A cool breeze lifted the morning air through the open window. Outside the day had been through its early stages of bird song, drone of commuters and had now progressed to the sound of kids on school holidays riding skateboards and bmx bikes to the park around the corner. It was the other call of nature being the driving force behind a Desmo awakening and once done it was onto the kitchen for some cereal and the first of a few coffees for the day.
It was sunshine as usual in the driest state on the driest inhabited continent in the world, that by the way makes for more days riding than any other capital city in Australia a true biker’s heaven. After the morning nourish it was from the table to the leathers then the shed, as I felt like a fang on my K7 SV thou today, a respite from the past few days. It is a far cry from my other bikes in that they all are European marques it does however have two cylinders as do all my other bikes with the exception of the MZ and MV but that is another story for another time.
The “blue streak” as it has affectionately become known was wheeled to the street and came to life first press of the starter. Once it had warmed to operating temperature it was heading east to the twisties of the Adelaide hills. The mid morning traffic was slight so it was not long before the muted accent of SV’s stockie exhausts could be heard making way up the hills face. It was in full flight, a dream run of empty bitumen meant that the throttle was applied and the apexes dispatched with increasing lean angle and tempo. The torque of a big bore twin is always a delight while not up on the spec sheet of kilowatts or power to weight graphs of other mille’s the SV has a lovely even power delivery with no gut wrenching surprises, this make the machine an enjoyable bike that on lazy days like this can still deliver smile to the dial without a lot of hard work.
I had three days of hard riding and was content to let the softish suspension of my bog standard SV wallow its way through the chicanes and bends that make up the sojourn south. I say that in the nicest way as it never feels like it is unpredictable and only really becomes a little unstable at speeds that are not within the imposed limits. As the sun rose to its zenith with the shadows becoming short I found myself catching up with a Guzzi rider, who when the blue streak appeared on its tail decided it was time to get a wriggle on and we enjoyed a run up the Mackkie road and across to Meadows where it was time for lunch.
The Guzzi rider turned out to be a lady in her 40’s and had spent most of her life riding Guzzi’s, it was a 850 Le’Mans, she could throw the beast around using its ample torque to carve some sweet lines through the ensuing sweepers that lay ahead on the Bull Creek road. No mean feat considering it packs only 70 HP and weighs in at over 200 Kg. I left her heading further south while yours truly exited at the Ashbourne road for some of those arching sweepers that make up a sprint into Strath and coffee at Marylou’s bike Mecca in the south “The Garage”. There was no one there excepting a Virago riding dude, the roads had been virtually empty all day so far a real treat in its self. With coffee ordered and a look around the showroom complete the guttural sound of something big and nasty resonated to a halt at the pumps. It was shinny and low all American muscle car 351 Mustang in great condition 100% original there is no substitute for cubic inches.
There was banter on V8’s that whiled away ½ an hour with a good look over the Mach1 beast before the helmet was donned and off the blue streak went to re-run the Ashbourne – Bull Creek , in fact the Bull Creek was that empty it had to be done twice. From there it was back to Meadows out towards Greenhills - Retort Hill – Mackkie – Hahndorf – Balhannah - Lobie via Swamp Creek. A short stop a the Amberlight to rest ones carpal tunnel affliction that was given impetus from the past few days of full blown exotics with bottomless pits of torque hence the reason I was out on the blue streak today and quite enjoying a relaxed riding position, though I have to say the SV seat is uncomfortable for a sports - tourer bike.
Yes the birds were singing and the road was calling as the sun cast shadows that stretched to the horizon the ride to Fox Creek was succinct and full of linking apexes that had a seamless fluidity due to the zero obstruction run. Hooking a left at Fox Creek and pushed the red line a couple of times down that empty asphalt ribbon was a hoot. Leaving the flat banks of the creek road with its open sweeping bends the SV began up the rise. It was down two gears into the hairpin leaning hard with throttle feathered out to red line, up a gear hauling a surprisingly manageable SV thou through left right combos that finally had the blue streak airborne over the crest for the run down to Lenswood.
A right turn had the blue Suzuki on the Lobie road one of the hills most popular blacktop playgrounds and for good reason as it comprises of a continuous assortment twisties short straights and tight chicanes. All that implores an adroit throttle control and ardent entry and exits from a technical series of apexes one encounters. Not to mention the land marks like Roo’s rut, Dash’s ditch, Coppers cropper, Cherry pickers bend, Fireman’s corner, that are among a few representative episodes of how unforgiving this stretch of engineered delight can be.
It was an uneventful crisp pace that had the SV turning onto one of my favourite rides at the Ashton store, which even has a South Aussie bike forum named after a section of it. For me a run along Marble Hill and Montacute roads means one of two choices for Desmo, that it has to be done in reverse as well seeing it delivers the rider out in the north of our city. Or a jaunt down the decreasing radius twists of asphalt called the Corkscrew road that leads to Castambul on the famed Gorge road. Either option is a good outcome though with light fading and the ozone depleting 98 octane going the same way it was the reverse run alternative this day. On the return run I kept the SV on the pipe and tipped in at the Tee off to Ashton so as to run out the last of the bends to Norton Summit road where one has to stop at the Summit pub for a bowl of wedges and a coke overlooking the valley with a setting sun before the final rip down the hills in twilight to the city and home.
The playground had been kind with little traffic to speak of and over two tanks of carbon footprint drained into the collective greenhouse loading for the day. It was a weary SV riding Desmo that made his way back to one Mrs Desmo, who being a bike riding girl had Italian coffee and some sweet biscuits on the table that were consumed over tails from the bitumen, a fitting end to another perfect day in the driest state on the driest continent in the world.
