Who’s News                January 2009

 

The Club web site at www.melbsportsbike.net.au accumulated 664 hits during December, up 45 on last month. Total visits are 49,341 since April 1996. The counters on the other pages after another month indicate that the 2009 Calendar page took 546 hits (total 903 since 28th October 2008) and Great Roads totals 542.

Photo Link. I am trying various methods of distributing photos. Last week I emailed out a link to the Jindabyne photos via SnapFish, an HP subsidiary primarily set up to sell photos but having the facility to share with friends. I purchased two sets (56 photos, $8.35 inc $2.95 postage) over the net which hopefully will come this week. It is a smart program and sensed the photos were from a digital camera and asked whether I would like the appropriate print size compatible with digital cameras – which avoids the nasty cropping. Brilliant!  Of course, the downsize is that the resolution from a PC is poor compared to Jalbum which I used to load previous lots of photos, currently residing in the Members area, care of my local server. Hence, you can’t print effectively from SnapFish – unless you purchase which uses the original large size.  Gotcha! Sorry Barb. I am looking at Google as the next test.

Spare stator. Speaking of web purchases, I took the plunge and purchased an aftermarket stator from America, taking the cheapest postage option. It arrived 7 days later, perfectly packaged, ready to go.  Why? you may ask.  Hondas eat stators after high kilometres. Mine seen to fail in the 60-80,000 range. Paul Southwell’s CBR1000 did one at 35,000 km. I had three fail on the 929 and am on the second on the 954, the current one already with 60,000 km on it. I don’t want it to fail in Tassy, so purchased a spare one to appease the gods.  Why not buy local?  Cost. $139USD plus $21 postage compared to about $450 AUD. It will be interesting to see what the final price is with the Australian dollar devaluing a cent a day for the last week. It still should be about half price.

Seen at the Social Sip at Mark’s Place, Thursday 8th January 2009:  Ian Payne, Ben and Julie Warden, Trevor Harris and Barbara Rolfe, Dave Ward and Bronwyn Manifold, Lyn Duncan, Jacinta Thomas, Kurn Bridgeman, Tim Emons, Dennis Lindemann, Ron Johnston, Brian Wright, Rob Langer, and Stoimen, Vittoria and Nadia Stojanov on push bikes. 18 people. A fair swag of these people were at the Christmas Camp, so it was good to catch up again and relive the good times we shared while at camp.

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.

The count is for the 2008/9 year ending at the 2009 AGM in May (?). The count after nine months is Ben Warden (75), Pina Garasi (61), Ron Johnston (54), Ian Payne (51), Paul Southwell (51), Dave Ward (46.5), Misho Zrakic (41), Geoff Jones (32.5) Ken Goederee (35), with Cliff Peters (32).  No movement relatively at all this month though Paul has now caught Ian.

Front Cover: Taken on the Powelltown Road on the Loch Ride, 11th January. We were stopped by the police due to a fatality further up the road – motorcyclist hit 4WD doing a U-turn mid-corner. Not speeding, family man, riding with mates according Dave Ward. Twenty six bikes and 27 people made for a huge ride. Left to right. Front row: Ken Goederee, Ron Johnston, Cliff Peters, Ern Reeders, Bronwyn Manifold, Dave Ward, Henry Wright, Kurn Bridgeman. Middle row: Bruce Fleming, John Rousseaux, Kate Stewart, Pina Garasi, Misho Zrakic, Rob Langer, Tim Emons, Matthew Egan, Rick Chambers. Back row: Ian Payne, Paul Southwell, Michael Srb, Frank Makryllos, Glen Morley, Brett Chambers.

Email from Pina re kangaroo strike 23/1 All is good; no harm to me at all. Wasn’t rattled much as seen this sort of thing happen before (about 9 months ago Misho has an incident with a kangaroo which I witnessed) and already have heard about several kangaroo-collision episodes. I guess one of the great things about riding with this club is that you get exposed to many incidents that can occur to a bike rider and increases your awareness so that it doesn’t come as a shock if it happens to you.

Bike already at repairer waiting for insurance assessment; after talking with the repairer, we decided to not “patch” the bike up (screen; nose cone, front guard, radiator) so it can run for the Jindabyne weekend but decided it best if the assessor saw the bike as is as it had ‘vital’ evidence still attached… i.e. kangaroo fur imbedded in front tyre and in the guard!

