Blood on the Southern Cross - June 21st 2008

Blood on the Southern Cross is an evening show at Ballarat Soveriegn Hill re-enacting the Eureka Stockade.

The event is on the Geelong RAT calender - Leigh has done the ground work and provided details. There's a poster on the Geelong Peter Stevens shop window outlining details of the show, costs and departure times.

Cost is $72 for dinner and show. If you want to stay then there's plenty of options in Ballarat or at Sovereign Hill.

Details can also be accessed via the Sovereign Hill website.

I've heard that the shows spectacular and I'm looking forward to finding out a bit more about local history of the rebelllious type!

There's a meeting next Thursday night at the Max - 29th May 08

Tragedies in Irish Road Racing

Its that time of year in Northern Ireland when the public roads are closed off and the real men of racing fire up their bikes for the North West 200.

Unfortunately, I heard last night that it's a sad start to the road racing season this year. Joey Dunlop's brother Robert was riding in the 250 practice at Mathers Cross when the engine of his bike seized and he was thrown off at 160 mph. I'll always remember him racing in black leathers on a Norton at the NW200 while the other riders wore bright colours and rode the latest works bike from Honda & Suzuki. He's been doing it for a long time and even held the record for the most wins at the NW200.
Then another shocking piece of news - Martin Finnegan was killed earlier in the month at a road race meeting at Tandragee in Northern Ireland. He was an awesome rider & could literally make a bike fly. These guys are legends - riding on public roads at 200mph with no run off - great entertainment for the spectators but fatal for the rider if it goes wrong!
Racing at the North West 200 kicks off just before the FA Cup Final at 11am GMT on Saturday 17th May and if you've got broadband you can log onto the BBC Sport website and watch live coverage of the racing.
If the weather stays dry then the racing will be fantastic - definitely worth a look if you have the internet speed to keep you connected.

Here's a bit of video to wet your appetite!

Broadford Classic Racing - March 30th 2008

It was a few weeks ago now that we took the trip up to Broadford for the Victorian Classic Racing. The weather was perfect and the racing was awesome - especially watching the Daytona 675s and Thruxton in action.
We had a chat with the bloke racing the Thruxton and he loved it - even the flexing frame!
He was racing a bike that was more or less straight out of the shop - some tyre changes and ohlin shockers and he was keeping up with the best of them. There was a lot of interest in that Thruxton!
The Daytona's looked sleek - especially in the union jack decor - I want one...
Best part was watching those crazy dudes on the sidecars coming around that tight bottom corner - they were screaming through the bend - the green machine was smoking up the tyres! Top marks to the pillions leaning out over the side - wouldn't catch me doing something as crazy as that!
It was a good day out & we all got to see 'Murray Corner'!

The meeting's on this Thursday night at the Max (24/04) - Warren had a chat to them about the early lock down last month so hopefully we can stay a bit later this time. It's the All British this week-end - weather isn't looking that flash though!

Might see you Thursday.

Port MacQuarie RAID - August 15-17 2008

Just had some information sent to me from Mal about the Port Macquarie RAID this year. There's a meeting on Thursday 27th March at the Max so maybe we can discuss details then. A few from Geelong went last year and had a fantastic time. In the meantime here's the details:

Date: Aug 15-17 2008
Venue: Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park, call Jake on 1800 636452.

There will be a few exciting new changes to the weekend. One of which is our fantastic new sponsors 'Skips Motorcycle Performance Centre (Brisbane)'. Of course 'Shannons' will be on board as usual.

Organisers should have all the weekend details finalised by the end of March early April but what you can do now is get your accommodation sorted & get the flyer with all the details when it is completed.

The weekend will be limited to the first 300 people this year as opening it up could bring upwards of 500 which is way too may to handle and enjoy. Yes, the booze crooze is on again, but will be limited like last year to the first 100 people.

Please direct any enquiries to our new email: crownieslayer@hotmail.com

The closing date for registrations will be 4th July 2008.

