AB-Oz Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 OzVFR Snowy ride 2009 This year we had 21 people all up, a great turnout, and not all of them on VFR’s. Roll call: Me, 99 VFR red Terry, 01 VFR red Trev + Sandra, 96 VFR red Beasty, 00 VFR yellow RAB, 02 VFR red Garrie, 98 VFR red Paul, 06 GSX1000R Mick + Ang, 99 VFR red JohnS, 99 VFR Anniversary Gas + Naeva, 04 VFR blue Darren, 00 VFR blue Alli, cbrF4i, yellow Hayden, 09 R1 black Roy, 09 CBR1000RR black Kirby, 04 VFR red Greg, 99 VFR red Brendan, VTR1000, blue Kev, 97 VFR, Union Thursday 5th Trev was supposed to be at my place at 9:30 for a 10am departure, to make a meeting point 2 hours away. Of course he turned up at 9, so we had time to gin about and have a coffee. The weather was beautiful. me in my squid gear, Sandra wondering why Trev has the camera out already!! We had all day to make it to Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains, only about 170km away, but we would take the indirect coastal route. Day 1 route We got to the top of the Clyde Mountain, to be greeted with sleety misty rain Taking some 25km hairpins in this weather was not nice, especially as we had to negotiate what seemed like rivers snaking across the road. At the bottom of the mountain the rain stopped, and although it was overcast it was a hell of a lot warmer and we could see clear skies to the south. We met up with Beasty spot on 12noon as agreed in Batemans Bay. This was a bit of a shock as Chaos tours is never on time, its part of our creedo :idea3: After a leisurely lunch we agreed we would take the coast road all the way to Tathra, and I told the guys I would be stopping for a pic just after Bermagui. I found the spot I was after, the road opens onto a beautiful bay that looks spectacular, unfortunately the overcast conditions meant it looked a bit dull. This road then heads into the forest with some beautiful 35 and 45km corners, lovely road surface. I upped the wick here and Trev followed closely behind. Even with him 2-up I couldn’t shake him off Beasty took it easy riding within his own comfort zone, but was only 2 mins behind us when we stopped to regroup in Tathra. From there we headed inland to meet up with Greg in Bemboka, at one of the best pie shops in NSW. Greg had gotten a wriggle on and had been waiting for us for close to 2 hours, at least he had time for a few coffees. After a break we headed up the Brown Mountain. Another lovely set of twisities, 25/35/45 corners, great surface, and only a couple of mobile chicanes to get past. Once at the top I slowed for Beasty to catch up then we tootled into Cooma at around 140km/h. As the day was getting on we decided to just cruise along the main road to Berridale and then Jindabyne, and into the Mad Moose bike park. I dumped my topbox straight away and went to the drive-thru bottlo for some beer and turkey About half an hour later RAB, Garrie and Paul turned up from Canberra, coming directly from work the poor suckers Friday 6th. Today we were all up early (7!!) and saw the day was glorious, blue skies and a forecast for low 20’s (celcius). Day 2 route After brekky, coffees, refuelling and ginning around a bit the 7of us set off around 9am to do the Snowy big loop, with a side trip to Tumbarumba for lunch thrown in. I had my GoPro camera started, but the stupid thing stopped just as we left, it really isn’t reliable, even on new batteries. Might have to look at Terry’s set up, the VIO Pro2. The first part of this loop is to Berridale then a back road to Adaminaby to regroup, some lovely high speed sweepers. The country side was really green for this time of year, maybe the drought has broken here at last. From Adaminaby we head to Kiandra, along what we call the Yellow Brick road, called this as the line markings are yellowy-orange instead of the normal white. Lovely hot-mix surface, lovely sets of 35 & 45km/hr corners, no traffic, just motorcycle Nirvana. We regrouped at the locality of Kiandra, and headed towards Cabramurra. We headed straight down the mountain at the Cabramurra turn-off to do my favourite stretch of road, the little known Elliots Way. Little known as it doesn’t show as a main route on googlemaps, and is classed as a secondary road. It starts off with a steep 20minute descent to the river valley, which then has long 1km straights with a 45km bend, before heading up the next mountain range with uncountable 35 & 45km/hr corners, with a couple of 15km/hr hairpins to negotiate. The road surface was the best I have ever seen it, everyone rode within their pace, to say I kept sraping my toes sliders and was leaving blackies out of most corners The Pilot Power up front and the road2 at back, combined with the Ohlins rear shock and Ohlins internals SP2 forks, just meant the bike felt perfect. We regrouped at the top of the mountain and rolled on down through the forrest, startling some wild horses (Brumbies), and generally having fun on the fast sweeper section. Into Tumbarumba the earliest ever for lunch, at 11:30am. According to googlemaps, we had just covered 201 km (about 3 hours 44 mins recommended), in 2.5 hours, with 2x20 minute stops, along some of the tightest and demanding roads in the mountains After a nice pie at the best, and only, bakery in town, we headed back to do Elliots Way the other way, fantastic fun yet again. This time there were a few other bikes on the road, heading for Thredbo, so we surprised all those we caught up to with our old-mans touring bikes We stopped in at Cabramurra to regroup and have an icy-pole, drink, smoke, whatever. The 4km to the