Bathurst FarRide - May 2013

After doing the FarRally I wasn't sure how my back would take another ride - it sure isn't liking anything else in life at the moment.  But I *really* wanted to participate in the two stage FarRide (meet at Bathurst 6:40am - 7:00am, be given secret location - ride there and back by check-in of 11:15am - 11:45am).  In the lead up I considered pulling out, discussed it briefly with Clint before my natural stubborness reasserted itself an FFFFFUUUUUUU BACK WE ARE GOING RIDING.

Given that I wasn't sure how I was going to go I decided to keep it simple.  I planned to stay in or near Bathurst so I plotted Hawker to Bathurst into Google maps and then dragged the route to Wyalong and Dubbo creating just over 700km for the Friday.

Friday morning was pretty chilly, of course, it is Canberra in May!  I was ready to leave on time (earliest start docket time was 11:45am).  I loaded up with a couple of Panadeine and headed over to the Hawker Shell for a huge 4 litres of petrol and my start receipt (11:50am).

Rolled out onto the Barton Highway and it was hurting but I crossed the border into NSW, the sun was shining and the road was rolling out in front of me - now this is not a road that I would usually get excited about but today OMG I'M ALIVE, I'M ALLLIIIVVVEEEE!!!!!  I hurt but I felt FABULOUS.

Onto the Hume for a brief stint before turning off for Binalong.  A quick wee break in Binalong and on through Harden, Wallendbean, Stockingbingle (for the 10000th time since I got my FarChallenge pic I swear) and onto the big Shell on the Newell just out of Wyalong.  I was pretty glad for the break!

Now I know Fatman will appreciate this - I was in line paying for the fuel and right next to me were the Cadbury Marvellous Creation chocolate bars, 2 for $3.50.  I picked two up.  I put them back.  I picked two up.  I put them back.  I picked two up then the line moved forward so I took them with me :D  (actually I thought about it some more and I think the chocolate bars at servos have replaced the smokes - now which is worse???).

Scoffed the sub thingo I had bought out of the pie warmer, another couple of Panadeine and I headed north along the Newell.  Through Forbes, thinking I would stop at Parkes for a visor change, nope, rolled through to Peak Hill where I swapped visors and also turned my new heated vest on for the very first time.  Wow.

Headed off for Dubbo and at some point I realised the road was soaking wet - WTF??? clear skies!!  Into a dark and soggy Dubbo for fuel, no break, and back onto the road.

I had not booked a room ahead as I wasn't sure I was going to actually make it to Bathurst, but I had done some research and determined that the Budget Motel at Bathurst was going to be my No. 1 choice.  I meant to stop in Molong to call and book a room but I was cruising too well so planned to stop in Orange instead.

I froze my way into Orange but once again didn't feel like stopping so decided to wing it.  Heading out the otherside of orange my headlights caught *something* to my right - 'tinkle tinkle' and I was showered in broken brown glass - some fuckwit had tossed a beer bottle out the window.  Wasn't sure if it was someone coming the other way or the car I was following but upped the pace and got away from everyone just in case.  Grrrrr.

Saw the only alive wildlife for the trip along here too - I *think* it was a dog??? I really have no idea but he ran across in front and gave me quite a scare!

Got into Bathurst about 8:30ish and fronted up to the Budget Motel. Walked in the door and the guy behind the desk greets me "are you Lynne?" Nope!  Turns out "Lynne" was also on a bike, had called ahead from Cowra... right, I know who that is! (and they pulled in just as I was getting into my room).  A bit of a catch up with Lynne and Mick then it was time for bed... and the worst nights sleep EVAH (okay maybe not quite that bad).

Saturday morning I was up bright and early - okay it was early but it was dark and FREEZING!  I put on thermals over my technical trackies and two jumpers and my wet weather gear.  Overkill?  maybe...

Headed to the BP and bumped into Gags who is much tuffer than me and already had some kays under his belt (I was cold enough on the 50m ride I had just done).  Off to Maccas where there were quite a few riders already.  Got my breakfast (COOFFFEEEEEE HOW I LOVE THEE) and eventually was given my top secret location... GRENFELL (DAMMIT!)  Out to the bike, turns out TonyK also had Grenfell, we were leaving at the same time so I just followed him.

It was a nice ride out to Grenfell, sometimes in the sun, sometimes in the fog, not much traffic.  I realised that I had never gone into Grenfell from that direction so I must highlight that on my map :)  The directions said to go to the BP at Grenfell.  First servo (only servo??) in Grenfell was a Matilda's... and there was Toura waiting for us!  Got our tokens, had a chat for a bit and it turned out that we were the only two going to Grenfell.  We still had plenty of time to get back to Bathurst so Toura led us out and well he was mostly in sight LOL!  We stopped at the Windfarm viewing place near Blayney for a bit, I topped up with some more painkillers before heading to the check-in location at Mt Panorama.  Chaos!  It seemed like there were about 300 bikes there.  Checked in, chatted with various peoples for a bit (including the fellow Canberrians who I never see in Canberra).  There was to be a group photo down the bottom of the hill somewhere then off to the RSL Club for lunch.  OH BOY WAS IT HOT IN THERE (never mind the dual layer of thermals... oops).  Kicked back there for quite a while, back to the motel for a little bit then back to the RSL for dinner followed by a frosty walk back to the motel.

