340 km

melbourne to yea via st andrews and kinglake, then to heathcote via puckapunyal, then home via kilmore. a cold morning—1 to 3 deg C in some places early in the day—but warming to mid-20s by day's end. lightly trafficked and enjoyable riding roads through to heathcote, a bit on the boring side on the return home. 

thirst quenched

a top up at woori yallock (9.3L @ $1.618/L) before heading up reefton spur, then to marysville and home via black spur. 200 km for the round trip on a beautiful mild late-summer's afternoon.

new rubber

michelin road 5s replace the pilot road 3s that lasted for 17,618 confidence-inspiring km.

autumn in the high country

a couple of days free, so time for a loop around the north-east—to yea and mansfield first (and an overnight camp), then up through tolmie to whitfield and the king valley, and finally to glenrowan and home via strath creek.

gp 2017

a wet morning, but the showers and clouds cleared for most races in the afternoon. joan mir won the rain-shortened moto3 race (the photo shows the field rounding siberia—turn 6—on its sighting lap), but it could have been any one of 6–8 riders in the leading bunch; miguel oliveira won moto2; and marc marquez took the motogp laurels after an exciting battle, initially with seven others then in the final laps with rossi, viñales and zarco.

22,515 km

oil and filter change. (only 4,000 km since they were last done, but that was almost 2 1/2 years back.) used part synthetic castrol power 1 4t 10w-40. 

front brake pads ...

... checked. all ok—no uneven wear and plenty of friction material remaining (3 mm). 

mt buller

1,805 m asl.

16 km of fun on the winding road from mirimbah to the summit.

clean

a quick wheel-off scrub.

position, position, position

warburton to marysville via c511—the woods point 'reefton spur' road. 60 km of corners on good blacktop (some tree litter on the cornering line in a few places though). back home via black spur and healesville.

10 minutes

that's how long it took to adjust the chain. (i do so like working on this bike.) plenty of wear remaining in the chain and sprocket so replacement not imminent.

coast

a quiet campsite under casuarinas and flowering banksias, a dune away from eastern beach at lakes entrance. the ride out from melbourne via the south gippsland highway was relaxed and relaxing—sparse traffic, good roads (especially from yarram) and clear skies.

charged

a clear, mild autumn's morning—perfect for a ride into the hills. the bike starts, but only just—the battery is obviously on its last legs. it's completely dead when I thumb the starter after a fuel stop, so it's a bump start and a return home. the battery is five years old so has given good service. replacement bought and fitted today.

oil change

an oil and filter change after eight months in storage. the shiny collar on the filter is a filtermag.

r & r

under wraps while i'm on extended overseas travels. it's on a trickle charger (ctek), which kicks in once a week for an hour, and it's got a full tank of fuel with added stabiliser (sta-bil). sophie starts it once a month for me.

van dieman's land

10 days. 1,500 kms. 1–10 march.
cradle mountain—a recce for a future longer visit. corinna—for the arcadia trip down the pieman. macquarie heads—for its remote and wild beauty. derwent bridge—for the astonishing wall in the wilderness. bruny island—for the cheese (c2, 1792). hobart—for the extra-ordinary mona and reconnecting with a long-time friend, anthony. evandale—for the glover exhibition. magic.
some photos here.

50va8

woods point dust cleaned off with a kerosene-soaked rag, and chain re-lubed with ipone spray. all good for tasmania.

sailor bill's creek

the dirt road ends (en route to jamieson from woods point).

woods point

2 days. 500 km. 6 bikes.
great company. good food. stunning landscapes.
the riding was pretty good, too, with some challenges on the badly corrugated unsealed roads 40 km either side of the town.

the loop

100 km through healesville, toolangi, kinglake (and a stop for a coffee) then back home via hurstbridge in time for lunch. mild, clear skies, northerly breeze — almost perfect riding weather.

mountain ash

an afternoon ride up the flanks of mt donna buang from healesville — 25 km or so, unsealed for the last 7–8 km before the summit road — then down to warburton, a stop in the sun at the bakery for a tea and sausage roll, and the unexpected pleasure of a chance conversation with a k1200r rider, then home along the road by the yarra.

