Driving up in the pouring rain and thunder storm Gerry and I were laughing uproariously at those who were riding. This helped to cement the decision as the right one. I must thank Lynn Duncan for the last minute use of her bike trailer. An absolute dream to tow and held the two bikes quite nicely. Lynne, you’re a legend !

  A quick check of the participants showed that Suzuki needs to pull their act up. Three Kwaka 750s lead to the moniker "Team Green" being applied. 2 Yamahas, 2 Hondas and the lone Suzuki. But when you've got the epitome of the 750 class sports bike you don't care about being a loner (When I learn to ride the beast I will be able to boast even better!).

    Got up all keen to go riding. This is the first Club weekend I have attended and was hoping that the reality lived up to the urban legends that have grown up around these weekends. (I wasn't disappointed.) I would describe the route taken if I knew where I went. I thought I had a good sense of direction but with Ben leading it got screwed big time. Doesn't matter though. I was quite happy to go along for the ride.

    The day wasn't without incident though not of the terminal kind. Having had the Suzuki for 4 months it's fuel economy (or lack there of)  leaves me speechless. A couple of days before I had had to roll through the Black Spur (Dom Dom saddle to Fenchurch Park) as the fuel light was hard on just after leaving Buxton. Arriving at Healesville showed 220 km on the odometer. The 18 litre tank took 17.62 litres. (Most of this riding was pretty easy to.)

    Anyway a misunderstanding ensured that the route for the day had to be changed to cater for the poorest fuel economy of the assembled bikes (mine !!!). Later checking showed that fuel consumption can get even worse. Using the kms travelled and fuel used figures on the run from somewhere to somehwere else (I said I didn't know where I was!) it calculated out to be 207 km (!!!) from the 18 litre tank.

    Had a great day though the Granya Pass was covered in twigs and bark. Then there was the rabbit which nearly wore a size 9 Frank Thomas boot in the head. I swear I was trying to avoid it. I went left, it went left, I went right, it went right, I went straight ahead, it didn't move.

We went a whole lot of other places (Tumut was one of them I think?). Got back to Tallangatta, awed with the roads travelled. Still can't tell you where we went. The only real smelly part was the Elliot Way. A goat track barely worth the name "goat track".

    Not feeling real good but must get out there and make the most of it. Got to Corryong and Gerry pulled out in obvious pain from her neck and shoulder. It's a shame that her motorcycle induced injuries restrict her obvious love of riding (with the number of crashes in the last 12 months a message for us all ?)  

    Again another day of following people to places that I have no idea where they are. Checked out some great dams and views. Rode some sensational roads. Found a number of cars that like to cut the apex. While I am fond of the BMW Z3, getting nailed by one, even one with the number plate CUTEBM, isn't my idea of a good day!

    Pulled into Adaminaby only to discover I had picked up a nail in the rear tyre. Which by the stage was looking a little worn anyway. A quick pressure check showed it had a slow leak and was down a couple of pounds. Just what you need. A good thing I was carrying a can of tyre repair and inflater left over from my trip to Tasmania over Christmas.

    Ended up in Jindabyne at some stage. Still not feeling great and with a dodgy rear tyre I decided to head straight back to Khancoban while the lads did an extra 80 km loop through Charlottes Pass. I was warned that the Alpine Way contained some dirt but it has certainly been reduced (only 7 km).

    Really got back on the pace (well my pace anyway) coming through here. I encountered a K1200RS who wanted a run. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking his fully loaded 2 up K1200RS could do, but it was fun until just having passed him through a right-hander, I found a ute coming the other way had decided to utilise my side of the road to set up for the coming left-hander. I thought it was very close. According to the K1200RS rider at Khancoban it was closer than what I thought!

    The ride from Khancoban to Corryong was uneventful but the sweepers from Corryong to Tallangatta did provide some fast fun and a chance to find out what happens to a front D207GP under repeated cornering stresses. (All at legal speed limits of course; breaking any road traffic rule is an offence under the Club Constitution, and with a possible penalty of expulsion, I'm not up for it.)