Sunday morning my phone told me it was 3 degrees.  Yep, I'm staying in bed.  Eventually I got going, thought I would stop in at the Japanese Gardens at Cowra.  Heaps of fog about the place on the way but it was bright and sunny in Cowra.  $13.50 for entry into the gardens though - pass.  Headed into Boorowa and paid homage to the bakery gods for a bit before the last stretch home to grey and gloomy Freezeberra (8 degrees.  Ew.) about 1:30pm.

Best thing about the Honda?  Bathurst to Canberra on one tank - not even on reserve yet :)

Loved the mystery of the two-stage FarRide :)

It hurt but dammit I am glad I did it!  Now my thoughts are turning to Bargara (which I registered for and then pulled out of.... will see what the new week brings).

FarRally RTM03 - Go For Broke!!!

FarRally

Go for BROKE!

Another year, another  FarRally.  No matter how hard I try I cannot get my supervisor to understand the significance of the FarRally.  Nevermind…

The Rally pack arrived while I was out on the road.  I checked my emails when I was at Coolah - having just ridden through Moree/Narrabri/Boggabri/Gunnedah/Mullaley (these all of course forming locations with the Rally…

This one was to be tricky… I had to nominate my own start location and turn around points, and there was a ban on starting in Canberra (and other places).  This first task proved a lot harder than it initially sounded - you could pick somewhere 700km from the start.  If it was between 500 - 700km you had to pick a turnaround location that took the trip to 800km.  Stuffed if I could find anywhere smack on 700km from the start!  Pick somewhere between 500 - 700km, drag the route it’s 650, 750, 850, 950, never at or about 800km *face palm*

I had so many different plans I can’t even remember them all but eventually I settled on starting at Goolgowi.  Then I changed it to starting at Grong Grong, with a turnaround location of Gundagai.  That plan had me riding some 1500 - 1600km - not too much I thought.

Earlier this year I was hit by a car while I was riding home from work.  I didn’t fall off but it ‘woke up’ a previously silent arthritic condition in my back.  It had been settling down but a bit over a week before the rally it all came roaring back into life (thankfully not so bad as it was initially but bad enough).  Lost the better part of a week off work and spent most of that week in a Codeine haze… I returned to work on the Tuesday prior to the rally and didn’t last the day… I rerouted my rally plan to a smidgen over 1200km.  Wednesday was worse than Tuesday and I started to have doubts about even starting the Rally.

The first curveball was scheduled to be thrown in the early hours of Thursday morning.  I woke up at about 4am and checked the forum - three locations for “ANZAC Biccies” at Dunedoo, Gilgandra and Bingara.  Also the penalty for excess km over 1200.  Okie dokie, back to bed.

Woke up a few hours later and immediately redid my ride plan again.  My new ride plan was now down to 1060.  It also included getting biccies at Dunedoo and Gilgandra, not that I needed them.  I dropped Dunedoo and decided to just get the one at Gilgandra because, well, I like biccies alright?  :D

I finalised the ride plan (including handwriting it all out, I really should buy a printer one day) and set off much later than intended for my start location at Grong Grong.  I had a room booked at the motel there and had advised them I would arrive between 4-5pm.  At 5pm I was at Temora (having scrapped my plan of going through Junee because it would be dark by then).  It was a glorious sunset and I was riding towards it with a big moon rising behind me - just magical.  My back even held up okay, with only occasional stabs of pain.

I arrived to the motel at Grong Grong to be greeted by possibly the friendliest motel staff I have ever met.  Offers for my bike to be put under cover, etc, a free ‘welcome’ drink on arrival (fanta for me, but I could have had beer or wine) and BONUS they have a restaurant.  For $65.00 I highly recommend this place!  I ordered a steak for dinner, medium rare of course, did I want it the “aussie” way or “my” way asked the owner?  I chose the adventurous option and had it his way and it was FABULOUS.  Finished dinner, had a chat with a lady who was also there for dinner, she was from Matong, and it was not long before I was into bed.

[u]The FarRally[/u]

Up and at ‘em!  I packed up the bike and shortly after the appointed hour (7am) I loaded up the bike, took my start pics and rolled up to reception to pay for my room and get my start docket.  I attempted to send my first call in from here too - trust me to pick the one town where I don’t have mobile coverage  :facepalm.

Down the road to the Grong Grong hotel for a “blue pic” ($24.99) and I headed east.  Ganmain for an “A” Post Office, resent my call-in text :facepalm, Coolamon for an “O” Post Office and Junee for a “U” Post Office - Yep, collecting “vowel” post office pictures using the first or second letter of the town name.  Up to Illabo to snag an “I” for spelling “IBEM” then down a dinky little single lane road through Eurongilly (sp?) to Nangus and onto Gundagai for a black pic ($15.99) and my turnaround location.

My back had been hurting quite a lot unfortunately  :(  Had a bit of a break in the main street before heading out to the tuckerbox roadhouse where I got fuel and had another break and a Twix which helped to cheer me up a bit.

Back onto the Hume, up to Coolac then on to Cootamundra.  Saw heaps of bikes out but don’t think any of them were FarRalliers.

