Bathurst to Mt Hotham and return - 4 days and 1960kms

This is the TwoWheels motorcycle Forum Christmas party (or as it is known the Xmas Partee) trip that I have been waiting for all year.



Day 1, Friday 28th November 2008

5.00am wakeup , bike packed the night before, throw on the tankbag and at 5.45am I'm ready to go meet up with a mate, Turbo, at 6.00am at MacDonalds and commence our trip. I have a tank full of gas, an iPod full of tunes, its clear weather and 4 hours to reach Robertson.



First stop is Goulburn for fuel and a coffee, then on to Robertson to meet up with some Sydney riders before heading down the Kangaroo Valley. At Robertson Pie Shop we sampled the apple pie and cream and a relaxing coffee. We ended up waiting a tad longer than expected because of hold ups with the Sydney crew, but eventually left Robertson at 11.50am, having spent nearly 2 hours there waiting. Whilst waiting it started to rain, so wet weather gear was taken from bags for the trip south. Next stop is Nowra and then on to Ulladulla for lunch, where we had lunch on the balcony of a shopping centre overlooking the harbour and foreshore. Very nice. The rain had stopped by the time we reached Nowra, but the skies were still very grey.

Our line up of bikes at Uladulla.


The shopping centre where we had lunch


The harbour


The lunch crew discussing my healthy mega "hamburger with the lot"


After lunch we headed south through Bateman's Bay to our next stop, Narooma. As we approached narooma, the heavens openned up into a torrential thunderstorm. We were later to find that the storm front stretched from above Tamworth in the north all the way down to the NSW/Victoria border. Once again wet weather clothes were hastily donned on the road side and we rode into Narooma very damp, looking for a place to park out of the storm.

Parked under a disused Dental Practice shop front in Narooma, awaiting the storm to lift


With no sight of the storm abating we decided to head on and kept to the highway rather than take the coast road to Tathra and Merimbula. Next stop is Bega, where we will meet up for our last leg into Merimbula where we will spend the night.

We arrived at Merimbula at 6.30pm where we met up with the other riders who had come down from Sydney and the local area earlier. Altogether there are about 20 of us. The rain had eased and was just spitting. After allocation of our rooms (I was bunking in with Luke - hope he has earplugs !!) we parked the bikes undercover, changed and headed down to the Cantina Tapas and Wine Bar for the evening. This is a great place if you are visiting merimbula - highly recommended - and the Blue Tongue beer is not bad either. The Tapas plate is a specialty and in the cooler months they do an amazing Paella.

Some of the group enjoying the wine, food and comfort of the Cantina


Day 2, Saturday 29th November 2008

6.00am wake up, breakfast (full cooked one) at 7.30am and we are away by 8.30am. Today we are heading to Harrietville in the Victorian Snowy Mountains. Luke tells me that I didn't snore too badly, but then again, he was wearing earplugs.

Spook's Red Honda VFR800F in front of Beast's BMW K1200R

Some of the bikes ready for the road

Even Santa (Beast) made an appearance :)


First stop of the day is Bombala, where we will meet up with a couple more riders before deciding which route we will take southwards. The weather is still overcast and threatens rain, which has been falling on and off all night.

The entourage at the Bombala petrol station


From Bombala it is decided to head down to Cann River via the Monaro (Cann Valley) Highway. This is a great run and it is a fun road to ride. we arrived in Cann River about 10.00ish where we stopped to await some of the slower riders to catch up. The main group headed off whilst a smaller group of five of us waited for the little Honda NSR150 to catch up.

From Cann River we head towards Bruthen along the Princes Highway, where we will have lunch. We take a fuel stop just outside Orbost as the heavens open up again.

As we arrive in Bruthen, the main group is just about to head off up the Great Alpine Road (GAR) towards Omeo. The six of us settle outside the local takeaway for lunch and watch an assortment of motorcycles, including a group of 19 Buells head up the GAR. Once again the rain has stopped but the clouds threaten.

Lunch over, we set off up the GAR towards Omeo, following the Tambo River upstream. This part of the road reminds me of the road from Jindabyne to Thredbo as it follows the Thredbo River. it is very picturesque and a wonderful road for riding. The only pitfall of this road is the number of cyclists on it who insist on riding two abreast on sharp corners. We find this problem all the way to Mt Hotham.

