Ramblings of a Middle Aged Motorcyclist

Ever had one of those great days .....

2009-03-22T16:39:00.003+11:00

Ever had one of those great days......

Well this morning, with the rest of the family getting over their Relay for Life aches and pains, I decided to head downtown for a coffee at 10.00 and then go for a blat around the Mount, seeing as it was such a beautiful day.

So, after coffee I headed up the Mount, joined by a large number of people in cars and on bikes with a similar intention. I can still hear a friend on his Triumph Speed Triple heading up Mountain Straight and the climbing turns onto the top of the Mount at a Rally last year :)

Just a few pics to give those who haven't seen Mount Panorama before a little taste :)

Bottom of Conrod into The Chase

GMC Bridge with the Resort on the right. When will they open that???

Pit entrance road looking up to the top of the Mount

Anyway, having gone around the Mountain a couple of times (as one does), I decided that maybe I should go home via one of my motorcycle riding mate's backroad to his village, Eglinton, which branches off the Sofala Road. I got to the Eglinton turnoff and it was such a great day .. oh what the hell, I'll head out towards Sofala to Wiagdon and do the twisties out there ... :)

The road leaving Peel, big right hand sweeper :)

Couldn't resist this shot, nothing like Central West kangaroos !! :)

Got to Wiagdon, down to third and second and I hit the twisties climbing up to the top. What the hell, Sofala isn't far. How much fuel do I have? Should be OK to get back... and away I go :)

Main Street, Sofala

There were about 10 bikes in Sofala, all Harley's with their riders (and most had pillions as well), sipping coffee at the cafes.

Damn its a great day, maybe I should continue on to Ilford, I mean it is such a great day :)
About 10kms out of Ilford, the road crosses the ridgeline and between the trees is this great view of the hills and mountains over towards Kandos. I had to turn around to go back and take the shot (hence why the bike is facing the wrong way :)).

So on to Ilford with the Odometer reading 250kms when I got there and its 70kms to Lithgow. Ah what the hell, why not. A nice leisurely cruise down the road to Lithgow, through Capertee, the Bullens (Ben and Cullen), and past the power stations at Portland and Walerawang. Heading into one of the Bullens I was passed quite vigourously by a Randy Mamola replica BMW R1100S (very nice) and a BMW R1200GS. They turned off towards Portland and I'm sure it was the owner of a local Music shop here in Bathurst. He has a small collection of Beemers including a Randy Mamola replica. Past a group of bikes outside the pub, including a nice silver Sprint ST (drool), a wave to their riders awaiting lunch on the verandah and I'm off towards Lithgow.

I arrived at Lithgow with 320Kms on the odo and decided it was best to fill up first before thinking about lunch. Damn my bike is good. It only needed 14 litres and I still had 6 litres in the tank - another 130 Kms. Not to forget that the first 160kms or so travelled was in and around Bathurst over the past week ......... not too bad :) I think I'm going to notice the change in economy when I eventually upgrade from the GS500.

Anyway, by this stage its just gone 1.30pm and its lunch time, so I grab a sandwich and a coffee before heading along the highway back to Bathurst, finally getting home at 3.00pm with one very big grin on my face :)

I'll have to have a coffee and blat around the Mountain again ... soon !!

Ever had one of those great days .........

Yogi's Bucko Ride 2009

2009-03-08T15:02:00.003+11:00

Well, today was the day that the Sydney riders from the TwoWheels Forum were going to have a ride to remember our departed young legend Bucko, who tragically left us just over a year ago. I couldn't get down to Sydney for the ride, but finding myself with an unexpected short "ticket of leave" for an hour or so, I decided to head out on my own mini rememberance ride on a few of my own favourite motorcycling roads in the local area.

Here's a map of my route, leaving Bathurst on the red route and returning on the pruple one.

I left Bathurst, heading south down the Perthville, following the old Vale circuit for half of its length, via orton Park then on to Lagoon and O'Connell. From O'Connell I headed to Tarana. I love that part of the road where it follows the river about 5kms from O'Connell. I can see myself on the banks of the river there, flicking my fly rod over the ponds. On towards Tarana, down a lovely straight decsnding piece of road over a substantial concrete bridge crossing a small river then climbing up over a disused railway crossing. Again, this is a memorable piece of road, especially when travelling the other way back towards O'Connell. In this direction, the road bears right and then runs down hill towards the creek crossing the railway. For the unwary this can be an interesting crossing as the railway crossing is on a bit of a brow and taken at speed can result in some air time for the unwary rider. I refer to this rail crossing as Beast's Leap, after a fellow TWF member's experience here a few rides ago :)

Here are a couple of shots of Beast's Leap :)

Looking towards O'Connell just before the rail crossing

At the rail crossing looking towards O'Connel and the river and bridge in the middle distance

Anyway, back to the ride. From Beast's Leap it was on to Tarana, where there were 10 or so bikes outside the pub, their riders enjoying lunch in the beer garden. From Tarana it was on to Sodwalls, through the Rydal road crossroads and on to Lake Lyell and then South Bowenfels in Lithgow. A short detour here into Lithgow to grab some lunch and a drink before heading back to Hampton where I turned onto the Jenolan Caves Road at Hartley.

I love this road, especially the first part as I can get into a graceful sweeping ride through the corners at the start of this road. On through the locales of Wolgan Valley, Lowther and Hampton past the wind generators to the turn off for Oberon on the Duckmaloi Road.

I follow the Duckmaloi Road through its many climbing and descending stretches, twisties and sweepers into Oberon, which was again very popular today with riders enjoying lunch at the pub and the bakery next door. From Oberon it was back towards Bathurst along the O'Connell Road, this time passing through O'Connell and Brewongle on to Bathurst, with a final lap of Mount Panorama to end the ride.

The weather was fantastic for riding, dry, not too hot, a few clouds overhead to shade the sun at times and added to that some good music on the ipod made for a great couple of hours.

In memory of Bucko.

Yogi rides the Old Vale Circuit

2009-02-01T16:30:00.002+11:00

Well, it was a very hot day and I'd just been out to Ben Chifley Dam for a ride to catch up with my daughters and their friends who had gone out earlier in the morning to do some water-skiing, wake boarding and tube riding. On the way back from the Dam, I decided to take my time and ride the old Vale motorcycle racing circuit, or the Vale Circuit as it was known, and take some photos along the way.

A quick bit of history - the Vale Circuit was home to motorcycle racing in Bathurst between 1931 and 1938 before racing was transferred to Mt Panorama. During this period it was home to the NSW Grand Prix or NSW TT and hosted the Australian TT in 1934 and 1936 and the Australian Grand Prix three times. The circuit was approximately 6 3/4 miles (11.5km) in length and apart from a small section of bitumen surface at the sale yards, was a gravel surface track. The outright lap record was set in 1937 by Art Senior who completed the circuit in 6 minutes 11 seconds (circuit average speed of just over 112 kph). Given the circuit in the main was a gravel surface and climbed and dipped quite a bit between the Lagoon Road and Wright's Corner (Lloyd's Road) - one can only imagine what those bikes and riders looked like wrestling their motorcycles around the circuit in the clouds of dust. Initially the circuit was raced in an anti clockwise direction, but in 1934 its direction was changed to clockwise, supposedly as riders had complained about being blinded by the afternoon sun and dust as they headed westwards down the main straight Wright's Corner to the start finish line.

http://www.visitbathurst.com.au/motor-racing/vale-circuit

Maps showing the roads as they are today and the old circuit (circa 1934).
The red circles show where a couple of hundred metres of the circuit has disappeared today.
The numbers denote the approximate locations of the photos that follow.

