Australian Motorcyclist Issue #24 by Tony Clemenger

Taking you to

grand heights

Innovative Ducati Skyhook suspension, multi-level heated grips, LED spot lights, extended screen, protection bars, touring seats, 20mm higher handlebar and 58-litre side luggage, plus 48-litre rear top box all as standard. Multistrada 1200 S Granturismo. The ultimate grand tourer, now available in Ducati Red.

CHEAP

Editor-in-Chief J Peter Thoeming

Editor Stuart Woodbury

Sales Manager Terri Dodd advertise@ausmotorcyclist.com.au

Designer Amy Hale

Photo Editor Nick Wood

Photographers Cain Maitland, Nick Wood

Contributors Emma Ayres, Elspeth Callender, Robert Crick, Joern Delfs, Phil Duncan, Mike Grant, Jim Green, Tony Hill, Robert Lovas, Phil Gadd, Ryan Lucas, Lester Morris, Brendan Nelson, The Possum, Dimitra Schonekas, Guy Stanford, Stuart Strickland, Michael Walley, Colin Whelan

Editorial contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au

Subscription enquiries www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au info@ausmotorcyclist.com.au 0412 220 680 or 0418 421 322

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FURBALL

…being something the editor-in-chief wanted to bring up

AT EASE, TROOPERS

We have been getting a gratifying amount of interest in the Bear Army, which is now enlisting our elite First Company of readers. Just to remind you, the idea is that you join up and receive a Bear Army t-shirt (don’t forget to mention your size) signed and numbered by me; a Bear Army badge; and three Bear Army stickers – as well as a two year subscription to Australian MOTORCYCLIST Magazine (added to your current sub if you’re already a member). On top of that you will receive an invitation to a special, restricted Bear Army event every year.

This offer of First Company membership is available only to the ﬁrst 250 people who join, and cost is $250. You can join either by phone on 0412 220 680 or email at info@ ausmotorcyclist.com.au. And relax. While we have quite a few troopers already, there is certainly room for more. Join up now!

GOT TO ADMIT IT’S GETTING BETTER

He was pretty angry. More angry than pretty, too. “What is wrong with you blokes,” he demanded, “you reckoned the 2013 Kwahosuya 1000 was the best thing on the road, so I bought one – and now you’re saying it’s crap and the 2014 model is better!”

We get this a bit. And you can try common sense in reply, but it rarely works.

“For a start,” I answered, “we didn’t say the 2013 is crap. But we did say the new model is better, yes.”

“It’s the same bloody thing,” he answered. “The factories give you blokes the latest and you go all ape over them. One minute the 2013 is the best, then it’s the 2014.”

“Well, the factory would hardly release a new bike if it wasn’t better

than the previous year’s, would it?

So it stands to reason that at least a few things will have improved between models. And I think we would justiﬁably be criticised if we didn’t point that out.”

Maybe what we need to stop doing is using absolutes. Instead of calling something the “best”, maybe we should always say that it’s “better”. But I doubt that that would satisfy the people who feel that their bike has been criticised if another bike is praised.

The speed with which technology is moving today is so great that it easily outstrips most people’s (including my) imagination. Look at some of the things that modern bikes can do – their suspension can compensate electronically for each and every pothole, their lights can turn corners before you get to them, their ECUs can sense wheel slip so quickly that it never actually happens and their transmissions can change down for you if you forget. And so on. Frankly, I would never have expected bikes to be able to do any of this – and indeed there is an argument that says that it isn’t necessary for them to do it now. I won’t get into that one.

All I want to say is yes, bikes get better every year. Mostly, anyway. There are occasional, but rare, backsliders. But don’t let that stop you from buying this year’s model. That way you’d never buy a bike at all. Or a camera, or a computer or any number of other tech items. Just be grateful that there are so many features for you to choose from. Yes, there will be more next year. But if you wait you lose an entire year’s enjoyment of your bike. Is it worth it? The only sensible answer is “no”.

Peter ‘The Bear’ Thoeming

FIRST LOOK

SEEN SOMETHING FUNNY LATELY?

Isn’t this wonderful? We found this old BMW ad in an American motorcycle magazine, and couldn’t resist sharing it with you. They wouldn’t get away with this today, would they? Yes, things were different back in 1965 – for one thing, The Bear had just bought his ﬁrst bike, a Honda CB72… www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au

If you have a funny photo, send it in and we’ll consider it for this page. Send to thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or PO Box 2066, Boronia Park NSW 2111. Thank you!

OUR PHOTOGRAPHER SEES MALAYSIA IN A NEW LIGHT WORDS/PHOTOS NICK WOOD

The roads are remarkably good. If you think coming to Malaysia means you’ll be bounced out of your saddle by potholes, think again

There is an old saying “If you don’t like the heat…get out of the kitchen”. Stepping out at Kuala Lumpur airport is like walking into a sauna with your clothes on. It’s hot, but then again not as hot as some of the food I would encounter on the tour around northwestern Malaysia. I began to wonder if the heavy leather jacket I’d brought for the trip was really going to be necessary.

Malaysian Motorcycle Getaways (MMG), whom I was joining for this ride, is based in Kuala Lumpur (KL), but covers all parts of the Malaysian peninsula. I had arrived a couple of days early to take in the MotoGP at Sepang - I only mention this as I was absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm of the people for motorcycle racing. I have never seen so many people arrive on a potpourri of machines from all over the

TRAVEL

place, including Indonesia and Thailand. Attendance was over 80,000. Phillip Island - eat your heart out.

MMG has a small office in KL and I was to meet them there at 8am Monday morning. My taxi ride that morning would introduce me to the Malaysian rush hour, which as you can imagine, is hectic. I started to get a few butterflies in my stomach imagining myself weaving in and out of the trucks and cars that seem to operate in an organised chaos. It’s just as well that you ride on the left in Malaysia, just like home. It may be a small thing but makes the experience a whole lot more relaxing not having to think about which side of the road you should be on, especially in KL rush-hour traffic.

Leaving KL was not too bad after all, but I made a bit of a boob and forgot my passport in the all the excitement so Zahed, my new buddy from MMG, and I had to double back into the madness of KL.

Once out of town for good, our ﬁrst stop would be heading east into the Genting highlands to visit the Chinese temple Chin Swee. The roads are remarkably good. If you think that coming to Malaysia means you’ll be bounced out of your saddle by potholes, think again. The road leading up to the highlands was smooth and twisty with switchbacks every 500m. Switchback is a new term I learnt from my Canadian riding companion Jim. And if I thought this bit of road was good, oh boy was I in for a big surprise later on.

From there we headed down into the lowlands, which are dotted with small villages. I had started to feel conﬁdent about riding in Malaysia by now and begun to notice that the drivers actually respect motorcycles and consciously move out of the way for you. Cars are becoming increasing popular as personal wealth grows here, but once you are out in the countryside, it’s all mopeds. The most popular one is the Honda EX5 110, which believe it or not was photographed by yours truly doing over 110km/h on a freeway, ridden by a kid with sandals and a T-shirt as attire. I tell you they live dangerously over there. www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au

option. We spent the morning whipping around the island, dropping into the war museum for a historical lesson on just how cruel humans can be to each other.

The Japanese occupied Penang during WW2 and delivered swift and merciless retribution to the Chinese and Malay’s once the British had left.

From Georgetown we crossed the Malacca Strait using the First Penang Bridge, which is much shorter and opens up the southern part of Kedah to those wishing to enter Thailand. Parts of Kedah are mountainous and we spent the latter half of the day scaling a road that can only be described as a pile of bobby pins laid out side by side and slowly ascending a 1200 metre peak. It left us breathless by the time we had reached its apex. It was a testament to my tour leader, Zahed who negotiated these ‘switchbacks’ with aplomb. I must have counted over 100 hairpins, one after another and in ever more slippery conditions as we approached the pinnacle of the mountain. Once we got to the top it was so cloudy we couldn’t see anything so it was a bit of a

dud. However on a good day the view would be stunning and well worth the jangling nerves negotiating the countless hairpins.

Once off the mountain with all present and uninjured, Jim from Canada said he had never encountered such roads and was quite relieved to be back down in the heat. I had a quick snooze on the back of Zahed’s bike. It’s a tough ride being a photographer sometimes. Our ride back to Penang for the second night used the ferry that crosses the strait like a weaver’s loom, backwards and forwards all day every day.

The trip is quite amusing as there are more than a few scooters that vie for position, so you need to be on the ball to make sure you don’t get left without a place on the packed ferry. Once the gates open it’s like the Melbourne Cup with scooters all jostling for a spot before the boat is too full. It reminded me of the bumper cars you rode at the carnival, young or old, it didn’t matter, either hustle or wait for the next boat. On the way out it’s the same, 200

scooters all heading for a bottleneck can have some interesting moments. Food that night was a local Penang specialty, ﬁsh head soup from a well-known Indian restaurant. It wasn’t the most attractive sight I have ever seen on a plate but tasted very good.

Next morning we took the ferry back over to the mainland and another superb ride into the hinterland of south Kedah. The weather was sublime with clear blue skies and slightly lower humidity. Our journey took us out of Butterworth and onto the main road that leads to the mountain resort of Belum. The road to Gerik provided another one of those Zen stretches that have you in the zone: the bike slinging from left to right every few seconds, hanging into corners that make you feel like Rossi. With the Versys 650 purring along nicely, this was a road that I will not forget in a hurry.

Up ahead of the pack, Zahed was pushing along at around 110, taking the corners fast and overtaking any cars that we approached without a second thought. When we came up behind a police car I thought we might slow down

but Zahed just overtook the cop car, so I thought what the hell. Next thing I’m leaning into a corner overtaking a police car on a bend, waiting for the inevitable siren to go off. Each second I was expecting something to happen, but no.

As we peeled off the miles, the scenery stayed stunning. Passing through some of the high country gave a certain Alpine feeling although the intense heat reminded us where we really were. Our next stop took us to Belum resort, high up near the Thai border. Somewhere I’d like to return to with my girlfriend Amy one day, hint hint.

From there we headed down to Ipoh for our last night on the tour. We spent it enjoying some great local fare from the many street vendors that are exponents in wonderful cuisine. Our last day was a long trip back to KL and back into the rush hour that we had left ﬁve days ago. We passed through the paddy ﬁelds of Teluk, which are quintessential Asia. Our journey had given us a taste

of Malaysia and we had clocked up nearly 1200km in that time. The trip had ﬂashed by but left some everlasting memories - through my photographs I will always be reminded of a modern country that has charm and more than a bit of old Asia. The people of Malaysia are charming and most of all proud of their national identity. Do remember this is a predominantly Muslim country and there are not towns full of cheap bars and nighttime drinking. Funny though, I didn’t miss it one bit.

MMG operates a number of different tours that take in most of the Malaysian peninsular. On our tour, Zahed was the leader and Emir the sweep rider. I was very impressed with their professionalism and felt safe the whole time.

Getting to Malaysia could not be easier these days. I ﬂew with a budget airline, which operates a cheap, no frills airline but will get you there in one piece for about $500 return. Prices for the tours vary, but they would have to be among the best value for money tours around. Malaysian Motorcycle Getaways are easy to contact, they have a big presence on

Facebook and you can check their website for tours: www.ridemalaysia.com.my/

As the boys from MMG would say “turn your miles into smiles”. I have a big smile on my dial, let me tell you!

Nick travelled as a guest of Malaysian Motorcycle Getaways.

…in our coverage of organized motorcycle tours. Quite a few of you have found that you enjoy these tours, and quite a few more have asked us about them. They are simply so convenient, and once you add up alternative costs they are also often remarkably good value. So we’re looking at them for you –and while we obviously need to write about speciﬁc tours, the point is just as much to get you to think about the concept.

Remember – wherever there is a road, and even in many places where there isn’t one, chances are you’ll ﬁnd someone who runs bike tours! PT 

SHINKO SR777

THE COST IS JUST A BONUS

WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS THE BEAR

Our

mule for this tyre test is The Bear’s Harley-Davidson 72. I was the mule to test the original ﬁtment Dunlop tyres in a variety of conditions and of course I was the mule to test these new Shinko SR777 tyres we got from Bruce Collins Enterprises – the Australian Shinko distributor.

The original Dunlop tyres lacked overall grip and were quite slippery in the rain, so I was keen to see what the Shinko product could do.

The Bear had the Shinko tyres ﬁtted by the good folk at Moto Tecnica and I was immediately drawn to the amount of tread depth the SR777 tyres offer, much more than the Dunlop tyre, so good life expectancy is the ﬁrst bonus.

Once I got riding on the SR777 the high comfort level provides a dramatic improvement and there is also a big step up in grip levels – second bonus. In the rain I wasn’t slipping all over the place and of course the same went for the dry, where the OEM tyre would squirm

around in the rear and tend to squeal under very hard braking, the SR777 stayed planted and was neutral under hard braking. So far, I was truly impressed!

The only downside to the SR777 was in the sizing. The Bear would have liked the whitewall version you can get, but the 72’s front tyre size is an 80/90/21, and the whitewall is only available in a 90/90/21, so he opted for the standard blackwall version. Only an aesthetic thing and we could have quite easily run the 90/90, but wanted to remain standard for a fair comparison.

Now for the trifecta and winning ticket with the Shinko SR777 tyres – and that is the price. I was knocked for six when I saw the $128 front tyre price (80/90/21), with $180 for the rear tyre (150/80/16)! Wow, having ridden on the SR777s now and experiencing what they can do, I have no idea why you’d spend more on anything else, you would not be getting any added bonus for the kind of riding you’ll do on a cruiser bike.

I expect The Bear will get around 1012,000km or more out of the SR777s, which is a massively inexpensive investment. Visit the Bruce Collins Enterprises website – www.bce.net.au to see the entire Shinko range and sizes, and to ﬁnd your local dealer. SW 

damn you

The combination of a large diameter, 21 inches, and a narrow rim meant that the Moto Technica tyre ﬁtting machine was unhappy about this job. No problem, though; they just did it manually. Moto Technica is at 98 Reserve Road Artarmon, 02 9436 4111. We recommend them highly.

WATCH THIS SPACE

SAYS POSSUM

WORDS/PHOTOS THE POSSUM

The4th and 5th of October saw the BMW Clubs Australia Motorrad Rally 2014, conducted at sunny Lake Cargelligo in central NSW. The BMW Club of ACT picked up the ball and organised things with generous ﬁnancial support from BMW Australia.

The Lake Cargelligo Bowling Club was the centre of activities on the Saturday night with a ﬁne buffet spread and rafﬂes.

BMW Clubs from QLD, NSW, VIC, ACT and SA were represented and ﬁlled up most accommodation in the town not already grabbed by the other crowd in town for the ﬁshing competition.

In addition to support from BMW, Sydney BMW specialists Motohansa came to the party with a brilliant range of giveaways for the entrants. The tyre repair kits and the small socket sets were appreciated by all who received them. Motohansa also provided a comprehensive tool kit as the main rafﬂe prize. From funds raised by the rafﬂe, $500 was donated to the local hospital auxiliary.

The weekend also served up a reminder of the dangers of riding in country Australia.

BMWTCNSW member Ian Horsburgh lost his life following a collision with an emu while riding between Lake Cargelligo and Mt Hope. Ian was the driving force behind the Far Cairn Rally at Tottenham and the editor of the BMWTCNSW club magazine and will be missed by all who knew him. He was also heavily involved in the motorcycle charity MARI. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

From this ﬁrst event, it is hoped to get another national ride organized for two years time, with the involvement of a different state club.

BMW riders haven’t reached the level of HOG or RAT events, but give them time... 

DUCATI SCRAMBLER ICON

The Bear wears a Lazer helmet, Aviator goggles by Leon Jeantet, MOTORCYCLIST neck tube, RJays Ace hoody jacket, Vietnamese souvenir t-shirt, Lee Parks Design gloves, Drayco Draggin Jeans, Big W socks, Alpine Star boots and his only pair of Zegna undies. We have standards…

Classic is just that – the most classic looking model.

Urban Enduro looks tough.

Whenthe Hume Highway was still fun to ride, and not a mindless drone along the multi-lane superslab, the top of the Razorback north of Picton was marked by a huge oak tree. This was more than just a tree – it was the heraldic symbol of Anthony Hordern & Sons, for a time Sydney’s largest department store. The motto on the coat of arms with the tree was “While I live I’ll grow”. Forty years ago as I write this, a lightning strike destroyed the tree as the

company’s retail operations crumbled.

“While I live I’ll grow”, so sadly prophetic in that case, is also a most appropriate positive motto in the economic world. As a company you can’t stay still – you need to grow or your shareholders get annoyed. And if there are natural limits to your growth, you need to transcend them somehow. If you’re in the bike business, for example, it is all too easy to become known for one particular kind of motorcycle. The limit to

your growth is then the size of the market for that type of bike. But you need to keep growing, so you need to think outside that category.

For example, both BMW and Ducati have done that by launching bike types that would more usually be associated with the other brand – BMW with its sports bikes and Ducati with the Multistradas. Both marques have been successful, and both have gained substantial growth. But of course you

can’t stand still even when you are on a winner.

So to continue to grow, Ducati has decided to look back to its own history and to re-launch the Scrambler name. Unlike the company’s previous attempt to reach back for type and styling, with the Sport Classic range, this time they went for a relatively small bike, but with a huge publicity effort. By the time the iconic yellow container opened at the 2014 Cologne motorcycle show, there

wasn’t a motorcyclist in the arid plains of the Deccan or the misty valleys of central China who didn’t have a pretty good idea of what it was about.

Mind you, there was still a surprise for CEO Claudio Domenicali to reveal. There wasn’t just one Scrambler, there were four – but more of that later. The odd thing about the Cologne launch was that the bike was not received with the kind of rapture that Ducati expected. The attitude from the assembled reptiles of

the press was positive, but no more than that. This was especially strange because Ducati had done its best to overcome the most common point of resistance – reluctance to accept something from beyond a marque’s usual type – by tying the Scrambler so strongly to its famous predecessors from the ‘60s and ‘70s. This, they were saying with their videos and other publicity, is not something “new” for Ducati; it is simply the Scrambler as it would be if it had never

Full Throttle is intended for the speed freaks.

Red Icon is the least expensive Scrambler.

LAUNCH

been discontinued. There is a lot to that, and having ridden one of the bikes now, I can see it breaking down resistance. After all, despite basic differences like the engine (an L twin in the new bike, a single in the old ones) the bikes’ styling and overall appeal are very similar. I’d say that they have hit the spot, and going by the reaction of many of the other journalists after the launch ride, that’s going to be a general reaction. The proof has, I think, been in the riding – and it has been proof positive.

One difference from the previous Scrambler is that Ducati is presenting these bikes as the beginning of a new brand, not just Ducati models. Perhaps like Aprilia with Scarabeo, and Piaggio with Vespa. Presumably this means there will be other bikes in the Scrambler range, with extra emphasis on the “Scrambler” rather than the “Ducati” name – they could start by removing the over-obvious “Ducati” from the back of the seat. I’m also not sure about the odd bright metal graphics that pop up in various places on the engine. I guess they break up the black?

