CYCLE TORQUE FEATURE – HARLEY TOURING Continued from previous page 11
boards just ease up when they touch down so no problems getting some decent lean angles through the smooth corners up in the mountains. The last day began from our night stop at Wommargama Pub on the Hume Highway just north of Albury. It started off with a comfortable ride up the highway to Goulburn where we took a turn to head up through Taralga, Oberon and back down the winding Bells Line Road for a quick stretch down the F3
home to Newcastle. We had been very lucky with the weather but the timetable took its toll on the girls. fair fright, we hit Port Campbell for the night. It had been a long day and after getting off the bike Poppi transferred all her saddle sores to my eardrum as punishment for all the stop-offs we didn’t make.
More cruising around
The plan was to spend two nights here so we could look around and do as we liked. Day five was a flight in a helicopter over the Twelve Apostles and a walk down the Gorge then on the bike to Warrnambool and Port Fairy for a look. This is a fantastic bit of Australia and deserving of it’s reputation as a ‘must see’ tourist destination. Day six the boys decided we needed to get back to Queenscliff and across Port Phillip Bay on the Ferry to Sorrento so we had enough time to find accommodation for the night and keep on time. Eventually we found a bed at the Baxter Hotel just out of Frankston. Day Seven was a fairly uneventful ride through Leongatha, Foster to Sale and on to Bairnsdale to stay the night at Bruthen on the doorstep of the snowy mountains. I was looking forward to the next day’s ride through the winding roads to Swifts Creek and Omeo and over the hill at Hotham to catch up with friends at Mt Beauty. We had another dose of scraping the footpegs as we played boy and girl racer and the big Harley. Even though they make a bit of noise the
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Afterthoughts
If you like a steady cruise at legal speeds the Fatty is very enjoyable, especially if you stick to smooth flowing roads and you don’t have to carry too much luggage. Even though the limited suspension travel can be an issue on crappy roads, there’s something about that distinct slow revving, throbbing V-twin sound which makes that Harley statement and turns heads that draws you back for more. It lives on a fearsome reputation with a mix of 1940s styling and well-hidden 2010 technology to soften the blow. There seems to be more accessories available for it than a Barbie doll. Every bike can be made a personalised work of art. For ours the
medium height screen tended to buffet my head as speeds picked up over 100kph. The panniers were small and would have been much better had they been removable to take in the motel room but they never got in the way negotiating traffic. It is what it is. Sure, at times we took the ‘Lo’ out of its element but there were plenty of times on the trip where we enjoyed a relaxed pace in comfort; you just need to be careful how adventurous you get. – Ray Macarthur
We fitted our Fat Boy Lo with quite a number of accessories and were surprised to see them come in at only a shade over four grand. Below is a rundown on individual prices, rounded down to the nearest dollar. Sideplates for panniers – $213. Touring backrest – $168. Sport luggage rack – $198. Multifit touring luggage system with extra day bag – $351. Detachable windscreen – $542. Touring seat with rider backrest – $764. Leather covered rigid saddlebags – $1,146. Half moon passenger footboards – $275. Passenger footboard support kit – $213. *Docking hardware kit – $53. *Turn signal relocation kit – $61 *Medium low upright – $152 Total – $4,141.15 These aren’t the exact terminology used by HarleyDavidson but the better describe what each component is. *Parts required to fit some accessories to the Fat Boy Lo.
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