New Gear !

 

Looking at my tired old riding gear I decided it was time err...stuff falling apart made it clear that it was time for some replacements. 

Starting with my Sidi Vertigo II boots which were only about 11 years young and hadn't had much use. Strangely the left heel protector was perished and disintegrating. Of course I discovered this the afternoon before a ride so it was a mad rush to find some replacements.

I had also noticed in the last year or two that the boots were pressing down uncomfortably on my toes. I am not sure if this is because of my expanding girth spreading my feet more or if there was a change in the shape of the boot over time. Either way, I decided to go up a size to alleviate the problem as it was excruciatingly painful hobbling around with crushed toes. 

Luckily the local AMX Superstore has new Sidi vertigo IIs in stock AND in the larger size. of course they were much more expensive than 11 years ago. If I get another 11 years out of these, well then that will be fine. They are a good boot that incorporate air ducts on the side of the boot and calf adjustment for the perfect fit around any person's calf.

Calf adjuster.

Next item on the agenda was my helmet. The Bell Carbon Star I have been using is actually in decent condition however commuting to work as I have been doing this year means I am very often riding in during the day and coming home in the dark. Clearly, one visor will not work for both situations and having a clear visor during the day is blindingly dazzling on the way in to work and the tinted visor is no good for the trip home at night! I had tried on a Shoei Neotec II last November when Lucy was sizing helmets and balked at the price at the time. Fast forward eight months or so and I was kicking myself that I hadn't got one in the colourway that I liked as now I couldn't find that colour anywhere in my size!

On another visit to a local bike shop I decided to ask if they had one in stock and to my surprise (and slight shock as they called my bluff) they had one in one of their Sydney stores. I decided "screw it" and got them to have it sent up to Brisbane. It only took almost 3 weeks to come the 1000km from Sydney. (this is relevant further down in my spending spree).

The build quality is fantastic as you would expect on a helmet in this price range. I have never found Shoei helmets to be the right shape for me (well in the '90s and early 2000s) and my melon head but these new Shoei seem to fit perfectly and it is comfortable still, now that I have done a few thousand kilometres with it on. It is brilliant to be able to pull up at lights/intersections and flip the front up as it gets very hot, very quickly here in Queensland. Having that fresh air on one's face makes a huge difference. The helmet is P/J certified in other countries to ride with the face open but I am not sure about Australia. Either way, I bought a full face helmet to ride with it covering my full face....

The last bit of kit I bought was the last bit of kit I thought I would ever need or want on my motorcycle - a comms system. 

Some background on what brought me around - not having a car for two and a half years now means I have to ride to anywhere I need to be. Being on call with work some days creates a problem as if work needs me and hence, calls me, they expect me to answer immediately. That is not going to happen if I am on the bike!

So, despite saying NO to helmet comms as recently as my Flinders Trip with Andy, I decided to bite the bullet and grab one. Doing some research pretty quickly discounted the Sena SRL unit that neatly fits into all the pre moulded cut outs in my new $1200 helmet  - seriously, why the fcuk would Shoei mould proprietary comms recesses into their helmets for a very second rate comms system?! I couldn't find one decent review of the Sena SRL unit online or in the local motorcycle forums. The Cardo Paktalk Slim gets rave reviews though and checking the excellent Cardo website I could see that the Slim would fit my helmet. Albeit not as neatly as the rubbish SRL though.

To say I scoured the globe to find a reasonably priced Paktalk Slim is no understatement! They are $580 everywhere here in Australia and I finally found a unit for sale from Chromeburner for just $270AU or $300AU delivered. Done! The icing on the cake was that it only took 7 days to come all the way from The Netherlands to Brisbane. Contrast that to the 3 weeks my "in stock" helmet took to come from Sydney to Brisbane! We get rubbish service here in Australia and people put up with it because most don't know any better.

Anyway, I procrastinated on fitting the Paktalk to my helmet as I didn't want to rip my new helmet apart. I finally got around to installing it last night - about 2 weeks later - and after a quick Google to see how others had done it, I had it fitted in no time. There was no need to remove any lining, so I didn't, I just worked the wires to where they needed to be.

Not as neat as it could be but not as bad when viewed in real life.

Charged up, I took it for a ride today. I set up voice control on my phone via "Hey Google" (something I said I would never do but was very easy and necessary to make full use of the comms). I made several phone calls to Rebecca, Will, Steve (Chiller), some random workmate (whoops, sorry Al!😂) and Dad to see if they would complain about the audio.

