New Social Sip Venue: Mark’s Place. This is a cheap, fast pizza place that also provides various pasta,
steak and salad dishes in a relatively, relaxed quiet atmosphere. It is
licensed. It has a sporting bias, owned by a couple of AFL footballers, Saverio Rocca (Collingwood) and
an Essendon player, possibly Dean Solomon. There are a number of big screens showing a TV channel,
Sky Sports and a video juke box which hardly ever gets played. The Committee
regularly eats there and has no complaints other than payment is by table.
Dave Ward broke his leg (tibia – shin bone) while motocross riding on
Saturday the 30th April. He has a plaster cast
from his toes to just below the knee which he expects to be removed on June 16th, some six weeks after the
initial crash. He was practicing at the Nunawading
Motocross Track for the first round of the Gippsland
Centers competition. While attempting a triple jump he “cased out” on the start
of the third jump, fully compressing the suspension, effectively transmitting
all the forces through his legs. He was thrown ‘Super Man’ style into the air
but managed to stay on the bike, but knowing something was seriously wrong.
Once the cast is removed he will begin two weeks of intensive physio and start weight bearing exercises.
To add insult to injury, two days later Dave was hobbling
around on the crutches. Off work and bored he decided to pressure wash the bike. Somehow his
T-shirt got tangled up with the crutch and he toppled over onto the bike,
sending it flying while he stumbled and jarred his broken leg resulting in
excruciating pain while he collapsed onto the ground. The hose, now a free
agent, thrashed around on the ground, providing Dave with a lovely cold shower.
After the initial scream, unseemly words were uttered.
Letter from Ern Reeders to Paul Southwell (19th May): Hi Paul. It looks like I'll miss the pub
lunch. The Trumpy (
Speaking to Ern on the phone (29th May) he reminded me of a couple
of other things that have happened to the bike in the short time he has had it.
Grease was leaking out of back wheel bearing and being flung onto rear disk and
pads and hence affecting braking performance; seems to have stopped now.
Secondly, a rear subframe nut fell onto the chain and
was drawn into front sprocket area where it jammed and made occasional graunching noises which sounded like they were coming from
the motor or rear end. It took two weeks to find, and only after the bike was
returned to ProMecha after a complete suspension
overhaul (revalving front and rear damping, stiffer
springs at the front) after a particular noisy bout of graunching.
Phil put the bike on the centre stand and rotated the back wheel backwards and
the mangled nut dislodged and fell on the ground!
“Welcome to new riders” has got a bit behind; December was
the last time. In the intervening period we have picked up another group of
members starting with Breht Emmerson who signed up in February. He is
riding a Honda CBR900 which turns out to be President Ian Payne’s old bike, always garaged,
immaculately maintained. Of course James Giordmaina on an R1 accompanied Ron Solomon and on a few Club rides and
departed with his hard earned cash for membership until mid 2006 in April. Paul Punicki on a Honda CBR1000 F1 also paid
next year’s fees on May 1st
on the Highlands Ride. Anders Plenge on a Honda VFR800 also joined on
that ride. We welcome all new members and wish them enjoyable and safe riding
with the club.
Ron “Balls” Solomon Suzuki GSXR1000 K5 (K5 meaning 2005 model) bike is a tasty
piece of hardware. On last Sunday’s ride I asked him to list the modifications
and enhancements he has performed on the bike. Starting with the engine, the
ignition timing has been remapped and is an ongoing project. Ron is
experimenting with variable length inlet trumpets to get the desired power
curve. A set of iridium plugs replaces
the standard as does a BMC air filter. No head work has been undertaken – it
makes more than enough power already and customer demand for more power has
waned over the years, hence remapping is about the extent of engine
modifications these days. The exhaust system consists of a Yoshimura muffler
mated to Serpent Headers made by Micron, a Ron special, taken off his K4 model,
since no after market systems are available yet.