The Icon we rode is the base model and the second-cheapest of the range, the yellow Icon which will sell for $13,140 here. The red Icon will cost $12,990; the Classic with its wire wheels and aluminium mudguards comes in at $14,990, as do the flat-tracker style Full Throttle which comes already fitted with the classy Termignoni slip-on mufflers,

Those side panels are interchangeable for quite a few other designs.

and ﬁnally the urbane (sic) guerrilla style Urban Enduro. There are differences between the bikes, but they are fairly minor and mainly involve styling. So the Icon I rode can stand in for its siblings pretty well. Let me get my reaction out of the way right now: this is simply a terriﬁc bike. Its air cooled desmodromic engine may have been detuned from the 796 Monster’s but it puts out a highly satisfying lot of torque. It spins up nicely from a stop and doesn’t really let up until the rev limiter cuts in, well above 8000rpm. I’m not sure if it is the old-fashioned but effective cable throttle which gives the bike its smooth throttle response, but whatever it is, I wouldn’t mind having it on some other, theoretically much more sophisticated, bikes.

The gearbox is excellent, possibly the best I have ever encountered on a Ducati. You don’t need to use it as often as you would on other Ducatis; the torque band is quite wide. I guess that’s a result of the bike not needing to pull every available horsepower from its engine. As it is, the Scrambler gives away some 12 horses to its donor engine from the 796, but is more ﬂexible in return –and powerful enough for anyone.

It doesn’t look like it when you see it from a distance, but the Scrambler is quite small. Its 1445mm wheelbase makes it highly manoeuvrable, and that is helped by the non-adjustable upside-down 41mm Kayaba fork and the preload adjustable single Kayaba shock on the rear. Each of them offers 150mm of travel and works well, although a short, sharp shock can ﬁnd itself transmitted a little

Waterproof panniers are part of the accessory range.

rudely to your backside. I suspect that sorting the preload will ﬁx that. Tyres are 18 inch front and 17 inch rear, a compromise between road and dirt hoops according to Ducati. The tread pattern of the Pirelli MT60s could be considered the same; I found them pleasantly grippy on the tar and pleasantly secure when I made a small excursion (a deliberate one!) into the dirt. Ducati claims limited “soft road” dirt potential for the bike. Ergonomics are just right for someone of my height (5’11”) and, I would imagine, for almost anyone else although tall riders might ﬁnd the 790mm standard seat a little low. Sufferers from Ducks’ Disease can opt for a 770mm seat. Foot pegs are slightly forward but still allow you to put some weight on them. The bike is relatively light at 170kg dry, and easy to handle. It even has a decent lock to lock distance of 35 degrees, not something we’re used to from Borgo Panigale.

Turn-in is as slick as I’ve ever encountered, and this is one bike on which I am perfectly happy to do feet-up U-turns, even on narrow roads with a battery of lenses pointed at me. Stopping is just as competent as going, with a 330mm disc with a radial 4 piston caliper on the front (with an adjustable lever) and a 245mm single piston ﬂoating caliper on the rear. ABS is standard (but can be switched off), and I don’t think there is any need for another front disc, as one or two of the others suggested. There is not a lot of what my dear departed Mum used to call “shnickshnack” on the Scramblers. There’s a USB port under the seat matched with a small space which would hold your phone while you were recharging it. Instruments are housed in

clock, air temperature gauge, fuel light and maintenance reminder as well as oil pressure, high beam, neutral, turn signal and over-rev warning light, which comes on a couple of hundred revs before the rev limiter. There is also an immobiliser light, and you can set a pin which will allow you to override the immobiliser if you lose the key.

The exhaust on the Icon is pleasantly throaty… well, a little bit, anyway. I would want to do some work on mine, possibly starting with trying the Termignonis.

Fuel consumption is a reasonable 5l/100km. Mirrors are large and stay clear at just about all speeds. I liked the seat on my Icon, but was voted down almost unanimously by the other riders I spoke to – they thought it was too hard. But of course there is a range of seats available. And not just seats. Ducati has gone out of its way to provide accessories to individualise the bikes. Apart from different handlebars and seats you can get in-style luggage, off-road foot pegs, headlight rims and grilles, high and low Termignoni exhausts, vintage grips and a heap of other stuff – including alternative aluminium panels for the 13.5 litre steel tank. Oh, and of course a range of clothing including Bell helmets and a really cool leather jacket. Ducati is keen to avoid calling the Scrambler “retro”, but many of the clothes are exactly that.

It’s a good thing that there is some luggage including a seat bag available, because it looks pretty difﬁcult to attach bungees or Andy Strapz to the rear of the bike.

I suspect that the Scramblers will help quite a bit to keep Ducati growing, and I would love to punt one of these over Razorback. In fact I may end up doing just that; I’ve started talking to Ducati Australia about buying an Icon for myself. 

1. Single instrument pod provides perfectly adequate information.

2. Strange Scrambler logo is fortunately not compulsory.

3. That black canister is US-only, recycles fumes.

4. Lovely exhaust shape, odd decoration on cases.

5. Single front disc with caliper from Brembo is just right.

SPECS

DUCATI SCRAMBLER

ICON / URBAN ENDURO / FULL THROTTLE / CLASSIC

PRICE: Icon (Ducati Red) $12,990, (’62 Yellow) $13,140; Urban Enduro, Full Throttle, Classic $14,990 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance with Rider Assist

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 12,000km, with a 12 month oil service

ENGINE: Air-cooled L twin cylinder, 4-stroke, Desmodromic, 2 valves per cylinder

BORE x STROKE: 88 x 66mm

DISPLACEMENT: 803cc

COMPRESSION: 11:1

POWER: 55kW @ 8250rpm

TORQUE: 68Nm @ 5750rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm telescopic USD fork, non-adjustable, travel 150mm. Rear, single shock, adjustable preload, travel 150mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 790 (or 770)mm, weight 186kg (wet, approx), fuel capacity 13.5 litres, wheelbase 1445mm

TYRES: Pirelli MT60. Front, 110/80/R18. Rear, 180/55/R17

FRAME:Tubular steel trellis

BRAKES: Front, 330mm disc with radial four-piston ABS caliper. Rear, 245mm disc, single piston ﬂoating ABS caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5 litres per 100km (approx.), premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 270km

COLOURS: Ducati Red or ’62 Yellow/ Wild Green/Deep Black & Yellow/ Orange Sunshine

VERDICT: AN ICON REVISITED

Meet - the Gadget Man! This new technical feature for Australian Motorcyclist is all about the gadgets that we motorcyclists like to have on our machines. Ranging from GPS systems to electronics and those general bits & pieces that really need someone with the time and “gadget knowhow” to review.

We’re sure you’ll enjoy this feature when we have these kinds of gadgets to review. Take it away, John. SW

ﬁrst review is of a new Smart Phone Application that is a GPSbased speedometer, called the Ulysse GPS Speedometer. While the app can be used in a car, bicycle or walking it has been designed with motorcyclists in mind.

The app is available only for Android based smartphones; at the time of writing there is no iPhone version available. It is readily available on the Google Play Store for only $1.99. This is a GPS system and not a navigator; however this will integrate into Google maps if you have it on your smartphone.

The app is small and takes little time to download, taking up very little space on your phone. You can also put it on a tablet. We put it on a Samsung phone ﬁrst to review it. Then later I put it on a Samsung tablet - it worked very well on both devices.

The ﬁrst thing we noticed is that the display interface is amazing. It has quite a lot of information on the screen and you would think it would be cluttered, but it isn’t. The standard color schemes and layout are really clear and make it easy to read at a glance. The default conﬁguration has the speedometer as the standout.

This conﬁguration is probably more than you will need for a motorbike and it is highly customisable through the settings button. You can change the display to your liking and save it as a

‘APP’LY THIS TO YOUR RIDING

GO GADGET! GO! WORDS JOHN CONNOR

proﬁle so you can have different settings for different requirements.

The designers have packed as many features into this App as they could. There are a lot of GPS style Apps available but we have never seen them all in one that’s as good as this one.

The feature that we most enjoyed playing with and noticed almost immediately was the “race” feature. This will measure your standing start from 0-60km/h, to 0-100km/h and 0 to ¼ mile. If you want to ﬁnd out what you can do on your bike this is a great tool for measuring it and then bragging to your mates, “on the racetrack of course”. The other feature that stood out for us which is also useful for motorbike trips is the provision of multiple trip meters. You can get this feature on a Navigator too but this app has a lot of different trip meters to customise to your requirements. Great for those long get away rides. The other good feature is that you do not need to be on your mobile phone network or connected to wiﬁ. It works completely on satellites - a must for country roads!

There are so many more features available that it would take a few pages to write about them all. So I won’t bore you with the complete list.

As with all Smart Phone Apps the accuracy and efficiency of the App is really up to the phone you use. We put it on a super cheap $79 Samsung Phone at first and found the screen too small, and also found that it seemed to lag a bit on startup and when finding satellites. We then put it on a Samsung Galaxy and “boom”, no lag and it picked up satellites very quickly. We found the same when we downloaded it on a tablet (not that you can put a tablet on the front of your bike, but maybe in some tankbags). We had it running all day on all devices we tested, so 12 hours plus did not seem to be a major drain on battery life.

Summary: A really good GPS System tailored really well for motorcycle riders. If you need GPS information this is deﬁnitely the app to use.

PROS:

• Terriﬁcally good display

• Packed full of lots of features

• Great for long journey motor biking

• Great for track days

• Little drain on your mobile battery

• Good price on the Google Play Store

• Designed with motorcycles in mind

CONS:

• Not available for iPhone’s yet

Where to get the app : https:// play.google.com/store/apps/ details?id=com.binarytoys. speedometerpro&hl=en 

HIGH QUALITY…

TRIPLE TREAT WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS NICK WOOD

Stuart is wearing a Shoei NXR helmet, Yamaha MT techno jacket, Held Backﬂip gloves, Draggin jeans and Sidi Vertigo boots.

“ALL THIS TECHNO GUFF MEANS THAT YOU HAVE A PRECISE, STABLE AND GENERALLY EASY TO RIDE MOTORCYCLE BENEATH YOU”

Triumph’s Street Triple has been a favourite in the motorcycle market for a number of years now. The mid-sized three cylinder engine is an absolute peach, and introducing the exact same bike, just with a decreased engine size and power to meet LAMS regulations, is already proving to be a hit among the Learner and Provisional buyers.

Suspension is high quality and from Kayaba. Components like the ones fi tted to the 660 are not normally what you’d fi nd on a LAMS bike. Precisely the same as the ones fi tted to the normal 675-engined Street Triple, they are non-adjustable on the front and preload only adjustable on the rear. I am more than happy with how they handle with medium weighted turn in and a stable feel. All-in-all, a comfortable bike to ride.

Stability is achieved via a 52% weight bias to the front and 48% over the rear, along with 24.1 degrees of rake and 99.6mm of trail. All this techno guff means that you have a precise, stable and overall easy to ride motorcycle beneath you.

Slotted into the compact frame is the famous 675 triple cylinder engine. The internals have had a reworking, mainly the crank, head and electronics to bring it down to 660cc and to meet the reduced LAMS power to weight allowance. The 660 is geared quite high in ﬁ rst (as per the 675 version) and with the reduced power it does require you

BIKE TEST

The main visual indicator you’re on a different bike to the 675 version.

Comfortable and easy to ride.

to rev/slip the clutch a little more to get away cleanly. For a Learner rider this may take a little time to get used to. Once underway the triple cylinder engine is very smooth and has a nice amount of torque for all legal speeds in Australia. It will even tour easily out on the open road.

As with the Street Triple 675 the gearbox is ultra-smooth, but ﬁ tting the accessory quickshifter is a must. This will make life so much easier and it sounds good too.

Ergonomics are comfortable with an 800mm seat height and a handlebar that puts the slightest amount of weight on your wrists – a perfect position for a learner or provisional rider to get used to the way a motorcycle operates.

Braking is via two-piston Nissan front calipers and a Brembo rear caliper. Offering good levels of initial bite and good levels of power with this setup, it is a good package for learners and excellent for provisional riders

once they wish to explore harder braking. ABS comes standard and is priceless if things go pear shaped.

More than 50 accessories can be fi tted to the Street Triple; things like a fl yscreen, bellypan, crash protectors, LED indicators, tank pad and Arrow slip-on muffl er. The Arrow muffl er looks the part but is not noisy and lets out a more “fi rm” triple note. The best part is you can get this thing for eight hundred odd bucks!

The Triumph Street Triple 660 is priced at $500 less than the 675 version at $12,490 plus on roads. It is a true mainstream high spec motorcycle with a different engine, rather than a LAMS bike built just for this purpose, with cheaper suspension and the like. And for this reason the Street Triple 660 is a bike you will be able to keep for many years to come, even once you get your full licence, or if you are a rider who just wants that nice, easy to manage power delivery. 

SPECS

TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 660

PRICE: $12,490 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Liquid-cooled triple cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder

BORE x STROKE: 74 x 51.1mm

DISPLACEMENT: 660cc

COMPRESSION: 12.65:1

POWER: 40.6kW @ 9300rpm

TORQUE: 54.6Nm @ 5155rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multiplate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm inverted fork, non-adjustable, travel 110mm. Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload, travel 124.5mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 800mm, weight 181kg (dry), fuel capacity 17.4 litres, wheelbase 1410mm

TYRES: Front, 120/70/ZR17. Rear, 180/55/ZR17

FRAME: Aluminium beam twin spar

BRAKES: Front, twin 310mm discs with twin-piston ABS calipers. Rear, 220mm disc, single-piston caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.79 litres per 100km, premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 300km

COLOURS: Diablo Red, Crystal White, Phantom Black

VERDICT:TOP LINE LEARNER

Just as high spec as the 675 version.

MEET YOU WHERE?

MAYBE YOU HAVEN’T THOUGHT OF THIS WORDS/PHOTOS THE BEAR

Life

can get complicated when you listen to your readers. I’ve tried to do this for all of my editing career, with varying success, but generally speaking it has been more than worthwhile. It has also meant that a bond has been established between my readers and me – I hope I’m not exaggerating – which has kept you interested and me employed.

But as I say, things can get complicated, like for example when I was talking to regular and long-time reader David Paul from Melbourne at the Bombala Celebration of Motorcycling, which we sponsored this year. When I asked him my usual question – what can we do better? – he suddenly got all thoughtful.

“GATHERING OF FRIENDS AT THE GREAT WESTERN PUB IN VICTORIA.”

“You know, Bear,” he said, “riders have got mates all over the country. I like the bike holiday stories you do, but how about this: instead of writing about places that are good destinations from each of the big cities, how about places halfway? So there’s somewhere where we can meet. Maybe a weekend return ride, so I can say to a mate in Sydney that I’ll see him there and we can have a feed and a drink on Saturday night.”

Yes, good idea, of course, but – as I asked Dave –surely you know places like that yourself?

“Surprise us, Bear,” he said. “You’re good at that.”

It almost sounded like a compliment…

When I got home I dragged the atlas out and had a look. Sure enough, there were a few places that ﬁtted some of Dave’s requirements, and that might not be all that well-known… although some of these will only be weekend runs for those of us who don’t mind putting in a thousand k weekends, as well as that ‘drink’ (drinks?) on the Saturday night. Make sure you’re sober on Sunday morning – breath test units will often be out then.

BRISBANE & SYDNEY

Meeting point: Pub With No Beer, Taylor’s Arm

The Cosmopolitan Hotel at Taylors Arm, better known these days as The Pub With No Beer (although its entitlement to this name has been challenged), used to be little more than a shed in the bush, some 20km west of Macksville. Today it’s a pretty ﬂash pub with accommodation (including camping) and good small brewery beer. Taylors Arm Road is sealed but enjoys a reputation locally as the worst road in Australia. It’s not that bad.

Taylors Arm Road, Taylors Arm NSW 2447 02 6564 2100

info@pubwithnobeer.com

Pub opening hours: 10am - 8pm, Fri & Sat - 10am-whenever. Trading hours and services may vary during winter.

Time from Brisbane: 5 hours

Time from Sydney: 5 hours

It should take you about that time if you take the Paciﬁc Highway, from either direction. Of course trafﬁc, weather, road works and Highway Patrol shenanigans may change that, as may long stops to enjoy a leisurely lunch. It’s also kind of boring.

There are several alternative routes, although they will all take longer.

From the north, you could take the Numinbah Valley road from Nerang to Murwillumbah and then head for Kyogle. Here you pick up the Summerland Way

The roads in northern NSW can be very quiet.

which takes you to Grafton, and the Orara Way to Coffs. Further south, avoid the temptation to take the back road from Bellingen to Taylors Arm via Bowraville. It takes a lot longer than it looks on the map.

From the south, you could take the freeway and then turn off to Wollombi before continuing via Cessnock, Maitland and Dungog. Pick up the Bucketts Way to Gloucester and Krambach before turning north through Wingham to Wauchope (some of this last stretch may be a bit gnarly). A left here lets you re-join the highway at Telegraph Point. You can turn left at Kempsey onto the Armidale road and then reach Taylors Arm by way of a dirt forest road if you like.

Alternative: the Star Hotel in Macksville.

Long a stopover for me when I was visiting my Mother in Ballina from Sydney, the Star has also seen a major upgrade. Not only the rooms but also the food are recommended. The location is wonderful, overlooking the river.

16 River St, Macksville NSW 2447 02 6568 1008

SYDNEY & MELBOURNE

Meeting point: Commercial Hotel, Junee

Sadly, the Loftus Hotel in Junee is not currently open. It hasn’t been a pub for a long time, but operated as a B&B more recently and made a terriﬁc place to stay. I’m going to miss it; it was my base there for a while, and I used to enjoy talking – or rather listening – to the trainspotters who often booked the rooms overlooking the rail line.

Not to worry, though, both the Commercial and the Junee are also typical classic Australian two-storey pubs with wide verandas and rooms to

No, you can’t get a drink here – the Uki pub burned down.

The sign has faded, and so have Woodstock’s fortunes.

let. I’ve chosen the Commercial because its food enjoys a better reputation than the Junee’s, but that might not matter to you. More to the point, perhaps, the Commercial is further away from the railway line so unless you’re a train spotter the sound of passing trains is less likely to bother you while you try to sleep.

Junee is an interesting place with a railway museum and other stuff to look at, and it’s worth having a coffee or perhaps breakfast in the railway station waiting room, which is a classic from the time when the trains stopped here to let the passengers have a meal. The railway connection is also why the

Battered but still reliable – signs on the (back) way north from Sydney.

pubs are so big – many passengers stayed here overnight.

68 Lorne Street NSW 2663

02 6924 1023

Pub opening hours: Standard pub hours

Time from Sydney: 5 hours

Time from Melbourne: 5 hours

There are two relatively quick ways to get to Junee from Sydney: down the Hume Highway, right turn at Gundagai and you’re there. Alternatively, take the Great Western Highway over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and Cowra and then turn left onto the Olympic Way. Err,

Highway. It’s been promoted. The former is faster but, except for the stretch from Gundagai to Junee, duller; the latter offers pretty good riding all the way. Well, okay, except across the mountains; take Bells Line of Road instead. You can also make the ride more interesting by turning left at Woodstock, just short of Cowra, and heading south via Boorowa and Harden before re-joining the Olympic Way Highway.