The Vale Circuit sign where the Pits were located (1)

The starting point, opposite the old Bathurst Sale Yards (2)

The starting and finishing point was opposite the old Bathurst Sale Yards and the circuit initially followed what was and still is the main road between Bathurst and Goulburn.

View of road/circuit heading south past the saleyards towards Perthville and Goulburn (3)
The power pole on the left of the road displays the Finish location sign for the circuit.

Heading down the first straight (Sammy's Straight) (4)

Approaching what was known as Suicide Bend (5)

The first left hand 90 degree corner onto Lagoon Road (6)

On Lagoon Road, the circuit crosses the Vale Creek at Kabels Bridge and then bears right until the second 90 degree left hand turn. This turn does not exist today as this small portion of the track (highlighted with the red circles on the maps) has been taken over by private landholders.

Just over Kabels Bridge looking up the hill towards the highest part of the track at Mt. Tamar (7)

Today, we continue on Lagoon Road and then turn left onto the gravel Gorman's Hill Road, picking up the old circuit at what was Devil's Elbow, but today is just a straight piece of gravel road. You can still see the route the old circuit took from both the Lagoon Road and also Gorman's Hill Road, and Devil's Elbow must have been an interesting corner to negotiate, particularly when the circuit changed direction in 1934.

Looking up the track at the right hander after Devil's Elbow (8)

The next left hander heading towards the top of the circuit (9)

Heading down from Mt. Tamar (10)

Approaching a slight left hander on Gormans Hill Road (11)

Wright's Corner (12)

Looking down the final straight towards Palmer's Bridge from Wright's Corner (13)

Back at the Pits/Start (14)

Throughout my ride around the circuit, I couldn't help but think of those racers in the 1930s, on their Velocettes and Ariels, rigid frames, girder forks, no suspension, braving the gravel surface and billowing dust (or muddy and slippery when it was raining). Today, on my small modern road bike that is capable of perhaps 200kph (not with me on it though :( ), I am nervous doing anything over 80kph on gravel surfaces. So I could only admire the feats of those early racers and know that had it been me, I perhaps wouldn't have made it past Devils Elbow or perhaps the first corner onto the Lagoon Road !! :)

A great ride into a part of history that is there for everyone to enjoy still.

Australia Day 2009 - A ride into the Mountains

2009-01-26T16:54:00.002+11:00

Well, having lazed around for the first two days of the Australia Day long weekend, I decided to go for a ride today (Australia Day) into the Blue Mountains. The rest of the family wanted to laze around at home, especially my girls who only have a couple of days to go until schools return after the summer holidays.

Starting out - The Black Power Ranger ??? :)

It was a brilliant day for riding, but was threatening to get very hot during the day. 1/8th cloud cover and that was beautiful fluffy cumulus cloud. I headed out at 10.00am over to Lithgow via the Great Western Highway, where I stopped for the mandatory coffee. Had I been riding a Ducati, it would have been a Latte, but seeing as its a Suzuki, I have a flat white :) As I was entering Lithgow I spotted an unmarked Highway Patrol car turning in towards Lithgow . I made a mental note to be careful on the bells Line of Road, seeing as it is double demerit points over the long weekend. I expect the road to be pretty heavily policed.

From Lithgow, I headed up the Bells Line of Road, the plan being to ride to Bell and then take the causeway across to Mt. Victoria and then from there on to Blackheath and then Katoomba.
Just leaving Lithgow I came across the unmarked HWP car spotted earlier, parked down a hidden side road with the HWP officers concealed under a very shady poplar tree checking the speed of vehicles in the 50KPH zone with their radar gun. As I went past I gave a friendly wave and continued on up the windy climbing section of the road onto the top of the escarpment heading towards Bell. I past a couple of bikes and signaled the Police ahead and came across another marked HWP car on its way to Lithgow. A good day to not push the speed limit I was thinking - good job too :) The road was pretty busy with quite a lot of 4WDs and campers, quite loikely returning home after the long weekend and perhaps extended summer holidays.

After riding from Bell to Mt. Victoria and then on to Blackheath, I stayed on the highway till Katoomba, did a circuit of the main street to see what was open, before heading down towards Echo Point, where the viewing area and visitors centre is located for the Three Sisters rock formation and tourist attraction.

Echo Point at Katoomba

The viewing platform for the Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley

View of the Jamison Valley with Mt. Solitary

The Three Sisters

Close up showing walking track and bridge onto the Three Sisters

After having a walk around the walking tracks below the lookout, I headed back to the bike, via a cafe, where I bought some iced tea. God it was hot!! I then rode back through Katoomba to Leura, had a small ride around the village and then decided I'd head back to Blackheath for some lunch. I stopped at Blackheath and parked the bike under a very shady tree on the side of the highway and headed over to the Wattle Cafe. I had a Roast Beef, dill pickle, lettuce and sprout sandwich with a mug of coffee and sat outside and watched the world hurry past. There were quite a few people heading in both directions (east towards Sydney and west towards Lithgow and Bathurst) with off-road bikes in tow. It seems to be a very popular past-time these days.

The Wattle Cafe, Blackheath

After lunch, I headed back to Mt. Victoria and from there back along the causeway to Bell then on to Lithgow, following a HWP car for the last 10kms of the trip. From Lithgow I then took the highway back to Bathurst, deciding to get back early so I could clean the bike and also have a very long cold drink and cold shower :) On the way back to Bathurst I passed a HWP motorcycle and got a wave off the rider. That is my first wave from a Police motorcycle, things can't be bad :) All in all - 5 hours and just over 250kms travelled. It was about 25 degrees C when I started and it was 31degrees when I got home, so I can't complain, given that on Saturday it was 42 degrees in Sydney.

It was a great Australia Day ride.

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

2008-12-04T18:05:00.003+11:00

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

2008-11-22T18:49:00.002+11:00

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

2008-11-16T17:32:00.002+11:00

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

2008-10-19T17:23:00.002+11:00

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.

The Mount - Preparing for the Big Race, 2008

2008-09-28T20:42:00.002+10:00

Well it was a beautiful spring day today, so I thought I'd use the great weather to do a few laps of the Mount (Mt Panorama) and see how the preparations are going for this year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Over the past two weeks crews have been working on constructing the spectator seating, erecting numerous marquees, repainting the signage and advertsing on the various concrete walls around the circuit, readying the camping areas, renewing various road surfaces, re-sewing the track edges and grooming the track's run-off areas. With two weeks to go, the track is starting to look good for the race weekend from the 9 - 12 October.

