Strathbogie Ranges Sunday 7^th July, 2002

Suzuki GSX1200 Bandit Ron Johnston(leader) Honda CBR929 Ben Warden

Kawasaki ZX6 Orlando Iluffi Yamaha R1 Enzo Cunico

Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr Honda CBR919 Liz Oliver

BMW1150GS Rob Langer and Kirsten Anderson (rear)

It was your typical winter’s morning – cold and windy. Throw in an early start (9.15 am) and 55 km to get to the pickup, and it feels even colder. Nevertheless, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue boding well for the day. At Yarra Glen Rob and Kirsten were holed up in the coffee shop on the other side of the road. Pete and Liz were running a little late and had phoned me on my mobile to ask the group to wait. Unbeknownst to them my mobile was flat and was spending the day at home recovering. So they were a little surprised when they arrived 10 minutes late and I gave them some grief, captain and vice. If Geoff had been there he would have suggested they were engaged in some vice …

Ron outlined the day’s activities down to the last microscopic detail by which time Pete and Liz had fallen asleep and Rob and Kirsten had wandered off and struck up a conversation with the shop proprietor. I suggested to Ron that we cut to the chase and organise a rear rider, Rob and Kirsten, and hit the road!

Across to Healesville and up Chum Creek Road we ventured turning towards Toolangi. It was very cold and I looked forward to getting across the ranges. The road was in good condition and I remember getting a little motivated with barely another vehicle on the road. I remember following Liz for a while before she waved me through.

At the Mt Slide junction we turned north up the highway towards Yea. I thought we might take the Glenburn turnoff but we sailed past eventually turning right on the Murrundindi Road. It is a very long time since I have been on this road – it used to turn to dirt – the very dusty, corrugated kind – on the way to the Wilhelmina waterfalls. Memories of following former Club President Keith Finlay on his Z1300 (6 cylinder, fuel injected, shaft drive Kawasaki, circa 1984) came flooding back. I would have been on my new GPz550. It was always a relief to get back to the bitumen. I digress.

So, it was with interest that I rode this 21 km diversion, cutting out 13 km of highway, as we made our way towards Yea. After a few kilometres of pleasant twisties, and a couple of left turns at T-intersections, we picked up the Murrundindi River floodplain - very green, very flat, very straight; beef cattle country. Ron was giving it the berries, no doubt, when his flight path and that of low flying magpie intersected. There were feathers and bits everywhere. Ron’s headlight and blinker are no more. When I arrived at the next intersection the final tape work had been completed. (Further to this, Ron has now established a deep and meaningful relationship with the spares man at Peter Steven’s who checked on the computer and deduced that Ron indeed is a “regular” and worthy of financial inducement.)

Heading north through Yea we negotiated the Goulburn Valley Highway at a fair clip before calling a halt to proceedings at Yarck. Hot liquid beverages and pastry items were demolished at an alarming rate. It was either us or the Swiss couple and their kids in a race to get the last pie.

By this stage Orlando had slipped away to visit friends in Yea. It was his first time back riding with the Club since being run off the road on Ron’s horror Licola ride. It had taken 7 weeks to complete the repair of his bike and he was just glad to be back riding. We look forward to seeing more of him.

After a leisurely morning tea was concluded we left the Highway immediately on the Gobur Road. Some high speed stuff on smooth roads followed by a small mountain pass reminiscent of the Happy Valley Rd across to Ovens – white pebbly bitumen surface, similar radius corners, gently uphill – before the road opened out into long, bumpy, narrow straights. Good on a BMW, but an endurance test on a Fireblade. Fifty kilomters later we found ourselves in Euroa at the servo. Lunch was across the road at the cream and scones café. I baulked at the $11.00 open sandwich or $5.50 pie and headed back to town to the bakery. A (Rhys approved) pastie and sauce with a freshly baked lamington for a measly $2.95 saw me done. Many heavily laden touring motorcycle groups trundled past as we sat and ate, providing light entertainment with their riding antics – monos etc. Pete can spot a Triumph from around a corner.

With the sun waiting for no-one it was back to the bikes. We headed south-east along interesting roads to Strathbogie where Pete and I corner-marked in the thick gravel, naturally-formed, traffic island. As Rob hove into view I slotted in behind Liz as we negotiated a particularly nasty set of potholes and compression bumps. I could see her handle bars banging from side to side as she bounced from one tank-slapper to the next. The approaching car coming around the narrow bend had forced her to avert her eyes momentarily from the road and take the “do not try this at home” line. I let out a “ooooh” sound as I watched with interest as the bike headed for the trees. Liz salvaged the situation just in time and waived us past.

We were now heading towards Violet Town on a favourite back road of mine including another mini-mountain pass. The roads were a lot smoother allowing the application of a few more revs and greater lean angles. Twenty-five kilometres later we picked up the Hume Highway for a scary ride back to Euroa picking up the Gooram Merton Road. This starts off dead straight before climbing steeply on quality, fast sweeping bends for a kay or so. The road then narrows down and straightens out for a bumpy ride back to Merton. A few kays before Merton is a very tight section, remembered as being very bumpy, gravely corners, and seemingly to take random and unpredictable directions. The concept of a corkscrew comes to mind. Well, now the road has been widened, is smooth, and just plain fun!

Back on the Maroondah Highway we headed down to Alexandra where we passed about twenty Hondas outside the pub – a Red Wing ride I believe. We regrouped at the top of a hill while Ron consulted the map. We had a chance to clean our visors and stretch our legs – a mini break after 100 km or so. I suggested to Ron we not stop at both Marysville and Healesville but just Healesville, a mere 90 km away.

And so it was. We rejoined the Highway at Acheron for a leisurely cruise through Taggerty to Buxton where we diverted to Marysville and the snow traffic. We pressed on to Narbethong and over the Black Spur. The cars were in bunches. After working your way past a long line of tired drivers we were rewarded with a few kilometres of open road before meeting the next clump. All good fun.

We regrouped outside the normal servo after 370 km of interesting and some rarely visited roads. Ron had taken his wife Julie on a pre-ride the weekend before in the car and the preparation of the route showed. Thanks Ron (and Julie). All finished by 3.30 pm. Another hour to home making 485 km for the day.

The bike has now done 53,000 km. The combination of a strangely worn flat-in-the-middle Pilot Sport on the front, very stale fork oil, Liz’s moment, all exacerbated by the bumby roads, brought to my attention the need to do something about my bike’s front end. So, with a couple of days off (School Holidays) I pulled the forks out and delivered them to Rod Sharp at Cycle Works in Ringwood for fresh oil. I dropped them off Tuesday, picked them up Wednesday, $65.50 including oil and GST. He is very reliable and always true to his word. I got to watch his fork spring compressing, air assisted, special fork dismantling tool. Sensational. What took me two hours (with help) and plenty of blood and sweat, was performed in minutes with minimal risk.

It didn’t seem that long ago that I had replaced the fork oil. Checking in the logbook it was 6 months less a day, and 18,000 km. It wasn’t the time that was the problem, it was the kays. The owners manual recommends changing the oil every 12,000 km and that seems about right. Suffice to say that the ride quality and steering precision, after using Sport Rider magazine suspension recommendations, has improved dramatically, even with the dodgy tire.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929RR)