Dargo via Omeo Weekend MK II

Saturday: I signed up for this ride as soon as it has been put on the club webpage. The day finally arrived and despite the forecast, the sky was blue in the morning with temperature just perfect for a bike ride. I arrived at Berwick and quite a few people were already waiting. I filled up and joined the group. Marty Thompson decided the night before that it would be a good idea to join us for the ride so he did. The rest of the bunch was as per list sent out by Tim.

As I was parking my bike I noticed a dark spot under Pierre’s Ducati. I took a closer look and saw fuel dripping from underneath the tank just past the exhaust pipe. I told Pierre and he tried to seal the leak but with no luck. While Tim was giving his speech, Pierre was on the phone to organize a pick-up for his bike. The fuel was dripping past the pipe while on the side-stand, but when upright it would drip straight on the pipe. This probably might have resulted into quite a fireball after a few kilometres.

We took the M1 until we hit the back roads through Garfield and crossed the M1 again at Longwarry. Usually we turn left into Labertouche Road towards Jindivick, but we kept going straight. This was a road I’ve never been on before, which was nice for a change. A few twisties, but mainly straight bits until we arrived in Tyres for our first break. Cliffy and Rob were missing. Marty and Ben decided to go back to check out what happened but just before their take-off, both Cliff, then Rob arrived and we were complete again. Weather was still perfect and I almost complained about the heat.

This was Kurn’s first ride for quite some time after struggling with injuries and it was good to see him back on the bike.

We left Tyres on the main road out and took the back roads to ride past Lake Glenmaggie. You could see due to the recent rainfalls that the first row of caravans was a lot closer to the shore than usual. Not much time to enjoy the scenery though as we upped the pace.

Lunch and fuel in Briagolong. I was glad to get my boots off and get some air under the leathers. We ate quite a generous feast at the shop mixed with plenty of bike talk. Marty kept most of us entertained while kicking back and cooling down. After about thirty minutes Cliffy reminded us that we still had a ride to do with quite some distance to go.

On the way to Bruthen I noticed a big grey and black cloud ceiling hanging around where we were heading and a few lightening bolts too.

We filled up again in Bruthen where Pina left her bike at the servo to catch a ride with Misho. Something about going fast and adrenalin; just what this stretch was all about. Bruthen – Omeo – Bruthen.

Unfortunately, Marty’s radiator was punctured on the way to Bruthen. He temporarily patched up the leak with some liquid radiator fix at the servo. He wanted to catch up with us later on in Omeo as we were about to leave.

This was the bit I was looking forward to the most on this trip and it didn’t disappoint at all. We left Bruthen and after about five minutes the fun began. We quickly ended up in a little group with Tim leading, Damir, Cliff, Peter, Misho and Pina and I. Hardly any traffic combined with dry roads made for perfect riding conditions. After a couple of minutes into the twisties Peter overtook me, tucked behind his windscreen. Apparently he had some problems with his leather so while tucked behind the screen I was rewarded with a partial view of his undies and ham. Not really the kind of information you need while braking hard and leaning into corners. Sorry Peter, had to write it down as this will be one of the memories I’ll keep from this trip and my therapist said I had to write it down to get on with life ;-)

The big bad clouds we saw earlier were a lot closer now and about twenty minutes after we left Bruthen the roads were wet and rain set in which slowed us down briefly. After only five minutes everything was over and the roads were dry again and we got back into it. Until we got into the rain I was trying to find out who was behind Tim and only in the rain I saw it was Damir; huge riding improvement from him since he joined the club.

As John Willis said at one stage “It’s good to be alive” and he’s bloody right. You just feel alive after you carve through these marvellous country ranges, full concentration, nothing but riding on your mind.

We re-grouped at a look-out and shared our stories from the way in. Tyres looked quite well worn at this stage.

John Willis and Rob Langer left us here as they wanted to take the off-roads into Dargo.

We took off into Omeo where a few stopped for fuel, but I kept going as I had enough to make it back to Bruthen. In Swifts Creek I saw Marty taking off and I rode with him for a while. The rest of the way I was on my own again. I noticed the riding was a lot more cruisey without having company - I wonder why?

