October Who’s News 2004

Congratulations to Pete Weyermayr and Liz Oliver. They are pregnant! Hence, their unexplained absence from lots of recent rides. The baby is due on May 6^th and the grandparents are ecstatic. We wish Liz a “speedy” pregnancy. Pete is working hard on the house, now with a definite deadline. There could be a bike for sale soon.

Kate Stewart and Pete Pondeljak loaded up their matching yellow Honda CBR600s and headed north towards Brisbane and Queensland, leaving from the Berwick departure point at the start of the Loch ride on Sunday the 3^rd. They arrived back in Melbourne on Wednesday 20^th after 4,500 km of incident free riding, only suffering 20 minutes of wet riding conditions on the whole trip. What they didn’t tell anyone was that they were eloping! So, a belated congratulations to the pair. They were married on Election Day (Sat 9^th) at a place called “Yamba on the Rocks” in Yamba, just north of Grafton and posted their wedding attire up in advance. They ended up getting invited to another wedding party and sharing the celebrations.

Riding wise, Pete particularly enjoyed the Old Pacific Highway and the Putty Road. Now both bikes need new front tyres. Mr Plod checked their licenses near Grafton, otherwise an incident free trip, the bikes performing faultlessly. Accommodation was mainly in pubs. They sent their tent and sleeping bags back to Melbourne after a few days.

Bill Wee has rebuilt the suspension on his Honda VTR1000. New fork springs, revalved front forks and rear shock absorber, new oils, and tuned for his light weight. Pro Mecha did the work. It handles and steers better than new.

Bill Wee sent me this email on the 7^th of October. Would any of the club members be interested in attending the MotoGP in Malaysia next year? A three-day grandstand pass only costs approximately $18 Aus. and the return airfare is about $750 Aus. Accommodation in a three star, air-conditioned hotel in the middle of China Town would cost about $35Aus per night, twin share. Food would be about $2.50 per meal. Sounds like a fantastic deal. For more information contact Bill via email at [email protected]

Front Cover: Top photo Acheron Way (24^th Oct.). Back row Rhys Williams, Rob Langer, Joel Haley, Paul Grosser, Paul Southwell, Martin Hastie. Front row: Ron Johnston, Simon Trubiano, Renzo Cunico, Annalisa Veneziale, Matt Clark. Behind the camera: Ben Warden. Bottom photo Charlotte’s Pass (30^th Oct.). Back row: Darryn Webster, Trevor Harris, Dave Moore, Dave Ward. Front row: Renzo Cunico, Paul Southwell, Cliff Peters, Ben Warden. The last few hundred metres of road were covered in snow.

The MTCV Home Page took 788 hits during September and October and has taken 21, 926 since April 1996.

October Social Sip: Ben and Julie Warden, Pete Pondeljak and Liz Oliver, Bill and Kaye Wee, Paul and Vikki Grosser, Ron Johnston, Luke Leslie, Ian Payne, Bruce Saville, Martin Hastie, Dave Moore, Jason Peters, and Trevor Harris. 16 people

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 1 or more days of a weekend event scores 3 points for leading, 3 for rear riding duties and 2 points for participating. After 6 months, the top 10 scorers are: Ben Warden (46), Ian Payne (30), Ron Johnston (28), Paul Southwell (27), Robert Langer (23), Peter Weyermayr (18), Martin Hastie (19), Trevor Harris (17), Nigel Hellyer (15), and Paul Grosser (14). For the second month in a row, the big mover was Ian Payne who jumped three places.

What’s happened to Nigel Hellyer? Haven’t seen him on any rides for a while? That’s because he ripped the engine mounts out of the Buell when he hit a large pothole. It took a couple of thousand dollars to effect the repairs, and lots of time of course. We look forward to seeing him back out Sunday riding again.

Melbourne Cup Weekend to Towong worked well with fantastic weather for 4 of the 5 days, rain putting a damper on things on the last day. Accommodation and site were exceptional as per usual. Tyres were the most significant problem with Darryl Chivers needing a set after day one! A day’s ride to Albury and back saw a new set of Bridgestones adorning the BM. Dave’s MV chewed through a rear in three days and Ben’s front Pirelli was knackered on the last day. See Trovr’s article on Day 1 and more articles next magazine for a comprehensive run down of the five days of activities.