Met up with Club at Mansfield where we parked on the central plantation.
I decided to set off early and take some footage of the Guzzis. Up through the twisties, through Tolmie, more twisties through the power-lines and onto the straight section just before the descent into Whitfield where I pulled over and set up the Drift HD camera. The bikes came cracking through shortly afterwards. When I turned back to my bike, I saw this:
Closer examination showed the shocker, CARC and rear wheel slick with oil. Oil had even splattered on the number plate and the rear of the panniers.
My first thought was that the oil filter had come loose, but no, it was dripping from a crack in the sump. When I’d ridden over the curb at Mansfield, I’d felt a slight thump. Presumably that’s when the crack occurred. There was a smudge of cement on the sump fins. It’s hard for me to believe that I could have ridden all the way to the top of the descent into Whitfield with the tyres in that condition. Perhaps the heat finally tripped the crack, closer to where I stopped.
Kev and Karen stopped by and commiserated with their tale of cracking their sump in Mongolia.
I tried Motorcycling Australia – a waste of time. I didn’t have a GPS or property number, so they were more at a loss than I was. Totally useless and frustrating.
Then I remembered my RACV Total Cover! An hour or so later I was in the truck back to Mansfield and then approved for the return of me and the bike to Lancefield.
Very professional response from the RACV and they returned phone calls! And very good service from Mansfield Towing and Salvage, too. Broke down at 2pm, in Mansfield at 6pm and home by 9pm.
The Club stopped in Mansfield on the way home and spotted this:
Motoguzzimackers' Moto Guzzi Diaries 