Geelong RATS storm the Alpine Hotel - Bright - March 8-10

Well it was a big week-end and one that I'm still recovering from!! Even harder if you had to go to work on Tuesday after riding down the Hume Highway in 38c temperatures.
I reckon Bacchus Marsh was the hottest place on earth on Monday as we passed through on the way home on Monday.
But back to the beginning... we all set off on Saturday morning as planned making our way to meet Mal & Cheryl in Yea.
I thought it would be a good idea to go a more adventurous route through Hurstbridge, Kinglake to the Whittlesea/Flowerdale Road but the traffic on that narrow little pass over the mountain was horrendous and the Rockets must have struggled a bit on the tight stuff. Heaps of bikes and lots of passing on narrow bends trying to get past cars that just didn't want to pull over to let us past. A little white car over the side reminded us of how dodgy it was.
The ride along the Flowerdale Road to Yea made up for it - just the stuff for Rockets! After a regroup at Yea it was on to Mansfield on full alert for the police pursuit car that patrols this stretch - and we weren't disappointed when we saw him fully occupied booking a truckie!
Next thing the Coffin Cheaters were weaving in & out of the group getting past us in a hurry - I've heard since they were on a poker run with money going to the Royal Children's Hospital.
At one point I saw one of them trying to get past Stefan on the Bonnie and he wasn't letting him through - I was thinking to myself - this could get very ugly - let them thru!! Further up the road they were regrouping massed at a pub and it looked like hundreds of them!
We didn't stop until we reached the Mountain View pub at Whitfield - now there were 2 bikes missing - where were Leigh & Graeme/Tina! I forgot to mention that Stefan tried a bit of dirt riding on the Bonnie, or should I say ditch riding - luckily all was okay, just a few scratches on the bike! Anyway, after a nervous wait we found out that they had stopped at Powers Lookout to take in the view - buggers!
The Alpine Hotel's a great place to stay and a reasonable price - we were all welcomed and had great parking for the bikes. We all gathered at the pub (where else!) and started testing the local brews, giving Mal plenty of Happy Birthday wishes, kisses and a chorus of Happy Birthday To You.
Then it was off to the local micro-brewery and back to the pub - after a few of those beers at the brewery at 8% alcohol we rolled into the pub... or at least I did! The band would have been good except for the drummers ego - he was all we could hear! I had a polite word (turn the f..king drums down!) with the guy doing the mixing and even tried mixing it myself but he wouldn't have any of it! Good fun was had by all.
With a few sore heads we set off after breakfast for Mt Hotham - the road up the mountain was fantastic - even with a hangover and we stopped at Dinner Plain for coffee and plenty of water. A few of us decided to keep going and headed over to Omeo while the others headed back for a relaxing afternoon. Leigh headed back to Geelong on his own on Sunday as he could only stay one night.
I don't have words to describe that road to Omeo - it was f..king unbelievable - I thought the roads in Tassie were good but this ones on a par with the road from the west coast of Tassie up to Cradle Mountain - I still dream of going back to that one! The ambulance and cop car on top of the mountain were a bit worrying-but only for a second!
The hard part was the road back down the mountain on the way back into Harrietville - all downhill & 30km/hr tight corners - it was a good workout! Stefan was riding that Bonnie in front of me like a true champion! At one point we pulled over to admire the view and thought we'd stumbled across Ewan & Charlie!
While we up the mountain acting illegally - Graeme & Pete took the Rockets for a test-ride & had an appreciation of how much the boys would have had to work on those tight mountain roads.
Needless to say, most of us had a quiet night on Sunday except for the girls and a couple of blokes that shall remain nameless - especially the one standing on the table at the back of the pub calling me to come back to the pub and getting told off by the bouncer!
The journey back was long, tiring & hot. We split at Seymour with some taking the highway and others cutting across via Gisbourne & home. There were heaps of speed cameras and cops on the way back - hope we didn't get any tickets!
It was a great week-end with 10 bikes and 13 RATS - next one should be good to the All British on Anzac week-end. Get details from Warren or Mick at Peter Stevens Geelong.


Couldn't forget a photo of the girls!

Ride Day - 10th Feb 08

Hepburn Springs was the destination for last Sundays ride. It was great to see a couple of new RATs coming along with David on the Speedmaster and Jason & Zoe on the Thruxton. All up there were 6 bikes and Warren brought along the daddy of them all - the Rocket III.
The ride up through the Brisbane Ranges is always awesome and this was no exception (even better when we saw the cop patrol car heading in the opposite direction!)- we were a bit chilled when we reached the bakery in Ballan - the coffee felt good to warm the hands as well as going down well with the famous Ballan apple cake - Ollie recommended it years ago and its still as good as ever! Zoe needed a bit of time to get the feeling back in her hands!
David took off back to Geelong and we all continued on the cruise to Hepburn Springs via Blackwood, Trentham & Daylesford. Beautiful country out there - just like riding through the old forests in England.
We all caught up over lunch & a bloke pulled up on restored Triumph 650 twin - sounded great - if only Leigh had been there to ask all the questions!
The lunch at the pub was huge and it was difficult staying awake on the way home - but it was a good cruise back to Geelong.
The meeting at the Max was a big success so the next one's going to be there as well - see you there on Thursday 28th Feb.

