Eildon – Sunday 5^th January, 2003

Pete Weyermayr – CBR 929 (leader) Rob Jones – CBR954

Liz Oliver - CBR919 Andrew Symes – RF900

Geoff Jones – R1 (rear rider) Dave Deas – R1

Tim Jones – R1 (1^st ride) DaveNimmo – GSXR1000
Quan Nguyen – TLR 1000 (1^st ride) Dianne Welsford – CBR600

Aaron Karmiste – CBR1100XX (3^rd ride) Derek Atkinson – FZR1000

Peter Lay – R1 (1^st ride) Stuart Lens – Bandit 1200

Paul Southwell – CBR954 (1^st ride) Dave Hives – ZX9

John Kalaitzakis – R1 (1^st ride) Darryn Hutchinson - CBR600

John Bacon – ZX9R (1^st ride) Mario Ibeas – R1

Stef Romiti – Ducati Monster S4 916 (1^st ride) Trevor Harris – YZF1000

Barry Cook – VFR800 (1^st ride) Dean Von Schill – VTR1000

Kim Vu – CBR250RR (2^nd ride) Rob Langer – BMW R1150GS

Will Tran – GSXR600 (2^nd ride) Daniel Kosinksi – VFR750

Will Surtida – GSXR750- (3^rd ride) Ron Johnston – Bandit 1200

(30 Bikes – 30 people – 7 being first-timers, must be some sort of record!)

Weather - 22° - though I’m sure it was at least 28 at Eildon. Liz and I tried to read the barometer on the porch up there but as it seemed to read in the minus temperatures we feel it was a little incorrect!

10.15am – Yarra Glen to Marysville – 75km

It seemed like the entire Victorian Police Force was out and, at the start of the day, it was beginning to look like their goal was to give us as many tickets as possible.

I turned up at Yarra Glen to find a huge turnout with a lot of “newbies”. Most of them found us on the internet and I think there was one large group of friends.

Pete gave us the rundown for the day with a word of advice that it’s probably best to fuel up at both Marysville and Eildon, if in any doubt at all about your fuel range, advice that I’m sure some regretted not taking later in the day. He also warned of oncoming cars on the Torbreck River Road, explained the cornermarking system, and then off we went.

Pete had barely started to move when a motorbike cop turned up asking one of our visitors where we were headed for the day. He said he wasn’t sure so the cop moved on to the next group of bikes to try to get more information. I don’t know if he got any answers but off he went to find a spot to wait for us – after giving another one of our visitors (Quan) a ticket for obscuring his numberplate!

Before we had even left Yarra Glen bikes started pulling over thinking that the 2 bikes on the side of the road (who weren’t on our ride) were actually cornermarking - a common problem with lots of first-timers. So I pulled over to the side of the road and waved them all straight through.

We took the Yarra Glen-Healesville Road and turned left onto the Chum Creek Road. Geoff Jones, being our rear rider for the day, suggested to another visitor, John K, who seemed to be struggling on an R1, that it may be best if he didn’t continue the ride as it would be a long day and he was really struggling – with Geoff having to travel at 40 km/h to stay behind him on this stretch.

We then turned right onto the Myers Creek Road where we came across an accident. It was a relief to find that the rider was fine and he actually wasn’t on our ride. He was a local just a couple of kilometres from home. His Triumph had gone under a car which really finished it off. Ron said it had broken disk rotors (and I thought rotors were helicopter parts!) bent forks and no spokes left in the wheel. We were told the appropriate help was on its way (the CFA arrived as we were leaving) so we didn’t linger.

As we reached the highway in Healesville some of our guys had come back to warn us all of the bike cop waiting just over the hill for us! As I cruised past, I noticed Dave Hives, Stuart Lens and Aaron pulled over by the same cop we met earlier. Stuart got a 3-pointer fine and the other two just got licence checks.

It was a nice ride through the Black Spur, as usual. I did notice there was quite a bit of traffic because those people who had the two Christmas weeks off would have been returning home today. But it wasn’t enough to cause too much of a problem.

We turned right up to Marysville and came across our trusty leader Pete being booked by a 4WD cop! Aaron turned around to spread the word. The rest of us met at the servo in Marysville to fill up our bikes, then back to the Bakery to top up the caffeine levels. The cop seemed to be taking ages with Pete so we were beginning to worry about his licence. Thankfully it was just an on-the-spot fine again (3 points). Pete was his ever-chirpy self when he finally arrived. The cop turned up a little later and came over and pointed out the four bikes not parked in a parking bay! Thank goodness he couldn’t be bothered booking them and went back to his cop shop.