highest town in Australia is along a road that gets very melty and slippery in summer, and today was no different, you tip into a 35km/hr at ahem, and just feel the bike slide around the corner. After Cabramurra we headed to Kancoban, where unfortunately the cops are more numerous. After the twisties where presumably they wouldn’t be able to get a bead on us, hence some fanging, the road opens up with a lot of straights. I’d been held up by a couple of chicanes towing caravans and boats (don’t they realise this is our road, not theirs? ), so had lost sight of Trev, so just tootled along at 120, figuring I’d have time to see the plod and slow to the posted limit of 80. We all pulled into the servo for fuel and regroup at Khancoban, didn’t see any plod which was good. After this stop we regrouped again at Tom Groggin at the bottom of one mountain, before heading up the mountain and into Thredbo. I don’t think we’ve ever regrouped here but it was worth it just to make sure we were all still together. There were lots of bikes on the road from here on, and it was quite fun chasing down and passing litre sportbikes up the mountain. After Thredbo we had a leisurely tootle nack to Jindabyne, and waited for the rest of the guys to turn up. Terry, Roy, Gas, and John all showed up having ridden down from Sydney, basically following our Thursday route, except adding in about 25km of dirt/gravel road just after they had agreed not to!! I guess Terry’s Zumo proved chaos tours can still get it wrong. Also arriving were some of the guys coming up from Melbourne and Phillip Island where they had done a couple of track days earlier in the week. Kirby, Kev and Darren had a big day, around 950km to get here. Hayden trailered his R1 up from the days at the track, along with Alli’s Goof. Mick and Ange also showed up, they are newlyweds so took their time … (dot dot dot)… Roy and Hayden decided their bikes needed washing coz they are garage queens Roys CBR1000rr with Olins R&T front: Haydens 09 R1 with lots of bling: We had a great night at the local bowling club, although we didn’t get our meals until 9:30pm as the place was packed. Great to see so many bikers and all the varied bikes though. Saturday 7th – the Official Snowy ride day www.snowyride.com.au Today was a day for the splitters. Greg and a few others decided to have a quiet day, but a few of us decided that doing Elliots Way and back again was the order of the day, so me, Terry, Trev, Paul, RAB, Garrie, Brendan and the 2 ninjas Roy and Hayden set off. At Berridale for fuel Garrie’s bike had a flat battery, much discussion was done about possible causes, R/R etc, but it was just probably old. Garrie was going to leave the group today sometime to head home, so he decided it would be here, so bump started his bike and departed for Canberra. The mechanics: The rest of us headed for the yellow brick road, the 2 ninja’s quickly gone from view at the front. At Kiandra we agreed to stop at the top of the mountain bit of Elliots and not go all the way into Tumba, and we did that after finding the ninja’s hiding. Hayden walked off into the tree’s gathering gum-leaves off the Eucalypts, as he had an urgent call of nature, we just laughed our heads off, John took pity on him and handed over a pack of tissues. Hayden’s name was then poo-finger for the day. After that it was Cabramurra for lunch, Paul: "It's not my bike!" then back along the yellow brick road and on to Jindabyne. We had a good laugh at Paul when he said “I got passed by a dirt-bike in the twisties!!” – we worked out it was a KTM super Duke. Apparently this guy was all over Trev but couldne’t get by in the tight stuff, then Trev engaged tootle-drive once the road opened up and left him in his wake. We had a laugh at the fact that the guy on the KTM got passed Paul on his gixxer but could not get past Trev on his 750 :goofy: V4 rules eh? !! Back at Mooses we got stuck into the beers and turkeys, watched some video of the days riding – saw that my bike is blowing blue smoke consistently, so I might need to lean it out a bit, maybe need a powercommander – are these still made for the 5th gen?? Some of us had Pizza, some others had a barbie. We have a couple of videos of the day some of Terry following me up Elliots, then some of Hayden following Roy along Elliots. Once they are edited together I'll post a linky. Sunday 8th Well its always a bittersweet day on the last day of the ride, everyone heading home to their loved ones, but the end of one of the Best Snowy rides for years. A great bunch, good manageable riding groups, no incidents or off-road excursions, no speeding tickets, and the most glorious weather we’ve ever had. Rather than take the long way home, Trev + Sandra and I bailed and headed off down the Monaro Highway back to Canberra, arriving home at 12noon. It was good to be home to my family early. Monday 9th Post holiday blues have set in! :rolleyes: All we have now is the ride reports, the photos and videos, the bug-collections and dust on our bikes, and the promise of doing the same thing next year. :fing02: Cheers AB notes: - Thanks to Trev for some of the Images above. - I cant work out how to embed googlemaps, even after editing an old report with a map in it I still cant work it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlecreek Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 lovely write up. looks like a great time. apparently i need to add "riding in oz" to my "things i have to do" list... :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Great report. Gadget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Nice write up, and thx for the pic's........