I rode the track a few times in both directions. Hope you enjoy the view :)

The Kangaroo Valley Bounce

2008-09-09T18:09:00.002+10:00

This past weekend (6 -7 September) saw me head down to Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands for a camping weekend with other riders from the TwoWheels Motorcycle Forum. The trip had been planned for a couple of months, with riders planning to meet up at Robertson (on the Illawarra Highway) at lunch time on Saturday and then camp in the Morton National Park, Bundanoon on Saturday night.

This is a map of the route taken:

Anyway, as Mr. Murphy would have it and being the first weekend of Spring, of course it was going to rain - and rain it did on the Saturday. It had, in fact been raining fairly steadily for getting close to 48 hours when I met up with another local forum member, Bubba, at our local Macdonalds carpark on Saturday morning at 8.00am. I had packed my bike the night before and it was loaded down with Ventura bag full of clothes and wine (fortification against the expected evening chill), two panniers with my camping gear and my sleeping bag and tent strapped onto the rack. All were suitable wrapped in plastic to protect from the rain. I was wearing two layers of wet weather clothing and my thermal long johns and feeling decidedly warm and snug.

We made our way south via Oberon, Black Springs, Abercrombie River, Taralga to our refuel stop at Goulburn. The weather was constant rain and strong S/SE winds all the way down. A few parts of the trip were a tad "hairy" in that the wind combined with the slippery road conditions made our bikes very skittish. Bubba rides a similar bike to mine (Suzuki GS500) and although it does not have the fairing that mine has (which acts like a sail and catches the wind), we were both having an interesting trip, leaning our bikes into the wind as we passed through exposed parts of the road. We took it in turns to ride lead and came across a variety of wildlife sharing the road with us on the trip. Bubba nearly had an altercation with some ducks taking refuge on the road and I was sadly being overtaken by a couple of kangaroo climbing out of the Abercrombie River gorge.

We got to Goulburn at 10.30am and located a Caltex Service Station, refuelled the two bikes and then headed north towards the Hume Highway to find a Macdonalds for a warming cup of coffee. Funnily enough the Maccas we found didn't have a McCafe and their espresso machine was being cleaned, so we had to settle for a large drip filter coffee each - blaaaahhhh :( Cross that Maccas off the list of places to stop at ! Strange that on the return journey, the adverts for Maccas were for the second newer one on the southern side of town that had all the comforts of home ..... and a McCafe ! Hmmmm :(

Having both warmed up a little and dripped over the Macdonalds floor we headed back out into the rain and wind. The next stop being Robertson on the Illawarra Highway, where we were scheduled to meet a group of forum riders from Sydney, Canberra and the South Coast at the famous Pie Shop for lunch. The ride between Goulburn and Robertson followed the dual carriageway Hume Highway and then onto the single lane Illawarra Highway. The rain continued, although the wind did ease a little. We finally arrived at Robertson and pulled into the Pie Shop car park at 12.30, the rain still coming down and the cloud base dropping, covering the area in mist and fog. Four other riders were already there - Tag on his Bandit from the South Coast, Casper on his VFR and Luke on his R1 from Canberra and BigD on his BMW (the Bavarian Road Block as he affectionately refers to it) from Blackheath. The four travelled to the area the day before and stayed in a Hotel at Bundanoon the night before. We parked the bikes and headed inside to await the others who were riding down from Sydney via the Princes Highway, Illawarra Highway and Macquarie Pass. The weather would make the Mac Pass part of the trip an interesting one. Whilst waiting for the Sydney group, we partook of some of the pies on offer at the shop. The steak, bacon and cheese pie is one to go back for :)

About 1.00pm the group from Sydney arrived. A couple of riders had pulled out that morning because of weather or other commitments, but six eventually made the trip:
Beast on his new toy, the BMW K1200R
Sydney on her ZZR250
DrEvil on his GS500E
JPugz on her GS500F
Taradiddle on her SV1000S
Wolf on his Speedtriple

After everyone had suitable refreshed with pies, coffee, tea, soft drinks, we decided that it would be better to get to Bundanoon as soon as we could, just in case the weather didn't break, thus giving us more time to set up camp in the rotten weather.

JPugz, Luke and Big D preparing to head off from Robertson

JPugs, Luke and Sydney preparing to head off

Some of the bikes lined up in the rain and cloud at Robertson

Beast and Casper standing behind the BMW K1200R warming their hands on its exhaust

The ride back to Bundanoon was uneventful, although the weather did ease a tad and as we pulled into the campgrounds at Bundanoon, the rain was starting to ease to a slight drizzle.

Some of the bikes lined up at Bundanoon

The camping area with our tents erected - mine is the silver dome tent in the middle right with its back to the rest. When i got it up I realised it was facing the wrong way, but couldn't be bothered turning it around, so left it facing the wrong way :)

The camping area itself was quite well appointed. There was a toilet/shower block with hot showers and a campers barbeque/picnic shed with electric lights, four electric BBQs and four picnic benches. This area became our "campfire", as open fires were not permitted in the National Park. So for the rest of the evening we stood around the four BBQs keeping their green buttons pushed so we had some warmth. A supply run was made into town and we then got comfortable for the night, enjoying the ambience of the "campfire" and the damp removing properties of red wine, Jack Daniels, Bundaberg Rum and beer - just to name a few of the libations on offer :) After much procrastinating about what we were going to do for dinner, given the weather and also the condition of some of the campers, we decided that pizza was the go and Sydney and Wolf headed up into town with a pocket full of cash and a huge bag to obtain dinner.
Around 7.00pm about six mega gourmet pizzas arrived - Yumm - and our "campfire" turned into a pizza warmer as we scoffed them all, washing them down with our warming drinks :)

The evening became a little hazy as the enjoyment and fun continued. Many world problems were solved, many tall stories were told and many photos and videos were taken. For dessert, Taradiddle produced two containers containing Mars Bar slice and Cherry Ripe slice which were both to die for :) I think I eventually hit the sleeping bag around 11pm, but I can't be certain, however i do know that the last revellers made it to bed at 1.30am because the wished everyone a loud "goodnight" !!! :)

Standing around the "campfire" at the start of the evening

Mmmmmmm Pizza and beer (Sydney and Wolf) - check out the bottles bottom left !! :)

On Sunday morning, following a night filled with the loudest snoring I have heard in ages, we were woken up at 6.30am by Beast heading up into town to see what time breakfast shops opened. it was a glorious clear morning, the sun was out, blue skies and no rain thank goodness !! I staggered across to the "campfire" in my bright green long johns, much to the chagrin of those that were up - LOL, and brewed a coffee before hoeing into a bowl of cereal and skim milk (note to self - dump the skim milk!!). Bubba by this time had also arisen and was starting to pack up. He had made arrangements to be home by 1.00pm so we decided to head out earlier than the others. Why is it that packing up takes longer than unpacking??? I eventually got all the gear onto the bike, in much the same places it was on the way down, put all my riding gear on and we bade farewell to our friends and headed off, back towards Goulburn. My gloves were still wet through and my fingers were feeling very cold as the wind made my gloves into little refrigerators.

