The Boulevard, Kew
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:03 am
Another great road within Melbourne that hasn't been mentioned is the Kew Boulevard.
It really makes the Burnley Yarra Blvd look tame, and for good reasons. It has far more turns, a greater difficulty and better views. In my P Plate days this was road was the stuff of legends. I would go as far as calling it the Nurburgring of inner Melbourne.
Supposably the road has been done in 1'50 ish by a 911 Turbo or Skyline GTR late at night. (Memory is blurry on exact details) It used to be closed down by the racers with the hi-po equipment late of a night. Unless you have dríven the road in anger, you wouldn't understand how quick this really was.
Whenever I used to do a late night run, it wasn't unusual to see vehicles in excess of 100km/h on the road. It is far quieter now, or maybe its just I am not there at the right times. You still see flying motorbikes on a regular basis.
Hazards to be aware of are:
1, Cyclists
2, more Cyclists
3, even more Cyclists
4, Toyota Camrys, Mitsubishi Magnas etc.
5, Parked cars near studley park boathouse
6, Police Cars cruise along the road on a regular basis.
Here is a map of the road:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Kew-Boulevard
The road has been bastardised over the years, mainly to slow the reckless down, it had to happen unfortunately. There are parts with raised dividers to separate the bike lanes and car lanes, and it can be really tight within these lanes.
There are major crashes on this road on a frequent basis. I have seen tow trucks recovering cars, maybe once a year, and I drive it once a month. You do the maths. Don't overdo it! especially on the hairpins, my brother was in a Boxster that went backwards into an Audi at the boathouse corner. I saw a Z3 being recovered at the hairpin near Walmer St recently, had to laugh, but I don't want to ever see a 5 being recovered. The corner tightens sharply 75% of the way through. Do not even consider hammering down this road until you know every corner, even then, don't do it due to the unexpected hazards that always pop up.
It is also quite bumpy in sections, and even though I have stock suspension in the NB I slow down for cautionary reasons. I reccomend reccing (?) the road at recommended speeds till you are totally familiar with the road.
It really makes the Burnley Yarra Blvd look tame, and for good reasons. It has far more turns, a greater difficulty and better views. In my P Plate days this was road was the stuff of legends. I would go as far as calling it the Nurburgring of inner Melbourne.
Supposably the road has been done in 1'50 ish by a 911 Turbo or Skyline GTR late at night. (Memory is blurry on exact details) It used to be closed down by the racers with the hi-po equipment late of a night. Unless you have dríven the road in anger, you wouldn't understand how quick this really was.
Whenever I used to do a late night run, it wasn't unusual to see vehicles in excess of 100km/h on the road. It is far quieter now, or maybe its just I am not there at the right times. You still see flying motorbikes on a regular basis.
Hazards to be aware of are:
1, Cyclists
2, more Cyclists
3, even more Cyclists
4, Toyota Camrys, Mitsubishi Magnas etc.
5, Parked cars near studley park boathouse
6, Police Cars cruise along the road on a regular basis.
Here is a map of the road:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Kew-Boulevard
The road has been bastardised over the years, mainly to slow the reckless down, it had to happen unfortunately. There are parts with raised dividers to separate the bike lanes and car lanes, and it can be really tight within these lanes.
There are major crashes on this road on a frequent basis. I have seen tow trucks recovering cars, maybe once a year, and I drive it once a month. You do the maths. Don't overdo it! especially on the hairpins, my brother was in a Boxster that went backwards into an Audi at the boathouse corner. I saw a Z3 being recovered at the hairpin near Walmer St recently, had to laugh, but I don't want to ever see a 5 being recovered. The corner tightens sharply 75% of the way through. Do not even consider hammering down this road until you know every corner, even then, don't do it due to the unexpected hazards that always pop up.
It is also quite bumpy in sections, and even though I have stock suspension in the NB I slow down for cautionary reasons. I reccomend reccing (?) the road at recommended speeds till you are totally familiar with the road.
) through there on my rg250 back in 1989. 
unfortunately i went on it friday to beat traffic and went past a camera doing 80 in the now 50 zone 