Next stop is Omeo where we stop for fuel before climbing up to Mt Hotham via Dinner Plain and then descend into the valley beyond to Harrietville, where we will be staying for two nights.

Around Dinner Plain the cloud starts to fall and the temperature starts to turn decidedly chilly. we stopped to discuss having a coffee at the Mt Hotham Ski resort, but given the time and weather conditions, we decided to continue on to Harrietville, where a hot shower, beer (and/or wine) and dinner await :)

Spook, Syd and Fletch at Dinner Plain discussing not stopping for a coffee on Mt. Hotham


The weather on top of Mt. Hotham was attrocious. Cloud reduced visibility down to a couple of metres at the most and that as well as some sleet and rain made riding quite hazardous. We crawled over the summit and started our descent, passing snow that remained from the previous weekend's cold snap.

We finally made it to Harrietville at around 5.30pm, where rooms were allocated and bikes parked under verandahs. I was fortunate to be bunked in with Spook and Fletch and hoped they had their earplugs as well. The remaining riders from Victoria arrived at the same time and the full group was there, 37 of us all up. Following a shower, change into street clothes the hotel bar was a very inviting place and much beer and wine was drunk and pizza consumed as everyone caught up.

Bikes parked under the room verandahs




Day 3, Sunday 30th November 2008

0630am wake up with breakfast at 7.30am.
Blue sky, a few white clouds and it looks like a great day for riding.
Today is a play day. A motorcycle suspension specialist from Melbourne has been brought up for the weekend, so some riders will have him take a look at their bikes and tinkle with them, (that's a technical term ! :)) whilst others will go out on rides in the local area. Poor Spook has found that his lovely red VFR has a slow leak in the rear tyre and being a Sunday there is virtually no way he'll be able to get it repaired, so he's stuck at the "base camp" trying to plug and repair it.

Harrietville General Store


The Main Street of Harrietville (The Great Alpine Road)


After breakfast I decide to head back up the mountain to Mt. Hotham and take some required touristy photos. The ride to the top is magnificent and the roads are dry and totally different than the previous night. I thoroughly enjoyed this road today.

On the way up I stopped to take some snaps of the road and surrounding scenery.










On top of Mt. Hotham I ran into a group of our riders about to head off down to Omeo and then up to Angler's Rest for lunch at the Blue Duck Inn. I decided to stay at Mt. Hotham and have a coffee.

The group about to take off for Omeo


The Mt. Hotham Ski Resort


Zirky's Cafe, where I had coffe and walnut slice :) Yum!


A view over the ski fields (without snow)


My bike beside the remaining roadside snow


I made my way down the mountain and caught up with a group of riders heading up to Bright for lunch, following which they were heading across to Mt. Beauty and then up to Falls Creek. i decided to tag along :)

Lunch at Bright after filling up at the BP servo was a pie and diet coke. Beast arrived during lunch, having unfortunatelt run out of petrol just on the entrance to the town and having had to push his Beemer a kilometer to refuel. That is a huge bike to push that far !! Another rider, PistolPete on a sweet sounding Hyosung 650 pulled up just as we were getting ready to leave so he literally threw a pie and drink down and we headed of towards Mt. Beauty. The Tawonga Gap Road between Bright and Mt. Beauty is an absolute brilliant bike road, full of twisting sections and tight 30kph hairpins. The one thing I have learnt from the trip is that Victorian speed advisory warning signs for corners are accurate !!

The view from the Tawonga Gap Lookout towards Falls Creek


Onwards and upwards from Mt. Beauty we climbed up the twisties to Falls Creek, where there was a fair bit of summer rebuilding and maintenance going on. The trip down was reasonably eventful - being caught behind a tourist bus on the way down isn't too flash and then to meet a 4WD towing a monster trailer full of rowing 8s on a hairpin heading up the mountain was an interesting experience :)

The three GS500Fs with JPugz and Miller lined up at Falls Creek Upper Car Park

The day ended back at Hariettville around 4.30 pm. A brilliant day of riding some wonderful roads, with great scenic experiences and I'm feeling slightly knackered. I had time for a long hot shower and then to prepare for the nights Christmas Dinner festivities, during which many fine wines, beers and a Christmas dinner were consumed, many stories told and brazillions of laughs had :)

Day 4, Monday 1st December 2008

Departure day.
6.00am wakeup, packing of bikes, breakfast at 7.30am and hoipefully hitting the road by 8.30am.