We refulled again in Goulburn and then headed back up the Tablelands Way towards Taralga. At Taralga I lost sight of Bubba as he opened up his bike and I didn't see him for the rest of the trip. I arrived back home at about 1.00pm having had a brilliant weekend with some wonderful people and having ridden in the worst conditions of my riding life to date on the Saturday.

What a great weekend :) Roll on the next as soon as possible :)

Catching up on some local short rides

2008-08-08T14:11:00.002+10:00

Well winter has settled in here, with the past few days seeing snow falls across the area, with snow actually falling in Bathurst yesterday for the first time since 2000. Being winter and also being pretty busy at work and at home, opportunities for long rides over the weekends have been non existent. However I have been able to get away every other Sunday or so for a short ride around the local area for a couple of hours.

A few weeks ago I set out on an overcast Sunday morning, intent on heading south towards Cowra. I stopped off at Carcoar for a brief trip around the town and headed up to the old Railway Station on the hill which has a great view over the town.

My motorcycle outside the historic Carcoar Railway Station

A view of Carcoar from the Railway Station

The Catholic Church and Convent

From Carcoar I headed down to Woodstock and followed the road across to Wyangala Dam, which is still very dry. I think on the day I was there it was about 10% of capacity. The weather was starting to come in and rain was threatening as I left Wyangala for Cowra and lunch. I stopped at my usual "haunt" the Rose Garden Cafe, had a sandwich and coffee and watched the clouds get darker and rain start to fall to the west. I decided to head straight home to Bathurst via the main Mid Western highway, as I didn't fancy getting caught out by the rain and having wind my way cross country from the Cowra - Canowindra - Orange road.

As could be expected, about 10kms north of Cowra the heavens opened up and it started to rain steadily for my entire journey home. I was nice and warm and dry, well apart from my hands, as my gloves, which are waterproof, filled up with water run off from my jacket sleaves because I had the sleeves inside the gauntlets :( Hmmmm - a wet, cold lesson to learn!!

This is the route taken

Last Sunday I decided to head for a quick ride over to Orange via Milthorpe, Spring Hill and Bloomfield. The return trip I planned to do via Suma Park, Emu Swamp, Rock Forest and the Ophir Road to Abercrombie and Bathurst.

It was a great day for riding. Clear skies, not too cold and dry roads. The trip across to Orange was event free, and I stopped at Milthorpe on the way to have a little trek around the town.

Orange Railway Station

From Milthorpe I continued on to Summer Hill, a brief visit to the Orange Airport for a peek at the planes and then on to Orange and Roberts Bakery on Piesley Street for lunch.

After lunch I headed out towards Suma Park on the Icely Road. I continued on to the Whiterock Road then the Ophir Road, taking me through Rock Forest, Dunkeld and then in to Abercrombie and Bathurst. I was a little worried the road might be a tad wet and soft because of the recent rains we had had, however the small patch of unsealed section was solid and firm, and the GS handled it with ease, if I did go a tad slow just in case :) All in all, a great little ride :)

This is the route travelled:

Orange and Mt. Canobolas

2008-06-29T18:10:00.002+10:00

Well, having been over a month since I have been out on a personal ride (I'm not counting the twowheels forum rally that I attended on Mt. Panorama over the long weekend early in the month) I decided it was high time I got out. Work and family commitments have meant the past month has been pretty flat out, so its about time I made some time for a ride.

The weather this weekend has been brilliant. Typical Bathurst early winter weather, chilly and frosty mornings followed by clear days, blue skies, lots of sunshine and temperatures getting up to around 13C - 14C. The only problem with riding during winter, is that the days are shorter and thus if you go on a longish day ride, you will be returning home around late afternoon, as dusk starts to settle. Being out in the Central West of NSW means that if you ride eastwards in the morning, you will be heading home into the winter setting sun, which is to be avoided as the glare can blind a rider and the strobe effect of riding through forested areas is mind-numbing. Therefore, in winter I tend to head west, or at a pinch north or south.

Today I decided that I'd head over to Orange, about 50kms to the west. I hadn't been up to the top of Mt Canobolas for a while and today's weather would provide some great views of the surrounding countryside.

I headed out along the Mitchell Highway towards orange, truning off at the Millthorpe turn off, headed into Millthorpe before then heading out towards the Orange Airport via Spring Hill and then into Orange via Bloomfield. A cup of coffee in Orange and then off to Mt. Canobolas past the Orange racecourse, Towac Park.

At the entrance to the Mt. Canobolas State Conservation Area is a lovely teahouse, with a warm and friendly atmosphere inside and some outdoor seating where diners and coffee drinkers can enjoy the sun. The teahouse is very popular at weekends, as attested to by the full carpark upon my arrival.

Mountain Tea House, Mt Canobolas, Orange NSW

The road to the summit is about 5kms. The road is sealed at the bottom and also at the top, but there is an unsealed gravel section mid way for a couple of kms. During winter, the road is subject to snow and ice and can be closed. Numerous walking tracks are located on the slopes of Mt. Canobolas and at weekends, walkers are a common sight on the road to the summit. Also, be aware of 4WD vehicles, whose drivers may be trying to experience the thrill of the Dakkar Rally on the gravel sections of the road.

Unsealed section of the road to the Mt. Canobolas summit.

The summit of Mt Canobolas is 1395 metres above sea level and is purported to be the highest ground between Sydney and Perth. The summit is home to an array of telecommunications towers, including the local area's television transmitters

Summit of Mt. Canobolas

From the summit, a 360 degree vista of Orange and the surrounding district can be had. An engraved plate on a raised viewing platform provides headings and distances to distant towns and places of interest.

Looking west towards Bathurst from the summit

Engraved plate showing location of nearby towns and places of interest

From Mt. Canobolas I made my way back to Orange via Lake Canobolas, a local boating recreation area. The grounds around the lake contain picnic areas, BBQ settings and childrens playgrounds. The area also contains a number of large vineyards, many of which having open cellars, wine tatsing and few with cafes or restaurants attached. There are also a number of bed and breakfast accommodation places nearby.

Entrance to the Lake Canobolas Reserve

A view of the lake and surrounding area from one of the picnic areas

After a late lunch at Roberts Bakery in Orange, I turned back onto the Mitchell Highway and made my way back to Bathurst, having had a very enjoyable excursion.

Oh to be able to do this every day ........

2008-05-15T17:41:00.002+10:00

Well this morning was a gorgeous, clear Autumn morning. Blue skies, not too chilly, still and the day was begging for me to begin it with a ride into town for coffee and something to eat before heading up to the office. So where would I go? There are a few choices in Bathurst at 8.00am, but I decided on somewhere slightly off the beaten track as such - Al Dente on Keppel Street. It does great coffee, has a selection of light things for breakfast and is well patronised. I could spend 30 - 45 mins just enjoying the morning and people watching before heading up to work :) Done deal !

I managed to get a parking spot for the bike pretty close to Al Dente, retrieved my wallet and joined the queue of people inside ordering their morning coffees, toasted sandwiches and lunches.