The direct route from Melbourne to Junee is even simpler than from Sydney: up the Hume Highway and continue on the Olympic Highway at Albury. You’ll get to Junee after Wagga. Albury to Junee is not a bad ride, but the Hume is really just a fallback. There are much better rides.

My choice would be the Melba Highway to Yea to pick up the Maroondah Highway before cutting across to either Euroa or Benalla or, if I had the time, to Wangaratta from Mansﬁeld. All you really need to do is make it to Wodonga/Albury; from there, the Olympic Highway is your best bet.

Alternative: the Junee Hotel, also in Junee and just across the railway line. As with the Commercial, I can’t make a personal recommendation here but a local reader reckons that this is the place for a beer (because it’s on the Olympic Highway and other riders stop here) while the Commercial is the place for a meal.

17 Seignior Street Junee NSW 2663 02 6924 1124

MELBOURNE & ADELAIDE

Meeting point: Great Western Hotel, Great Western

I know that this place is not in halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide, but I like it and I reckon it would make a top place to meet. And I’m, the one writing this article…

The pub is small – it looks bigger from the road than it is – and has some old-fashioned but quite nice standard motel rooms arranged around a little three-sided courtyard. The publican closes pretty much when he wants to but he’s quite happy to sell you a six pack or whatever at bottle shop prices if you want to continue drinking in or in front of your room. That can be quite convivial. Across the road is a takeaway that makes excellent bacon and egg rolls at very reasonable prices.

1. The Star in Macksville has long been a favourite of mine.

2. This is not Taylors Arm Road – it’s much better!

3. Possibly the best vanilla slice you will ever taste is available here.

TRAVEL

If you ride the Western Highway from Adelaide to Great Western and back, it will take you about 11 hours; if you take the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne and the Western Highway back, it will take about the same amount of time. Apart from the many options to get as far as Tailem Bend, there is not much choice about the route from Adelaide. From Tailem Bend to Bordertown and onward there are few other roads that offer much more in the way of scenery or corners. Still, it’s a nice relaxing ride. If you’re coming along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne, I suggest you take the Cobden – Port Campbell Road from

And yes, if you want to you can approach Great Western from the north, too.

Port Campbell (to Cobden, oddly enough) and on to Terang. Continue due north through Lake Bolac (the town, not the lake) to Ararat, where Great Western is a short distance up the Highway. If you like vanilla slices, stop at the bakery on your left as you turn into Barkly Street from the Pyrenees Highway, in the middle of Ararat.

Pub opening hours: Umm… variable

Time from Melbourne: 2 ½ (or 8) hours

Time from Adelaide: 5 ½ hours

Alternative: Camping in the

No, the freeway is not interesting no matter how hard you try with your photos.

Jewnee Street? Notice that all the old signs are spelt correctly…

Grampians, just down the road. See http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/ parks/grampians-national-park/ things-to-do/camping for up-to-date information about the campgrounds in the National Park.

SELF-PROMOTION

In order to make these and other rides as enjoyable as possible, may I recommend the latest edition of my Australia Motorcycle Atlas from Hema Maps? I know it’s self-promotion, but the atlas also comes highly recommended by other people. Ask someone who’s got one. The current issue consists of a plastic sleeve with an enlarging lens, holding a wall map and two ringbound books; one contains the maps, the other the info about the 200 rides. The books are crossreferenced. There are a further 27 rides on the wall map.

Cost of the atlas is $49.95 including postage to anywhere in Australia; drop us a line at contactus@ausmotorcyclist.com.au and we’ll get one to you. PT 

BMW R nineT BRAUHAUS RACER

WELL, YOU CAN HARDLY CALL ONE OF BAVARIA’S FINEST A CAFÉ RACER, NOW CAN YOU?

WORDS/PHOTOS RIZOMA

North-west of Milan, near Malpensa airport, lies the Rizoma factory. Long known for its high quality aftermarket accessories, Rizoma recently unveiled what they call their “most ambitious project”.

“A project that has been kept hidden for months in every detail…” says International Sales Manager Irina Popova. “Limitless combinations and super high quality. Aluminum blocks that, machined by

innovative processes, generate unique accessories balancing ergonomics and functionality, safety and style.”

And what is it? BMW’s R nineT, Rizoma “Café-Racer Style”.

Some unspeakable versions of this very stylish bike have already seen the light of day, so it was a great pleasure to see that Rizoma has not only been original but also respectful of the styling and lineage of the

“SIMPLY A “MUST” FOR ALL THE R nineT OWNERS, BOTH IN TERMS OF FUNCTIONALILTY AND NEW DESIGN”

CUSTOMISING

bike. In other words, it still looks like a BMW, and a particularly smart one at that.

Here’s a representative sample of what Rizoma reckons about its new parts:

“Following the line of the legendary ‘70s, our R & D team has developed a kit for the handlebar risers, which can be combined both with the Rizoma MA015 and with the OEM handlebar. High-quality aluminum and fine finishes, starting first with polishing and subsequent anodization.

“The Rizoma “Drag Bar” ensures the rider a much more sporty riding position that the OEM handlebar and makes the

feeling with the whole bike even more dynamic.

“From 0 to 100 - Feel the “Cafe Racer” spirit. With the new Rizoma clip-on bars, we’ll take you back to the 70s. Perfect machine work, clean design and the particular ergonomics of this kit emphasize the sporty character. The body of the Clip-on Bar fork tube clamps are internally lightweight and the bars can be replaced in case of damage. A must for every “Cafe Racer “.

“The Rizoma rear set control kit is simply a “must” for all the R nineT owners, both in terms of functionality and new design. “Comfortable and

sporty”, this could be a synthetic description of the Rizoma rearsets. There are six different peg placement options and the shift lever and the multi-adjustable brake (eccentric system) allow for the best riding position for any rider.

“As a complement to the OEM rear set control kit, we offer additional “Retro-Style“ pegs specially designed for the R nineT. These will give you a better “grip“ and a “cooler“ look.

“The Rizoma “FOX” license support plate, an absolute classic in the motorcycle industry for years. Perfect realization and brilliant adjustment.

Shorter than the stock license support plate, it gives to the R nineT a more sporty character. The “FOX “ is compliant with European standards for road use and also includes the new Rizoma underseat cover. To install this kit, remove the OEM rear light and indicator lights, both functions of which can be replaced by the Rizoma “CLUB S” marker lights with integrated running, brake and ﬂashing functions. Choose the best solution straight away - You will be amazed!

“For those who want to stand out and have a perfect “Cafe Racer” style R nineT. Rizoma has made, for your Boxer

cylinders, the head Covers, which are absolute masterpieces characterized by their unique design and twocoloured anodizing.

The Rizoma head covers are made with complex manufacturing processes and with the highest level of attention to detail, using a special 3D. Each of them is obtained from a block of aluminum of 13 kg to achieve a ﬁnal weight of 1.2 kg.”

And of course there is a lot more. See your local Rizoma dealer – there are half a dozen or so in Australia – for even more detail, or to hand over your cash for the whole kit.

I have seen the future of the R nineT, and (to paraphrase Rolling Stone) it is Rizoma – at least, one future is Rizoma. On the stand in Cologne I could see that the parts are beautifully made, and if the prices (which are not low) bother you, consider that you could always buy Chinese bits. Of course they wouldn’t be as well designed, made or durable… and that sort of defeats the whole point of the exercise.

This is excellent stuff, and I would love the opportunity to “personalise” a bike –not just an R nineT – with Rizoma parts. See www.rizoma.com for more parts and information. PT =

BINGARA, NSW

SO MUCH GREAT RIDING, YOU’LL BE SMILING FOR YEARS TO COME.

WORDS/PHOTOS COLIN WHELAN

BINGARA

It’s no secret that this is one of my favourite NSW country towns. It doesn’t have all facilities but what it does have is friendly, welcoming and stylish. The ‘must visit’ place is the art deco wonder, the Roxy Café on the corner of Fossickers Way and Cunningham St. It was built in 1936 and has been fully refurbed. Their malted milkshakes (served of course in the silver NOT cardboard) are the best I’ve tasted in ages and their scones ain’t half bad either. For various reasons, the opening hours can be a touch erratic so best to ring ahead.

Keen biker, ‘Bim’ runs the BP on the

corner of Finch and Riddell, selling 91 and 98. He likes a yarn, and is genuinely interested in where you’ve come from and where you’re going so give some time to getting ﬁlled before your day’s ride.

The Super IGA is opposite the Roxy and it’s a big one selling all you’ll need for snacking plus extensive alcohol.

The best pub is the Imperial at the top end of the main street. It offers pub rooms with shared bathrooms, rooms with ensuites, plus motel rooms. They are also the agents for the River House up on Finch St. If you think you deserve something a little more luxurious, you might want to investigate this.

If you are camping, you’re spoiled for

choice! Follow the eastern loop directions out of town and start looking left. You’ll see countless side tracks each leading down to picturesque free camping sites. These entrance tracks are usually preceded by a sign showing a car and caravan.

Roxy Café Bingara: T 02 6724 0066

INVERELL

A major rural hub town with all facilities and little charm. If you don’t need anything here, your best bet is to take the heavy vehicle bypass left turn (signposted for Ashford) as you enter the place.

Before you get going on either of these routes, a quick word: A quirky local characteristic on every one of these roads is steep sided ﬂoodways and causeways, many of them not signposted. Some are white concrete based and easier to spot but others are indistinguishable from the road surface and harder to see. They take a bit of getting used to and you don’t want to be entering them, even when dry, with your right hand squeezing hard.

Most of the roads here leave much of the work to you. There are few curve speed or direction advisories, hardly any side markings and long distances of no centre lining.

WESTERN LOOP (ANTI-CLOCKWISE)

Total Distance: 363km

for a bit over 6km and then take the right for Terry Hie Hie which is 40km of beautiful scenic riding before you go through the town and then follow the road as it winds south and then west and rejoins the Newell at Bellata with its BP servo right in front of you. Turn south here for the run down to Narrabri where you can get all fuels and feeds.

Around 4km short of Narrabri you’ll see the turn east on Killarney Gap Rd which is the road you want for the sweetest part of this loop.

If you don’t need to stop in Narrabri turn left here or if you do drop into the town, retrace your tracks and then take the right (east) and get set for 100km of some of the nicest road you are EVER going to ride.

Gum Flat and then take the right at the Gwydir Hwy for the run into Inverell.

The school at Gum Flat is tiny but obviously services the kids from a wide surrounding area. Take it easy at school drop off/pick up times as the trafﬁc is surprisingly thick and mostly oblivious to bikes steaming through the town!

Head west out of Bingara along Cunningham St with the Roxy on your left, take the right at the racecourse on West St signposted Gravesend, and then follow this as it swings left and becomes Elcombe Rd for a sweet trip up to Gravesend on the Gwydir Hwy. Not much at Gravesend anymore as you swing west on the Gwydir for a tick over 23km until you’ll see the right turn for Pallamallawa. From the turn it’s just on 2km to the township with its pub and quality general store with takeaway meals.

For a quieter ride into Moree don’t return to the highway but rather continue north along the road you’ve come in on until you get to the T-intersection at the north end of town. Take the left onto Camurra-Warialda Rd for a 23km run along a quiet country back road strip of good tar. Then take the left on the Newell Hwy for the 10km into Moree.

This is a good time to refresh (see town notes) and maybe to work out your schedule for the rest of the day. If time is a bit tight, head south out of town and stay on the Newell and keep going. But if you have a spare half hour, head over the bridge and then take a left at the ﬁrst roundabout onto the Gwydir Hwy signposted Warialda. Continue

TEAR-OUT MAP #24

This is a real jewel of a road with the tightest section at the western end followed by some great valley riding before you head into more hills just to the west of Bingara and some more sweeping mountain curves. You. Will. Love. It.

This leads you right back into the middle of town and you’ll see the racecourse on your left just before you get back to Bingara.

Bingara to Moree: 108km

Moree to Narrabri via Terry Hie Hie: 148km

Narrabri to Bingara: 107 km

EASTERN LOOP

(ANTI-CLOCKWISE)

Total Distance: 270km

Have a leisurely breakfast as you don’t want to be doing this with the morning sun too low. Once you’re sated, head east from the Roxy Café on Cunningham St and take the second on the left (Link St) and then turn right around the park signposted Copeton Dam and Bundarra. This thoroughly enjoyable ride initially dances with the Gwydir River on your left as you head out.

After 20km you leave the river and head into the hills as you enter the Munro State Forest area and these twisties continue after you pass the Copeton State Dam and head north through

COLLECT THEM ALL

All services for bike and rider are available here but if you aren’t stopping continue straight through the town on Byron St which becomes the Inverell-Bonshaw Rd as it heads north for the 60km stretch to Ashford. The General Store is on Duff St and once you’ve passed it take a left on Inverell St and then the ﬁrst on the right at Frazer St signposted Coolatai. You’ll pass the sign showing you’ll be likely to meet up with the full coat of arms along this stretch and the sides haven’t been widely shaven so be prepared for faunal surprises!

There’s obviously been some sort of community competition for the best letter box along this stretch of the road so take it easy enough to appreciate the artwork!

After 15km you’ll be directed right onto Yetman Rd and then 3km later left for Coolatai where you turn south for Warialda. There are no services at Coolatai.

This road has even more road kill and not so much trafﬁc meaning the hit rates must be very high. Take it easy Warialda’s got a nice feel to it and again, once you’re done here, continue south until you meet the Gwydir Hwy. Take it west for 2.5km until you see Bingara signposted to the left.

This is quite simply more great rural back roads riding on a good, predictable surface.

Bingara to Inverell via Copeton Dam: 92km

Inverell to Coolatai via Ashford: 97km

Coolatai to Bingara: 81km

For detailed google maps and a downloadable .gpx map of these routes, please see the discussion section of the motorbikenation

FaceBook page. 

The Tourist Ofﬁce is on your right just over the McIntyre River, and the best coffee I’ve found is at Me and Mr Jones’s next to the Westpac Bank at 56 Byron St.

If you’ve got mechanical issues, Inverell Motorcycles is on your right on the Eastern end of town as you head out on Ashford Rd. They are Yamaha and KTM agents but should be able to ﬁx any niggles on any bike. The BP is a couple of doors further east.

Inverell Motorcycles: 218 Byron St, Inverell. T 02 6721 1200 (Ask for Cody)

WARIALDA

Best café is on the right as you head into town, the Okey Dokey Café on the corner of Hope St. If you need to refuel, turn east on Hope and there is General Store BP opposite the Royal Hotel. There’s a Super IGA back on Stephen

St opposite the distinguished old Court House

MOREE

If you’ve never been to Moree, you will be greatly surprised. The civic pride is tangible and there’s a good selection of pubs and cafes. But the highlight has to be the artesian fed swimming pool on the south side of town: different pools at different temps make it refreshing any time of the year.

Also on the south side is Thomas Lee Motorcycles. They deal in Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and H-D but would be able to ﬁx any problems you have with any bike you’re on. (T: 1800 642 353)

The best BP is on the south end of town where the major roadworks to complete the nth-sth bypass are well underway and will be ﬁnished by mid-2015. My café of choice is Café 2400 in the middle of the main shopping strip north of the river.

ASHFORD

The so-called, ‘Friendly Pub’ here is now closed, a monument to bad service and poorer community relations. (A long sad story for another time.) There is still a small bakery opposite the post ofﬁce and general store fuel back up on Duff St. If you’re in need of a swim, head north on the Bonshaw Rd to the 3 Mile Crossing where you’ll ﬁnd a great rest/camping on your left with very easy access to the gorgeous Severn River. This is a top free camping area with full toilet facilities.

NARRABRI

Tourism Info is on the right as you cross the bridge heading south, just turn into right Alice St and then into the carpark. One of the best, most helpful VIC’s around, and the BP is over the Namoi River at the south end of town. 

THE HIGH TIBETAN PLATEAU WORDS/PHOTOS ROBERT CRICK

This

“ ”

is riding like you’ve never imagined; and could never experience anywhere except in this mysterious and enchanting land called Tibet

If your dream ride is an almost endless, twisting climb to the peaks of high passes well over 5000m, then crossing the Himalaya Ranges of Northern India will satisfy you.

But if you’re looking for something extra, like staying on top of the world for 10 days of high altitude

motorcycling, then try riding across the Tibetan Plateau of far western China.

There’s nothing else like it in the world. It’s an overﬂowing ﬂood plain of the main Himalayan Range. It’s Mt Everest, several of its accompanying Eight-Thousanders (the peaks over

8000m) and too many other peaks, passes and valleys to count – all spread across the world’s largest and highest plateau with an average elevation in excess of 4500m.

This is riding like you’ve never imagined; and could never experience anywhere except in this mysterious and enchanting land called Tibet.

LHASA – TIBET’S CAPITAL

Tibet remains difﬁcult to access. It’s an historically controversial and politically sensitive land. However, Extreme Bike Tours has worked hard to retain the conﬁdence and support of the relevant authorities; and has one of the few motorcycle tours that can take you behind the age-old veil of Tibetan mystique and show you life on the roof of the world.

The tour starts in Kathmandu, Nepal. This helps facilitate an array of formalities relating to China visas and Tibet entry permits, all of which are adeptly handled for you by the tour operator.

Tibet Tour 1 starts with a ride out of Kathmandu ending in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, with a ﬂight back to Kathmandu. Tibet Tour 2, which I did, starts with a short ﬂight from Kathmandu to Lhasa and ends riding back into Kathmandu.

At a relatively low 3700m, Lhasa sits astride river ﬂats in a valley, providing an opportunity to acclimatise over a couple of nights while spending a day exploring its wonders, not least its eponymous 17th century Potala Palace, so long symbolic of Tibet itself. And, yes, we did climb the hundreds of steps and explored the interior with its over 1000 rooms and 10,000 shrines, including the golden caskets of past Dalai Lamas.

OUR BIKES

On a previous tour across the main Himalayan Range with Extreme Bike Tours the bike of choice was the Royal Enﬁeld Bullet – with its reversed gear and brake levers and upside-down gear box. For Tibet, however, it’s the Royal Enﬁeld Desert Storm: still a 500cc single,

but with conventionally positioned gear and brake levers; and which seems to have met with easier approval for local registration and entry into China.

ONTO THE TIBETAN PLATEAU

Despite Lhasa being something of a modern metropolis – quite contrary to what one might instinctively imagine – the ride out of Lhasa ahead of the morning rush was easy and pleasant following the Yarlung River with bright autumn yellows all round.

Soon enough we had to leave the river ﬂats and start the climb onto the main part of the plateau by scaling the ﬁrst pass of the trip: Khamba La at 4800m. There were some pleasant, tightish turns but not like the switchbacks on the Himalayan passes of India or Bhutan. The striking feature was the rapidity with which we reached the top of the pass. Then it became evident why: the Tibetan Plateau is higher on average than the highest pass in Bhutan. Lhasa is about 3700m; and the highest pass in Bhutan was 3800m.

