|
Dave
Ward |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Eddie
Orozco (first ride) |
Honda
CBR919 |
|
Paul
Southwell |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Dennis
Lindemann |
Honda
CBR600 |
|
Ken
Goederee |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Ha Du |
Honda
CBR600 |
|
John Rousseaux |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Henry
Wright |
Triumph
675 |
|
Chris
Tran |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Cameron
Stevens |
Yamaha
FZ6 |
|
Ben
Warden (leader) |
Honda
CBR954 |
Pina
Garasi (rear rider) |
Yamaha
R6 |
|
Ern
Reeders |
Honda
CBR954 |
Ivan Radywonik |
KTM
990 |
What starts with the sixth
letter of the alphabet and sometimes ends in the seventh? Give up?
“Jolly”. Cryptic, I know, but if
you don’t like the answer, blame the editor.
Apparently there’s an
initiation process prior to becoming a club member, and it would seem that I’ve
ruined the fun for Ken and Pina as I’ve already become a member. However, all is not lost. Eddie, who arrived in
Note for any other new
members/riders, if you hear someone mention the word ‘article’ during the
riding spiel followed promptly by an extended silence, avoid all eye contact
and do not ask any questions, unless of course, you actually want to write the
article or you really need the membership points. So, being none the wiser, here I am. I figured that while I’m at it, I may as well
tell everyone a bit about myself, given my newbie
status, and it’s probably also not a bad opportunity to offer a bit of club
feedback from a newbie’s perspective so let’s ready,
steady, roll.
I’ve been riding since 2003,
and whilst I’ve owned cars here and there during this time, I’ve made a point
of riding everyday—purely to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Actually, riding makes me really happy. Thinking about my bike makes me smile. Thinking about riding makes me smile. However, there is a slight downside to the
story. With the exception of Phillip
Island, the odd ride outside the Melbourne borders and my annual road trip to
Canberra to visit family, I’ve somewhat been limiting myself to the ‘Melbourne’
area. I know, why? I shall borrow the phrase Kate Stewart
facetiously—I hope!—used on me on the Lancefield Pub Ride, that I’m like the
bike equivalent of the RSPCA for animals.
My dearly departed VF500 was one of the last of its kind on the road,
and no bloody wonder, towards the end, I couldn’t ride the damned thing for
more than 20 minutes at a time without having to pull over and wait impatiently
for it to cool down. That’s a snapshot
why. The upside, as a result of that, is
that I’d gotten very good at making sure I arrived at various destinations
within 20 minutes, as well as becoming exceptionally self-sufficient and
effective in roll starting the VF every two to three months.
Then when I replaced the VF
with my current CBR600, I was near certain I was jinxed when it died on me on
the
When I searched the net for
bike clubs, there were only one or two that mildly interested me, but MSR’s selling point for me was the club’s commitment to
ride every week. When you’ve had a dry
spell for as long as I had, reading that was nearly like being in bike
heaven. I shall digress briefly here,
bear with me. I was momentarily reminded
of the unreliable small group of four that I tagged on to in my first year of
riding. I think more rides were cancelled
in the end because it was either too cold, too rainy,
too windy, too cloudy, too wet, too hot, etc.
Ugh, the frustration! One of my
friends, who also rides, thinks I’m crazy—not because I fly along like a
speeding bullet like some people I know—does “*#$*@&# crazy” ring any
bells? On the contrary, he thinks I’m
mad because I actually enjoy going out in the rain, wind, hail, etc. What better way to broaden, challenge and
fine tune my riding skills than to expose myself to these different
conditions? That’s one of the things I
love most about riding, the challenge and satisfaction of improving my riding
skills, and the variation. That fabulous
feeling of riding into the wind on an angle because it’s blowing that hard into
your wheels, then changing the direction you ride into as the wind blows you
the other way. It’s awesome! And hail storms! Marble sized stones pummelling you all over
like rocks—not to mention how cool they look while they’re falling from the sky
and then bouncing back really high after hitting the road, it’s the best! Maybe it’s just me, but I find that riding in
good weather all the time gets a bit same-old-same-old
after a while. I should explain though
that I do take it very easy in extreme weather conditions... better for me to
be safe than dead I say, and just for the record, despite what my friend
thinks, I’d never felt more sane than during my first ride with the lot of you!
So that statement alone about
weekly rides reeled me in to read more about the club, and I’ve been very
pleased that the club’s lived up to its claims on its website about organisation,
friendliness and weekly rides. Also, being
geographically challenged, I was so excited about the prospect of riding
through the countryside every weekend without having to worry about where to
turn or getting lost, and although I was initially put off by most of the
meeting points being out in whoop whoop, I do
understand and agree with the logic of the locations. Both Paul and Ben have been very kind to lead
me to the meeting points so thank you guys.
If it hadn’t been for you guys, who knows how long it would have been
before I made it along for one of the club rides.
Chris, another newbie, told me that “everyone knows about these guys!”
meaning the you lot.