Through Coota and onto Stockinbingal for another black pic.  Ouch ouch ouch.  Headed back to Wallendbean, up to Young where I seriously started considering pulling the pin on the whole thing.  Kept going, heading for Grenfell.  Yep, definitely ready to call it quits.  I decided that I was going to Grenfell, I was going to have some lunch and then I was going to go home.  NO, I was just going to think about going home.  I found a parking spot outside a take-away, ordered a big arse burger and a creaming soda, downed some Panadeine, ate my burger, including the bread.  I decided to man up and see how I was going by Eugowra.  Found the ladies nearby so I could put on some deep heat without exposing my bare arse to the busy main street of Grenfell and they STUNK so gross (yep even over the distinctive scent of the deep heat  :o)

Back on the road and it was starting to warm up which was nice.  The painkillers started to kick in and it wasn’t much fun as I was a bit dozy and still a bit painful but it was bearable.  I really wanted to be a FINISHER!!!!  Eugowra for an “E” Post Office then on to Molong for a blue pic (I think) and fuel.  Met Knave at the BP, had a brief chat then he left and I had yet another break (and a kit kat to make me feel better - no wonder my leathers shrunk so much).  Still contemplating what to do.  I had misread one of the tasks (the “Yellow pics”, at the Wellington Caves Visitor Centre there were three photos to take, if you got all of them it was worth $39.99, or negative any value you want up to $29.99 - I had read it as just plus $39.99 or negative $29.99 so had not planned on getting it - until that morning).  My original plan had been to just roll through Wellington and stay at Gulgong but I decided to stay at Wellington so I could get the Yellow pics (you could only get them on Saturday).  I stayed at the Bridge Motel, upon booking in the guy said “oh, you’re on a bike, I would put you so your bike could go undercover but I’ve got all the Fireys in there”… well damn.  Fireys?  HALLO!!!!! (Didn’t see any fireys  :( ).  Anyway found my room and had a recommendation to go to the Lion of Waterloo (or similar) tavern for tea but it was a bit of a walk.  A lady staying in a room near me offered to take me down there with them but I declined - the offer was very generous but I wasn’t up for company really.  I ended up walking into town and getting some AWESOME chinese instead.  Somehow on my walk home I accidentally went to the Caltex and bought some chocolate too.  Ooops.

Curveball 2 was expected to arrive at 5:30am.  3:00am I got a text - black pics go negative and Gilgandra Biccie Collection Point is cancelled  :o  I lay back down for all of about five minutes before sitting up, opening up itty bitty and replotting Saturday’s ride.  Back to sleep and wake up to the alarm.

I potter around as I don’t really expect to leave until about 8am.  I decide to take some pre-emptive Panadeine today, lather up in Deep Heat and roll out and head to the Wellington Caves Visitor Centre.  I take my picture of my bike outside the Visitor Centre and Derrick rolls in.  We move our bikes up to the giant Wombat thing, another pic and then… how am I supposed to take a picture of the thing inside and with my rally flag?  All I get is reflection!!!!!  (I don’t know how FarKing Crappy did it!!)  Allegedly the place is due to open at 8:30... More and more bikes roll in, lots of hallos, and after what seemed like hours the visitor centre opens.  I’m in and outta there in a flash!  Well not really.

Back through Wellington, through Dubbo and onto Narromine.  Ouchie goes the back.  I stop outside the pool for the Narromine pic an use their bathrooms for more deep heat… oh yeah.  Out the otherside of town and onto the road to Gilgandra.  Fuel and I’m off to find the post office - of course I go the wrong way.  Found it eventually.  Ouchie goes the back.  AND it’s getting hot… park up and have a rest, some snackies and lose some layers.  Onto Coonabarabran where I am once again ready to pull the pin.  I stop outside the visitor centre, pull out Itty Bitty, down some more Panadeine and set about planning the most direct route to the finish I can still reaching the minimum kays required.  106 to Gunnedah and I had to do 152.  Hang the penalty kms I JUST WANT TO FINISH!!!!!  I figured I could loop up to Boggabri - was 180ish km.  OK I can do this.  Set off, screw that, turn left and head to Narrabri in accordance with original intended plan.

Came across a family of emus hanging out by the side of the road in the forest here… one was right on the edge of the road.  I jumped on the brakes but I was really close to where he was… could see he still hadn’t decided whether or not to run so grabbed a handful of throttle instead and shot past him… phew!

Quick snap at Narrabri and a splash and dash and we’re off to Boggabri.  Snap Snap more pics (Red pic, IBEM) off to Gunnedah.

Still to find a newsagent.  I couldn’t find one in Coonabarabran.  Didn’t try in Narrabri.  The one in Boggabri was shut.  Into Gunnedah.  Snapped a blue pic straight up.  Rode past two newsagents, both shut.

Shit.

OK.  Into Woolworths.  Buy a newspaper.  Woolworths sells news that makes them an agent for news right?  ;D  Close enough I hope!  Also buy a highlighter and 'accidentally' buy a big packet of ANZAC biccies seeing as I missed out on one at Gilgandra.  Colour in my fingers and take my fingerprints on the newspaper.

Realise I am about to go over on kays.  Skip the Red pic at Neptune and just go to the meet location, 2km over the estimate.  $0.60 penalty.  Try to do the maths to work out the balance skipping the Red Pic and the extra kays while everyone is trying to say hallo - sorry people but my maths skills are very poor!!!!!

Eventually checked in without double checking anything… really hope it was all in order and I am a finisher!  PLEASE!!!!!!!!  lamer

Now it is all over, checked into the motel and let the catching up begin!  I stayed up really late (midnight) chatting and it was good.

Dreaded the trip home terribly but a) pre-emptive painkillers are good and b) it was nearly 100km shorter than I thought :D  There may have been a lot of ANZAC biccies consumed on the trip home also.

