*Bonus consists of Navigator V, carry case, USB cable and current Australia & New Zealand Mapping on Micro SD Card. (Mapping
KICKING GOALS
motoNIGHT
motoDNA advanced motorcycle training, in conjunction with BikeBiz and Pirelli, held the first “motoNIGHT” at Sydney Motorsport Park recently. The focus was on tyres, with Pirelli giving a good insight into their tyre range. Then it was ex-motogp engineer and CEO of motoDNA, Mark McVeigh and ex-500gp rider, Pete Goddard’s turn to give an insight into tyres, suspension and all sorts of technical information that came across in an easy to understand manner. I learnt a lot on this night and you should look for the next motoNIGHT on the motoDNA website – www.motodna.net - and get along for a great night. If it’s in Sydney, I’ll be there, too – with bells on! And while I’m on the subject, check out the motoDNA calendar –www.motodna.net/bookings/calendar/ and get along for one of the easy going and informative riding courses. You will love the improvements you make.
THE ICE MAN!
Pickett to race for Ice Valley BMW team at 2015 IomTT
Alex Pickett is set to compete for Ice Valley racing BMW at TT 2015. This talented rider who made an ultra-
impressive debut on the mountain course during the 2013 Manx Grand Prix is looking forward to competing
for Paul Shoesmith’s Ice Valley racing BMW team, who have a great record at the most famous road race in the world. TT 2014 saw Alex compete for the first time in the Isle of Man TT and he was the youngest competitor. Tipped by many to have an extremely bright future at TT races Alex goes into TT 2015 as a rider who could cause a surprise or two in the superbike,
superstock and senior races. With only a couple of weeks to go till TT 2015, excitement is building for Alex. Seeing he’s a good mate of Stuart’s, we all wish Alex good luck!
GET IT FOR FREE Wi-Fi at YHA
Youth Hostels Australia will be the first backpacker accommodation network in Australia to offer free Wi-Fi hotspots for guests, from 1 April 2015. Free Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed at all major YHAs and guests are encouraged to use the hotspots in communal areas to share their travel experiences. And remember, YHA accommodation isn’t just for young
backpackers, motorcyclists are encouraged to stay during their travels as well. Visit www.yha.com.au
GET YOUR CATTLEDOG. Mustang Seats 35th Anniversary Catalogue
This year Mustang Seats is making its complete catalogue available online as well as in the printed versions. The printed catalogues are available at Mustang’s big rig at most major rallies (in the US) or you can request a free copy to be mailed to you from the website. For instant gratification, virtual viewing is available at http:// www.mustangseats.com/Category/ Seat-Catalogs . And yes, we do use them ourselves: take alook at The Bear’s Sportster and our Yamaha Bolt outfit.
WITH A TWIST
Get Routed to Barcelona
Get Routed has a small group who want to travel with Dave around Spain, Portugal and France in April and May next year (2016) before going to the Isle of Man TT, and as it happens he already has a group who want their bikes shipped to Vancouver, Canada at the beginning of July and back in September. That means 10 weeks in Europe followed by 10 weeks in Canada/USA. Anyone else keen? Email Dave on dave@getrouted.com.au - no point calling him as he's in Athens at the start of a 3 month Greece, Italy and France trip which includes the islands of Crete, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.
SPORTS TOURING FROM ITALY
Benelli BN600GT and GTS
The exciting BN 600GT sports tourer, which could be perfect for those who are contemplating a tour on Australia’s
asphalt or a meander around back roads has arrived in Australia. It’s also available as a LAMS model. This opens up the exciting world of sports touring to a range of motorcyclists. The BN 600GT and BN 600GTS is available in White, Black, and Green from your local Benelli dealer now for $8990. Visit www.benelli.com.au
SO RAW, IT’S TURNED DARK Indian Chief Dark Horse
The Dark Horse is a cruiser built upon the successful and awardwinning Indian Chief platform. Unlike other bikes in the Indian Motorcycle
line-up, it is understated with only a flash of chrome and adds a healthy dose of matt black paint to create one of the most confident silhouettes on the market. Available at your local Indian Motorcycle dealer from May, priced from $26,995 ride away. For more information, visit www.IndianMotorcycle.com.au
TRIUMPH TIGER 800 XCX
ANOTHER X-CELLENT UPDATE
Triumph’s
Tiger 800 XC has been a hit since its launch back in 2011.
For 2015, there are two of the off-road orientated XC – the XC and the top end model with an extra ‘x’ at the end. You can also get the XR and XRx, aimed more at the road and occasional off-road rider, which we’ll be sampling shortly.
In both cases, the little ‘x’ refers to not only a more sophisticated electronics package including cruise control, switchable traction control and the ability to configure different riding modes, but also to other add-ons such as a more advanced trip computer, auto-cancelling indicators, a centrestand, handguards, a plastic radiator guard and an additional 12V power socket.
The entire Tiger 800 range of six bikes now comes with ride-by-wire technology for the first time – bringing the bikes into line with the Explorer 1200. The 800’s engine is still the flexible triple cylinder we’re used to, now 1cc bigger than its original 799cc. There have been key changes inside to produce a design consistent with Euro 4-spec which not only reduces emissions but improves fuel consumption by a claimed 17 per cent. The bike we rode had the accessory Arrow slip-on muffler ($1295), which sounds legal but gives a little bit of bark when you get it high in the rev range.
I achieved fuel consumption of 4.8 –5.3L/100km. I was in fact quite shocked that I just seemed to keep riding and riding without needing to put fuel in it! Fuel tank capacity is 19 litres, so expect somewhere around 350km+ from the tank.
Changes to the engine include new Bosch fuel injectors, new throttle bodies, new cam profiles, hydraulic cam chain tensioner, improved cooling and a smaller alternator that puts out 476 watts.
Power and torque remain the same, but that’s fine because the linear characteristics of the triple cylinder engine have always made it a great bike to ride on or off the road. The gearbox has been smoothed out and with short gearing, you can quickly punch the XCx
WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS WILKINSON PHOTOGRAPHY
up into a high gear and cruise along. Some 42 changes have been made to create the XCx, a lot of them not immediately obvious such as the revamped powder coating on the frame, grime-proofing the suspension clickers, lengthening the chain guard and changing the throttle bodies so they are
a closed unit that dust cannot get into. Obviously Triumph has listened to owners and incorporated requested changes into the new model.
For the serious off-roader, for whom the XCx is intended, you get an aluminium sump guard and engine protection bars. The rear view mirrors
are from the Explorer 1200, as are the Saxess wire wheels.
The suspension on the XCx is now from WP. Compression and reboundadjustable 43mm inverted forks up front and a preload and reboundadjustable monoshock in the rear give good adjustment for the type of riding www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au
FULL POWER
KATANA
Full Power Katana is a 100% synthetic, ester-based lubricant for 4-stroke motorcycles, designed to deliver good sports riding performance on the road. The “speed & easy shift” innovation will transform your riding experience. Gear changes are fast and smooth; you will discover pure riding pleasure and faster acceleration.
The Speed & Easy Shift innovation will transform your riding experience: Formulated to cope with high r.p.m. engines
Gear changes are fast and smooth Riding pleasure
“OBVIOUSLY TRIUMPH HAS LISTENED TO OWNERS AND INCORPORATED REQUESTED CHANGES INTO THE NEW MODEL”
for which the XCx is intended. Even though suspension travel remains the same – 220mm at the front and 215mm at the rear - there’s now virtually no bottoming-out. The previous model, if pushed hard over some jumps, would bottom out quite easily.
Balance is very good on this bike, slow speed manoeuvring is dead easy, handling on the bitumen is flowing and it’s easy to ride, and even though the new model has porked up a bit by 6kg, you wouldn’t notice except for me telling you here.
Styling of the Tiger 800 has changed with different tank side panels and a redesigned radiator shroud for a sharper look overall.
As noted the XCx features an extensive electronics package. Cruise control is similar to that of the Explorer 1200 and easy to operate. Anti-lock braking (ABS) can be switched between ‘Road’ (On), ‘Off’, and ‘Off -Road’ modes. ‘Off-Road’ disables the ABS to the rear wheel and allows a certain amount of front-wheel slip.
Triumph Traction Control (TTC) can be switched between ‘Road’ (On), ‘Off’ and ‘Off-Road’ too. In the ‘Off-Road’ mode, the system allows increased rear wheel slip compared to ‘Road’ mode.
Four different throttle maps are available. They can be changed via the RH switch cube. The difference between the maps is given by varying the butterfly position for a given twist of the throttle grip. You get full power with all the maps, but the rider needs a different opening of the throttle to achieve the same response. The four maps are -
Road - Standard throttle response. Rain - reduces throttle response compared to the Road setting, for wet or slippery conditions.
Sport - Increases throttle response
when compared to the road setting. Off-Road - Optimal throttle response setting for off-road use.
A key feature on the XCx is the ability to configure the bike to the terrain at the press of a button. There are three modes available –
Road – automatically sets the ABS, traction control, and throttle map to ‘Road’ setting.
Off-Road – automatically sets the ABS, traction control, and throttle map to “Off-Road” therefore reducing the ABS and traction control intervention allowing for a level of slip.
Rider – this mode is fully configurable and allows you to set ABS, traction control, and throttle maps independently. To swap between ‘Road’, ‘Off Road’ and ‘Rider’ mode, simply press the mode button, release the throttle and pull the clutch lever. This automatically configures the ABS, traction control, and throttle maps even if the bike is still in motion. As an added safety measure, should you select a mode that requires ABS or traction control to be disabled, simply come to a stop and push the mode button and pull the clutch lever (or select neutral).
The seat height adjustable from 840 to - 860mm is good for different sized riders. I (obviously) liked the higher setting, but I also found the lower setting to be comfortable. The seat itself offers good support for touring and the bar is at a good width/height for a combination of leverage and comfort.
As with most of the Triumph range, the accessory line is extensive. For the Tiger 800 there are sixty odd for you to choose from. They include an aluminium top box and panniers, soft panniers and seat bag, comfort and lower seats, heated grips, folding gear pedal, tank bag and LED fog lamps just to name a few, so expect to set up the XCx just how you want it for your travels.
I thought the Tiger 800 XC was good upon its release, but the minor and major enhancements made to the new XCx offer you a bike that really can do it all. Now all you need to do is pick the colour – I’ll take a blue one, thanks.
SPECS
TRIUMPH TIGER 800 XCX
PRICE: $17,690 (plus on-road charges)
WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled in-line three cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 4.8-5.3 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 350+km
COLOURS: Crystal White, Phantom Black, Caspian Blue
VERDICT: XTRA ENJOYMENT ON THE X!
GRIZZLING
WELL, BLESS ME!
Do you have a space in your calendar in early October? I do, believe it or not, and I’m going to fill it by making my way down to Mirboo North in Victoria’s Gippsland for the 10th of the month. The occasion is the second Blessing of the Bikes at the Inline 4 Café, and it seems as though it’s going to be a terrific way to spend a day.
We’re going to have a bit of a stand, so come and see us to say hello and anything else you might want to tell us… we look forward to seeing you there. The fact that the riding is absolutely spectacular around the Strzeleckis is a bonus!
DID I EVER…
Tell you about the time I was riding a mate’s two-stroke down Glebe Point Road in Sydney? The lights at Bridge Road were red, so I stopped and promptly stalled the bike. No problem; it was a smallish bike (a 175… Maico? I think, maybe) and kick starting it was easy. It backfired, caught and ran smoothly.
I didn’t know what that backfire meant, at the time.
The lights were just about to change and I tried to get a jump on the rest of
the traffic. I slipped the bike into gear, let out the clutch and accelerated, and ran straight into the truck behind me. Going backwards. Naturally I fell over. I lay on the ground, totally disoriented, with the bike still running faithfully in reverse.
The truck driver climbed down from his cab and apologised effusively. He thought he’d run into me. After making sure that I was all right, he helped me upright, gave me a carton of cigarettes – quite unprompted, I presume he was delivering cigarettes – and drove off really carefully.
I rode off as well, after turning the bike off and restarting it, being careful about the direction in which it was running. Despite the almost paranoid concern I’ve had about this since, I’ve still managed to do it again (with my Cezeta scooter) –but I’ve never even got another pack of cigarettes for my trouble. Probably a good thing, really…
DOG DAY
Bloke comes home on his bike, parks it in the garage and goes into the house. His wife asks, “Are you okay? It’s raining cats and dogs out there!”
“I know,” he says. “I nearly hit a poodle.”
That came third the other day in a bad joke competition at the pub. Couldn’t even win that…
TOP GEAR TERROR
On the other hand, it’s been very funny watching the kerfuffle about Jeremy Clarkson. The simple fact is that it’s more fun watching “rude” than “nice” on TV. But you must have genuine rudeness, or the effect is just not there. Genuine rudeness, however, doesn’t switch off when the camera’s light goes out. So of course the BBC has been treading a fine line for years, with Clarkson given more and more leeway until he finally blew it.
And now they’re discovering that true rudeness doesn’t even stop when you fire the perpetrator; you then get death threats from his fans…
CONGRATULATIONS, TAC
An Australian TV ‘Road Safety’ ad made it into the American media with the following comments:
“A public education video campaign that the TAC (Transport Accident Commission) in running in Australia has provoked negative reactions from a lot of motorcyclists. If it’s true that a rider can, in some circumstances, avoid a collision thanks to low speed, it remains that in this video, many noticed that the car driver didn’t stop at the intersection, didn’t try to avoid the collision with the motorcyclist. And he is never blamed for it…”
And there we are. They can pick the holes in the TAC’s publicly-funded nonsense all the way across the Pacific. Congratulations on the creative use of our tax money, TAC.
Moto Marck did not bother with sidestands. Instead you got a bloke who walked alongside as you rode, and whose shoulder you could lean on when you stopped.
Peter ‘The Bear’ Thoeming
MEANINGFUL MAINTENANCE
WORDS STUART WOODBURY
As we’re sure you know, keeping a relationship intact cuts both ways. Here is what you should be doing to keep up your end of the love affair with your bike…
Yes, okay, everyone knows that no one follows the guidelines printed so prominently in motorcycle handbooks, listing all the things you should be doing before riding your bike. Anyone who claims they do, is either fibbing or suffering from immense memory lapses. Oh, all right, maybe there are some people who do – point them out to us if you know of one, and we’ll give them a medal.
So instead of allowing you to just ignore your maintenance duties entirely, we have compiled a list that we think is more reasonable, split into weekly, monthly and annual sections. And you really should follow this one!
WEEKLY TYRES
You must check your tyres pressures each week, unless you just ride on the odd occasion, in which case it should be before each ride. Tyre pressures are a critically important safety item in
your riding. A couple of pounds down could already mean less grip and poor handling. To give you an extreme case, take my rear Pirelli slick. I was given the hot tip for the soft front tyre I ran at the Barry Sheene: run it
XCX RATED.
35psi off the warmer, I was told, and if it starts to slide around, run it at 34psi for extra grip. No lower and no higher off the tyre warmers, otherwise grip would go away. So make it a point to check tyre pressures every week to keep things as safe as possible.
CHAIN
Another very important part of the motorcycle that needs to maintained every week – at least given a squirt of chain lube (you listening, Bear?), is the chain. If you don’t have a chain, check the belt every week for any abnormalities. Those with shaft drive can skip this, but the majority of motorcycles still have a chain drive which requires inspection every week, as well as some chain lube to keep the bike smooth. This will also make things cheaper in the long run by keeping the chain and sprockets in good condition. Chain lube is cheap and there are many brands on the market, but we have used Motul, Yamalube and iPone all with great success, with minimal fling and great smoothness.
BRAKES
Yes, you should check your brakes every week! Feel the brake pressure – is it strong? Check the fluids – are they within the boundaries indicated? And grab that torch and shine it into the caliper to see how much meat is left on the pads. Safety is the key: try stopping your bike without brakes. You’ll be rinsing your undies for quite a while.
WASH IT
Really? Yes. If you ride daily, make time each week to give your bike a wash. Not only will your bike love you for it, it also gives you time to possibly see something wrong with the bike you might not have noticed otherwise. I use iPone Absolut Wash, which works well and is easy to use. After wiping the bike down I then give it a good spray with Motul Shine N Go or Yamalube Silicone Protectant & Lubrication Spray (depending on what I have at the time), wiping down any areas
where I don’t want the spray to be, and obviously being careful not to spray the tyres.
That’s it; I’m assuming that you will notice at the time if the bike blows a blinker globe or suchlike. It’s not a lot to do, and potentially lifesaving.
MONTHLY
Not that much different to the weekly checks, really. However, if you’ve managed to skip anything during your weekly checks, now is the time to do them.
BRAKE PADS
Check your brake pads for wear. Yes, you should have done it in the weekly check, but if you don’t ride your bike all the time, once every month is fine. If you need to change the pads, EBC/ SBS pads available through your local bike shop are a good choice.
FLUIDS
Check the oil level and top up if need be. Also check the coolant level – top up if need be and re-check the brake fluid that you should be checking weekly. As for engine oil, coolant and brake fluid, Motul and iPone again have an excellent range. For brake fluid I’ve used Motul and Penrite with good results.
NIP UP THE BOLTS
Check the places where bolts may have come loose; after a few months you will learn where you should be checking and which bolts you can safely ignore until the annual checkup. We know of someone who omitted this and lost the sump plug from her R 65, way out west near Coonabarabran. It was not pretty.
WASH IT
Again, if you only occasionally ride your bike, or if it gets dirty on a ride, make time and give it a wash - as mentioned in the weekly checks. You might also like to give the paintwork a light polish, depending on how it is. I use Meguiars or Autoglym polish which both work a treat.
12 MONTHLY SERVICE
Servicing is the major point here. If you’re not confident enough to service your own bike, take it to a mechanic. Otherwise, buy some oil, an oil filter and an air filter. Clean the chain, adjust and re-lube it. Check the bolts for looseness. Check the coolant and replace with fresh fluid if need be; the same goes for the brake fluid. There are also other items of your bike you should be checking for any signs of wear or need for service.