I’d also quizzed Eddie today on his thoughts about the club and his first
ride, and I agree with him in that the club is very much like a little
community or bike family. Someone is
always willing to help with something, and there is a wealth of knowledge
within the club. It just so happened
that his bike broke down after filling up at Tyers (this is what happened to me
on the
I’d like to take this
opportunity to say a big thank you to Ben, who took time out to show me how to
change the overstretched chain on my bike, the front and rear sprockets and
oil, and then doing the actual work for me as well—he made it look really easy. You have no idea how much I appreciate
it! Thank you also Julie for sparing him
the time to do those things and for the cups of tea J Although I wouldn’t be able to change the
chain and sprockets on my own, at least I know what’s involved, and I’m wrapt
that I can now remove all the faring panels, adjust the chain and do the next
oil change by myself, and, if I feel like it, remove the Gearsack
bracket off the back.
At the risk of turning this
article into a mini novel—that’ll learn youse all for assigning me today’s article!—I
think it’s worth mentioning the dodgy job on my old bike chain. When I bought the CBR back in late November
last year, the chain was the only thing I didn’t (know how to) check. It seemed to sit ok, so I just assumed it was
ok. Anyway, five months later, I started
getting delayed responses every time I accelerated whilst mobile and the
steering was also a bit shaky. I guessed
that maybe it might have something to do with the chain as it looked like it
was ‘hanging’ a bit, but didn’t really know. Ace Motorcycle Wreckers in
So with all that out of the
way, I was over the moon to have the bike ready for today’s ride, and needless
to say, it handled very well. Today’s
destination was
From Tyers, I hopped on the
back of Ben’s 954 for the 90 km trip to the National Park, let’s say, for a
slightly different riding experience.
For starters, I was able to take in some of the scenery which was both
eerie and breathtaking. As we came
around a corner, opening up before us on one side of the mountain were massive
jagged rocks rising up. The other side
were hills below as far as the eye could see completely covered with charred,
but still standing trees. Around the
corner on the other side of the mountain, more hills as far as the eye could
see, except that the trees on this side had been spared from the fires and
their contrasting red, yellow and orange colours were just spectacular.
I’d heard stories of Ben
collecting a variety of fauna as lead rider.
Well, guess what? I nearly got to
experience that first hand up in the mountains!
A house cat ran on to the middle of the road as we rounded the corner,
looking as if it was trying to make it to the house on the other side of the
road. (Q: Why did the cat cross the road? A: It
didn’t!) You could almost see it
thinking to itself “Oh f**k!” (I know I was!) as it
stood frozen with its bulging eyes, watching us rapidly approaching. Very wisely, it took a step backwards and
then retraced its steps back off the road about a split second before we got to
it. I don’t know who was more relieved,
me or the cat!
As we came into dense, green
rainforest, the air became very moist, the roads narrowed to one lane with
scattered debris and lichen lining the road.
The corners were much twistier and tighter,
not to mention much faster! Someone
mentioned gravel, although I was fortunate enough not to have to think or worry
about it.
The other benefit of being
pillion with a considerably more experienced rider is that I got a real feel
for cornering in terms of braking and throttle, leaning angle and positioning
of the bike. Having said that though, on
our way back from Yarram to Tyers, my eyes nearly popped out and my heart
stopped a number of times as we swung in and out of corners like mad
mothers! Now that I think of it, the
last time I recall experiencing this same sensation was from those blasted rollercoaster rides!
If you didn’t know better, you’d swear the bloody devil was on our tail
and our lives depended upon escaping the damned thing! I think I was speechless by the time I got
off the bike! And yet, it was incredibly
fascinating that we could be just about parallel with the road and not be
sliding along on it—and what a relief that is!
I’m told Ben’s tyres are your average run of the mill ones so there’s
hope for me yet J
Might I add, too, how relieved
I was, when Ken monoed past us on a straight stretch,
that it didn’t encourage Ben to also do the same with me on the back.
I’ve never liked being a
pillion and don’t make a habit of it, but I had fun this time round and am very
grateful for the valuable riding experience as pillion. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help smiling as we
turned in to the servo at Tyers and I saw my bike faithfully waiting for me. After a short break, we headed off again and
I found myself having to readjust to my own speed going in to the corners. Bloody Ben. All jokes aside, it was a fantastic day
enjoyed by all.
Thank
you Ben for leading a really cool ride and for taking me on the back of your
bike. Also, thank you Pina
for being such an easy going and laid back rear rider J
Alright, I’m guessing a few
readers would have already trailed off by now, so I better finish it up
here. Just a couple of
quick things before I do. I’d
been instructed to tell everyone that before we all parted ways, Ken was heard
ungraciously asking Chris why he was walking like he had a carrot up his
arse. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’ll have to give you the real answer as I
can’t remember what the funny one was. Chris
was wearing in his brand new one piece, which we all agreed looked cool.
Also, poor Cameron experienced
grief at every break stop for wearing never seen before
Oh, before I forget. Eddie, if you’re still reading this, I was
joking about them glad wrapping your bike...can’t say if they were though.
See you folks next time J
Ha Du