All in all it was pretty painful but I am really glad I pushed and attended anyway… it was the FarRally!

(Oh yeah… the RM has my memory card of course so no piccies yet!)

Running in a new bike

So the CBR600RR won.  I picked it up on Friday at lunch time and promptly started planning the weekends adventures.

It was booked in for it's 1000km service this coming Friday so the plan was to get it up close to that over the weekend.  Harder than it sounds, my routes were all either too short or too long! LOL. Eventually I settled on a plan that saw me snag the FarChallenge pics at Jindabyne and Adelong and head out west for some countryside cruising.  Also because the Khancoban Motorcycle Festival was on and I had no intention of sharing my favourite roads with others.

And then I changed my mind.

Mostly because it was to be around 18 in the snowies and about 30 out west.

So instead I planned to go to Jindabyne via Dalgety (for spelling), then back through Adaminaby (for spelling) and onto Adelong, down to Tintaldra or Corryong then back up through Cabramurra and home.

So Saturday morning I fronted up at CMC to drop off the rego sticker for the 6

and bored my way down to Cooma where I topped up the fuel and stopped for second breakfast as I was freezing.  So glad for heated grips!  I stopped at the Cooma Cafe and have to say I don't rate it.  I parked intending to go to the hippy cafe across the road but turned out I had parked right outside this one so thought to give it a go.  Only drank about half my coffee, way too strong for me even with heaps of sugar in it.

Rolled out on the Maffra Road with the clouds so low I swear I could have stood up on my pegs and dragged my fingers through it.  It was raining in patches here and there and I thought about turning left instead of right and trying my luck at the coast but I really wanted to get that Jindabyne pic.  So I manned up and went to Jindabyne.

Photo taken, managed to stall trying to leave here (and not for the last time, CBR wants more revs than the 6 did!).  It rained some more, enough that the road was a bit wet but didn't unsettle the bike at all.  Over to Adaminaby where I topped up the fuel again and then down the road to the Big Trout, to match Pat's picture from a few hours earlier.

Then onto the Awesome Road.  It was nice but my chicken strips would tell you that I didn't enjoy it much (I did though).  Somewhere along there the clouds all disappeared revealing a sunny, but cool and windy day.  Stopped at the Sign for a traditional picture

 and was *very* tempted to keep going but the bike was still very new and I was a bit worried about other bikes so instead I turned back and kept going to Tumut.  The sun stayed out and I stopped at some lookout I never noticed before.  Pretty.

Just before the drop down to Talbingo there were roadworks and I was stopped at the red light for quite a while so turned the bike off.  Just as the light went green a group of bikes arrived behind me so I waved them past while I restarted the bike.  Mistake.  It wasn't so bad going down the hill, apart from the noise (there was a very awful sounding m109 I was right behind) but once we got out past Talbingo OMG they were annoying.  Anyway.  I stopped a couple of times to let them all get away as I didn't want to be caught up in the middle of their group (the leader was faster than me, the rear few doing about 80 on a slight bend grrrr).  Anyway was behind them all the way into Tumut where they stopped and I kept going onto Adelong.  Hurrah for empty roads again!  Stopped right out the front of the Hotel Adelong but there was a tree blocking the sign! haha so a distance one from the side, by this time it was HOT and I gladly stripped off the layers and settled out the front for a coke and a packet of chicken chippies.

I drank my coke too fast and ended up hiccuping my way to Corryong.  Oops.

Just out of Adelong I hit roadworks OH NO but they were really good just a bit dusty, not horrible at all.  Rolled through back to the Batlow Road and had to pull up in Laurel Hill in an attempt to try and get my hiccups to stop.  It was a temporary measure only! ggrrr.

Into Tumbarumba for fuel and I was wondering if my fuel gauge was dodgy - I had done about 210km and it only just dropped to one bar below half as I was pulling into the servo.  Only put in 9.4 litres so I guess it is just really good on fuel! Yay!  I was debating whether to stay in Tumbarumba or push on for Tintaldra or Corryong as it was now about 5pm.  I decided to push on, with warnings about excessive amounts of roos on the road, so I just took it very steady :)  It was lovely and warm!

Decided Corryong over Tintaldra and got a room at the pub.  Overall it was very disappointing, the room was pretty ordinary, though the bed was comfy, and my dinner was pretty average.  Ended up going to bed heaps early and even had a nice sleep in on Sunday morning.

I had intended to go to Legends for breakfast so waited until almost 9am to leave, only to find that Legends is for sale and there didn't appear to be any signs of it opening.  Oh well.

The weather forecast told me that overnight Cabramurra had recorded wind speeds of 70km/h and gust of over 90km/h with a strong wind warning still in place - I decided to forgo the Cabramurra Road as I didn't want to have a tree fall on my head.  So back to Tumbarumba where I stopped at Bears Cafe for breakfast which was MASSIVE and then back into Adelong for a spelling photo as I had forgotten to get one yesterday LOL

and into Tumut for fuel.  It was warming up again now and I gladly lost the jumper and neck sock here.

I consulted my map - years ago I had a conversation with someone who had lived in Tumut about another way to Gundagai which was not the Gocup Road (I would have loved to go back via Snowy Mountains Highway but that would have taken me well over the 1000km).  I found the road through Brungle and thought to give it a go.  It was really nice!  Some twisties but no signs and lots of inconveniently placed bumps but I just took it nice and slow and took in the scenery - it was pretty special.