Ride Day - Jan 13th 2008

It was a good turnout for the first ride of 2008 with 8 of us turning up on 7 bikes early on Sunday morning.
PJ's back riding with the group again as he's now living closer in Melton and finds it easier to travel down to Geelong.
The Speedmaster's in pieces again so he was riding the flying red Daytona! Great to see Murray again in the saddle & back on the ride days too.
Warren led the way on the new 675 Street Triple & our first stop was Birregurra for a morning coffee.
There's a great little general store in the main street that does a great breakfast & a wicked long black!
There was a market in town and a lot of activity. At one point ex-Transport Minister Peter Bachelor walked by but Pete decided to keep it to himself - for his (the ministers) protection! (if you commute on the infamous "fast train" you'll know what I mean!!
We took off from Birregurra and headed to Apollo Bay via the Skenes Creek Road - it's a dodgy road in places with bitumen torn up very bumpy around some of those bends.
The Street Triple looked like it was enjoying it and so did PJ until he went in hot and did a bit of dirt riding throwing up dust from the roadside!
Next stop was Apollo Bay - it was crazy with people & traffic everywhere! A quick decision was made to head to Wye River where we'd have lunch in the pub and then head back via Deans Marsh & home. As alway, the view from the balcony on the Wye River pub was awesome and the grub good too.
Getting back through Lorne was a crazy as Apollo Bay - it's definitely a time to avoid the coastal towns.
It was a quick run back up along the Lorne Deans Marsh Road and the home after a quick stop in the Marsians Cafe in Deans Marsh.
A beautiful days riding and all home safely.

Street Triple - I want one too!!

I'm still smiling every time I remember little of bits of what it was like riding the Street Triple today!
Martin gave me a call and it was on for a quick burn this morning.
We met at Little River and took a burn up through Serendip and on to Anakie and the Brisbane Ranges.
The bike is awesome & just amazing to ride. Lots of grunt and sounds fantastic - nothing like I'd expected.
Going from the Sprint it felt lots smaller and lighter - just a fun bike with heaps of character.
Martin couldn't wait to get it into those twisties through the Brisbane Ranges and it was all he expected and more - now we both want one!
If you get a chance take one for a burn - I'm sure you'll have a ball - like we did - check out the video!

Rawson week-end - 8th & 9th December 07

I can't believe a week has passed since the trip to Rawson! This time last week we were riding in a head wind back to Geelong and trying to catch an Indian bloke at a servo that had just rammed a couple's car in the carpark and taken off... there's always a tale or two to tell after these trips!
Well, it was great to see everyone turn out for the weekend trip. For me there were no new faces except for Warren from Peter Stevens on a Bonnie with partner Sonya. One face was missed by us all - Murray, get well soon!
The first stage of the trip was to meet Mal & Cheryl & Bacchus Marsh and then it was on to Kilmore for a brief stop and a stretch. Next was the fun part - Onward towards Yea via Flowerdale!
It was awesome and everyone loosened up & made the most of that fantastic road that goes from Broadford via Strath Creek and Flowerdale to Yea. There were smiles all around when we got to Yea and it was a quick stop and refuel before heading on towards Marysville.
The plan was to stop again for lunch but the enthusiasm took over and we didn't quite seem to find that lunch spot! At Marysville I was thinking about how good it would be to park up and stay the night as I knew there was a long way to go and on the Reefton Spur!
Feeling knackered we hit the spur and some people came to life - I still reckon that anyone enjoying the Reefton Spur going downhill is a psycho!
We all made it in one piece so time to regroup at the Reefton Pub for refreshments. We were all fairly knackered as we trying to get motivated in the heat & flies to get going. Along the way a lyrebird almost became a dead bird when Martin came across it on one of those forest roads - I don't know what Paul had to drink - he thought it was a kangaroo!
We were all glad to reach Rawson and it was into a few refreshing beers and dinner was served - with Cheryl eagerly at the front of the queue.
It was a great night catching up and Paul's luck wasn't in!
Next morning it was an early start after breakfast - the local store owner wasn't happy when we all pulled up for fuel at the same time! The ride back was almost the same way as we'd been the day before but this time via Healesville where we stoped for lunch. Earlier, Janine had a close encounter with a dog in the main street of Powelltown on the way back to Yarra Junction - all was well & the dog will remember never to attack a bonnie again!
After lunch we decided that the next stop would be Diamond Creek - but, with me at the front anything can happen and it did! I ended up going around Diamond Creek instead of taking the turning to Wattle Glen and going through it - so the guys at the back were waiting for us while we were already on the Princes Freeway!
Then an Indian bloke in an old tattered Ford Falcon nearly reversed over Vicki and then bashed into a Holden Commodore as he was reversing - then he put the car into drive and rammed the Holden with Warren chasing after him - the guy was crazy & the police were told but didn't show up - hope they got him in the end.
Anyway, great week-end but a long trip & it took me a week to recover - but maybe that's old age!