With one exception (on the road to Everest Base Camp), despite the elevation of several passes over 5000m, there wasn’t the same sense of conquering them as there was in the Indian Himalayas. In fact, with a few, you might have easily missed the top of the pass were it not for the twisted array of prayer ﬂags ﬂuttering in the breeze.

Although Khamba La was reached almost imperceptibly, it was unmistakably the top of the pass if only for the spectacular view on the other side of the luminescent, blue-green Yamdrok Lake. At Karo La, the next pass, which appeared even more suddenly, a glacier hanging from the mountain top heralded the peak.

After a night in the small town of Gyantse (pron something like Jung-tse), we stopped by a vantage point in the centre of town to view the Dzong, a 14th century historical fort that has been fully restored. It was all but destroyed by the 1902-1903 British incursion into Tibet known as the “Younghusband Expedition”.

We then headed for Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city after Lhasa.

The centrepiece of Shigatse is the Tashilhunpo Monastery founded in 1447. It is one of the largest functioning monasteries in Tibet. It’s a huge complex spread along a hill side and consists of several golden-roofed chapels. Shigatse’s other notable feature is the imposing castle of the Shigatse Dzong. It’s a smaller version of the Potala Palace. It’s not open to the public so we had to settle of photos taken from the local market.

ACROSS THE HIGHEST PASS OF THE TRIP

We headed out of Shigatse across agricultural country until the side walls of the valley began to converge bringing an end to the wide plains. It wasn’t long before the road left the fertile valley and turned to follow a wide, mostly dry river, its only water a trickle winding its way in all directions across and along the sandy river bed. This was another valley whose imposing walls of rounded reddish rock dominated the view. When the river valley opened a little further downstream, the colours of the rock walls changed to greys and browns. Remember this is at some 3800m. It was all quite surreal.

One valley led to another until it was evident that the side walls of the valley were converging inexorably with no way out. This would necessitate a climb up the sides, winding back and forth until reaching the ﬁrst pass of that day, Simi La at 4500m. It didn’t seem all that far down the other side, suggesting that the plateau on the other side was much higher than the plateau from which we had climbed.

We wound our way along rivers, through valleys and up and around the bulging hills that brought us to the highest pass on the Friendship Highway between Lhasa and Kathmandu: Gyatso La at 5250m. We had some light rain on the way up and sleet ﬂoating around at the top. Unfortunately, cloud prevented seeing Mt Everest. This would have been our ﬁrst sighting of it.

MT EVEREST BASE CAMP

Mt Everest Base Camp is reached by turning off the main highway and leaving any semblance of sealed road for two days. In fact, most of the second day, there was at times precious little evidence of a road at all: just rock and rocks and sand.

Not long after starting our trek south on the Everest Base Camp road, we began the climb to Pang La at 5200m. Several sources attest to the fact that there are 42 switchbacks to negotiate to get to the top of the pass. I didn’t count them. I was too preoccupied with getting the bike round the seemingly endless turns where all the rubble and sand relentlessly gravitate to the apex. Pang La certainly left one with a feeling of conquest on reaching the top.

The view from Pang La is said to be spectacular providing a vista of ﬁve of the Eight Thousanders, the 14 peaks above 8000m. The dominant one would be Mt Everest. “Everest” is a British-bestowed name dating from the time of “British India.” Nobody at the time told the Tibetans that; and they still call it by the name they have presumably called it for generations long before the British had built their ﬁrst ship: Qomolangma (pron something like chew –moo- loong – ma). However, there was to be no panorama today; only thick white clouds, which at times gave tantalising glimpses of what lay behind them. Cho-Oyu, 6th highest, was the only peak willing to give a real hint of its true glory. After several “let’s give it another 20 minutes”, we cut our losses and continued our trek south.

Getting round thickly piled rocks and sand on apexes of switchbacks is no easier when you’re going down; and there were 54 of them before we entered the Rongbuk Valley with its high walls, sandy-bedded river and small, isolated Tibetan villages. The gravel road took us almost sneakily back up to around 5200m by the time we reached the “Qomolangma Base Camp” as the welcome signs announce it.

Just short of the base camp is Rongbuk Monastery. It looked tired and desolate,

lacking the sparkle and colour of other monasteries we saw. Adjacent to the monastery as an annex is a rectangular, stone, single storey building that provides accommodation and meals to travellers. We would come back to it for the night; but for now we rode another few kilometres to the ﬁrst of the Everest Base Camps.

“Everest Base Camp” on the Tibetan side can mean either of two places. One is a large area a few kilometres past the monastery consisting of several tented ‘hotels’ and restaurants organised in a large rectangle in the middle of which are 4x4s galore and small busses whose passengers are taking shelter for the night in the hotels. The other is the base camp for climbers 8km further up the valley and 200m higher. This is a hive of activity in the climbing season but at this time of year it’s simply an open, barren expanse.

We could ride only as far as the lower Base Camp. After that small buses take entry-paying tourists to the upper Base Camp. From there you seem to be unrealistically close to the highest

mountain in the world; and we got to appreciate that spectacle as the clouds graciously skirted across and around it, but leaving frequent openings long enough to feel overwhelmed by its might and grandeur. You couldn’t help but feel mesmerised trying to absorb the wonder: this is Everest – I pondered as I sat on the edge of a mound and let the reality seep into me, allowing my mind to use a name that had more familiarity to it than its “true” name of Qomolangma.

Next morning, having fought my way from under a doona and any number of thick blankets (all of which were necessary to keep warm in our totally unheated, bathroomless, stone-walled cell), a wander past the frost-covered bikes to the outside of the annex rectangle provided a stunning reward. Taking advantage of the early morning, dustless, chilled, clear air, Everest was revealing itself entirely, having cast aside all semblance of the modesty cloud cover might provide. The massive mountain opened up and beckoned one to pay homage.

THANK YOU, EVEREST!

With our ‘luck’ at the two passes from which we were supposed to see Mt Everest, I did wonder if we might have been cursed. But, no! We got to see, feel and live the might of Everest.

An early start from Everest Base Camp meant a very cold ride for about an hour before the day picked up warmth which eventually had me remove a few layers and change to summer gloves. But the day was a challenging one. We retraced our steps out through the Rongbuk Valley for about 10km where, according to the plan, we would turn off to the North West directly to Old Tingri. We certainly got off the road and followed one of innumerable but barely discernible tracks, as we had done on the way in the day before; I had thought then the reason was because, rough as they were, they were better than the road. It quickly became obvious that the tracks (I don’t think anyone necessarily followed the same track as the person ahead) were getting rougher and less discernible with every kilometre; and

seemed to be going in no clear direction. We eventually crossed the river (by bridge thankfully) indicating that we had by then diverted from the road along which we had come the day before.

But still there was no road as such; just a maze of minuscule wheel depressions in loose rocks and traces of previous traversings over solid but corrugated bed rock. The nature of the terrain and the complexity of vestiges left from previous vehicles demanded several thoughtful moments on the part of our lead rider as he desperately tried to search for some sign of familiarity that would steer him (and us) in the right direction.

The relief of freeing ourselves from the bone-jolting sea of rock waves and eddies was to be followed by more readily visible wheel tracks that deceptively camouﬂaged sand of varying viscosity and depth. Relentlessly the tracks took us across (or through) deep sand patches, loose stones, a couple of water crossings and through traditional villages.

We ﬁnally re-joined the Friendship Hwy at Old Tingri in agreement that we had

More Information

The Tibet Tour is operated by Extreme Bike Tours, owned and operated out of India by a Brit, Zander Combe, who has built up a strong cadre of Aussie clients. We were all Australian on this tour.

Contact Address: Extreme Bike Tours Pvt. Ltd, 718 Badem Waddo, Assagao, Bardez, Goa, 403509 India

Telephone: +91 96653 77344 | Skype: alexcombe

Web: http://extremebiketours.com

Email: info@extremebiketours.com

just had the most exciting and satisfying two days riding to Everest and back.

ACROSS THE BORDER TO NEPAL

Although at Old Tingri we were getting close to the border with Nepal, we still had a couple of passes to cross as we continued our ride across the high Tibetan Plateau. We were still at 4300m and would need to climb another 1000m to cross the high points of the passes. By the time we got to our next stop of Nyalam, we had already dropped to about 3800m. The road to Nyalam was mostly good condition bitumen –a merciful change from the previous two days.

Nyalam is a quaint town built on the steep valley wall. It was our last night in China, in Tibet and on the Tibetan Plateau. It used to be nicknamed ‘The Gate of Hell’ by the Nepali traders because the old trail between the Nepali border and Nyalam was so treacherous to negotiate. South of Nyalam the road drops abruptly through a deep gorge, descending 2000m over 40km.

Next morning, we were to tackle this gorge that had earned Nyalam its title. Apart from a short uphill ride to get out of town, we had an unending downhill run along almost perpendicular valley walls spotted with waterfalls across the valley and water ﬂows across the road. In contrast to the dry, barren rocky landscape we had been riding through, everything on this ﬁnal downhill run was lush green. It was a very pleasant but cautious ride through several wet and slippery corners.

The fast declining road leads to the twin, scruffy, border towns of Zhangmu (China) and Kodari (Nepal), bustling with tourists, traders and Nepali porters; both towns clinging to the sides of a precipitous ravine joined by the rattling bridge that serves as the border crossing.

Once across the border, we made our ﬁnal run into the wild, sprawling metropolis of greater Kathmandu, with its wall to wall trafﬁc of buses, trucks, cars, 4x4s and motorbikes; and with forever lingering memories of Tibet, the Tibetan Plateau and Mt Everest. 

CONTEMPLATING A VOLVO

TheThunder Rally has now had its 33rd running and the team from the DOC NSW pulled a beauty out of the hat!

The weather was perfect for swimming in the Sheeba Dam, or ﬁshing, or sitting in the shade with a cool drink.

On my way to the rally I had a couple of experiences I hope not to repeat.

As I returned to my bike after paying for the fuel, a ﬁne fellow on another bike squeezed himself and bike, between my machine and the petrol bowser! Then proceeded to dismount and heave it onto the centrestand. My bike was on the side stand and I had to stand it up and move off without hitting this ﬁne fellow’s machine. A moment’s patience and I would have been gone, leaving unobstructed access!

Later in the day, having had an uneventful ride, as I approached Nundle, I traversed a long sweeping bend to have a cruiser rider coming at me head on, on my side of the road. Fortunately he woke up before I was forced to seek refuge in the drain!

I am used to lack of attention and thought process from car drivers, but having to put up with this could force a chap into a Swedish car for his own safety!

Having arrived at the camp site and collected badge and sticker, I wandered about and found a very well set up Royal Enﬁeld with trailer. Glenn Motley from Armidale NSW uses the RE as a daily commuter and periodically ventures further aﬁeld. The plastic drum-based trailer came via ebay and includes an insulated compartment for cool drinks.

A 21 inch front wheel has been ﬁtted for improved dirt road handling as Glenn prefers to travel the back roads and avoid highways where possible with his combination.

Another beauty was a 1979 R100RS from the Richmond area, mileage unknown as it was described as being like grandfather’s Axe, several new handles and a couple of new heads but essentially original and in perfect condition.

As evening crept in, the Nundle Lions Club ﬁred up their catering van and fed the ravenous horde, and they repeated the process at breakfast the next morning. An excellent effort, helping to keep funds in the town for future use.

As dark o’clock rolled around, Aunty Mal started the awards and rafﬂe draws. Over $5000 in value was up for grabs with all funds in support of the clubs

charities, the spinal unit and the brain injury unit. Many tickets were sold prior to the rally and all winners will be notiﬁed by email or telephone.

Largest club attendance went to the Southern Cross Cruisers, all other awards were for longest distance on various conveyances.

LD American, 968km on a HD Nightrain

LD British, 598km on a Triumph Tiger, Andy Weekes

LD Club plate, 750km on a Ducati GT750, Murray Wilmot

LD Ducati, 2360km on a Ducati Monster, Yowie from Cairns

LD European, as above

And a stand out was Chris Crow with 1152km on the back of a BMW for LD Pillion.

Aunty Mal and the team were well pleased with 250 entrants to this year’s rally, which is more than the total number of people attending the last two rallies I visited, combined!

You don’t need a Ducati to attend a DOC NSW rally, you just need to ride a bike and like a good time, so make a note on the calendar for next October. 

HIGH ALPINE TOUR

EC May 28 - Jun

HS Jun 28 - Jul 05

HS Jul 19 - 26

HS Aug 08 - 15

HS Sep 05 - 12

EC Sep 23 - 30

EC = Economy, HS = High Season

HIGHLIGHTS

★ Munich

★ King Ludwig’s Castle

★ Passo di Stelvio

★ Dolomites

★ Grossglockner

★ optional day trip to Venice on the rest day

ROUTE: tough

7 to 9 h

AT A GLANCE

START/FINISH: Erding

NEAREST AIRPORT: Munich

DURATION: 8 days vacation, 6 riding days

ROUTE: Total distance 710 - 1000 miles

(1140 - 1600 km). Daily rides 70 - 190 miles (110 - 305 km). The entire route runs on good asphalt roads.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Comfortable middle-class hotels with Alpine ﬂair.

REST DAY: Klobenstein

8 DAYS VACATION

6 DAY RIDING ROUTE

Day 1 Arrival in Munich / Erding

Day 2 Erding ¨ Lienz

Day 3 Lienz ¨ Klobenstein

Day 4 Klobenstein

Day 5 Klobenstein ¨ Pontresina

Day 6 Pontresina ¨ Warth

Day 7 Warth ¨ Erding

Day 8 Departure from Munich / Erding

YOU CAN DO THIS

ONE WEEK IN UNZUD

THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN YOU MIGHT THINK

WORDS PETER COLWELL PHOTOS KATE COLWELL

With air fares across the Tasman so cheap, a week in New Zealand is totally practical.

My good mate in New Zealand who runs tours there, phoned up; “Hey, Pete, there’s a brand new 1200GS waterbus in Auckland that needs to come down to Christchurch - interested”?

Can a duck swim? We boarded one of Air New Zealand’s new Dreamliners, a tailwind got us there in 2h 30m. Caught a shuttle to the northern Auckland suburb of Takapuna, found a motel near the shop, ate at a Takapuna beach restaurant, and went to bed. Next morning was bright and sunny as I walked the short distance to the

shop. Twenty minutes later we were on our way on the smoothest two wheeled motorhome I’ve ever ridden.

I’ve had many trips around New Zealand but time and other destinations have not diminished its appeal one iota. It is truly fabulous, for a whole bunch of reasons, some of which are intangible.

Sure, the scenery is great, the roads superb, the natives friendly, costs reasonable, but there is much more to it than that. Hard to deﬁ ne, but it’s a combination of unbelievably fresh clean air so that you can see to the horizon without a hint of haze. It’s the reception you get in the little cafes and places on back roads. It’s the ambience, for want of a better word, that absolutely puts you in a special place, nirvana, heaven.

So we stopped for lunch in a small village café off the highway. Big mistake. One hour later after lengthy chats with various locals, we were on our way again, following a deserted road along the river, while the trafﬁ c heading south infested the main highway. The town of Te Kuiti looked like a good place to stay. So we went to the information centre to see what was available. Big mistake.

The info girls were on for a chat. Eventually we got away and settled on a motel high on a hill with a full glass wall million dollar view of the surrounding hills.

We had allowed ourselves two and a bit days to make the Wellington ferry, so our second day was a wander. We headed for the Mt Ruapehu volcano and Tongariro, where it had been snowing just before we arrived, the GS LED panel readout said the temp was 4.5 degrees. A few years ago the same dial on a GS in Oklahoma read 44 degrees. What a world we live in. But with good gear and heated grips, we were very comfortable. Lunch was a leisurely affair in the café of the rather grand Chateau Tongariro Hotel.

Rain threatened but ﬁ zzled out as we made our way down the very bendy Highway 4 to Wanganui.

Little trafﬁ c, superb road surface,

and just the right number of curves and bends. We crossed the bridge into Wanganui and found a motel by the river. An easy walk downtown for tea ﬁ nished up a magic day.

We had booked an evening ferry from Wellington, to make the most use of the day. Only a few hours away, and all day to do it, so we stopped for a leisurely breakfast at the town of Bulls. Big mistake, our waitress was a biker. While there we got a message that our ferry had been delayed until late. That was our cue to head north again, up highway 3 and then cross country on the most amazing back road, sealed but narrow and very windy. Initially I missed the turn and stopped for a minute to check the map. As always happens in New Zealand, instantly a local - and his dog - were there to advise us.

To ﬁ ll in more time we revisited the huge Southward auto museum, which houses a variety of vehicles, some worth a million dollars or more. Then we left the busy Wellington highway and hopped over the Paikakariki Hill road. One minute we’re on the busy highway, seconds later we are far above the highway looking down on the trafﬁ c as though from an aeroplane. That road is just incredible by any standard.

We easily followed the signs to the Picton ferry terminal, to hurry up and wait for our ferry. Loading was painless and simply a matter of doing what you’re told. Of course there were quite a few bikes on the ferry, and one rider told us he had been a master of one ferry, and now drives boats that service the off-shore oil rigs in Australia. You meet the most interesting people.

We had pre-booked our motel in Picton, but it was midnight by the time we got there. No problem , a large sign directed us to our room where the light was left on for us. Key inside. A nice touch that would never happen anywhere else in the world. Without any pre-arrangements.

Saturday morning the motel car park was like a race car pit area - it was full

of rally cars preparing for an event. Cars in the air with their underwear showing, engines being tested, the only thing missing was the smell of Castrol R.

The compulsory option out of Picton is the massively bendy road that hugs the Marlborough Sounds. Deserted and spectacular. We stopped for breakfast in the small town of Havelock, big mistake.

Another local biker pulled up on his Triumph Tiger. With his wife, out for a weekend ride. Half an hour later were on our way through the green pine forests to Nelson.

We did not delay in Nelson, having stayed there many times before. The west coast beckoned and one of my favourite roads in New Zealand, the Buller Gorge road to Westport. It was perfect, bright sun, no wind, by the dramatic Buller river. That road has to be one of the world’s best for a fast bike ride. A quick refuel in Westport (4.9l/100km) and then south to the Punakaiki Tavern cabins for the night. A walk along the beach was a perfect end to a perfect day.

We left early to cross the South Island via Arthurs Pass. Once again the Pass divided the weather from cool and cloudy to warm sunshine in a few kilometres over the top. The fast run down sweeping Porters Pass took us on to the Canterbury Plains for the last leg in to Christchurch.

The new GS? I seriously could not fault it in any way. It is ultra smooth, gear changes can be made with not a sound except a change in engine note. Its strong in any gear. Totally sure-footed. Its only ‘problem’ is that I like light weight, and it is a bit portly at low speed for anyone who tips the scales at less than 70 kg.

Next day, back on the plane and home. One delightful week, 1700 fantastic kilometres, no reservations at all.

DO IT!

