June 2005 Who’s News

The MSTCV Home Page at www.mstcv.net.au took 640 hits during May (up 200 from last month) and has taken 30,219 since April 1996. The web pages have been updated to reflect the new banking details.

Membership fees are due. This is your last magazine if you are unfinancial. Full membership fee is $40 and Associate membership fee is $20 and is due before July 1^st. The money is used to help run the Club and pays for the printing of the magazine, itineraries, stationery, postage, hall hire, etc. The Club is a non-profit organisation and relies on your continued support for its existence.

The Club has moved into the modern age and now has banking with internet facilities and NO monthly fees, a saving in the order of $70 per annum. Cheques are now obsolete. The new bank details are:

Name: Melbourne University Credit Union

BSB:                            803143

Account Number:         12764

Account Name:            Motorcycle Sports Touring Club of Victoria

Seen at the Social Sip at Mark’s Place on the Thursday 1^st June: Ian Payne, Ben and Julie Warden, Trevor Harris and Barbara Rolfe, Paul Southwell, Renzo Cunico, Breht Emmerson and Libby O’Neil, Dave Moore, Marty Thompson and Donna Gibbs, Dave Ward and Lyn Duncan. 14 people.

The Club Participant of the Year is based on aggregate points accumulated at 1 point per ride, an extra point for leading or being rear rider, and 1 point per magazine article (maximum 2 per magazine). Attending one or more days of a weekend event scores 3 points for leading, 3 for rear riding duties and 2 points for participating.

After another cold and miserable month with the consequent low ride attendances here are the points scores after two months of the 2007 count: Ben Warden (19), Paul Southwell (12), Ian Payne (11), Lyn Duncan (10), Breht Emmerson (9), Ern Reeders (8), Trevor Harris (8), Joel Haley (8), Ron Johnston (7), Renzo Cunico (7), Cameron Stevens (6) and Marty Thompson (6).

Welcome to new member Cameron Stevens riding a Kawasaki ZX9 who has been on the last 6 consecutive rides in mainly very bad weather to the point of his bike suffering the dreaded Kawasaki scourge of “icing-up” carbies. A “loan” ZX10 from Brighton Kawasaki kept him riding on Sunday while the icing problem was traced to a blocked coolant filter impeding the ingress of hot coolant to the carby plumbing. New filter, problem fixed. Something to remember.

Marty Thompson, a previous MTCV President, returns to the Club after a long period working interstate and pursuing other activities. He has immediately started contributing articles to the newsletter in a proficient and timely manner. Check out his articles, particularly his return to the racing community.

50^th Anniversary Party of the MSTCV, 6.30 pm Saturday 19^th August. We have settled on the Function Room above Mark’s Place for a meal and get together. The night promises to be exciting with guest speakers, door prizes, a slide show and interviews with some old stagers. Mark’s Place will put on a buffet pizza and pasta feed. Drinks will be served at bar prices. Tickets are $20 per person and in the first instance are limited to current members and partners. We expect to limit places to 60 people. The deadline to commit for current members is Saturday 12^th of August after which we will open invitations to select past members. Please pay your $20 into the Club bank account as mentioned above.

Email from Jason Peters received Monday 19^th June: “I binned the ZX12R on Sunday 18^th June. I’m okay and the bike is repairable. I just made a mistake and came into the corner (on the Great Ocean road 10 km before Apollo Bay) too fast and locked the rear wheel up. I slid into the armco and flew over the cliff, taking out the sign as I went, landing in shrubs on my back. My left foot got caught between the armco and the bike, but as I was wearing the right gear I wasn’t hurt too badly. (You can never pay too much for proper riding gear.) My foot was only swollen for 4 days and my legs and arms were back to normal in that time. (I found it hard to lift my legs and it was painful to walk up stairs). Now I am trying to fix the mighty 12 and get back out there (but somewhat slower than before) and enjoy the freedom of motorcycling again.” We wish Jason a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him soon.

Front Cover: Great Ocean Road Ride, Moriac, 16^th June, 2006. Back Row: Lyn Duncan, Paul Southwell, Mick Bosworth, Jason Peters, Ern Reeders, Ian Payne, Renzo Cunico. Front Row: Cliff Peters, Matt Clarke, Breht Emmerson, Steve Cowburn, Cameron Stevens. Ben Warden behind the lens.

Email from Ian Payne: Certainly can’t complain about the warranty or after sales service with MV Agusta. When Dave Ward’s SPR ground to a stop at a recent Sandown ride day, the problem was diagnosed as a broken shim bucket. The Australian agent didn’t just replace the broken part, he replaced the whole head – complete with cams and valves. Mind you, Dave is a very good customer.

