Roy and I decided to head south today with a 9am start. A quick fuel topup for $7.66 (6.69litres) and I was ready to go. My son, of course, was ready too. Roy arrived on timeish and we decided to take the meandering route via the Swansea bends and along the coastline through the central coast, a quick jaunt up to the freeway and off again onto the Mount White exit.
This leads to a road much travelled by motorcyles, the old Pacific Highway and being a Sunday there were bikes a plenty. Through the bulk of it we roade and stopped for a pie and drink at the renowned "Pie in the Sky" with I'd guess 50 0or 60 other pie eating motorcyclists out for a fun ride (although I did see a few with scones, jam and I'll bet chai lattes). At Pie in the Sky we discussed the lunatics that screamed past over double yellow lines (brought back memories of the old days when I was a lunatic) but most remarkable was how bloody good the pies are!
After a short break we headed off the end of the old highway and took a right for Berowra Waters. The road down was the windiest (if that's a word) road I've had the Road King on, but no probs getting down to the ferry and across the small stretch of water to the Marina/Cafe/Restaurant. We stopped, assaulted by the smell of rotten seafood, marine fuel and heat in the carpark. The coffee was bloody awful but once upwind of the garbages the outlook was pleasant and we planned our route home.
Instead of going back the way we came we decided to head west up the hill, ride through Arcadia and hook back around through the much trickier Galston Gorge and its steep 5kph corners.
The ride down the gorge from the western side is fairly easy except for the narrow bridge at the bottom at which traffic coming the other way is supposed to stop. True to form a couple of morons in tin boxes decided they didn't need to stop for bikes, fortunately I expected it and we avoided getting caught up in it.
The ride up the steeper windier side was fun. It was challenging getting the Road King around the first 5k corner, mostly because the handlebars hit my knee and I couldn't turn sharp enough. Luckily there wasn't anything coming the other way and I now know I need to move my knees out of the way, which got me around the others with no problems at all. I should say that my son was barely noticeable on the back, even at slow speed around sharp corners while he was taking copious photos. He's turning into a very good pillion.
Out of the gorge, back through Berowra and, of course, back on the old highway back to Mount White observing the speed limit through all the bends. The freeway to the twin servos, a quick stop for water and then Roy suggested a spot of shopping at the Mega Market and back home around Lake Macquarie.
Kilometres travelled: 293. A fairly long day for not too many kilometres, but much of it was spent on a lean one way or another. Challenging, a whole lot of fun and I'm really starting to develop confidence on the big Road King and respect for it too. It maintains its dignity under pressure and while I ground parts of it into the road four or five times during the day when I wasn't quite far enough off it to support it's slim lean angle capabilities, its handling, throttle and stability was consistent and reassuring the whole way 'round.