Well this day was supposed to see me head back to Merimbula overnight, but family commitments made me reschedule my return to Bathurst to do it all in one day. A number of others were also riding back to Sydney in one day, so Turbo and I decided to cadge along on their ride via Corryong, Dead Horse Gap, Thredbo, Jindabyne, Cooma and Canberra - well that was until it bucketted down the night before and we woke to crappy weather. We decided to take the more direct route home via Albury, Wagga, Cootamundra, Young and Cowra.

Vando already for the road north towards Tamworth via Thredbo.


So bidding all a fond farewell, safe riding and hoping to see them all again soon, we headed up to Bright to refuel before doing the Tawonga Gap Road again to Mt. Beauty, but this time turning NW and heading up towards Wadonga. We ended up in a small group with Stevo, Syd, Emax, Leatherpants, Turbo, Miller and myself. Stevo, Syd and then Emax on the NSR turned off at Wadonga, whilst Turbo, Miller, LP amnd I sought out the local Harley dealership where LP could get his Buell's brake and tryre problems sorted. having taken a cooks tour of Wadonga and then Albury, we finally found the "Tractor" dealership and bid LP a safe journey and Turbo, Miller and I set off northwards.

Turbo and I farewelled Miller at the Olympic Way turnoff just outside Albury and the two of us commenced the final leg home. Just enering Wagga Wagga we encountered our first locusts. lunch in Wagga, refuel and then on the road north we encountered the main swarms and by the time we stopped at Cootamundra, we and the bikes looked quite disgusting.

Turbo's helmet at Cootamundra


My helmet, with embedded passengers - after I cleaned the visor as best as I could.


Just after Cootamundra my throttle lock (a cheap version of a cruise control) decided to break, so I was stuck holding the throttle rather than being able to relax a little with it locked in position. I didn't realise till then how much vibration there was in the handle bars and my right hand started to tingle after a while of riding at "speed limit" speeds :). A coffee stop at Young, refuel and we headed up through Cowra to Blayney, where I waved Turbo goodbye as he headed off to Orange and I completed my trip home, arriving at 6.30pm. I oiled the bikes chain, put it to bed in the garage and was totally rooted !! I must admit, at that point I was not looking forward to unpacking the bags and panniers or the big cleanup of the bike and gear the next day !!

All up 1960 Kms through some absolutely stunning scenery and roads and riding with some fantastic people. Turbo, Luke, Spook and Fletch are legends. I can't wait for the 2009 Xmas Party.

Fitting rear indicator extensions to the GS500F

Well with last than a week to go before my big ride down to Harrietville in the Victorian Snowies, I thought that I should fit my home made indicator extension brackets so that my panniers won't press against the indicators and bend them, wear them etc.

Fabricating the Extension Brackets

I made the indicator brackets a couple of weeks ago from aluminium flat bar bought from Bunnings. I measured the length required, then measured the locking slot that would fit around the Ventura Rack mounting bolt. I cut each piece of metal bar, then marked off the indicator mounting washer shape on each end, drilled, cut and finally filed each of the slots and mounting holes before finally bending the brackets to the required shape. I finally made a couple of backing plates that I would use to hold the bracket in place behind each side of the existing fender holes.

The finished brackets after a couple of coats of black gloss:





Removing the Existing Indicators and Fitting the Extension Brackets

Firstly I removed the Ventura Rack, but left the mounting brackets in place. Then I removed the seat, grab handle and the rear fairing.

I then disconnected the indicator wires from where they connect to the wiring loom. This was simple as they have bullet connectors. I then used some spare wire to fabricate some extensions for the wiring, placing male and female bullet connectors at each end of the wire. This wire would connect the existing indicator wires to the wiring loom, as the existing wires are not long enough when relocated to the extension brackets. The bullet connectors can be bought at Bunnings or any electronics shop.

