Bermagui Shed Days December 6&7

[ribbert]

Another Great Shed day was put on by Pete & Alf, with thanks to Gail for putting up with all us blokes.
We were down a few bikes due to fires closing roads but that didn't matter one bit.
Gavin got an extra spring fitted to the clutch and a 14mm master cylinder fitted, Johno got his RPM spin on oil filter adaptor fitted and also got his front brake calipers sorted.
It was great to ride around Bermagui region again.

Glad you all had a good time. I can't tell you how badly I missed being there. My wife got sick of my running commentary over the 4 days ".....if I was on my way/in/coming back from Bermagui now I'd be....."

Noel

[oldktmdude]

   A big thanks to those of you that made it to Bermagui for the weekend. A big effort from Gavin and Al to get down here for the weekend.
It was sad that the two Daves had to turn back because of the fires. You missed a another great FJ gathering. We had a total of 8 FJ's in attendance
plus 3 other bikes that came along on the Saturday lunch ride.
Troy and Phil were also missed due to the ever changing fire conditions. Noel was another highly missed, usual attendee. Hope all is well with you mate!
Thanks also to Alf and Gail for the use of their home and garage for the weekend.
   It will be back on next December so pen it into your diary.
   Regards, Pete.

P.S Thanks for trying to get down here on Sunday Troy. A huge and unprecidented effort to get here by helicopter. BLOODY FIRES!

[fj-f3a]

   A big effort from Gavin and Al to get down here for the weekend.

Pete
How can you possibly call a fantastic two day ride a big effort?
Not big enough in my opinion.

Firstly, let me apologise for being slack and late with my report.

Thursday started wilt Alan and I meeting at 06:00 hrs at our usuall meeting place. (Caltex Casula)
From there it was via Camden Valley Road, up through Razor Back, through Picton and the Old Hume Hwy through Moss Vale, Bundanoon then a (very) short leg along the M31 to Goulburn.
After a break, we  tracked via Crookwell, Boorowa, Cootamundra and a backroad through Burra Creek to Gundagai.
Having not installing my preferred correctly into my SatNav, we had another short run on the M31 (sorry) to the Adelong turn off, then via Adelong and Batlow to Tumbarumba.

Upon arrival at the motel, Alan noticed that my trailer's electrical cable had been scraping on the road and five of the seven cores had been worn through. Dam!

I decided it was time for a nap.

On awakening, I found that Alan had performed a temporary repair to the cable. Thanks Alan.
We visited on of the local pubs for a few ales and a fantastic pub dinner.

Next morning, Alan went for a walk around the local area while lazy me slept in.
We pack up to set off for Bermi, that was, until I hit the start button. Nothing.
You would not believe it, my Lithium battery had failed.
To cut a long story short, the local Auto Electrician had an AGM motorcycle battery of the correct size and terminal orientation. Lucky.
After fitting the new battery, we set off.

About 20min into the leg, I realised that, due to the unexpected confusion with the battery, we had not fill up at Tumbarumba and that I would not have enough fuel to make our next planed refueling stop.
Again, as luck would have it,we saw a sing post saying Cabramurra and showing a symbol of a bouser. Being only about 4km off route, Cabramurra it was.
After deciphering the instructions for the self serve bouser, I was full to the brim and we were on our way again.

A final stop at the Shell on the Snowy Mountains Hwy and it was non stop to Bermi.

This was the first time I had ever ridden any of these roads, believe it or not and I can assure you all, it will not be the last.
Recent work on the Snowy Mountains Hwy has made it billiard table smooth and with some fantastic fast sweepers, fantastic.
The remainder of the route took in some fantastic twisties.

I was truly amazed at how well the FJ towed the trailer. It was loaded to about 50kg and weighs about 80kg. Even with my tall gearing, 38/18, the FJ did not flinch.
As the manufacture informed me, the most dangerous thing about towing the trailer is forgetting it is there.
I intend to do some serious touring within the next few years and so I am breaking in (getting used to) towing the trailer.

We arrived at Alf's about three hours later that I anticipated and had to delay the work on my clutch until the following morning.

After discussion with Pete and Alf, it was decided that there was no need to change the clutch discs, so Pete added the extra spring and we fitted the FJR1300 14mm master cylinder I had acquired.
I have a SS Braided line still to fit.

We set off for the ride around 10am. It was essentially the same route as last year but in reverse.
The roads down here truly must be some of the best motorcycling roads in the country.

With fire closing the Princess Hwy north of Batemans Bay and the Kings Hwy also closed due to the fires, Alan and I were forced to take a longer way home through Cooma, Queanbeyan, Mossvale and Macquarie Pass.
On Sunday morning, the guys road with Alan and I to Bemboka where we had breakfast and then went our own ways.

Once again, a huge thanks to Gail, Alf and Pet for a fantastic weekend.
With the bush fire situation, it was a pity that numbers were down with the two Dave's having to turn back, Troy making the decision to safe guard his property due to the local fire brigade being unavailable and Noel not being well.
You do realise that this means that I still have not seen Noel's FJ.

