Ducati Monster Forum

So I know its a long time in advance, but any interest in an Oz Monster meet up somewhere in the NSW / VIC alpine region to coincide with the wsbk round?

I'm thinking not so much of a large group ride to get there (better to do the longer haul in smaller groups), but rather a central place to stay where we can o/nite it and spend a day in the great alpine regions. From there, onwards to some wsbk action at the island.

what say you all? Any interest? post up people!

Interest.
Yeah I'd be keen on doing that.
How long would you be away 5-7 days?

Great minds GoldFish im in for sure having missed the tourismo [thumbsup]

Definite maybe.  ;)

I'm pretty certain I'd be up for it. I've been looking at doing the Alpine Way run for a while now. Attaching WSBK to it at PI would be sweet.

http://www.phillipislandridedays.com.au/ (http://www.phillipislandridedays.com.au/) Hmmm there is a track day on the Monday after Superbikes. ;)

TRACK DAY  ???  ???

You have my attention, keep talking  [popcorn]

Well, it's like this you see.......
Long straight followed by what is the best bike track on Earth.
Turn 1
Southern Loop
Cyberier
Hay Shed
Lukey Heights  ;D [evil] ;D [evil] but mostly  [evil]
Then the run back on to that fantastic long straight.
Best fun you can have on two wheels.

$219.00 for a day of even more fun than Eastern Creek can offer.

Hmmmm........

Dont know if our monsters are going to cut it on that track Matty.From what I have been told it has alot of fast corners,which isnt one of the monsters strengths   [moto]

Yeah I know, what to do  ???

ill be running amuck over there some where a week before so im keen to catch up some where  [thumbsup]

yeah around a week, perhaps a little more depending on how you get there and back.

The track day afterwards the wsbk round is the afterburner day, don't forget that lots of people hand around for it, and from what I was told, last year they overbooked it, with over 50 bikes on the track at each level - that's a lot of bikes, esp given that most people have spend the preceding days watching some good racing on the same track, it seems to me that it's not necessarily the best idea, but each to their own.

What I'm thinking is something like a Ducati in the Snowys - perhaps a 1 or 2-night stay over in the alpine region, followed by a trip down to the island for the weekend's races. The idea being that the journey is the adventure, and a weekend's racing is the icing on the cake.

So, some ideas:

Smaller groups make their own way to the meeting point, allowing people to take as much time as they want.
We then have some planned rides - the alpine way, the road up hotham etc etc.
A social even gathering (of course!)
A planned route down to the island for the races...
Somewhere to stay on the island together?


Oh, any interest from our Mexican friends, or any other state for that matter?

I like the boy!!

Good thinking Goldie, I'm definately thinking of going, just not sure how though at the moment.







                                                       Mmick

How'd you go with the bits Mick any good  ???

OK so far we have interest from:

goldFiSh
Mattyvas
Dockstrada
Super TIB
Craigo
Monstermick58

and Bazz wanting to catch up when we make it to the island.

When I get a moment in the coming weeks, I'll post some more info and thoughts!

Cool, I'm sure there is lots of time to plan a fun and twisty trip to PI.
I could even be on a bigger bike by then?

I hope there will be some nice twisties as I am sure I will be on a bigger bike ;D

has anyone done the ducati v i p  thing at p i, cause i cant walk far thought it might be good to have close parking and some were to stor gear and sit down in the shade , meet the ducati team and drink there grog  [beer]

heya bazz,

you don't need to walk - you can ride your bike around the track perimeter for differing vantage points at the supers.

I had  bar sbk tickets which let you into a couple of different vantage spots around the track - not sure they were entirely worth it, but hey, you gotta try it out.

thanks for that goldy never been to the super bikes , but speaking to a few from here said it was better than the gp event , so im going hell or high water , do you get access to the pits at any time and where are we all going to meet up , mite  make spider and dragon chaperon me  [laugh]

I'll aim to come, work permitting.
Thats if you'll have Japacatis along.

D

Japacatis
Yamaharleys
All are bikes and bikes are fun.

If I have a bike by then I will be in.
Still waiting on the insurance to go through from my wreck in Canada.  :P

Well surprise, surprise.

