Bayu Aribawana 1-12-72 11-11-23

 

Camping & riding di Central Victoria

Perjalanan ke tengah propinsi Victoria. Daerah yang kalau summer sangat tandus/desert. Sekitar 200km dari rumah saya di south-east

Setelah drop istri ke Airport pagi2 buta menyusuri back roads

Menginap di tepi danau Burrumbeet dekat Ballarat

Lantas riding ke daerah Grampians yang sebelah kiri peta itu.

450km round trip lumayan pegel

Maem steak, drink wine, bobok. Paginya terbangun matahari terbit

Lantas riding lagi kali ini cukup santai 80km ke kota kecil Creswick melalui track2 kecil di hutan

Meski daerah tandus ternyata banyak sekali waterholes. Sayang waktu tidak cukup untuk ciblon

Australia best travel times

 

20 years of riding - a retrospect

 Thought I write this down as it might benefit to someone.

So as of this year I would have ridden for 20 years in Australia. As a new sportsbike rider at that time I did what most riders do. Trying to ride fast, went wide, and crashing. This happened within 2 months of owning the bike. My recollection of how I ride would be something like:

- Opening up the throttle on the straights, fast. 

- Entering corners fast

- Braking as cornering ("trail brake" ?)

- Excessive, unnatural body positioning 

- Running wide and blame the decreasing corners, seeing sand etc.

These days my riding is a very different and quite the opposite

- Limit throttle on straight roads

- Throttle while turning a corner "like a dirtbike"

- This is done by taking a wide entry (late apex)
All braking and slowing down (if necessary at all) done before the corner
Once late apex is identified, open up throttle as much as possible!

- Slow down again when exiting the corner, hence maintaining a "constant pace"

- There is no need for specific body position. Just ride naturally.

- Repeat

What I have observed is this kind of riding actually makes a great pace. I do not feel riding "fast" in fact just very relaxed and hence safe. I could see incoming danger such as cars or gravel on the road and act accordingly.  As I am cornering with throttle the bike is stable and gravel simply powered on.

Thanks for reading and hope this is useful.

Summer ride to Mirboo Nth

 A quick ride report.

Started late and meeting up at Tooradin at 11pm saw 3 of us taking the back roads to Mirboo North.

An ecletic mix of bikes - vintage gpz900r, DR650, and Harley Davidson Bobber taking detour to the Gurdies - St Hellier road.

This is the gateway to South Gippsland which I love most. As the past few years the Spurs were getting really busy.

Up to Kernot at leisurely pace with our Mrs on the back then quick stop at the Glen Alvie road intersection for a yarn.

Enjoying the blue skies and twisties of Glen Alvie road, then turning left to Kongwak up to Bena.

My usual route usually take us to Arawata with 2km of dirt to Hallston, but alas we have a 4 months old shiny Harley in the mix! So off to Leongatha for brief freeway section.

Back to Hallston and cruising through fast twisties section up to that 10m of dirt which never been surfaced since I rode here in 2005. What's up with that!

In any case we arrived at Mirboo North unscathed. Few pies later we make our way back. It was now 5pm and the sun is still up on our heads. Did I say I love Victorian summer?!

To make the return route interesting we turn right after Hallston towards SeaView. Quite a bit of technical sections up to Hallora. The old GPZ just barely idling by powering on corners at 4000rpm.

 Who needs a screamer.

As you can see I am alive and kicking.

Have fun.

The Melbürgring on motorbike

https://www.google.com.au/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1XfQFgc8HlhirPIYeDsZ8iyHaw7Sr1QU&usp=sharing 

The Melburgring pays homage to the infamous public track in Germany called the Nürburgring.

It is a 500km loop stringing the best motorcycling roads to the East of Melbourne, Victoria. Starting and ending in Emerald, a quaint small village, you can either do it in clockwise or counter clockwise directions.

The route can be divided into a few sections:

Emerald to Gembrook

Gembrook to Healesville

Healesville to Marysville (The Black Spur)

Marysville to Warburton (The Reefton Spur)

Warburton to Noojee

Noojee to Trafalgar

Trafalgar to Mirboo North

Mirboo North to Korrumbura (The Grand Ridge Road)

Korrumbura to Glen Forbes (South Gippsland)

Glen Forbes to Tooradin

Tooradin to Emerald