CLUTCH
The clutch cable is a very important piece of the motorcycle – if you have an hydraulic clutch, you need to be thinking about changing the fluid or at least bleeding the system to keep it in tip top shape. Those with a cable need to lube the cable every 12 months and check the adjustment. You may need a minor adjustment at the lever every month or so, depending on usage, but a proper lube and adjustment every 12 months is a must.
BEARINGS
Check the wheel bearings for any wear and replace if necessary. If you’re not confident in changing your wheel bearings, get a mechanic to do it.
FUEL FILTER (IF YOU HAVE ONE)
Change the fuel filter, if you have one, and keep the cleanest fuel possibly flowing through your machine.
BRAKE DISCS
Check the thickness of your brake discs, and if low, replace them. Also, if you have any warping of the discs, replace them. And again, check the brake pads for wear and replace if necessary.
And there you have it: a genuine, if minimal, list of maintenance tasks. Just do them, okay?
“IT WILL TURN YOU INTO A GIGGLING SCHOOL BOY AT A LOLLY SHOP, YOU WILL HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THE KIND OF CRAZY FUN YOU CAN HAVE ON A BIKE LIKE THIS”
YAMAHA MT-09 SPORT TRACKER
THIS SPORTIN’ LIFE WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS NICK WOOD
Yamaha’s MT-09 has been selling like kisses from the French teacher at a school fete, and now Yamaha is offering a strictly limited run of an upgraded model: the Sport Tracker. We got to ride a mocked up version of the actual model that will come to Australia and it was a bag full of fun.
Essentially the Sport Tracker is a base MT-09 with some add-ons. The beating heart of the Sport Tracker is the raw 847cc 3-cylinder engine that generates huge levels of torque and strong high rpm power. It’s equipped with forged pistons and offset cylinders for strength and smoothness - this compact and lightweight engine is ready to bring the passion and emotion back to your two-wheeled experience. I like to think of the engine characteristics as those of a stunt bike with a number plate. It will turn you into a giggling school boy at a lolly shop. I doubt that you will ever have experienced the kind of crazy fun you can have on a bike like this.
rigidity and balance, which contribute to the bike’s agile handling. The suspension is quite soft, so think about some new springs front and rear, at the least.
What makes the Sport Tracker better than the standard MT-09? Starting at the front, you have the very tasty carbon fibre guard mounted to a brushed aluminium fixture. Next you move up to the aluminium front “number” plate, which goes with side “number” plates in aluminium. The tank gets knee pads for extra grip and control and your feet get wider off-road type footpegs.
To keep the Sport Tracker as light, slim and compact as possible, the CF aluminium die-cast frame has its weight low and it offers excellent
The seat is a big change. It is a two-tone flat item, for that truly sport tracker/scrambler look – one that I really like on this bike. As you will see in the pictures, our particular bike also has the accessory Akrapovic high mount full exhaust. Unfortunately this will remain an accessory and the bike being released here will come with the low mount Akrapovic, similar to the one mounted to our long term MT-07. It is a shame that the high mount won’t come standard, but at $2200+ it would add quite a bit to the price tag, and one welcome thing about the
BIKE TEST
MT-09 is the low base price tag, which Yamaha is no doubt looking at keeping as low as possible for the Sport Tracker. Even though a final price is not known at this stage, I would take a stab in the dark and estimate a $13,490 price tag, which is giving you a discount on the price of the accessories fitted to this bike. The Sport Tracker will also come with a blacked out frame and matt bronze wheels for that extra special look over the standard MT-09.
around 60), get your order in as
Release a bit of your wild side and have a ball fun on the Yamaha MT-09 Sport Tracker. I would love one, but then again, I wouldn’t have a licence if I did – isn’t that half the excitement, though? As the Sport Tracker will be available in very limited numbers (we estimate around 60), get your order in as soon as possible to avoid disappointment and live as you’ve never lived before.
SPECS
YAMAHA
MT-09
SPORT TRACKER
PRICE: N/A
WARRANTY:Two years, unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled in-line three cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
BRAKES: Front, twin 298mm discs with radial mount four-piston calipers. Rear, 245mm disc, single-piston caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 7.43 litres per 100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 188km
COLOURS: Matt Grey
VERDICT: RIDE THE WILD SIDE
IT WINDS FROM CHICAGO TO L.A. If you ever plan to motor west, Travel my way, take the highway that’s the best Bobby (& Cynthia) Troup, 1946 ”
WORDS/PHOTOS THE BEAR
Sitgreaves Pass, Arizona, looking in the general direction of Oatman.
Let’s take – not the road less travelled, but the things less known about the road often travelled. Most people know about Route 66 as the road the Okies took to escape the Dust Bowl, and as the lifeline for American defence materiel and troops during the Second World War. They also know that it crosses eight States
and three time zones on its way “from Chicago to LA”. And they know about the many tourist attractions along the way. But do they know that it was the first US highway to be completely sealed? Or that we nearly got “Get Your Kicks on Route 40”? Here are a few lesser-known aspects of America’s Main Street, a road that I have loved
and that has always left me in one piece, something that cannot be said about all American roads.
BOOKED
Route 66 is a road; but it is also one of the major characters in John Steinbeck’s great novel The Grapes of Wrath. It is probably the only
road that ever helped anyone to win a Pulitzer Prize, and later the Nobel Prize for Literature. Steinbeck was the first to call it The Mother Road; when it was being put together – and it was originally put together, not built (see below) – its creator Cyrus Avery called it America’s Main Street.
It’s interesting to consider that the car, and the motorcycle, of course, provided the inspiration for America’s now staggering road network. Before they came there were only “wagon
roads” and the various trails; they were not sealed and they played second fiddle to the railways. Well Iron Horses, who’s playing beautiful music now?
SINGING
“Route 66” the song is a second thought. Marine Corps vet Bobby Troup from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania wrote “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” while driving Route 66 on his way to California. He had initially intended to write about Highway 40, but his wife
Cynthia suggested the Route 66 title. Thank you, Cynthia.
FUELLED
Route 66 inspired more than just Steinbeck’s prize-winning book. An oil company executive was testing his fi rm’s new petrol in a car in Oklahoma when someone remarked that the car was doing “like 60.” The driver looked at the speedometer and said: “We’re doing 66.” The car was doing 66 mph on
Route 66 near Tulsa. The company took the hint, and at its next board meeting the Phillips 66 brand was born. The Phillips 66 shield logo was subsequently created for its link to the famous highway.
GONE
Route 66 is clearly a metaphor. It stands for the restless and often desperate drive that took the Okie farmers west to a better life, and that still takes Americans all over the
country to fi nd and live the American Dream. It stands for connection, for opportunity and for indomitability. All this despite the fact that it is effectively gone, reduced to a series of short unconnected stretches and a very few longer roads. American highway builders generally construct their roads over the top of existing ones, obliterating them. That’s what happened to much of Route 66, and perhaps that’s a metaphor for modern America; the old and historic being
obliterated in the name of the new and effi cient.
ASSEMBLED
Route 66 was seen as a bit of a boondoggle. Cyrus Avery, a state highway commissioner in Oklahoma, was the most influential proponent of the establishment of a route from Chicago to Los Angeles. He put forward a combination of many existing roads into a single route, one which just happened to pass through his home
TRAVEL
1
town. His critics lost no time in pointing this out… This is also the derivation of the name America’s Main Street. Unlike modern highways, Route 66 actually passed through the towns along its way, often following their Main Street.
This is why many bits of it that remain are “business loops”, detours from main highways into the hearts of towns.
While we’re on the subject of highways, did you know that it took five Interstate “superslabs” to replace Route 66: 55 from Chicago to St Louis, 44 from St Louis to Oklahoma City, 40 from there to Barstow, 15 from Barstow to San Bernardino and 10 from there to the coast at Santa Monica.
NAMED
2
3
1. A Bear and a Tiger –and some rocks.
2. Check the prices for this motel in Arizona.
3. An iconic sign marks an iconic motel. (Photo Mike Grant)
settled on 66 and the name became official in 1926. East-west highways had and still have to have even numbers. US 60 still exists; in fact it was extended from Springfield all the way to LA, where it arrived in 1933 before being shortened again. It now ends at Brenda, Arizona.
SEALED
Route 66 was more an idea than a reality for decades. When it was established, fewer than 65 miles of the 1200 miles west of Oklahoma were paved. Local authorities were Root beer is vile. Take a bottle home as a souvenir, but do not drink.
Route 66 is a compromise, or at least its name is. Originally, the board planning the road had settled on the number 60. After vociferous complaints from officials responsible for a road from Virginia Beach to Springfield, Missouri who felt they had dibs on the number, Avery and his colleagues
responsible for maintaining Route 66, and many struggled. It took lobbying by the US Highway 66 Association and subsequent Federal assistance from President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program to finally seal the last bit of Route 66, in late 1937. That still made it the first US Highway to be completely sealed.
FADED
Route 66 is also a ghost. There might be little of it left on the ground, but its ectoplasm spreads far wider than the simple route from Chicago to Los Angeles. Some of its travel guides are printed only in continental European languages, not English, and what is left of it features – believe it or not – German restaurants. Not many, admittedly, but enough to be amazing when you see them. Like many other nationalities, the Germans have bought the mythos of the Old West, but in typical Teutonic style they take it to its logical (?) conclusion. When they’re not dressing up as cowboys and Indians to commemorate the stories of Karl May, they’re riding the Mother Road on rented Harleys.
STRAIGHT
Route 66 is mostly not a great bike road. The bits that are left of it reflect its creation as a utilitarian transport link. Unless they are business loops, they tend to be straight, they run along the obvious geographical channels – through valleys rather than across hills –and they deliberately avoid difficult terrain. Many curves were originally so dangerous that the road was sometimes referred to as “Bloody 66”. These were eventually straightened. So, except for a few places like
4. The Frontier Motel is permanently vacant.
5. This might just be a bit of the original Route 66.
6. Street scene in Oatman, Arizona. (Photo John Miller)
• Guided self drive/ride road trip along Historic Route 66 • Car or motorcycle hire with insurance
• All 8 Route 66 states - Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California
• Includes all accommodation, breakfast daily, tours, vehicle hire, tour cap and Route 66 specialist guide
• Includes Chicago city tour and welcome dinner
• Includes a 2.5 hour farewell Limo Tour in Las Vegas
• Includes an exclusive hot rod workshop tour & Harley-Davidson Museum
• Includes the services of Australia’s most experienced Route 66 guide
• Includes Route 66 Guide Book and a new Rand McNally road atlas, both yours to keep
• Enjoy 2 nights in Las Vegas Nevada, the entertainment capital of the world
Spring Tour: 16 April to 7 May 2015 Summer Tour: 4 to 24 July 2015 Fall Tour: 10 to 31 October 2015
*Upgrades to V8 GT Mustang, SS Camaro, Corvette Convertible or Dodge Challenger R/T available. Clubs, Groups, Singles, Couples, Families all welcome.
Be nice if you’re “standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona”. From the web: “Arizona gun control laws are among the least-restrictive in the United States. Arizona law states that any person 21 years or older, who is not a prohibited possessor, may carry a weapon openly or concealed without the need for a license. “
You do need to “complete a firearms safety course” but “there are no minimum requirements for what a safety course must include… Several companies offer online classes.” So remember what happened to Dennis Hopper (admittedly in another State) in Easy Rider, and don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy…
Sitgreaves Pass (opening photo) and to a lesser extent Cajon Summit, there are hardly any twisty bits to enjoy on a sports bike. Instead, the road is the dominion of the cruiser, and its attractions are historical and visual – there are some wonderful desert crossings, for instance.
UNAVOIDABLE
Though much is taken, much abides, as Alfred Lord Tennyson points out. The sections of Route 66 that are left are worth seeing, and riding. And of course if you want to be able to claim that you’ve ridden the world’s great roads you must have sampled at least a part of The Mother Road, ideally the bit in Arizona and California because that does have some corners and some wonderful scenery.
Many tour companies offer guided or self-guided tours of parts or the entirety of Route 66; the best of them (of course) advertise in these pages. They include Route 66 Tours www.route66tours.com. au; California Sunriders Motorcycle Tours & Rentals, www.californiasunriders.com; Eaglerider Rentals and Tours, www.eaglerider.com; and Ride America, www.rideamerica.com. You will also find my San Franciscobased buddy Wolfgang at Dubbelju Motorcycle Rentals, www.dubbelju. com helpful, and if you want to get your kicks on your own bike it’s worth talking to Australia’s Get Routed, www.getrouted.com.au
TOUR
And guess what: you can see some of the best bits if you come along on The Bear’s Best of the West, the GAMCT tour we are running in August. This is a 16 day tour with 14 days of riding. As well as one of the most iconic stretches of Route 66, it includes the Pacific Coast, Monument Valley and national parks like Death Valley, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Zion. On top of that you’ll have a chance to meet motorcycle design legend Craig Vetter, and share a meal with him.
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. Price includes Harley-Davidson rental. Mention my name when you book and you’ll get a discount of $300 per motorcycle.
For more information and bookings, please email Skip at skip@gamct.com, and copy me in at thebear@ausmotorcyclist. com.au . Skip and I will lead the tour. Love to see you; come and “get your kicks”.
7. Here come zer Chermans!
Pick & cho e
Here’s one of my least favourite questions, along with “you don’t really want another beer, do you?” It is “What’s your favourite road?” There are almost as many answers to that as there are roads. Not only does it change depending on my mood, the bike I have at the moment and the amount of flexibility my arthritis is allowing me, but it also changes with the person asking the question. If you’re a raw beginner you will not get the answer, “the Hill at Kotor”, and if you’re a feral scratcher I will not say “the Big Sur road”, because you wouldn’t like them.
What? You want to know what my favourite road is right now? Okay, seeing that I’ve been thinking about the western US, I’d say Utah 12 from Torrey to Escalante. Or no, wait, er…
BEAR’S BEST OF THE WEST
THE TOP TOUR OF THE YEAR
Did you enjoy the story about the unknown Route 66? Well, you can come and ride some of it, plus the The Bear’s other favourite roads and drink in his favourite bars with him. He has put the 16 day Bear’s Best of the West Tour together for a fortnight of the best riding in western USA.
Don’t be put off by the relatively high US dollar against ours. The cost of the tour represents extremely good value. It ranges from US$5,995 per person for two people sharing one bike and one room to US$7,195 per person and bike, sharing a room with someone else and US$8,995 per person if you want a single room. Cost of air fares is not included, but the price includes HarleyDavidson rental; you get a first and
second choice of model. Some BMW and Honda models may be available at an additional cost of $40 per day.
And here’s the final kicker: mention The Bear’s name when you book and you’ll get a discount of $300 per motorcycle!
You’ll ride from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and Kingman, Arizona before visiting the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and a whole bunch of other spectacular national parks including Zion. From Las Vegas you’ll tackle the stark beauty of Death Valley, ride into Yosemite National Park by way of Tioga Pass and then visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. After crossing the Californian Central Valley you’ll ride the Big Sur Road and return to Los Angeles.
You will also have lunch along the way with The Bear’s friend, internationally famous designer Craig Vetter who will talk about his projects.
The tour starts on the 15th of August and ends on the 30th. 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.
“You’ve got to be on this tour,” says The Bear, “If you’ve enjoyed my stories of riding the US West.”
For more information and bookings, please email Skip at skip@gamct.com and copy him in at thebear@ausmotorcyclist.com.au.
2015 BARRY SHEENE FESTIVAL OF SPEED
OR, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY GREMLIN REPELLENT?
WORDS THE BEAR/ STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS ZANE DOBIE
Happily,
sometimes, something happens that reminds you just how much fun motorcycle racing used to be. The 2015 Barry Sheene Festival of Speed, held by the Post Classic Racing Association NSW at Sydney Motorsport Park was the event to do that, and it was not to be missed. Even just judging by the number of cars in the carpark and spectators walking around it was a hit. I haven’t seen so many cars, parked all the way up to the hill at Turn 2, for many, many years. If you went to the Australian superbike racing a week later, it was like a ghost town, so classic racing is alive and swelling at the gills. It’s not just bikes. You only need to look at the car racing scene a few years ago, which had dwindling numbers attending the “main” game. Yet muscle car racing was huge – and much the same thing is happening with the bike racing scene. Maybe the superbike promoters need to look at a classic bike support class?
Anyhow, on to the show. Legend and all-round great guy, Freddie Spencer was on hand at the BSFoS and the line up to meet and greet was constant the entire time he was there. Freddie even got out to ride a couple of his old bikes –an RC860 and a 250cc 2-stroke GP bike.
Even though I was unable to make it, I was told that the main dinner for the event, where Freddie spoke, provided a great insight into the world of GP racing and the laid back nature of Freddie Spencer himself.
was the wet parts of the track, but what I found was that the rear sprocket carrier bearing had disintegrated causing the rear wheel to slop around in the swingarm. This caused a fair bit of damage to the swingarm, but luckily not enough to sideline me for the weekend. Then the fun was on to get another sprocket carrier. Of course the carrier had a specific part number and one that I thought was similar (thank you, Brian), was just not going to fit. With the help of Simon from Metro Spares (Silverwater NSW) and Brad from B and C Motorcycles (Newcastle NSW) I got the right carrier, got it fitted and just made it in time for my race.
My weekend started off… not so good. In qualifying I got held up for three laps and got two clear laps, both of which I stuffed up, putting me 9th on the grid. Thankfully the racing throughout the weekend was a rolling grid, so where you finish, is where you start for the next race. First race I moved up to 5th, after blowing the start (not like me at all). I’d felt the rear of my Pre Modern F1 CBR900RR moving around a bit, thinking it
For the 2nd race I blew the start again, going back to around 12th into turn one, but made my way up to third. The third race was cancelled after a number of holdups due to rain and accidents, so now we’re into Sunday morning and my third race for the weekend. Again, I blew the start, going backwards (grr!), but I made my way back to third, only for the bike to start losing power, going back to fourth and holding on to that position over the line. A bit of investigating found that the battery might have been losing charge after a couple of laps, so I put it on the charger and the mighty CBR had its zing back.