Me and the missus are trying to go to Tassie in march, but we cant go on the Monster, so she said you have to find something more appropiate, so I'm looking around (just missed a nice ST2 Close motorcycles) and today while we were shopping in Wollongong (looking at thermal socks (dont ask)) the subject of the Superbikes came up, and I told her that they are on late Febuary, she said why dont we do both??

Is this a dream? My precious petal possum, (ppp), has given me the right to:

1) Get another bike

2) Take extra leave and do the supers

3) Have a holiday in Tassie

What the ????

Dont know how she puts up with this old bastard, but good on her, I'll do my best love 'onest.





                                               Mmick (dont wake me just yet)

Don't question it.
Just say thanks, as you have and find a bike to join in and take a break in Tassie.
Sounds like a great trip.

Hey Mick, remind me again, what's her sisters number?  [evil]

big

feb march are the best months in tassie , but youll still need some thing sporty or it will be a waste of time cheers bazz

to mmick:  [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]

to kickstart: wtf dude, work, what a cop out  [cheeky]

so we have the following registering interest:

goldFiSh
Mattyvas
Dockstrada
Super TIB
Craigo
Monstermick58
Bazz
kickstart
SKOM
big (cause he can't resist a road trip!)

where's the f'n mexicans?? Spider you've always got something to say, and that goes for the rest of you. ita, dragon, hcg....  [cheeky]

got a self contained bungerlow out back and locked monster parking you welcome to youse any time mick and that goes for any one else too , im coming home on the monday night on the boat if you want a guided tourer of the north east on the way home cheers bazz

To MMICK about bloody time someone from this site came to the best state for motorbike riding [thumbsup] you will love it, all I can say is don't buy a cruiser too many twisties here for that........ ;D

and WSBK I'm not a mexican but, yes I think we will be there, it is better than the GP so far as being able to take your bike in etc... a bit more laid back.

EGAS

They don't have grog at the Ducati tent, only coffee.  :P

have you done the vip thing

So whats the sitch with accomidation are we tenting it or are we going to get fancy  ???

no fixed plans yet Dock.

I have no problems with tenting it, except I'm personally not keen on carrying the extra luggage on the bike.

When we went to PI this year, four of us shared a family room at a B&B on the way down which was great. From memory, under $40 a head for the night, including breakfast - can't beat that.

At PI, well I have a mate who has a family holiday house on the Island, and that's where I stayed last time. Not sure what to do this time, I can ask him about the possibility of staying there...

Anyway, whatever - tents , holiday villa etc it's all good (as long as we don't have to carry it!)

Dont realy care what we do  as long as we are there,We can always send it to the post office ,I think its called Cown or somthing.

If I'm still in the country and employed, I'll be in it.

One vote for Mexico albeit from a lost Sandgroper.  Can we do the Granya road - my fave if it's not covered in gravel again. [moto]

So my short list is;

ST2

ST4

ST3

ST1100

ST1100 (ABS)

ZRX1200

and something else thats got GRUNT, pillion comfort, GRUNT, panniers, GRUNT, handles fairly well and er... yes GRUNT  .................... SOOOWEEE




                                                   Mmick

I've done the lot, but I like the idea of a house, if the weather turns nasty, you have somewhere to retreat to. And the showers are usually better.




                                            Mmick

Excellent!

I just googled Mt Granya, looks cool, I'm pretty sure we did not go that way last time, so its got my vote.

Loved all the alpine riding - loved it loved it loved it. It's hard not to get excited when you see a road sign indicating winding and twisting roads for the next 60 kms (like you do along the alpine way).

I'm getting excited already.

Mick, a mate of mine rode a ZRX1200 on the weekend. Said it was a piece of shite. Motor has too much grunt in a frame made out of soggy spaghetti.  :-\

^Threadjack^

Actually my dad had one (the S version) and I had a couple of spins on it, did'nt ride ride it in real anger, but I will tell you this, the motor is a gem, serious grunt anywhere on the tacho, but the suspension was what needed to be sorted, off with the preload and a little on with the rebound would probably do the trick although I never got to do this but its what it felt like, so sort the suspension (should do that on any bike) and away you go.




                                                        Mmick - ^end threadjack^

at bar Italia tonight, big and I were talking about the roads around bright and hotham.......

http://motorcycleparadise.blogspot.com/2007/11/australias-best-motorcycle-roads-gar.html (http://motorcycleparadise.blogspot.com/2007/11/australias-best-motorcycle-roads-gar.html)

 ;D

OK early bird tickets close today!