The extension wires with male and female bullet connectors attached:



The following photographs show the process of installing the extension brackets:

Richmond and Windsor via The Bells Line of Road

Well, I hadn't been out for a long ride in ages, so today I decided to jump on the bike and head over the Bells Line of Road to Richmond and Windsor. It was a great day for riding, not too warm, but then again not cold either. The road was dry and given that I would be heading east in the morning and returning westwards in the afternoon, I was not expecting much traffic on my side of the road.

I stopped at Lithgow for the required morning coffee at the Maccas McCafe. Of note was the lack of other motorcycles today. After filling up at the Caltex Service Station I then headed up Mort Street to join the Bells Line of Road. The climb out of Lithgow is always a nice start to the ride and I was wary of the possibility that there may be Police presence on the road as it has recently gonme through speed zone changes. Passing the ZigZag Railway terminus at Clarence saw a diesel rail car getting ready to take the passengers on the late morning trip down to Lithgow. No police in sight, but still maintining the 80kph. I'm a good boy :)

It was an uneventful ride to Bell with a selection of tunes pumping through the iPod and making the mornin ride a smile provoker. At Bell there is an RTA havey vehicle weighing station and I assume there has been a major oil/petrol/diesel spill there recently as the road is covered in sand for about 50 m either side of the station. I'm not sure what is worse, the diesel or the sand that they throw around to soak it all up !!! Anyway, just after the weigh station there is the only 100kph section of road left on the Bells Line of Road. This section goes for a few kilometres until just before the Mt Wilson turn off, where it becomes a new 80kph zone. This zone then continues through to Bilpin where it becomes 60kph. The speed limits alternate between 80kph and 60kph for the rest of the road into Richmond.

I must say that the changes in the speed limits have made the ride faily ordinary now. The only real reason for travelling the Bell's Line compared with the Great Western Highway would have to be the scenery and the fact that the road is not as heavily used at the GWH nor is there as much urban build up on the road sides. I question the reasoning of the RTA when they made the speed limit between Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens and Mt Wilson 80kph when it contains a fairly lengthy stretch of overtaking lane and is very very similar in its makeup to the remaining 100kph zoned stretch of road. Mind you, the fact that the road between Mt. Tomah and Bilpin is decidedly mediocre in its repair, with very ordinary repaired patches of road that provide a not so smooth ride - perhaps provides the reasoning for the speed reduction to 80 and 60kph. Could it be that instead of repairing the road appropriately the powers that be simply reduced the speed limit because the road has not been maintained adequately??? Hmmmm

Anyway, enough grumbles. I passed quite a few fellow motorcyclists heading westwards, nodded or waved to all and receive a fair few nods and waves in return. Quite a few dual sport machines out today - particularly the big BMW GSs.

I took the required photo of my bike at the foot of the Mt Tomah hill ......

........ and then continued down past Bells Hill and Kurajong to Richmond and then Windsor. There was little activity at RAAF Richmond as I passed by, with a numb er of C130s parked outside on the ramp with a P3 Orion also there. There was also a couple of gliders using the field.

In to Windsor, where I parked near the Market and had a wander through it before having a bite of lunch (Pie and Coffee, what else???) and then heading back the way I had come. The ride home was uneventful, the traffic very light and again, no police seen until the GWH between Lithgow and Bathurst when two HWP cars went past in the space of a few Kms. I'm sure they do that on purpose to catch the unwary driver or rider. I tend to look for the second one these days and more often than not, there he is a few Kms behind the first. Sneaky buggers :)

Anyway, another brilliant day on the bike, just over 250kms travelled, so not a long ride, but any ride is a good ride :) I now have eleven days before my big trip down to Merimbula and Harrietville for the TW Forum Christmas Party - so I expect that will be my next report. Till then, ride safe :)

A trip to the Mountains

Such a great weekend for riding, I couldn't stop myself hitting the road today for a ride into the Blue Mountains. Its been a few weeks since I got out dor a decent ride, but as I'll be out again next week on the Motorcycle Awareness Week ride to Molomg here in the NSW Central West, I thought I'd make today's ride a shortish one.