While all of this was going on, IoMTT racer Alex Pickett was racing in Period 5 Unlimited on a Suzuki GSX1100. P5 unlimited are the big banger bikes that are worth massive dollars and are built to within an inch of their lives. And, as you guessed it, they blow up, break down and generally cause all sorts of grief for the owners and riders. Alex also became a victim of the gremlins that had invaded our pit garage. While he was fighting for a place on the podium the clutch started slipping. We then had the joy of trying to find a “special” clutch, fitted to a bike like this – luckily someone had one spare. The big GSX also had breather pipe issues, so his father Chris, Brad from B and
EVENT
C Motorcycles and I spent many hours sorting that issue.
All for Alex to have gearbox issues in his next race!
The trouble here was that Alex needed a certain number of finished races to be eligible for his mountain licence at this year’s TT. We knew my CBR would finish, so I lent him the bike so he could get his tick of approval (as you might say).
Unfortunately I didn’t get time to see the show ‘n’ shine on the Sunday which is a favourite of mine and in general, didn’t get to see too much of the excitement around the paddock, other than for some friends and other racers like, Cam Donald and Steve Martin who dropped in to say hi as we were battling the gremlins. As you’ve no doubt heard before – that’s racing.
Of the feature races over the weekend, the results show many top level racers were on hand for the weekend –
Barry Sheene Memorial (Top 25 P5’s & Top 25 P6’s)
1. Mal Campbell
2. John Allen
3. Scott Campbell
Freddie Spencer Challenge/ Plus Paul Dobbs Memorial P4 750cc & Freddie Spencer Guest of Honour Challenge
1. Simon Thomas
2. Stephen Ward
3. Alan Johnston
1. Aaiden Coote
2. Nick Cole
3. Cam Donald
If you want to see superstars and super racing, mark down the dates of 17-20 of March 2016 so you’ll be ready to come see the awesome spectacle that is the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed. I’ll be there again on my CBR900RR, and depending on class combinations, I might even be riding the wild GSX1100 or the beastly FZR1000 that my mate Chris and I are building!
IomTT racer Alex Pickett launches the front wheel in the air on the wild GSX1100
TWO APPS TO SAY
WHERE ARE YOU?
WORDS/PHOTOS COLIN WHELAN
GPS-TO-SMS is a basic and easy to use free APP that simply takes your GPS co-ordinates and incorporates them into an SMS message or into an email to send to your Anchor Buddy. You can pre-set a default email or SMS recipient (the Anchor Buddy) and it’s about the easiest way to let home know where you are and that you are safe.
When you open the App it displays your co-ordinates and altitude together with the accuracy of the reading. It can take a few seconds to narrow it down but usually will settle to an accuracy of 10 metres, which is more than enough.
You can set a single default receiver for SMS and another for email. You can then add extras manually when sending.
You’re able to add text and images to both communication forms. Recipients get a hot link to a google map showing your exact location and time.
The downside of course is that this is still dependent on having a phone
signal, so if you are out of reception area, this won’t work.
Don’t use it as your emergency help system (leave that to Spot!) but it is a
good way of just keeping in touch with home base, especially for $2.49.
MOTIONX-GPS is an ambitious GPS plotting and recording program that does a lot of tasks okay.
Most common use is for plotting your track, recording your ride and then sharing it.
You can set it to send an SMS or email to your Anchor Buddy at preset intervals during a ride and can use it to direct you to a specific POI.
I use the track recording function to plot which sections of rides are out of Telstra service area as well as the interval advisories. If you are in reception area, it does this better than Spot. (see photo where the broken line reflects the out of reception stretches.)
It chews up battery so don’t use if you don’t have an accessory power socket on the bike. Like other navigation apps, this one can also seriously chew into
your data download allowance so best check your telco contract and be VERY careful about using it overseas!
Available for $1.99 at the App Store. For a more detailed review go to the gear review section at www. motorbikenation.com
HARLEY-DAVIDSON HOG RALLY 2015 WORDS & PHOTOS NICK WOOD
EVENT
It began – for us journalists – in drizzle and it ended – for everyone –in a downpour, but so what? The 24th National Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) Rally was being held at the home of country music in Australia, and it looked as if this would be the largest collection of HOG members to date in Australia.
Leaving the drizzle of HD head office in Sydney, our little muster of journalists headed up through the Hunter Valley and onto the New England Highway towards Tamworth. I was riding the new Rushmore Project 2015 Street Glide, which is about as good as it gets for touring on a Harley-Davidson (which is very good indeed) and I found my steed
comfortable and enjoyable to ride for long distances.
It was clear that the home of country music was about to be the home of Harley-Davidson when we arrived in Tamworth on Thursday evening, having dodged some serious weather on the journey up.
When Harley throws a party it stays thrown, and it soon became apparent the 24th HOG rally was going to be no exception. The rally site was the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC), which is the home to the music festival. It is also the perfect place to host more than 3000 HarleyDavidson enthusiasts, with plenty of space and comfort.
After settling in at the Golden Guitar motel, I had a chance to get out and tour the surrounding areas of Tamworth, get photos of the new Harley range and see some of the countryside. Tamworth lies on the edge of the Great Dividing Range and can offer some really beautiful scenery. Sadly it’s a bit brown from the lack of rain in recent months. The roads however leave a little to be desired, and the Harleys held their own on some rather bumpy tracks.
On the Friday night, our little posse of journalists headed out to Kootingal for a pub supper and then back to catch the ‘Screaming Eagles’ play to an adoring crowd. They even pleased the Harley staff with a specially written song about
“WHEN HARLEY THROWS A PARTY IT STAYS THROWN, AND IT SOON BECAME APPARENT THE 24TH HOG RALLY WAS GOING TO BE NO EXCEPTION”
the Rushmore project. As pm turned to am, the crowd was still dancing to the sound of rock ‘n’ roll, but my time had come for one day and it was back to the Golden Guitar for some z’s.
After a hearty breakfast we took the recommended stroll around the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum, which is attached to the Quality Hotel on the Armidale Rd. You will find an amazing array of motorcycle history including my all-time favourite – the 900 MHR Ducati. All the bikes are in working order and have been lovingly restored to showroom condition… well worth a look.
On Saturday, I had the chance to ride out to Nundle and get some photos of the bikes, which was very appealing. Playing pillion with H-D’s Dave Turney on the Road King, I managed to grab some bike-to-bike photos and sat back and enjoyed the ride.
Kim Williams from Harley Davidson organises a great rally and Tamworth was not going to disappoint. In the afternoon we were treated to the rodeo, which was bordering on insane. I assume from this crazy spectacle that the young men who climb on the back of a one ton bull, wait for another chap to pull a rope around its knackers and then release it, must be either very brave or completely bonkers. The injuries from being stomped by bulls and being thrown off horses were very real and looked very painful.
The Saturday night was more horse themed entertainment by way of the Country Spectacular and the Rally Parade. The things people can do on a horse leave me in no doubt that I will be sticking with my motorcycle…
And so to the grand finale on Sunday, the Thunder Run. This was the biggest Australian HOG rally ever, with the final number of registrations at 2320…
At 9am, HOG manager Gary Luxmoore and his significantly better half Jojo led the parade into Tamworth.
The HOG members were treated to that good old country hospitality by the crowd lining the streets, with people of all ages waving the rally through. The rally started in brilliant sunshine and ended in a downpour, but it didn’t dampen any spirits as riders immediately started polishing their bikes, in time for some show and shine.
I need to give a special mention to Gary Cripps who rode 4560km from Perth to be at the rally. My personal thanks go to Lydia Murdoch, Kim Williams, Stef Mallaci, Dave Turney, Gary Luxmoore, and Adam Wright, who by the way celebrated his 50th year whilst on the rally. For he’s a jolly good fellow –hip hip hooray.
And that’s it for the 2015th HOG rally Tamworth, goodbye till next year!
DARLING DOWNS PART 1
DON’T SASS BILLY HUGHES
Warwick on the Darling Downs has a few claims to fame but by far the best is being responsible for the formation of what is now the Australian Federal Police.
In November 1917, then PM Billy Hughes arrived at Warwick on a train and set about addressing a large crowd at the station on the issue of conscription. A couple of eggs were quickly thrown at him, one knocking off his hat. There was immediate ‘tumult, excitement and confusion’ and Hughes himself waded into the brawl.
One bloke got arrested but when the local Senior Sergeant suggested to Hughes that he was wrong in pushing for the chucker to be charged with a Commonwealth rather than a State
WORDS/PHOTOS COLIN WHELAN
offence, the PM told the copper that he’d be dealt with as well.
Offended by such insolence, Hughes returned to the refined confines of Canberra and authorised the establishment of the Commonwealth Police Force, the precursor to the AFP.
WARWICK
Large hub town with pretty much all the facilities. Top Two Motorcycles have recently moved to Betta Place on the eastern edge of town and they’ll be able to fix pretty much any problem you may have with your ride. The Historic Criterion Hotel on the main street with its fabulous long wooden bar has been refurbed without any sensitivity to
history and is best avoided in favour of the more deserving O’Mahoneys over near the railway station.
Good Tourist Info on the main drag, a block on the Brisbane side of the Coffee Club, it’s a bit hard to get to the carpark so best to prop on the street and walk over.
INGLEWOOD
The Commercial Hotel, which booted out a group of fund raising social riders has met its karma and been closed down. There’s a very nice park on the eastern edge of town opposite the museum and fuel is at the western exit whilst there’s a decent bakery in the middle of the main drag.
www.hemamaps.com.au
There’s a plaque at the Warwick Station commemorating the ‘Warwick Egg Incident’ and, with the old refurbed O’Mahoneys Pub across the road, it makes a good start for this ride. From the Station make your way west on Grafton St then take a left onto the Cunningham Hwy followed by a right at the first lights signposted Goondiwindi. Ten blocks down on the left you’ll see the Warwick Pie shop which is one of the better bakeries around, and once you’ve left town you have around 110km until you get to Inglewood where you can get fuel before a further 40kms to Yelarbon. Here you have your first real chance to get off the highway.
RED ROUTE TO THE EAST OF GOONDIWINDI
140 kms further west to the end of the Barwon Hwy where you turn left onto the Carnarvon and then just 1.5km later take the right into the Nindigully Pub with its free camping, free showers and a great and responsive manager in Lynn.
Once you are done at the Nindi, get back to the Carnarvon, head north and into St George where you turn left onto Adventure Way (signposted Cunnamulla) and then over the bridge for the 288km to Cunnamulla. You are now officially in the Outback!
This is the longest dry stretch of the ride as there is no longer fuel at Bollon or Nebine.
of tar in the middle for a total of about 40km of gravel. You then have 50km of empty outback sealed road to savour for the ride into Toompine.
GREEN ROUTE
If you prefer to give Tharg a miss and head directly to Toompine (and have a range of over 340km) then you’ll turn north 18km west of Eulo signposted Yowah and it’s sealed all the way. Simple!
BLUE ROUTE
When you head west out of town, just as the highway bends right follow the brown tourist sign straight ahead onto the Yelarbon Keetah Rd. This soon swings left and leads down to join the river and shadow it for a sweet ride into Goondiwindi. You’ll see the turn to your left to the Keetah Bridge over the Dumaresq River… a great swimming hole if you could do with a dip. If you’ve kept on the highway I reckon it’s better not to take the bypass (signposted ‘St George’) but to continue south to the two main servos and then right at the big roundabout and head down the main street of Goondiwindi which is a very nice rural hub town but without any truly motorcycle friendly hotel.
The first one of these you’ll find is out at Toobeah, a further 48kms to the west on the highway. From here it’s
TEAR-OUT MAP #28
From here it’s just under 198kms to Thargomindah and the first town you’ll pass through is Eulo with its interesting mud baths and, until he leaves in a couple of months to take over the pub at Dirranbandi, one of the ruder pub hosts it’ll be your misfortune to experience. Maybe take a bath but a stop at the pub won’t refresh you a bit!
Eulo is where you’ll have to make decisions about your routes.
RED ROUTE
If you want to go to Tharg (which is worth a visit) but are chiefly headed to Toompine, the most direct route between the two includes around 40km of unsealed dirt and gravel (though no sand).
Once you’ve finished in Thargomindah, head back east for 8km til you see the left turn for Toompine and Quilpie. You have 20km of good sealed road until the first of 2 sections of dirt with a few kms
COLLECT THEM ALL
But if time is no problem then you might want to go the full loop and head west from Tharg out through Noccundra with its mud brick pub and Eromanga (the most inland town in Oz) and then join us back at Quilpie. (Toompine is 75 km off the Diamantina Dev Rd).)
Head west out of Tharg on Adventure Way for 122kms until you see the left turn sign for the Noccundra Hotel which is 20km from the intersection, all sealed. Done here, retrace your path to Adventure Way and then take a left for Eromanga. The road changes name a few times but just keep following your front wheel for 160km until you reach Australia’s most inland town.
From Eromanga head 100km east (blending onto the Diamantina Development road until you turn right onto the Quilpie-Thargomindah Rd for the 75km down to Toompine.
Hint: You probably should go into Quilpie, just 6km from the turn to fill up with juice before heading back down to Toompine.
(Part 2 next month!)
GOONDIWINDI
The best fuel stop is the BP Truck Stop (with showers) on Cunningham Hwy south of the bypass. They sell all grades, have clean and soapy visor wash, and are friendly and knowledgeable about road conditions and other local stuff: almost anachronistic! I like the Royal Hotel on the south side of the main street… they have a café attached and an outdoor non-smoking area.
TOOBEAH
will cost you $105 whilst Steve down at the Caravan Park had no issue with explaining that the $27 rate for an unpowered single bike rider site is the same as that for a 4WD with caravan and two people because some of the vans will take up to 600 litres of his water and the cost has to be shared! However, Halpin Motors at 41 Grey St is a very good bike shop if your ride is in any trouble, and there’s a café that’s really trying on Henry St and a relaxing park along the side of the Balonne River.
brought in and mixed with artesian water in elegant ‘normal’ baths. Very relaxing if you have time.
THARGOMINDAH
Just the Coronation Hotel here nowadays. Run by Michael and Stacy; you can get a friendly welcome and food from 10am til 9pm. The huge beer garden has a non-smoking area and there’s a basic general store in the front for any essentials you may’ve forgotten. For a review of this pub go to www.motorbikenation.com
TALWOOD
This has been bypassed by highway and so you have to drive into it, making it quieter at night if you want to stay (the pub has accommodation). There’s 91 standard fuel available at General Store hours for anyone who forgot to fill back at Gundy.
NINDIGULLY
A truly iconic pub despite winding back some of its celebrations due to ratbag behaviour. There’s free camping beside the river and across from the pub and free showers (use the water sparingly) in the pub so in return play fair and buy a drink or two and have a meal. Breakfasts by arrangement. Best to book ahead if you plan to stay in one of their rooms. T: 07 4625 9637 There is no fuel at Nindi.
ST GEORGE
Don’t stay here. The prices and the attitude are, well, special. A room at the Australian Hotel (shared facilities)
The Emu Egg Gallery at 108 Victoria St is unique and very much worth a visit.
BOLLON
No fuel at Bollon anymore and you won’t get a smile out of the people in the general store but the locals here seem very friendly and up for a chat. Across the road is a wonderful new riverside walk under the gums. A good leg stretch stop!
CUNNUMULLA
Very helpful folks in the Visitor Info Centre behind the Cunnamulla Fella statue. They don’t have detailed road condition info but they have a pile of maps and background tourism goodies. Due to the pubs up ahead, if you drink spirits you may want to buy a bottle to stick in your side bag.
EULO
On the way in, you’ll see the statue of some kind of dinosaur but he’s nothing compared to the Neanderthal who ‘served’ me at the pub in March.. The other six riders I met outside all had jokes about the ‘service’ they’d just had at the bar and my experience only added to the mirth. In the following days everyone I met who’d been here had stories about bad treatment. I hear he’s bound for another country pub very soon so things might improve. The ‘mud baths’ are not like say, Rotorua in EnZed. Rather the mud is
Only two places to stay: the motel and the caravan park. The pub prides itself on the surliness of the owner whilst the van park at the end of town and the motel opposite the pub are run by extremely friendly couples. The van park has special rates for riders including discounts for groups and those swagging.
Tharg was the first town in the world to have street lights powered by artesian water and the old bore is about a mile north of the town: well worth a visit despite it no longer flowing. There’s also a couple of interesting mud brick buildings in town including the post office. You can swim down in the river at the fishing hole.
Fuel can be iffy here. The ‘roadhouse’ was dry when I was there last but the rural traders on the main street had 91.
NOCCUNDRA
Just the old pub here but not the warmest of greetings although you can camp nearby. Don’t go raising your expectations too high and you won’t be disappointed!
EROMANGA
Yep! There’s fuel here. And it’s reliable. The BP sells 91 and 95. The pub is next to the Living History Centre but I reckon on a good night there’s more living history actually IN the pub. This pub is supposedly the furthest pub from a coastline in Australia so you leave your boogie board at home!
TOOMPINE
Not much to say about Toompine ‘cept you should go there and experience it! No fuel no general store, just the pub, but what a pub!
“I spoke to the river And the river spoke back to me…” Joe Cocker (Percy Mayfield)
No, no river has ever spoken to me except for those bubbly kinds of comments you get when you drop your bike in the middle of one, and which
sound rather like flatulence in the bath. Perhaps the problem here is that unlike Joe I have never spoken to any rivers in the first place. Bikes, on the other hand, have spoken to me many times, not only to say “what the hell do you think you’re doing?” but also “let’s go, what are you waiting for?”
This really started when I bought my
first Suzuki, a near-new GS750 I found in The Mighty Crozza’s shop in London. Crosby had a share in it, anyway. The bike was a complete revelation to me – apart from looking soo cool, it was almost frighteningly fast, handled beautifully and even stopped properly. And on many occasions when Mrs Bear and I returned from weekend trips into
the English countryside, it said to me, “why stop now? Let’s keep going…”
The latest Suzuki I’ve ridden walks the same walk and talks the same talk. Admittedly, the V-Strom 650XT is hardly frighteningly fast, but it does handle well (thank you, wire wheels) and stops just fine. More to the point, though, it has that same “let’s go” attitude built into it.
