Trentham Falls                     Sunday 21st August, 2005

 

Yamaha R1                  Geoff Jones (leader)                                          Triumph ST 955            Ern Reeders

Yamaha R6                  Joel Haley                                                         Honda CBR929             Breht Emmerson

Honda VFR750             Renzo Cunico (rear)                                          Honda CBR929             Simon Trubiano

 

Weather was overcast with sunny periods. Road conditions were fine except the road from Kinglake West mountains to Flowerdale turnoff where the road was wet and slippery.  From the turn off to Broadford all the way to Lancefield I prayed to the gods for better weather conditions.  Alas, my prayers went unanswered! 

 

When I left home at 9:30am to meet the group at Whittlesea, I was undecided whether to ride or not due to the weather.  However, because I cannot resist riding the bike on a Sunday, I got into my leathers and wet weather gear (just in case) and rode from Epping to Whittlesea via Eden Park.  Going through a left and right section of corners I noticed the road surface to be slightly wet, presumably from oil on the surface, and almost lost control.  At this point I was doubting a safe and enjoyable ride.  However, I kept a positive outlook.

 

I arrived at Whittlesea servo where Geoff and Ern where already eagerly awaiting a ride.  I decided to give my bike the ‘once over’ and found the reason for the scare I got when I left home.  I inspected the front tyre and noticed my Michelin Pilot Power (fitted before the Tassie trip) looked like a slick racing tyre.  I was a bit concerned about continuing the ride, almost considering going back home as the weather conditions weren’t too promising, rain almost certainly on its way! 

 

Just in time our ride leader Ron Johnston arrived.  There was a problem with his 1200 Bandit spraying oil onto his boots and pants, therefore retiring for the day, leaving Geoff our new ride leader. I volunteered for the rear rider (still a rather risky decision considering the condition of my tyres).  In the meantime, a few more bikes arrived leaving 6 bikes, 6 riders for a T-off at 10:10am.

 

We arrived at Lancefield for morning tea, finding Geoff’s R1 needed to be checked out, because it wouldn’t rev over 6000 rpm.  Maybe it was fuel pump problems? He lifted the petrol tank to find no noticeable problem, so we continued our ride toward Trentham.  Almost immediately the rain came pouring down! I was rather concerned at this point, but I kept my cool and rode to my best capability, making sure to stay upright.

 

We rode to Trentham Falls first, then off to a counter lunch, meeting some of Geoff Jones’ family: daughter Melissa and son-in-law Andrew McKenna. Wayne and Joanne Nimmo also came by car (not a bad choice for a day like today).  Ern decided not to have a counter lunch and went home after our visit to the Falls. The remaining 5 bikes completed the ride.  After lunch we headed back through Bacchus Marsh to re-fuel where the group separated to make a solo-safe return home.  When I arrived home, I started to think about replacing my “magically” safe tyre that got me through the ride to a tyre with a “new life”.

 

Thanks to Geoff for booking a lovely lunch and being ride leader.   

Renzo Cunico (Honda VFR 750)

 

 

Geoff Jones emailed me some more details on Monday after the ride:

 

  • “Ron Johnston had a valve cover oil leak and did not want to risk it after his recent ‘big spends’.

 

  • The R1 had fuel delivery problems most of the day which limited the motor to around 6000rpm. The problem cleared after lunch.  It may have been bad fuel at Whittlesea but no other bikes had problems, so I tend to discount that theory.  Maybe the fuel pump is doing a "Kawasaki".

 

  • At Lancefield I refuelled and tipped in 1 litre of metho but it still played up. Lunch break and no further signs of trouble.  (Have you considered carbies icing up ?  …Ed.)

 

  • The route was as per Ron's instructions with a missed turn seeing us in Redesdale instead of Sidonia. The route included: Whittlesea, Kinglake West, Flowerdale, Strath Creek, Broadford, Glenaroua, Pyalong, Lancefield (first break at 115 km), Mia Mia, Redesdale, Barfold, Langley, Kyneton, Springhill, Trentham Falls, Trentham counter lunch at 12.45pm, Blackwood, Greendale, Myrniong, Bacchus Marsh (fuel), Coimadai, Toolern Vale, and Diggers Rest."