The Queensland/New South Wales Chapter of the CB1100 Forum

[Cormanus]

Part 1—Monday 11 August 2014

Pterodactyl and I woke up in Kyogle, New South Wales. The tales of our arrivals can be found [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3700]here and [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3808]here.

The map of the day's ride is [url=http://goo.gl/maps/5zico]here.

Our overall plan was threefold:
[li]To ride the Lions Road, as Pterodactyl had been unable to make the earlier ride for the founders of the Lions TT.[/li] [li]To ride some other interesting roads in mid-north NSW.[/li] [li]To continue a shared enjoyment of riding, beer, food and red wine.[/li] Our immediate plan for the morning was:
[li]To ride the Lions Road.[/li] [li]To have the first ever gathering of three Australian CB1100 Forum members and their bikes.[/li] Knowing, as I do, the importance of photos on tour, I had been careful the evening before to stick the camera on the charger. It would be important to have it working well on this first day because three of us would be getting together and it would be neat to stage a shot of the three of us together.

In the interests of weight and space, I had recently bought a nifty wall plug with two USB outlets, one of which I plugged the camera into. Trouble is, neither of the outlets will charge the damned thing. Note to self: when the camera's plugged in and the wee green light on the back flashes quickly, it isn't charging. Irritatingly, this discovery awaited me.

After a cup of tea, we were ready to load the bikes, grab a bite to eat then hit the road. First, though, I needed a 30 mm spanner to tighten the top nut on my steering which had shaken itself loose somehow. Of course the only bike shop in Kyogle was closed so I bought a large shifting spanner (that'd be 'adjustable wrench' in the US, I think) and did the best I could with the nut. In this endeavour, I was ably assisted by a couple of local gents Pterodactyl had found beside the road. One had a bike with "P" plate (for provisional licence) attached, although he looked like he'd been around for a bit. And indeed he had. It transpired he'd been off on holiday at Her Majesty's pleasure and was in the process of regaining his license. He was amazed by the CB and such devices as smart phones with GPS and noise cancelling headphones. But he was very helpful doing the nut up so it didn't seem to want to shift.

By this time we were cutting it a bit fine for our meeting with Enzo, so breakfastless, we set off in the chilly but glorious morning to tackle the Lions Road.

It's very pretty, but Pterodactyl, who is more experienced and wiser than me about things motorcycling (and maybe other things as well) pointed out a number of its shortcomings—poor surface, blind corners, no centreline, wrong cambers here and there, difficult entry to wooden bridges and so on. We agreed that it would be OK for a time trial if the Kyogle Council agreed to block off the road for the event which, subject to approval from the NSW Police, has now happened. Whoopee!

Pterodactyl admires the bikes when we stopped at the scenic lookout.


At this point I made the discovery that my night's camera charging had been to no avail. The camera informed me briefly The battery is exhausted, and that was that.

The ensuing photograph, as are many others in this report, is courtesy of Pterodactyl


Cormanus admires the view looking back towards NSW and the Cougal Railway Loop, details of which are in my earlier [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3443]ride report on the Lions Road.


Then we pressed on into Queensland and to Rathdowney for our meeting with Enzo.

It was Enzo who first took me to Rathdowney, so it was fitting he should meet us there. He’s in the middle of organising a move, so it was great he could take the time to catch up.

From bottom to top: Enzo’s blue ride, Cormanus’s black ride, Pterodactyl’s red ride. Enzo’s bike is a beautiful colour, but it is damned hard to photograph.


Now the other way


Enzo and Pterodactyl discuss some of the finer points of the CB1100


Some time about here, a bloke with a north American accent wondered up, said the bikes looked great then told us the coffee at the only café in town was, in his words, “crap”. Enzo, who knows a bit about this stuff, had been totally unimpressed by the food when we had eaten here before (he was right), but Pterodactyl and I were peckish at this point and needed fuel pretty much no matter what.

So we braved the eggs (which were edible but ordinary) and the coffee (which was drinkable) and chatted away happily about things CB owners chat about. Enzo ate nothing and drank only something that had been packaged off site.

Then it was time to get moving: Pterodactyl and I wanted to be a bit along the road by nightfall. We tried to persuade Enzo to come with us for part of the way, but he was insisting on going home. Suddenly his resolve weakened and he agreed to ride with us over the border to Woodenbong. Excellent. Three CBs together on the road. In Australia. Bloody marvellous!

Refuelled, the lads prepare to head out. You get a sense of the lovely blue of Enzo's bike in this shot


The Mt Lindsay Highway, which took us back over the border to NSW and the wonderfully named Woodenbong (queue joke about the Spaceman’s lost stash), and which I had not ridden before, turned out to be a gem. Although the surface on the Queensland side of the border left a little to be desired, it’s a stunningly pretty road, winding its way between mountains and through Australian eucalypt forest. You can catch a glimpse of one of the mountains behind the trees.