Bikes by the Bay & Rawson

BIKES BY THE BAY - Sunday 25th November
It was a good day in Williamstown a couple of Sundays ago for the Bikes by the Bay rally.
The event is organised by the Williamstown Motorcycle Club and attracts everything from the latest & flashiest to the oldest and grubbiest!
There were a few bikes there that drew the attentions of the crowd, such as the Triumph chopper that had been built from the ground up and looked awesome - we weren't sure how it would get over a bump but it looked good and was a credit to its owner.
Then there was the Triumph Daytona with the nickel plated frame, wheels, swinging arm & the list goes on...
The Hells Angels even had a marquee selling t-shirts with "Support your local bandit" splashed across the front!

They had a few sand dragsters there that looked mean with huge car engines balanced in the frame and nitro bottles hanging of the sides.
For those of us that started bike riding in the late 70s there was plenty of nostalgia with Z650, Z900, GS1000, GT750 (water bucket), Z500 (triple), 400 Four, 750 Four and the list goes on!
Then we came across these two Ducati 1098S with the custom tri-colour paint job - they looked even better in the flesh than in the magazines. Best part was they belonged to a a couple - husband & wife - one each!! Now that's living...
It was a good day out and all 6 of us had lunch together in a little cafe before calling it a day and heading home.

RAWSON - SUNDAY 8th DECEMBER
Remember - the trip to Rawson is on this week-end. I didn't get to the Wharfshed last Thursday night but spoke to Pete tonight on the phone and its an 8am sharp departure from the Wharfshed on Saturday morning - see you there.

Events coming up

BIKES BY THE BAY
Pete sent me an e-mail last week about the Bikes by the Bay event that's run by the Williamstown Motorcycle Club. It's a big event and all sorts of bikes on display, an auction and live entertainment - an it's all for charity. Sounds too good to miss!
Anyway, the event is on Sunday 25th November 2007 and kicks off at 10am on the Commonwealth Reserve at Williamstown - more information is available on the Williamstown Motorcycle Club website.

Meet at the Wharfshed at 9am for 9:15am departure - or meet you there.

RAWSON
Sounds like there's a bit of excitement in the air about the trip to Rawson in a couple of weeks time. It's a week-end away and if you haven't booked accommodation you'd need to do it soon.
Details on departure times and route should be available soon. The trip is on 8/9 December 07.

**By the way if anyone has a room to share can you please let me know.

Happy Birthday Pete!

The Lord of the Isles pub was buzzing on Saturday night and it wasn't the Geelong Cats that were causing a stir this time - it was the Geelong Rats!
A surprise was waiting for Pete as he walked in the door expecting a quiet tea with 5 of us... instead there was 14 of us eagerly waiting to have dinner with him to celebrate his 50th Birthday.
It was a great night with plenty to eat and a lush chocolate birthday cake to top it all off. Unfortunately, the pole dancers didn't show up - well thats what we thought they meant when they said there was a surprise at the end for Pete!!

Pete had mentioned earlier a ride down to Lorne and Deans Marsh would be good on Sunday morning meeting at 8am in Torquay - word quickly spread and it didn't take long before there was a group of us meeting on Sunday morning !
Sunday morning came and it was beautiful. We all met as planned at Macdonald's in Torquay and had the usual friendly unmarked cop car playing with his radar on the way into town!
Leigh rocked up on the new Sprint and it was looking swish!
The ride along the Great Ocean Road was beautiful and the scenery awesome as usual - it was good of the Geelong Addy to get the speed limit reduced to 80 - ideal for admiring the beautiful views...
It was a steady pace along the ocean road with our radars spinning for the revenue collectors - then we turned off onto the Deans Marsh Road for a burn up through the Otways to Deans Marsh... a great ride was had by all - we were all smiling when we pulled up in Deans Marsh!
It was great to see Ollie and Ben there at Martians when we arrived and then Martin, Steve and Wayne pulled up - we all had plenty to talk about and the brekkie was great as usual.
Sounds like Ollie's gonna have a good time next week - he's off to Tassie with Steve, Andy & a few of the others.
The next big RAT week-end is Rawson on 8/9 December and it sounds like everyone is getting booked in. The monthly meeting is on this Thursday night 25th Oct at the Wharfshed so details of the week-end trip will probably be discussed then. A few people are also interested in a trip to Bright after Xmas so put your hand up if you're interested in that one too...
Till the next time...