Suzuki has a major success on its hands with the V-Strom 650 (and, I suspect, with the new V-Strom 1000) so it is hardly surprising that the company would extend the range. Apart from the
standard 650 and the litre bike, there are now three others: the XT, a wirewheeled 650 with an adventure touring bent, and LAMS versions of both of the smaller models.
The V-Strom 650XT ABS has distinctly more Paris/Dakar styling complete with the obligatory front beak (which you would have to paint yellow if you owned one of these bikes) and aluminium, spoked wheels which, Suzuki says, afford better shock absorption and a comfortable ride. For us, the Australian spec model has Genuine Suzuki accessory hand-guards, engine under
tras
cowling and engine protection bars. Not bad at $11,490 plus on road charges. If you’re a regular reader of MOTORCYCLIST, you will know that we have effectively created an XT of our own (which is for sale now, hint) –although we haven’t gone so far as to change the wheels. The luggage we have fitted is a combination of the Suzukisupplied Givi top box and Andy Strapz’ roll-top soft touring bags with their ingenious racks; you might like to consider the same arrangement if you buy an XT because the standard panniers and top box are not available in Australia. Believe it or not, the assembly is too wide for our standards. What I’m trying to say here is that the XT is pretty close to what we would do to any V-Strom in our hands, and its wide and useful range of factory accessories.
I collected the one in the photos from Suzuki in Melbourne and rode it up to Sydney by as many back roadssealed and gravel – as I could find. By the way, did you know that the use of “sealed” to indicate a tarred road is an Australianism? Us Aussies, eh? Always coming up with something useful… Where was I? Ah, yes, the
roads between Melbourne and Sydney. Some of the sealed ones are worse than many of the gravel stretches, so I feel justified in saying that the suspension on the XT is damn good. The forks have five-stage preload adjustment while the rear has a preload adjustment dial and an adjuster for rebound damping. I had the bike loaded with myself and a half-full Suzuki accessory roll-top bag, and left the suspension settings alone. They were fine. Slipping from sealed roads to gravel was no big deal, and I even tackled a bit of mud down near the Murray. That was ugly, but only in a visual sense… Handling, as I mentioned above, is fine thanks mainly to the lighter wire wheels.
That 645cc vee twin has always been one of the main attractions of the Wee Strom. It now has even more bottom end to midrange performance, which makes the bike a pleasure to ride on country trips – no need to change down for towns. Overtaking is a snack as well. Fuel consumption is pleasantly low as well; despite pushing on quite enthusiastically I saw 5.3 litres per 100km, which gives a reasonable range of 377km from the 20 litre tank.
The XT’s engine (and the rest of the
bike) demonstrated its versatility first in suburban riding in Melbourne, then on the Hume freeway, on the tar and dirt back roads alongside the Olympic Highway, over the Blue Mountains and finally in Sydney’s choked traffic. It might be “only” a 650 but I can honestly say that I never missed extra capacity or power.
The one aspect of the bike that could have been better from my point of view was the seat. In comparison with other bikes, including the previous model V-Strom, it actually isn’t too bad; just about any bike seat will have your backside complaining by the second day of a country trip. But the one non-Suzuki accessory I would recommend after Andy Strapz’ bags is an AirHawk seat cushion. The location of the footpegs makes it easy enough to stand up to take the pressure off your backside – although I believe this may be illegal. Oh, gawd.
If I had a Suzuki V-Strom 650XT I would paint it black, paint the beak yellow, stick a pair of Moon Eyes on the headlights, name it “Daffy” and ride it everywhere this little black duck wanted to go. I wouldn’t really. But I’d be very tempted to have one of these.
HIAMO 2 IS GO!
ANOTHER CHANCE TO EXPLORE THE SOUTH ISLAND
Join the next Trip of a Lifetime with MOTORCYCLIST and Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ. Our 2016 Hiamo South Island tour will run from 26 Jan to 6 Feb 2016 – 11 days of glorious roads and scenery that will knock your socks off. Everyone who came on the 2015 Hiamo Tour was stunned at the amazing sights and even more amazing roads.
For 2016 we have more riding - we’ve expanded the tour from 9 days to 11. More scenery – we’ve added Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs Thermal Resort, Lewis Pass and Buller Gorge Road - more of the wild West Coast and a free day to explore the Otago Peninsula.
So from the front or back of your nearnew rental bike you’ll experience even more of the South Island, and this time we go anti-clockwise!
Another guide has been added, too. With the high demand for this tour, Paradise Motorcycle Tours is adding a second motorcycle guide, which means there can be two groups, each with a guide,to maximize your safety and enjoyment.
More options are another benefit of having two guides. You can take a shorter route on some days to relax and explore the final day’s destination, or
enjoy a longer route for maximum riding time and sights from the saddle. More bikes will be available. Paradise Motorcycle Tours has the most modern and one of the largest fleets in NZ. Being an official partner of BMW Motorrad, they offer a choice of the usual popular BMW models, or you can book one of the just released ones like the R 1200 RS, F 800 R or S 1000 XR.
I really look forward to seeing you there, but remember to book as early as possible, because this will be a very popular tour. SW
BOOKING:
Contact Paradise Motorcycle Tours on - Ph: +64 9473 9404, email info@paradisemotorcycle tours.co.nz or visit the website www.paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz
HERE IS A QUICK RUNDOWN OF THE TOUR:
Day one -Christchurch to Hanmer Springs (via Kaikoura)
Day two - Hanmer Springs to Punakaiki
Day three - Punakaiki to Franz Josef: Choose from
two ride options today.
Day four - Franz Josef to Queenstown
Day five - Free day to explore Queenstown
Day six - Queenstown to Te Anau: Choose from two riding options today.
Day seven - Milford Sound: with a two hour cruise on the Sound.
Day eight - Te Anau to Dunedin
Day nine - Free day to explore Dunedin
Day ten - Dunedin to Tekapo
Day eleven - Tekapo to Christchurch
THE COST –
Please Note: All tour prices are PER PERSON in New Zealand dollars inclusive of GST and you have the choice of two variations. The Deluxe tour covers petrol and most breakfasts and dinners and a higher level of accommodation. If you choose the Kia Ora tour, you buy your own petrol and all meals (other than the welcome and farewell dinners)
11 DAY SOUTH ISLAND GUIDED MOTORCYCLE TOUR WITH AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLIST MAGAZINE AOTEAROA DELUXE PRICING
Couple, 1 bike, share double
$7465 Rider, own room
$11830 2 riders, 2 bikes, share twin $8300
$9505
11 DAY SOUTH ISLAND GUIDED MOTORCYCLE TOUR WITH AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLIST MAGAZINE KIA ORA KIWI PRICING
Couple, 1 bike, share double
$4509 Rider, own room
2 riders, 2 bikes, share twin
Early Arrival Option **Highly Recommended**
$5940
Be rested and ready for the tour of a lifetime with the addition of an early arrival option. We’ll even give you your bike a day early at no extra cost so you can use it to explore Christchurch if you wish or just take a ride to familiarise yourself with the bike. Here is the cost for this highly recommended early arrivalAotearoa Deluxe: 1 Extra night accommodation and breakfast $300. Kia Ora Kiwi: 1 Extra night accommodation $215.
Remember that this guided tour is fully supported by the Paradise staff in their van and the professionalism is top class, to make sure that you’ll have the best time possible! BAND A
VALE KENJI EKUAN
A BIKE AND A BOTTLE
Whatis skill in design? Where does it come from? There are probably as many answers to that question as there are design geniuses in the world. Maybe more…
In some cases you could be forgiven for thinking that it is genetic. Take Soichiro Honda: his mother, a weaver, designed her own loom so she could produce intricately woven cloth. It is not unreasonable to think that he might have inherited his inventiveness from her, just as his blacksmith father, who fixed bicycles, could have passed on a love of efficient machinery.
Sadly, design talents do not always transfer well – even from one industry to another. And it doesn’t necessarily help if the design comes from a wellknown and indeed famous design house. The red Lamborghini motorcycle is pretty ordinary – like a badly-stirred mixture of a Ducati Paso and a Honda VFR800. The dog’s bone Ferrari is better – it might be impractical but it is at least interesting. The Lotus motorcycle (Google it), looks like a collision between an ice cream container and a plastic toy. Did the designers even attempt to imagine what a rider would look like on this thing? One designer who at least made an
interesting attempt to create a bike is Philippe Starck, he of the utterly impractical but exceptionally beautiful citrus squeezer. He was commissioned by Aprilia to give the firm’s 650 a makeover. “When I design, I don’t consider the technical or commercial parameters so much as the desire for a dream that humans have attempted to project onto an object, ” Starck said, and that may explain why there are more Starck Moto’ Aprilia 6.5s in museums than in riders’ garages.
On the other hand, there was a designer whose work is both in museums and garages, as well as restaurant and kitchen tables all over the world. Kenji Ekuan designed the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, back in the early ‘60s. That bottle alone would have guaranteed him a place in the pantheon of industrial designers.
It was the beginning of the age of “democratization of material things and beauty,” as he called it. After three years and more than 100 prototypes he found what he considered to be the ideal soy sauce bottle for Kikkoman, he told the New York Times. The paper noted that “it helped timeless Japanese design values -- elegance, simplicity and supreme functionality -- infiltrate
kitchens around the world.”
How true, how true. Note the emphasis on functionality… Ekuansan designed things that work. And not the least of his creations – which include trains, logos and all sorts of other things – were both of the Yamaha VMAX models. The current one is shown here.
Keiji Ekuan graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955, and two years later was one of the designers who established GK Industrial Design Associates, the company he stayed with all his working life. When he died recently of a heart condition at the age of 85, all I could think apart from my regret at the passing of another human being was, “Now he won’t have a chance to design a third version of the VMAX…” PT
Shoei Neotec
Hornet
Jetboil
Shoei Neotec
Hornet
WHAT IS TRUTH?
ALPINE HOTEL, COOMA NSW
WORDS/PHOTOS COLIN WHELAN
But their style of playing polo was irregular and rashThey had mighty little science, but a mighty lot of dash:
Now my readers can imagine how the contest ebbed and flowed, When the Geebung boys got going it was time to clear the road; And the game was so terrific that ere half the time was gone
A spectator’s leg was broken - just from merely looking on
The Geebung Polo Club by Banjo Paterson
Sometimestruth is overrated. Sometimes it’s just better to sit back and listen to the yarn rather than pick holes in the story. Better to luxuriate in the myth and the passion of the spinner than try to work out where facts can actually fit in.
The short history of this country has already created its share of myths, folktales and stories including any number of disputed histories and tales masquerading as facts.
Drop into the grandiose North Gregory Hotel in Winton, outback Qld and you’ll see the actual piano in situ where,
‘beyond any doubt’, Waltzing Matilda was first performed. Head a hundred km up the road to the Blue Heeler in Kynuna and you’ll see the corner of the pub where, er, it ‘can be proved’ Waltzing Matilda was first performed. Or maybe get yourself to Corryong in Victoria and you’ll find an entire town living the dream of its own Jack Riley who was ‘definitely’ the model for Paterson’s Man from Snowy River. Then ride the serpent roads to Bredbo in NSW and stand at the bar of the old pub, at the very spot where their local lad, Charlie McKeahnie, who the locals
know for sure was the inspiration for Paterson’s Man from Snowy River, dropped dead.
So what’s the truth?
So why do you care?
I don’t!
For me it’s the colour of the yarn and the passion of the teller that matters. It’s the light in their eyes as they tell it, the conviction in their voice as they detail it. And it’s the way they always seem to rock their heads… slowly… as they think the tale through. It’s the way they seem to gather the makin’s and roll their thoughts in careful speech in
the same measured, practised way their stained fingers roll durries and furl them in Tallyho.
These swirling mists of myth and claims of brushes with fame permeate one of Australia’s greatest poems, Paterson’s ‘The Geebung Polo Club’. Polo clubs from Tamarang in northern NSW to Hobart claim to have hosted the rough and tumble game that the Banjo watched and which inspired him to pen his poem. And for generations the unfortunately now defunct Cooma Polo Club claimed that it alone inspired Geebung…Ted Litchfield, a founder of the club later told
the Monaro Express that in 1892 the club took its ponies to Goulburn for a match and, “as they rode out onto the playing field there was an audible titter from the ladies in the stand as the Cooma ponies and their riders were much on the ‘rough’ side, in stark contrast to the well-groomed Goulburn men and horses. Goulburn won the first chukka, then something roused the visitors’ ire and they carried all before them to decided victory after a hard-fought game. Paterson was a spectator and arranged then to bring a city team to Cooma a little later. The team duly arrived and met the Cooma
“I’M GUESSING YOU’RE COLIN”. HE GUIDED ME AROUND THE BACK TO THE COVERED, LOCKABLE BIKE PARKING AREA. DON’T GET THAT TOO OFTEN!
team on Polo Flat with what result Mr Litchfield could not remember. A dinner was held after the match at the Prince of Wales Hotel. At this dinner Paterson was called to recite “The Man from Snowy River” which was then at the height of its popularity. He asked to be excused from reciting those verses, saying he would give them something better, and delighted the company with “The Geebung Polo Club.””
I don’t really care about the veracity of these various claims – as I said, the value of truth is often overrated - but, sitting in Cooma’s Alpine Hotel under
an old photo of a butt-naked bloke skiing down a slope on what resembles a broom, I find the allegations of a certain “rough side” of the local Cooma populace pretty easy to credit!
And on this Saturday arvo, just two blocks up from the site of the old Prince of Wales Hotel, there’s neither cuff nor collar in sight either, and thankfully there’s no screaming TAB! Just a few blokes around the bar enjoying being served by, and chatting with, Michael the publican.
I’d rung the pub from a few kays out of town at Polo Flat to see if they had
a bed and when Michael heard me pulling up, he left the bar, came out, and said, “I’m guessing you’re Colin”. He guided me around the back to the covered, lockable bike parking area. Don’t get that too often!
The bar exudes the friendliness of the boss – each of the regulars looks up, nods and says, “g’day”. And there’s an obvious respect and recognition for the place’s heritage.
The butt-naked skier photo is not there as some sort of attention grabbing sensationalism but rather as part of a collection of photos of the
history of this town and its surrounds.
Michael soon tells me that after 20 years working in the Northern Territory, he and his wife, Kris, were looking for a total tree change and were searching for country pub down south.
Cooma, he reckons, “is the best little country in NSW” and when the Alpine Hotel became available two years ago, they were ‘in the right place at the right time’ and snapped it up.
There’s nine beers and one cider on tap and a schooner of XXXX will set you back $5.20. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner seven days a week
from a varied menu. With all the beef being ‘grain fed’, a euphemism for ‘finished in a filthy unnatural feed lot’, I went for what was a delicious lamb salad.
Upstairs the art deco façade is maintained inside with some tasteful classic touches and again, some beautiful old alpine photos on the walls. With rates starting at $40 a head, the rooms are basic but they are comfortable and not lacking in facilities. There are well placed power outlets, the unscreened windows can be opened and all beds have electric blankets.
The hooks were strong enough to take my armour jacket and pants and there were, of course the oil heaters which would’ve dried out any wet gear. (There’s also a washing machine and drier downstairs available for guest use.)
All up the pub can sleep a total of near 50 riders in total of 28 rooms of which 8 are singles and the same number twins. There is no provision for breakfast and I was glad to have my own makings although the main street sure doesn’t lack for decent places with the Lott Food Store almost directly opposite the pub and the Cooma Turkish and Beatnik
Café further down the main drag both do good stuff.
On the down side there is no outside non-smoking area and neither juke box nor pool table but the monitors are tuned to MTV and sport with the volume at, ‘I can hear you talk, no need to shout’ levels.
After tea I get chatting with Michael about bike riders.
The snow season lasts for around just fourteen weeks and for the other 38 when both the cold and the traffic are less intense this pub is a haven for bike riders.
“They are,” he tells me, “our bread
and butter. They really do seem to appreciate the lock-up parking out back and the radiators in the rooms for themselves and their gear. And,” and here he pauses for a moment, “ we really enjoy having riders because they all seem to be fun loving people who scoot around the country all day then just want a friendly place for a drink and a decent feed and a good night’s sleep before they head out and do it all again the next day.’
I sit there thinking Banjo couldn’t have put it better!
Oh, and that’s the truth!
The Alpine Hotel, 170 Sharp St, Cooma, NSW
T: 02 6452 1466 (Michael and Kris)
www.alpinehotel.com.au
E: info@alpinehotel.com.au
It rated 75 on our MF scale giving it 3 (very nearly 4) helmets and a value of 187 where 100 is the standard.
As ever I thank my HR department for their support with this article.
Pub News
Acouple of bits of glass-halfempty news this month:
The heritage listed Corones Hotel at Charleville, a faded beauty of a pub with a history of both high society and high debt, has once again folded and closed its doors. There was a creditors meeting in Melbourne in late March but at this stage I’m not certain of the outcome. If you’re looking for accommodation in Charleville, the best place is now the Cattle Camp on Alfred Street.
Gannons Hotel at Julia Creek burnt down late March. This was the pub featured in the movie A Town Like Alice and it was completely gutted. Now the only pub in town is the classic Queenslander, The Julia Creek Hotel down on Goldring St.
A BREAK AWAY FROM KI
ROLLING OFF THE ROCK
Living on Kangaroo Island is great but a bit limiting for motorbike riding, especially if you’re not keen on getting off the tar. A trip to the North Island was overdue, Ollie (Suzuki VStrom 650), Ron (2001 BMW K1200 GT) and I, Steve (2010 Triumph Thunderbird) had done a few rides together, including the Mildura Ulysses AGM, so it was easy to organise a weekend away for the three of us.