We stopped in Bruthen again, filled up the bikes, cleaned the bugs off and had a quick bite to eat. Marty left us here as he didn’t want to be stuck in Dargo with a leaking radiator, which is fair enough.

We took the same route out of Bruthen back to the Dargo turn off, stopping briefly to re-group before the last set of twisties for the day. What a road to finish the day!

Cliff was leading, then Ben, me, Misho and Tim. A few surprises were laid out for us along the way. A little river running across the road mid-corner as well as a tree which fell across the road. Luckily our lane was cleared by a car earlier. The other side was still blocked. Misho later reported he hit a bit of the tree and went sideways for a while.

It was really hard work to keep up with Cliff and Ben into Dargo and during the last third I almost thought this is enough for the day. What a hoot! Smiles all around as we stopped at the River Inn at around 7pm.

John and Rob were already there and had a re-freshening hot shower in one of the cottages. Now there was only cold water left for the rest of us. Tim checked out the Hotel and told us to place orders before the kitchen closes. As we couldn’t pick anything on the menu the majority went for the steak and a cold one. The sun was still out, great scenery around us and a cold beer in your hand after a day of motorcycle riding with your mates. It’s good to be alive!

We had a couple more beers and enjoyed our food. Lyn Duncan and Peter Hill joined us as Ben was staying at the Dargo Store instead of the cottages. As we arrived, a group of teenagers were already quite into the liquor and they didn’t really stop until the next morning. I decided to go for a shower after dinner and was still in my leathers. One of the older blokes on my way back started chatting to me and asked: “What are you here for? Shooting or fishing?” I guess there is nothing else. I enlightened him about the purpose of my clothes and went my way.

John Rousseaux had quite a few interesting and entertaining stories to share that night. He filled in for Marty quite well.

I went to bed at 11 pm and couldn’t really sleep properly. I should’ve used my ear plugs. Those damn teens. The whole night screaming and yelling girls and I’m pretty sure that I heard a chainsaw at one point. Guys were doing circles on the grass with their 4x4’s and whatnot. I was sharing my room with Cliff and I think he had no problems at all.

Sunday: I was already up before the alarm went off and Cliff and I went outside to see John Willis and Kurn. We had a chat about bikes and stuff in the kitchen until it was time for breakfast.

A few of the kids were sleeping under their cars next to the Pub and a few others didn’t bother going to sleep at all and were still walking around with a can in their hand. I hope they are locals and don’t have to drive out today!

We had a good old fashioned Big Breakfast. I’ve never had spaghetti for breakfast before though… this is just weird, guys. Nevertheless, it was just what I needed in the morning to get through the day… or maybe it was the spaghetti that put me into the “whoever-f#*%’s-up-writes-the-article” situation. I know, always blame something else, but we get to that later.

We packed up the bikes and rode into “town” to pick up Ben. We said goodbye to Lyn and Pete and took off into the morning mist. As soon as we started the ascent, we reached the clouds that were hanging above us before. The roads became damp with the occasional drop of rain. Just cruising along was all I had in my mind this early in the morning.

We turned right at the end of the road and went back into Briagolong for fuel. Still damp patches here and there with the sky mostly covered in clouds, but no rain. We rode back the way we came the day before and turned off towards Licola for some nice twisties. The roads here were dry which flicked the switch from cruising into advanced cruising. I like this road more going out. All these steep downhill hairpins where you’re hard on the brakes, accelerate downhill and than on the brakes again. Need to relax more.

We had lunch at Licola and whoever was keen could do the short ride up to the bridge until the road turns into gravel. John Willis, Rob and Damir decided to skip the loop and rest at the shop. First I wanted to stay as well, but then thought I’d just cruise up and down and enjoy the scenery. Cliff, Ben and Misho with Pina on the back overtook me soon enough and I enjoyed the road at a steady pace… sort of.

We stopped after the bridge, took a couple of the pictures with individuals and their bikes and rode back. We met Ross Gellatly in Licola who was on the way out with a couple of his mates. All of us were getting ready to leave as well. I took off somewhere in between and was looking forward to the ride out.

