Lavers
Hill via
|
Tony
Raditsis |
Aprilia
RSV1000 |
Chris
Tran |
Honda
CBR1000 |
|
Pierre
Ong |
Ducati
1098 |
Misho
Zrakic |
Honda
CBR1000 |
|
Geoff
Jones (rear) |
Yamaha
R1 |
Paul
Southwell |
Honda
CBR1000 |
|
Chris
Pointon |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
Tim
Emons |
Honda
CBR1000 |
|
Paul
Sorenson |
Suzuki
SV650 |
Dennis
Lindemann (leader) |
Honda
CBR600 |
|
Mitar
Marescuk |
Husqvarna SM610 |
Ben
Warden |
Honda
CBR954 |
|
Danny
Hawker |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
Pina
Garasi |
Honda
CBR600 |
|
Cliff
Peters |
|
Ron
Johnston |
Honda
CBF1000 |
|
Mark
Rigsby |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
Mark
Copeland |
Honda
VTR1000 |
One loose battery lead
= one MSR newsletter article (more on that later!)
Sunday forecast is for
sunny weather, a welcome relief from the cold, miserable, windy weather that
has plagued us so far this winter. The track down to Lavers Hill and back
should be relatively dry with some consideration for the variable moisture-laden
bush/rainforest environments we will be riding through.
I arrived at the West
Gate Shell servo a little before the 9am having forgotten to get off the
freeway early at the Bolte Bridge exit to get on the
service road to the servo (coming up the M1 from Glen Waverley). Well, I wasn’t
going to cross the Westgate bridge and come back, so I snuck in the service
road exit from the servo. I had visions of getting pulled over going the wrong
way up a one way street by Mr Plod but luckily, that
nightmare didn’t eventuate.
Geoff Jones was the
first to arrive followed by a good turnout of like minded enthusiasts ready for
a day in the sun. Geoff and I always have a good chin wag about the bargains on
bike gear we order over the internet and get delivered to your door to boot! I’ll
have to check out Geoff’s Chinese bike tyre changer one day that he says works
a treat.
Once everyone had
rolled up, at 9:30am our fearless leader, Dennis, gave us the run down on what
to expect for the run to Lavers Hill and back. The published itinerary stated
the testing Turtons Track was on the agenda but
Dennis decided on a different challenge, preferring the route down to the ocean
north of Apollo Bay via Forrest. No disagreement on that; up and down the range
to the beach is always awesome.
As usual, we had a pretty
tame ride down the Geelong Freeway to the Little River turnoff and on to Moriac
via the back roads to pick up Danny, Cliff and Mark. Cliff was on his old Kwaka ZX12. It was good to see the green rocket alive
again. Another rider, Mitar on a Husky SM610, also joined and rode part of the way with us, leaving at Apollo Bay. At Moriac, I took a bit of time to admire
Pierre’s 1098 and get a rundown on the tyre pressure sensors on his wheels and
the digital tyre pressure readout stuck on the Duc’s
top triple clamp. Man, that is a beautiful bike.
After a quick chat and
snack we were off down the series of straights and sweepers via Deans Marsh,
Forrest, and Tanybryn to Apollo Bay. As we reached the twisties going up and
over the coastal range, I locked in behind Pina who was riding with a level of
caution that suited me just fine as the road conditions were changing from dry
to wet to very wet. You know, entry to the corner looks dry only to find wet,
slippery leaf litter mid-corner to spice things up. I think Ron calls it,
“green with envy”. Very appropriate. Cliff locked in
behind me on the green rocket and we freight-trained it down to the beach.
Near Apollo Bay I
noticed heaps of cars parked along the road and lots of bikes were pulling over
as well. Even though it was a beautiful day, there was no surf, so no surfers
to watch? A bit puzzled at first, I then caught a glimpse of a whale spouting
and a fin coming out of the water. At a later stop, Misho said there were up to
four whales just off shore. What a great sight to see.
We stopped in Apollo
Bay for fuel and refreshment. A quick clean of the visor and
then on to one of my favourite roads, the run to Lavers Hill. The
sweepers through the thick rainforest either side of the Cape Otway turnoff
took some concentration with a thick, slippery leaf litter line on the centre
line and sides of the road. You certainly did not want to lose concentration
and stray over the centre line, particularly on a corner gassing it up! I
locked in behind Pierre, Pina and Chris Tran until I saw an opportunity to get
past and lift the pace. Pierre came with me and we had a hoot through the
valley section of this run with the sweet note of that Ducati behind me ringing
in my ears.
I had fitted a new
Pilot Race to the rear of my bike about three months ago and this was the first
ride I had on dry roads in the half dozen or so times I had been out during
that period. The soft compound edges certainly got a good workout along this
fast and flowing section of road. Pierre blasted past me after the valley
section as we caught up to Paul who was cruising into Lavers Hill.
Into
Lavers Hill for a hot coffee and gourmet pie.
Cliff and Danny’s families (Barb Peters,
Katrina Hollis complete with broken leg, Cliff’s daughter Tracey Smail and her two boys Josh and Isaac …Ed.) joined us
for lunch and enjoyed good conversation and a few laughs.