Tip: For the best airfares, get the Air New Zealand iphone app, short term specials all the time.  www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au

Aftersix months on the road with my trusty Postie Bike Mo, I had begun to get into the groove of long distance touring. Mo had become as predictable as any long-term travel partner and I could easily tell when he was in a bad mood. Like most men, as long as he was kept lubricated he was happy enough and with some special attention at regular intervals he was turning out to be the perfect companion: low maintenance and reliable.

Darwin had changed considerably since my last visit in 2007 – it had “grown up”. It had lost its small town persona and high rises were popping up everywhere. It still possessed all its charm and laidback approach to life – particularly evident at the Mindil Markets where street performers and hippies still rule. The WWII museum has a stunning presentation of the bombing of Darwin and the Cyclone Tracey exhibition can be found at the Darwin Museum along with the taxidermied body of Sweetheart, the 5 metre long crocodile who loved to terrorise ﬁshermen by tipping them out of their dinghies. The Deckchair Cinema was also a highlight – watching the sun set over the water and the moon rise behind the big screen, relaxing in the warm evening, reclined in a canvas deckchair. Pure bliss!

Heading into the bush once more, Litchﬁeld National Park did not disappoint. I avoided the tourist laden Florence Falls and camped at the divine Buley Rockhole where caravans are banned.

The mozzies in the Top End are something else. You can throw away the pathetic Aerogard and Rid and simply immerse yourself in a 44 gallon drum of DDT. Clothes make no difference whatsoever, they just bite straight through denim! The most vulnerable time is when dropping your daks to use the longdrop toilet. A bare, ripe, pink dairie aire is as good as an invitation to a smorgasbord. At least they don’t sit on your food as you are trying to

shovel it into your mouth – unlike the ﬂies.

Back through Katherine and then west crossing the Victoria River and into cattle country, I stayed at the lovely Timber Creek campground before

pushing on to cross unfortunately have Perth

the WA border the next day. In Kununurra I was reunited with my friend Narelle, with whom I was arrested 31 years ago protesting the Franklin Dam in Tasmania. (In the ﬁrst episode of this journey I revisited the “scene of the crime” by taking a sailing boat trip up the Gordon River to the police compound where we were held in custody.)

After a brief detour up to Wyndham to get a photo with the Big Crocodile, I looked longingly down the road as I

passed the sign saying “Gibb River Road”. I would love to explore the Kimberley area and Mitchell Plateau thoroughly but unfortunately the Pentecost River is too high for Mo to cross. I also have a three week deadline to be back in Perth so the next 4000kms will be a bit rushed.

Brock and Wendy and hear their

Stopping overnight at Larrawa Station, it was a delight to meet Brock and Wendy and hear their interesting tales of life in the true Outback on a working cattle station. The politics of the Kimberley are a mixture of the needs of the tourists, the cattlemen, the indigenous population and the mining industry. Never a dull moment!

Like Darwin, Broome had changed signiﬁcantly – catering largely to the tourist dollar. Here I met one of the local characters, Ross, who owns eight postie bikes - all restored and painted in different colours. I also caught up with Ben and Adam who were doing a charity run on posties from Perth

to Darwin in just 11 days. After the obligatory Cable Beach sunset, I pointed Mo south once more.

Passing through Port Hedland and avoiding the ten thousand road-trains I enjoyed the amazing hospitality of the Karratha Bikers and their incredible clubhouse. I was not impressed with Coral Bay but told later that I should have stopped at Ningaloo Reef instead. I loved Shark Bay with a passion and ended up staying longer than intended at Monkey Mia. It was deserted and tranquil and perhaps my last chance for peace before my return to the big smoke.

I bumped into the Ulysses Odyssey in Carnarvon, with about 40 riders from all over WA, and became a guest of one couple when I passed through Geraldton later in the week. I detoured to visit royalty at the Hutt River Province and learned all about their history and the technicalities of seceding from Australia.

And finally, to end the first half of this wonderful sojourn around this great country, in the true spirit of generosity, Mo and I were adopted straight off the beach in Jurien Bay by the gorgeous Veronica, a cattle station cook originally from Northern Ireland; taken home, fed and given a bed for the night. The hospitality extended by strangers who selflessly embrace the stray traveller, never ceases to amaze me. It is the most rewarding aspect of travelling.

And if you are wondering why I am naked at the Pinnacles, you’ll have to read my blog www.postienotes.com.au 

STURGIS BIKE WEEK

75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Guided Tour • 30 July - 12 August , 2015

It’s not just Bike Week! Meet us in Las Vegas and spend twelve days riding through some of the most spectacular scenery in the American West Feel the wind in your face and the steady rumble of your iron horse beneath you Each day the thunder builds, until you join over 500,000 of your new friends in Sturgis Don’t miss the biggest and best Bike Week ever - space is lim

Route 66 Guided Tours

5 - 20 June, 2015 / 14 Ride Days 16 Oct . - 3 Nov. 2015 / 17 Ride Days

On Route 66, the magic is in the stops, the local history and the folks you'll meet along the way Immerse yourself in a view of America that’s not much changed since the last century The June Tour is nearly filleddon’t get left behind!

Guided Tours • The best "no w

Small groups, relaxed style and great roads every day Includes motorcycle hire, fuel, lodging, many meals, chase vehicle and an experienced staff

Self-Guided Tours • Your adventure, built on our exper ience Road Trip Auto Tours • For non-r iding Family & Fr iends Motor cycle Hir e • Competitive rates, round tr ip or one-way

Enhanced Motorcycle Travel Since 2002 Visit our website or email skip@gamct com to lear n more about us Gr

Tour leader “Skip” Schippers, somewhere out west –where we can join him.

COME ALONG ON MY TOUR

It’s taken me a while, but I’ve ﬁnally found almost the right tour among the many that are advertised in MOTORCYCLIST.

Almost the right for what? For inviting you, our readers, along. Why almost? Because with the expert help of Steven “Skip” Schippers of Great American Motorcycle Touring I was able to tweak the tour so that it covered pretty much exactly the roads I wanted.

If you’ve been reading my stories, you

have probably realised how much I enjoy touring the western United States. Now I can show you why. On my visits I’ve found some special places, and I really like the idea of sharing them with you directly, not just on paper.

The tour that offered the best opportunity to do that is Great American Motorcycle Touring’s Best of the West, a 16 day tour with 14 riding days from LA to LA by way of some of the American West’s most spectacular roads.

HIGH AND LOW

Skip has pointed out an interesting aspect of this tour – you get to see both the lowest and the highest places in the US. The highest is Mount Whitney at 4421m, while the lowest is Las Vegas… no, just kidding, Death Valley at 86m below sea level. The other milestones along the way include well-known attractions like

the Paciﬁc Coast, one of the most iconic stretches of Route 66, and Monument Valley, plus national parks like Death Valley Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Zion. All linked by superb roads in weather that should be wonderful – although I obviously can’t guarantee that. Cost is very reasonable, ranging from $5,995 per person for two people sharing one bike and one room to $7,195 per person and a bike sharing a room with someone else and $8,995 per person with a bike and a single room. Cost of air fares is not included, and all costs are quoted in US dollars. Get some now!

Price includes Harley-Davidson rental; you get a ﬁrst and second choice of model. Speciﬁc BMW and Honda models may be available at an additional cost of $40 per day. Mention my name when you book and you’ll get a discount of $300 per motorcycle. Okay, I realise that you’ll have to put up with me on the tour. But nothing’s perfect…

NUTS AND BOLTS

You’ll need to arrive in LA on or before 15th August (by 2:00 PM) and you can plan to leave anytime on or after the 30th. Extra hotel days before or after

can be arranged. Absolute deadline for booking is the 15th of June, but I would obviously suggest you get in before that; the maximum number of participants is 20. Members of the Bear Army are especially welcome, and will have the opportunity to share a pretour special evening with the grumpy old bugger – hey, who’s writing this?! – on the evening of the 14th at his favourite Tex-Mex restaurant, the Baja Cantina.

For more information and bookings, please email Skip at skip@gamct. com, and copy me in at thebear@ ausmotorcyclist.com.au

GET THE LOOK…

OUT OF THE BOX

WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS THE BEAR

If heritage and staying true to form are what motorcycles are all about, then no company has this down pat better than Royal Enfield. The company’s roots date back to the 19th century, and its Bullet - whose engine that of the flash new looking Continental GT is based upon, was first produced in 1933. That (technically) makes the Bullet the oldest motorcycle in the world in continuous production. In 1967, the original Royal Enfield shut its plant in Redditch, England. By then, its subsidiary in India had already been producing fourstroke Bullets for years, for use not only by the Indian Police and military, but for upscale civilians (like you and me) as well.

In India, where there are millions of 125 and 250cc bikes providing transportation for 1.2 billion people, the Bullet in 350 and 500cc sizes is an aspirational motorcycle.

The rise of the Indian middle class has driven demand for its bikes through the roof lately, says Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director and CEO of Eicher Motors Ltd., Royal Enfield’s parent company. In 2010, Lal says, Royal Enfield sold 50,000 motorcycles. By 2012, the number had doubled to 100,000. This led the company to build a new state-of-the-art factory near Madras, which just came on line in April. This Oragadam plant has a production capacity of 175,000 bikes and gives Royal Enfield the ability to scale up to 500,000 per year. And just recently, Royal Enfield purchased a 50 acre plot at Vallam Vadakal near Chennai to set up another brand new plant, which is claimed to see production hit upwards of 600,000 units per year!

With all that going on, it seemed like a good time to come out with a new Royal

Enﬁeld – the Continental GT, mostly new and carrying over no running gear from the original Bullet. With its classic looks the Continental GT has proved to be a huge success worldwide.

Bolted in four places into the Continental GT’s Harris Performance designed tubular steel frame is the same 535cc unit that powers the EFI Bullet single, mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The big single has a distinct beat and draws plenty of onlookers when you ride it. Hit the electric starter (or kick the kickstarter) and the air-cooled, fuelinjected thumper rumbles to life. Torque down around 2000 to 3000 rpm is good, but this is not a big go-fast machine, it’s about the appeal of a true classic bike. When the Conti GT is parked it brings the most onlookers. The beautiful bodywork, courtesy of Xenophya Design is ﬁnished well in bright red.

The list of quality components doesn’t

stop there. You have brakes by Brembo which work well, you get alloy Excel rims with fat spokes, Paioli rear adjustable shocks and 41mm fork tubes. Of course this is all intended to ﬁt into the right “café racer” design style.

Nicely compliant suspension will feel just about right for most riders; the seat is thick and comfy if pretty narrow; the rear of the tank is a good shape; and the clip-ons are mounted on top of the triple-clamps so you’re left with a near-standard type riding position.

There are a number of accessories available for the Conti GT. Our

particular bike had a different tail light and “GT” decals on the side covers. You can also get bar end mirrors, a dual seat and of course exhausts to release a louder beat.

The Continental GT is a hugely significant motorcycle for the Royal Enfield brand. You could customise it further, but it has the right look out of the box for most. It is not surprising that the Continental GT’s release has seen Royal Enfield sales increase enormously. I bet there’ll be more tasty models coming out of the Royal Enfield plant very shortly – especially now that they have employed gun bike designer Pierre Terblanche. 

SPECS

ROYAL ENFIELD CONTINENTAL GT

PRICE: $8695 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 6000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Air-cooled single cylinder, 4-stroke, OHV

BORE x STROKE: 87 x 90mm

DISPLACEMENT: 535cc

COMPRESSION: 8.5:1

POWER: 21.4kW @ 5100rpm

TORQUE: 44Nm @ 4000rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable, travel 110mm.

Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload, travel 80mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 800mm, weight 184kg (wet), fuel capacity 13.5 litres, wheelbase 1360mm

TYRES: Front, 100/90/18. Rear, 130/70/18

FRAME:Tubular steel cradle

BRAKES: Front, single 300mm disc with twin-piston caliper. Rear, 240mm disc, single-piston caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: N/A

THEORETICAL RANGE: N/A

COLOURS: GT Red

VERDICT: ATTENTION SEEKER

“BRRM BRRM BRAAAP”

BraaapMotorcycles and Sol Invictus Motorcycle Co., in partnership, have turned out the Mercury. A motorcycle that is true to the hipster culture of café racers and a bike that can be customised easily to make it your own. We took one for a ride to see what the Braaap Mercury is all about.

I went to Gasoline Motor Co., who were then in Darlinghurst, NSW and have since moved shop to Alexandria, (www. gasoline.com.au). They had a brand spanking new Mercury in shiny red for me to ride.

As on most zero kilometre motorcycles, the engine was a bit tight to start off with and I was thinking this was a 125cc rather than the 250cc it actually is. The engine quickly loosened up after 10 or so kilometres and the true power levels started to be released, and by the end of my ride on the Mercury I was quite happy with the amount of power it has –ideal for the café racer (inner city) scene. If you want more power, you can get

the bike upgraded to a 450cc kit – now that would be fun!

The Mercury has a reinforced frame and handling is extremely light. Any experience level of rider will feel at ease with a motorcycle this easy to ride. The suspension itself is very soft, but once again for inner city speeds (up to 60km/h) it is ﬁne.

The braking is adequate at lower speeds, but once you get up over 60km/h it does lack a bit of power. This is probably not going to be a big deal in the overall scheme of things.

Braaap is so conﬁdent in the product, that the Mercury is offered with a lifetime warranty (for $250) - the only motorcycle manufacturer to do this. Covering all parts, including moving parts, it means that you can have that extra bit of conﬁdence and for a bike price of $4249 (+orc), that is a lot of added value for not so much moolah. If you don’t want to take the lifetime warranty, you of course get a standard

warranty, and the total purchase price is $3999 (+orc).

The riding position is neutral with a just forward, nicely weighted bar position for your hands. It is a relatively small motorcycle, but it seems to me that will ﬁt almost all size riders. I was even okay at my giraffe 195cm height!

What we consider to be a big part of buying the Mercury (for many riders) are the personalisation kits, which include aftermarket handlebars, seats, tanks and pipes for those who like to customise their ride and want that bit of individuality in their motorcycle. If you check out the Braaap website (www. braaapmotorcycles.com) you’ll see a Mercury Tracker, which not only looks great, but would be fairly easy to create from the standard Mercury.

The Braaap Mercury looks nice and is a bit of fun to ride. As a base to customise into just how you’d like a cafe racer to look, it’s hard to go past for the price. 

SPECS

BRAAAP MERCURY

PRICE: $3999 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY: Lifetime warranty ($250 extra)

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 6000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Air-cooled single cylinder, 4-stroke, SOHC

BORE x STROKE: N/A

DISPLACEMENT: 230cc

COMPRESSION: 9.0:1

POWER: 12kW @ 7500rpm

TORQUE: 17Nm @ 6000rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain ﬁnal drive

SUSPENSION: Front, inverted fork, non-adjustable. Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 760mm, weight 115kg (wet), fuel capacity 12 litres, wheelbase 1255mm

TYRES: Front, 110/70/17. Rear, 130/70/17

FRAME:Tubular steel

BRAKES: Front, single disc with twin-piston caliper. Rear, disc with single-piston caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: N/A

THEORETICAL RANGE: N/A

COLOURS: Red, Gloss

Black, Matt Black

VERDICT: START RIGHT HERE

JUST BETWEEN US

MINISTER OF TRANSPORT – PRESS RELEASE BY KEITH BOSLER

The Minister for Transport, Keith Bosler, is pleased to announce a revolutionary parking initiative which will increase parking for all important road users.

“Contrary to popular opinion, we here at the Ministry always strive to balance the needs of all road users,” Mr Bosler said. “Thankfully a system has evolved that is fair to all those concerned. It operates through the medium of lobby groups, without whom we might never have been elected. And don’t think it’s easy being lobbied all the time, why there are only so many expensive dinners, weddings and brown paper bags a man can take. Apparently.

“In any case, the tragic issue of a lack of public parking in both urban and rural areas has come to light, where cars and trucks are simply unable to ﬁ nd enough spaces, especially with so many being taken by vulnerable road user groups, such as motorcycles.

“Clearly this is unfair to the larger road users, who are quite capable of carrying signiﬁ cantly more passengers than a motorcycle, whether they chose to or not. Yet, motorcycle parking seems to be proliferating and if I do say, there is nothing more unsightly than seeing sixty or so motorcycles parked closely together. What a perfectly good waste of four or ﬁ ve car spaces.

“Now I know parking is generally a local council thing and they may have chosen in the past to try and encourage public transport or less environmental damage or better ﬂ owing trafﬁ c, but those matters are not really relevant to lobbyists. So, we have assumed the responsibility and have another brilliant plan for you.

“We will be removing half the existing motorcycle spaces and making them available to my friends, er correct that to ‘cars and trucks’. But, before you get on your high horse, we will however allow you to double stack motorcycles on the remaining spaces. By ‘ allow’ we mean ‘require’.

“Ironically, the process of double stacking may in fact require a high horse so we have made available, for a fee (payable to the Ministry), the use of speciﬁ cally designed fork-lifts to assist you. Well, I say fork-lifts but at present it’s only one, albeit the driver is very good at his job. I know this as he is my cousin.

“So, in effect more parking spaces and everyone who has a powerful lobby group is happy. Cheers, I’m off to lunch!” 

Seeing the nny side

Here are just a few photos that I couldn’t ﬁt in anywhere else, mainly because they – or the captions, anyway – are silly. But that should be no surprise… PT

EICMA MOTORCYCLE SHOW

4. I swear I know nothing about this. Nothing. 5. Oh come now, it can’t be that bad… 1 2 3 4 5

Frank

said that every country needed an airline and a beer. Now even the bikes have beers – but no airline as yet.

1. Two blondes and one scooter. There’ll be tears before bedtime.

2. Advance viewing of KTM’s next dual purpose model. Ready to race.

Zappa

5. “I swear there are some pieces missing in this Ikea Motorcycle kit.”

6. “Our chief designer? Mr Barney Rubble.”

7. Two blondes and one battery. This will not end well.

We’ve lined up some of our favorite places, thrown in some ideas (and surprises!) from Peter “The Bear” Thoeming, Editor of Australian Motorcyclist and together we’ve created a once-in-a-lifetime riding experience that’s tough to beatanywhere on earth - and you’re invited to join us!

Our adventure starts and ends in Los Angeles and includes Grand Canyon, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks You’ll see the lowest AND the highest elevations in the US – 282’ (86m) below sea level in Death Valley to 14,505' (4,421 m) at Mt. Whitney. Plus Monument Valley, Las Vegas, Route 66, the Pacific Coast and more

Fourteen days of riding and memories to last a lifetime!

20 bikes maximum Must reserve by 15 June, 2015

Mention “The Bear” on your reservation form and save $300 per motorcyle

Full Details at http://gamct com/bestofthewest html

The

ﬁrst impression you get when arriving at Hebel on the back road from Goodooga is that some folks ‘round here have guns - big guns. The sign on the border signals more the end of the sand, the dirt and the broken grey oil that passes for the road than the differentiation between two states. It also has more holes in it than a Tony Abbott election promise. But where Abbott’s fancies feature bullet points, the sign is a sieve of bullet holes or rather shotgun craters.