Al Dente, Keppel Street, Bathurst

What a great way to start the day, a toasted ham and cheese croissant with a large flat white coffee, sitting outside on a table watching "the world" go by on its way to work :) I'd nearly finished my croissant before I thought that maybe the Blog should have a photo of my breakfast, or in this case, what was left of it :)

Central West Ride Day and lunch at Mudgee - Sat 3rd May 2008

2008-05-04T15:42:00.004+10:00

Well a beautiful day it was for our TwoWheels forum Central West ride to Mudgee. Six of us met at Bathurst Maccas at 10.30 am. "Sydney", who came up from Sydney on a camping trip whilst on holidays joined us together with "Jez" who came down from Dubbo. Then there was "Bubba", "Chalky", "Turbo" and myself from Bathurst area. We would be meeting Jez's girlfriend "WeeBR" in Mudgee for lunch. She was riding down from Dubbo via Wellington as she is still on her L's and didn't want to ride all the way to Bathurst.

This is a map of the route that we took.

We left Bathurst and headed north up to Sofala. I was in the middle of the group, following Bubba who was leading, Jez and Turbo. The climbing twisties up through Wiagdon (half way to Sofala) were great. I had the RPM on the GS hovering around 8000 as I negotiated the hairpins and sharp climbing corners. This was by far my best effort on these corners to date.

We went through Sofala without stopping, with Sydney and Chalky bringing up the rear of the group. After Sofala, I'm sure I heard a roadrunner style "Beep Beep" and I then saw the front three riders simply vanish in a speed blur as they left me standing still. I must have slowed down at a terrific rate to cause that to happen ;). I now know how the Coyote feels !! I finally caught up to them again at Ilford, where they had stopped for a leg stretch to wait for the rest of us to catch them up.

Rest stop and leg stretch at Ilford.

From Ilford we headed towards Mudgee via Kandos, Rylestone and Lue. Here is a map of the route taken:

From Ilford we went via Kandos (which was a great ride, passing under the coal buckets on the overhead railway between the mine site and ore processing plant at Kandos) and then on to Rylestone, where Sydney and Jez refulled. At Rylestone we turned off and followed the rail line to Mudgee via Lue, coming out just north of Mudgee. The road between Rylestone and Mudgee is not bad, but quite uneven and rough for a sealed road. The wind was also quite gusty and for those of us on smaller bikes, we did a few more metres than the rest as we were blown a tad sideways at times. At one stage I felt like I was back on a yacht, tacking into the wind on one stretch of road. Nearing Mudgee I was taking up rear position following Sydney when I got that Coyote feeling again as two other bikes casually "hurtled" past us. The guy on the front bike, a big touring Beemer was sitting there upright like he was in his armchair. At least he waved as he went past :))

In Mudgee we headed to the Oriental Hotel for lunch. This hotel has a nice, pleasant Bistro with inside, outside and semi outside seating areas. An open fire in the semi-outside area was a nice find. Judging by the large number of patrons, it appears to be well thought of as well. There was a wide selection of fare on the menu, with lunch specials, a good a-la-carte menu and of course cold beer on tap for the thirsty travellers.

Oriental Hotel in Mudgee

After lunch I headed on to Wellington with WeeBR, whilst the other five headed back to Bathurst via the route we had ridden up. The road between Mudgee and Wellington is a good sealed road and well maintained. I was amazed at the number of dead foxs on this road. We also came across a fairly large flattened snake and WeeBR told me later she also saw a dead sheep just off the road. Seems it had been part of a group of sheep wandering the road on he way to Mudgee. Looks like one tangled with a car and lost. We got into Wellington about 4.00pm, having battled the continuing cross wind during the trip. Poor WeeBR was feeling it more than I as she was on a small Honda CB125R. We decided a coffee at Maccas was in order before we refuelled and headed our seperate ways, WeeBR on north to Dubbo and I back south to Bathurst.

We said our goodbyes and I left Wellington at about 4.30pm, having about 150Kms to travel back to Bathurst. I stopped at Molong (about 2/3 of the way to Orange) as it was getting a little nippy on the bike and I needed to put on my winter warm gloves. As I entered Orange dusk was finally giving over to night and I was thankful for my upgraded halogen/xenon headlight globe that lit up the road ahead really well. I didn't want to come across a fox or roo carcase in the road, as a motorcycle doesn't handle them as well as cars do. The chill started to seep into the bones as I neared the half way mark between Orange and Bathurst and I was definitley thinking that heated hand grips are one thing I must buy before winter takes hold. I arrived back in Bathurst at 6.30pm chilled but smiling broadly. It had been another great day on the bike. I had met some great people, had a great lunch and added a few hundred Kms to my odometer. Life is definitely GOOD !! :)

A Great Weekend For a Ride

2008-04-08T11:38:00.002+10:00

Well as so many of you have done this weekend, I also decided to hit the blacktop for a cobweb blowout. Also, as I won't be getting much chance to ride over the next 3 - 4 weeks as I'm heading down to Tassie in the car, with family to visit the wrinklies, I thought this was the better excuse to just get away for a day. So I headed west, having decided to visit Parkes again and the "Dish".

After a leg stretch and coffee At Maccas in Orange, I headed out towards Parkes through Manildra. It was a glorious day, not too hot, not too cold, just right for riding, well apart from the strong northerly wind that was non stop and the roasting flour smell emanating from the Manildra flour mill as I went through town. About half way between Manildra and Parkes I had to stop to take a photo or two of the grass that was being blown across the highway. I suppose I'd class it as Australia's version of a mini tumbleweed, apart from the fact its not alive and is just dead grass flower heads with seeds being blown across the countryside. However the road was absolutely chocker s with the stuff and it was banking up like a snow drift in the trees bordering the road.

Grass seed "snowdrifts" between Manildra and Parkes

Grass seed "snowdrifts" between Manildra and Parkes

Grass seed "snowdrifts" between Manildra and Parkes

Anyway, on to Parkes, where I decided to check out Monument Hill overlooking the town. I hadn't been there before and I was impressed with the vista that the hill provided. The hill is crowned with Parkes' main War Memorial and a large carparking area with picnic tables and some great views of the local area.

The Parkes War Memorial tower on Monument Hill

Lest We Forget

From Parkes I headed north up the highway towards Dubbo about 27 Kms to the Radio Telescope (The Dish), where I had lunch in the Dish Cafe and soaked in the atmosphere of the Dish working. Today it was canted over vitually to its limit and facing east looking at something low on the horizon and a brazillion miles away :)

"The Dish" - Parkes' CSIRO Radio Telescope

"The Dish" - Parkes' CSIRO Radio Telescope

The Dish Cafe beside the Radio Telescope's Visitors Centre

The Radio Telescope's Visitors Centre

So overall, I had a brilliant day. Left at 9.30am got home at 5.00pm rode about 450kms and can't get rid of the smile. Anyone heading out this way, or heading down the highway between Dubbo and Parkes, I'd thoroughly recommend a stop at "The Dish". :)

Making my ride better - replacing the front springs

2008-04-01T17:25:00.002+11:00

Well, last weekend I decided to make the ride on the GS that much better by replacing the stock springs in the front suspension with some stiffer, aftermarket ones. It seems that the soft springs issue is common with the GS and many riders suggest one of the first upgrades an owner should undertake is the front springs. Ok, so I'm a tad late, but I must admit I am so glad I did it. I found that the front suspension regularly bottomed out with the stock springs installed. When going over speedhumps, potholes and even riding into driveways, the suspension would reach its limits with a shuddering, jarring thump. Not with the replacement springs :) The ride is stiffer, the suspension not as soft and since changing over to the new springs, i haven't bottomed out the front suspension.