    Another big day planned though first order of the day was for Ben, Danny and myself to head into Albury and get some new tyres. Ben's front was 60% slick i.e. the only tread to be seen was about an inch wide through the centre. Danny's front was just slick and my Suzi's rear had the nail in it. This is where bringing the car paid off big time. I had an old D207, taken off the Suzi at 6,600 km  that I threw in for a last resort. This I sold to Ben for $50, a bonus considering it had been in my garage for about 3 months and was ready to go to the tip. I had the Michelin HiSport that came off the rear when I put the D207GP on, so off we headed into Albury.

    It was quite a site, Ben riding with his new possession around his waste and Danny sporting my 190/55 HiSport around his waste. I will have to get the photo up on the web site for all to view. All credit to Honda Motorcycles in Albury. After being refused service by the Wodonga Suzuki dealer, the Honda shop went out of their way to accommodate us. Back to get the others by 11 am.

    At least I had some idea of where I was going today. The ride to Dartmouth Dam and back to Mitta Mitta was uneventful except for scoring a sparrow in the chin piece of my helmet. (This is bird number 2! I copped a sparrow in the side of the helmet at 150 km/h (not on a Club ride of course!) when in Tassie.)

    One thing became clear at this stage. Three days of continuous 500 km + rides with riders with more experience really helps your own riding. Pushing the envelope of your own experience is essential to improving your skills.

    Cruised (HA HA Ha!) via Dederang Gap and Ovens down to Porepunkah for a run up the Mt Buffalo Rd. This is where it was demonstrated to me that skill and experience will always out do sheer horsepower, brute force and ignorance. Chasing Gerry and Rhys up the mountain, it didn't matter how much of the Suzuki's (claimed) rear wheel 114 hp I could get to the road, I still couldn't get close to them. With Gerry on a YZF600, described in one mag. as a "chubby pony", this only made the lesson that much harder to stomach.

    Fantastic place Mt. Buffalo, watching the hang gliders and para-gliders. Could have stayed there all day had the ride down not been calling. Back to Bright for an ice cream. Then we went over  the Tawonga Gap. Got dragged through here by Ben (if he can do that speed so can I!) Fantastic. Except for two things: scraping the pegs on the GSXR (an act I was later abused for by Yoda, my riding skills mentor (quite rightly so to!)) and hearing that sickening tinkling sound of gravel hitting the fairings when you’re committed (hard).    

    Then back to Tallangata via Bonegilla, around the Lake, and the Granya Gap again. I learnt another lesson here: it is very difficult to ride with out a centre white line. It didn't seem to matter how hard I tried I always apexed the corner on the wrong side of the road. I must work on this!

    Loaded the Suzi on the trailer. Gerry was riding back through Hotham and Omeo with the boys. After three days and about 1800 km I was stuffed (language used here much softer than if you asked me in male only company!) and had had more than enough. The front D207GP was looking very worse for wear and will need to be replaced when home.

    I was so stuffed on the way home that I was ringing people just to talk to someone and hopefully stay awake. There were several long blinks taken for sure. Would have been good to have some company.

Had a HUGE time, both on the bike and off.

Do it again without a thought (Bombala is coming up in March. Be there or be somewhere else.)

D207GPs are good for about 3,000km on the GSXR750. At $735.00 (new retail) a set I don't think I will be running these often though the grip is just AWESOME....

Tallangatta is a sensational social event and a great way to learn heaps.

In the words of the greatest philosopher of the 20th century "A man's gotta know his limitations" (Guess who ?)

I was thinking about trading the GSXR750 shortly. After catching a glimpse of what the total package is capable of though I don't know what I would replace it with. (Why doesn't it do more at WSB level?)

Michelin HiSports don't like white lines

Skill and experience are far more valuable than the latest technology big horse power bike (though horse power does help make up some of the deficiency).

The 750 shared jointly (with Wayne’s ZX9R) in the weekends "Top Speed" shoot out. Though seeing as no road rules were broken everyone shared as the top speed for the weekend was no more than the open road legal speed limit of 100kmh.