Suspension wise the bike adorns a fully adjustable Ohlins shocker on the rear and an Ohlins steering damper on the front. ‘Braking’ wave disks
adorn the standard wheels, front and rear complete with a Brembo
master cylinder. The front disks are 320 mm, 10 mm oversize and hence the
standard radial calipers had to be shimmed out 5 mm. The pins are
lock-wired. Cosmetic changes abound,
from the high bubble screen, oggy knobs, raised and
lightened foot pegs, Harris grips, number plate eliminator, swingarm
pickup lugs and Balls Tuning stickers everywhere. Tyres
are Pirelli Diablo Corsers, the best you can
get. The front forks are scheduled for a
complete rebuild. Ron delights in monoing at every
opportunity, highlighting the under fairing stickers.
The MTCV Home Page took 259 hits during May and has taken 24,014 since April 1996. I have made a number of detailed changes to the front page including putting links to the Corner Marking System, Club Hall and Social Sip addresses. In the Members section there is a new link to a ‘Holiday Planner’ which has links to upcoming but distant events such as the Malaysian GP organised by Bill Wee for July, the Melb Cup and Australia Day four day rides, Christmas Camp details, and a proposed trip to Tasmania in 2007. This is primarily set up for new members who don’t know this is what the Club does on an annual basis
Seen at the Annual General Meeting: Ian Payne, Ben and Julie Warden, Nigel Hellyer, Peter Feistl, Peter
Philferan, Martin Hastie, Paul Southwell, Ron Johnston, Dave Ward and Bronwyn
Manifold, Shane Hindle, Margaret Wehl-Willet
(our guest speaker), Trevor Harris, Steve Cowburn, Stoimen Stojanov, Tim Walker, Rob
Langer, Brett Emmerson and Libby. 20 people. Six
people sent their apologies and Bill Wee rang from the Homestead Inn asking
where everyone was.
Margaret gave her usual sparkling presentation on her overseas trips
though we did have a technical problem where we were unable to play a DVD. Stoimen displayed
his interesting Helmits made from polypropylene (wet
suit material) and Steve Cowburn had a couple of
leather jackets on display. If anyone is in the market for off-the-shelf or
made-to-measure leathers, Steve’s seem remarkably well priced. Of course, in amongst all this, a new
committee was formed – see inside cover for gory details.
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 one month of the new year a few people have accumulated points: Ben Warden (8), Ron Johnston (7), Lyn Duncan (5), Ian Payne (3) and Shane Hindle (3).
Front Cover: Lavers Hill
Ride
Paul Southwell has finally completed the transaction and now is the proud owner of a near new 2004 Honda CBR1000 Fireblade. He says it is a completely different bike to the 954. See more comments in Drouin article.
Congratulations to Dave
Moore who has finally moved
into his new home.
Liz and Peter Weyermayr
and baby Danielle are doing well. Danielle is now 8 weeks old and weighs almost
4 kgs. Proud grandparents from across the Tasman have
just arrived for a three week visit. Maybe Pete and Liz will catch up with us
at the next Social Sip and show us baby Danielle.
Joanne Nimmo underwent serious surgery during the month.
We wish her a speedy and full recovery and look forward to seeing her back on
the pillion seat with
For sale: DID
“520VS” high performance 0-ring motorcycle chain, 120 links. New,
still in box. Offers.
Suit most trail bikes. Contact Ben
Warden on 040 900 1618
anytime.
Free to a good home, or failing that, the tip. Boxes
of old 1980’s motorcycle magazines stored in roof for 10 years, about 2 meters
worth. Include copies of REVs, AMCN, and Two
Wheels. Complete years. Contact Ben Warden on 040 900 1618.
Email from Nigel Hellyer re Buell crash repair: my bike is still a couple of weeks from being on the road again as I am waiting for the fuel tank to be repaired.
Looking at our financial statement from last year, the
balance at
Art work is supplied by
the advertiser. Coloured pages
can be appended to the magazine, such as Steve Cowburn’s
ad for leathers, as a once off
at $30 per month, but the pages must be supplied – at least 80 off.