I’d been at the southern end of the goat track on a mission for my late father whose best mate during his time in POW camp had been someone we all only ever knew as, “Goodooga Bert”.

When Bert had left home and headed to the front, Goodooga must’ve been truly something; shops, and cinema, a theatre, a butcher, a couple of pubs, a local

fabric - a culture. Today there’s just a single pub, no shops, and the cemetery has three times the population of the town.

The locals in the pub were no more illuminating about Bert than the inmates of the graveyard would’ve been, so I headed for the border, the Hebel Pub and a bloke I’d partied with, the last time I was there a year or so back. I’d decided then that this deserved to be a PotM but the next 24 hours were to mold that idea!

The cops had assured me the surface was hard packed and smooth. They lied. It was endless hourglass powder, too hot to touch under the 48ºC heat. It was hard going but “Lily”, my new Tiger 800 XC got me through to the white aggregate at the border with its target sign, and the easy 7km into one of the most iconic pubs in Australia.

No-one who has any interest whatsoever in outback or even bush pubs hasn’t seen the Hebel Pub, either in the corrugated

ﬂesh or in pictures. It sits alone on the cover of the most beautiful coffee table book on this country’s bush hostelries; it usually adorns the front page of both gdaypubs.com.au and publocation.com. au and it’s featured in every book on the subject that I’ve ever read.

Quite simply this is the embodiment of an outback Australian pub.

I pulled up out front in the afternoon shadow, went inside, grabbed a coldie from Craig the owner and settled outside. Pretty soon the stillness was broken by a car’s engine and my mate jumped out of one of his mate’s utes. He’s er, “acquainted” with the cops from up at Dirranbandi and no longer has the option of driving.

We sat outside and talked of the awesomeness of Souths’ victory in the NRL Grand Final, as utes and vans and 4WD’s ﬁltered in and the pub began to ﬁll.

Hebel’s total population is just 34 folks but chuck in the surrounding farms and

“IN THIS TOWN OF 34, I’VE FOUND A FULLY QUALIFIED DUCATI MECHANIC, AN EX FLAT TRACK AND CIRCUIT RACER WITH A PROFESSIONALLY EQUPPIED WORKSHOP BACK AT HIS FARM 7KM OUT OF TOWN”

this swells to well over, well, maybe 60! This Friday night, seemed most of them were here.

All the blokes ride Ag bikes and they’d not seen a Tiger XC so before soon there was a gaggle around it until, kneeling beside it Mick called me over with the news there was a pretty serious fuel leak from under the tank.

Oh great! I’m in a ﬂyspeck town in the middle of “Nowhereistan”, it’s going to be close to 50ºC tomorrow and my bike’s likely to ignite if I touch the ignition button!

And then the call goes out for “Greg”!

“He’s got to be here somewhere! He’s always here on Fridays!”

Turns out Greg was in the dunny when the call went out but soon he’s under the bike searching for the leak. And he knows what he’s searching for. In this town of 34, I’ve found a fully qualiﬁed Ducati mechanic, an ex ﬂat track and circuit racer with a professionally equipped workshop back

at his farm 7km out of town.

“Bring it around at 8 in the morning and I’ll ﬁx it for you”, he tells me, adding directions to his farm.

Anyone wanna give me odds of that?

Anyone wanna try to explain how 3% of the population of this town are qualiﬁed motorcycle mechanics? You can’t make this stuff up!

The next morning it took Greg just on two hours to ﬁrstly change my dirt tyres back to roadies and then strip this bike he’d never seen before, remove the tank, locate the faulty O-rings, re-seat them and reassemble the whole thing again. (Oh, and then give me a ridiculously cheap bill for his trouble.)

Once ﬁxed I went back into town to ﬁll up but the bowsers at the pub were too hot to function, and for a minute or so I felt stranded yet again. Another local whom I won’t identify saw my plight and told me he and his wife always had a 10 litre tank in his garage. Yes he’d help me and no he wouldn’t take any

payment for it. Thanks Big Fella!

As the fuel gurgled in, I ﬁgured, bugger it, this shouldn’t be the Pub of the Month. No! This should be an entire Town of the Month! Around 10% of the population had done me favours. In Sydney that would equate to 200,000 going out of their way to help…hmm that’s not going to happen!

The Hebel Hotel is one of those places where everyone has a story but not everyone has a surname. Some of the stories may be long and many are deﬁnitely tall and as I sit in the fading light and listen to them talk I think of Henry Lawson’s lines in his essay on nearby Hungerford:

“…the man who told me might have been a liar. Another man said he was a liar, but then he might have been a liar himself – a third person said he was one. I heard there was a ﬁght over it, but the man who told me about the ﬁght might not have been telling the truth.”

Bar stories are never about facts, much more important to be entertaining!

Oh, and of course the regulars have their stools and seats. When you ﬁrst pull up and are about to sit your sore arse down, check with owners, Craig or Karen that you’re not about to plonk on the perch of any local who’s due in shortly!

They’ve had the pub, their ﬁrst, for just on 18 months and are putting all they can into improving the services. Craig cooks up a feed on Friday nights but is planning on expanding this to at least a couple more nights soon.

Not to worry if you arrive hungry on any other day. Across the road Barb and Ralph run the beautifully restored General Store and Restaurant which, fully licensed, does meals from 6.30am til 8.30pm every day. From the big breakfasts to the stir fries, Thai curries and

steaks, it’s all home cooked goodness from a couple of good people. And the pastries are damn ﬁne too!

The pub’s accommodation is currently in three air-conditioned dongas across the road. It’s a great idea as it maintains the aesthetic integrity of the pub. Soon there’ll be space out the back to throw your swag but, especially if you’re travelling with your life partner, this might be a good time to lob the $75 for the air-con because it’s either hot here or cold, rarely just mildly pleasant. Just be ready for the sulphur taste ‘n’ smell of the artesian shower water.

Our room was spotless and the beds very comfortable. The air-con was quieter than most and there was all the ingredients for a morning brew. I wasn’t woken by any trafﬁc noise.

The Hebel Pub on its own rated 78 points on our scale but when combined with the General Store’s restaurant and other facilities the

town went well into 4 helmet gold territory.

The cold hard numbers show a value index of just over 100 but this low number belies the unique ﬂavour and the ensuites of the dongas.

The beer value index represented by the price of a schooner of XXXX Gold is $5.

The combination of the friendliness of the locals and the sheer character of the pub, make Hebel a “must visit” place, a destination in its own right and deﬁnitely a “drop-in” for any rider on the Castlereagh Highway between Walgett and St George. It’s a worthy ﬁrst ever Town of the Month!

Hebel General Store: 07 4625 0920

(Ask for Barb or Ralph)

Hebel Hotel: 07 4625 0923

(Craig and Karen)

For a detailed review and hyperlinks to all relevant places please see the Accom Review section at www.motorbikenation.com. 

LEARN TO USE YOUR CAMERA WHILE YOU

RIDE WITH COLIN

For

all of you who want to improve your photography, we are excited to announce the ﬁrst of what we hope will be a regular series of PPPP rides.

The Ps stand for, in no particular order: Pies, Pubs, Pics and (road) Porn and the rides will feature three days of riding great roads, scouring the country for the best Pies, stopping at proven Motorcycle Friendly Pubs, learning how to take great night Pics and shots of Road Porn.

AMM’s first PPPP Ride will be organised and led by Colin Whelan from March 27th to 29th and will begin with lunch at Piefection at Mt Gravatt on the Friday, followed by visits (in the name of research!!) to Muzza’s Pies at Coorparoo, and the bakeries at Samford and Dayboro before a stop at the Woodford Pub and finally the first of two nights at the Cooyar Hotel.

On Saturday morning we’ll breakfast up at the fabulous Blackbutt Pie Shop, followed by a photography lesson and then a ride through the Bunya Mountains to lunch at the Quinalow Pub.

On Saturday night we’ll be out photographing the Milky Way and star trails (clouds permitting)

Sunday’ll see us having breakfast at the Yarraman Pie shop after a photography debrief before sampling more pies at three more bakeries as we ride back to Brisbane via Crows Nest, Esk and Ferndale.

This is a test run so it’s a freebie but numbers are strictly limited to 20. To register your interest and get more details, please email: colin@motorbikenation.com 

TWO IN ONE

I HEAR BEEMERS, MANY BEEMERS WORDS/PHOTOS THE BEAR

IthinkI may just perhaps have made a NewBestFriend. The NBF in question is Klaus Stubenböck, the owner and host of the Hotel Enzian in Landeck, Austria. Klaus has an offer that I can barely resist even as I type this. But let us, as they say, go back to the beginning…

I don’t know if you’re aware of the amount of interest in motorcyclists among European hotels and guest houses. There are at least three large cooperatives plus endless individual hotels that cater mainly to riders. Most of their advertising is online, which can make it a bit difﬁcult to sort out the chaff from the grain – but some of them are smart enough to go for direct contact by attending bike shows. Klaus was at both the Cologne and

Milan shows this year, promoting his hotel in the mountains of Austria. He is so serious about attracting motorcyclists that every summer he keeps a test ﬂeet of 15 to 20 of the latest BMWs at the hotel. These are available for one or two days for a charge from 69 Euros, including insurance. You can also rent one of Klaus’ own R 1200 GSs. It’s probably best to book the bike you want – by email to Susanne at info@ hotel-enzian.com.

Check the availability dates and details on the website www.hotel-enzian.com; I just don’t have room to list them all here. But I do want to mention that Klaus will actually pick you up from Munich (Franz Josef Strauss) airport, although that seems a bit expensive to me. Better to just take a taxi (60

Euros) to the BMW Motorcycle Centre in Munich-Freimann and pick up your reserved bike there, rather than at the hotel.

The amazing thing is that you can swap bikes every couple of days (subject to availability) so you can test ride pretty much any current BMW model that has piqued your interest , over the course of a week or so – depending on how many bikes you’re interested in. Just try to book them ahead. And all this in one of the loveliest parts of the Alps, with most of the major passes including the Stelvio in easy reach. Check out Landeck on Google Maps to get an idea of the range of possibilities.

“We have been working with BMW for eight years,” says Klaus, “Hotel Enzian is renowned for the warm and

informal atmosphere and it will spoil you with the fantastic choice of culinary delights.” Best take a riding suit with expansion panels, then. “Landeck is one of the best starting points for your biking trip.”

Now I haven’t been to the Hotel Enzian; I’ve only spoken to my NBF, but I have stayed in other hotels in the general area and I don’t imagine the Enzian is radically different. These places are terriﬁc, with lots of route recommendations and even dedicated motorcycle workshops. The Enzian has its own workshop, and you can even book new tyres ahead of time if you’re going on your own bike and need rubber.

All right; this is an outstanding service. I know that a lot of us (sadly

including myself) probably can’t afford either the money or the time (or both) to take advantage of it. So here’s the challenge: how about someone in Australia picking up the idea and running with it? Maybe in the Snowy Mountains (the Enzian in a ski hotel in winter) or the Victorian Alps?

In the meantime I think Klaus’ offer will be very hard to resist for anyone interested in BMWs who ﬁnds him or herself in, or can get to, southern Germany, Austria or Switzerland in summer. The telephone number is +43 (0)5442 62066; address is Hotel Enzian, Adamhofgasse 6, A-6500 Landeck. Maybe I can arrange to take a look at this after all. What am I doing next year, again? And what will Mrs Bear think of the idea?

HO HO MOHO!

Justto give you an idea of the kind of accommodation available in the Alps, and the services you can expect, try www.moho.info . This hotel association, full name Moho Motorrad Hotels, stretches over four countries – Austria, Italy, Germany and Switzerland – and has some 34 members in the Alps. Typically the bike season is from May to midOctober, and you can expect to pay a very reasonable 40 to 50 Euros per person in a twin or double room. 

1. All this, and a daily choice of BMWs as well.

2. Now let’s see –right, then left, then right…

AIRFLOW, PREPERATION AND CONTROL

WE’VE BEEN BUSY THIS MONTH!

YAMAHA MT-07

FLY SCREEN PRICE - $199.58

The front of the MT-07 around the top of the headlight/instrument panel really looks a bit bare, so fitting the genuine Yamaha flyscreen was a no brainer. I opted for the grey (tinted) version, (it’s also available in black) and it has given the MT-07 a more finished, classier appeal.

Fitment took around twenty minutes and the screen comes with easy to read instructions.

We’ve had a few tests bikes in at the Bear Cave lately so not many more kilometres have been added to the 450km we’d done last month. It is now up to 656km and I hope to get out for a decent blast on it shortly to get it up to the 1000km mark and in for its ﬁrst service. In the mean time I have continued to ﬁt more and more accessories to this sweet motorcycle, and you can read all about that in coming issues. SW

Harley-Davidson XL1200 ‘72’ TREATMENT TIME

The Bear’s H-D 72 is getting prepared for the full Küryakyn treatment. Look for loads of chrome and custom bits and pieces. The lovely orange hard candy paintwork is going to change as well, but ﬁrst, a set of wonderful Ikon rear shocks have been ﬁtted and The Bear will give you a rundown on how they transformed the 72, next issue. SW

DAMP IT

Keeping the Yamaha Bolt powering our outﬁt to its original appearance - and not ﬁtting leading link forks - and having a super light sidecar, resulted in the steering being quite violent, in a tank slapper kind of

way. Other than fitting leading link forks, the only other way to reduce the amount of force through the steering was to fit a steering damper. We purchased one of the new Ural adjustable ones from Jon Taylor at Ural of Oz. Sixteen positions of damping are available and now it was down to working out the right position to fit it to the Bolt. I originally thought of bolting it to the underside of the lower triple clamp, but this resulted in clearance issues around the fork and frame, so I had to think about where another good position would be and came up with the outside bolts of the right side lower triple clamp. I made up two brackets – one for the triple clamp and the other for the top rose joint of the front sidecar arm, went to the good people at Lee Brothers, Parramatta and got some new stainless steel nuts and bolts in the correct lengths and bolted up the steering damper.

As the steering was violent, it requires just about all of the adjustment the

Ural steering damper gives. I have ended up on 14 clicks out of the 16 and you can now ride the Bolt without having arms bulging like Popeye and you can even take one hand off the bar to rest if need be, whereas before you couldn’t unless you wanted bad things to happen. SW 

YAMAHA BOLT

NEW IN THE SHOPS GOODIES

Welcome to a new section of Australian MOTORCYCLIST, highlighting some of the products and services that are sure to interest you. Manufacturers and distributors: if you have something that you think may interest our readers, just send in a photo and a few words – it’s a free service.

TORQUE TOURING

Ventura for Yamaha MT-07

Those wonderful Kiwis at Ventura have now released a rack for the Yamaha MT-07 to go with a wide range of Ventura bags and hard plastic topbox. As we are lucky enough to have an MT-07 as a long termer, we are looking

at getting one of the racks and bags to review. Until then, visit your local bike shop to grab a set, or visit www.kenma. com.au for the full range of Ventura luggage available for a massive range of motorcycles.

NO MORE SQUASH

Pack-It Cubes. Price – From $12.99 Everyone knows the sensation of trying to cram in as much as possible into their suitcase and/or panniers/topbox, seat bag or tank bag and then facing the dreaded realisation that you might never ﬁnd some of it again. Eagle Creek’s new Pack-It Cubes gives those familiar feelings the ﬂick and makes saving space and organising your bag a breeze.

The Pack-It Cubes have a modern design and come with a mesh top for

both visibility and breathability. The two-way zippered opening allows for maximum compression when you need to squeeze a lot into a little.

The Cubes come in four sizes (1.5L, 5L, 10.5L and 21L). The largest, 21 litre Cube can be used to roll and compress pants, jumpers and shirts, while the smaller sizes (1.2L) are great for undies, socks, belts and electronic

cords. The Cubes are also good for keeping your dirty clothes (if such a thing is conceivable) away from your clean ones. And they are completely washable. The Cubes are available in a nice range of colours: take your pick from black, blue sea, red ﬁre and earth green. Visit www.eaglecreek.com to see the entire range of products available.

SUCH SWEET SOUNDS

Akrapovic for Harley-Davidson motorcycles

We all know how sweet an Akrapovic exhaust or slip-on sounds. Thank you, Igor. He has now produced

speciﬁcally for the 2014 Harley-Davidson Sportster, Softail, and Dyna. Specially developed noise inserts and chambers enhance the unmistakable HarleyDavidson sound to give the machine an even greater and more satisfying growl. Visit your local bike shop or visit www. akrapovic.com for more.

ME NO UGLY! NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT

Ugly Fish Photochromic Rockets. Price - $149.95

For the Easy Riders among us who enjoy the wind in their faces or with the visor up in a full face helmet at any time of the day, the Rocket Photochromic range from Ugly Fish is just the right protector eyewear to stick on their face on the next ride. The Rockets NXT

photochromic lenses have the ability to lighten and darken in a matter of seconds, depending on the time of day. Bugs, rocks and clumsy drops won’t be an issue either, as the lenses are shatterproof and heavily impact resistant.

These stylish biking goggles are compliant with Australian safety standards and include a maximum UV protection rating even during the hottest and brightest times of the day. The Rockets are also coated with a permanent anti-fog and anti-scratch coating to keep your vision crystal clear in any weather condition for many years to come.

Not only are the Ugly Fish Rockets fashionable but they tick all the comfort boxes too. The detachable positive foam

Since when has getting the run around felt this good? Since Mustang Seats introduced the lowest, leanest, seat in their line-up for Harley-Davidson© Dyna and FL models! The RunAround™ represents a bold look in motorcycle seating without sacri cing Mustang’s legendary reputation for quality.

Run Around Town Tech@MustangSeats.com for discounted shipping rates

NEW IN THE SHOPS GOODIES

seal prevents airflow between your face, eyes and the glasses, while the flexible lightweight TR-90 frame is designed for a streamlined fit inside your helmet that won’t catch the lining when you slip them on. An additional elastic strap has also been included for a more secure and relaxed fit.

For more information or to ﬁnd a Rocket stockist near you head to

the Ugly Fish website: www. uglyﬁsheyewear.com or call 1300 369 574.

ARE YOU… Bellissima?

The 2nd edition of the exclusive 946 Vespa, titled ‘Bellissima’, will be available to a select few from December. The hand crafted model, limited to less than 40 examples in Australia, is an exquisite reﬂection of the beloved Italian Vespa brand. Make sure you get into your local Vespa dealer to secure your bike – or at least to look at one.

COMFORTABLY IMPROVED

Touratech suspension Touratech Suspension will transform your motorcycle into the best possible touring bike, with a complete suspension solution that works

SHORT ADELAIDE TOURS ON NEW BENELLIS

Don’t have much time? We lead one-day or shorter tours on some of the best roads in the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula. Hire exciting BN600R Benellis. Visit www.radtours.com.au and click on the TOUR LOCATIONS button.

straight out of the box.

Developed over three years by Touratech and TracTive, the suspension is speciﬁcally designed for use on adventure motorcycles, and gives you greatly improved handling and load carrying capabilities over the standard suspension. For more information on Touratech Suspension, go to http:// shop.touratech.com.au/vehicleequipment/suspension.html

If it's good enough for The Bear, it's good enough for you! Safe containers, Customs clearance, Quarantine Inspection and full insurance.