Dates:
27 February - 1 March 2009

3 day Standard pass = $120
3 day Bar SBK pass = $200

Bar SBK gets you into "3 open fronted licensed marquees, located at Gardner Straight, Lukey Heights and Siberia and opposite Superscreens for premium track viewing". I did this last year, and it certainly gets you close to the action in the premium locations.

Book Online:
http://www.sc3.com.au/cart/?m_name=superbikes&m_id=393 (http://www.sc3.com.au/cart/?m_name=superbikes&m_id=393)

I'm off to get my Bar SBK ticket now  [thumbsup]

SH*T!  >:(

Got mine.  Looks like I'm going then.  Okay I'm off down the GOR now. [moto]

Just Booked Bar SBK pass Woooo Hooooo  [thumbsup]

Booked and in the mail..... [thumbsup] [thumbsup]

goldFiSh, I've just come back from an overnight-er and have wanted to do the snowy trip and SBK for some time. This could be the chance for me to combine both. I'll need to get the work thing planned around it though.

How long pre-post the SBK event will I need to take off?

Assume we'd leave on Wednesday 25 Feb and return on Tuesday 3 March which will mean a week of work. yeh?

I have a family holiday booked in April so this may be a bit too much but you've gotta try.

the original idea was to spend a full day in the alpine region on the way down. Assuming you want to be there for the Friday morning, that would mean a Tuesday leave, which is probably a big ask for most.

I assume we're going to get some sort of consensus here for the people who are coming, and take it from there. I'll post up some ideas in the next couple of days....

Damn I need to pay more attention to this thread. I'm booking Bar SBK tickets tomorrow as soon as I know I can get the time off work.   

I did the reverse - "so, I've got these tickets and need to take some time off"...........

Sneaky Nick, sneaky, but at least you are learning.






                                                                     Mmick

Il wait until the wifey see's the master card and tell her then and work with that then  ;D


OH sorry I thought i told you ??? its not a problem is it ???

OK, some suggested routed to get the discussion rolling:

Day 1 (http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/2009-SBK-Trip-Day-1)
Sydney. South through RNP, Keira, MQ Pass, Cambewarra Mountain, Clyde, Browns Mountain, The Alpine Way to Corryong

Day 2 (http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/2009-SBK-Trip-Day-2)
Corryong, Great Alpine Road, Mt Hotham and Beauty, Finish in Beechworth

Day 3 (http://www.motowhere.com/maps/route/2009-SBK-Trip-Day-3)
Beechworth, and the spurs - Black and Reefton, down to the Island.


After making these, I thought that maybe the first day was a bit big - basically we'd end up at the 60km of twisties at the end of the day. Perhaps better to finish up in NSW somewhere (maybe Jindy) and then reconfig the second day to start with the Alpine Way...


Discuss  [thumbsup]

Wow 800 od km ist day goldfish,Dam my ass is hurting already  :'(

yeah it's a big day, but look at the farking roads  [thumbsup]

the first 1/2 is very familiar territory to a lot of us, so it's kinda like a settling in for the trip.
like I said we could leave the alpine twisties for day 2...

can't wait for bigs comments "what only 800 in the day, yeah I guess you want to take it easy!"

I jut got up and started reading this, I'm tired already and have only had my open for 20mins or so.
800 in a day, I'll have to start sitting on the foot rest instead of the couch to get in training.

So when does that head us out Tuesday before?

It would mean a Tuesday depart if you want to be there for Friday morning for first practice. If we give up a bit of that, then we can ride into Melb Friday, and leave a day later.

Earlier this year we did a slightly different trip and did it in two days without trouble, stopping in Corryong overnight. I think you'd be surprised how far you can go in a day.

My bike had the shortest range at around 200ish kms, so stops were reasonably frequent and you learnt to work out ways to stretch your legs at cruising speeds!

The maps posted here provide a pretty scenic route, covering a fair amount of the best twisty roads on the way south. Day two is pretty much an expendable day a bit of back tracking up and down the Vic alps. There's no reason we cant break it up into shorter or more direct segments.

