Old Banger Duro Neerim Sth 5/6/10

What an awesome ride, I arrived a the car park around 8.10am to find Mat to have just got the CR500 fired up after 45mins of trying. Frankie had the had the old kato running and took it for a quick squirt around the car park. Mat soon to follow which he then handed me the rains of the CR for me to give it a squirt, what a bike with my 130kg over the front wheel and just a little bit of RH action straight up on one wheel, get down I thought tried it in second gear same thing too laps of the car park was enough for me on this beast.
Anyway geared up and on the bikes just after 8.40am and did 10klms before a short stop to adjust the free play out of the rear brake leaver on the CR. at this stage we all had grins from ear to ear with us all comparing the old bikes to our newer regular rides. Mat could not believe how bad the brakes were on the CR and how hard the suspension was and the fact that it was near impossible to ride standing up.
Frankie could not believe how hard it was to also stand on his Kato and I had the same feeling about the XR but with a seat like a sofa chair how comfy it was to ride but how heavy the clutch is on these old bikes. The low end grunt is also awesome for it's age just tractoring up anything I wish my Kato had this much low end grunt.
I told the other guys early on if they wanted to blast off ahead that was cool just stop at the next intersection for a regroup, Mat was the first to take me up on this on the CR and I had the honor of being the first to follow Mat watching the rear wheel go faster than the front wheel all day and throwing rocks the size of missiles all day. If Mr Smith reckons he throws rocks from hi Berg then he needs to ride behind this thing it's like a rock plow. Anyway after about 1 hr the other two were in the need of a rest with Mat's hands and wrists killing him from the vibrations of the CR and Frankie from the pace and terrain on the old Kato. A quick break and back into it finding trails I had only ever dreamed off in Neerim including some disused 4WD tracks and some of the old ones uncovered in the Plantation since the trees have been removed. We found a fairly new tight 4wd trail which was just awesome. By this time it was 11am and the CR was just about out off fuel so a quick 10klm blast thru the forest back to the car for a refuel. At this stage Frankie was looking for a cup of tea but I informed him that there was no time for that sort of behavior and that we needed to get back on the bikes whilst we were still warm. He said that after what we had already done that we should start acting our age, I took that in a way that when we were coming back to the cars for a refuel that as we had done it in such a way that it resembled a super moto race with Mat the clear winner as we could not stay close enough to him due to the rocks coming from the back of the CR that he must have meant some more of the same .
So for the next hr I wound the pace right up for him but at the next break he said he thought we would have slowed a bit but I explained I thought he wanted to do our combined age in speed, not quite anyway by this stage Mat was trying to convince Frankie and me that we should have a go at the big CR a big no came from both of us. Any way we then took the long way back to the cars doing some more trails which we had not done in a long time and of coarse we may have been slightly slower but not by much. We got back to the cars at just after 12.30 with around 120klm's under our wheels we packed up and headed to the Pub for lunch for some well rest and some bench racing.
what a morning for a ride the sun shined all morning with damp trails so no dust and few bog holes which tried to catch us out but missed this time around.
A review of riding the Xr600 after riding the Kato for 9mths, more bottom end torque but missing lots of top end end and about 3000rpm. Great seat so comfy you could sit on it for days and days. Great feel to the rear brake, very heavy clutch operation, do not like the feel of the Michelin front tyre not as bad as it was on the KTM but still loose in the corners, Loved riding it today but looking forward to getting back on the KTM next week.
For the guys with old bikes in there sheds get them ready as we will do this again in a few months as it was a great experience . We may even allow bikes older than 10years next time but kick start only no buttons.
Will Munro 1992 Honda XR600
Mat Creasy 1995 Honda CR500
Frankie Boy 1988 KTM 350

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