A meeting of members had been organized
Geoff in Bundy, Bryan in Bris, with significant other halves & Christian & Barbara in Sydney
The destination--- Eastern ck raceway, Easter w/end
Bryan dropped out ,
business commitments, so it was up to me to represent us northerners
The trip started with the 11 in the trailer to bris, were our girls were to spend the w/end, not completely incident free, with a flat tyre and a collapsed bearing , both on the trailer,
neither changing the mood of the trip.
The run itself had an early start with a 4.30am coffee, we were on the freeway at 5, the bike growling { as Trainz of USA put it like a stressed out spastic badger ready to rip your head off and eat your soul} and feeling strong having fresh oil and plugs, the added weight made it a bit light on the front , {a long time between 2 up running} but power on we did. It was also the maiden run for a new set of ?hagon oz? shocks with the heavy springs, purchased to cope with the weight of 2 up & our little trailer
The first of many fuel stops was Ballina, were not as much fuel as was expected filled the tank, along with a shock adjust that lifted the handling of the bike no end, other fuel stops were Grafton, Macksville, Taree, Morriset, & the last in Sydney before the start of the M4 to the Blue Mtns, making the day longer every time we got on & off
I?ll put it in here,,,,,,,,,,,,,some people say they can build seats,,,,,,,,,,some people tell porkies
Brekkie was in Grafton, lunch was on the water @ Foster then full noise to Sydney arriving in Katoomba @ 9 pm, the whole day spent with ol bike sitting between 4-5000rpm, riding boring as donkey poo freeways, BUT sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the main reason of the trip,,
Which was #1 to meet some more fellow xsive?s,
#2 go for a good long run, 2000 klm round trip in 3 days riding time
#3 watch some old bikes being put thru their paces
#4 somehow get in some corners, all in a very short period of time
A phone call the next morning put the hurry up back in our step, it was Xtrian & Barbara @ the gate of the track, so a quick trip down the mtn saw us at our final destination.
Rolling into the bike parking section it struck me how much our old bikes stand out in the crowd, amongst all the moderns, Xtrians? was almost the first bike we saw, {no it wasn?t on the end of a line} we parked as close as we could. It was if our old grandfathers of todays superbikes were passing an eye over what they had become, there was plenty of comments from fella?s that USED to own one
The next thing ?to locate Xtrian & Barbara, I started looking for a greying distinguished looking gent with a sore leg, Barbara I figured would be beside him,, a sophisticated lady dressed in black with a huge smile happy to see us ,& Xtrian said as they met us was looking for a fella that looked like a Geoff.
The day was spent walking amongst very old machines, the oldest one there, an Ariel 500, with an equally old AJS, several Nortons, Triumphs, kwaka 9?s, Z1000?s zukes, yamies, and a couple of brands I didn?t know, along with short and long out fits powered by all sorts of motors.
The racing itself was as hard and fast as when in their hay day, they didn?t seem to nursing them. At the end of one race I noticed the rider give the old bike a pat as he crossed the line, almost like ? I?m glad I didn?t hurt you , & we live to race again?. One of the Z1?s I talked to said he had it geared for 265klm, but was not quite topping out on the straight
The evening with the four of us was spent talking over dinner & drinks, covering everything & anything, if you get the chance to talk to Xtrian, take it , a life time of memories of racing & riding, talking of brands and logo?s I?d never heard of , he?s forgotten more stuff than I?ll ever know, with a lot of chat about our 11?s,,Barbara also has a lot of stories about life, being well travelled, with a passion for old machines that have cared for and fussed over & a recent realization of our 11?s, all in all a top night was had and a decision needed to be made by us as to wether we stayed for Sunday or headed home, the call for some corners was greater so it came about we were to leave Sun morning.
The morning saw heavy clouds in the distance with dry roads, up the mtn again to Lithgow & Bell with what I call the beginning of the Putty road, I don?t know to many other roads with that many corners in them. We weren?t out to break any speed records and needed to get home safely,it rained lightly for a couple of klm with wet roads, speed limits were observed, all corners were hit at the one speed , no matter the angle, which made it fun , and chewed off some of my tyre that would normally be wasted , am trying a new riding style as well so no chances taken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Vsnw1u5g4&feature=relatedFrom Singleton where lunch was had we headed up to Kempsey for an early night off the bike. Monday morning saw clear skies & refreshed bums, the first turn was made at Urunga heading for the Dorrigo range,{hasn?t that road changed,, half of it?s in the river} but the corners that are left are good,, form there it was up to Grafton and the Summer Land way into Bris, having only been over it once in a B?double I was looking forward to it. Flicking thru the corners having a blast, a road turned off to the right called Lions rd with some thing called the Risk, sounded like fun but never being on it, today with time restraints wasn?t going to be the day.
We completed the Mt Lindsay range and pulled up to refuel again,, walking around the bike looking at the tyres, they still had ?chicken strips? on the sides but were well worn down,, sssoooo with the personal satisfaction of accomplishing what we had set out to do, and less rubber on the sides than the centre of the tyre it was time to join the homeward bound holiday traffic.
If any one is unsure of their next tyre purchase I personally will be putting another set of Avon Road Riders on mine,, the centre of the tyre hasn?t visibly worn from when we left till getting back, just over 2000 klm with 2 up, some other tyres I?ve had would be ? gone by then
