Great Ocean Road Winter 08

I've got the 'flu and not feeling great so didn't ride yesterday with Marty. I was feeling a bit better today so went for a short spin down to Lorne and back along the Great Ocean Road. It was overcast and threatening to rain when I left. Ambient temp 13C.

Just out of Lorne I caught up with an awesome sounding classic car (on club reg). It was Italian in origin and had a lovely V8 rumble from the twin exhausts. Had to pull up for a bit when I came across a smash between a car and a motorcycle on some tight curves. Fortunately the ambulance and police were there already. It didn't look good and I'm thinking one of them was on the wrong side of the road. The sight of a bike down and the thought of the rider injured left me feeling a bit hollow, so I was happy to call it a (short) day and just head home.

VFR parked in Lorne, Vic.

Great Ocean Road = Great curves

New tank bag purchased from the US. Took only 6 days to arrive. Great service!

Trials at Goodwood

Dougie Lampkin, 12 times world champion trials rider, at Goodwood House. Incredible!
(Click on "Goodwood House" above).

I got a buzz to see my Honda was the feature photo on the US based VFR discussion website over the weekend.

Here is a screen shot from the website.

This is the original pic with a bit of post production.

Road & River

I went to see Peter the owner of Road & River on Saturday morning for a new front tyre for the VFR. I wound up getting another Michelin Pilot Power. It turned out that I needed some new front disc pads as well, which Peter was able to do there and then for me.

I can highly recommend R&R for personalised service, perfect for those of us who want a specialist motorcycle business and don't like the bland, impersonal "K Mart" type of experience that the big bike shops all seem to offer now. Road & River is also an authorized MV Agusta and Husqvarna dealer, so I just love to drool over those bikes while I'm there.

Have a good look at these things - they are "art" on 2 wheels. If only I could win the lottery!

It was the Genesis

Originally I started this post referring to a song from 70's Aussie band "Chain". I just heard a song on the radio that was actually a better "fit". Good old Neil sang it best,

"One of these days,
I'm gonna sit down
and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
And I'm gonna try
And thank them all
for the good times together".

In the early 1970's I met a group of like-minded guys who did not give a crap about Aussie rules football like everyone else did - they shared my passion for motorcycles. It was also just the time I was just old enough to begin to exercise some freedom and independance.

Thanks to Steve for many of these images, reproduced from the slide collection of his late father, Ron Kelly, who catalogued much of our youth with his camera. They reflect a great many very happy memories from a period in time that was the genesis of our love for motorcycling. Thirty+ years on and we are all still pretty keen motorcyclist in one form or another.


L --> R: Steve, Col , Jules, Rod, Keith

Steve, Rod, Jules, Andy

None were licensed to ride, but ride they did! Just home after a bit of "dog rattlin".


Steve's Honda CB750 four, which I later bought.

Andy's Ducati GT750 circa 1974

My Suzuki 550, late 1973
Same bike in 1974
Rod McRae's Kawasaki Z900, circa 1977

Jules Kawasaki Z1R, Christmas 1979

" My friends are scattered
Like leaves from an old maple.
Some are weak, some are strong"

Neil Percival Young.

Twelve Apostles Autumn Run

Marty & I took a run down to the 12 Apostles on a magnificient still Autumn day. It was all blue sky after a cool start and then warmed up to about 22C - just perfect. I will let the pictures do the talking!

Hot chocolates at Gellibrand. The Gellibrand store has become a favorite stop of ours.


Various shots around the Apostles.



Back to Geelong via Colac - stopped for a drink in the main street. Here's Marty

Short ride Sunday

I met up with Marty at 9.15am Sunday and we headed for the hills in overcast conditions. After a stop and a magnificent hot chocolate at the Gellibrand store we headed for Lavers Hill, but pretty soon it got misty and damp. By Ferguson it was raining, so uncharacteristically, we turned around rather than "tip toe" through these winding roads in such slippery conditions. Back at Gelli there were some classic bikes - the best of which were a R90S BMW and a Vincent HRD.





I decided on a pit stop at the Otway Estate winery, where we ended up having bacon & eggs for lunch. As much as we both would have loved a Prickly Moses beer or a glass of Cab Sav we make it a rule never to drink and ride. The staff here are fantastic and really made us feel welcome. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Steve & Helen's in Colac, then made a quick run via the Cape Otway Road back to Geelong.


All up approx 250 ks and the new suspension on the VFR felt great.