Mt Donna Buang Sunday 28^th October, 2007

Willem Vandeveld (2^nd ride)	Honda ST1300	Peter Jones	Yamaha R1
Paul Punicki	Honda CBR1100XX	Sam Sirianni	Yamaha R1
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Pina Garasi (1/2 rear)	Yamaha R6
Ian Payne	Honda CBR1000	Misho Zrakic	Suzuki GSXR750
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Bernie Foley (2^nd ride)	Suzuki GSXR600
Renzo Cunico	Honda VFR750	Darryn Webster	Triumph 675
Dave Ward (leader)	Honda CBR600	Nic Jacka (1/2 rear)	Hyosung GT250

It was encouraging to see both Bernie and Willem back for a second ride after last week’s tough ride to Archies Creek which consisted of 300 km of hard twisty road riding. Clearly it didn’t put them off, no matter how tired they were by the end of the ride. Bernie had been recommended to us by Craig Morley. They drive trucks for the same firm. Willem, formerly an engineer in the British airline industry, has an interesting story to tell. He is too old for permanent residency or work visa via the usual methods; instead the Australian Government expects him to pay $750,000 to them up front – on which he keeps the interest. After 4 years, he must provide them with the same amount of money again. Yet he can’t work. So he is looking to ride with people like us! While figuring out how to negotiate the bureaucracies.

Fourteen bikes and riders always looks like a lot and it is when you have to capture their In Case of Emergency (ICE) details. I was pleasantly surprised to see Sam Sirianni out riding with us, a former stalwart member lost to family and work commitments for a period of years – but not forgotten! We spent five and a half weeks riding up to Cape York together, came back and both got pregnant – so that would be 14 years ago including gestation period. Fiona Warden and Corey Sirianni are now 13 and at secondary school. Sam had such a good day, he is considering rejoining, especially after Dave got into his ear about Phillip Island ride days and upcoming club rides.

The Hondas were out in force with Dave finally seeing the light! And with him working daylight hours, we have seen more of him in the last year than the 10 before that! Ian added to the count, his first time back since the Strathbogie ride way back in mid-September.

Dave outlined the route for the day and we were off. Back in to Berwick and around Harkaway to Upper Beaconsfield via a string of good roads, first put together by Ian many years ago. On to Belgrave dodging the leaf litter, sticks and occasional fallen branch. A fierce wind had been blowing all night and there was evidence of trees having fallen across the road and then cleaned up by the SES. Lots of sawdust and some times the branches were just pushed off the road. Sticky, low profile tyres are easily kicked off line by the debris, moderating speeds, lowering the confidence level a smidge, particularly when the front stepped out a couple of times. But knowing the cause of the mis-handling and the repeated occurrences built up some sort of apathy – just avoid the bigger branches and let the bike do its thing. No problems.

On to Yarra Junction and Warburton Bakery for first break after 110 km. The wind was still gusting and when a ladder came crashing down, Paul Punicki thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t parked any closer. How it missed the car was plain just good luck. And when the aircon service technician on the bakery roof wanted to get down sometime later, a number of mischievous options were canvassed, before Ben reinstated the ladder. We just hope he was insured.

On to the Reefton, a regroup at the top, and down to Marysville for the official fuel and lunch break. This time we sat up the hill outside the coffee shop. Lots of talk revolved around preparation for the Melbourne Cup extravaganza, an epic in the making. Tyres, of course were a key talking point. Peter Jones, where once his tyres lasted 7,000 before he began riding with us, now was lucky to see 3500 km. And with 1000 km on his “new” tyres, would they even last the whole Melbourne Cup weekend was debateable, particularly as tyre wear would likely be even worse than usual given the course type bitumen usually encountered. I think we convinced him to change them. Of course, the ability to cover the long distances each day, was also a concern for Peter. I suggested that there were a number of short cuts each day which could be tailored to suit. Bike fitness plays a role on these big rides, but with regular stops, it is normally not a problem.

The Black Spur impressed Bernie with its smoothness and well maintained feel. He loved it. Alas, we didn’t show the cars too much respect, making rapid progress in the perfect, wind sheltered conditions.

From Healesville we headed up Myers Creek Road to Toolangi and on to Kinglake, St Andrews, Kangaroo Ground and Warrandyte with a dozen of us piling into the local coffee shop, rearranging the chairs and tables to our liking. Ian and Sam had departed at Healesville, the ride heading away from their homes at this point.

While seated enjoying a mug of hot chocolate, Robbie Langer chuffed in. I had spoken to him at Healesville while corner marking. He had been out playing in the Toolangi Hills on his knobby shod BMW 1200GS. He’ll be on the Cup weekend with a new set of road tyres.

Rear riding duties had been performed, for the first half, by Nic Jacka. From Warburton, Pina took over the rear riding duties. Late to motorcycling, she is keen to improve her skills. I started filling her head with basic riding tricks – road positioning at corner entry, counter steering, eyes on the horizon. We had a nose to tail session at the start of the Reefton before I waved and decamped. Dave had already tried to stiffen up the damping on her bike, and now at Warrandyte I went up another half click rebound on the front forks, remembering the R6 has conventional, not upside down forks. But, rider feedback at the end of the day is effectively useless as you feel every bump, no matter how plush or otherwise the suspension is. And the late model R6 is not exactly designed for comfort, but rather is known as a track “weapon”. I can only hope the bike felt easier to ride than it did before. Professional help is the only real answer.

The day was nearly done. Nic, Misho, Pina and I made our way across to Springvale Road, reminding me of the days when we used to start at Kings Bridge Car Park and have the secondary meeting point at Yarra Glen and sometimes I would bring the troops out this way via Warrandyte. An hour was lost just getting to the secondary pick-up. But the route all came back, even in reverse.

At the Freeway Pina continued down Springvale Road. The three musketeers picked up the Eastern Freeway, frightened by Mr Plod near the Chandler Highway, wary of speed cameras up Princes St, then onto the Tullarmarine Freeway and out to the Zrakic family home to inspect a certain yellow 1997 CBR600. A test ride was the order of the day before Nic made the final commitment. A price was agreed, a process put in place, and by Christmas we should see Nic on new wheels, once his probationary period expires.

Thanks Dave for a great ride. It was a change not to be leading, and all the responsibility that entails. I was able just to enjoy the roads and go with the flow, corner marking occasionally. Thanks to Nic and Pina for rear riding, and the rest of the riders who provided an incident free day, and judging by the amount of time spent at the final coffee stop, didn’t want the day to end!

The old CBR954 clocked over 92,000 km part way through the ride. It looks like a fresh set of tyres is the go for the weekend as the last couple of rides have really chewed into my Pilot Powers. And with Misho picking up the tyres Dave advertised which need fitting, it could be a big night on the tyre machine. The compressor is going well thanks Lyn. And the wheel balancer is perfect thanks Geoff.

Ben Warden