West/South Gippsland Sunday 8^th October, 2006

Ian Payne (leading)	Honda CBR1000RR	Mark Rigsby (tail)	Suzuki GXSR1000
Ern Reeders	Honda CBR954RR	Nigel Bailey	BMW R12000GS (1^st)
Christian Evans (1^stride)	Yamaha R6

Ben had mapped out one of his loop-the-loops through the rolling hills of Gippsland but had to give preference to the duties of fatherhood instead, heading to Dubbo Zoo and beyond for a week. Ian kindly stepped in to lead.

The Bureau forecast was for occasional showers … which could mean anything. I wasn’t keen on getting my immaculately clean, new second-hand bike, dirty; on the other hand, not riding would have deprived me of the pleasure a new acquisition can bring. So with 70 minutes to get down to Berwick, allowing for a dismal coffee from McCrappé and some pre-ride yarning, I set off.

The signs weren’t good. In the first five minutes the cold seeped into my riding outfit, in the next the first shower came down, and after that, the Burnley tunnel was closed and the St Kilda road turnoff channeled traffic to a nightmare of blocked crossings. Seems a marathon was being run and there was no way to get to the north of the great avenue. After weaving through the ‘urbs I finally got onto the Monash at Warrigal road and made it to Berwick with a minute to spare. After allowing for late-comers, and in the vain hope that soon the rain might stop, the five of us set off down the Princes.

More bad signs. A boys-own collection of firetrucks and ambulances were attending a rolled car. How do you roll a car on a straight stretch of road? Too much partying the night before? And then half a kay down the road was another crash. Go figure.

The morning was spent riding in and out of rain patches but Hughie had left enough dry stretches to allow some intemperate throttle openings. Ian and Mark, however, were forbidden such pleasures as they had new rubber on. Mark was trying out the discounted Metzeler M-1s but conditions were too marginal for an informed judgement. Pity, my pair were ordered and I was wondering what to expect (but thanks for the heads-up on these Mark).

At Loch we refuelled our bodies, yarned a while and split up. Nigel wanted to get back to watch Bathurst (must have an appetite for carnage). I trickled back to home, favouring my ‘web injury’. The Korrumburra – Warragul road was a frustrating mix of dry straights and bends with wet patches. From Neerim Junction to Poweltown the road was unambiguously wet.

I’ve now done 2, 200km on the Blade and have been having a hoot. Definitely a Jekyl and Hide kind of bike. The stock suspension gives a remarkably composed ride, the brakes are powerful but have good feel, and the thing is light enough to pull upright when you stall doing a u-turn in a car park. It is stable at 185 kph with the topbox fitted (on the track), it’s narrow enough to filter through traffic with ease, and there’s plenty of low-range power for commuting (with the standard muffler). The only scary thing so far is that that at high speed on narrow or bumpy sweepers things seem to happen very fast and good concentration is at a premium. The only irritating things are that fine throttle control is needed to avoid license-endangering speed, and that with the stock can at touring speed the bike is too quiet to judge the speed by sound.

Many thanks to Ian for leading and Mark for wearing the safety vest so corner markers could blast off in short order.

Ern Reeders