My map showed me that after Brungle I could go through Darabalga (sp?) and then onto Coolac which would cut off a bit more freeway - awesome.

Where the turnoff for Gundagai was it was on a river and *very* beautiful.  I had to pass through a herd of cows and tried to take a photo but it didn't quite work as planned.

The road narrowed down to about one lane of tar but the scenery was quite pleasant and the road quite empty.  Before long the road came to another river and followed that for a while.  Another T intersection and another photo opportunity.  These ones I was happy with :)

From here it was over a bridge and into Coolac where the road joined the freeway.  I stopped for a drink as it was really quite warm now and consulted my map.  Unfortunately taking the road out through Cootamundra would also put me too far over my 1000km :( so no choice but the freeway.  I really didn't want to do it!  Oh well.  It was sooooooo windy it was crazy.  An uneventful run back into Canberra and home with 964km on the clock and lots of bug guts on my shiny new bike!

Now a service on Friday then we are off again next weekend - YAY!

Test Riding Goodness!

It has been quite a while since my last post, I know. Now I currently have my 2010 ZX6R (bought new in May 2011) and my 1997 ZX7R which I picked up last year. My original intention had been to ride the 6 until it dies... but then... I was out at Canberra Motorcycle Centre one day last week and I happened to spy the z800. Instant love. What a beautiful machine! I admired it for a bit and then I just had to know how much it cost. I determined to come back out on Saturday so that I could take it for a ride, and get a value on trading in the 6 (which now has close enough to 70,000km on board).

 Saturday morning dawned drizzly and miserable. But before long the rain mostly stopped so I decided to try my luck, if nothing else I could sit on the z800 and make vroom vroom noises while I got a value on my ZX6R so at least I'd know if I could afford it or not. The closer I got to Fyshwick the drier it became, until outside CMC the roads were mostly dry - yay! the clouds were still threatening but my luck held out. And so commenced quite a fun day.

 I headed out on a z800
 
First up I headed out onto the Monaro to see how it felt at highway speed, as I guess that is what I mostly do. I was terribly disappointed, it was waaaaaay too breezy to be comfortable doing that all day. The handling was very nice and nimble and while the clutch/throttle took me a bit of getting used to it as quite nice to ride... until I got over about 80km/h. Oh well, back to CMC with the realisation that perhaps naked was NOT for me.


 Next up was the new ZX6R - they've gone back to a 636 motor and I was quite keen to try it out. Straight up I found this bike *very* easy to ride, but that is probably because it is still very similar to my current 6. I really liked it though it didn't really do anything that my current 6 doesn't do. It has various power modes which I didn't play with and I don't know anything about. I liked it a lot in the end.




 Following the ZX6R I hopped on the Ninja 1000. Now I hadn't really considered this bike before but the salesman thought this might be a good compromise between the faired sportsbikes that I like and the touring type of riding that I actually do. Again it was really easy to ride, hop on and go. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway I could feel the power. My first impression of this bike was WOW. Riding up the highway I could see this bike as being very, very easy to sit on all day, it was extremely comfortable. However I knew it wasn't quite the bike for me as it was a bit too big and too powerful for me to be completely comfortable on (I still need to commute and the occasional little scratch too). I think that in a few years if they put the z800 motor into this style of bike that would be absolutely ideal for me! So I had the thought as I was heading back - what about the ninja 650? When I got back I suggested this and they don't have an unrestricted demo but apparently it is the same bike as the ER-6 just without a fairing which I was a bit surprised about.

So next up was an ER-6. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway I knew this was not the bike for me. I didn't go very far before turning around and coming back. Apparently when I was gone Seb (who I have bought about 1000 bikes from) told Paul (the salesman I was dealing with today) that the ER-6 was definitely not the bike for me. How right he was.






 So I came to ride a VFR800. I didn't like it on paper, I didn't like how it looked and I had heard a description of it being 'jack of all trades, master of none, 'it's a good motorbike like a fridge is good as it keeps your food cold'. But I decided that I would try and give it a fair go. It was a little bit too tall for my comfort so I was a bit nervous on taking off but I got out of the driveway okay and my initial impression was that it was not too bad. Out on to the highway and up to the 100km/h. The fairing worked really well but I noticed that the seat was *very* uncomfortable, it was way wider than what I am used to and I had some pressure spots underneath my thighs that would become very irritable over a longer period of time. I wriggled around trying to find a better spot but I couldn't. I headed out to some roundabouts and OMG this thing handled like arse. Usually I have found that if I can't instantly corner on a bike, then a couple of corners later I get the hang of it - I never did get the hang of this one. I also really didn't like the gearbox, it was all clunky and awkward like my first ZX6R and VTEC was very unimpressive. SO a big fat NO for the VFR800 as I hated it nearly as much as the ER-6. The fairing was quite nice though.

So what to take out next. Initially Paul had wanted me to ride a GSR750 that they had though we had thought the nakedness would be a big no factor but it had a little screen so off I went. This one was second hand and had a fair bit of bling. It was pretty fun to ride but yeah, the nakedness was too much and I wasn't really sold on how the motor felt either. Which left Paul scratching his head as to what else I could have a ride of. I said that today's exercise had shown me that really a 600 sportsbike is what suits me best. Hmmmm. What about a CBR600RR? Well they are on sale at the moment. He wheeled out the demo and it is quite pretty really.