 None of them suspected I was on the bike as they said it was as clear as if I was sitting in a room at home. The music was easy to play and I could hear it very plainly at 110km/h on the highway whilst wearing ear plugs. 

I even chatted to Steve for half an hour as I carved up a set of twisty bends, took some roadside photos then rode various roads all the way home! 

And when I hung up from him the music picked up from where it left off. I even paired it simply and seamlessly to the Zumo 595 once I arrived back home. A quick check route and I could hear the turn by turn directions perfectly. This would have been bloody handy in Adelaide a few months back.

I never thought I would say this but the Paktalk Slim is awesome and I wish I had it for the trip I did earlier this year. 🙄 If I only had some mates to try the mesh intercom system with....

Cheers.

Mapping Software Compatible For GPS Transfers

 

I found this great post on how to create routes and transfer them to your GPS unit on an Africa Twin forum. Having recently signed up for Gaia GPS online maps I was at a bit of a loss as to how to best use them. The subscription isn't cheap and I don't generally pay for any apps on my phone so I was very glad to find the following post from Matt On A Moto. Yes, it is a motorcycle blog but these mapping tips are just as applicable for mountain biking or bikepacking route planning.

I have copied and pasted it in here so that I have a permanent record of the detail. I am in no way claiming ownership of the material.

I would like to reiterate this is all the property of MATT ON A MOTO and you can find his original post by clicking on his blog name some 14 words back in this sentence.

I hope you find this of some help as I have.

Edit: I have deleted Matt's text as it simply would not format into the page on my blog. Please click on the link above to his blog for the full information. 

Cheers.

MOTORCYCLE ROUTE PLANNING AND MAKING YOUR GPS AGREE

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XXXII) - Homeward Bound- Part Two

 DAY 45 

After a short stay in Forbes it was time to hit the road again. Heading off at midday I was certain of rain but needed to get going. I decided to stay off the Newell highway so once through Parkes headed out the Renshaw McGirr Way to Yeovil and Wellington. This road proved to be a good ride and the road surface was in relatively great condition considering all of the wet weather NSW has suffered this year.

Rolling into Yeovil I stopped for a quick photo and wished I could have spent longer there. It was a pretty little town.

Following the GPS out of town I feel like I didn’t take the “optimal” route to Wellington but whatever the road was (turns out it was Bournewood and Curra Creek roads) it was fun and interesting. Probably better than the route I had intended actually!

 Rolling into Wellington I made a quick stop outside the Cow and Calf hotel. Shame I couldn’t stay….

Taking the Saxa road out of town as a cut through to the Dunedoo road it began to rain finally. Then I happened across some of the WORST 50 kilometres of road I have ever encountered in NSW. The sealed surface was completely smashed for many kilometres and where it wasn’t smashed there were long sections of clay repairs which were quite slippery in the wet conditions. All in all, this was a bloody horrible bit of road when combined with the rain and I stopped in at Dunedoo, as much for the break as for the fuel.

I was going to grab a coffee milk to help with the revival but when I spied the $6 price tag on a 300ml bottle I almost had a stroke! That gave me enough of a wake up!

Dunedoo boasts some silo art so I needed to check that out before I rolled out of town.

As a bonus it is on both sides of the silo.

I then put my head down and powered through Coolah, Tambar Springs, Mullaley and Gunnedah. I though briefly about finding a room in Gunnedah but was keen to make some more miles even though I was getting over riding in the rain. As much as I could hide behind my big screen, the concentration in the  cold and wet was starting to get to me.

I decided to press on, up another “new to me road” past Lake Keepit to Manilla. Once off the main highway at the Keepit turn-off my will to live improved as it does most times I get off a main highway.  I enjoyed this back road as it wound it’s way through rolling farmland.

I made it to Manilla at about 5pm and decided this would be far enough. Cruising the main street there were 3 pubs to choose from. 

I decided on the Royal Hotel in the middle of the Main Street as it looked OK. Pretty much as soon as I walked in I regretted my decision. The place was extremely run down…..but the owners were so nice I couldn’t extricate myself from the place without feeling bad for them. 😕

This carbuncle decorated the wall in my room…. and lets not even mention the showers/bathrooms.....nearly needed gumboots to negotiate them!

This place was an absolute knock down. 

Fcuk! 

What happened to the awesome, well maintained  pubs of Tassie?! 