Also keep in mind that a trip like day 1 would have no more than 4 riders who are comfortable with the groups pace...

Ok im excited and ready to go,I think we need a gathering to get something started  [thumbsup]

Tickets arrived today  [thumbsup]
Already excited and looking forward to it.

i can here are we there yet coming  [moto]

WooHoo just checked the post got mine to  [thumbsup]

Yeh Baby
(http://www.austinpowers4trailer.com/images/Austin%20Powers%20shagadelic.jpg)

Gee guys you do get a bit excited. talk about drooling

(http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_15_2.gif)

Just picked up my ticket from the post office.  [thumbsup]

Not excited at all cos drooling is so not a good look.  :P ;D

cant wait (http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_8_211.gif)

does any body know if ducati has a vip tent at the sbk

not sure bazz, there was one at this years event.. Maybe send an email to the importers and ask the question:
http://www.ducati.com.au/08/service.php?id=Contact.php (http://www.ducati.com.au/08/service.php?id=Contact.php)

So we are talking about a getting together this Thursday at Bar Italia for anyone interested from Syd in coming along for a bit of planning.

Vince and Matty can you guys make it? Anyone else??

yeah I'll be there.

So I know I`m far away at the moment but where are we with the travel and more importantly
the accomm plans for SBK`s at P.I.
We all have our tickets now, so where do we go from here regarding the next step.
I know we have a couple of directions of travel posted by Nick.

Just wondering as it`s raining here and turning into ICE as it hits the ground.....

I have not firmed up plans for accom yet. so far we have the following people:

- Matty
- Dock
- goldFiSH
- potentially a couple of goldfish's mates..

I know that Bazz and Heather are also planning on attending, and there was word that MMick will be coming (and maybe big), but I assume that all of these people will be making their own plans for the trip and any accom. Is that correct?

It's time to finalise things asap, so if I hear nothing by the end of the week on this thread, I'll proceed to make some plans for the people already committed to coming..

I haven't made any plans at all yet.   

As I'm on my own it could get kinda expensive for me.  If you guys are renting a house and if no one objects, could I tag along with you guys?  I'm relatively housetrained! Techno can vouch for my behaviour on Turismo (hmn maybe not such a good idea!)

I'm also thinking about coming up to the high country for a ride prior too if that's okay.

Heather

Hey gold fish lets catch up for a chat any time this week so we can make some plans  ???

I know Matty is OS and cant remember when he's back but we can flick him a mail with the plans  [thumbsup]

In any case I have his monster asleep in the shed so he will need to come and see me sooner or later [cheeky]

Back on Jan 24th. If I don't freeze before then.  ;D
Happy with whatever you guys come up with for Accomm.
Will be back for the Monster unless you get a good price before I return.
In which case just pop up to my place, the rego papers are signed.  ;)

hey guys, ok if i tag along for the first sector.there might be a mate come along to keep me company for the return leg  back to sydney.would like to overnight at corryong. [moto]

No worries Heather. I've got a mate with a house on the Island, just don't know when he's coming down - potentially only for Sat arvo, meaning We're without accom on Friday night.
I'm also not sure how many people he can take there, hence the need to work out how many are coming.

I'll count you in when we're working out the accom details, and of course you can come to play in the high country. Currently we're thinking about day 2 being Jindabyne to Beechworth via deap horse gap, hotham etc, and day 3 doing from beechworth through both the spurs...

Would you just meet us somewhere, or need accom in either Jindy or Beechworth (sorry, not quite sure where in Vic your coming from)

I'll call you today, I'm working this week  :(


No worries Pete. At this stage we're either talking staying in Jindy or Corryong, depending on how adventurous we want to be on the first day. One advantage of staying in Jindy is that my family has a place there - it's a small unit, and no bike accom, but it's at the right price... Also, not sure that tackling dead horse gap at the tail end of a 8 hour ride is such a good idea - might be a whole lot better when we're fresh...

Anyways, will keep you and your mate in mind and we plan to finalise the details this week.

Anyone planning to hang around for the Afterburner track day or Superbike School?

Afterburner is usually on the Monday after the racing and the SBK School is the 2 or 3 days following that.

I'm going to hang around and do levels 1 and 2 (Tuesday & Wednesday) before flying back to Brisbane. Anyone else up for it and care to split accommodation and keep me company for a couple of days?