Ride Day Sunday 7th Oct 07

Well, after a few months of not getting to any ride days I thought it was about time I get of my arse & get out on the bike. So, I got up on Sunday morning and encouraged by the beautiful morning I headed in to meet up with everyone & catch up.
I arrived about 9:15 outside the shop and was the first one there. Then 9:30 and I was still the first one there. When it got to 9:45 I realised it wasn't going to be a big ride! Anyway, it was a good burn down to Torquay for breakkie & back by lunchtime - beautiful morning! Looks like everyone was at home watching Bathurst! Hope to catch up with you all soon.

MotoGP Practice
There's a few of us heading down to the island on Saturday 13th Oct for the MotoGP Practice. I think the idea is to meet at 7:00am at the Corio Roadhouse and leave about 7:15

Rawson
I spoke to Pete on the week-end and he also mentioned the Rawson trip on 8th & 9th December. You'll need to book soon as places are limited in accommodation. Person to contact is Fiona on 03 5165 3200

Next Ride Day this Sunday 12th Aug

Just a reminder that this Sunday, 12th Aug, is the monthly ride day - the new departure point for the rides is the Peter Stevens shop in Mercer Street - I think 9am is the time to get there - not sure of destination.

Also, just got sent this from a mate - really worth watching!

TRIUMPH ROCKET III - 21ST CENTURY MOTORCYCLE MANUFACTURE

The cold weather is slowly disappearing!

Just looked out the window of the office and those blue skies are looking good - maybe I should have a sickie for the afternoon & ride off down to Lavers Hill - now wouldn't that be good!
I've just been reading the report published by the UK magazine MCN on the new Street Triple - very impressive and some great photos of Kevin Carmichael testing it to the limit... have a look and see what you think!
The line up looks good with colours to match its big brother the Speed Triple.

Another great additional is the matt black Speed Triple - a bike with real attitude that one...

I just looked at the calendar and realised the meeting is on this Thursday night 26th July - its the first one at the Peter Stevens shop - good chance to have a look around and add to the shopping list.

An unfortunate incident for Mark on the Speedmaster last week-end - riding along Mercer St when the pizza delivery boy from Pizzaland pulled out of the side street without looking - knocked Anne & him off the bike and to top it off he drove on and delivered his pizza - dickhead! Anyway, they're both okay and the bike came off with some minor damage - those Speedmasters are unbelievably tough.

Also heard from PJ a few weeks ago - he's moving to Melton soon and can't wait to come on a few rides with the Geelong group. He'd just got back from a Ulysses trip up north & had a great time.

If you've accessed the TriumphRAT website recently you'll have noticed that its been refurbished and is now looking quite swish - it would have been a big job and they are still updating some of the links. So, the photo album is currently unavailable until the conversion to the new site is finished. The existng link on the menu bar will take you to the TriumphRAT main web site.

Anyway, hope to catch up with some of you on Thursday night.

At last I get to update the blog...

Well, it’s been a crazy time lately and the blog has sat quietly without any updates! So, now that I’ve got a minute or two I thought it would be good to add all the stuff I should have added weeks ago…

The biggest change for all has been the realignment of the RAT group with Peter Stevens – if you need more info go to the Peter Stevens website or go into the Geelong store and see Mick or Warren. The calendar is now posted on the Peter Stevens website under RAT Downloads - you can download & print a copy. I’ve also put a link in the menu on the blog. http://www.triumphmotorcycles.com.au/ratdownloads.html

The last ride I took part in was the Sunday June 10th when we rode over to Deans Marsh & then continued on to Birregurra for lunch.

It was a cold morning and when we got out to Moriac the fog was so thick it was hard to see even the bike in front – great to have a good memory of the road on days like that!
It was a great morning ride and good to have a few of the girls back riding with the group again to keep the boys in line!
A couple of weeks later I popped out on the bike and stopped at the Wharfshed for a coffee – who should pop in but Bruce – our most famous RAT Leader!

He’s looking fit & well and we exchanged a few memories of that time we had down in Tassie a few years ago. Hopefully, he’ll get to some of the meetings in the future.

The NSW Triumph Rally in Port Macquarie is on 10th – 13th August 07 – for anyone that’s interested in going get details from the Triumph Australia website or contact the organiser Pete Reagan on 0402 254 203.

The next meeting is at the Peter Stevens shop on Thursday July 26 – see you there.

By the way - do you recognise the tough guy on the Harley!!!