SEATS FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE POND

Mustang ﬁ ts Triumph America and Speedmaster

In a case of New England craftsmanship meeting a bike from merry olde England, Mustang Seats now offers a range of replacement seats and accessories for the Triumph America and Speedmaster. Engineered to improve the ride quality, Mustang's seats also ﬂ ow with the long, low lines of this pair of air-cooled parallel-twins. Now the

best of both worlds is available to riders

Four versions are available to ﬁ t the Triumph America 20022015 and Speedmaster 2003-2015: Two-piece Studded; Two-piece Vintage; Two-piece Studded with Driver Backrest and the Two-piece Vintage with Driver Backrest. For more details, visit www.mustangseats.com

HOT OR COLD

Dainese Air-Frame Tex jacket

Price - $329.95

Continued comfort under changing weather conditions with excellent ventilation is hard to achieve in a ventilated jacket because whenever the temperature

drops, you immediately feel cold. In this case, the Dainese AirFrame jacket offers the best solution by combining the ventilation achieved by ample inserts in mesh with protection against cold air offered by a remarkably lightweight wind-cheating insert. Provided with ample adjustment possibilities, jacket-pants fastening zip, homologated protectors and a pocket for a G-type back protector. Visit your local bike shop or www.cassons.com.au

NEW IN THE SHOPS GOODIES

BEHIND THE COUNTER

AS THE IRISH SAY, GET INSURED TO BE SURE, TO BE SURE

Bob

Smith has been an insurance broking professional for over 25 years and says, “I cut my teeth on Harleys and BMWs after a request from Brisbane’s Morgan & Wacker to set up insurance for its customers at a time when theft was going through the roof and insurance premiums were around $3,000!” Remember that?

Instead of charging that kind of money, Bob came up with some very attractive rates that made NEIB (New England Insurance Brokers) extremely popular with HOG and Ulysses members.

He says, “We’ve helped all the clubs that are out there and we would like to continue to support them.”

Bob believes in the personal touch, and has always operated on a handshake, so to speak.

NEIB has several beneﬁts that

riders should investigate, but when considering insurance, Bob says that it’s vital for riders to compare the Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) to see what they will really get in the event of a get-off.

NEIB offers two policies, a standard and an upmarket policy, at attractive, competitive rates. The Bear has insured with NEIB and he is a very happy customer.

For instance, NEIB’s policies are Agreed Value, and your genuine listed accessories, like luggage, crash bars, etc., are covered.

“First and foremost,” says Bob, our rates are good enough so that you don’t have to look for discounts on things like rider training, although obviously we advocate it. And under certain circumstances, when you are doing a training event on a track, we

will cover you – but not for track day racing, which is where you get into strife with insurance!” And insurance companies are not silly when it comes to your taking a chance and racing your bike on the track – just this once. We remember a time when the insurance companies would send a representative to the track who would write down a list of all the registration numbers of the bikes. If there was a claim on Monday, and your rego number was on the list, you were sunk!

One of the things we really like is NEIB’S Multi Bike Discount.

“Obviously we know that no one person is going to be riding multi bikes at one time”, Bob says. And that makes sense. So if you have a commuter, a tourer and a classic in the garage, you are going to be very happy.

NEIB insures all bikes, including three-wheelers, classic, vintage and adventure bikes. Although Bob says adventure bikes are the worst risk … “because riders fall off, and they get stuck in isolated places and it’s very expensive to get them back. And most times they are written off as well,” he says.

“But still the biggest percentage of claims come from registered off road

bikes that are stolen from trailers” he warns. “On the other hand, road bike claims are falling because of the advent of DataDots and immobilisers.”

Bob says, “We are trying to make it as easy as we can to get reasonably priced insurance, taking into account your age and riding experience. Really, you only pay for what you need – for instance we offer ﬂexible riding gear cover, and we have the capacity to

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insure high value and custom-built motorcycles, trikes, scooters and all types of motorcycles sold in Australia.”

Another unique product from NEIB is insurance cover for motorcycles and trikes that are used for tour operations. There’s also a Tour Operator’s Public Liability that’s underwritten through CGU.

Bob is a great bloke and it’s worth talking to him when next you come to renewing your insurance policy. He might even make it worth your while to cancel your existing insurance and switch over. Get a quote, why don’t you! 

Conﬁdence building courses + kart tracks + all level of riders = fun + improved skills for everyday riding + fewer falls!

    

      

TEAR-OUT MAP #9

OPALS, CREEKS AND PINK HOUSES

NORTHERN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS JEFF CROW

Thisparticular loop out of Coober Pedy, South Australia has lots to see and gives you a perfect taste of what the real, outback Australia is truly like. The dirt roads are usually in good shape, but check the road conditions before venturing out as a bit of rain can soon make them quite difﬁcult to pass – this is a remote part of Australia and proper medical help is normally a long way away. You could make this a long one day trip, but to really experience all there is to offer, I suggest making it at least a three day trip, with overnight stays at William Creek and Oodnadatta.

COOBER PEDY

Knock yourself out with the amazing colours and formations of opals for which Coober Pedy is renowned. Coober Pedy has been supplying the world with the majority of gem quality opals for many decades.

Coober Pedy is a pretty major town in the middle of the outback. Just about all the major shops are there, some banks, fuel, post ofﬁce and medical facilities. You can also stay at one of the

underground motels for an experience you can’t ﬁnd at too many other places. If you want something to ride to and visit, the Dog Fence is 15km out of town. It is the longest continual construction in the world. Stretching some 5300km, it begins east of Surfer’s Paradise in Queensland and ends up north of Ceduna in the Great Australian Bight.

WILLIAM CREEK

William Creek is the entry point from Coober Pedy to Lake Eyre in the Tirari Desert. William Creek offers the only petrol station (make sure you call to conﬁrm they have enough fuel available for your requirements) between Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta on the Oodnadatta Track. There is a campground (can get very dusty and extremely windy), cabins and one of the world’s most remote pubs, which is well worth the visit. Consider whether you really need a shower, because the bore water is not very nice. Visiting the William Creek hotel is not only for the atmosphere, the food is pretty good

too. The world’s largest cattle station is nearby at Anna Creek Station. The Woomera Prohibited Area, former testing ground for atomic weapons, is also nearby, and you will go past both of them on your way into William Creek.

OODNADATTA

Oodnadatta is a small town with a population around 300 people, surrounded by an area of 7800 square kilometres with cattle stations in semi-arid pastoral rangelands close to the Simpson Desert. There really isn’t much at Oodnadatta other than the Pink Roadhouse which has fuel, good food and coffee. The name is derived from Arrernte utnadata, meaning “mulga blossom”. Oodnadatta can also be very hot. Oodnadatta has a desert climate and has also recorded the highest reliably measured maximum temperature in Australia: 50.7°C on 2 January 1960. When I visited there in late May a couple of years ago, it was hot during the middle of the day, yet cool in the morning and evening. 

www.hemamaps.com.au

NORTHERN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

GREEN ROUTE

Head east out of Coober Pedy on William Creek Road and follow it for around 166km until you get to William Creek. Once you’ve ﬁnished at William Creek (remembering to fuel up) head north along the Oodnadatta Track for a couple of hundred kilometres to Oodnadatta. Just remember that when you come to the T-intersection a few kilometres out of town, you need to turn right and get on into the Pink Roadhouse for some refreshments. To head back to Coober Pedy and

to complete the loop, head south out of Oodnadatta on Oodnadatta Road around 195km back to Coober Pedy.

OPTIONAL ROUTE (ORANGE ROUTE)

If you want something a little more challenging along the way, the optional route will give you some pleasure. Around 45km south of Oodnadatta, turn right and head towards Arckaringa. You can see Mount Arckaringa along the way. Continue on to San Marino hut and further south down to Evelyn Downs where you need to turn/veer left back east

ADV TEAR-OUT MAP #9

COLLECT THEM ALL

over to Oodnadatta Road. Bear in mind there will be some deep sand along this route, so have fun, but remember that there is no fuel along this route.

ROAD CONDITIONS

Call 1300 361 033

William Creek Hotel –Ph: 08 8670 7880

Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse –Ph: (08 8670 7822

TOTAL DISTANCE

560km (Optional Route – 148km)

POWER AND CAPABILITY

HELD CHIKARA GLOVES. HIGHLY CAPABLE

Price - $185

Getting a glove that actually fits “like a glove” is not always the easiest thing to do, however I’ve now got three different pairs of Held gloves (Chikara, Sambia and Backflip) and all three of them “fit like a glove”. I was interested in the manufacturing process of Held gloves; what they apparently do is soak the leather so it can be stretched before cutting the individual pieces for sewing. There is at least an hour and a half of sewing in each pair of gloves, which goes some way towards explaining both the quality and the price! Attention to detail is another major factor in

making a pair of Held gloves and I guess all of these processes are the reasons why I have found them to be so comfortable.

The pair I am reviewing here are the Chikara gloves. It’s a sports type glove that I’ll be using for racing and track launches/sportsbikes. I have always found that sports gloves are a little tight in some areas, mainly across the top of the hand for me. So when I put on a pair of the Chikara gloves, I was amazed at the comfort from the ﬁrst wear, and there was no tight sections to cramp my hands, either. Add to that the super soft Kangaroo leather palm which gives almost a naked feel with masses of protection and I am extremely impressed from the outset.

Features of the Held Chikara include

– the highly abrasion-resistant kangaroo leather palm, they are colourfast and sweat-proof, supple cowhide back, special flat seam, tunnel strap, Velcro adjustment at the cuffs, visor wipe, elasticated leather panels on back, thumb and fingers, perforated finger side walls, finger-bridge between ring finger and pinkie protection, hard shell side of hand and knuckle protection covered with leather, and Superfabric reinforcement on the edge

of the hand. They also feature double material at the edge of the hand and ﬁngers and Kevlar protection on the back of the hand. So with all those features your hands are, as the saying goes, “wrapped in cotton wool”, only better!

Having now worn the Chikara gloves three times, they keep getting better and better each time I wear them. They mould more and more to my hands, and I thought they were good when new!

The Held Chikara gloves are available in men’s sizes 7-13 and colours black, black-red, black-blue and black-white.

The Chikara is also available in ladies’ sizes 6-8. Grab a pair and have some of the highest levels of protection available in a glove for a very reasonable price tag SW

KTM TWO 4 RIDE JACKET

One more for the road. Price - $329.95

“The road of excess,” wrote William Blake, “leads to the palace of wisdom.” So why am I not living in the palace of wisdom, or at least the triple-fronted full brick bungalow of smartness? When it comes to excess, at least in the number of jackets I own, I’ve got it locked up; the clothes rack in the garage looks as if it’s holding the all-weather clothing for a Black Ops infantry platoon.

The answer is of course pretty simple; it’s not that I go on jacket-buying sprees the way someone whose name shall not be mentioned goes on handbag buying jags. No. I, like every other motorcycle journalist, get them given to me at bike launches. It’s almost a tradition now that if you attend the introduction of a new bike, you leave with another jacket. And before you out there get all jealous and moral about people accepting freebies, consider the fact that where we are given jackets, car journos get condos in Monaco.

And funnily enough there is always room for one more on that clothes rack. Especially if it’s something like the Two 4 Ride jacket from KTM. Both Chris, the bloke from AMCN, and I were handed

these jackets before the fun of the RC390 release in Italy got under way. Normally I wouldn’t review something like this, for a variety of reasons, but dammit: this is both an excellent garment, and available in Australia (except it won’t have the RC390 badges). On top of that it only costs $329.95, and if you think that’s expensive you haven’t seen it – or worn it.

So, what’s it all about? As you can see from the photo, the jacket looks smart enough to be worn just about anywhere. Except to a BMW launch, I suppose. It is breathable but wind-and water-proof, thanks to what KTM calls an integrated Z-liner. No, I don’t know what that is, but I know it works. I’ve worn the jacket in the rain and it is good as gold. It has water-repellent zips, too, and a high collar with a removable hood. Great for running to the bike garage when it’s raining.

I won’t bother you with too many

details; you know what I’m like –always more interested in the general effect of something than the many things that make it up. Let’s just say that the Two 4 Ride jacket has everything you need including protectors in the elbows and shoulders (there’s provision for an optional back protector, which I intend to buy), Velcro fasteners on the wrists, pockets including waterproof ones, and drawstring adjustment on the sides. The jacket is made of 94 per cent polyester and 6 per cent elastane, the latter of which provides a certain amount of “give”.

I like this jacket very much; check it out for yourself at your KTM dealer’s. It comes in seven sizes from XS to XXXL, and if you think you don’t need another jacket, just remember what Oscar Wilde said: “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” PT 

LESTER SHOWS THEM

A RIGID AJS MAKES LESTER’S DAY

WORDS LESTER MORRIS

The ﬁ rst Sydney Motor Show was held in 1911, but no-one seems to remember much about it, which should be no surprise, because, as far as I know, no-one who was there at the time is still with us. But a recent discovery of an old catalogue from the show mentions that there were no fewer than 200 vehicles on display at the show, from a staggering number of 89 manufacturers! We can only imagine what some of those motor vehicles on two, three or four wheels looked like, but we don’t know how popular that ﬁ rst Motor Show may have been.

It is understood, however, that the Show came and went several times during the many years since its inception. For most of those many years, the Motor Show – now called the ‘Australian International Motor Show (AIMS) – was mounted at the old Sydney Showgrounds. These days the AIMS alternates between Sydney and Melbourne on a bi-annual basis.

My involvement with a Sydney Motor Show began and ended in just two days; Opening Day and the day which swiftly followed. On opening day of the 1954 Motor Show at the Sydney Showground I accompanied the spare parts manager of the Matchless motorcycle importers A.P. North to the Showground on the pillion seat

of a motorcycle, which I was then to ride back to the store. Either he was not the most skilful of riders or there was something radically wrong with the bike, because it was not the smoothest of journeys, fairly short though it was. The bike was a rigid-frame, 1948 500cc singlecylinder AJS which had recently been traded-in on a new Matchless twin.

“OH, AND THERE WAS VERY MUCH MORE TO COME, SO DON’T RELAX JUST YET!”

The manager mentioned to me, in passing, as I slid forward onto the single, sprung saddle, that the bike had not yet been checked through the workshop and that there were ‘a few things wrong with it.’

Delighted to escape the pile-making sponge-rubber pillion ‘seat’- which was about the same size, shape and consistency of a house brick and was attached directly to the rear mudguard – I didn’t take much notice of what he said, until I tried to kickstart the engine. A few things wrong with it, did he say? Only a few things, did he say? In fact, the ride back to the store on that dangerous bike was an unmitigated disaster, as I was very shortly to discover.

Firstly, the little valve lifter leverwhich was used to lift the exhaust valve off its seat to make starting easier - was loose and fl opping about, for its clamp, which was attached to the left side handlebar just under the clutch lever, was loosely held in place by only one of its two mounting screws. This made starting the engine very diffi cult, but when the engine fi nally fi red up it wouldn’t idle slowly and raced badly, because the carburettor fl ange which mounted the carburettor to the cylinder head was visibly warped, allowing it to suck air through the gap, which always resulted in a lean mixture and a very fast idle speed. This could often be a problem with Amal carburettors when they were mounted directly to the cylinder head without a heatinsulating ‘composite’ block being interpolated.

To make matters worse, when I lifted the right-side mounted lever into ﬁ rst gear the bike leapt forward with neck-snapping eagerness, because the clutch was grabbing badly and would not fully release. This potentially serious problem, allied to the very fast idling speed, meant that the bike’s progress through heavy trafﬁ c was about to be effectively beyond my control. Oh, and there was very much more

CLASSIC MORRIS

“ALL I COULD HEAR OVER THE ENGINE WAS SHOUTED ABUSE WHERE I HALF EXPECTED TO HEAR SOME GENEROUS APPLAUSE OR PERHAPS EVEN A STIFLED CHEER, BUT I STILL COULDN’T STOP THE BIKE AND COULDN’T FIND THAT ELUSIVE NEUTRAL”

to come, so don’t relax just yet!

The rear brake didn’t work very well, even with the left-mounted lever almost dragging along the ground, but the front brake was great, except that it would lock up almost instantly, even if you merely touched the handlebar lever. It was a real oneﬁ nger front brake that one, and the little ﬁ nger at that! I must say that I had never before, nor have I since, experienced a small-diameter drum brake which exhibited that strange characteristic.

And so off we lurched, the AJS much more in control of my destiny than I was, you may rest well assured of that.

There weren’t many pedestrian crossings about in 1954, but there were many trams, and there were many tramlines. There were also many tram stops, and there was a Law which demanded that you stop whenever a tram did, thereby allowing the passengers who alighted to make their way to the safety of the nearby footpath. I was quite happy with that arrangement, but clearly the AJS was not, because each tram stop we encountered saw the Law shamelessly fl outed as I slipped through the abusing throng, sawing the gear lever back-and-forth, back-and-forth; fi rst gear, then into second, then slotting the lever up again into fi rst, then back down again into second gear, with no sign anywhere of the neutral ‘gear’ for which I was so frantically searching. Of course the rear brake

pedal was almost dragging along the ground at the same time, the front end dipping as the tyre yelped before springing back up again as I eased that confounded front brake lever on and off again.

It was all frightful stuff, but the worst, as they say in the Classics, was yet to come!

By some miracle I managed to select neutral gear at the very busy Taylor Square as a ‘point-duty’ police offi cer stopped our traffi c stream, and I thankfully hid behind a very large lady bowler in her Morris Minor as the engine spun loudly beneath me. When we were allowed to continue I gave her a couple of lengths’ start, steeled myself for the fl ying start and leapt after her…. just as she kangarooed off and stalled her car right in front of me, while we were half way to the intersection!

So help me, that blasted AJS shoved the hapless Morris Minor into the centre of that intersection, the clutch lever to the handlebars, the rear brake lever dragging along the ground, the woman frantically gesturing and screaming at me from her driver’s-side window, while blowing a shrill series of stirring blasts by enthusiastically engaging the little vehicle’s stentorian warning device.

I wasn’t brave enough to look at the police ofﬁ cer, besides which, I was too busy to do that, anyway, and it was only the front wheel sliding along her rear bumper – well, the car’s rear bumper – and a quick shove with my foot that cannoned the bike clear and allowed us to careen along the busy Oxford Street, then down the steep Wentworth Avenue to ﬁ nally arrive at the A.P. North showroom.

By then, I had hatched a cunning plan to stop the wayward motorcycle. I practiced ﬁ nding neutral a couple of times on the descent, and managed to do so just once, but just in case it was missing again and I was still in gear at the showroom door I decided I would stop the errant machine by pulling the little valve

lifter lever up to slow the engine and then slam the front brake on. Yeah, that’s what I would do; how clever of me. I would soon show that bloody awful motorcycle who was boss. In hindsight, I knew I should have coasted down Wentworth Avenue when I ﬁ nally found that elusive neutral, but I didn’t think to do that.