Misho will most kindly take me for the long weekend as a pillion (feel a bit sorry that I’m taking a bit of the fun of the ride away from him by doing this but I would go a little crazy if I didn’t come).

Looking forward to us all being together this long weekend…

Email from Stoimen 21/1 contained a picture of himself and daughter Nadia standing proudly behind his new toy, a red Ducati Monster. First ride: down to Lygon St for a coffee with Vittoria!

Bike for Sale Black 2002 Ducati 900 Monster, 12,500 kms, very good condition, always garaged, new battery, luggage system $11,500 Rego: BF866 until February 2010. Contact Kathryn on 0432-424-395.

Ian Payne crashed his new CBR1000 on the Loch ride avoiding a downed bike and rider, Lee Solomon on his fourth Club ride, riding a CBR600.  Lee’s bike was unrideable, Ian’s “minor cosmetic” and rideable. Both riders were unhurt apart from the usual scrapes and bruises. We wish them a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing them back out on rides. (Ian is riding.)

BMW clutches are failing at a rapid rate of knots, first Geoff Shugg on his K1200RS, now Rob Langer’s R1150GS. Geoff was left stranded at the side of the road and Rob limped home.

Welcome to new rider John Rousseaux riding the ubiquitous Honda CBR1000. An ex-racer banged up on the road pretty badly, he is just getting back to riding on the road. Plenty of aches and pains as the metal pins and screws make their presence felt. He is riding solo more often now as Kate Stewart is engulfed in studies, an easier proposition on the body. We wish him many pleasurable and safe rides with the club.

We picked up a couple of potential members on the Jindabyne Epic Ride. Rod Boulter riding a Suzuki DL1000 VStrom was a welcome and competent addition to the touring party, enjoying the weekend away immensely, particularly the dirt sections. On the last day he went “over the top” heading straight for Buchan.

In the same vein, Tony Stegmar on the new orange Hayabusa joined us. He was on the gas hard out of corners and his tyres were shot by day 2, so rested Day 3 and limped in to Albury Day 4 for a new rear.  Muscling 230 kg around eighty kilometers of twisty roads north of Orbost on Day 1 brought new meaning to the term “fatigue”. It was hard enough on a light sports bike!  But determination got him through.

While away at Jindabyne, Peter Jones lead a normal Sunday ride to Eildon. The break-up point was at Kinglake West and Toby Quin (Triumph 675) on his second ride headed off down the St Andrews road only to run wide, hit a car and crash, not necessarily on that order. A few of our riders were soon on the scene, as was a motorcycle and vehicular police, fire brigade and ambulance. The bike was a write-off and Toby was taken to hospital for observation. We don’t think any serious injuries were sustained. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him out riding again.

Herald Sun 30/1......MOTORCYCLE riders are the target of a new two-year police campaign aimed at cutting their death rate on Victorian roads. Assistant Commissioner Ken Lay said while motorcyclists made up only 4 per cent of road users, they were over-represented in road accidents, making up 13 per cent of the 2008 road toll. Police Minister Bob Cameron said it was vital to get the message about motorcycle safety on the roads out to riders and drivers alike. He said an additional 10 marked and covert police motorcycles would put the focus on more areas across the state. "This is not just about enforcement, it's about deterrents and education," he said. "So it's about engaging with motorcyclists rather than the traditional approach of a stand-off between motorcyclists and police."

The new campaign was launched after a biker was clocked at 212 km/h earlier this week. Under the new safety program, there will be five state-wide operations and 10 regional operations a year. Mr Lay said the first operation over the Australia Day weekend focused on riders in the Yarra Ranges. The Yellow Flag Black Flag operation intercepted 623 motorcyclists and 144 drivers. Mr Lay was disappointed that such a high number were intercepted, but said the opportunity for police to educate riders was a positive aspect.

"The aim of these high-visibility operations is not solely for police to go out and book as many motorcyclists or drivers breaking the law as possible," he said. "Unfortunately a large number of motorcycle fatalities and collisions are due to rider error: speeding or travelling too fast for their skill level, "overcooking" a corner, or disobeying the road rules." Mr Cameron and Mr Lay were joined yesterday by the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Committee chairman Neil O'Keefe to launch the new program.