Merry Christmas

Best wishes for the festive season everyone. Enjoy your holidays!


Bah humbug!

Summer starts tomorrow

but meanwhile we ride the GOR.



actually we ate lunch at the bakery!

Bikes by the Bay

"Bikes by the Bay" is an annual fundraiser run by the Williamstown MCC. Unfortunately the weather was aweful and so attendance of motorcycles and spectators was well down. DP & I actually went in the car! The theme was club registered motorcycles, so some some classics were to be expected. Williamstown is a really picturesque spot with a historic streetscape on one side of the park and a view over Hobson's Bay to Melbourne city on the other.

Took a few pics of some of my favourites despite the poor turnout.

Vincent HRD in Norton frame = Norvin


I've owned two of these Honda 750's in the past.

I like these!

and these


Old Indian outfit.

'Rust never sleeps' (Apologies to Neil Young fans)


Hobson's Bay, looking toward Melbourne
Some of Williamstown's streetscape

Don't you get sick of it?

... is what my son asked when I said that we had yet another enjoyable 320ks of the Otway's winding roads today (Geelong, Colac via back roads, Laver's Hill, Apollo Bay, inland via Forrest back to Geelong).

"Not at all, it's different every time depending on the weather, time of day, people we meet, traffic & whether I'm in the zone for riding or not".

Today was all about the smell of eucalypt, bugs on the visor and a great feeling of freedom. No pics as we were enjoying the ride too much.

He wasn't convinced ....

Gellibrand for a Coke

Just had a quick solo run today down to Gellibrand. Unfortunately my favorite store had no diet Coke!!

The Gelli pub is under new ownership. A group of people have bought it, including the owners of the Otway vineyard. They are planning a gradual renovation, ramping up the quality of meals and maybe some accomodation in the future.

Nice bush view from the beer garden.
Gratuitous VFRpic

Friday night we went to Melbourne for the Motorcycle Expo. Some pics below.

Iconic Honda VFR750 RC30


My favourite - MV Agusta. No one does style like the Italians!


Marty's new Duke?


Another MV, just $180K, but you get a watch & jacket valued at $20K thrown in!

One for you Bill, they didn't have the new K1300S here though.

12 Apostles

Yesterday the "West Coast Procrastinators" took a run to the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road (Vic) in excellent Spring conditions. Our route was Geelong, Colac, Gellibrand, Lavers Hill then to the Apostles via the Great Ocean Road. From there we headed inland along some interesting backroads; Simpson (no fuel available), Kennedy's Creek, and the very pretty run through the bush from Carlisle River back to Colac. A previous post at CLICK HERE shows some pics of these backroads. The lack of traffic on these backroads is great, though I did have a 'roo stand up in the shade on the side of the road as I approached!

Lunch stop at Blackwood Gully, Lavers Hill.


There was quite a bit of salt spray in the air making it difficult to get crisp shots.



Andy aboard the '69 Commando 750

Steve's Commando 750

Here's a map of some of the route we took.


What could be more cute?

Phillip Island Moto GP

Just got back from the Aust Moto GP at Phillip Island. It turned out to be magnificent Spring weather and there was some excellent racing. I left in the rain on Friday night and crossed over the bay to Sorrento from Queenscliff (near Geelong) on the ferry. Talked to some guys from Adelaide on the boat and stayed at Bill's place overnight, as did Terry. Saturday morning we rode over to the GP run at Cranbourne then off to the Island. The traffic was chockers and there were some accidents along the way. We pulled into our digs which were excellent (a big thanks to Tony for this), just around the corner from the pub in Cowes. What an atmosphere - just motorcycles everywhere.

Saturday qualifying at the track was a highlight, as was the excellent weather and all of Sunday's racing. Here are some pics.


The GP ride from Cranbourne - this was huge. Imagine about 10 bikes across x 1.6 kilometers long.



Every man & dog was there!



Lots came to cheer Rossi


Mike Di Meglio celebrating his 125cc championship win. More info click here


Randy Mamola scaring his passengers for crowd entertainment!

Stoner led from start to finish, Hayden followed him for most of the race, only to be passed by Rossi on the last lap. More race detail, click here.

Nicky rode pretty well as he finishes up with Honda. More info, click here.

Nikano had a good day as well really.



Guintoli had the highest top speed at 329.5k/hr

Blue sky, blue ocean backdrop, friendly crowd & great racing - it doesn't get much better at PI than this.
Thanks for your hospitality & organising a top weekend Bill.

AFL grand final day turned out to be a great Spring day for riding. Marty and I headed off around 9.30am for our first decent ride in months. We did the Geelong, backroads to Colac, then GOR from Laver's Hill, Apollo Bay to Lorne, then inland back to Geelong. Approx 320ks with lots of good curves.

Marty's mint ZX9R


First stop at Gellibrand store.

His and her bikes at Lorne (Vic) in front of the famous Arab restaurant. These belong to a couple who I've previously met whilst riding in the Otways. Friendly and only too happy to have a chat - typical of motorcyclists really.

Just had a short Sunday morning run along the Ocean Road to Lorne to scrub the new tyre in. Went home via Dean's Marsh. Saw a nice example of a R90S parked at Martians cafe. Despite the sunshine it was as windy as hell and not really a great day for riding. I'm hoping for better weather next Saturday as I usually like to take a nice long road trip on AFL grand final day! Gale force wind forecast for the next day or so.

I got a new rear tyre on the VFR this week. It's another Michelin Pilot Road 2, which is dual compound; softer on the edges and harder in the centre. The last one had did just under 9K kilometers and still had a few more ks in it, but as I'm off to Phillip Island for the MotoGP in a couple of weeks time I wanted new rubber.

The Road 2 is a sport-touring tyre, and in combination with a Pilot Power front has proved to be a excellent combination on the VFR. It offers great durability with excellent grip and still reasonably fast turn in. Unfortunately the PR 2's have been in short supply in Oz, I guess because of the Northern hemisphere summer. Thanks again to Peter Whelan at Road & River Motorcycles for excellent, personalised service.