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rice Posted November 12, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted November 12, 2009 Great report! I especially liked this part: The road surface was the best I have ever seen it, everyone rode within their pace, to say I kept sraping my toes sliders and was leaving blackies out of most corners The Pilot Power up front and the road2 at back, combined with the Ohlins rear shock and Ohlins internals SP2 forks, just meant the bike felt perfect. There are days when everything just feels right. P.S. Mr Bill... As much as I enjoyed the post, I didn't need to scroll through it again. Esp. since you had nothing to say :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zRoYz Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 AB you don't leave black lines when your a ninja because you ride in stealth :-) I admit I miss my bling VFR BUT the CBR is such a weapon that the little more discomfort is forgotten when tootle drive is en gauged. Having one more full sports bike before my body says act your age was my motivation but not a long term commitment like my gen6 was which I owned for 5 years. I'll be in the market for a new VFR in about 2 years & 1200cc of V4 goodness won't disappoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Great writeup no1 Cat Herder. had a fabolous time as always, few more pics here. http://www.bikesnstuff.net/gallery2/v/bikes/snowy/09/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 gr8t reading about the trip. im hoping there is a one day trip in the sydney area organized soon for me to join in on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted November 13, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted November 13, 2009 Great write up, sounds like a good meet, thanks for sharing. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 gr8t reading about the trip. im hoping there is a one day trip in the sydney area organized soon for me to join in on. :fing02: The Sydney team does occasional rides from Bald Hill (Stanwell Tops) heading south and taking in Kiama sweepers, Macquarie Pass, Kangaroo Valley, Clyde Mountain etc. depending on whether the Canberra contingent journeys out to meet them. The next big OzVFR run is Touring In Tasmania (aka "TiTs", all the rides get a name or acronym and I don't think a girl came up with that one :blush: ) which is Jan/Feb from memory - normally they do 'Summer in the Snowies' around that time (SinS) but Tassie got the vote for 2010. Before or after TiTs there is likely to be a run north to do the Oxley, probably an overnighter, this ride happens once or twice a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Wheatie Posted November 14, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted November 14, 2009 ......just dropped in to taste a bit of "down under".... pleasantly surprised at the quality of not only the write-up, but the pics as well..... Tx for postin' your trip, mate ! ! :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 gr8t reading about the trip. im hoping there is a one day trip in the sydney area organized soon for me to join in on. :blush: The Oaks, eh? I ride through there on a fairly regular basis, usually on my way through from Wollongong to a Putty Run. I like the back road much better than the Northern Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFRedleg Posted November 14, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted November 14, 2009 Thanks to my 4 yr old daughter's love of Oz and Brit kids shows, I actually understood a bunch of that! :blush: Great write-up and pics! :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfr_steve Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Superb report/pics, thanks for sharing :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Great trip report and pics :fing02: - I cant work out how to embed googlemaps, even after editing an old report with a map in it I still cant work it out. The Google streetview you get when you click on the little camera in the directions tab adds something too though. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer AussieinUSA Posted November 19, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted November 19, 2009 Fantastic write up AB :fing02: :ph34r: Can't add anything else....it was that good :goofy: :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 That "random speed figure generator" feature is pretty cool... :fing02: Great write-up and pics, almost felt like 2002 I was there :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 short video teaser, Terry (mrGadget) chasing me up Elliots Way, see if you can spot where the left hand corner tightens up really fast Teaser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB-Oz Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 A short 5 minute video edited by Trev, taken by my little gopro camera. It shows the very wet descent of the Clyde Mountain, on day 1 of the ride... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 That was fun, thanks AB and Trev! Quite a road, that, even in the rain. I've only ever ridden it on very hot days, when you still have traction problems because the tar used to melt and make the road as slippery as snot! :ph34r: I saw a few corners/combos that I remember, and the rods coming the other way were a nice feature. Enjoyed the choice of music too :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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