Bring on March and next September and next December.

Gavin

PS
As I write this report, the route Alan and I took through Picton down to Mossvale is closed due to the bush fires.
These are the worst fires I can remember with no signs of any rain in the near future.

[ribbert]

The roads down here truly must be some of the best motorcycling roads in the country.

Haha, keep riding South and a little bit West and they keep getting better, all the way to the water!

Great ride report Gavin, yeah I missed you guys too.

I'm not a trailer man myself but as a tradesman I have an appreciative eye for anything well engineered and well built and Gavin's trailer is an absolute cracker.
Adjustable hydraulic discs behind those Minilites, independent suspension, perfectly balanced and the detail and finish appeal to my OCD tendencies. I can't imagine any area in which it could be improved.



Gav, I know BM's are traditionally associated with such tasks but don't invest any money putting it behind the RS, you'd be disappointed, the FJ is the perfect machine for it.

Still haven't seen my FJ in the flesh eh, well, I guess Dartmouth will be the next chance, it will be easy to find, it most likely will be the only one with Victorian plates!

I noticed a weep in one fork today. Not bad considering I have only ever replaced the seals once and it now has 265,000km on it. However, just like when the clutch slave starts to drip, I'll change the oil and see how much life I can string out of them. I haven't changed the oil since I did the seals so I would expect it to add a bit of life to them.

See you at the Rally.

Noel

[X-Ray]

    Holy heck Noel, if you havent done your fork oil for such a long time, I now would think of Glenn Sullys fetid, putrid gloop we emptied out yesterday as fresh rosewater     

[ribbert]

   Holy heck Noel, if you havent done your fork oil for such a long time, I now would think of Glenn Sullys fetid, putrid gloop we emptied out yesterday as fresh rosewater     

Yes Ray, I'm hoping new oil will fix the weep for a goodly while to come, however, if it doesn't I can't complain. Can't spoil the old girl with new seals too often.

Has your "Project Dartmouth" been upgraded to "Project pull your finger out" yet?  These things sneak up on us you know. One minute you're cruisin' with months up your sleeve, you blink and suddenly you're installing the engine at 3 am on the morning of departure.

I have been there so many times........ 

Noel

[fj-f3a]

the FJ is the perfect machine for it.

Noel

Noel

There are two, too many words in this statement!

[X-Ray]

Has your "Project Dartmouth" been upgraded to "Project pull your finger out" yet?  These things sneak up on us you know.

Noel

Funny you should mention that Noel, getting a fair bit done over the holidays, because March will be here soon enough as you said. I found out yesterday that Ford Argent Silver is NLA in Australia for some strange reason, so I will have to find a similar shade to repaint the swingarm. I think one of the auto paint groups have a version of Argent Silver, and I think the VHT Silver wheel paint may be close, will have to test  

[ribbert]

Has your "Project Dartmouth" been upgraded to "Project pull your finger out" yet?  These things sneak up on us you know.

Noel

Funny you should mention that Noel, getting a fair bit done over the holidays, because March will be here soon enough as you said. I found out yesterday that Ford Argent Silver is NLA in Australia for some strange reason, so I will have to find a similar shade to repaint the swingarm. I think one of the auto paint groups have a version of Argent Silver, and I think the VHT Silver wheel paint may be close, will have to test  

Ray, I have seen countless frame touch up colours and nearly every one of them is too silver but I've never seen one that is too grey. Even the Ford Argent Silver could do with just a dash more grey. I take it you know automotive paint shops will make up spray cans of any colour for you and they have waaaaay better nozzles.

I had a can made up recently of the Argent silver with a dash more grey and it was perfect.

You can get away with a bit too much grey but a bit too much silver always looks tacky.

Noel

[Troyskie]

Well fellas, the fire that stopped me going to the Bermi shed day has moved all the way here.
We're safe, plenty of clear ground between us and the bush. With any bushfire, if you are ready, and have an actual plan, a little bit of gear, then smoke and ember attack are the only real worries.

Some bloody drongos lit a fire near me. At first I thought it was a spot fire from the Currowan (shed day nemisis fire), but the local Firies told me some kids lit it.

Anyhoo, I went for a little fly this morning to see for myself.

The Firies have done a great job containing it. The ground crews couldn't get in to the swamp to my east, so they used choppers (Helitac and Helitek, which are either bomber or bucket) and little fixed wing crop dusters with floats (Fire Boss, these things carry about 900 gallons!!!!!!!!!). Then came the LATs and a VLAT (Large Air Tanker and Very Large Air Tanker which are C130, 737's and DC10 respecively). We were evacuated twice (but stayed to defend as we're ready).

Lucky for us no dickhead launched a drone. That would have grounded all the aircraft, and although we'd have been safe, people would have lost homes.

Here's some pics of xmas eve and today.

[X-Ray]

Ahhhh, so now I can see in the first photo where your house is in relation to the surrouding bushland etc, nice!