sort the disaster in the morning!
23/4 ZRX progress: All
damaged bits have been stripped and the parts are at the painters or on order.
I had to paint the tank (big biff right hand side, it was touch and go for the
painter to fix), both side fairings and the guard. A few new parts were
required; RH switch block, fairing/instrument bracket, indicator, bar end
weight and handlebar, and secondhand parts were RH fairing, complete exhaust,
RH engine cover and screen.
The rear subframe was not bent at all…unbelievably tough it is! It
was just a locating tab for the grab rail/rack mount which bent. I tapped it a
few times with a Suzuki special tool, which fixed it.
Most of the new
parts are a few weeks away as they are ex-Japan. Once in, I can complete the
paint (requires decals to arrive) and then fit it all back up. It’s a really
simple bike to work on, with the strip down taking 35-40 minutes from start to
finish! I reckon taking my time and being anal with the new bits will require
an hour and a half to fit back up! I wish they were all this easy to work on. I
am going to start accumulating bits for it, so next time I can do a swap and go
while the other stuff’s being repaired.
Ben and Julie Warden have just returned from riding around Dargo and the High Plains with Peter Hill and Lyn Duncan for the last couple of days, with overnight stays at Stratford (with Peter and Lyn) and Dargo (with Dan and Maggie McIntosh, the Dargo Store owners.) The weather was great, the roads and scenery spectacular and the hospitality exceedingly generous. Julie was on the back with Peter on the KTM 950, Ben on the KTM 690 Rally, and Lyn on her new Honda TransAlp. We did 165 km on day 1 and over 200 km on Day 2. Plenty of snow visible on Hotham. Dan and Maggie are fascinating people with connections throughout the motorcycle fraternity. Paul Walkley is well known to them. Ben and Julie offer their sincerest thanks for the wonderful time shown by all their hosts and look forward to catching up again soon.