Category Archives: Uncategorized

Drop the oil and filter.

The foil keeps the oil off the wheel.

Rear drive, gear box and sump all draining at once. I still manage to spill gear box oil, though.

Penrite for the gear box and rear drive. I change them every 10,000km, not every 20,000km.

Usually I use Penrite 15w-60 but the garage was out of it. This 15w-50 Diesel is used in a lot of bikes. Guzzis need an oil with a high zinc level to protect their tappets. I change the oil every 5000km, not every 10,000km.

Diving in to change the inner plugs. The right hand one was particularly difficult. I damaged the cap getting the lead off and had to go into Melbourne to buy a new one from A1 Ringwood, the Guzzi dealer.

The lift makes working on the bike much easier. I had to adjust the tappets and change the outer plugs, too.
The after-market exhaust needed adjusting because the O2 sensor was rubbing on the frame. It’s a pain trying to do it on my knees!

After I zipped her all up, I gave all the battery leads a clean with bicarb of soda and some sand paper.  She started straight up and – bonus – no screws or nuts left over!

Lovely day, so headed out to bring the Breva up to its 50,000km service.

Coffee and scones at the Dig Cafe, Newstead.

Looking south towards Clunes, canola crops in the distance.

The snake, an eastern brown I reckon, doesn’t appear as big as it was. I eyeballed the length several times and it was definitely over 5 foot long.

Commencing the 50,000km service. First drain the fluids while they’re still warm.

Weekend run up to the King Valley for the Moto Guzzi Club’s annual Spaghetti Rally.  I took the Cali – I always feel like I’m going to a party when I ride the Cali!  I had a Drift HD camera mounted on the brake reservoir for the first series of pics.

The pub put on a bus to ferry us from the rally site for a counter meal and few beers.

Breakfast at the Rail Trail Cafe, Porepunkah.

The Rail Trail Cafe, Porepunkah.

First day of Spring, a perfect 20C, into my leathers, and off for a fang over Lake Eppalock.

Fanged up to Jingellic, NSW, for the bi-annual meeting of the Moto Guzzi Club of Victoria and the Moto Guzzi Owners Association of New South Wales.  This is held on the river flat adjacent to the Bridge Hotel in Jingellic, on the banks of the Murray River.  (The name of the run is from the book and mini-series All the Rivers Run, set on the Murray River).

• Corryong Country Motel:  The second time we’ve stayed here, close to the centre of town.
• Alpine Hotel:  The second time we’ve stayed here, in the centre of town; undercover motorcycle parking, good service, and they gave us a discount because we were motorcyclists!.
• The Lott Cafe:  a 2 minute walk from the Alpine; good service and surroundings.
• Saltwater Cafe:  good food and nice location on the harbour.
• Halfway Motel:  flat parking in a not-so-flat town.  Close to everything.
• Marlo Hotel:  One of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in; great rooms and views from the bedroom verandah and beer deck.  We’ll be back!
• Minnies:  very pleasant and private B&B but a touch pricey,

Spent a few hours running through Castlemaine and Newstead.  Finally dropped into the “Lost Boys” memorial park on the outskirts of Daylesford.  The 3 boys, aged 6, 5 and 4, went missing in 1867 while looking for wild goats.  Their bodies were found 2 1/2 months later.  This memorial park is at the location they left from and there’s another near where they were found.

http://www.turnbullclan.com/tca_genealogy/tca_all2-o/exhibits/the_three_lost_children_1867.pdf

We needed a long run on the bikes, so a run to Warrnambool was on the cards – just the right distance for an overnighter.  Set forth and took the lovely road through Dean to Ballarat where we stopped for a coffee.  Temperature was rising into the 30s and Ballarat is such a pigs arse to get through.  Then down to Rokewood to visit Wilbur, who was lying in the shade and declining to accept visitors.

Onto Cressy and Camperdown, for a cold drink and lunch, before tracking through Cobden to Port Campbell.  This road is quite bad – the surface is OK but there’s been a lot of sink-age, a legacy of the drought followed by heavy rain, perhaps.  Had a drink overlooking the beach then fanged into Warrnambool.

Arrived at Warrnambool about 5pm to find that the whole town was booked out due to several sporting events, a 3-day speedway event and a major conference on breast feeding!   But one of the motel receptionists knew someone who ran an occasional B&B and pretty soon we had a bed for the night.  Had tea at the pub and a wander around, before returning to the B&B and watching “Chocalat” which we hadn’t seen before.  Julliette Binoche is a bit of orright.

Sunday dawned hot, so we didn’t explore any backroads, just headed home with the occasional stop for fuel and drinks,  and lunch in Ballarat.   It was hot.

I wandered over the road to view the recently erected statue of one of Ballarat’s favourite sons, Major General “Pompey” Elliot.