I ordered the springs from the USA (Sonic Springs), and paid for them online and they were shipped and arrived about 10 days after ordering. That's brillian seeing as it takes up to two weeks to get things from Sydney which is only 175Kms away compared to 15,000Kms to the USA. I paid US$80 for the springs and US$30 for the postage, and they arrived nicely packaged complete with a plastic tube for cutting the new spacers and instructions for fitting. I chose to replace my springs without changing the spring oil. There is an additional upgrade suggested in replacing the standard 10W spring/fork oil with 15W spring/fork oil. The heavier oil enhances the effect of the heavier springs. Changing the fork oil can be done either by completely removing the front forks (requiring wheel and front fairing removal) and draining the oil or by leaving the forks in situ and syphoning the oil out of the forks using a large syringe and rubber tube. This method is not as effective and leaves residual older oil in the forks as well as possibly some debris etc.

Anyway on to the replacement of the springs without removing the forks.

Step 1.
Preparing the motorcycle

Place the motorcycle on the centre stand and centralise the handlebars so the front wheel is not turned. Put some cardboard sheeting or old cloth under the front of the bike to soak up any oil drips that may occur. Remember: we will only replace one spring at a time so that the front won't collapse if we removed both springs at the same time.

Step 2.
Tools required

The photo below shows the tools required to complete the replacement.
a) hexagonal Allen key of correct size for removing the handlebars (no need to remove any switch gear, just the bars from the steering yolk)
b) socket set for removing the fork end caps
c) long piece of coathanger wire, bent at the end (for retrieval of spring seat and spring from fork)
d) pencil and rule for measuring the new spacer length
e) hacksaw for cutting the spacer tube
f) vice for holding the spacer tube when you cut it, and
g) clean rags for preventing oil dripping when removing original springs from forks.

Tools required for the job

Step 3.
Removing Handlebars

Using the hexagonal Allen key, remove the four (4) small hexagonal bolts holding the handlebars to the steering yolk. Put the handlebar clamps and bolts to one side and gently lift the handlebars forward so that the fork end caps are exposed completely.

Handlebars in normal position

Handlebars removed in showing fork end caps exposed

Step 4.
Removing the Fork End Caps and Spacer.

Using the socket of the correct size gently remove the fork end cap of the side you will be replacing first. Make a mental note of the tension on the cap to initially undo it so you can replace it using the same tension. Be very careful when removing the end cap as the fork is under spring load and the end cap has some spring tension under it. Keep downward pressure on the endcap as you unscrew it and be ready for the release of spring loading when the cap comes from from the fork threads. Be careful with the threads on the end cap and inside the fork tube as the threads are quite fine. Also be careful of the endcap rubber "O" ring that seals the top of the fork and prevents oil leakage. Once the end cap has been removed, place it somewhere clean and safe. At this stage the spacer will be poking out of the top of the fork tube by about 3 cms (about 1.5 inches). Measure how much of the spacer is poking out from the tube and make a note of this for later use when determining the correct replacement spacer length. Gently remove the spacer from the tube and catch any oil drips on a rag. Put space on a rag somewhere out of the way.

Fork end cap showing fine thread and rubber "O" ring

Original metal spacer removed from fork tube

View of the inside of the fork tube showing the "washer" spring seat on top of the spring inside the fork.

Step 5.
Removing the Spring Seat and Spring

Using the coathanger wire, very gently (making sure not to scrape the inside of the fork tube as you do so) lift out the spring seat washer and place on a clean cloth/rag with the old spacer.

Then, using the wire lift out the original spring. When the spring gets to the top of the fork tube, use your fingers to hold it and allow residual oil on the spring to drain back into the fork tube. Wait a minute or so for this to occur then remove the spring gently (don't scrape the end cap thread) using a rag to catch any residual oil and place the spring with the old spacer and spring seat.

This photo shows the old spacer, the spring seat and the spring with the end cap in the background.

Step 6.
Installing the new Spring, Spring Seat and Spacer

Firstly take the new spring, ensure it is clean of any metal residue, filings or debris and gently insert it into the fork tube, gently lowering it to the bottom of the fork with the wire hook.

Once this is done, clean the old spring seat washer and lower that onto the top of the spring.

Take the replacement spacer tubing and insert into the fork tube so it is seated on the spring seat. Using a rule measure the distance above the fork end required for the spacer. Generally, it is suggested that road bikes have between 2 - 2.5 cm (3/4" to 1") preload on the spring. This means that when the fork end cap is screwed into place, the spring is compressed by that amount. I measured 2 cm above the top of the fork tube on the spacer material. I actually initially made it 2.5cm but I found I couldn't compress the spring sufficiently to screw the end cap in, so had to reduce the spacer length by .5 cm.

Place the spacer material in a vice and carefully saw the spacer to the correct length. Hopefully the second spacer will be of similar length, however don't cut that spacer yet. Wait till you do the next spring. Clean off the residue from the cut section of pipe and ensure all debris is removed.

Carefully place new spacer in the fork tube.

Step 7.
Replace the Fork End Cap

Take the fork end cap and using the socket wrench push the spacer down into the tube using the endcap for purchase and gently commence to screw the end cap into place. Be very careful not to strip the thread of the end cap here. Once the end cap is in place tighten it to the same tension as you had when you undid the cap.

Step 8.
Replace the other Spring

Follow Steps 4 to 8 above for the other side fork spring replacement.

Step 9.
Replace Handlebars

Replace handlebars in the smae position as they were when you removed them and tighten the handlebar clams via the four (4) hexagonal bolts.

Job completed. Tidy up and take the bike for a test ride, noting change of feel in front suspension.

A weekend riding in the Capital

2008-03-03T20:02:00.003+11:00

Saturday 1st March, 2008

Well, not having won the Insurance company competition for a three day, all expenses paid trip to the World Super Bike (WSB) race at Philip Island this past weekend, I decided to make a trip to our Nation's Capital Canberra and do some of the local rides that I have heard so much about.