Friday morning saw us catching the 10.30 ferry to Cape Jervis, the weather was cool but fine and the sea was calm. From Cape Jervis we took the direct route to Adelaide, no time for country touring as Ron had to get the BMW a new battery. After taking out a small loan he replaced the battery and we headed for the hills. We had a cabin booked at the Hahndorf Resort Tourist Park so we decided that the Gorge Road would be a good way to get there. Adelaide is supposed to be an easy city to get around yet we struggled to find the start of that lovely windy road, despite the fact that we all had GPS! Being a weekday, the traffic was light and despite the loose gravel we had been warned of, the road was good. After settling into our cabin we nipped into Hahndorf for an “all you can eat for $21.00” tea. Back at the cabin plans were made for the next day’s ride. As a rule Ron and I tend to let Ollie lead the way, we are happy to
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follow. The trouble is Ollie doesn’t tend to stop much and we miss out on those great little pubs and cafés along the way, so we planned Saturday around several stops to sit, sip | and reflect.
Saturday morning started well with a short ride into town, a stroll down the main street and a relaxing coffee; so far, so good. Time for some riding, so we headed off to Angaston via Birdwood, Mt Pleasant and Springton,
“WE STOPPED AT BEAUTIFUL ANGASTON FOR A BITE TO EAT, SITTING IN THE MAIN STREET AND FEELING WARM AND FUZZY”
all very nice and civilised so far. Yes we stopped at beautiful Angaston for a bite to eat, sitting in the main street and feeling warm and fuzzy, then it was time to head for our main destination. A great little bit of road between Angaston and Sedan, winding its way down the side of the Mt Lofty Ranges. When I got to the bottom Ollie was already doing a U-turn and yelling “let’s do it again” so we rode up the hill and back down the hill again and then on towards Mannum. In true Ollie style we whizzed past a few small
1. Looking for trouble? No, just for better weather.
2. The guilty parties, planning another jaunt off the rock.
3. Faithful steeds wait for their riders.
towns on the way back to Hahndorf. We rode past a small country pub with a bike parked out the front, the rider sitting on the front veranda nursing a beer and I remember thinking, why don’t we stop for a chat? But the moment was gone in a flash.
Sunday was the run to home via Victor Harbour and the ‘Rock & Roll Rendezvous’. We had a pleasant ride south, stopping briefly at Meadows before giving the old cars a once over at Victor Harbour. Ron and I soon became bored with that so, while Ollie visited an old friend, we decided we had time for a Currency Creek, Mt. Compass, Nangkita Road and back Victor Harbour loop before taking on the Inman Valley road on the way to Cape Jervis and the ferry home. When I reflect on the weekend I can think of two things worth mentioning. Firstly, how lucky we are to have the freedom to ride wherever we like without fear and secondly, I find it interesting that three blokes can ride three very different bikes and each be totally delighted with their chosen steed.
The bloke in fluoros at the bar turned around and grinned at me when he heard us talking about the Oxley Highway.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “we keep the gravel off the road. I’ve got a 749 myself, and I don’t wanna go down.” Even the council workers up here ride Ducatis. There really is something special about Walcha. In fact, there are several somethings special about the place. Did you know that pioneer bushman, Nat Buchan is buried in Walcha?
WALCHA DESTINATION
MUCH MORE THAN THE OXLEY
want to do laps so accommodation is always involved!
The places to stay are legendary: try the motel and self-contained cottage at Lyn’s Nowendoc Country Motel.
At the other end going towards Port Macquarie, there’s the Timberland Resort at Wauchope that has covered verandas for your bike, a swimming pool, spas in some rooms and award winning Montana’s restaurant. Call Rob and Jenny who will spoil you rotten. The heritage Travellers Rest Pub at quaint Long Flat is part of biking history as the venue for a wild and wooly rally, or for a quiet “pie and pint”
are cemented into the pathways. There’s always a bunch of riders there to talk to.
The historic Commercial Hotel has been fabulously refurnished, and now has a new owner, Kristian Schmidt. The Commercial on Commercial Lane, is a little off the main road – sited where the old stagecoach route use to be. Turn off just past the Information office. Kristian’s stunning boutique hotel offers accommodation and gourmet food at its best.
Likewise, the sunny yellow, welcoming circa 1880 Apsley Arms can claim some history too. Rooms have been modernised and lovely Lizzie Manns offers 10% weekday discounts and a free drink at the bar.
Big groups will particularly like the 3.5 star Walcha Motel – where again Andy welcomes motorcycle riders and there are room types to suit everyone
Or that the town has carefully preserved the Tiger Moth that sprayed the first phosphate on crops in 1950? Or that John Oxley named the Apsley River?
This region has so much interesting history it’s a crime to ride right through –even though you might want to because the bends will call you.
The ride up from Sydney on Thunderbolt’s Way via Nowendoc to Walcha is a bit of a worry with some poor road surface, but the ride from the M1 near Port Macquarie along the long, winding and magnificently scenic Oxley Highway through Wauchope to Walcha, is heaven on a stick. You’ll
with your group; Gingers Creek offers cabin accommodation and a ramshackle café with a full license and a good cellar. There’s a smorgasbord menu of rooms from bunks to the honeymoon suite at lovely Mount Seaview Resort where you cross a bridge across a platypus stream to get in.
At Walcha itself, you are spoiled for choice. For 10 years, Toni Heaney at the Royal Café at Walcha has been championing motorcycle riding in the area. Our editor Stuart and Alana have stayed there and rave about it. Enjoy breakfast and lunch and sprawl in Toni’s beautiful garden where old found objects
and their licensed Embers Restaurant makes everything convenient. Rates are good too. And down at the Walcha Caravan Park, owner Neil says you may never leave after you have enjoyed a night relaxing and bending your elbow in his magnificent glassed in camp kitchen that has every possible convenience for cabin dwellers or campers. An open fire makes it wonderful in the winter. All these places are perfect for motorcycle riders and the business owners rely on us.
The local Walcha Council likes riders too because we ride all year round, we bring our money with us, and we don’t
DESTINATION
cause any hassles – except, from an accommodation point of view, please don’t book and then not turn up, hey! Instead, make a courtesy phone call so empty rooms can be offered to someone else!
Susie Crawford at the Tourism Bureau sent us some info and we were surprised to see so many interesting events going on in the area all year round that we didn’t know about, including History Tours, a Sculpture Garden, a Vintage Motorcycle Challenge, a Mountain Bike Challenge, a Garden Festival and even Opera in the grounds of a stately homestead!
If you are an adventure rider, the nearby Oxley Wild Rivers National Park with its spectacular gorges, offers camping and some great trails. Visit www.walcha.nsw. com.au for more info.
If you are interested in learning to ride or perhaps buy a sidecar outfit, Jon Taylor, of Ural Motorcycles fame, offers outfit Adventure Training at his property 24 kays north of Walcha on the Kentucky Road. Call 02 6778 7436 to book. And don’t forget to linger at Long Flat and Wauchope.
The journey to Walcha is wonderful, but it’s good to know that you’ll be welcome when you get to your destination. So get on yer bike and explore the Oxley and beyond! TD
1. Get ready for wonderful accommodation and food.
2. It’s a great ride – ready for another go?
3. Jon Taylor will teach you how to ride an outfit.
4. Affordable luxury at Timbertown Resort.
Nowendoc Country Motel
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Calling Motorcycle Riders - Stay just 3 minutes o Thunderbolt’s Way in the Heart of Riding Country. Quaint S/C Cottage sleeps 8. Spotless Motel Double/Single rooms x 3. Single rooms x 3. Continental Breakfast. DIY Barbeque Meals by arrangement.
The magic ingredient that makes Skill Master so special is Paul Riley. When you sign up for a course with him you are not just another pupil with an invisible dollar sign over your helmet; you become part of the Skill Master Tribe and that means not only improving your riding through unparalleled personal attention, but gaining a bunch of mates as well. Ask recent course member, Skye Chapman, and she’ll tell you how Paul went out of his way to help her with multiple bike issues.
Sign up for a Skill Master course, register for the Skill Master Newsletter, and you can come along for short or long group rides (L and P-platers welcome); weekend rides; 7-day adventures and, coming up, a tour to Uluru in August and to the Isle of Man in 2016!
Right from the get-go, sitting round the table upstairs at the Cameron Park Go-Kart track complex near Newcastle for the full day Up Skilling course, there’s a great atmosphere. There are no show-offs, just a bunch of
people eager to learn to do the basics really well. There are plenty of nerves, but Paul has such an easy, patient way about him that you soon relax. This day, the most nervous rider is transformed and eventually wins the Encouragement Award. There is absolutely no pressure, just encouragement, hints and demonstrations that help riders deal with real world riding. It’s not about speed, it’s about accuracy of technique. Crucial elements
like posture, countersteering, scanning ahead, throttle control, cornering, manoeuvring, slow riding, roundabouts, braking in corners, the theory of cornering, looking where you are going and, despite it feeling like an expensive, unnatural act, constantly slipping that clutch while foot braking in u-turns and roundabouts. There’s so much useful information – what Paul calls the foundational skills that everyone should practice to make them more confident and competent riders. We even learned a trick to negate Parking Red Face – you know, where you have to ask a bunch of people to help pull your bike out because you parked down a slope!
Before setting tyre on the track, every rider’s bike controls are adjusted in some way or other for
Visit www.skillmaster.com.au or phone 0414 974 815. 2 3 5
better reach and control. And then the fun begins with Paul demonstrating various techniques that we all practice, including braking from speed. At the end of the session we can free-ride the tight little kart track while Paul takes individual photos that will eventually accompany the Course Completion Certificate.
Paul offers a range of courses, including women only days. There is a new Get to Know Your Bike workshop as well as two levels of Up Skilling. You can even have one-on-one coaching and Paul has course gift certificates that make great presents for someone you know and love.
But make no mistake, whether you’ve been riding for over four decades, like me, or you are a beginner, you will accumulate knowledge and learn valuable skills to help keep you safer
1. It’s not about speed, it’s about accuracy, as Robert Finlay demonstrates!
2. Paul Riley explains the trailbraking technique before we all do it.
3. Big bike riders will especially benefit from slalom exercises. At the end of the day Daniel Cobden made mincemeat of these, and the teeny–weeny roundabout.
4. Meghan struts her stuff.
5. Advice to veteran Terri –relax, and lean out rather than lean in.
6. Meghan Gamford, the group’s live-wire, gets ready for a personal bike set-up session with a helping hand from John Calfas.
and be more in control in real world conditions.
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TASTY IMPROVEMENTS AND TWO NEWBIES
Since we are setting up the MT-07 for my wife, Alana and myself, the best thing possible is to have a bike that is adjustable for our differing heights. This called for the genuine accessory Gilles Tooling rearsets to be fi tted.
Once the box arrived I couldn’t wait to check out these billet rearsets –then fi t them!
Full, detailed instructions are supplied, which makes the fi tment a simple and logical process. I had them fi tted up in about 45 minutes and boy, what a difference they have made to not only comfort, but precision of the gear changing and rear braking. Alana and I love that they are adjustable. I left them on the standard position, which is marked on the rearsets and Alana has it one position up. If you are a spirited rider, I suggest up and back is the way to go, for more
ground clearance and a sportier riding position. However if you want a bit more room and a relaxed riding position, you can move the pegs down and forward, backward or leave them in the middle. In total, nine positions are available, allowing anyone to get comfortable on this bike. Yeah, they look damn cool, but functionality is
the name of the game when you want to set a bike up for two riders. Available through your local Yamaha dealer, the Gilles Tooling range is precise, smart and super cool. You can also visit http://yshop.yamaha-motor. com.au/bolt-on-products/motorcycle/ road for the entire range for all Yamaha road motorcycles.
YAMAHA BOLT OUTFIT
MUSTANG CYCLONE SOLO SPRING SEAT
I imagine you saw the story about the touring seat I fitted to our outfit recently. It is quite wonderful, and cossets my bottom in ways with which it has been familiar all too seldom. But if form follows function with the big seat, we need to give the opposite equal time. The Solo Spring Seat, also from Mustang, looks at first like a definite case of form following fashion, and therefore limited comfort. It is not so. In fact, the solo seat may be small but it is exceptionally comfortable – far more so than any other small, sporty chopper seat I’ve tried. The Japanese custom seat that I have fitted to my Sachs MadAss is concentrated torture
in comparison. I can only assume that Mustang’s technical ability is every bit as good as it is claimed to be – and that their multi-density foam works better than I could really expect. Whatever, the seat pampers me and still manages to look properly minimal and streamlined. One difficulty I have had is fitting the springs so that they precisely meet the rests on their bottom bracket – I’m still working on that, and although I know that this time it is not a matter of my not reading the instructions (they are in photos, easy to follow), there is still something I’ve missed. They work, they’re just not centred. They will be. I do like the small but reasonably
DUCATI SCRAMBLER EGGZACKLY RIGHT
Welcome, Scrambler! There is a little bit of confusion on Ducati’s website regarding the source of the bike’s
name. The Italians think that it comes from mixing things up, as in scrambled eggs. I mean, sure, they designed and
commodious pouch that you can buy to fit under the solo seat. It’s big enough to take a basic tool set and possibly a basic tyre repair kit as well. The eyes of one of my aging hippie mates lit up when he saw it; “a stash pouch!” he breathed.
More Mustang information can be found at www.mustangseats.com/, and their international delivery works smoothly and quickly.
As for the goodies you need for this installation: Seat part number: 76985, price US$203; hardware kit part number: 78160, price US$30; solo pouch part number: 78154, price US$36 PT
build the Scrambler, so they should be able to call it anything they like – but “Scrambler” comes from the original
British word for trials/trail riding – scrambling. Not to worry. It’s kind of sweet either way. Now, you probably read my review of the Icon Scrambler after I attended the launch in Palm Springs; I guess my enthusiasm shone through because when I asked for a bike from Ducati Australia, they
actually gave me the second one – a red Icon, as you can see - on the road in this country. It joins the long term fleet as of this issue, and we’re already thinking of things to do with it. Nice ones… PT
APRILIA SCARABEO 200IE THE BEETLE FLIES IN
The other newbie on the fleet is this Scarabeo. I’ve long been a fan of this range from Aprilia, primarily because of the big wheels but also because they have a slightly traditional look about them. I am not entirely sure why they were named after an Egyptian beetle: possibly because they were colourful and neat.
We originally asked Aprilia’s Australian importer for the 200ie because we want to run a bike/car cost comparison (keep an eye out for it in these pages), but they suggested that we might like to hang onto it a little longer and do another story or two. No worries, I said – who would not be keen on that? So my shopping expeditions have definitely become easier... PT
‘I’D LIKE TO LIVE AS A POOR MAN WITH LOTS OF MONEY.”
PABLO PICASSO
WE CAN DO IT, PABLO…
COMPILED BY THE BEAR
IS TIME MONEY?
Achatwith one of our Bear Army troopers the other day reminded me of a question a reader asked a year or so ago; not because they were similar but because they were just about diametrically opposite.
Our trooper found himself in the interesting position of having some unexpected spare time – well, he was temporarily out of work – but not a lot of cash. The other bloke had money to spare, but almost no time. Yet both of them wanted to use what they had for an overseas motorcycle trip. Both of them also asked me what I’d recommend for them.
Oh what fun.
The obvious response of course is that they should each give the other some of what they had in excess, but I’ve long given up hope that anyone would ever do that.
Or that it would work if someone did. The realistic answers are almost as simple. For our trooper, I suggested finding the cheapest flight on one of the budget airlines to either Cambodia or Thailand, or even Vietnam, and then renting a bike. Living in these countries is unbelievably cheap, and there are lots of things to see and do. If you’re time- as well as cashpoor, an organised trip would be better.
Our well-off reader, I’d suggest, would be best served by a personalised guided tour. Pick somewhere that has stuff you want to see, or roads you want to ride; choose a time when the weather is almost certain to be good; and get a personal guide from a motorcycle tour company. Where did I suggest he go? Either New Zealand because it’s closest, or Hawaii because it’s not all that much further. Both are
Yes, sahib, this fine motorcycle has come into my possession… (Experience Asia)
TOP TOURS & TRAVEL
» Weighs only 570g
» Inflate a low or flat tyre quickly and safely
» Ideal for use on motorcycles, ATV’s and scooters
Tubeless Tyre Repair
» Made in the USA from billet 6061 aluminum
» Lightweight. No reaming. No glue.
» Store spare plugs in the end cap
» Reduces wind & road noise
» Enhances situation awareness
» Comfortable, washable & re-usable
» Allows communication & intercom use
1.Do not be tempted to bring home any “herbs” from Vietnam!
2. New Zealand tourist infrastructure is even better than Australia’s.
reachable in a reasonable amount of time; both have good bike roads and a sophisticated rental system. And both can provide a terrific weekend’s riding, if you really don’t have any more time.
EXPERIENCE ASIA
When I was in my 20s, in the 1970s, I took off backpacking to see the world and survived five years in SE Asia, Africa, Asia (including Iran & Afghanistan - scary even back then), South, Central and North America, says John Cayless. I’ve been riding since I was 18 but when I was backpacking I mostly didn’t have the funds to hire a motor bike, but I did splurge a few times!
Upon returning home I had ambitions to start a tour business of some kind but the reality of settling down, getting a job and having kids put a stop to that. After my two gorgeous kids were born we were on holidays and I was lying on the beach and realised that if I didn’t start a tour business then I never would. So off I went to the caravan and wrote down an itinerary for a tour to Nepal... it took all of five
You are more likely to be riding an Enfield than a Harley in India.
minutes as it was all in my head waiting to come out!!! I put an advert in a local newspaper and soon had a group of 13. The tour was a great success, and I was on my way.
On that first tour to Nepal we were finishing a trek into the Himalayas, and when we reached the road I asked a local if I could have spin on his motor bike. As I was riding along I thought “why not do it on motor bikes?” That was the beginning of Asian Experience.
I started out as an accountant. Looking back now, that’s so not me... Having spent those five years backpacking with two of them in Nepal and India, I felt that I had sufficient knowledge to put together itineraries taking in the best things to see and do. There were no Asian motor bike tour operators in the late 1980s so I thought there might be a market specialising only in motor bike tours. Since starting Asian Experience I’ve pioneered tours to Nepal, India, Tibet, Bhutan, Vietnam and Bali... these have since been copied by other operators, but I was the l pioneer which is something I’m very proud of!
