Storm Chasers

Friday 8-Jan-2010

Gloucester - Maitland - Kurri Kurri - Cessnock - Wollombi Pub - Wollombi Rd - Peats Ridge - Old Pacific Highway - Home

At breakfast the next day we were still talking about the day before. The weather was again is looking dodgy, so we geared up and headed south on the Bucketts Way. The weather progressively cleared up as we headed south, turning right into Limeburners Creek Road and cutting across to Maitland. The whole Maitland, Kurri Kurri, Cessnock area is really pretty dull and 'transit mode', we were glad to pull in toWollombi pub for a burger and a couple of beers. There were a fair few bikes there. I saw a guy in a wolf shirt but failed to get a pic of the Awesome.

The Wollombi pub

The run south from Wollombi run was pretty good. The sun was out and we set a good pace. A four foot monitor lizard went between our bikes when we were doing about 100km/h and were only about 40 meters apart. That was one quick lizard and I just missed running over it. We had some fun on the resurfaced section of the Old Pacific Highway and pulled into Pie in the Sky for a drink before heading home. We didn't stay long. There were plenty of bikes there for a Friday afternoon..

I got home stoked after having the best trip away on a bike in years. What an awesome way to finish my holiday before returning to work.

A few things about the Speed Triple:

this was its first decent run after its first service and it really is an excellent bike - bang for buck it's got to be right up there
the engine is superb, grunt everywhere, no peaks or troughs - just smooth strong power everywhere in the rev range - I love it, you would too, ride one if you haven't
comfort is good - riding position is tops (I'm 6'1" 90kg in gear)
brakes are excellent
gear change is not so good, stiff and agricultural, downshifts are fine but upshifts, in particular 4-5-6 are average, I hope this will improve in time (bike has 2400kms on it so still new)

A couple of other things::

Gloucester Country Lodge is an excellent place to base yourself out of, $80 per room per night, aircon, spotlessly clean and 50 metres from a pub and bistro
There is road work on the north and south ends of Thunderbolts Way - they are fixing it but only really doing about a third of what needs to be done at each end, it has deteriorated a fair bit since I was last on it - disappointing
Oxley was fantastic - get on it while it's in such great condition

HAIL MOTORCYCLES!