I got to talking with
Paul Sorenson. It turns out he is a contractor for one of the lines of business
I do business planning for at work. Small world, eh!
The weather was a bit
windy so I put my helmet on the ground having personally experienced the wince you
get as you hear your helmet hit the deck after blowing off a mirror or handle
bar. Mark Copeland wasn’t so lucky. His helmet hit the deck, but it didn’t seem
to phase him one bit.
Dennis calls time and
its game-on for the run home.
Back to Apollo Bay
where there was a quick fuel stop. Misho and I had a good conversation
speculating on all the horse trading going on in Moto GP – how could Yamaha let
go of Rossi? Imagine all the bikes they have sold to all the wannabe Rossis around the world and all those championships he has
won for them.
Another visor clean and
we’re off up the Great Ocean Road to Lorne. As we are exiting Apollo Bay we are
shadowed by a Nissan Patrol with lights on top. Luckily he stops and turns
around to sit by the side of the road on the north edge of town. You could hear
those cash registers – cha-ching!
As we scooted away from
Apollo Bay I noted a well appointed BMW go by. Looks like Mr Plod to me. As we
approached the series of lookouts along this section of road, about a dozen or
so bikes including some of us were backed up behind a car including the Beemer.
As I approached the group, it looked like that they were a bit wary of the
Beemer. I know I was. Ben must have either got tired of sitting behind this
group or just wanted to enjoy the view (the
former …Ed.) as he pulled over by the side of the road for a break. I then
noticed riders going around the car and no action from the Beemer, so off I
went. No wailing siren eventuated!
Chris Tran on his Blade
tacked on behind me. We enjoyed this legendary road up to Lorne with little
traffic, no roadworks and plenty of flip flop
alternating corners to keep you focused. Once through Lorne we started up the
range back to Deans Marsh. This is a good, technical set of twisties that is
really fun if you get your lines for corner entries and exits right. Chris got
around me early but I got him back half way up the range as we caught up to Tim
and company stuck behind a slow moving car. Once over the range I stretched the
Gixxer’s legs to the Deans Marsh turnoff. Then on to
Moriac with Chris Pointon and I providing a Suzuki
sandwich for Paul on his tasty Blade. I really enjoyed the spirited pace Chris and
Paul set as we approached Moriac.
Once
again had a good chat with Geoff about all things with an engine and two
wheels. Some guy who had pulled in to the shop in a 4WD
offered to sell a helmet to us, but no takers.
As we went to head off,
the ignition on my bike did not respond. Dead as a door nail. Hmm. This has been an intermittent problem for about eight
months now. Geoff stayed behind to help. Off with the seat, give the side stand
relay a wiggle, pull it out and push back in to its socket and, hey presto,
power on. Seat back on and with 15 minutes lost, we are off to collect the
corner markers (thanks for waiting!).
On to the breakup point
at Lara for fuel and farewells for the trip home to Melbourne. Ben kindly
informs me that my breakdown has earned me the privilege of writing this
article. No worries. I’m off home up the freeway with Paul Sorenson in tow,
eventually waving goodbye to him, and then Tony, as he flies by me on the
Aprilia as I get off the M1 at Blackburn Road.
527
kms door to door. Thanks to Dennis for a superb ride and for Geoff for sweeping up
the rear.
The following weekend I
started to investigate what the electrical issue was with my bike. It has died
four times over the last eight months. Typically, a clean up of the side-stand
relay pins and a wiggle in it’s socket has got me
going again. Before this ride I had not had this issue for about four months.
So I take the seat off and do a visual inspection and start checking all the
fuses, cable connectors, etc under the seat before getting my multimeter out to
start testing. I notice the positive battery lead runs adjacent to the side
stand relay and every time I move the relay I can’t help but move the lead. Go
figure! The bolt attaching the lead to the positive lug on the battery is so
loose you can turn it with your fingers. This is causing the intermittent disconnection
of the battery to the ignition system. The lug and lead joint surfaces are
badly corroded. Five minutes later after some sand papering and tightening of
the bolt, problem fixed. I did the same for the earth connection for good
measure.
One loose battery lead
= one MSR newsletter article!
Mark
Rigsby
Castlemaine Sunday 29th
August, 2010
|
Misho
Zrakic |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Cliff
Peters (leader) |
Kawasaki
ZX12R |
|
Paul
Southwell (rear) |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Mick
Bosworth |
Kawasaki
ZX10 |
|
Ben
Warden |
Honda
CBR954 |
Alan
Squires (1st ride) |
Kawasaki
ZX10 |
|
Dennis
Lindemann |
Honda
CBR600 |
Ben
Fuller |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
|
Ha
Du |
Honda
CBR600 |
Ed
Simonis |
Moto
Guzzi S1200 |
|
Pina
Garasi |
Honda
CBR600 |
Harry
Buckle & Suzanne Halden (1st) |
Triumph
1050 |
|
Rod
Merrett |
BMW
HP2 |
|
13 bikes, 14 people |
Write-up
to follow next month.