A typical riding day begins with the bikes being started and warmed up by the mechanics and the riders’ luggage being loaded into the support vehicles. This is followed by a briefing about the day’s ride ahead.
Hotels are usually in towns, so the first vehicle will lead the riders out of town while the rear vehicle which carries me, local guide, mechanic, bike spares and tools keeps the bikes moving. The vehicles communicate by CB in order to keep the riders together. Once out on the open road the riders can go ahead at their own pace with regular photo/rest/ drink/snack/toilet stops to bring the group back together. I encourage the riders to take photos, look at the interesting things which the locals may be doing, visit a school which might severely disrupt their day... but the independence of riding a bike allows this. Lunch is at restaurants that I have used previously so I know the food and kitchen facilities. I aim to arrive at the destination hotel late afternoon so the riders can relax with a few drinks or go exploring and the mechanics can prepare the bikes for the next day’s ride.
I’ve never looked at what I do as a “job”. I’m doing it because I love the destinations. I feel privileged to introduce people to these wonderful countries which have such a diversity of people, scenery, climate, vegetation, culture, religions, architecture and lifestyles…..not to mention some great riding.
John Cayless, Asian Experience Motor Bike Tours (www. asianexperience.com.au , tours@asianexperience.com.au) Ph & Fax 03 59892512, mobile 0409 230 252.
STURGIS
Guided Tour • 30 July - 12 August , 2015
On August 14, 1938, nine riders who called themselves the “Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club” met in Sturgis SD to race motorcycles Just them and a small crowd of spectators hat Sturgis “Rally” - except or two years during WWIIas been repeated each August ever since, and is now the largest gathering of motorcycles on the planet, attended by riders from all over the world. After 75 years of history, the 2015 Rally will be the biggest and best ever!
Experience Sturgis with us and we’ll show you far more than just Bike Week We start in Las Vegas and ride twelve days through some of the most spectacular scenery in the American West, ending in Denver, Colorado
Explore Zion, Cedar Breaks, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Badlands and Rocky Mountain National Parks You’ll see plenty of wildlife, ride the Beartooth Highway and reach the summit of the highest paved road in North America - Mt Evans Hwy (14,271’ /4,350m) and more - all with your iron horse rumbling beneath you!
Reservations are open until 30 May, but don’t wait too longavailability is limited and we are filling up fast!
For complete details, itinerar y and pricing visit www gamct com/sturgisbikeweek html
TOP TOURS & TRAVEL
TOM JEFFERSON’S VISION
We know him for many other things such as his philosophy of democracy, but US President Thomas Jefferson probably never did anything that was eventually more significant than despatching explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery. They were the first white Americans to explore the country between the mountains of Montana and the Pacific Ocean. Their efforts opened up the Pacific Northwest, blazing a trail for settlers to follow for years to come. Now you can ride with MotoQuest this September 17 to 30 to retrace the steps of the historic expedition with MotoQuest founder Phil Freeman and Jim Kohl, a Lewis and Clark historian.
More details about the Trail of Lewis & Clark Adventure from info@motoquest.com or on www.motoquest.com.
Lewis and Clark would not have come across one of these Indians on their travels. www.ausmotorcyclist.com.au
THE PERFECT GIFT
Every motorcyclist will want the brand new Hema Maps Australia Motorcycle Atlas with 200 Top Rides. This is the 6th fully revised edition. “It soon becomes indispensable,” says Stuart, “so if you want to give a gift that will keep on giving, the Motorcycle Atla s is it.
Of course it also makes the ideal present for… yourself!”
ONLY $44.95 plus $9.95 packing and postage (to most addresses in Australia).
Consists of two spiral-bound full colour books in a protective plastic sleeve. One is for your planning and the other holds the maps and is just the right size and format for your tank bag.
“Plus a huge wall map of Australia with another bonus 27 long rides” Stuart continues. “Trace your travels in style!
With routes selected and described by our own, Peter “The Bear” Thoeming, this is the way to plan and track your rides all over Australia.”
Get this latest edition now, from our website or by writing to info@ausmotorcyclist.com.au .
The gift that keeps on giving includes 227 wonderful rides all over Australia.
KEEP WARM, COOL, COMFY & SAFE
HELD CARESE II JACKET
Price - $800
This month I have taken delivery of a new adventure touring suit, which was long overdue, having worn my Klim
suit for over three years now, despite it still being in excellent condition.
Held Biker Fashion is a brand I’ve really fallen for. The gear is top class and very reasonably priced, so when it
came to looking for a new adventure touring suit, I chose the Carese II jacket, which matches to the Torno II pants and I also got the accessory Sas-Tec back protector.
Features of the Carese II include the outer shell being made from DuPont Cordura 500D textile, with a Coolmax breathable mesh inner lining and 3D air mesh panels in the back to promote air circulation. To make it waterproof, there is a removable Gore-Tex 3-layer technology membrane inner jacket, which is thin, yet also offers some nice warmth.
You also get waterproof external pockets, 3 inner pockets, internal cell phone pocket, map/document pocket, 1 back pocket, air-vent zippers in front, back and arms, magnetic closure pockets, which double as air vents, stretch panels at shoulders, waist belt, dual arm adjustment, soft collar, connecting zip to pants and 3M Scotchlite reflectors.
In terms of protection, there is space for the full-length Sas-Tec accessory back protector, which can be integrated into the jacket lining. Standard you get a thin piece of Temperfoam which is comfortable, but wouldn’t offer much protection. For the shoulders and elbows, you get exclusive CE-approved Sas-Tec protectors, identifiable by the bright green colour.
Because this jacket has so many features, it took me some time to use to them. I’d say at least three rides and a night of mucking around with the jacket in front of the tele beforehand.
I’m not normally a fan of removable Gore-Tex liners, but being able to get cool out in the dirt when the temperature rises will be a handy thing to have. The liner packs to virtually nothing and will fit into a midsized tankbag when combined with the Torno II pants liner. However, I did find the liners flow a decent amount of air with the vents open – something I’ve not had with other removable waterproof liners.
Sizing ranges from S - 5XL, I took size 3XL in jacket and pants, which is on par with other brands sizing. Visit the Held Australia website – www. heldaustralia.com.au to grab this exact suit, available in a variety of colour combinations. You too will see why I’ve fallen in love with Held Biker Fashion!
You’d have to pay twice as much to get the level of quality and features the Carese II offers, so get a smile on your dial and get to it! SW
HELD TORNO II PANTS
Price - $550
To match the Carese II jacket, the Torno II pants are the way to go. Made from the same DuPont Cordura 500D textile, Coolmax breathable mesh inner lining and removable Gore-Tex 3-layer membrane inner they offer coolness in the summer and waterproofing and plenty of warmth in the cooler months.
These pants feature 4 external pockets, air-vent zippers, magnetic closure pockets which double as air vents, stretch panels at back and knees, Nomex heat resistant fabric on the inner calves to protect from exhaust heat, Pittards leather anti-slip seat patch, double leg adjustment, zips and velcro adjustment at the ankles, high waisted with adjustable Velcro flaps and button fixtures for optional braces.
Protection comes via the exclusive CE-approved Sas-Tec knee protectors, which I have removed so I can wear my knee braces, removable Temperfoam hip padding, which is soft and comfortable, although if you want more protection you can get Sas-Tec protectors. There is also a pocket for an optional coccyx protector. You get 3M Scotchlite reflectors for night time safety and there is the connecting zip for the jacket.
I found these pants to be extremely comfortable over long distances. The vents flow as much air as any other pants I’ve had, but one of the best things about the Torno II pants is the extensive range of sizing. S - 5XL in standard sizing, or you can get stocky sizes: K-M - K-2XL. Or if you have slim legs, you can get the L-S - L-2XL. I took the standard 3XL size and found the length very generous making them perfect while on the bike. As far as adventure style riding pants go, the Torno II are about as
comfy and feature packed as you’ll get.
Visit the Held Australia website – www. heldaustralia.com.au to grab a pair of these pants, which come in a variety of colour combinations. SW
SAS-TEC BACK PROTECTOR (AVAILABLE THROUGH HELD)
Price - $45
When I’m out in the dirt I want high levels of protection, so I opted for the accessory Sas-Tec back protector for my Carese II jacket. Being Level 2 CE-certifi ed you are getting high levels of protection from a very comfortable and fl exible protector. Fitment is perfect for the Held jacket and matches the Sas-Tec shoulder and elbow protectors already fi tted. Visit the Held Australia website – www. heldaustralia.com.au to grab one and see the entire range of Sas-Tec
VENTZ
Price - $29.99 a pair plus postage
Throughout history there are endless examples of the “Duh! Effect”. That’s when you see something and go “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?” It happened to me again when I saw a picture of someone using Ventz. They are so simple that it’s really difficult to believe that it has taken this long for someone to invent them. Of course simplicity is no guarantee of effectiveness; think of using rocks against tanks. No, the invention needs to work, too, and Ventz do so quite effortlessly. As they should – they are really just a way of holding your jacket sleeve open so that the wind generated by the bike’s movement can blow up your arm, cooling you and sucking more air up from the
protectors available for Held Biker Fashion. SW
bottom of the jacket. They are made from what Ventz claims is shatter proof plastic, with a screen to keep bugs out and a clip to hold them onto your jacket. The only difficulty I found was that I had to take my rather large and heavy watch off my wrist, because it interfered with the Vent (assuming that that is the
singular of Ventz).
Ventz are made in England and distributed in Australia by a Queensland company, which is a good segue into a mention that these are terrific for hot conditions. See www.ventzaustralia.com. au or write to sales@ventzaustralia.com. au, and tell Sharon that ours are
working well. Interestingly, they work better with full, un-vented jackets. And of course if you get too cool, just pull them out of your sleeves and put them into your pocket.
DRAGGIN HOLESHOT JEANS
Price - $450
Old joke from Pogo (and if you don’t know who that is, go Google Pogo Possum): Police sergeant says: “This girl’s been drugged!” – “I know,” says policeman, “I done drug her all the way from Peachtree Street!” We can only hope she was wearing Draggin jeans… We are not (often) drug by police, but we do wear Draggin jeans a lot of the time. This is partly because we have all experienced gravel rash to some extent or another, and partly because we don’t want to experience it – and its sequel - again. If you’ve once had a grinning nurse with a hard brush scrub your recently-flayed flesh you will understand why.
I am planning for several longer trips at the moment, and because all of
Powerhouse Plus Braided Brake Lines
them will feature unpredictable and changeable temperatures my thoughts turned to these versatile pants once again. Draggin’s owner Grant Mackintosh had shown me the new Holeshot style and they looked to be the go.
The Holeshots have what I’ve been told is unique in fabric pants, namely CE Level 2 approval for the entire garment. The CE mark certifies that the safety features – protectors, the material itself and the way the garment is made – meet European standards, of which CE Level 2 is, as I understand it, the highest. See www.dragginjeans.net.
But whatever the standard, the Holeshots will resist abrasion for 7.45 seconds which is longer than some leathers. They also include CE approved hip and knee armour, which fits into pockets sewn into the jeans. Holeshot jeans are fairly bulky, which makes them warm without being stifling – because they still breathe. The full yellow Kevlar/Dyneema comfort lining which provides the bulk
is knitted and not woven. This produces a soft material in which the loop of the fabric faces the road. This is more than twice as effective in dissipating heat and resisting abrasion than woven fibre and also slows you down faster.
At first sight, these jeans look a bit long but sit on your bike and you’ll find that they are actually just about right. They also have straps that go under your boots so the pants’ legs don’t ride up.
So bring on the trips, and the changeable weather. I’ll be ready with my Draggin Holeshots PT
The new Hornet Adventure helmet has been designed to maintain peak performance in every environment, without compromising the core values of a long distance touring helmet.
Striking the optimal balance between on-andoff-road form and function is no easy task, and the Hornet ADV is designed to redefi ne the meaning of a true all-road, all-element helmet. Even at a glance, it’s easy to see that the Hornet ADV is a true hybrid between a premium road and off-road helmets. The mouthpiece and chin bar area and newly designed peak incorporate the best features from both worlds. The Hornet Adventure’s
shape was designed to improve air intake and ventilation performance, reduce drag and lift, and improve stability, all the while giving the rider the additional air space needed to accommodate heavy breathing during demanding off-road riding.
The new Hornet ADV Adventure helmet is available this month in sizes XS to XXL in 4 solid colours and 3 graphic designs. Visit your local bike shop or www.mcleodaccessories.com.au
DRAG ME DRY!
Draggin Jeans Hydro
Draggin’s Hydro gear is the answer for riders wanting protective and waterproof clothing. No butts about it! The Hydro jacket is styled on Draggin’s Classic Rider jacket; with many waterproof features it is a worthwhile addition to your winter wardrobe. And the armour makes it great value for money. The Hydro pants are the Classic jeans turned
into waterproof pants. With no visible seams and cool sports liner on the inside, the Hydro pants are comfortable and breathable. Plus the hip and knee armour is included in the price, making it great value for money too. The jacket comes in sizes Small to 3XL and the pants are available in sizes 30 – 42. You can buy them from all clever stockists or visit www.dragginjeans.net
FOR THE KIDS
Rjays Eagle Youth jacket. Price - $139.95
Never able to fi nd the right size jacket for your kids? Well, Rjays has you covered with this youth jacket available in sizes XS-XL (Ages 8-14). Available in black/grey for the boys and black/pink/white for the girls, the Eagle Youth jacket has loads of features including a breathable waterproof liner and removal thermal liner. Visit your local bike shop or see www.rjays.com.au RIDE TO THE SUN Arai Pro-Shade System
Price – From $119.95
NEW IN THE SHOPS
Replacing the stock shield on any Arai helmet that uses the SAI type shield (Corsair V, RXQ, Defi ant & Vector 2), the Pro-Shade System reduces excess ambient light in both the down and up positions. In the Up position, it can reduce sudden glare with just a subtle dip of your head - so you don’t have to take your hands off the bar. The pro-Shade system also offers enhanced aero dynamics, increased helmet stability and no scratching, as there’s
no contact with the visor. Available in tint or mirrored versions. Visit your local bike shop or see www.cassons.com.au
FLIP TO CARBON
Shark Evoline Pro Carbon
Price - $799.95
As the name suggests, the Evoline Pro Carbon is constructed from a combination of carbon aramid fi bre and multi axial glass fi bres, making it
super tough and durable. Add to this the Pro Carbon’s natural bamboo fi bre interior and the unique Auto-UP system that unlocks both chin and visor and you’ve got a truly practical and lightweight addition to the Shark Helmet family. The Evoline Pro Carbon helmet is also compatible with Shark’s own Bluetooth technology, Sharktooth. Ranging in sizes 54 to 62, visit your local bike shop or see www.fi ceda.com.au
“THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE”…
Dainese Light Wave jacket
Price - $299.95
Get the ultimate in protection to wear underneath a jacket, or by itself in the hotter months. The Light Wave
jacket comes with a mesh liner, CE Level 2 back protector (with kidney belt), CE Level 2 chest protector and CE Level 1 composite shoulder and elbow protectors. There is a myriad of adjustments and further protection. Available in sizes XS-2XL, see your local bike shop or visit www.cassons.com.au
MORE COMFORT AND LESS WEIGHT
AGV K-5 helmet. Price –From $429.95 - $449.95 This time it’s the K-5, the new AGV point of reference for sport touring use but now with much more comfort. The shell is made of
breglass and carbon
bre and guarantees resistance and lightness while the lines are aerodynamic and streamlined in true AGV style. A perfect fi t and easily operated inner visor ensure complete
rider comfort. Size is minimised thanks to design studies carried out on racing helmets and the integrated rear spoiler provides excellent stability even at high speed. The K-5 is claimed to be the new point of reference in the sport touring sector. See your local bike shop or visit www.cassons.com.au
ENDURO FOR THE STREET
Pirelli MT 60 RS tyre
Price - Front - $215. Rear - $319
The MT 60 RS is the Pirelli tyre
BEHIND THE COUNTER
NICE
WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
Daniel Azzopardi
COMPLETE TRAVEL SOLUTIONSROUTE 66 TOURS
www.route66tours.com.au
1300 760 806
Talk about jobs you would love to have! How ABOUT being a motorcycle tour group leader? Daniel Azzopardi can tell you because he leads tours across the USA for Aussie tour operator, Route 66. About as far away from 9 to 5 as you can get. Daniel gets to ride The Mother Road from Chicago to Santa Monica three times a year (April, July and October), plus the annual pilgrimage to Sturgis, which takes in the fabulous Dakotas.
It’s a hell of a tour and Daniel says he really enjoys showing people the attractions along the way and introducing them to the local “mom and pop” businesses on the forgotten sections of the quiet and winding Route 66 now made obsolete by the high speed Interstates.
One of Daniel’s favourite sections is Missouri. “Riding through the rolling hills and the Ozark mountains is great – that whole region is spectacular,” he says. “But a lot of my groups say Arizona is the best bit – the Canyon, obviously, Wolf Creek Crater – there is lots to see all the way from our tour of Chicago, St Louis, Springfield, we skirt Oklahoma go through Texas, then through New Mexico to Arizona and then on to California. We say our
farewells in Las Vegas! It’s a great tour.”
Daniel has a long motorcycle background, starting at an early age and culminating with a Honda Firestorm. Then a crash caused by a learner driver put him in hospital, and when he was fit again he bought a Mustang 66 Coupe and didn’t ride for another five years. He missed it so much he eventually sold the car and bought a 100th Anniversary Harley-Davidson Softail Deuce in gorgeous black and silver. Long distance riding was on!
“Of course, I had heard about The Road and always wanted to ride it myself.
Then I met Kristi [Kristi-Anne Butel] from Route 66 Tours in a convertible Mustang, and we had plenty to talk about. After a bit of research I decided to go on their tour, but in one of their cars, because Dale did not have bikes back then – that was 2009. Anyway, we got talking on the tour about bikes – because Dale is a bike rider as well. When I got back we did a bit of research about hiring bikes and then in 2010 we ran the first combined bike and car tour and we have been running four tours a year ever since.”
