What a great day, we met at the East Bound Caltex at longwarry at 8.45am with 7 of us turning out to what was a weather perfect day. It was awesome to catch up with an old mate that I had not seen for a few years Chris who just happens to be a mate of Scottys and to ride with the other 5 AMTRA members is always good fun and lots of laughs.
We started giving Phil a hard time for bringing his BMW 310GS BMX bike fitted with the standard tuffs, anyway before long it had gone 8 and we where off with Mark taking up the tail and making sure everyone understood corner man duties on main roads, we hit our 1st dirt track to wake us all up in the 1st 10 or so minutes then it was off through the Gippsland hills through Buln Buln and Willow Grove and Tanjil South and eventually to our 1st dunny stop at Erica, The BMX was obviously too much fun for Phil has he was bolting to the public amenities, a few laughs and time to catch our breath and we where off again>
Mark did not believe that the servo in Rawson had closed down so he took a quick detour to check it out for himself, awesome twistie bitumen roads and before long we where crossing the Thompson Dam wall and then onto some nice gravel rds and before long we where in Aberfeldy for another regroup and tree stop.
Lots more bulldust and stirring and we where off again and what seamed like a blink of an eye we arrived at Woods Point pub for lunch around 11.30, I had to drag the others in side they where having so much fun talking bikes and to a couple of fella's from Tassie who where over on their Adventure Bikes touring our wonderful state.
Lunch was over on what felt like the blink of an eye as well and by 1 ish we where off againb with phil as Tail on teh GS BMX, pretty uneventful trip back to Noojee down Nine Mile except for meeting a guy with a 4wd and Caravan wearing a 2016 high country ride t shirt wanting to look at our map.
Around 2.30 ish we arrived at Fergusons rd for a regroup and tree stop.
Not long after we where off again but as I missed the turn for Hawthorn Creek we decided to take Wild Bull Tk I was having so much fun I think I forgot I was on such a big bike and in one loamy sandy section I lost the front end and as Mark was ridding so close to me he ran straight into my resting bike. Bugger, all good Marks back was a bit sore I felt nothing except the thought of buying a BMW blinker and fixing the engine crash bars and the RH pannier and throwing my large touring screen in the bin in favor of the standard BM one. The touring screen is awesome on the bitumen but not so good on the dirt as I found my self trying to look through it all the time whilst on dirt.
Anyway a quick brush off and pick up the broken bits and more stirring and it was time to get going, however my bike was not going anywhere I started it up and all I could smell was fuel a quick look around and it was pouring out on the LH exhaust pipe.
We removed the LH fairing to find fuel coming out of the outlet fitting of the fuel pump a quick diagnosis and it was found the fitting to be cracked unsure how this had happened as the bike landed on the other side and Mark had hit the rear, all good before long Fredo and Scotty where off to Freds place for his ute and trailer whilst the rest of us entertained each other for the next 1 1/2 hrs before they returned to rescue my stricken bike. As soon as they arrived we sent the other 4 off home as they still had 1 to 2 hr trips home. We loaded and head back to Fredos place so Scotty could get his bike and head home and Fredo them drove me down the rd to home.
Thank you everyone for coming along and for your assistance and reassurance and to Scotty and Fredo for playing AMTRA SES . Things we learnt from the day, carry a spare fuel line fitting, more aggressive front tyre and never travel too close behind another rider aye Mark :} Phil loves the BMX GS Mark thinks the big Kato has more grip than his 500 well maybe until he has to stop in a hurry, Fredo was amazed at the comfort level of the V Strom as this was the 1st time he had ridden it, Parma and chips at Woods Point along with a cold beer to wash the dust down, mmm yum, and lets do it again soon. Willbar.
Will Munro Ride Leader BMW R1200GS
Mark Clark Morning Tail KTM 1090
Phil Mason Arvo Tail BMW 310GS
Scotty Haines Honda African Twin
Trevor Bastin KTM 690
Fred Schenko Breakdown Service Suzuki V STrom
Chris Batten KTM 990