mv sorrento

breakfast in ocean grove with a friend, then across port phillip heads on the newer of the two queenscliff-to-sorrento ferries.

kriega

hook-strap web loops fitted to the subframe. final adjustments to be done when the us-30 is packed, and gaffer-tape will go onto the bodywork under the webbing to prevent rubbing.

motogp

lorenzo takes out the big one, marquez is black-flagged and the championship is up for grabs.

retrospective

finally reading zamm — ‘an american cultural icon in literature’ — almost 40 years after it was first published. that’s not meant to imply i’ve never attempted it. i had a copy in the late 70s (not a first edition), but in the callowness of youth i found it incomprehensible and didn't get past the early chapters. this time around, i'm making headway.

primavera

a still, clear day for a ride to corner inlet. officially, spring starts tomorrow, but the vernal equinox isn't until september 23.

fan club

some of the cool de clieu clientele discussing the pros and cons of the single-sided swingarm.

fuel miser

over 16 months, best fuel consumption 4.7 l/100km (60.4 mpg) on long open-road rides; worst 7.2 l/100km (39.0 mpg) on commutes, short urban trips and other city riding; overall average 5.9 l/100km (48.6 mpg).

indian summer

a warm day out on reefton spur and the eildon–jamieson road. corner after marvelous corner of mostly dry and clean blacktop (except for a short newly resurfaced section not far out of eildon — loose gravel on the corners slowed the pace and made for some squirrelly handling).

teetotaller

it's water.

no interest in being #251

st andrews–kinglake road. narrow, winding, unforgiving.

hiss

repels thieves. apparently.

san remo

a fine saturday afternoon. and a fine afternoon for a run down to phillip island, then back home along the winding ridge-line road between wonthaggi and loch.

pristine

on the road again after five weeks in the repair shop. so good!

39.6 °C | 103.3 °F = AUD 4,756.17

november 29, 2012. highest melbourne spring temperature on record. the centre-stand legs sink into footpath asphalt softened by the afternoon heat and the bike topples over on its right side as one leg sinks more than the other. mostly superficial damage to the bodywork, a small paint scrape on the lower edge of the tank (from where the fairing pressed against it), a scuffed engine cover and rear grab rail, some bent ancilliaries (brake lever, foot peg and brake pedal), a broken rear-view mirror and a bent fairing stay. (some photos here.) and the cost of fixing it all? $4,756.17 — parts $3,304.17, labour $1,452.00. an unpleasant introduction to honda parts prices (thankful, though, for having good swann insurance cover).

marathon sunday

st kilda's roads are closed (the marathon course wends its way through the suburb), so mordialloc pier is the fallback for some time in the sun.

elements

thick fog, wet roads and misted visor make for slow going through the otways from forrest, but wonder is revealed as conditions clear on the southern ocean side of the ranges.

parking

melbourne's footpaths are fair game (read legal) for motorcycle parking. a small privilege! and sometimes there are special, dedicated spaces reclaimed from roadside reservations.

progress

a power-to-weight comparison between the vfr and my old 70s bikes is instructive, as it is with the performance standard of the early years of that decade — the z1.

duck puttering

pottering       present participle of put·ter (verb)

1. occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner ...
2. move or go in a casual, unhurried way: "the duck putters on the surface of the pond".

work and weather have got in the way of riding in recent weeks. a break in both and i take the opportunity to while away some pleasurable hours in the anaemic winter sun discovering quiet backroads and dead ends around docklands and along the yarra's edge.

palmolive

'tough on grease, soft on hands'.

commute

grid lock on hoddle street and punt road. no fun. and the low-fuel indicator flashes the entire stop-start trip towards the monash freeway. otherwise, it's good being on the bike in the freshening air of a late-autumn evening. shell charges $1.70 a litre for 18 litres of 98 octane fuel (i guess there were still around 4 litres in the tank). i've done 3,000 km since buying the bike in late december — average fuel consumption 5.8 L/100 km (49.4 mpg).

sorrento

a cold, wet and grey ride down the mornington peninsula (albeit with a warming stop for coffee — plus toast and vegemite — at a bonbeach cafe). i learned two things about the vfr: the fairing does a reasonable job of keeping rain off the legs, and it doesn't take much throttle to spin up the back wheel on a wet road.