While riding along a couple of magpies took off next to the road and tried to get away from the noisy motorbike. Nothing unusual apart from the fact that they were right in front of me after take-off and didn’t move; neither did I. One of them wrapped his neck around my mirror. His head was hanging over the mirror arm and the body underneath it. I slowed down and he dropped to the ground. The mirror was sprinkled with blood and I had some funny feeling that I would pay for this. Does Karma really exist?

I took off again and quickly forgot the bird. Tim and I were chasing some guy with a trailer who tried to lose us in the twisties. It as quite entertaining; squeaking tyres and the lot. We finally got past and Tim let me pass too. We rode into the second part of the twisties and I was chasing Cliff with Misho behind me.

Before I took off in Licola I had said to myself to take it easy as I was still tired, but that thought went out the window as soon as the twisties started! Quite generous with the throttle position through the corners, I approached a long right hander. I leaned into the corner, the knee-slider hit the deck, the leg got pressed more towards the bike, but I didn’t make any changes. Same throttle position, no movement at all and then the front just went. It happened so quickly. Before I knew what happened I was sliding across the road and into the grass. There was about a two metre drop next to the road where I was dragged down to under my bike. I pulled my leg out from underneath the bike, checked all my body parts and started swearing and cursing myself straight away. I looked at my bike and started swearing even more. Misho had stopped and checked if everything was alright. Peter grabbed the camera and took some pictures for the DVD… definitely want a copy! Not sure if Cliff saw me going down or came back because I wasn’t in his mirror anymore. Pina, the John’s, Rob and Kurn were there as well – I think. Adrenalin was still pumping so I can’t quite remember.

A guy with his kids stopped and offered to help pull the bike out of the ditch. While he was looking for a place to turn around the guy with the trailer who was racing us before passed – great. We pushed the bike up the road before the guy came back and he had to turn around again.

Luckily there was only cosmetic damage. The Oggy Knobs prevented most of the damage. The right mirror and the right indicator were gone. Now the important part; will she start? The key was bent almost 90° in the ignition and after releasing the kill-switch, she started. Phew!

Misho, Pina and I went back to where you could see the skid marks of the front and rear tyre to establish what happened. I think a bit of patched up bitumen together with too much lean angle for the suspension setup and a front tyre past its prime were the main contributing factors. I was running a BT-016 on the front and with only around 1500km on them the sides were already close to the wear indicator. Anyway….MY FAULT! You need to add a new category Ern! J

Thanks to everyone who stayed behind and looked after me. Much appreciated. I was lucky too. I managed to find a place just between the trees and not too steep either.

Still swearing under my helmet we rode back to Tyres to re-fuel and re-group. More pictures were taking by Ben. I decided that I’d had enough excitement for the day. So while the rest of the ride continued on towards Powelltown for the break up, I rode back on the M1 from Moe. My knee started to hurt and I had to stretch it every now and then as the pain built up if bent for too long.

Just after Longwarry North a police car was parked on the side of the Highway. He had just finished saving another ten lives by issuing a ticket for probably doing five kays over the limit and took off straight after I passed him. I thought, “Great”. He will probably stop me and I will have to leave my bike behind and get fined because my mirror and indictor are missing. He took the Nar Nar Goon exit. I arrived home, opened the garage and the wife and sister in-law greeting me. “How was it?” “Well…don’t be mad!” I said.

Thanks Tim for leading this otherwise awesome ride. I had a ball and would do it again anytime! Obviously without coming off. Also thanks to John Rousseaux for his rear rider duties and to everyone who came along and made this trip possible.

P.S.: I rang e-Bike insurance the same day and dropped my bike and gear off at Geoff Taylor’s in Dandenong during the week. A repairable write-off according to the shop which surprised me. The damage is scratched fairings on the left side and the spool for the bike stand was bent out of the swing arm. The guy from the insurance company was quite helpful and everything has gone smoothly so far. He kept me updated with the progress of the claim. Probably doesn’t help anyone anymore as e-Bike doesn’t accept any new clients.

Thanks to Ben for taking all those pictures as the picture with the blood on the mirror helped with the insurance company. Unfortunately, I can’t buy the bike back from the insurance company and have to go through Manheim Auctions to buy it back. Hope I get a good deal!

Probably some time until I will join you guys on the next ride out. Baby is due in a couple of weeks and that probably should occupy me for some time. Take care!

Dennis Lindemann