Pig & Whistle Counter
Lunch Sunday 21st
July 2002
Ron Johnston, Suzuki Bandit 1200 Phil
Richards, Honda CBR1000
1st ride
Ian Payne, Honda 919 (leader) Tim Miriklis,
BMW 1150 GS 1st ride
Rob Langer, BMW, R1150 GS Orlando Iluffi,
Kawasaki ZX6 (rear rider)
Ben Warden, Honda 929
Trevor Harris, Yamaha YZF 1000
Mark
Easterbrook, Ducati 750 Super Sport 9
Bikes, 11 People, 1 Van.
Dave
Ward, Bronwyn Manifold, Mercedes Van
Sunday…..decided I would go on the Pub ride even if it
was cool, but it was an okay day. Arrived at the Glen to find
a few people already there. We had three first time riders with us. As I
have said before, it’s good to see some new people come and join in.
Trevor Harris has lashed out and bought himself a new
YZF 1000, the last model before the R1, the same as he wrote off, except it’s a
different flavour. He was excited. Good on ya, Trevor. Soon Ian got everyone’s attention and gave a
run down on the ride and explained the Corner Marking System to all.
We departed Yarra Glen and
headed off around Christmas Hills to Watsons Creek, then
right into Alma Road - very steep, lots of sharp
corners and narrow, but a good road all the same. Then on to Panton Hill, St Andrews and that
other nice tight and twisty road to Kinglake. Onto Kinglake West, Flowerdale and Strath Creek through to Broadford. I like the roads
through here; grouse. Some of us got fuel and then carried on into the town were
we stopped for something to eat. Most welcome considering it was cool. I had
trouble getting the heater to work on my bike, but the air conditioning was
working 110%…..
From here, Ian said we would take a direct route
instead of the originally planned back way due to the time factor. We rode to
Kilmore, Lancefield and Carlsruhe where we took a wrong turn
and travelled down the Calder Highway a few kilometers, stopped and
consulted the map, then turned around and went back to Carlsuhe,
and turned off and headed to the Pub at Trentham East. When we arrived, there were
about 30 Triumph motorcycles. The Triumph Owners Club were
having lunch there as well.
The temperature was 6 degrees outside the pub. But it
was good in the pub. A few of us stood around for the open fire for a while, can’t imagine why. We ordered our meals and settled
in. You get lazy and don’t want to go anywhere or do too much with all that
heat. Nice and comfortable. Dave and Bronwyn were already there and were having
their meal. They came out in the van, smart people…..
From the pub we headed back to Woodend where we got fuel
and Ben disappeared. We left Woodend and headed for Mt Macedon. I haven’t been down this road for a while. We
stopped and corner marked and had to wait for Ben, no idea where he went but we
waited and he eventually turned up. (Something
about helping a bloke pick up his crashed bike was where Ben disappeared to. ..Ed.) The roads around this area aren’t too bad at
all. Carry on to Romsey, Chintin, Darraweit
Guim to Wallan. From Wallan we headed back to Whittlesea where we broke up. We
stopped here for a short while, only to find Orlando,
who was rear riding, had crashed his ZX6
on Mt Macedon, first tricky right hand tightening corner, minor cosmetic –
blinker, fairing scratches, rideable. He was a bit peeded
of considering he hasn’t had it back that long after his last mishap, but at
least he wasn’t hurt and could ride it home.
Thanks to Ian for leading, Orlando for rear riding, and moi for doing the write up, and everybody else that came
along. There was no rain, but it was overcast and freezing all day. As I said,
the heater wasn’t working but the A/C was working fine….. For all you Ducati fans, Mark Easterbrook has a Ducati
750 Super Sport and has got 80,000 kms on it. He said the motor was rebuilt at 60,000 kms because of a spun clutch bearing They
had to split the lot to fix it, otherwise the motor would still be untouched.
Time to sign off and go to bed, these late night write ups…
Ron
Johnston (Suzuki Bandit 1200)