We were beginning to wonder by this stage if the police had spread the word on the radio and would also be waiting for us at Eildon! It was after 12 by the time we left so some had made it an early lunch stop.

12.00pm –Marysville to Eildon– approx 130kmm

We took the Buxton Road, which I always love, down to the Maroondah Highway, turned off at Taggerty for more great roads across to Thornton, and then up the Torbreck River Road.

The road was in good condition, pretty clean, but true to Pete’s word, there were quite a lot of cars coming the other way that sometimes aren’t right over their side of the road. This proved a problem for Andrew who got a fright when a car rounded a corner on his side and he ran off the road and dropped his bike. (Ron quoted his words to me but I think I’ll censor it!) Andrew was fine. The bike just had minor cosmetic damage including a bent gear lever. The crash was rather disappointing, considering he’d recently had the bike fixed on the other side. Danny looked over his bike for a bolt to undo and attached Andrew’s gear lever with, but must have figured that any bolt that was left on his bike was really needed to hold it together!

We stopped at the end of the road for a breather near the river. It was certainly above the forecast 22° in that area and some of the guys took to opportunity to go topless. I told Pete it seemed to be the place to take the shirt off, but seeing as Liz didn’t - I didn’t!

2.30pm– Eildon to Kinglake West – approx 110km

After a hot sweaty break at Torbreck River we rode into Eildon, without incident, for a late lunch and a welcome bottle of water. Some of us refueled – others had fuel concerns later! David Hives, Darryn and Rob Jones left us here to return to a pub closer to home. Kim had also left us by this stage becuase he had a wedding in Sunshine to attend. I was toying with the idea of leaving early and jumping in the pool as my bad shoulder was giving me grief, but then our wonderful leader asked me to do the write-up so I decided to stay. How can I say no to a guy who still smiles after being booked – impossible!

At about 2.30pm we headed up to the Skyline Road and down towards Alexandra. A few kilometres before the Highway I came across Dean pulled over, looking under his seat. It turned out he had put his leggings under the seat and they had blocked the airflow to the airbox. De ja vu! I’m sure this happened once before on one of our weekends away. Geoff thought at first that the bike was running one cylinder and maybe Dean had got bad fuel. But it turned out that it was only Dean’s air intake complaining about wearing leggings on such a hot day!

I got about another couple of kilometres down the road to find Danny pulled over. His problem was a hole in his bike’s radiator. The question was: how did he get a hole in the radiator when he was out in front? Maybe Dean wanted to make sure he wasn’t the only one pulling over, so threw a stone at Danny’s radiator as he rode by?

Luckily, I had bought a second bottle of water before leaving Eildon and hadn’t had a chance to drink much of it, so I donated it to the cause. Danny seems to carry stuff for any scenario because, with a bike like his, you just never know what kind of fix you’ll find yourself in. So out came the grey goo. Off I went to advise the next cornermarkers.

When I arrived at Molesworth Road it seemed the group of new guys were discussing their fuel dilemma. Quan didn’t think he’d make it to Kinglake West so I said Yea would be the best place to get fuel. He would have time, if he left straightaway, because Danny and Geoff would be a little while. Quan said he’d follow me, so I led him to the Yea servo. As we pulled in, so did most of the others who had decided it would be a wise move. I think this stopped several people from running out of fuel. I kept watch to make sure Geoff didn’t sail by, then asked Mario to take over so I could ride on and let the others know what was happening.

More flashing lights, bike cops etc near Flowerdale. I wondered if it was another accident but it turned out to be an oil-spill on the road. They were just warning everyone and so preventing any more accidents. We finished up at Kinglake about 4.30/5pm.

Another first-timer on an R1, Peter, had done 48 kilometres on reserve, so he was a little concerned about where to fill up. He was about the only one to not refuel at Yea because he was at the back of the ride. Geoff told him Whittlesea was the best bet because it was nearly all downhill. Hopefully, Peter made it home okay.

Speaking of low fuel – it must go with the name – our leader Pete was also concerned when a few of us discovered the servo in Kinglake was shut. Pete ended up making it all the way to Springvale Road (while we stopped at every bowser we saw, wondering where he was) on what he had left. He must have had a hell of a smelly oily rag in the petrol tank. I understand he was having his own personal roll-ons up Springvale Road.

Everyone seemed to have really enjoyed themselves and I think the ride went incredibly smoothly considering the size of the group and the number of first-timers. Well done Pete, I’m impressed. If there’s just one complaint I have – it’s the damned wasp that got caught up in the collar of my jacket on the way back and started stinging me– the little bastard!

Di Welsford (Honda CBR600)

(p.s. – as there seems to be such an interest in tyres in Club articles – they were all black, rubber and round!)