Windy Melbourne Freeways & Midwinter Riding

[roy-nexus-6]

Rode to Melbourne from Bendigo  yesterday AM - 150km trip. By about 70kms into the trip, my right hand had pretty much frozen into a claw, so I pulled over and hugged the exhaust for about 10mins. Freaking freezing! Turns out it was the coldest morning this winter.

When I pulled over in Melbourne to top up the tank, I was shocked to find I'd only used 4 L of fuel. Amazing! That would give me 450kms to the tank on an S4. Good bike!

Headed back about 2 hrs later. It was warmer, but the wind had come up - a LOT*. At 120 km/h in 5th, my bike was on 5000 revs - which is unheard of. I punched it into sixth, and started wondering just how strong those winds were. I found out pretty damn quick - at about 90kms outside of Melbourne, my fuel light blinked on. I filled up in Kerang, and did the math: 11 L of fuel in 90kms. Freaking unbelievable head winds!

I'm digging the naked monster look,.. but dang, that front fairing might have to go back on during winter.

* actually, the wind had been there all the time - tail wind to Melbourne was why I got some incredible mileage.

[Spider]

yeah...in winter I sometimes think....those ST4s would be a great thing...cover, the 996 mil, Öhlins in the back....and no one (including the lovely men and women in blue  ) would expect you to be able to ride....so when you had her leant over in the twisties people would be shocked!

hell I've started thinking about those double bubble screens for a bit more wind protection!

by mid winter I find I've got more wool on than a sheep! 



*P.S: I know less than nothing about the ST range...they never got the 998...finished with the 996 in 2005 for the 4 valves and continued with the 3 valves till....2007. None ever had Ohlins front and back. The MS had both front and back Öhlins.

[roy-nexus-6]

yeah...in winter I sometimes think....those ST4s would be a great thing...cover, the 996 mil, Öhlins in the back....

Seriously tempting.

I was so baulked up that I couldn't turn my head.

Spoke to another couple yesterday who traveled the Calder highway two weeks ago. Their max speed on the return leg was 60km/h due to the extreme turbulence.

What worries me is if I make a mistake, I have those lovely green highway safety fences waiting for me.

[Spider]

ah, the safety fences....

another fine example of an item put into production and installed by the millions without thinking....does this work?

the one that always used to cause me mental stress regarding the downward spiral of humanity was the 3 litre milk container...produced in the 10's of millions....with one small problem...the 1st time you used it milk went straight onto the bench, floor or you unless you were turning it upside down into a pot

....and that's a frikin milk container...let alone something that can kill us all!

[bazz20]

Seriously tempting.

I was so baulked up that I couldn't turn my head.

Spoke to another couple yesterday who traveled the Calder highway two weeks ago. Their max speed on the return leg was 60km/h due to the extreme turbulence.

What worries me is if I make a mistake, I have those lovely green highway safety fences waiting for me.

we have those green safety fences here too except there called gum trees 

[roy-nexus-6]

the one that always used to cause me mental stress regarding the downward spiral of humanity was the 3 litre milk container...produced in the 10's of millions....with one small problem...the 1st time you used it milk went straight onto the bench, floor or you unless you were turning it upside down into a pot

They had instructions on the side.

1. remove lid.
2. person A should hold the handle while person B holds the underside with both hands.
3. person A aligns an upside down glass with the top of the container.
4. working in unison, the container should be briskly turned downwards while keeping the glass aligned with the top
5. two enormous glugs of milk will fill most glasses. STOP pouring after two glugs.

we have those green safety fences here too except there called gum trees 

Gums trees would almost be safer... and at least they wouldn't dismember me.

[dragonworld.]

When watching a program about Road Safety on Fox a little while ago I saw that the programmers gave the wire rope barriers a mention, and actually made the statement (with a practical demo) that the cable fences have limited application as they only stop cars (enter truck, which runs straight over the fence and continues toward the oncoming lanes)

The major reason for using these things is.....................wait for it..........................can you guess???.........................yep yer right!!

Typical bureaucratic, tightarsedness and screw the rest. Now doesnt that make you feel all warm and safe??