Lake Mountain II Sunday 20^th September, 2009

Paul Southwell (leader)	Honda CBR1000	Brett Richards (1^st ride)	Yamaha R1
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6
Chris Tran	Honda CBR1000	Cameron Stevens	Yamaha FZ6
Peter Jones	Honda CBR1000	Paul Drakeley (1^st ride)	Triumph 675
Ron Johnston	Honda CBF1000	Stuart Forster	Triumph 675
Brien Armstrong	Honda VTR1000	Graeme Tuckerman (1^st ride)	Triumph 675
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Adam Wright (1^st ride)	Triumph 675
Dennis Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Dave Ward (rear)	Kawasaki Z1000
Ha Du	Honda CBR600	Clifford Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Dave Williams (2^nd ride)	Honda CBR600	Viet Nguyen (3^rd ride)	Kawasaki ZX6
Tony Copson (1^st ride)	Honda RVF400	Stephane Boucard (2^nd ride)	Suzuki GSXR750
Jared Wade	Triumph 955i	Anthimus Papadopoulos (1^st ride)	Suzuki GF600

Email from first time rider, Adam Wright, who felt compelled to put pen to paper, providing good feedback. …Ed.) Hello Ben, it’s Adam Wright here. I came on the Lake Mountain ride last Sunday. It was my first ride with the Club and I remembered that you had asked for some one to write a short paragraph about the ride. I'm not sure if someone has already done this for you but I thought I would take the liberty of sending you one just in case. I had a lot of fun on the ride and can’t wait to come out with the Club again.

On Sunday the 20^th of September one of the biggest groups of rides that the club has seen in a while set off from Berwick and wound its way through Harkaway, Upper Beaconsfield, Cockatoo, Upper Packenham and Gembrook to make its way to the first stop in Warburton where the group was able to get a quick caffeine hit, refuel and meet some of the new faces that had appeared on the ride.

From Warburton the group wound its way through some more of Victoria’s beautiful scenery along some incredible roads including the Reefton Spur, which was in fantastic condition, and up to the top of Lake Mountain for a quick photo opportunity. Then back down the mountain in to Marysville for lunch and another chance to indulge in the fantastic company on the ride. After a relaxing lunch, the group then set off through the Black Spur to finish up in Healesville. All up it was a neat and well paced 190 km with beautiful scenery and fantastic company in what turned out to be perfect weather. Some might even say it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday, or any day for that matter.

Adam Wright

Email from Brien Armstrong, Monday 21^st September Hi Ben, Just to update you as to the crash that I suffered on Sunday. It was just 4 kms from St Andrews and we had finished the tight twisty bit from Kinglake and descended into the valley.  Ha was in front with Chris Tran (CBR1000) and Viet (ZX6) at the back.  We came down a descent to a 90 degree right hander and I was only travelling at around 60-70kph.  I wanted to feather the brake to scrub off around 10 km/h and back off from behind Ha.  As soon as I touched the brake lever, the bars shook violently so I released the brake but knew that something was wrong.  I started to tip the bike in and used one finger to give the brake lever a really light touch to scrape off the 10 km/h or so that I wanted to lose when the bike just tucked under and went down hard.  It felt just like I'd hit a patch of oil, although the road and tyre were both clean.  I slid for about 10-15metres and stopped in a hollow just off the seal.  I'd hit the road hard with my right elbow and hip and was sore but more confused as to the reason for the crash. 

The right hand brake lever was gone, the rearset had broken and the rear brake lever was bent inwards.  There was no right hand indicator and the screen was broken.  The fairings are all scratched as well as the muffler and the tank has a large dent in it.  All in all, I'm gutted as I had just spent the last week getting the front suspension done and had just experienced 250 of the best kilometres that I had ridden on that bike.  For this to happen when I was 'cruising', within a few kilometres of St Andrews was gutting and I may have lost the 'flying banana' to the insurers.

I still don't know why the steering wobbled when I braked, although I hear that it can be 'differential' braking caused by an air bubble (why would this happen after 250 kms of fast ride?) or steering head bearings (more likely).  I have a suspicion that something broke, as the front wheel buckled during the accident which strikes me as unusual for a low speed crash.

I would like to thank Ha, Chris and Viet for stopping with me for an hour to wait for the tow truck.  It’s always reassuring to have some people around just after an 'off' just in case there's any concussion etc.

Ha took a photo of the damage and I have found a decent repairer who will assess the damage.  I think it’s borderline write-off and wondered if you had any advice as to progressing through the whole insurance/crash repair process. I will try to get some more photos from the mechanic and send them to you all for a laugh.  I don't think I'll be at the meeting as I'm working from NZ for that week.  I'll see how quickly the insurance gets turned around, get the money (or the repaired bike back) before I get out on another ride. See you soon.

Ben’s email response: Pina Garasi rang me last night to inform me of your crash which I am very sad to hear of – but happy you are walking and speaking. Thanks for the update. A number of people want to know what happened.

The road is very tricky and very dangerous. I think I know the corner. My suspicion is that there are bumps preceding and mid-corner. Also the corner is off camber such that the slightest braking will overload the front gip. How worn was the front tyre?  Also, with suspension work, how much compression damping was there – too much will also overload the grip earlier than expected. Did you up the spring rate?

Front wheel buckled? Sounds like you hit a rock, though it may have buckled after you were on the ground as a result of whatever the bike finished up hitting.

With respect to insurance, I would think the bike is a write-off – tank plus cosmetics equals write-off. Throw in scratches to the frame and it will certainly be written off.

I went down the same road, maybe only a minute before you. I was following Chris, Viet and Ha. At the roundabout in Kinglake West they went straight (and then doubled back), while I turned down the St Andrew’s road immediately.

I have passed on your thanks to Ha. We’ll catch up with Chris and Viet next ride and note your appreciation of their time and company. Any crash you walk away from is a good crash.  The bike is gone. Maybe look at a CBR600 for better handling characteristics out of the box. Or be prepared to fix whatever you get next.

You’ll be most sore tomorrow! I look forward to seeing you soon. Enjoy NZ.