Daylesford 13^th January, 2008

Ron Solomon	Yamaha R1	Trevor Harris (Leader)	Yamaha YZF1000R
Willem Vandeveld	Honda ST1300	Ern Reeders	Honda CBR954RR
Tony Saccuzzo	Kawasaki ZX-7R	Jean Eldridge	Suzuki GSF250
Danny Hain (1^st ride)	Honda CBR600	Misho Zrakic	Suzuki GSX-R750
Dennis Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Dave Ward	Ducati 1098
Damian Markovic	Kawasaki ZX10	Renzo Cunico	Ducati 916
Paul Stavrakas	Honda CBR1000RR	Ben Warden	Honda CBR954RR
Andrew Iskander (1^st ride)	Suzuki TL1000R	Ian Payne	Honda CBR1000RR
Pina Garasi (Rear 3)	Yamaha R6	Darryn Webster	Triumph 675
Rob Langer (Rear 2)	BMW R1150GS	Nic Jacka	Honda CBR600F
Bronwyn Manifold (Rear 1)	Honda CBR600RR	Randall Leacock	Kawasaki ZX9
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000RR		23 bikes, 23 people

What a roll-up! Twenty-three riders with only two first timers. Trevor was going to have his hands full keeping this lot honest, I thought.

It was a near perfect day for a ride. No rain and the temperature below 30. We started from Whittlesea and headed up the hill to Kinglake West and on to Flowerdale, then across to Strath Creek and Broadford heading for the Wallan Bakery via the Broadford Wandong road. They say it’s only used by the locals and speed camera operators.

After pies and cakes for some, we headed west for the planned stop in Daylesford. Unfortunately this leg was the undoing of Dave Ward’s beautiful Ducati 1098. Somehow a rock found its way past the Ducati defences (probably on Straws Lane, heading up the back of Mt Macedon …Ed.) and punched a hole in the radiator. Dave limped home from Woodend, Darryn and Bronwyn in tow.

It’s interesting that in recent times there hasn’t been a holed radiator on a Club run. However, we had two incidents of holed radiators on this ride. Danny Hain was the other statistic. His new black 600RR looked a bit sad with its left side completely covered with dried coolant. Two weeks later, Danny informed me it cost $40 to repair; not bad. Hopefully, Dave’s will be similar. But being a Ducati it’s probably an insult for something to cost less than $200.

Meanwhile the rest of us have pushed on to Daylesford for lunch. As usual Daylesford is packed with tourists up for the local Sunday market and all things Daylesford. Here the Club learnt a valuable lesson; don’t sit down at one of the local café/restaurants and expect a) to be served quickly and b) to get a meal in a hurry. The message is stick with something simple i.e. salad roll, or, if you are young enough, a pie.

After lunch we found a few of the better back roads through Spring Hill and Kyneton. Going down the Burke and Wills track is getting better all the time. But a word of caution: always keep an eye out for the locals coming out of driveways or forgetting something and throwing a U-turn when it pleases them.

After stopping at Lancefield for fuel and a short break, we were able to pick up the pace a little. Travelling through Pyalong I caught up with Paul Stavrakas and Damian on a couple of other litre bikes. We were able to have a bit of fun on the road to Tallarook. After that the ride covered familiar territory through Strath Creek, Flowerdale breaking up in Kinglake West.

(Ben helped Danny with his badly leaking radiator by heading to Whittlesea and purchasing a bottle of Stop Leak ($15). On his return (everyone else disappeared) Danny had the fairing panels off to gain access to the radiator filler cap. Gunk emptied in, motor brought up to temperature and thermostat opened saw leak much improved. We headed down to Whittlesea for fuel. The leak had slowed but not stopped. He made it home okay to Yallambie. A large contingent, Misho and Pina included, had headed over to the Black Spur for more fun, still buzzed-up from the day’s ride. …Ed.)

Trevor sent me through a footnote after the ride. He filled up at Lancefield after 282 km, putting in 16.0 litres. This works out to be 50mpg or 17.6k/l.  Not bad! Looks like Yamahas are the Club’s carbon offset.

Thanks Trevor for leading and all three rear riders.

Paul Southwell