The showroom’s sliding door was open by about half-a-meter as I rode up the layback and shot onto the footpath while trying to reach for the valve lifter lever, my right hand poised over the front brake lever. The clutch lever had of course been earlier pulled in to the handlebars with my right foot sawing the gear lever up and down, up and down, fi rst-to-second gear, second-to-fi rst, fi rst-to-second and back again, and yet again, but with no neutral to be found anywhere. I released the clutch lever and groped for that little valve lifter lever, but there was no lever to be found, either!

I was later to discover that the thing had loosened off even more and had slid all the way down the handlebars until it came to rest against the handlebar’s clamp atop the head stock, where it was by then well out of reach.

A split second later we ﬂ ew through that narrow gap with scant millimetres to spare and ran – well, at least we moved at a slow jogging speed - onto the highly polished ﬂ oor of the spare parts department.

A.P. North’s store had two doublewindow frontages, the spares department on the upper level with a few bikes on display, while its main motorcycle showroom was somewhat lower and was accessed by several steep, linoleum-covered stairs, with its access to the street by its own windowed sliding doors, which were of course closed at the time.

I had once witnessed the great Observed Trials ace Bill Mayes make an ill-fated attempt at riding a nearnew Competition Matchless gently down those stairs with his huge feet still on the footrests, only to end

up underneath the machine, while someone went away looking for the Vintage First Aid Kit which had never before been used.

Naturally, a directive was issued thereafter which forbade anyone from riding a motorcycle into either of the showrooms: a rider was supposed to stop the engine on a machine he was riding and then, as instructed ‘disengage himself from the machine’, and heave the bike up the slope and into one or the other of the two showrooms. This applied to everyone, and no-one ever rode a bike into the shop again.

Well, not until I arrived with that AJS in October, 1954, that is!

With the clutch lever pulled to the handlebar again and the rear brake pedal still dragging on the ground, we trotted to those four steps, whereupon I bounced the front wheel off a convenient handrail (Bill Mayes hadn’t thought of that, but then, neither had I!) and rode that rigidframe shocker down them with great aplomb to start the ﬁ rst of what was to be three laps of the showroom. I was of course still sawing that blasted gear lever up and down, down and up, up and down, and then down and up again, desperately searching for that damned neutral gear…

All I could hear over the engine was shouted abuse where I had half expected to hear some generous applause or perhaps even a stiﬂ ed cheer, but I still couldn’t stop the bike and couldn’t ﬁ nd that elusive neutral. By now, though almost out of my focus, several spectators had

magically appeared, including one or two heads that sprang from windows ‘upstairs’ where the Oracles sat. I was absolutely terriﬁ ed because there was clearly no escape, but why some clown didn’t swiftly materialise to open that lower showroom door to allow me to escape onto the street again I still don’t know.

There was nowhere to go and I was clearly in desperate straits as I made another circuit of the showroom, knowing all too well that if I applied the front brake the bike would slip from under me on the highly polished ﬂ oor and crash into one of the second-hand bikes on display or, if I was lucky enough, a softer onlooker – should one suddenly emerge.

On the last lap, sobbing in horror and still playing a tune on that confounded gear lever, I noticed a strip of roughened concrete about half a meter wide and a couple of meters long against a wall where there once stood a small display cabinet. That small area just might allow enough bite to stop the machine without losing control of the front end. I headed for the strip and jammed the front brake on.

The front forks went onto full compression, the tyre yelped – so did someone else, and it might have been me! – the engine was on the point of stalling, when suddenly, and with impeccable timing, the nipple pulled straight off the handlebar-end of the brake cable!

The bike launched itself forward again, to plough side-on into a plunger-frame Dominator Norton we had recently traded. As the Norton

fell to one side it leaned on another second-hand bike, which leaned on another, which fell onto yet another, the AJS almost climbing onto the Norton as it ﬁ nally stalled.

I can clearly remember throwing the bloody thing away, almost in tears, as the Sales Manager grabbed me and shouted something incomprehensible into my ear.

Naturally, I was carpeted in the Oracle’s ofﬁ ce, but I stood my ground as I explained in some detail a few home truths about that awful AJS. I expected to be sacked on the spot, but Perce North was, to my surprise, quite sympathetic, which shouldn’t have been such a surprise in view of the report he had so recently received on the condition of the bike. He also made some comments to me about the mental capacity of the guy who gave that God-awful motorcycle to someone he saw, for some inexplicable reason, as a fairly inexperienced rider. No-one thought to query why that dangerous bike was ridden to the Showgrounds in the ﬁ rst place, and I must say it didn’t occur to me to ask that question either.

As it happens, the very next day I was on the company’s stand at the Motor Show with Perce North himself, and that is yet another story replete with some more high comedy, and more than a little drama. But I must say that neither of those two momentous days in October, 1954 were in any way comical or dramatic at the time, let me make that very clear! 

WE

LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, the letters are among the most keenly read parts of the magazine. Please try and keep letters down to no more than 300 words. Then you can read many, not just a couple. We do reserve the right to cut them and, unless you identify yourself and at least your town or suburb and state, we will print your email address instead. Please address letters to thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au or Australian Motorcyclist Magazine, PO Box 2066, Boronia Park NSW 2111. All opinions published here are those of the writers and we do not vouch for their accuracy or even their sanity!

DAVID BAGS IT

The winner of the Andy Strapz AA Bagz for this issue is David Morrissey, who warns of the dangers of inexperienced drivers on tour in New Zealand. This is a very real danger, and not only in Unzud – all of the roads on and around Mt Tamborine in south-eastern Queensland pose the same danger, and for the same reason – tourists who think they have some kind of exemption from common sense because they’re on holidays. In Queensland, we’re told, they are often Europeans.

Anyway, David, enjoy your terriﬁc AA Bagz, the one that we use ourselves

– but please send us your postal address so Andy can dispatch one to you?

BEWARE BAD DRIVERS

Hi Bear et al, We’ve just returned from a month on the FJR around the South Island of NZ. A little cool and windy in spring but fabulous nonetheless. BUT…

There is a hazard emerging on those famous rolling blacktop roads, mostly so in the Otago highlands. The latest generation of self-drive tourists is taking a toll on themselves and others. Some examples from recent news, and from talking to locals:

• Woman heading south on the challenging Crown Range Road in Spring 2012. Loses it on a bend, overcorrects into the path of 10 riders returning from Burt Munro Challenge. Two riders killed. Woman is aged 20, from Hong Kong, licensed one month. Police had been told of her bad driving and were already looking for her. Judge remarks Government needs to act on such drivers.

• Driver on same road ﬁlmed repeatedly crossing double line

on curves. Defends himself in court on grounds his wife gets carsick if he takes curves, and that in Japan he is allowed to do this! Fined $500 and loses license for 3 months (for NZ!).

• Woman on Ducati Monster heading towards Mt Cook from Christchurch. Tops a ridge to ﬁnd a car parked sideways across both lanes while driver takes photos. Slides around him by inches and comes back to protest. Driver from Asia seems perplexed that there is an issue.

• Two rented vans with eight adults traveling towards Wanaka arrive at the T-intersection a few km from town. First van pulls out straight into path of downhilling B-double. Three dead, all from Hong Kong.

Now I’m not being racist here, these are real cases, and yes there are other countries involved as well. Looks like the rising middle class from our Asian neighbours is loving NZ as we in OZ and thousands from Europe and the US have done. Some proportion of this new wave has an issue of driver competence, ability

accidents involving overseas drivers

Media, judges and pollies are talking

ability to read road conditions and signage. Perhaps people from crowded cities and countries hitting an open road for the ﬁrst time have trouble reading them. Perhaps their licensing is lax or corrupt. Either way the toll is rising. The percentage of accidents involving overseas drivers was quoted in The Press as 2% for NZ overall, but a massive 25% for Otago. Media, judges and pollies are talking about measures to test people, qualify access to vehicles or whatever it takes to reduce this growing epidemic. In a quiet month there we only witnessed one or two crazy drivers and one prang (t-intersection). Oh and one hotshot from the Subcontinent who I had to shout at to get off my parked bike before he broke it and his leg while the wife

CAFÉ IN THE ROCKS

Hi, Bear

Here a photo of a neat little café racer taken in Sydney’s Rocks district. I have no idea whose it is or who customized it, but doesn’t it look tidy? Not too much, not too little, and starting with a bike that most people would probably reckon is too boring, small and plain. Er… it is a TU250, isn’t it? I know it’s a Suzuki by the tank badge.

Mick McCarthy

(not to be mistaken for Mike McCarthy) I presume you’re referring to the bloke who edited (and still does, for all I know, he always seemed indestructible) Sports Car World? Say hello if you know him. Meanwhile, yes, a tidy bike – The Bear

took the heropic! But we sure heard about lots more mayhem involving rising numbers of inexperienced and/ or undereducated drivers from Asian countries.

vehicles look like, not just the

behavior; hug the left of the road

the concern you’ve shown. I know it

prepared to brake or avoid anytime;

wariness and double it again.

Our advice to riders heading that way: learn fast what all the rented vehicles look like, not just the campervans; approach intersections with no assumptions about driver behavior; hug the left of the road against oncoming trafﬁc; use secondary roads where you can; be prepared to brake or avoid anytime; moderate your speed so you’re not part of the problem; double your wariness and double it again.

Oh, and enjoy some of the best riding on the planet!

David Morrissey

David Morrissey Haberﬁeld NSW

seen as racist. While I am always example, bowling ladies – there is an

And I’ve ridden in enough countries expectations of other drivers tourism, we need to work out ways

I welcome comments from other

Thank you for this letter, David, and the concern you’ve shown. I know it takes a certain amount of courage these days to even risk being seen as racist. While I am always cautious about identifying speciﬁ c groups of drivers as a threat – for example, bowling ladies – there is an argument that says different road conditions need different reﬂ exes. And I’ve ridden in enough countries to know that I have to learn fast to stay alive when conditions and the expectations of other drivers change. But there is also an argument that says if we encourage tourism, we need to work out ways to keep the tourists (and ourselves) safe. It’s a bit of a conundrum. I welcome comments from other readers – The Bear

AND DID YOU?

Hi Peter, Great to read Australian Motorcyclist, it’s very similar to the early days of your last magazine which is wonderful. And it’s great to read Lester’s brilliant stories. Hopefully we will see you in Bombala.

Steve & Donna Far south coast NSW

And we did meet in Bombala, didn’t we? Next year will be even bigger and better, too – The Bear

PAUL REMEMBERS HIS LOOP

Hi Peter, I have been reading through the Dec 2014 issue and the story Back to the

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FINDING HOPE

was late when I rolled into the servo for fuel. Must have been around 2am. Only werewolves, cops and nasty old bastards on stupid motorcycles were abroad.

It was also cold. Not teeth-achingly cold, but enough to make your moustache crusty with snot. No biggie. I only had about 30 klicks to go. Icedeath was not imminent and I needed fuel and cigarettes.

The servo only had one other customer, and he was probably cold too, but he was also transcendentally glorious. I could see that glory four pump-islands away, absorbing the otherworldly light of the hyper-orange ﬂoods like a leathery singularity. He was parked beside the air-hose and from where I was pumping fuel I couldn’t actually see what he was riding. But it was very black and very dirty and that is always a good sign. It also had a tatty L-plate jammed under the battered number plate, and that is hardly ever a good sign.

I hate L-platers. In the days before social media and the stupid LAMs thing came along they were tolerable. There weren’t many of them, they rode proper motorcycles, and were afﬂicted with the same ‘Ride hard, die laughing’ madness that chewed on us all. These days, they’re mostly whining, selfentitled, unskilled, perpetually nervous organ-donors who took up riding to try it out because it looked kinda cool, or imagined it was an economical form of transport (and how’s that misconception

working out for you dickheads?), and consequently spend a lot of time on Facebook displaying depths of degenerate idiocy that beggar belief.

IN THE COLD OF NIGHT

I topped up my tank, paid for the fuel, bought a packet of smokes and wheeled my bike over near his and lit up.

I am neither friendly nor sociable, and I have all the mates I’ll ever need. But at stupid o’clock on a chilly autumn morning when you wanna cigarette and there’s a rat-arse old bike, held together with ﬁlth and fervour and piloted by an L-plater who looks like one of Toecutter’s psychopaths parked in your smoking area, it’s gotta be worth a nod. He nodded back.

His bike was a spray-canned XS650 Yam from sometime in the early 80s. I didn’t know and he wasn’t sure. He’d made the pipes himself. He’d also made the seat and forced a set of presumably fake Laverda adjustable clip-ons into service above the triple tree. The entire bike was a hodge-podge of bodgey bastardry and teenage evil. There were a few Slayer and Megadeth stickers on the guards. On the tank, hand-painted skulls, dice, and words like “Crush”, “Hell” and “Crunt” ﬂashed red and white against the paint. Wire, madness and hope held it all together. He’d sawn the chinpiece off his full-face and painted white fangs around the opening. There was a Yoshimura sticker on one side and a naked vampire slut sticker on the other. His jeans were old, holed and stained, and his leather jacket looked like horses had been trampling it in a stable. He had

wisps of beard, lots of acne and a glint in his eye that told me he’d grinned at Death more than a few times. He also smelled of alcohol and when he offered me a sip from his hip ﬂask, I didn’t refuse. Even cheap-shit Scotch is better than no Scotch when one encounters a kindred spirit in the hours before dawn.

“Love your work,” I said to him.

“Cheers,” he smirked. “I’m saving up for a Ducati when I get off my Ps.”

“How long you got?”

“Two more years.”

I lit another smoke and offered him one. He was doing hard time, after all.

“Just got back from Adelaide,” he exhaled.

“Go alright?” I asked, nodding at the Yamaha.

He laughed. “Maxed it ﬂat out on the Hay Plain, then ran out of petrol. Farmer helped me out. Leaked a bit of oil. Had some electrical shit. Spent two days in Forbes sorting it. Great trip.”

“You go on your own?”

He nodded. “Best way to travel.”

I nodded back and thought of adopting him.

I gave him a few more durries (he’d run out of rollies and had put his last 10 dollars into the petrol tank), and rode home, smiling into the cold air.

All was not lost, I thought. There was still hope. Motorcycling may be drifting inexorably towards blandness, obedience and ultimately irrelevance, but not everyone is going quietly into that good and safe night. Sure there’s me and my fellow nasties, but we’re not all that long for this world. The warmth of the tar pits claims all the dinosaurs in the end.

But while ever there remains an L-plater with a can of black spray paint, a box of tools, and a determination not to drink the government’s Kool Aid of Safety, Conformity and Subservience, the magic of motorcycling will call to them.

And they will answer.

I thank the Road Gods that they do. 

FROM THE CAVE

BEAR FACED

The signs change, but their intention is the same: to stop you from entering the Khyber Pass. “Foreigners are not allowed beyond this point unless specially permitted by the political agent Khyber Agency”, “Foreigners are not permitted to leave the highway”, “Entering tribal area”. And so on. None of them mean anything because, beyond the sign, you are beyond the inﬂuence, and help, of the Pakistani and indeed any national government. Maybe the US Special Forces could help out, but they won’t. The Pakistani Khyber Agency is kidding itself if it thinks that it controls anything much. Perhaps as a token of that impotence, they made no attempt to even check Charlie’s or my XL250 or papers when we rolled up to Shadi Bagiar at the Jamrud end of the pass. Anything of any value that goes through here, such as a NATO fuel convoy, does so under heavy guard. As a private traveller, you’re on your own. You don’t quite realise what that means until you reach Landi Kotal, the only town on the Pakistani side of the pass. Before that…

Imagine a narrow gorge winding its way into a limestone and shale range a thousand feet high. You share this with a narrow (usually dry) stream, a railway line (!) and a camel track. On many vertical surfaces there are large, carved regimental badges commemorating the service of British, Indian and Pakistani troops. It’s possible that they even got out alive – or at least some of them did. We couldn’t help glancing up apprehensively every now and then at the ridges above the gorge… The all-weather road, which is in generally good condition (who maintains it?), rises fairly steeply on the way up into the range. We were comfortably faster than the other trafﬁc going our way, which is not surprising

when you consider that it was mostly hugely overloaded trucks or cars and utes with their doors missing and passengers clinging to every handhold and sitting on the roof. One thing to note with Pakistani or Afghani road users: they will wave happily to a small Honda, even at the risk of losing the grip on their steering wheel.

We passed an old and now derelict fort, and the road opened up onto a dry, empty plain. It’s not long before it enters another gorge less than a couple of hundred metres wide. Here it clings to the side of the cliff, and oncoming trafﬁc typically does not give way in, or even acknowledge, the many blind corners.

I spoke to a Pakistani truck driver about this at Torkham while he approvingly tried on my helmet, and he said, “My fate is written in the book. When Allah – the victorious, the merciful – wants me he will take me.” Interesting place to run a road safety campaign…

So far, the only sign of human presence had been the occasional fortiﬁed tower on a hilltop. From the village of Zintara, the valley widens and we began to see other small villages and signs of agriculture, as well as more forts. This is tough country, and it breeds tough people. The Afridis, whose tribes have held the Spin Gar Range since time

immemorial, are not ones to triﬂe with.

This becomes pretty obvious in Landi Kotal, the area’s main market town and the only settlement above the size of a small village. Every male above puberty seemed to be strolling along with a riﬂe over his shoulder, and it was pretty obvious that many also carried pistols. The younger kids had only long, well-used looking knives in their belts. Phew.

Despite their general air of hardness, the tall, grey- or blue-robed ﬁgures thronging the streets of the market didn’t exude any particular aura of threat or menace. You don’t have to, I suppose, when you’re carrying that sort of ﬁrepower. We were effectively at anyone’s mercy. Nobody would complain if someone had blown us away. Europeans have disappeared here, but we didn’t know that – or at least we hadn’t taken it on board, and felt pretty much okay. Ignorance is bliss, and our casual attitude only changed after the owner of the ‘hotel’ in Torkham had given us some statistics…

But while the Afridis are tough, I think they would also consider it beneath their dignity to bother with a giaour – unless you insulted them. Yet another gorge leads down to the border at Torkham, surely one of the most… remarkable towns anywhere – even among border towns, which have a dubious reputation anywhere in the word. But I’ve written about that at another time…

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming 

UP THE KHYBER

RIGHT! POLICE HERE! PULL OVER!

WE‛VE MADE A REALLY NICE VIDEO OF YOU!

…OH YES? (GULP)

..AND HERE, WHEN YOU CHANGED LANES OR TURNED, YOU USED YOUR BLINKER … AND ABOVE ALL, SHOULDER CHECK EVERY TIME. ALMOST STRAIGHT FROM THE BOOK… AH WELL

TWO KILOMETRES ON THE BACK WHEEL, RESPECT! THAT WAS A CLASS RIDE… …HMMHMM! THAT LOOKS SUPER!

PLEASE!

…IF IT HADN‛T BEEN FOR THE 98KM/H YOU WERE DOING!!!

YOU‛RE LOOKING AT AT LEAST SIX POINTS!

AHH... I WONDER, COULD I AT LEAST GET A COPY OF THE VIDEO?