Highlands Sunday 23^rd February, 2003

Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr (lead) Honda CBR919 Liz Oliver

Honda CBR929 Ben Warden Yamaha R1 Mick Hanlon

BMWR1150GS Rob Langer (rear) Suzuki GSXR750 Matt Clark

Ducati 750SS Mark Easterbrook Kawasaki R6 Michael (1^st ride)

It was hot and sticky already as I ploughed along the Western Ring road, contemplating how best to manage a total loss electrical system. The charging system had failed back on Wednesday. Assuming it was the battery after 75,000 km I acquired one from my friendly bike shop the same day, plonked it in, and away I went, thinking all was well. Thursday night, 10.30 pm, heading up Springvale Road after a pleasant sail around Western Port Bay, I noticed that the idle was rough. At the next set of lights the bike stopped with no electrics, once again. Of course it started to rain. Did I mention Julie was on the back?

A quick call to Pete and Liz, who lived a two minute drive away, saw Pete (and Liz) arrive with the battery out of his same model bike and a multimeter. As expected, there was no charge from the electrical system. I guess I should have checked the charging system before replacing the battery. I have been wondering how I made this simple mistake and have absolved myself slightly in the knowledge that you can only check the charging system if the battery is at least good enough to start the bike! And being in a hurry, I didn’t bother to try and charge it up!

I spent part of Saturday trying to diagnose the problem – it can only be the stator windings, or the regulator/rectifier unit, or a broken wire. But clever Honda engineering called “mass centralisation” means it is almost impossible to get to the wiring loom where it enters the black box. I eventually gave up in frustration, not wishing to waste time if there was a “trick” I was missing as explained on page 412 of the manual. Booked in at the very friendly bike shop for next Thursday. In the interim, stuff a spare battery under the seat in the spacious boot and pretend nothing is wrong. I disconnected the headlight as it sucks out 55W continuously.

At Yarra Glen a small group had gathered. Rob rolled in and noted that he had worn through his rear pads again after 4500 km and wasn’t pleased and was there some obvious problem? Didn’t appear to be. He volunteered to take up the rear riding position and would ride without the benefit of a rear brake all day.

Mick was there on his new R1, courtesy of his Mt Baw Baw spill, or was it the trip home on the back of Ron’s trailer, not always vertical? Rhys was kicking himself, having agreed to meet the architects at 1 pm, the weather forecast looking dismal earlier in the week, and now almost ideal for riding. He noted that he would be away for the next couple of weeks – houseboat cruise down the Murray with Leonie and the kids with some other families – and was there anything he needed to know for Tassie? And can he book a spot in Julie’s car for his Gearsack? While this was happening Pete had called the group together, unbeknownst to me, and had started on the pre-ride spiel. Facing away, I hadn’t realised until it was suddenly brought to my notice and I snapped to attention, conscious of setting a good example, particularly after what I said at the previous general meeting about tardy behaviour on rides. Oops. Liz had a quiet laugh.

As I headed towards my bike, a branch of the Ulysses Club rolled past and a couple of bikes pulled in: former MTCV president, Vince Green, riding his favourite Yamaha XJ900 Diversion with crash bars. He says it was just a coincidence that he was mixed up with them and that he was really riding by himself because “they are too slow”. Ray Thomas, former member in the 70’s and 80’s was on his giant Honda trail bike, passed the time of day, and headed off. Again, I was setting a bad example by holding up the ride, bade my farewells and good byes, and headed off.

We were warned about the gravel strips on the Chum and Myers Creek roads, but it was no worse than usual. Then we rode around to Healesville, where I spoke to Rob about the apparent delay. Michael, first time rider, was struggling a bit. I followed him over the Black Spur, and then asked Greg and Liz to watch him as we headed towards Marysville, our first scheduled stop. The consensus was that Michael was a little out of his depth, and given the nature of the ride and Rob’s sanity, and Michael’s safety the number one priority, that now might be an opportune time to head home. Liz reckoned it would be better if it came from me.

So, while Pete swapped batteries back before I flattened his, I discussed the groups observations with Michael. He considered his options, and made the right decision, choosing to head home.

Back on the bikes, all charged up, we headed for Buxton and Taggerty, before a bit of high speed stuff to Thornton and the back way to Eildon. Greg was on the gas all day, but I wanted to conserve my tyres a little for Tassie and didn’t push too hard all day. It was now oppressively hot and sticky. Across Fraser National Park to Alexandra, around the Molesworth Road to Yea and a welcome lunch stop.

Bikes everywhere. I missed the group parked in the first service station but remembered Pete saying we would stop in Yea for lunch. I completed a length of the main street before heading back. Mark had caught me by this time and let me know where the others were. We all regrouped opposite the amenities block and ate lunch under the trees. It was agreed that Mick would now take up the rear riding position. He was running in the bike, though that should not have been a speed limiting issue, given the phenomenal power and thus high gearing R1s run. Relieving Rob of rear riding duties effectively gave us another corner marker pair and hence the ride flowed a little better in the afternoon.

Heading for Highlands now, we exited the Seymour Road 3.5 km out of Yea and started climbing. The roads had all been in great condition so far and this one was all the more interesting for travelling in the opposite direction to what we normally do – it felt like a new road. I saw a koala along here a few years ago, just after the first bridge.

At the top we turned left and headed down the pre-warned 800 metres of unmade section. Liz had been following me since the highway turnoff and we travelled as a pair for the next 30 km to Seymour where Greg came through. I expected we would turn left and head back to Parrot Creek but we continued on through Seymour (watch out for speed cameras) picking up the Pyalong Road. We took the second Broadford turnoff and headed along interesting secondary roads in blazing heat and humidity, the paddocks without a blade of grass to be seen, no sign of recent rains.

From Broadford Liz, Mark and I travelled in convoy to Flowerdale where I latched onto the back of Pete for the final fling to Kinglake West. So much for conserving the tyres. The ride disbanded here. Thanks Pete for a fun ride along familiar roads pieced together in a novel way. Commiserations to Rob who picked up a speeding ticket on the way to the Yarra Glen pickup, arrived with no rear pads, and then tuffed out the rear riding position for most of the day.

I made it home, just, on the battery, roll starting from the last set of lights. It lasted 310 km. With the headlight connected it had only lasted around 120 km. Hopefully it’ll be fixed by next Sunday.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)

p.s. The bike wasn’t ready by Sunday. The stator (windings) had dropped a phase (3 sets of windings, 3 phases, one wire broken). Of course there were no Fireblade stators in Australia and it would have to go on back-order (3 weeks delay) or be repaired (2 weeks). With Tassy fast approaching I needed one in a hurry and ended up borrowing one out of a 954 while mine gets rewound. Did I mention the bike is just 2 months out of warranty?