One of Route 66 Tours’ ace cards is that partners and friends can ride pillion, or they can take the tour in one of the hot cars. The groups travel separately, partly because the bike tour caters to motorcycle riders, with the Harley-Davidson Museum and other bike attractions - but everyone stays in the same comfortable hotels each night. Different requests are catered for: a phone-call to Route 66
1. Stopping at one of Route 66’s iconic sights.
2. Tour guiding – not a bad job, eh Daniel?
will answer all your questions. “We are pretty accommodating – we try to make everyone happy,” says Daniel.
It’s a smooth operation and there is a guide in a car, usually a large SUV. “It’s not a back-up vehicle – it’s comfortable”, says Daniel.
Safety is paramount, of course, and there’s a briefing each morning about where and how they are going to ride. Everyone rides at a speed they are comfortable with and they don’t have leaders because, “It’s hard to get lost on Route 66!” And they don’t have to follow behind the leaders either, “So long as they tell us!” says Daniel. “We then all meet at the next hotel. We don’t want to limit it to them following us. We want them to really enjoy the ride.”
Daniel says Route 66 Tours has more guides than any other tour operator, and says unlike some other tours, “We lead on bikes, not from cars”.
Daniel says you can choose from the entire Harley range, and Triumphs, Hondas and BMWs are also available.
“Riding Route 66 is my passion,” says Daniel, with a smile from ear to ear.
TEAR-OUT MAP #13
CRISS-CROSS THE (EAST) COAST
TASMANIA
Werevisit Tassie this month, after riding the wild west coast back in AMM issue #20. Tassie has many excellent adventure touring roads, and this is just another sample of what is on offer.
For this ride we based ourselves in Hobart, making our way up to Launceston.
HOBART
Hobart is the capital and most populous city of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia’s second oldest capital city after Sydney. All services are available, including an airport if you wish to fly in and rent a bike for this trip.
SORELL
Sorell is one of Tasmania’s oldest farming towns. Today it is a busy regional centre and the last major town on the way to the Tasman Peninsula and East Coast. It’s only thirty minutes or so from Hobart, and the main attractions here are the various fruit farms.
ORFORD
This is a classic Tasmanian fishing town, located at the mouth of the Prosser River and surrounded by sweeping beaches, historic sites and
idyllic fishing and boating spots. If you fancy a fish, you might even like to stay at Orford for a night and split this trip into two. There are plenty of places to stay and eat at Orford, but hopefully you catch some tasty dinner for yourself!
STONEHENGE
A great place to stop and get a photo. An enterprising Northern Midlands farmer, Philip Osbourne has built a giant grass castle out of hay bales. A new structure is built each year at Fairfield near Epping Forest on the Midlands Highway.
LITTLE SWANPORT
Really only a reference point for the turn onto Bresnehans Road.
WOODBURY
Give “me” a wave as you pass through the town of Woodbury. Who knows, I may have some six fingered relatives down there?
ROSS
Time to think about topping up with some fuel. There is a BP service station in town and plenty to see and do in the historic town of Ross. Experience the beauty and drama of Tasmania’s colonial history. You can walk amongst
buildings erected in Australia’s earliest years or walk across the sandstone carved bridge finished in 1836.
CRANEBROOK
Another reference point. This time to turn onto Old Coach Road.
FINGAL
A small mining town which has a service station and an IGA supermarket if you need any fuel or food.
EVANDALE
Evandale is a National Trust classified Georgian village, popular for its unspoiled heritage buildings. Stop and have a look around if you wish, otherwise, Launceston is only a hop, skip and a jump away.
LAUNCESTON
Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after Hobart. Settled by Europeans in March 1806, Launceston is one of Australia’s oldest cities and is home to many historic buildings – great for a walk around the town after your riding. All major services are available, including Launceston airport, if you want to fly home.
Headeast out of Hobart, over to Sorell and onto Nugent Road. Follow this road all the way to… you guessed it, Nugent. Not much at Nugent, but there is a pond with reeds growing out of it at the right turn you need to make onto Mill Road, which is signposted.
Follow Mill Road to the end and veer left onto the main dirt trail (Wielangta Road). Once you get to Rheban Road, you can take this right turn and do the extra couple of kilometres into Orford, or keep straight on, which will get you into Orford a few minutes earlier. However, I do recommend going the extra distance on Rheban Road, as you’ll get to see some beautiful coastline.
Jump onto the Tasman Highway and head west to Buckland. Get onto Buckland Road and head north to Woodsdale, Stonehenge and over to Little Swanport. If you want an alternative, veer right about four kilometres from Buckland onto Sand River Road, which you follow all the way
EAST COAST, TASMANIA ADV
over to the Tasman Highway and head north into Little Swanport.
In Little Swanport, take the left turn onto Bresnehans Road and follow to the west, turning left onto McKays road.
Once you get to the T-intersection, turn left onto Stonehouse Road. Follow this to the end and veer right onto York Plains Road. Travel about fifteen kilometres and turn right onto Sorell Springs Road.
Head up the Midland Highway, past Woodbury and into Ross.
Head south out of Ross on Tooms Lake Road about seven kilometres, where you need to go through a gate and head east to Mt Connection, turn left onto Long Marsh Road and up to Lake Leake. Turn right onto Lake Leake Highway and follow the twisties back onto the Tasman Highway and turn left.
Once in Cranebrook, turn left onto Old Coach Road and follow it for some time. Old Coach Road turns into Royal George Road around a big long left hand continuous bend. A couple of kilometres west from here you need to turn right
COLLECT THEM ALL
onto Merrywood Road and follow this all the way to the T-intersection with Mount Foster Road. Continue north all the way to Esk Highway, turn right and head into Fingal.
Turn left onto Mathinna Road, once at the end, turn left onto Mangana Road, to Mangana. Turn left onto Rossarden Road, head through Storys Creek and turn right onto Gipps Creek Road a couple of kilometres out.
Follow Gipps Creek Road to the end and turn right onto Kingston Road, which sort of follows the edge of the Ben Lomond Rivulet. Once you get to Nile Road, turn right, head through Nile, Evandale, Relbia and into Launceston for a well-earned rest.
ROAD CONDITIONS
For road conditions, contact 1300 135 513 and make sure you visit www. forestrytas.com.au/visiting/roadclosures for any roads that may have been closed by Forestry Tasmania, since we went to print!
BEAR RIDE 2015
PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON AT ONCE…
The Bear Ride, running from July to September 2015, is a new type of event that combines love of riding, a photo competition and the bonus of putting smiles on kids’ faces. The event was partly conceived by our contributor Jacqui Kennedy.
“We aim to generate a lot of smiles and laughter for the kids in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and raise $10,000 plus for the hospital,” she says.
This is how it works: Teams of riders will be asked to “purchase” a special Bandaged Bear during July and August. Then they have until the end of September to take it to various locations around Australia and photograph it with their bike.
“Creative and funny photos will probably win a prize pack for your team because the best photos will be chosen by the kids in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, not some photo guru or journalist,” says Jacqui. “And you
will only be Bear sitting. All the Bears will become prizes for the kids in hospital. Some of the Bears will have interesting stories to tell. All the kids that vote go into a draw to win one of the Bears. The more teams that register, the more Bears will be available for the kids.
“Teams can be formed by any means. They can be groups of friends, riding clubs or motorcycle dealers. Motorcycle dealers are encouraged to register early to enable the Bandaged Bear to be put on display to promote team members and the ride.”
The winners of the photo competition will be announced at Breakfast Torque in October 2015. Meanwhile, you can track progress and make donations at https://give.everydayhero.com/au/thebear-ride-2015.
“The ride is supported by The Bear at Australian Motorcyclist Magazine,” Jacqui concludes, and that’s most definitely true. But photos of me, bandaged or not, won’t count! PT
Contact David Tynan, Secretary, STRA NSW, 0473 934 196
safety - it doesn’t hurt any less when it’s not your fault.
Key messages include: Take responsibility for your own
Scan - Anticipate - Respond to actively avoid situations that lead to a crash.
There are two bears here with Jacqui and her trusty postie bike Mo. Which is the more handsome?
Wear protective clothing just in case someone makes a mistake. Speed on the track not on the roadyou still get the thrill, it is safer and you keep your licence. More at www.survivetheride.org
HONDA COMES TO AUSTRALIA, PART 2
WAS LESTER THE FIRST TO SELL A HONDA OUTSIDE JAPAN?
Honda arrived in Australia very quietly in very, very small numbers, to be followed almost at once by that bunch of quiet but determined Japanese who – I was later to learn – visited every suburban motorcycle shop in Sydney to deliver their pile of colour brochures and thus create interest before we were finally advised of the marque’s quiet arrival in Sydney. I have been advised that there had been a delivery of similar brochures in the State of Queensland, however it was Bennett and Wood, the New South Wales BSA/Sunbeam distributors, who were the first people in the world to import Honda motorcycles.
It was an odd marketing ploy by the Japanese but was certainly effective. The trio of short Orientals who announced Honda’s very recent arrival uttered not a whimper when they arrived unannounced and handed me a bunch of colour brochures, and they said even less when they quickly departed. That non-existent whimper, we were not to know, took a little time to become a rumble, before it developed into a full-blown bang.
It has been said that the first stage of interest is confusion, and the second stage of interest is curiosity; both of which, and in particular the former, the Honda advance men had well and truly generated.
What were these bikes all about anyway; who were distributing them; what did they look like in the flesh; were we ever going to see the things; was it all a figment of one’s overly fertile imagination; were the Honda reps likely to be heard from again – in fact did the machines which looked so exciting really exist? These were questions we all asked ourselves and each other, but
WORDS LESTER MORRIS
we had no idea where to turn for the answers.
For a start nothing had yet been heard from any of the major motorcycle importers about these new machines, which was no surprise because the whole industry was in a world-wide slump and the sudden appearance of a brand new name would seem to be a case of too little/too late. Almost everything on two wheels was made in England at the time, and in small quantities at that, while Moto Guzzi was seen in single-digit numbers and the two German entrants, Zundapp and BMW, were both on the brink of bankruptcy.
It’s hard to believe today, but the arrival of the Japanese aroused some curiosity, but not much else, for they were initially referred to (and, I have to say, with some accuracy at the time) as ‘Jap Crap.’ If the British motorcycle industry was in its death-throes, how could the late entry of a brand-new marque from Japan be of any help at all? Exciting though these new models appeared on paper, they could hardly make an impact on a failing industry, could they?
How wrong that assumption would be, for Honda was to save an industry almost, as it were, on the lip of the gurgler, with many great and famous marques either gone or feeling the cold draft of approaching doom at the back of their collective necks.
As we have noted, most people assume the little step-thru was the first Honda machine to appear, but it was in fact the C70 250 twin, virtually identical to the machines in the brochure - but minus the electric starter - which first appeared in Australia.
The C71 models had starter motors fitted and they were accompanied by the C77 orphans, the 305cc over-bored machines which, unhappily, were in the no-mans-land of a higher registration bracket. The bikes were accompanied in their crates by small packets of colour brochures, because, strange though it sounds, there was some sort of import ban on colour brochures at the time. According to my brother, who worked for Bennett and Wood at the time, in late 1957 a bright blue Honda stood on the showroom floor opposite his spare parts counter, and it bore a tag with the legend “To the Biggest Motorbike Shop in Sydney” attached to its handlebars. It had, so he said, done the rounds of just about every store in Sydney and had been returned with thanks but little else. It appeared that Bennett and Wood, perhaps out of desperation, had decided to become the new marque’s distributor and they ordered a few of the machines ‘on spec’ to see how they fared.
The company ordered twelve of the new Hondas and another twelve were ordered shortly thereafter. Bennett and Wood then became more serious and placed more substantial orders for the new Japanese machines, even as demand for the British BSA motorcycles they had imported for years continued to wane.
Our local Ryde Lions Club decided to hold a Motor Show in 1958 as a fund raiser on a large, vacant block near the Ryde shopping centre and had erected several large marquees to house the various vehicles they had hoped to entice. They were rewarded by the full support of all the local car dealers and the one motorcycle dealer in the area… which was, of course, Ryde Motorcycles.
I recall riding a small 175cc fourstroke Moto Guzzi ‘Lodola’ to our display at the show, which also held a couple of scooters, including a 200cc two-stroke Zundapp ‘Bella’, a fairly large scooter with 12-inch wheels, telescopic forks and quite punchy performance; a new Tiger 110 Triumph; The International we still had in the showroom; a single-cylinder 600cc ohv Norton; a 200cc James commuter, one or two more I cannot remember… and just one brand-new, bright red, 1958 C71 Honda Dream.
The new Japanese motorcycle was delivered to the shop in one of Bennett and Wood’s Harley-Davidson buntrucks and it looked fantastic, with its full equipment levels, gleaming paint and chrome finish and smooth engine mouldings: but I have to confess we still looked at it with some suspicion. So did the outfit’s rider, who told me that this was the first one of that small batch of ‘these new Jap things’ to ever leave Bennett and Wood.
To make the most of the new, unproven machine, the C71 Honda was allocated pride of place on a raised plinth at the Lions Motor Show and I enjoyed immensely the startled looks of the passing peasantry as I plied the electric starter motor to fire the little engine up and then, as an unwarranted encore, to turn the blinkers on and off ad nauseam. The bike created a great deal of interest and, to our surprise and delight, I sold several of them, almost on the spot, as a result! I had no idea of the price of the new machine, and in fact didn’t even know if it was for sale but there were people eager to place a Ten Pound holding deposit on them, so we were happy to accept the money –and the order – and to clean the mess up afterwards. Happily, there was no mess to clean up!
I cannot make this claim, for I imagine the facts cannot be proven, but it could well be that the C71 Honda machines for which I took the six (6) Ten Pound holding deposits may have been the first of their type to be sold - and personally registered - anywhere outside of Japan. In order to more closely examine the design of the unusual, pressed-metal,
box-section spine frame on that little 250 twin we had on display, we removed the Honda fuel tank when the Motor Show was over, only to be horrified at the roughly-hewn, hand-beaten underside of the tank where it cleared the top frame section. We were then aghast at the legend, “C.C.Wakefield CASTROL” which could just be seen gleaming under the thin coat of paint which covered the underneath of the component. (N.B: Over the years many people have tried to assure me that this is a well-known urban myth. Let me attempt to assure the doubters that I removed the tank on that very first Honda C71 myself and saw its underside with my own eyes.)
Was this, I thought at the time, a pre-production prototype which slipped away un-noticed from the factory, or could this rare and brand new marque, we wondered aloud, be using crate-loads of old Castrol oil tins in the manufacture of the base of its well-sculpted fuel tanks, and, if so, what horrors were we to find inside the unit construction engine/gearbox? We were to find out shortly thereafter! Those Ten pound deposits were by then looking a bit like they might be sadly refunded, and in very short order.
Great though these new machines looked, the welding on many frame pressings and pipe-tube ends, the latter simply flattened out, instead of being scarped – or ‘fish-mouthed’ - to provide a neat fit against other tubing, left a great deal to be desired. True, the ends of the round-section, flattened tubing were well disguised by thick coats of black, baked-enamel, but I have often heard these rough finishes described as `toothpaste’ welding, or, more indelicately, `bird shit’, either of which were an accurate description of some very grim work indeed.
It has to be said that those early Honda engines would idle like well-oiled Swiss watches, but there were some cynics who suggested you could hear them wearing out, for the overhead cam drive chain and valve gear were noisy.
In head-on view, the 250cc C71 Honda ‘Dream’ was pyramid-shaped, the ultrawide crankcases having the fat mufflers
sweeping outboard of them with footrest hangers, rear brake pedal and centrestand arm outboard of that. Allied to this were tiny, 16-inch wheels, which allowed minimal cornering clearance.
Just as well, I have to say, because the highly-polished and rock-hard Japanese tyres fitted to the first batches of machines had about the same grip on dry road surfaces as an ice-block, and were downright lethal in the wet. Furthermore, there were tramlines everywhere in Sydney in the late fifties, and they added their considerable danger to the equation.
You couldn’t corner quickly on those early Honda machines even if you wanted to, but you could pull into a gutter and use its left muffler as if it were a prop-stand – in fact, if the bike was cranked over a few degrees from the vertical when you were riding it the mufflers would dig into the road surface with great enthusiasm and ease the wheels off the ground, with entirely predictable consequences!
To make matters worse, the suspension system, though comfortable enough, imbued the bikes with a feeling akin to riding a horse at high speed as the machines would rock back and forth with abandon, the springs contained within leading-link forks on the front and oblong-shaped shocks on the rear seemingly bereft of any form of effective damping.
If you applied the front brake hard enough, the front-end would dive onto full bump and then patter about almost uncontrollably. It took several years before the Japanese learned how to make a halfway decent tyre, a shock absorber which employed any form of efficient damping, or a rear drive chain which lasted more than a couple of months.
True, the new Honda looked great and went acceptably well, but could have been a disaster to own for more than a few months, for it was an odd machine to ride.
The Dream – or Nightmare, as almost everybody called it – had a couple of extra tricks up its sleeve to trap the unwary. First of all, it had a gear change
brochures, the bike was good for some 45mph and around 130 miles per gallon of fuel – that’s in the old money, of course - but I never had any reason to doubt the figures, then or now. It was also, according to the cute Japanese screed, “Quick like a squirrel”.
I remember hearing of two very large employees of Bennett and Wood, who decided to put the first step-thru to the ultimate test by riding the device from a standing start at the bottom of the steep Wentworth Avenue hill to Bennett’s assembly area and showroom at the top of the hill.
The rider was a certain Ken Pickering, the pillion passenger an uncertain Russ Burling, the latter quite sure he would have to abandon the little Honda while the machine was still in first gear. Burling had suggested he would have to jump off the little step-thru as soon as second gear was selected.