I decided to head east from Bathurst to Oberon and then join the Jenolan Caves Road to Hartley, before doubling back to Lithgow for a coffee. From Lithgow I would take the Great Western Highway (GWH) back to Hartley and then to Mt Victoria and then Blackheath. The return journey would be from Blackheath to Mt Victoria, then take the causeway across to Bell, joining the Bells Line of Road to Lithgow and then home to Bathurst via the Great Western Highway again.

The route taken:


The ride from Bathurst to Oberon and then Lithgow was uneventful, but highly enjoyable as always, apart from the profusion of bugs. Its flowering time in the Canola fields and if its not bees and white moths and butterflies, its other winged bugs that gat splattered across the front of the bike, the visor and my leather jacket. I had my ipod in, so I was riding to the likes of ACDC's Back in Black and a variety of other rock road songs.

After a coffee at Lithgow MacDonalds (which is getting more and more slack as far as service goes these days - very disappointed !!) I made my way back along the GWH to Hartley historic village. This is a very pretty historical village and definitely worth a stop and explore.

A map of Hartley Village


Ivy Cottage and The Shamrock Inn
Ivy Cottage was built in 1845 and was the Police Magistrates house until fire destroyed it in the 1890s. In 1930 it was rebuilt and re-roofed and is today a private residence.
The Shamrock Inn (to the right of Ivy Cottage) was built in the 1840s as a private residence, but with increased traffic to the Turon Goldfields, was converted and expanded to be an In in the 1860s. After it ceased being an Inn, it reverted back to being a private residence. It is unoccupied today and demonstrates the type of building construction used between the 1840s and 1860s



St Bernard's Catholic Church and Presbytery
St Bernard's was completed in 1848, the money for its construction beig nraised by the predominantly Catholic local community. it is still a consecrated Church and is popular today for weddings and other specisl services. Mass however is seldom held.

The Catholic Presbytery was completed in the 1850s and this sandstone building housed St Bernard's priests. The doorway under the buildings left side was the only entrance to the kitchen and all meals had to be carried to the Presbytery dining room via the outside staircase.



The Court House

The Hartley Court House, completed in 1837, was designed in the Greek Revival style, as can be seen by the columns outside the main entrance. Petty crimes were heard in the courthouse until 1887 when the function was transferred to the courts in nearby Lithgow.



From Hartley I headed east, up the Victoria Pass, a nice climbing road with a couple of tightish corners, to Mt Victoria. I contemplated stopping here for lunch at the very grand Imperial Hotel, but decided to forge on to Blackheath. I stopped at Blackheath's Victory Theatre Cafe for lunch, well coffee and cake :)

The Victory Theatre, Antique Centre & Cafe, Blackheath.


After my lunch, I headed down to one of Blackheath's amazing lookouts, Govett's Leap Lookout, perched on the northen side of the Blue Mountains main "spine" and looking out over the Govett's Leap waterfall.

Views from Govett's Leap Lookout





From Govett's Leap, returning to Blackheath, I came across another strange animal cautionary road sign seen often in Australia.............



Another lookout, or rather two lookouts side by side, worth a visit in Blackheath are the Valley View and Evan's Lookouts, accessible via a side road on the east end of town. These two lookouts provide some great vistas of the canyons and Grose Valley below and the shear sandstone cliffs that make the Blue Mountains such a wonderous place to visit.



The area around these two lookouts was covered in wild flowers, including the local NSW Waratah, wild Irises and Broad-Leaf Drumsticks.

Wildflowers - Broad-Leaf Drumsticks



From Blackheath I retraced my route to Mt. Victoria, where I turned off the main highway onto the casueway road linking Mt. Victoria with Bell. The road is about 10Kms and joins up with the Bell's Line of Road. If you turn right you head back towards Sydney via the Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens and the little village of Mt Wilson. Turning right, as I did, takes you back to Lithgow via Clarence and the ZigZag Railway main terminus.

The road from Mt Victoria to Bell is a decent road, but watch out for the speedlimits. Likewise the Bell's Line of Road is also a good road, but soon speed limit changes will take effect, reducing the 100kph sections to 80kph and the 80kph sections to 60 or 70 kph. The Bell's Line of Road is highly policed and this was borne out today with two Highway Patrol cars at Clarence in the 80kph zone. From Lithgow it was straight home along the GWH to Bathurst. After leaving home at 10.00am I got back at 3.00pm with a little under 300kms travelled in total.