Wiseman's Ferry to Broke and Putty Rd

We had an nice warm 23°C winters day and the Slomax had organized a ride for us. We left Bushpigs place around 9:30am and headed up Windsor Rd and turned off up Annandale Road and past the old Amaroo park race track which is now sadly a housing estate. A few turns here and there we ended up funny enough at Glenorie bakery with a pie and coffee in hand. Don't know how that happened but it makes me think about buying a ducati. We left not long after and headed up towards Wisemans ferry via the old northern road. We had about a 5 minute wait to get on the ferry and took the spot right at the front. The water was calm today.

Once across we made our way along the river towards mangrove mountain. Such beautiful countryside through here I just wish the road was in better condition so that it would make the ride that much more enjoyable. We turned off and headed up towards Wollombi. Just short of the town we met up with one of Stu's friends that was on our Mudgee ride last month. He warned us of 2 Hwy patrol ahead but luckily we didn't see any and refueled both bikes and ourselves in Broke.

Wombat's ahead

Broke

After lunch in broke we headed around through the lower end of the hunter valley towards the Putty rd and back down towards Sydney. It was a quiet day on the Putty, not many bikes about and no highway patrol making it an enjoyable ride.

A beautiful Winters Day Ride

Friday was my RDO and I decided it was time for a ride. It was a cold winters morning as I headed to Bushpigs place to pick him up. We decided to do a loop ride up the Old pacific hwy to Wollombi and then around to the putty road and back home again. Being a Friday morning Pennant Hills Rd was pretty busy so we were lane splitting like bastards to get through the traffic. First stop was in Cowan for some fuel for the MT10.

The Old Road

We stopped in at the road warriors cafe for a coffee. Some of the corners were covered in water where the road was covered by tree's and the sun couldn't get through the tree canopy to dry out the road. It was very cold riding through these sections so we took it quite carefully.

Next stop was in Wollombi for a short break. After the coffee and cold sections of road I was busting to go so I stopped at the rest area in Wollombi. We parked the bikes next to a row of about 8-10 wheelie bins. I noticed an asian lady park her car when we were walking off.

Wollombi

When we came back the asian lady backed out and knocked 2 of the wheelie bins flying from the back of her car. We erupted into laughter. She got out and saw us laughing and then I said to her"Gee lucky we didn't park our bikes over there" pointing to where the 2 bins were now laying. She looked down like a scalded little school girl and sulked off to pick up the bins and hurriedly got in her car and left.

The ride up from Wollombi to the bridge is narrow and rough but after the bridge it opens up a bit and gets much smoother. I really enjoyed the ride after the bridge up to Broke where we stopped to top up the tanks. The plan was to stop for lunch at the Grey Gums on the Putty rd.

After the fuel stop in Broke we swapped bikes and I got to ride the MT-10. The upright riding position was great I really liked it and the engine felt like I was back on the R1, brutal power all the way from the bottom end. It just wheel stood out of the petrol station and down the road. I noticed in the 10mile that I was having a little trouble with throttle control as it was on/off like on my R1 before I had it flashed. Maybe it was because I wasn't used to this bike and the upright seating position I might have been snapping the throttle on and off too quickly. It handled the twisties very well. I could see myself trading in the R1 for one of these later on. It felt like you sit inside this bike not on top like the R1. The engine was pretty much the same although it did lack some of the mid range and top end punchiness of the R1 engine. Swapping back to the R1 and the remaining twisties felt like the R1 was on rails so much more precise than the MT10. Must be the riding position that makes it feel this way.

We stopped in at the Grey Gums cafe for a coffee and spot of lunch. There was only a handful of people about being a Friday and all but it still took 25 minutes for them to make me a simple chicken burger. I only ate half of it to as it wasn't that good, at least the coffee was fantastic.

Coffee at Grey Gums Cafe

We left and headed for home. The run down the twisties at Colo Heights was one of the best runs we've had through there in years we didn't hit any traffic whatsoever and we blasted along at a fun spirited pace. What a great way to spend a Friday.

