Start you BMW

[Bozo]

An illustrious array of BMWs and their breakfasting riders at Cafe C and Cafe D today.

A bit of discussion about purchasers of new bikes and bikes for sale.

11 riders and one pillion started the Sunday ride to Bindoon. Vic, Sophie, Nick, Fiery Ross, Trip (Andrew), Steve + Jo, R90S Mark, Rainer, Hermann, Peter Bee and Bozo deviated onto Crystal Brook Road to avoid the traffic before battling the cyclists on the way to Mundaring Weir. Slow moving traffic hindered the group until Stoneville but then it was a great run along O'Brien Road and Lancewood Road to get to Brigadoon.

A simple stop at Gingers turned into a major problem for R90S Mark and Peter Bee when a starter motor on the R90S would not play ball. That emergency was resolved by the bike being push started.

Rejoining the group at Brigadoon, the ride then took Bonita Road, Jenkins Road, Polinelli Road and Muchea East Road to get to Powderbark Road. A link was made to Maddern South Road and Blue Plains Road before the Teatree Road loop around Bindoon.

The discussion about thylacines and megafauna from Thursday continued with Andrew expalining that he had been involved with a team searching caves on the Nullarbor. The search included discovering that Koalas were on the Nullarbor Plain so it must have been a eucalypt forest at one time. A video of Andrews exploration is at [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0AqqBdcZg0[/youtube]

Mark's bike again refused to start and despite being pushed for over 100 metres was not going to cooperate. A launch ramp was used at the nearby Womens toilets but despite many attempts still refused to start. Plug cleaning, regapping spark plugs, purging chambers and battery checking finally gave a positive result and we were able to have a vigorous ascent of Crest Hill Road. The bridge closure was not signed as required by traffic legislation so we ended up being temporary locals and finished the run to Bullsbrook along Chittering Valley Road. Only minifauna were sighted being a solitary juvenile emu.

Despite the temperature hitting 39 on the way home and the issue with the R90S it was an enjoyable, entertaining and informative day out.

Thanks to Peter Bee for running as tail end Charlie and for assisting with the "Start you BMW" issue at Gingers and to the whole team for assisting with the "Start you BMW" at Bindoon. No grumbling about the delay only good natured humour and positive suggestions as well as physical exertion.

[pspencer]

Thanks Bozo for leading and documenting an enjoyable ride. Thanks Mark for providing your R90s for a problem solving exercise. It will be interesting to ultimately find out what was wrong with the starter motor. The Club ethos really shines in these instances with everybody helping to resolve an issue. Great effort all.

[wightman]

Should be the 8 pin relay under the tank (I may have a spare) or else the starter itself is playing up. They can be fixed at Bosch autoelectrics, or Sound Autoelectrics in Rockingham. Guy may have some starter parts lying around or the sage, Mike Firth

[Bozo]

A picture of the recalcitrant bike at Bindoon courtesy of Steve.