I rode down on the Saturday from Bathurst via Oberon, Taralga and Goulburn. I did this route just before new year and was pleased to find that it is now completely sealed and a very good ride. Apart from being a tad chilly on the top of the Great Dividing Range, it was a glorious run and the coffee and marvellous caramel and banana cake at the Taralga cafe was just what the doctor ordered to warm up. I met up with another rider at Taralga and from there we rode on to Goulburn and then on to Bungendore via Braidwood Road and Tarago Road, passing through Wakefield Park, Lake Bathurst and Tarago. Bungendore is about 30kms from Canberra and is a favourite stopping place for motorcyclists doing day trips from Canberra. The town is on the route from Canberra to the coast which is quite heavily travelled during holiday times and weekends. We had lunch at the Square Cafe in the Bungendore village square, sitting outside on one of their many tables, with plenty of shade. I can recommend the toasted ham, cheese, tomato and mustard seed focaccia sandwich - Yum. Sorry no pics of it this time :)

After a bit of a browse through some of the village shops we headed in to Canberra to organise our overnight accommodation in Belconnen and sort out our riding itinerary for Sunday.

Sunday 2nd March 2008

Another glorious day, blue skies, not a cloud in sight and the anticipation of a great riding day made this the perfect riding day. Having thanked our overnight host for the room we headed out towards one of the Canberra/ACT motorcycling community's favourite rides - the Cotter Road.

Map of the route taken on Sunday.

Renowned for its weekend "boy racers" out to prove their stuff on the great twisties that the Cotter is famous for, the Cotter did not disappoint. It was a great ride and I found myself setting up for corners, flowing through them and joining with the bike to dance through the zigzagging bends and turns. We didn't see any other motorcyclists on the trip down, however there were numerous cyclists, cars and 4WDs out and about. The road descends down into the valley of the Cotter River where there is a lovely river side reserve beneath the Cotter Dam. It was about 9.30 when we arrived at the reserve and already families were setting up picnics and barbques under the many trees. The reserve has plenty of parking, bbq facilities and toilet facilities and has a children's playground as well.

View from the end of the Cotter Reserve, looking back to the picnic grounds and main entrance

After our "wee" stop we continued on down Paddy's River Road towards Tidbinbilla, where our next stop was to be at the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/, where there is a visitor's centre and a cafe. Morning coffee was calling :) On the way to the Tidbinbilla we were overtaken by what I believe to have been two motorcycles playing tag, leaving a lot of noise and the smell of racing fuel behind them. I say believe, because they went past me (I was on 100kph) like I was stationary and I only heard them and saw two blurs. Didn't even see them coming up in the rear vision mirrors. Of course they could have been two low level jet fighters, but I know jetfuel and they weren't running that :) We turned off Paddy's River Road onto the CDSCC road (which is very smooth indeed) and soon found ourselves cresting a hill to find the complex and its array of telescopes/antennas spread out before us. The big 70m dish taking pride of place in the picture with two 34m and one 26m dishes looking quite small beneath it. A large car park with a few trees outside the Complex's main gate provides a good number of parking spaces for visitors. A short walk from there and you are at the Visitor's Centre which contains displays on the Moon landings and more recent Mars landings. There is also a cafe (the Moon Rock Cafe) there with a balcony outside seating area overlooking the large antenna. Whilst enjoying a coffee and a very nice chocolate chip cookie we were joined by "Lurch" and a friend of his from the Canberra Riders http://www.canberrariders.org/portal.php . We spent the next 20 minutes discussing all things motorcycling in Canberra and swapped riding route details before heading back to the carpark to continue our respective journeys. Lurch and friend were heading back to Canberra to attend a WSB BBQ. Hmmm that sounded good :) Nothing like sausage on a slice of bread covered in tomato sauce :)

A view of the 70m dish from the Moon Rock Cafe balcony

On with our trip. The 26m antenna was the dish originally constructed in 1965 at Honeysuckle Creek, south of Tidbinbilla, and was the dish that received the first images of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Therefore, we decided that our next stop should be the old Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, about 35kms south of Tidbinbilla. The station was de-commissioned in the mid 1980s with the buildings razed to the ground and the antenna relocated to the CDSCC. however there is still foundations and historical information displays at the site. We stopped at Tharwa on the way to Honeysuckle Creek to fill up with fuel at the small village's combined General Store/Postoffice and Service Station. Since the closure of Tharwa's historical bridge across the Murumbidgee River (which provided a direct link with Canberra) because of structural concerns, , the village has been in decline. It was therefore nice to see a few more bikes pull up after us, no doubt to enjoy a cold drink and rest stop. From Tharwa we headed on down Naas Road to Top Naas and the turn off for Honeysuckle Creek on the aptley named Apollo Road :) Somehow I think it was renamed after 1969 :)

Apollo Road leading the 10kms to the old Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station

The road up to the old Tracking Station is in reasonable condition, but after reaching the top I couldn't help but wonder as to how some of the components for the antenna and buildings were transported up there on that winding road up the mountain in the early 1960s. Upon arrival at the Tracking Station site you are greeted by all that is left of the original site. That is three flat areas containing paved road surfaces, building slab foundations and the base foundations and leg mountings for the 26m antenna.

This is the way the original site looked on its opening in 1967. Note the location of the two people standing together in the carpark at the bottom left of the photograph and the position of the large main building.

This is a view from where the antenna was located looking down on where the building and carpark was located. The two bikes are parked roughly where the two people were standing in the photo above.

The information displays located on the main building's foundations and also on the base of the antenna provided details of the Tracking Station's history and its historic involvement in receiving the very first pictures of the moon landing and man's first steps on the moon. As a reminder, the site has numerous "Moon" footprints" painted on the floor of the main building and antenna base between the various displays. There is also a copious amount of kangaroo and wombat poo in the old grounds as well as the remains of numerous plants and trees, no doubt once part of the gardens around the buildings.

One of the many "Moon footprints" painted on the site.

After a wander around the site and marvelling at the structures that were once there and the atmosphere that must have existed during the first moon landing, we headed back down the mountain and retraced our tracks back to Canberra via Tharwa, Tidbinbilla, Cotter Reserve, past Mt Stromlo and into the city. I noted that Mt Stromlo Astronomical Observatory, destroyed during the 2003 Canberra Bushfires, is underway, with the new telescope's dome shining silver in the sunlight. The destruction of the vast forest and bushland areas all around the Stromlo and Cotter areas south of Canberra during those same fires is still very evident.

It was meant to be a quick fang on the bike :)

2008-01-27T20:48:00.000+11:00

Bathurst, NSW, Sunday 27th January, 2008
Its the Australia Day long weekend and after spending Australia Day Saturday doing some retail therapy in Sydney, I was hoping for a good day today so that I could take Clyde (the bike) out for a quick fang (coloquial for a fast ride) and blow away some of the cobwebs. Well this morning arrived, but still recovering from an earlier trip away in the week, I decided to sleep in a little longer than I would have liked. I ended up getting up about 10.00am. It was a glorious summer's day, but not too hot and I decided to make the most of what was left of the morning and take Clyde out for a quick fang out to Sofala (40kms away) and back. I left home around 1045 and decided to start the ride with a coffee at the local MacDonald's McCafe in town.

Map of the area which I was going to travel

With a nice extra large caffeine under the belt, I headed north to Sofala, passing through the villages of Peel, Wiagdon and then Wattle Flat. I love the road between Wiagdon and Wattle Flat as it has a stretch of road that climbs pretty steeply through a series of tight hairpins. Today I was intent on seeing if I could make a dent in the chicken strips on Clyde's tyres. For those who don't know what chicken strips are, Wikipedia has a good explanation :) I'm not sure if I managed to scrape any of the strips away, but I enjoyed that section of road nonetheless.

