Rode it! Yep, my "Winter Bike" is officially on the road. I took all the paperwork to the "VicRoads" office (DMV) and after only waiting 15-20 minutes I paid my 129 bucks and got my "Red Plate". (Club Registration)
It was pretty cold and the forecast was for rain, but by the time I got home and attached the plate there were only a few clouds about, so I packed my wet-weather gear into the panniers and took off.
I stopped for fuel and forgot how big the tank is on this thing, so by the time I'd topped up" the tank it had 20 litres of 98 RON gas in it, and I was 32 bucks poorer. Anyway, I continued on up to Kinglake.
I noticed this abandoned gas pump on the side of the road and wondered if this is the remains of a gas station that was destroyed in the "Black Saturday" bushfires that killed 42 people and destroyed many homes and businesses, in February 2009.
I continued on to one of my favourite watering holes, the Kinglake Pub. Last time I was up here it was really hot and I'd just limped in on my K1 after blowing the head gasket during some "spirited" riding. (that was a bad couple of days, I had the output shaft bearing collapse on my Triumph Rocket III the next day, which cost me $2200 to fix)
This time around, the BMW ran faultlessly, and I warmed myself by the open fire in the pub while I downed a cold cider. Something hot would have been nice, but their coffee machine was out of action, so no biggie.
King Lake is situated up in the hills (around 2000 feet elevation) so I had a ball chasing cars down the hill on my way home. For it's "Maiden Voyage" I was really happy with it, the only issue I noticed (for the first time) is that the front fork springs have sagged really badly, so I'll order some new ones tonight, the new Ikon shocks were fantastic, but the front forks let it down. No biggie though, I had a great ride! Cheers, Terry.
