Sandown Ride Day Saturday 18^th April, 2009

Dave Ward	Honda CBR1000	Brett Stuart	Suzuki GSXR1000
David Chisma	BMW F800 ST	Craig Bruce	Honda CBR600
Dennis & Bianca Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Mark Welland	Honda CB1300
Misho Zrakic & Pina Garasi	Honda CBR1000	Mirko Strasser	Honda CBR929

The weather was a little bit of a concern early on in the week so come Saturday morning it was great that the sky was just overcast with no rain. I wanted a fine day because I had my production manager from work, Craig Bruce, riding his first track day and he had never have been around so many bikes.

Brett and I we were the only riders who had been to Sandown before. The other participants were very nervous but excited at the same time.

Paul Southwell planned to join us but after the oops the week before, he was a no-show. Similarly, Rob Jones decided not to join us. They missed out on a great day.

After the pre-ride spiel, we were all set for the first session apart from David on the BMW. He went in another group and so he did not ride with us at all.

Before we went out, I taped up Craig’s speedo and mirrors so he would not be distracted by all the bikes going around the track. It was a good thing too with him looking over his shoulder every time he had a chance. I never recovered from the first straight when he opened up the taps on his CBR600 and covered me in smoke. It looks like the bike had not been revved in all its life.

First session over and everybody pumped and ready to go again. Mark was not happy with the handling of his bike so I did a quick check over, letting some air out of his tyres and firming up the suspension. I believe he was a happy man after that. He also got a test ride on the new Blade and was very impressed with it. So maybe you will see him on one soon.

Brett was having a great time. It was good to catch up with him as he does not ride much anymore but tells me he will be back riding with the Club very soon.

Dennis has worked out he wants a faster bike but I think Bianca might have something to say about this. He was getting passed down the straight every time but holding very good corner speed allowing him to have fun.

Misho was having a ball as always, Pina on the back. There were quite a few pillion sessions for them to play. One session I took Craig on the back and I think everyone thought Craig was crazy. But he does not know me that well. I saw Misho and Pina on the track coming up behind me and I thought I would out-brake them but they sure showed me as they peeled under me and took off. Craig informs me that it was great fun but he was still in pain four days later.

Everybody took up the offer to ride the test bikes noting it is now a $5K excess if you bin it. I saw one bike down the road and I believe it was one of the staff. Ouch! I took out the new 600 with the ABS with Misho and we had a blast going around and certainly I still have a warm spot for that little bike. It didn’t seem that much different to my last 600 but it's hard to tell on the track.

I decided to sit out the last session after a massive slide out of one corner. The tyre continued to spin up down the straight; road tyres do that sometimes. Everybody did the last session and then packed up around 4.30pm. I think everyone had a great time; I know I did.

See you next time and thanks for coming.

Dave Ward