Other photos of this spectacular road will follow in a later report.

In Woodenbong we stopped to say farewell to Enzo and get fuel for the onward trip. Enzo’s photo of that farewell has already been a sensation on the forum


“Put that bloody phone away, Cormanus”


Here ends Part 1.

[Cormanus]

Part 2—Monday 11 August 2014

I can’t remember whether it was before or after Enzo left us that a couple of bikes turned up at the petrol station we had parked outside. One of them was a Triumph Rocket.


The owner was a giant of a man; a knockabout sort of bloke who told us the standard 2.3L engine wasn’t big enough for him so he’d had to bore it out to 2.8L. It made a mighty racket and I was pleased not to have to ride in its company. Yes, I know loud pipes are alleged to save lives, but they can be very wearing too.

Pterodactyl and I refuelled and set off along what looked like it would be an interesting road. It has a variety of names, depending where you are on it; but, at the southern end it is called the Woodenbong Road. It runs south from Woodenbong to the Bruxner Highway. It’s a very pretty drive with the first part winding through old eucalypt forest. It could be a great road but isn’t. It’s narrow, poorly marked and was the roughest road I’ve ridden on for quite some time. Image a child flipping a finger backwards and forwards across its lips to make a sort of b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b sound and you’ll have some idea of the bone rattling we got.

We endured this for just over 70 km before we reached the Bruxner Highway and turned westward to make an ascent of the Great Dividing Range. After about 30 kms we came to the town of Drake. Pterodactyl was in the lead when we drove past the local motel and café which promised a bike display and coffee. He took one look at the name of the place and stopped. I suppose he must have decided it could be my spiritual home.


Inside we found not one, but two of these Honda CB1100Rs


There were also a couple of Harleys, and an interesting and eclectic display of memorabilia and photographs. We took coffee and had a bit of a chat with the proprietors. They have varying sorts of accommodation ranging from motel rooms through cabins to camping sites. Pterodactyl noted it as a place for a summer stop when he’s packing a tent.

We then took to the road again for the 50 km ride to Tenterfield. The early part of the Bruxner from Drake was a great ride: a good surface with excellent corners on an upward trajectory to the top of Australia’s Great Dividing Range. Once you reach the top, the run into Tenterfield is flatter, but with enough up and down and corner to keep you awake and interested.

Some of you may recall the Australian musician Peter Allen who lived and worked in the US for much of his life. He was brought up in Tenterfield by his grandfather and wrote a lovely song called the Tenterfield Saddler about him. It also sells itself as the birthplace of the Australian federation on the basis that Sir Henry Parkes, one of our founding fathers, delivered a speech there in 1889 which, it is said, reignited the debate that eventually led to federation.

We stopped briefly in Tenterfield to fill the tanks, noting that we were now just under 2,800 ft above sea level and it was getting decidedly cool. By the time we reached Guyra, 150 kms south, it was getting dark and I was frozen to the pips. My wife, who grew up not too far south of Guyra, said in a text “That’s the coldest spot on the New England highway!!” The bar of the Guyra Hotel was agreeably warm as we checked in.

After a couple of ales and a shower, the Pterodactyl and I found our way downstairs and searched an uninspiring menu for something to eat. Going for comfort food, we both ordered that Australian pub-grub standard the Chicken Parmigiana.


As you can see, it came with chips (fries?). The more I look at the photograph, the more I wonder how I ate it.

Sometime during the course of the evening, Pterodactyl and I were discussing our earlier adventure. Amidst great hilarity it became clear that, as we left our respective homes to meet for the first time, there was a degree of spousal concern. It transpired they both asked the same question, “What if this bloke’s an axe murderer?”

So far so good; although I still wonder why Pterodactyl packs a whet stone.

End of Part 2.

[Rocky_imp]

Great pics and narrative

[Rick Froscheiser_imp]

Very nice pictures and tales about your adventure! Thanks for sharing.

[Henrik_imp]

You make me want to go touring again!

[ClassicVW_imp]

I gotta ask.... Was the red g-string panty for sale or was it part of the motorcycle and memorabilia display?!

[emptysea]

Another great post! It'll take a few more posts/pictures to get me used to the other-side-of-the-road thing, though. So, keep posting!

[Aussie_imp]

Nice. Maybe I'll get up that way one day...

[redbirds_imp]

Good stuff! Keep it coming. I really must save for a trip to Oz one day.

[the Ferret]

Truly entertaining ride reports Cormanus. Just great stuff. i read this one to my wife.

Saw your chips were covered in gravy. I have only run into this one time. My wife and I were in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan Canada and stopped in the only restaurant in town for a burger and fries. The waitress asked if we wanted our gravy on the side or on the fries. I asked her why would we want gravy on our fries? She said what do you eat on your fries? I said Ketchup. She made a face and said Ewwwwww!

Still can't fathom eating fries with gravy.