Desmo.
It was sunshine as usual in the driest state on the driest inhabited continent in the world, that by the way makes for more days riding than any other capital city in Australia a true biker’s heaven. After the morning nourish it was from the table to the leathers then the shed, as I felt like a fang on my K7 SV thou today, a respite from the past few days. It is a far cry from my other bikes in that they all are European marques it does however have two cylinders as do all my other bikes with the exception of the MZ and MV but that is another story for another time.
The “blue streak” as it has affectionately become known was wheeled to the street and came to life first press of the starter. Once it had warmed to operating temperature it was heading east to the twisties of the Adelaide hills. The mid morning traffic was slight so it was not long before the muted accent of SV’s stockie exhausts could be heard making way up the hills face. It was in full flight, a dream run of empty bitumen meant that the throttle was applied and the apexes dispatched with increasing lean angle and tempo. The torque of a big bore twin is always a delight while not up on the spec sheet of kilowatts or power to weight graphs of other mille’s the SV has a lovely even power delivery with no gut wrenching surprises, this make the machine an enjoyable bike that on lazy days like this can still deliver smile to the dial without a lot of hard work.
I had three days of hard riding and was content to let the softish suspension of my bog standard SV wallow its way through the chicanes and bends that make up the sojourn south. I say that in the nicest way as it never feels like it is unpredictable and only really becomes a little unstable at speeds that are not within the imposed limits. As the sun rose to its zenith with the shadows becoming short I found myself catching up with a Guzzi rider, who when the blue streak appeared on its tail decided it was time to get a wriggle on and we enjoyed a run up the Mackkie road and across to Meadows where it was time for lunch.
The Guzzi rider turned out to be a lady in her 40’s and had spent most of her life riding Guzzi’s, it was a 850 Le’Mans, she could throw the beast around using its ample torque to carve some sweet lines through the ensuing sweepers that lay ahead on the Bull Creek road. No mean feat considering it packs only 70 HP and weighs in at over 200 Kg. I left her heading further south while yours truly exited at the Ashbourne road for some of those arching sweepers that make up a sprint into Strath and coffee at Marylou’s bike Mecca in the south “The Garage”. There was no one there excepting a Virago riding dude, the roads had been virtually empty all day so far a real treat in its self. With coffee ordered and a look around the showroom complete the guttural sound of something big and nasty resonated to a halt at the pumps. It was shinny and low all American muscle car 351 Mustang in great condition 100% original there is no substitute for cubic inches.
There was banter on V8’s that whiled away ½ an hour with a good look over the Mach1 beast before the helmet was donned and off the blue streak went to re-run the Ashbourne – Bull Creek , in fact the Bull Creek was that empty it had to be done twice. From there it was back to Meadows out towards Greenhills - Retort Hill – Mackkie – Hahndorf – Balhannah - Lobie via Swamp Creek. A short stop a the Amberlight to rest ones carpal tunnel affliction that was given impetus from the past few days of full blown exotics with bottomless pits of torque hence the reason I was out on the blue streak today and quite enjoying a relaxed riding position, though I have to say the SV seat is uncomfortable for a sports - tourer bike.
Yes the birds were singing and the road was calling as the sun cast shadows that stretched to the horizon the ride to Fox Creek was succinct and full of linking apexes that had a seamless fluidity due to the zero obstruction run. Hooking a left at Fox Creek and pushed the red line a couple of times down that empty asphalt ribbon was a hoot. Leaving the flat banks of the creek road with its open sweeping bends the SV began up the rise. It was down two gears into the hairpin leaning hard with throttle feathered out to red line, up a gear hauling a surprisingly manageable SV thou through left right combos that finally had the blue streak airborne over the crest for the run down to Lenswood.
A right turn had the blue Suzuki on the Lobie road one of the hills most popular blacktop playgrounds and for good reason as it comprises of a continuous assortment twisties short straights and tight chicanes. All that implores an adroit throttle control and ardent entry and exits from a technical series of apexes one encounters. Not to mention the land marks like Roo’s rut, Dash’s ditch, Coppers cropper, Cherry pickers bend, Fireman’s corner, that are among a few representative episodes of how unforgiving this stretch of engineered delight can be.
It was an uneventful crisp pace that had the SV turning onto one of my favourite rides at the Ashton store, which even has a South Aussie bike forum named after a section of it. For me a run along Marble Hill and Montacute roads means one of two choices for Desmo, that it has to be done in reverse as well seeing it delivers the rider out in the north of our city. Or a jaunt down the decreasing radius twists of asphalt called the Corkscrew road that leads to Castambul on the famed Gorge road. Either option is a good outcome though with light fading and the ozone depleting 98 octane going the same way it was the reverse run alternative this day. On the return run I kept the SV on the pipe and tipped in at the Tee off to Ashton so as to run out the last of the bends to Norton Summit road where one has to stop at the Summit pub for a bowl of wedges and a coke overlooking the valley with a setting sun before the final rip down the hills in twilight to the city and home.
The playground had been kind with little traffic to speak of and over two tanks of carbon footprint drained into the collective greenhouse loading for the day. It was a weary SV riding Desmo that made his way back to one Mrs Desmo, who being a bike riding girl had Italian coffee and some sweet biscuits on the table that were consumed over tails from the bitumen, a fitting end to another perfect day in the driest state on the driest continent in the world.
Desmo.
