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.

The Mount - Preparing for the Big Race, 2008

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

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

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

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.