Balmy winters day

I'd been hoping for a ride this weekend. Saturday turned out to be as forecast - rain and clearing showers. Sunday was forecast to be cloudy with an unlikely temp of 18C. So I couldn't believe my eyes Sunday morning when I awoke to glorious sunshine with barely a cloud in sight. It was too good not to ride so I  took a short run in what turned out to be beautiful weather conditions considering that it's winter here. My route was Geelong to Forrest, then Beech Forest via Turton's (treacherous) Track, Gellibrand, then I skirted around Colac and headed home. It was around 6C when I left at 9.30am and an incredible 20C when I got home in the early afternoon.

The ZX14 in front of the Forrest microbrewery

Only hot chocolate for me though!

Less than 5 months till Christmas.

At the West Barwon dam

Lovely spot for a BBQ or picnic, but virtually deserted today.

Turton's Track

Ford Focus turbo club gathering at Beech Forest.

 I stopped at Gellibrand for a drink and talked to some fellas who'd been mountain bike riding along the Old Beechy rail trail and were absolutely coated in mud.

After a short break at 'Gelli'  I headed straight home as I had chores awaiting me. All in all, an unexpected and enjoyable day of riding in unseasonably balmy conditions.

Vale Ken Wootton

mcnews.com.au and Fox Sports are carrying the story of the death of Ken Wootton in his sleep at the age of 57 last Sunday whilst holidaying in Czechoslovakia .

The long time editor of Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN) Ken was an iconic figure in Australian motorcycling journalism. Over the years I've greatly enjoyed his motorcycle test reports, annual touring stories and race reports, as well as his track side commentary at various Phillip Island motorcycle races.

Ride on Ken Wootton.

Two Nortons & a Suzi

Will the novelty of a new motorcycle to ride wear off? I guess so, but not enough yet to stop me riding in some cold winter weather!

 
I took a run from Geelong to Colac, then Ballarat then home to Geelong. Temps ranged from 4C when I left to 9.9C when I got home. The connecting theme for today was old mates and their restoration projects.

First project was Steve's Norton Dominator (his road ride is a black Commando).

Hours of work on the lathe goes into fabricating lots of new parts on a job like this.

Next project saw me take a quick trip on deserted winter roads from Steve's to Andy's place in Ballarat (a place not known for warmth!) to see Andy's recently purchased T250R Suzuki Hustler and the beginning of what he calls a 'birthday' for his Commando Fastback - new isolastics, a belt primary drive, lots of stainless nuts & bolts and a whole lot more.

Lots of happy memories from our teenage years when Andy had one just like this.

 Andy bought a Hustler as his first legal road bike not long after I first met him around 40 years ago. It did everything from get him to work in Melbourne everyday to riding the GOR on the weekends. You wouldn't think that you could carry a box with a dozen long neck bottles of  beer on a tank that small would you?

 Less happy are places like this. A once bustling center of motor vehicle and British motor cycle repairs and service, in a town that barely exists now.

Winter sun

Marty & I took a run to the 12 Apostles today. It was 6C when we left after an overnight low of 0C. It probably didn't get an warmer than 13C anywhere on our route, but we were dressed for the cold and had an enjoyable day's riding.

I only took a couple of shots of the motorcycles parked in Port Campbell as I have dozens of pics of the 12 Apostles area in the camera already!

It was my first time out with the new mufflers on the ZX14 and they sound great, without being too loud.
The roads were mostly dry but there is an enormous amount of water lying about the roadsides and in the paddocks.

We wound up doing 341 kms for the day which is good for a day trip in the middle of winter here.

Megacycle slip ons

I recently took a run down to Megacycle engineering in the Melbourne suburb of Keysborough to get a set of slip on mufflers fitted. These are built from scratch by the owner Ken Onus and he likes to have the bike there and fit them virtually as he builds them. Megacycle engineering is an old school engineering works, that builds specialty motorcycle exhaust systems. It's winter Down Under and it was a cold 6C when I left home and was  raining for much of the run down there. Ken wanted me there by 7.30am, which meant a 5.30am ish start for me if I wanted to avoid the Westgate Bridge bottleneck. As it was I got there at 7.00am.
Pic below shows a bleak morning.

Here is the finished product in stainless steel. The bike's EFI can adjust OK and there is no need for a Power Commander or suchlike to get it running OK.

And the sound - a lovely burble that's not too loud or intrusive. Also the oval shaped pipes look much less bulky than the big round standard pipes.

Ken is the only person I've ever met in Oz who has raced at the IOM - with some success actually.
Ken Onus IOM

Pics

Protective clothing study

Below is a link to a comprehensive Australian study of motorcycle protective clothing and associated injury reduction. I recommend that you read it and I'm sure that different aspects will have significance for different riders.

Overall it's reinforced my belief in "All the gear all of the time" (ATGATT) and that jackets with armor were genuinely helpful at reducing injury (hardly a surprise but nice to see some science supporting the contention)  The amount of protective clothing that 'failed' in some way is cause for concern.
 
READ THIS for all of the detail.

Ride safe!

Mild winter day

Unbelievably it was 17C and sunshine today, though a strong blustery wind was a little disconcerting. I did a quick solo run from Geelong to Beech Forest via Colac, then down Turton's Track (very greasy conditions) then back to Geelong via Forrest and Dean's Marsh.

 Congratulations to Paul & Maria for 10 years (today) of constant improvement to this general store in Gellibrand. This pic doesn't do justice to the place. The quality of Paul's workmanship in restoring the interior is excellent.

I parked, got a hot chocolate - but the whole time I felt I was being watched!

A hah - I was being watched after all.