 First impression was it felt TINY but quite okay. It had a fuel gauge which was a bit of a novelty! Rode out very comfortable straight away. Out on the highway, the motor felt *really* good, the gearbox felt *really* good and going through the roundabouts I had a little giggle on cracking it on exiting *big evil grin*. It did feel really tiny though, I was a bit concerned that it might be a bit too squishy. But overall I really, really, really, really liked it.



I got back with a huge grin on my face and took the 636 back out so I could have a back to back comparison of the two. I have to say I think the Honda is a better motor and gearbox and slightly better in handling but the 636 is a little bit roomier and I think slightly better for what I want to do. So we started talking money. Turns out that the CBR is $13350 and the 636 is over $17000 OMG that takes the 636 right out of the equation, I did prefer it but not for that much money. So now I have a decision to make. Do I keep the ZX6R and ride him til he dies and then I have no idea what I do with a dead bike? Do I trade the 6 now while he is still worth something and have a nice fresh bike with a further 2 years warranty etc etc? I will need to extend my loan a little bit though :/ What about the ZX7R? I am really only keeping it for the sake of keeping it. Maybe I can't be bothered? I don't know. I am paying all this money keeping it insured and registered just to have it looking pretty in my sister's garage. I'm not sure. I might have a chat to them through the week and see if they might trade that as well (before I have to pay rego for it!!).

 

2012 Snowy Ride

Ahhh The Snowy Ride...

After last year I wasn't convinced I was going to go again.  The date conflicted with the FarNat FarRally.  But when the time came, I chose to go on the Snowy Ride... how can you not?  It is a good cause after all...

In the lead up funds got *very* tight and I ended up cancelling my accommodation (I was happy enough to leave my registration as a donation).  But in the end I ended up in with the Canberra Riders guys :D

Headed out to Thredbo Friday afternoon and settled in...  the boys had been out to Jindabyne to do some grocery shopping so all that was required was to claim a bed and open the bar :D  Eventually after a meaty dinner (with oceans of potato salad) it was time to go to the pub and... where is everyone?? It was very quiet in there!  Ran into Robyn though which was cool :D

Saturday morning dawned super bright and sunny!  and.. wait for it... I actually felt like going riding!  On the Snowy Ride!  I must say this is thanks to Dids who insisted on using a measuring device when mixing our drinks rather than the usual 'guesstimation'...

So we all got dressed and headed out towards Khancoban where we got fuel and regrouped.  Turns out that Tai had gone to get some oil for his R6 and there was an accident just out of Thredbo that had closed the road.  So we settled in to wait for his arrival.  There was a sausage sizzle (YUM) and I made a daisy chain (no photo) and then he turned up - miles in front of anyone else :D  We let him have a bit of a break and then headed up the hill towards Cabramurra... holy fucking hell I remembered why I don't ride the Snowy Ride - just spent the whole way hugging the absolute left to give way to all the RIDERS on the wrong side of the road... anyway without incident we made it to Adaminaby for a late lunch (one of the best steak sangas EVAH), and our first stamp (Khancoban is no longer a check point).  We got fuel and then headed to Berridale to get our second stamp but they had already packed up and gone home! OH NO!.  Jindabyne for our second stamp and we quickly set off for Thredbo to avoid the mass ride.  FAIL.  The guys all got through but Miss Patience here didn't - they closed the road to us - there was one car and two bikes in front of me.  le sigh.

Watched all the bikes roll out and out and out and eventually we got to go too... crawled into Thredbo, the mass ride turns in at the first exit and I thought about going straight and down the second exit but... decided what the hell, I rode with the Mass Ride thusfar... so I did the parade through Thredbo too :D  I just went straight back to the chalet though as it was too hard to try and stop and park while riding two abreast :(  So I didn't get my third stamp or my card in the draw for the bike :(

Eventually the guys came home and the bar was opened - we had another meaty dinner with oceans of potato salad before heading down to the pub.  The band this year was Dirty Deeds (ACDC coverband for those who don't know) and we heard them start up... the guys were still finishing their drinks so I said I'd see them over there, found Sharie and Androo (with no kids - was most strange) and then found Robyn and we rocked out for the whole show - so much screaming along, I am surprised I had a voice left.  Eventually the band was over and Robyn left and I went back to the pub to find the CR guys - but I hit the wall soon after and went home and to bed.

Sunday morning was bright and sunny again though I had a rotten headache so took some drugs and back to sleep for a bit.  Most of the guys were heading straight back to Canberra for a variety of reasons but Craig, Tai and I decided to Charlotte Pass - somewhere I had never been before.  So we checked out of the chalte and fuelled up at Jindabyne before heading up to Charlotte Pass and it was really nice!

There was plenty of snow at the top, Craig said I should go and stand in it for a photo and Tai promptly started throwing snowballs at me... he threw one at me and it was all set to go over my head until I stood up at just the right moment and copped it in the side of the face - freaking hilarious - Craig even managed to capture it on his phone hahahaha.

But all too soon it was time to head back home, had a good run back into Jindabyne for lunch, fuel at Cooma and then the slab back home.

(I hardly took any photos this weekend!!)

Swim Ride Reccie

As a change from previous years, Leen had decided to investigate Echuca as a spot for the 2013 Swim Ride.  (For those playing at home for the last ??? I can't remember how many years, the Swim Ride has been ride to Corryong Friday, spend Saturday riding around to various swimming holes for a swim, then ride home Sunday).  