I arrived in Sofala around 11.45 and went for a slow cruise through the village. For a Sunday on a long weekend, there was quite a few visitors in the village, including a number of bikes outside the various cafes. Sofala is an historic gold mining town here in the Central West of New South Wales and in its heyday was a thriving ramshackle gold mining town, with its population reaching an estimated 10,000 in the early 1850s and sporting dozens of pubs and hearsay has it over 500 illegal grog shops! Gold mining stopped in 1948 and today very little is left of the makeshift town of the 1850s. Anyway enough with the history lesson :)

I decided that as it was such a glorious day for a ride, I'd push on and perhaps head up to Mudgee, which takes about 90 minutes from Bathurst. So, after stopping on the outskirts of Sofala to adjust my ipod earphones, I made tracks for Ilford on the Castlereagh Highway, where I would head towards Mudgee.

The road between Sofala and Ilford is a great road and has sweeping corners and some great scenery, particularly as you cross the ridge and look NE over the plain toward s Mudgee and the Gardens of Stone and Wollomi National Parks in the distance.

View of the geological formations NW towards the Wollemi National Park

After turning onto the Castlereagh Highway I headed north towards Mudgee and decided to check out the villages/ townships of Kandos and Rylstone. I haven't been there before, so thought this was a good chance to check out these little townships. The road was very good, once again lots of sweeping corners and it looks to have only recently been resealed. I chose the right day to visit Kandos, with a Street Hot Rod and motor festival happening in the town. The blue smoke seen over the township as I neared, which I assumed to be a bush fire, turned out to be the burn-out competition in full swing. The town's population must have doubled as a result of the show and I was confronted by a traffic police random breath test as I entered town. After showing the licence, having the officer check the rego on the bike and counting to ten into his machine, I was allowed to leave with a curt "thank-you". I can't understand why traffic officers have to be so miserable.

Anyway, I left Kandos and headed to Rylstone and then back onto the Castlereagh Highway via Cudgegoing and Lake Windamere. There were quite a few campers taking advantage of the long weekend and slighly increased water levels in the lake, with the Cudgegong Water Park looking like a little village on the side of the lake.

Right turn again onto the highway and a nice 30 ks ride to Mudgee, riding through some of the famous Mudgee wine country on the approaches to the town. By the time I arrived in Mudgee it was about 1.20pm so lunch was a definite must. I settled on Elton's for lunch and ended up parked right outside and enjoying the ambience of Mudgee from a sidewalk table. This gave me a chance to have a look through the Australian Motorcyle Atlas whilst slowly savouring my open roast beef sandwhich and coffee. As it was such a great day, I decided that I would head home via Wellington, Molong and Orange. That should see me home about 6.00pm - with pit stops :)

Lunch at Elton's - Roast beef open sandwich, coffee and the Australian Motorcycle Atlas :)

Lunch finished and a full tank of petrol courtesy of Caltex and my Visa card, I headed north towards Gulgong, where the road to Wellington branches off to the west about half way to Gulgong. The road between Mudgee and Wellington is again a very good road, crossing through farmland and light bushland , nicely sealed and no shocking corners or crappy sections of road.

On the move - The road between Mudgee and Wellington

A coffee and toilet pit stop in Wellington, famous for its old Phosphate mines and caves, then saw me heading south to Molong and then Orange along the Mitchell Highway. On the trip between Wellington and Orange I was able to test out a throttle lock style "cruise control" I recently bought for the bike. It worked well and proved to be an aid in making the ride less tiring. A short stop in Orange for a leg stretch and water break then had me back on the Mitchell Highway to Bathurst, where I arrived at just after 6.00pm.

Sunday morning ride

2008-01-20T14:44:00.000+11:00

Having looked out the window at home (Bathurst) for the past two days whilst it constantly rained, this morning (Sunday 20th Jan) brought blue skies, white cumulus clouds with a tinge of grey and a nice breeze - great weather to get out for a blat on the bike. Having only a little time to myself for a ride this morning, I decided to head out towards Orange on the Mitchell Highway to check out a new cafe on the highway.

Its roughly about half way between Bathurst and Orange (25kms) and is called the Beekeeper's Inn. It was built in 1859 and has been converted into a licensed cafe, farm shop with antiques and collectables as well.

There is off road parking and the cafe menu is reasonable. They have a patio seating area overlooking the fields and you can see the carpark from it. There is plenty of seating inside as well, where you can browse the shelves of local wine, farm and gourmet produce etc.
I ordered a large coffee and sweet muffins (that came with butter and honey) and sat back and watched the world and clouds float by :) The ride back to Bathurst was a joy :) Yet another place to take a leisurely break if you are riding out in the Central West.

View from the front of the Beekeeper's Inn approaching from Orange

View from the carpark looking at the rear/side patio

The rear/side patio seating area

Welcome One and All

2008-01-18T17:31:00.000+11:00

Well this is my first post and I suppose it should introduce me, Ian, to you all.

I turned 50 in 2007 and in February of that year I obtained my motorcycle Learner's licence after deciding that I really wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle. Just like Toad of Toad Hall after he saw his first automobile, from that day on I was addicted, but in my case it was to the thrills and experiences associated with motorcycles and riding :)

In the months before I got my licence I had been constantly searching web sites, magazines and anywhere else related to motorcycles, for my very first bike. The bike that I eventually chose was going to have to take me through the first months of truely novice riding and then it would also need to satisfy my growing needs in being able to forgive me for small mistakes and also be a stable, comfortable riding platform for me to slowly learn the skills and techniques associated with becoming a competent rider. So, about 1 month after obtaining my licence, I took delivery of a brand new Suzuki GS500F, resplendent in its new pearl black and titanium grey colour scheme. I decided on a name for the bike - "Clyde" - given that I had always been taken by Triumph Bonnevilles, but due to engine size and power limitations for learners, I was not able to get my "Bonnie", so had to settle on my "Clyde" instead. this has been a great choice :)
This is a photo of Clyde in the driveway at home

In May 2007 I passed the Motorcycle Operators Skills Test (MOST) and because of my age and previous driving licence history was able to go straight onto an unrestricted motorcycle licence, without having to holed a Provisional Licence as younger, less experienced drivers and riders are required to do. Since getting the motorcycle I have travelled 8000kms, my longest single ride being on the 30th December 2007 from my home in Bathurst, NSW to Canberra (via Oberon, Taralga and Goulburn) and then return (via Yass, Boorowa, Cowra and Blayney). This was a day trip of just under 750 kms. You can see a report of that ride and some photos at this link:
http://www.twowheels.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8201

So there you have it. I'm nearly one year into my motorcycling adventure, having an absolute ball and I have found something that thrills, excites and enables me to get out and be free. this may sound a weird thing to say, but those who have a motorcycle and enjoy riding will know exactly what I mean :)

Ian :)