Talk about motorcycling heaven! It seems Dave and Bronwyn’s European holiday will try to include a ride around the famed Nurburgring (21 km lap with 73 bends) and also a 60 km lap of the Isle of Man TT Circuit. If we ask nicely, maybe well get to read about it in the newsletter.

Joel Haley is the proud owner of a new red 2005 Honda CBR1000. As a result of an accident his last bike was written off. Two weeks later the payout cheque was immediately handed over to Red Wing as a down payment on a brand new one. Only difference is “the old one was black, this one is red”.

Mobile Phones: Dialing ‘112’ as compared to ‘000’ locks you into the nearest phone provider and connects you to emergency services. This is useful if you are in an area not covered by your own mobile provider. However, if you are not in a mobile phone service area, that is, you are not near any mobile phone tower, then you still won’t get reception and contact to emergency services. ‘112’ does not link you to the nearest satellite communication facility. (From June issue of Neighbourhood Watch.)

Telstra provides a directory service via ‘1234’ for which you are charged for each call. However, by law, Telstra must provide a free service but the law doesn’t force them to advertise the free number! The free directory service number is ‘1223’. Stick”1223” it in your mobile now.

Towong Melbourne Cup Weekend, Saturday 4^th to Tuesday 7^th November, 2006

The Committee has booked the spectacular "Snowy Mountain Holidays" house and two cottages accommodation package, right on the Murray River at Towong, 11 km out of Corryong. As usual, the Melbourne Cup holiday falls on the first Tuesday of November giving us the opportunity of a 4-day weekend and allowing us to take full advantage of the great location. The plan is to ride up Saturday, ride around the hills Sunday and Monday and return to Melbourne on Tuesday. This means three nights accommodation. You'll need to take annual leave for the Monday. See past years' magazine articles for daily ride routes.

As usual, this is strictly first come, first served, with any overflow into either The Ridge or the Corryong pubs. Preference will be given to members. A $135 deposit is required. The deposit buys you three nights accommodation and two home cooked evening meals. Remarkably cheap! All you need is your toothbrush, a change of clothes and near new tyres, or a method of replacing them.

To reserve a bed, direct credit the Club’s coffers and email Ben with your intentions. There are only about 10 places, depending on the number of partners attending, so book now. Alternative accommodation can be provided at The Ridge. Contact details are Sharon and Mark on 02-6076-8252.

Tasmania  – (proposed) leave Sat 3rd – return Mon 12^th March, 2007

Tasmania is motorcycle heaven: few people, fantastic roads and scenery, relatively cheap accommodation, and the locals speak the same language and love tourists. As per last time, we will set up base camps and do day trips, moving every few days to a different location. Whether you attend an organized day ride or follow your own itinerary is up to you. Usually we meet each night over a meal and share the day’s experiences.

The plan is to go for 8 days leaving on a Saturday and returning the following Labour Day Monday. This was the successful formula we used in 2003 and 2005. We usually have a couple of cars to act as mules to carry the luggage, allowing us to ride unencumbered. The first week in March avoids the school holidays and has the greatest chance of fine weather and adequate day light hours. 

One option is to travel overnight in cabins. A four birth cabin is $448 return per person, cars $138 return and bikes $90 return. A cheaper alternative is to travel during the day for $228 per person return, a saving of $440 per couple. Check out the prices at: http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au

Last time we had 18 people, 15 bikes, 3 cars and travelled between 2,500 and 3,600 km each, and had fantastic weather for 85% of the time. 

A lot of interest has been expressed for our next venture to Tasmania but given the dramatic rise in ferry costs eg bikes risen from $20 to $90 and the cost of petrol is likely to be around $1.50 per liter average, this could be an expensive holiday compared with a fly/drive option to other tourist destinations. If we could hire a furniture van and put all the bikes in it and fly over we might be better off. Any ideas?

The Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia notes that the proposed Australian Road Rule 151(a) concerning motorcycle “lane splitting” has been withdrawn. The rule has been withdrawn and referred back to the Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group to address the issues raised during public consultation.The MRAA perceives this as an interim victory for motorcyclists across Australia. The MRAA’s co-ordinator for this campaign, Mr John Karmouche, stated that he wished to congratulate all the motorcyclists and organisations who worked to overcome this poorly thought-out proposal.

The number of submissions received was a record for any proposed Australian Road Rule change. The submissions from numerous individuals and organisations including the MRAA, the VACC , RACV and NRMA clearly demonstrated the lack of evidence based thinking behind the proposals and the lack of scientific method throughout.

The MRAA would like to stress that this is the first step in the process. It is to be hoped that following a full evaluation of all the issues around this subject, which must include not only the safety aspects but mobility and congestion issues as well, that any future resubmission by the NTC will recognise the value and seek to have filtering through slow-moving or stationary traffic not only tolerated but explicitly approved.For further information please contact John Karmouche on 0419 359 628 or by email at [email protected].