At first there was a fair bit of interest in the reccie ride but it ended up just being Leen, Dazza and me from Canberra, with a plan to meet Alli (from Adelaide) at Echuca.

The weather forecast was truly horrible and I got a phone call from Leen on the Saturday morning to say they were taking the car, I could join them if I wanted.  I chose to ride... 

We met up at Gold Creek and set out under gray skies towards Jugiong for morning tea at the cafe there, which was quite nice.  There was a little second hand bookstall set up there which we poked around in and the lady showed us the picture of the radar where we were heading... nasty.  

Splash and dash for fuel at Gundagai and there we left the Doom behind, heading out through Nangus and onto Wagga the back way.  Leen and Dazza stopped to check out a few swim spots along the way, I took the wussy option and waited on the bitumen hahaha. 

We pretty much bypassed Wagga (YAY) and the lunch stop was left to me.  Rolling into Uranquinty the signs for the bakery started appearing.  It wasn't raining then but it was looking black as ahead so I decided the bakery would do.  And it was fabulous, would definitely stop there again.  

Before long it was time to hit the road again, and the stormclouds, heavy black and pendulous towards which we were riding, looked most terrifying.  We turned left at Walbundrie and before long we were in it.  Hail.  Rain so heavy I couldn't see the speedo.  The road was under water.  I was soaked to the skin in seconds.  The car slowed down and I followed them I think at about 40km/h, just hoping that I wasn't going to get run over by a truck from behind (I didn't).

Into Corowa for fuel, I was freezing!!! and wishing I had of gone in the car hahaha.  The Seven started playing up after this as well, don't know if it was the fuel from Corowa, or whether it was carb icing but he wasn't happy (and neither was I!)  Eventually we made it to Yarrawonga and found our motel for the night where we settled in and had a couple of drinks before heading over to the pub where there was an engagement party AND a bucks party - it was pretty crazy in there.  So not in the mood for crazy.  Back to the room and got a few hours sleep.

Sunday morning dawned clear and fucking freezing!  My gear was all still soaked so I got back into it all and we started freezing our way along the Murray Valley Highway towards Echuca.  The Seven was still playing up and it was worse trying to match the speed of the car so eventually I cracked the throttle (cough cough splutter ROAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRR) and off we went.  Some dude was stopped on the side of the road so I pulled up to make sure he was okay - dude from NZ just lost hahaha so we poured over the map for a bit, I hope he found his way okay, I'm not very good at giving directions!

Eventually caught up with Leen and Dazza in the car again and then we were in Echuca.  We got to do laps of the back streets of Echuca cuz they didn't know where the visitor information centre was hahaha then I managed to get a little spot to park right in the centre of the touristy bit but Dazza had to go off to find somewhere to park the car.  Alli turned up at pretty much the same time so we sat around and had coffee, then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride which was pretty cool and then spent a few hours poking around the shops.  Finally it was time to get moving again and we got fuel in Moama and then off through Deniliquin and Conargo and into Jerilderie.  I remember those roads :D  Found our accommodation at the pub in Jerilderie and the drinkies started flowing, dinner at the pub and then it was bed time.  

Monday Alli was heading back towards Adelaide and I decided to make my own way home so said goodbye to everyone and just made a beeline for home - Urana/Lockhart/Junee/Coota/Harden/Home It was a nice ride through some nice countryside, though what's with all the canola?? It seems there is more and more every year, now it seems like all you can see is canola fields.  

OH and a decision was made - while Echuca is nice, it is waaaay to touristy for the swim ride and the road is too boring so the Swim Ride will be at Howlong :)

I only took one photo for the weekend and it is still uploading!

FarFail September 2012

I had taken Friday off work and woke up to the sound of thunder.  Of course, it's a FarRide!  I briefly wondered if this was some kind of omen...

I had a buckload of things to do, so I sat about on the couch thinking about it all for a while before nailing it and having some time to kick back and relax.  All packed up, I was just getting into the bike gear when more thunder boomed overhead... I briefly wondered if this, also, was some kind of omen.

I headed out at about 11:45am, I had to drop my keys into the real estate agent's, so I did that, then to the servo for fuel and my start receipt - my start receipt was 12:00:36!  (according to the clock on my bike it was 12:09).  I didn't have a pen with me, so I decided to take a picture of my odo and write it on the receipt later... pulled my camera out and "MEMORY CARD FAILURE".  Bugger.  Spent some time stuffing around getting my phone out of it's waterproof hidey-hole, took my photo, and off I went.  Heading up Southern Cross I tried turning my heated grips on and they promptly turned themselves off.... I figured that I had left the ignition on too long when stuffing around taking my picture and didn't think too much of it..

It was raining fairly heavily and I headed out on the Barton towards Yass.  By Murrumbateman my feet and chest were soaked.  By Yass (about 50km) I was soaked to the skin and freezing!  Luckily my heated handgrips had recovered and at least I had toasty warm hands.

I had to pee really bad but I managed to make myself wait until I got to Gumly Gumly for fuel, I also had a little dim sim to warm up :D  It continued to rain and I headed through Wagga Wagga trapped between B-doubles.  Eventually about halfway to Narrandera the rain stopped, HURRAH!  It still looked pretty nasty.

Splash and Dash at Narrandera... "you're the kawasaki" says the servo attendant.  Yep.  "Is it a 250?".  No. a 600.  "A 600.  WOW!!!!".  le sigh.