The bar was pretty busy on this Saturday night so I put in an order for dinner and settled back editing photos on my phone. After what was quite a while I looked up and the pub was pretty much empty and I still hadn’t eaten. 

I grabbed another drink and politely enquired as to the food. I was ushered to the dining room and some apologies were given for the delay. It turned out it had been two hours since I ordered and they had fcuked up the order. I had nowhere to be and hadn’t starved to death so suggested they chill, I was fine. The food was actually good and when I went to pay the owner, he apologised again and said “that’ll be $100 for everything “. Room, drinks and dinner for $100? As shit as the room was, that was still a bargain as the steak was $40 on it’s own, plus a few drinks…..so the room was basically free. Maybe this is why the place is verging on a knock down?

470 very wet kilometres to this hovel of a hotel but at least the bed was comfortable (or I was buggered) so I slept soundly. Tomorrow would be the last day of a trip that started in early February but there wasn't any sadness. I just wanted to get home now.

DAY 46

I was up early to get home at a decent hour, plus I didn’t want to be in this pub a moment longer than necessary. Loaded up I took a minute to get a photo of the pub and along the Main Street.

It is a pleasant road north out of here toward Barraba and Bingara. The silo art on the road into Barraba is another cracking example.

Rolling into Bingara I grabbed some fuel at the little Shell servo. Asking the old bloke behind the counter if there was a cafe open in town for a bite to eat he said “no, nothing is open but we have pies here”. Taking him at his word I thought it was better a bird in the hand and so grabbed a pie and iced coffee. 

When I rolled 200m down the road I passed a cafe advertising coffee and breakfast…..fcuking prick! In a small town like this he WOULD have known it was open….so, I suggest anyone coming through Bingara avoid buying fuel at the Shell petrol station on the southern edge of town. He is a lying bastard. 😡

From Bingara I cut across some dirt back roads through Myall Creek, Delungra, Graman and Ashford to the Bruner Highway. This was very pleasant dirt road riding through country I had never seen before. I only overcooked one tight right and puckered a bit as I tried to brake hard and turn on the crushed granite surface......slow down tiger!😅 

I turned right on the Bruner to follow the border eastward. This also proved to be a lovely ride and I will be back here again to explore more in the future. There was evidence of the flooding earlier in the year and a bridge that was out illustrated how much water must have run out of the hills along here. It also highlighted why it isn't a good idea to ride through flood waters, even if they don't look too deep!

Rolling into Tenterfield I fuelled up and decided to take my favourite road north, Mt Lindsay road. This is a great little piece of back highway that discourages over use by method of a couple of small sections of (good) dirt.

At Legume I turned east for Woodenbong. There has been much roadwork done on this section. Mostly it is for the better but some of the new stuff is already falling apart with all of the wet weather and the rest is patiently waiting it’s turn for improvement works. But when on an Africa Twin this isn’t a problem at all. It is just made for these shitty Aussie roads!

Koreelah bridge.

The rest of the way home is pretty stock standard, so not much to say there. It felt a bit funny to finally be riding up my street after so many months, but here I was, home after 20 000 kilometres and 8 months of part time travelling. 

I had been very lucky to do this ride and especially loved the time I had in Tassie. I would go back there tomorrow if I had the chance. South Australia and the Flinders in particular, was a nice surprise but not on the same level as Tassie

Thanks for following along through all of these posts. It has been a looong, drawn out ride but very much a fun one. I have discovered many places and interesting things I wasn’t aware of and I hope this may help others in planing rides through some of the regions I have travelled.

Here is my Spot tracker bread crumb trail of where I rode. Hmmm. Tassie might need a closer inspection..... 🤔 😆

Looking forward to the next trip….. 😉

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XXXI) - Homeward Bound- Part One

DAY 43

I had another run of four days off, so again, jumped on a jet and made my way down to Adelaide. This would be the last time though as I had decided it was time to bring the Twin home. I had a plan to drop in and visit my Dad for a day in there so it would be roughly a 2500 kilometre trip in three days. This was a bit tight as I also wanted to ride some roads that are much less travelled but I would see how it went.

The Adelaide weather had been quite wet and cold all winter. I had somehow managed to jag mostly good weather with each trip down here (let’s face it, if the forecast looked certain of rain, I didn’t come down!) and today turned out to be probably the best day of the lot! Clear and cold after the previous day’s downpour, I rode up into the hills heading for Cuddlee Creek and it’s cafe’ where I was to meet an old work mate and his wife for breakfast. But first I needed to stop for some photos of this crisp morning.