Brisbane & Surrounds GSers?

[codajastal]

Well its currently pissing down here!!

[peteGS]

Yeah it's been showering a bit up here today, got a reasonable bit of rain during the ride home to make me nice and damp.

Radar showed I should've gotten home dry but then hit a traffic jam in Ashgrove and got dumped on.

[mister]

Did you still go on the ride Pete? Radar showed bad rain all day.

[peteGS]

Sure did! Didn't stop raining all day but we still had an awesome ride... just not as awesome as it would be if it was dry of course... haha

I got your SMS but for some reason I got it somewhere between Beaudesert and Keperra this afternoon... didn't see it 'til I got home. Then again my phone put itself in flight mode somewhere between Rocklea and Rathdowney this morning...

I have some pic's uploaded and several hours of video to go through and edit. Hopefully it's viewable with all that rain...

I'm a fan of Lyons Rd, that was fun even in the wet! Two bridges were close to going under though, the water level was so high it was splashing over the road already.

I'm not a fan of Woodenbong Rd and I definitely see why they call it Bumpybong now... it was like riding a pogo stick! The bumps in the rain just killed my confidence on every corner. There were a couple of spots with water over the road but not a lot so we were able to keep going.

Anyway, I'll find whereever ride reports are posted on this forum and stick a post in there with all the pic's etc.

8 Kats started from Rocklea today 

[peteGS]

Actually bugger it, there's no specific ride reports area so here they are...

The Northside bunch meeting at Arana Hills:





Meeting the rest of the Qld guys at Rocklea:











The stop at Rathdowney (John's Popup is around the corner at the pump):





The stop at Casino:







And Jesse's Kat and my little 450 at Urbenville:





So now to trawl through several hours of video for something good...

[mister]

Um.... the road up from the Bruxner to Urbenville is the Bonalbo Rd. The road from Woodenbong to Legume is the one we call Bumpybong.

Which road were you calling bumpybong?

[peteGS]

Ok, we went directly west from Casino on the Bruxner Hwy, then turned right at Sandilands onto what Google Maps tells me is Woodenbong Rd.

This goes through Bottle Creek and becomes Bonalbo-Urbenville Rd, through Old Bonalbo, and becomes Tooloom Rd just before going into Urbenville where we turned right onto Urben St.

The only road I see on Google Maps you could be referring too is Tooloom Rd? West from Urbenville towards Legume.

Not saying you're wrong as I've never been that way, just saying what Google Maps tells me...

If that road is bumpier than what I went on then I'll pass!

[mister]

The Road from Woodenbong to Legume is the Mt Lindesay Rd. That is what we call bumpybong.

The road from that to Urbenville (that is, if leaving the pub you hand not gone to Woodenbong but rather the opposite direction - as if you had turned left entering Urbenville and not right and to the pub) is almost as bad as Bumpybong. The Bonalbo Rd (whatever google is now deciding to call it which goes through Bonalbo) which you turned right onto at the small rest stop on the Bruxner, is a tad bumpy as you have discovered but it's smooth highway compared to the real Bumpybong. And feels worse on the crap suspension of the likes of GS500s than better bikes.

So....

Woodenbong to Legume = bumpybong

[Twisted]

It was way to damp for me to even consider yesterday. I don't mind riding in the rain but not for hours on end. You must have been really keen for that ride.

[peteGS]

Ok, thanks for the clarification Mister! My Ikons handled it quite well but bumps like that mid-corner kill my confidence, especially in the wet. There were lots of much smoother stretches though and a lot of the potholes looked really fresh, so I'm going to guess its just all the rain lately that's made it worse...

Twisted... yeah mate I was keen as mustard! I don't get too many chances for weekend rides so I try to get out once a  month or so if I can, so if I missed this one I'm not sure how soon I'd get out again. Mind you all the Kat guys had accomodation booked in Armidale...

Jesse (on the Kat) made an interesting point over lunch at Beaudesert... he enjoys riding in that sort of weather because he finds it helps his cornering ability in the dry. I reckon he's got a point...

One thing I did notice though is that now that my confidence is up a lot more and my bike's running better, I'm finding the limits of the mismatched front/rear dual sports. There's a certain point (only at lower speeds in the wet) when leaning over that it feels like the front tyre is going to slip out from under me, but if I go past it it's fine. I got 8000km's out of the rear last time, and I've probably got 1500 or so on it now, so next time when it's up for replacement I'll go road tyres and a matched set front/rear. Enough of the "scrambler" image... I just wanna ride 

[Twisted]

If it's fine this weekend I'll probably spend it on the back of Glorious. The stretch from the picnic grounds to the look out is great for getting the confidence up in the corners.

[peteGS]

Yeah that's true. I'm not a huge fan of Glorious but it is good for that.

My main problem with it is more the riders than the road itself though. I used to be shaZam! scared of it, but not any more... I just much prefer it on a weekday to the weekend.

I'm going to try to get out during my week and a half off, but suspect I'll end up just joining the Katana guys on their regular Saturday morning ride the Saturday after next.

[peteGS]

First video done and uploaded:

[Janx101]

All those silver katanas! ..... That's just weird!! ... They all look the same!!  ... It's like a mini cult or something .... Imagine how odd it must look to passerby when they see that large group all riding the same bike? ... Definitely some kinda freaky shaZam! going on there!!! .....

Nothing but katanas ....




.... Oh ....... Wait ......  .... Never mind 

[peteGS]

Hahahahahahahaha

Mate a fleet of Kats is an awesome site at any time 

[Twisted]

Did I ever mention I hate dealerships? As of now I found the cause of my stuttering and what I thought was a lean issue. After so much friggin around trying to chase the issue including pulling carbs from the bike multiple times, checking and triple checking valves and even resorting to rejetting the carbs I find out the problem was an incorrectly supplied air filter. It looks like a GS filter, fits like a GS filter but has a larger restrictor than a stock filter so my poor GS was suffocating. Positive note is my carbs are jetted and running good now. Just waiting on a K&N airfilter to install since the other one is absolutely useless.

[codajastal]

Lol sounds like they didnt have the right one in stock but didnt wanna lose the $$$ so gave you one that looked right.

[slipperymongoose]

Omg you re jetted? Say it ain't so?

[peteGS]

Gah that sucks Twisted! One of many reasons I try to do all my work myself where I can... glad to hear she's sorted and running well now!

[peteGS]

Oh and if anyone's keen to meet up with the Kat boys on Saturday morning I'm heading out again... AussieChick? Slips you up for it? It'll be an early start again of course...