Cheers
Palooka

Sorta throwing around the idea of meeting up in Jindabyne (or Corryong) depending on day 2 being the Wednesday which gives me 1 1/2 days to get to Jindabyne.  I'm travelling from 300kms west of Melbourne.  And that's if I still have a job by then (which is the question of the moment) If I don't have a job I'll have all the time in the world to get to Jindabyne but I'll be sleeping in the skip bin!!!!

Hi Palooka
I'd be very interested in your honest review of the SBK school.  I've heard they're tough.
Heather

Lots of interest...but not enough funds  ;D

Where's your priorities?   Hear that the price of airfares is falling all the time in the current gloomy economic climate.  West coast US to east coast Aus not that far.   :)

My priorities lie in ducking for cover in that current gloomy economic climate ;D

Wuss   [roll]

How irresponsible! Everybody needs to be out there spending recklessly to get the world back on track (especially you septics)  [cheeky]

We Americans already tried that. It was called the last 8 years. Didn't work out too well, did it?

That was just buying houses though, wasn`t it?

I meant spending your own money, not the rest of the world's. Anyway it did work out well for us while it lasted ... certainly created bling buying opportunities for us Aussies.

But seriously, the state of the economy is not determined by the stockmarket ... it is determined by consumer spending.

So back on SBK topic, did you guys get together?
Nick & Vince that is, I`m guessing from what I`m being told that the heat is keeping people in the pool
or in the house.

Hope we get an idea of Accomm soon and bike parking as I might have a new toy on the trip......

nah we didn't - I'll call Vince today and see what he's up to...

no prob, just trying to get the thread back on topic.
I`m sure you`ll let me know what you come up with.

sorry guys and girls ive had to cancel sbk weekend ive got to go into hospital that week ive been waiting a long time to get to a specialist  so if they can fix me ill be there next year , i was looking forward to meeting you all , if any one comes to tassie after sbk theres a self contained bungerlow if anyone wants free acommadation on the east coast cheers bazz :'(

Really sorry to hear about the cancellation Bazz. Hope they can fix you up good and proper!

All the best mate.

thanks betty ,ill be stronger, farster leap tall biulding  [laugh]

all on a single Monster....

Hope the Op goes well Bazz.  [thumbsup]

thanks matty  [thumbsup]

i will be thinking of you, and saying some prayers, keep me up to date as to whats going on ok

Sorry to hear you can't come to SBK Bazz.    :'(  Good luck with the op.

All the best with the op Bazz and I may just need to front up and take your spot in the DMF group.

Nick, count me in. I'm back in Oz first week of Feb.

excellent, will do Mostro!

Bazz, sorry to hear about your op, hope it all goes well.

thanks every body for your concern , thats the spirit monstro , theres allways next year ,we only have one vascular surgeon in tassie and have been waighting ages to get in so when they rang i couldnt say no , at the moment not strong enough any way so if they can get the old blood flowing ill be a new man , again thanks every body for your concern and if any of you come to tassie let me know cheers bazz [thumbsup]

Sorry to hear that you canot make it Bazz, we will have to have a beer and pizza for you down in Cowes, anyway, with a little bit of luck and a little bit of planning, me and the missus will be heading for Tassie on the monday after the race, we'll see what happens.




                                         Mmick

thanks mick if you and your wife want to explore the east coast and spend some time here theres free accomadation here , do the washing and eat some fine seafood and try some local wines and beer yes thats right  st helens now has our own  brewery and if im up to it guide you on some fun roads show you the best spots cheers bazz [moto]

Well looks like I'm out. There's a good chance I will be in Brisbane for work then.   :-\

On the plus side I have booked the F1 weekend off  [thumbsup]
Might be the last Aussi GP for a while.

Ta verily much Bazz, will let you know when the dates get a bit closer.






                                               Mmick

 [moto]
OK, SBK 3 day bar thingo bought. Didn't read the fine print, does bar mean drinkies bar ??????  [wine]

yeah, but don't hold your breath, it's only cans out of some eskys... We're riding around the track anyways, so not too many shandies for you!

the only thin is that you're on the best viewing spots on the track and good viewing of the screens as well...


<edit>

time to start a new thread, the planning is well underway!
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=17810.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=17810.0)