Got out for a ride and didn't run out of fuel

Bushpig suggested a ride on Saturday and the winter weather finally decided to play ball and put on a brilliant sunny 20°C(68°F) day. I was busting to get out for a ride, buying a new bike in the middle of winter is probably not the best idea if you want to ride it. The last couple of weekends have been bitterly cold with snow in the Blue Mountains closing the Great Western Highway and the Bells Line and not really inspiring me to get out for a ride.

Stewie and Bushpig met at my place and we headed for Mcgraths Hill maccas to meet up with Doctor Kwok. A quick coffee and breaky for some and we were under way heading up to the Putty Rd. I tweaked the suspension to soften it up a bit a couple of weeks ago, so I would get to see if they have made any difference in making for a smoother ride. I'd also changed the ride mode on the dash from A(race mode) to B mode. It was instantly a more tractable bike to ride. Throttle response in A mode is pretty brutal and it really seemed to be heavy on fuel consumption. Bushpig threatened me if I run out again I'd be walking so I made sure I filled up when needed.

Coming up the twisties at Colo river I'd rounded a bend and encountered a car doing about 60kmh, a little hard braking later and I decided to pull over to let them go. Also my first opportunity for a photo stop. It didn't take long and a large group of bikes roared past with Stewie and Dr Kwok stuck firmly in the middle. We caught up quickly and getting stuck in the group saw us doing 80kmh in places. Annoying to say the least

Dr Kwok

A quick fuel stop for me and Bushpig at Colo Heights and we were under way again. I would get to check the fuel trip meters along here as we rode up to Broke, in the Hunter Valley for lunch. It wasn't long before we were stopped again and saying our goodbye's to Dr Kwok. He had an appointment and had to turn around and go back.

The strumpet

Live long and Prosper

This will be the first time through the ten mile section on the new bike. There was quite a bit of water on the road today even though it was a warm day some sections along the river do not get any sun on them and the road stays wet and has moss growing on it. We were all taking it pretty easily because of the damp sections. So it came as a surprise to me when I touched my knee down on the road on one of the bends without really trying. It just goes to show how good the new R1 is and how sticky the bridgestone tyres really are. I don't think these tyre will see much more than 2000 km's to be honest, you can see the rubber peeling off them.

We turned off the main road and headed across to Broke for lunch and check on how much fuel I had used. It's quite beautiful country across this section where the road sweeps through the vineyards.

There were a lot of bikes out today, like these bunch of guys' on their L's and P's out racing each other on their little 300's. It was funny coming up behind them and watching them come out of the bends and laying on the tank and opening up the throttle. It seemed like they just made more noise but weren't actually accelerating. I bet they can't wait till they can get something with a bit bigger capacity. Keep it up boy's you looked like you were having lots of fun.

Hunter Valley Vineyards

There was a queue for petrol so we decided to order lunch. 3 works burgers were hungrily dispatched in no time. The burgers were pretty good here. After filling up I had used 8.3 litres for 125km's. I decided to put some in anyway, by my calculation if it used the same on the way back I would use 16.6 litres for 250km's with only 400ml of fuel left. That's not a lot in case of anything going wrong. We were very lucky on the way back across the milbrodale road with the local constabulary looking for more fresh victims, luckily we dodge that bullet. 

Praying at the altar to the road god's

We were soon back in Colo heights and I fueled up to check and I had used the same 8.35 litres for 125kms. I could have made it back but there would have only been fumes left and it's better to be safe than run out again. A pretty good winter day's run out. The suspension was a lot more compliant than before but the rear still needs the spring preload softening up a little. I can't complain really, if you want a race bike on the road you can't expect it to be really comfortable, after all it is a track based machine. And that 200hp engine is very addictive.

A lovely monster

Sunday morning rolled around was much like Saturday, beautiful weather again. I'd given the bike its first wash after yesterdays outing. I thought I'd get out to fill up and just put a few more km on before I book in the first service. I picked up Brad on the way and we did some local back streets around eastern creek. We found two buildings like this one. The warehouse had collapsed in a freak hail storm a couple of months back, apparently there was about 10cm of hail. Obviously the warehouse roof couldn't take all that extra weight and it just caved in. Time to book in the 1000km service now that I've got 980kms on the dial.