Headed out towards Hay and the weather stayed dry, hurrah!  Got into the 110km/h zone and was pleasantly surprised at how far ahead of schedule I was.  About halfway to Hay my heated grips turned themselves off again :(  A bit further along I lost the dash... it's a bit weird to be cruising along under power and for my bike to appear "off" (0RPM, nothing on the screen).  Crap.  I was still probably 50km/h from Hay then so I flicked the indicators, nothing.  Flicked the high beam on and the bike immediately started losing power... screw that, high beam off, bike recovered and a few minutes later dash came back on.  Phew.  Let's just get to Hay.  40km... the dash died again.  Crap.  30km/h.  the bike started losing all power so I started pulling over and the motor cut out.  Pulled the seat off and couldn't see anything amiss however when I turned the ignition off and on again I had very faint lights on my dash, but the bike would not start.

Sad 6

Luckily I had service :D  Put in a call to the NRMA, while I was on hold a Spyder came by... I knew it had to be Dene and it was!  She turned around and came back.  Nothing she could do but wait with me, NRMA would be there in half an hour they said, so she continued on and I went back to waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Another bike approached and pulled up.  He had a FarRider sticker on his bike, but I don't recall ever meeting him before, it was Shannon, who decided that he was going to wait with me until the NRMA came, even though I insisted that I was okay!

When after an hour the NRMA had still not shown up, I called back, turns out they had gone the wrong way out of Hay.  By this time it was getting quite dark.  and the mozzies... they were giants!

Eventually the NRMA turned up, he just brought the truck to bring me back so he could work on it in the workshop.  But the bike started!  So I took off with the towtruck behind me, but only made it about 5km before I lost the dash again... then watched as my headlight got dimmer and dimmer... so I pulled the plug.  Loaded him up and road the rest of the way in the truck.

As we got into Hay Ian (my NRMA White Knight) we noted the large motel on the right being full up... Ian's daughter was with us and had predicted that the town was going to be pretty full that night.  "that's 50 rooms!!!" says Ian.

Left the bike on the truck and he started looking at it, thought it might be a partially collapsed battery, rang around and got the number for the local bike shop guy who would have a battery available in the morning.  Meanwhile Ian's daughter said she would try and find a motel for me... first one she rang had just had a cancellation so HURRAH I had a room!  Apparently everywhere was completely booked out.  So she drove me up so I could sort the room, done, back, still nothing on the bike so left it there, back to the motel where I had one of the best showers of my life (my knickers were still wet from the rain earlier... EWWWW TMI).

As it was pretty late, the Roadhouse was going to be my best bet for some dinner so wandered up there (it was quite a walk).  Saw a few bikes heading in and when I was just about at the roundabout a BMW pulled up... "MELLIE".  It was Karl!  I bitched at him about my predicament for a bit while Kimmie and their friends caught up, then they set off for their accommodation and I went and had a big sulky burger with the works, bought a Marsbar for dessert and made the hike back to my room.  Pretty tired so pretty much straight to bed.

Up and at 'em at about 7am.... COFFEEEEEEE!  Wandered down the street a bit, nothing looked particularly open, but then I found Robertson's Hot Bread... what a find!  Best coffee I have had in a long time.  I also had a muffin which was pretty good but nowhere near as spectacular as the coffee.

Ian's daughter had given me a card with a number to call... "call about 8" she had said.  I duly did so, only to get the answering machine.  I left a message.  And waited.  at 9 I called again, answering machine again.  So I called Ian's mobile (he was heading to Melbourne for the grand final).  He called me back "bike should have been dropped at the bike shop first thing this morning".  Righto.  I knew where that was!

Wandered up to the bike shop and met Marg and John.  John had had enough of a look at the bike to confirm that it definitely wasn't the battery and it was going to need some parts... we're not going anywhere :(  So they started  a job card while I went back to talk to NRMA about getting me home.

Chris from the NRMA Premium Care was very helpful.  He reminded me that I had the option of getting a tow truck to take me and the six back to Canberra if I liked... that sounded easiest to me so I agreed to that.  I rang Marg and they were fine with that too.  So Chris said he would try and find a tow truck and would give me a call back.  In the meantime the 10:00am checkout time was looming... the motel only had two rooms available for that night, the owner said he would hold mine for me while I sorted myself out... but the cleaners had cleaned all the other rooms, so I had to get out of mine 'just in case'.

I headed over the road back to Robertson's and this time I had a pie.

It was fabulous.  (so was the second coffee).  While I was there Chris rang me back... a tow truck was coming from Narrandera, would be here in about two hours.  Awesome.  So I finished my pie and coffee, headed back to the motel to get my stuff and the owner kindly drove me down to the bike shop :D

John was really good, he didn't charge me for looking at the bike.  I had quite a wait and they were happy enough for me to hang out there while I waited.  I put all the bits back on my bike and then we just chatted for ages.  a couple of years ago various chapters(?) of the Rebels had all met up in Hay and all fuelled up at their servo... she showed me all the photos from the event, it was pretty amazing.

Eventually after a lot of hours waiting the tow truck turned up and the 6 was loaded up.  I thanked John and Marg for all their help and then we were off, back to Canberra.

It was a pretty uneventful run back to Canberra, getting home about 9pm on Saturday night.

Sad panda =(

(turned out the stator was gone - Kawasaki covered it under warranty, replacing the reg/rec again at the same time).