So the daunting duo took off, giggling like a pair of pre-pubescent schoolgirls, only for them to be amazed to discover the bike actually pulled away fairly smartly from rest and even accepted the change into second gear. The road flattened out a little halfway up the climb at Hunt Street, whereupon Pickering optimistically selected top (third) gear and the bike picked up a little more pace. Just a little, be it understood, but remember it was pulling two very, very large people (and itself!) up a steep hill, from a standing start, and with only a tiny 50cc overhead valve engine to power it!
The duo then turned into the layback
and attacked the even steeper ramp to the second-floor assembly area of Bennett and Woods’ building, which it successfully climbed, the tyres almost as flat as pancakes, the wheel rims almost scraping the road. The Honda Cub needed second gear at the start, and then into first at the very top of the steep ramp to the assembly area, but its performance – I have been assured by brother Don, who was there to witness it - was greeted with stunned looks and slack jaws at every turn.
Clearly, with just one person aboard, and hopefully a trim nurse at that, the bike’s performance would be quite acceptable, and so the step-thru was thrust into a market-place it was later to dominate.
Honda, from such humble beginnings, has been here to stay since April, 1958, when the first machines trickled into Australia, the country which unquestionably saw the beginning of the re-birth of motorcycling world-wide. It might support my argument that Honda placed the whole world back onto two wheels, just as almost every other motorcycle manufacturer on earth was on the slippery-slide to oblivion.
The company’s saviour, that trailblazing step-thru, which arrived later in 1958, has changed little over the years, and is now manufactured in some 20 countries outside Japan. Australian posties have been using a variant of the little runabout – a close relation to the motorcycle-like 110cc overhead camshaft Trail Cub, but with more weather protection - since the early ‘70s and there seems to be no likely replacement.
With sales figures creeping up above
that astonishing 60,000,000 in the intervening years, the funny little stepthru has made, and secured, a niche for itself as a most amazing little machine, which has proved to be at once ultrareliable and almost bullet-proof. It is far and away the most popular motorcycle ever made, whether we purists like it or not, and is in fact the most popular motor vehicle ever made!
There are some of the “Nicest People” along with some very odd characters riding these little things on the back roads and market places of Vietnam and many other Asian countries, just as you are likely to find similar characters in this country.
Is there yet another variant of that remarkable little bike in the breeze, do you think; a twenty-first century step-thru, perhaps? The enormous number of new Honda machines of all capacities, shapes and sizes shows no sign of abating, and Honda has embraced the ‘new’ scooter craze with some enthusiasm, so something far beyond the norm may again be seen in the marketplace.
Could there be, let’s say, an enclosed, car-type two-wheeler on the drawing boards with gyroscopic stabilizer and hub-centre steering? Could there be a levitating no-wheeler?
When it comes to innovation, Honda has done it all before, with the first eye-popping C71 motorcycle in 1958, and then the ground-breaking little commuter which arrived a just a few months later, to then become so monumentally successful. Honda may well do it all over again, perhaps to place the whole world upon no wheels at all?
WELOVE 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!
THE WINNER IS…
…not a motorcyclist, and the prize this month is not Andy Strapz’ excellent AA Bagz. Instead, a Shoulder Bagz (also of course from Andy) goes to Fiona Mackie from the NSW North Coast. You’ll see why when you read the letter below. And a special thanks to Bear Army trooper Jeff Edwards, as well.
SHIRTLESS
Dear Peter and Stuart and Australian Motorcyclist staff, Today, I had the pleasure of meeting one of your subscribers, Jeff Edwards. He was wearing your “Bear Army” tshirt (number 27) and I asked him where he got it as I knew my son would love one. He told me that it was a special shirt for people who have a two year subscription to your magazine. Later that day, Jeff returned to my
WADDLE I DO
G’day Peter, Have been enjoying a chance to catch up on my magazines, your story about the snow around Luneberg with Mrs Bear brought back empathetic shivers.
About 10 years ago I entered a ride to donate money to the NRMA Careflight
work and gave me the tshirt washed and dried. I didn’t want to take it because it is obviously a very special shirt, but he insisted. I have just brought it home to my son, and as you can see, he ADORES it!! The bear that is on his head is his best friend, Kola, who gets him through some tough times.
My son has cystic fibrosis and autism, and things are not easy for him a lot of the time. He is a tough kid and he puts up with an awful lot of treatments to keep well. He doesn’t ask for much, but when I see things he might like, I try to find them for him. Jeff’s kindness is very much appreciated and has already brought a big smile to my boy. It was a really awesome thing to do and I am very grateful.
I’m not a motorcyclist (yet), but I will definitely keep an eye on your website should you bring out more Bear Army things. And now I know about your magazine, it will be something to chat about with customers at work.
Also, is there any way I can buy a replacement shirt for Jeff? He really made our day, and it would be nice to replace his shirt for him.
Kind regards, Fiona Mackie
at Westmead Hospital. We started from the helicopter base at Westmead after a cheery breakfast of snags, bread and warming cups of tea/coffee. Beaut sunny day and a great ride until we got up on the Bells Line of Road, where a chilly wind harassed us at exposed locations. By the time we arrived at Tarana for lunch the sun was high but
Aww… Fiona, that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard of for a long time. You’d better do two things: send us your postal address, and the size of the t-shirt. We don’t keep a record of the shirt sizes our troopers wear, believe it or not! And don’t worry about paying for another shirt for Jeff; we’ll sort that out - The Bear
offering little heat.
The ride finished at Orange, where there was a dinner organised. I intended having dinner then riding back to Bathurst to stay overnight at a pub I’d used some years previously. The cold began to intensify as the sun sank lower. Great feed, not too much free red then on my way. I’d bought a “souvenir”
polar fleece jacket that afternoon, it was under my bike jacket and I placed a handful of brochures under them to maintain some body warmth.
Ten minutes east of Orange I was thinking about going back to find a lodging. Out in the open with a clear sky overhead I could feel the cold slowly getting worse. But, by the time I got to Bathurst, I decided to press on to the Shell servo at Lithgow. Overnighting closer to Katoomba would give me a shorter run home next morning (there was a 60th birthday party to attend at midday). Bugger me, the servos at Lithgow were closed! Fuel was a bit of a worry by now, which took my mind off the shivering and numb hands and feet. The open servo at the top of Mount Victoria was most welcome indeed, I pulled up beside the bowser and managed to get off the bike to refuel but almost fell base-overapex as I tried to cross the driveway to the store. Somehow I managed to waddle inside though to settle up and purchase a hot pie and cup of coffee. That warmed me considerably, I called my wife (sound asleep by now) and told her where I was heading, would see her mid-morning. Back on the bike and along to the first motel. It was closed but lit up, with a buzzer for late arrivals. I pressed it and waited, repeated same, and again . . . Eventually I decided they didn’t want my custom (must have been midnight by then I suppose); back onto the bike and continued east. To my surprise it was quite a bit warmer along the Great Western Highway on top of the mountains than across the open land behind me. Even comfortable. I might just as well continue all the way home. Once I descended to flat country at Penrith the
colder air was waiting, which caused me to chug along no faster than 75km/h, the wind chill being much reduced at that speed. I arrived home about 0215, very much to my wife’s surprise. Even after I got into bed, my teeth continued chattering for ages. I’ve no doubt your snowing temperatures were colder but my ride home under crystal clear sky across open country initiated a lasting commitment - - - “Don’t get caught again!”
Barry Winston Hills
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?
Hi Peter,
You thought you’d heard the last of me some time ago. Sorry! I’m still around, still riding, still writing [Brian is almost as big a pedant as I am – The Bear].
As someone deeply involved in the production of the BMWMCCVic’s
BeeEm, I have been developing a fourissue photo gallery to celebrate the four decades of our club’s life. (May 25 1975 - 2015)
That’s how this picture came to light. I think that is Geoff Coat you are talking to. None of us is quite what we used to be, are we?
Best Regards, Brian Macdonald
Speak for yourself, Brian. But yes, that’s Jeff. I wonder where he is now? – The Bear
AND ANOTHER TOURER WRITES
Hi Stuart,
My congratulations to AMM and Paradise Motorcycles Tours for probably the best motorcycling experience of my life. Nine days of riding through some of the best motorcycling roads in the world, with fantastic scenery and great company. The bike I selected, as part of my package, was a current model BMW 1200GS that was perfect for the tour and great fun to ride.
New Zealand’s “summer” weather included warm days, wet days, wet and very windy days, and even some snow and slush thrown in. Having never ridden through snow before, I kind of enjoyed the experience, although I was glad when I was out of it. On exiting the Homer Tunnel and seeing the snow I said “Oh dear!” (or something more profane than that) and then wondered “What do I do now?”. So I just put the bike into first, hands off the brakes and clutch, and let the bike do the work going downhill with some judicious steering through the tight bends until getting below the snow line.
Bourke's Old Telegraph Hotel is now a deluxe motel with individual heritage king size bedrooms. Pool, barbeque, great attractions nearby. Secure undercover parking. Bring your group.
WHAT SAY YOU?
The white ST1100 on the right is mine (there is a woman with white hair behind the bike I am directly behind her).
Perhaps my experience can be summed up in the conversation I had with Trevor (Paradise MC Tours) after riding through the Lindis Pass. He said “Did you enjoy that?”, to which I responded “Can we go back and do it again?”.
Cheers
Paul Cass
YES, WE MADE A MISTAKE
Peter,
I have just got the April edition of Australian Motorcyclist and have started, as usual, by reading the editorial, written by the new editor, Stuart. I noted that Stuart starts with a disclaimer in regard to proof reading, which he says was entirely your responsibility. Then I got to the second page where I read that a Ducati rider had crashed in testing at Phillip Island and “A replacement rider was sort…” It appears that the right sort of rider was sought.
Regards, A regular reader
We know who you are, Barry… - The Bear
YES, ALL RIGHT P10 ‘sort’ should be ‘sought’. Cheers,
Pierre Le Bas
You make one little mistake… - The Bear
ALL RIGHT, ALREADY!
Dear Bear,
I sought it with thimbles, I sought it with care (thanks to the Rev Dodgson) but I could not sort it anywhere! Not on page 10 of the April issue, or anywhere else…
Mark McGowan
Victoria
I guess the overwhelming response to this error shows that we don’t usually make spelling mistakes… The Bear
I’m rather intrigued that Chief on his trip out of Adelaide, didn’t get on the old highway sooner down before the old Devils Elbow. It’s been a few years since I have been that way as far as I know you can still do it. Also originally being from Murray Bridge I’ve never heard of Wentworth; Wellington, hell yeah, used to be a top pub, many a good time had there, must go out there next time I go see the folks. Keep up the good work.
Craig Baxter
Unless I’m seriously mistaken, the Devils Elbow section is a loop off the main road, Craig, so it doesn’t actually lead to the old road – The Bear
MOTO GUZZI
Eldorado
1400 Custom
California 1400 Touring
Cali 1400 Touring SE
Stelvio 1200 8V ABS
Stelvio 1200 8V NTX ABS
MV AGUSTA
www.mvagusta.com.au
NORTON
PGO
www.pgo-scooter.com
PIAGGIO
NEW BIKE PRICES
www.tgbscooters.com.au
URAL
TRIUMPH
VESPA
COLD
It came to me at about 2am just the other week. My friends and I were on our way to the Dawn Service in Canberra and had left Sydney sometime around midnight.
We had pulled over beside Lake George to take our ease and stare at the impossibly beautiful night sky for a few minutes. We were ahead of schedule because we had been speeding – which is how the devil makes work for idle throttle hands on deserted roads – and it was probably time for another belt of rum. It was also brisk. I could feel it on my face because I still wear an openface helmet (Yeah, yeah, spare me your infantile censure. When your views on my riding apparel begin to matter to me I’ll let you know), but the rest of me was comfortably warm.
This was not the case with my beloved friend, The Punisher, who was busily stomping the feeling back into his legs and tearing apart his luggage while he searched for his wetweather gear.
He does this every time we ride to some frost-beshitted hell-hole, and it is an endless source of wonderment and amusement to me.
The Punisher is a man of middle years. He is also a man of means. That he chooses to dress like a homeless gypsy is entirely a matter for him. I have ridden many tens of thousands of kilometres in his company, many of which have seen him hurtling along at speed seemingly dressed in flapping garbage bags – which is what cheap wet-weather gear looks like
when it’s being torn to pieces by cruel velocities.
I was once like him.
Hell, I started riding when the only alternative to leather was that waxed cotton stuff only the most bearded of BMW riders were permitted to wear, or an army-surplus greatcoat. Wool was everywhere. I wore so much of it back then I was like a Kiwi sexfiend. I could see ewes in paddocks quivering with desire.
Thick woollen jumpers, greasy-wool socks, and fleece-filled Rossi flying boots were my world. My hands froze because that’s what the hands of motorcyclists did in the ’70s and ’80s. Gear has come a very long way in 30-odd years.
I am now able to spend my winters with just a jacket over a T-shirt. Unless I am heading off into the mountains where the temperature is often in the double-digit minuses, in which case I will add a thermal and a sloppy Joe. And a second bandanna. I have also become a fan of heated hand-grips. It is true that I once held them to be the domain of the soft and effete. But as I age, and the rheumatism in my hands brought about from many years of punching things begins to take its toll, I have changed my view. Of course, if you’re under 30, you really have no business using heated handgrips, but when you’ve paid some dues, you’re permitted some comfort.
And if they’re not on the bike I’m riding, I have gloves that work a treat –wet or dry.
In short, if you ride in the cold, there is gear that
staves off hypothermia with relative ease.
You’ve just got to buy it. It ain’t cheap, but it is good – which is the nature of gear, women and whiskey.
Just buy it and make your life less of a misery.
Which is what I tell The Punisher each and every time he’s stumbling around on the side of the road trying to get his wet-weather gear on before he dies.
“Buy some gear,” I say to him. “It’s not like you’re poor.”
“Yeah, I really gotta,” he replies, anchoring himself to a motorcycle while he struggles to get his boot through a twisted vinyl pant-leg.
“You remember the time your zipper failed and we used duct tape to keep your jacket closed?” I asked.
We had been hiding behind the only tree in Kiandra as ice-hell descended on us. It was bad. I was actually considering de-boning him out and wearing his soggy remains to Thredbo.
“Yeah, that was shit.”
“You’re still wearing the same leather jacket with the same zip.”
“I love this jacket. I’ve had it for years. I fixed it at home. It only breaks sometimes now.”
“Like now.”
“Yeah, like now.”
“If you come to my house on the way home, I will give you one of my jackets. I will do this because I love you and I want you to be warm and jolly. I dig the whole raggedy-man thing, don’t get me wrong, but I cannot stand to see you suffer when I have spare jackets sitting in my cupboard.”
But he never came to my place to get the jacket. And he never will. He will continue to hop around on the side of various roads as he puts on his wet-weather gear each time the temperature drops and the wind rises. Each time his zipper fails, I will duct tape his jacket to his body.
He is one of the greatest men I know.
SBEAR FACED
ome days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. So they say on Wall Street. Over this way it’s more likely that some days the Bear eats the road, and some days the road eats the Bear.
Yes, I know there are people who have never crashed. I am not one of them.
Here’s one I remember only by proxy.
I had already had two fl ats in the rear tyre on my Cossack 650 on the way up to my Mother’s for Christmas, so I should probably have guessed that I’d have another one. But Optimism is my middle name (it isn’t really, my middle name is Richard) so I was bowling along at a decent speed, or at least as decent a speed as the Cossack was capable of, outside Ballina on Christmas Eve when the tyre let go again.
This presented me with a problem. The road was two-lane blacktop, and there was quite a lot of holiday traffi c coming the other way. There was also a party of caravanners pulled up on the shoulder to my left. All I could really do was try to keep the bike upright and thread the needle between oncoming metal and stationary plywood. I apparently did that successfully for a few metres, until we were past the last (or perhaps I should say fi rst) caravan, but by then the pendulum effect of the fl at rear tyre was so strong that when I did pull over, the bike went down with some considerable force and slammed my head into the gravel.
The Bear eats the road.
I woke up two days later – missed my Mother’s Christmas dinner – in Ballina Hospital. I had been awake in a kind of way, but not conscious; all I did was ask what time it was and then black out again. I had forgotten
everything up to and including ten minutes or so before the crash, although some of it came back. I’m glad I was wearing my good helmet, a Shoei.
Here’s one that I do remember.
I’m high in the central mountain ranges of Corsica, coming up on a hairpin to the left. I can’t see the road there because there’s thick bush growing right up to the edge. My rental BMW F 700 GS is coping well with the half-tar, half-gravel and all leaf litter road and I’m setting myself up for a smooth turn when a small car comes around the corner at a fair clip. I make an assessment of our relative trajectories and decide that I’m aimed straight at his left headlight.
This is no good.
I fl ip the bike upright and counter-steer for all I’m worth and the projected point of impact changes from my front wheel to my left knee. Still no good. Possibly worse.
I
fl ip the bike more or less onto its right side and the car’s headlight hits my left-hand pannier with a resounding bang as I go down. Later I discover that the pannier has fl own some twenty feet into the bush at the side of the road; for the time being all I know is that I’m sliding along with the right-hand side
of the BMW building up a bow wave of leaf litter and gravel, while the tarred part of the surface grinds away at my leg. Fortunately I am wearing my Touratech Compañero suit, which takes the damage without passing any of it on to my leg, or for that matter my elbow.
The road eats the Bear.
See? Some days the… oh yes, of course, on some days – fortunately most days – nobody eats anything, or for that matter vice versa. Or at least you don’t. For your friends it may be a different matter…
We were on our way up to Newcastle on a Friday night after the pub, to a keg. A thick fog covered the old Pacifi c Highway – which wasn’t the old anything in those days, because the freeway didn’t exist – and we were actually riding fairly carefully. This was in no small part because several of the blokes were on English bikes, which had just the kind of headlights you would expect from Joe Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. Several people were relying on following the taillight of a BSA Spitfi re, which was quite amazingly bright. Its headlight wasn’t, though, and when the Spitty rider misjudged a corner and left the road, the other bikes went with him. I still remember the wild patterns their headlights painted into the fog as they bounced around in the bush and progressively fell over. Who was eating whom there? Who knows?
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming
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