McCoy's Cafe' Coffee Run

I managed to get out for a spin yesterday with a mate from the Netrider forum. I had noticed on social media that Steve Waugh's charity foundation was conducting a bicycle ride called The Captain's Ride and they would be calling in to McCoy's Cafe in Cooyar for morning tea. 

I hatched a plan to make sure we were there in time to clap them in but it would involve an  early start for us. Mike and Steve were up for it so at 0530 (on a day off work) we were stands-up and dodging the "tradie" traffic on the way across town, headed for Mt Glorious.

250km each way

Far Riding

I am sure that most motorcycle riders have heard of an organisation called the IBA. The Iron Butt Association is an American invention (I think), consisting of riders who like to cover large distances in limited amounts of time, for no real reason other than to ride.
As well as the IBA, we have a derivative group here in Australia called Far Riders. I remember seeing their details about 15 years ago and promptly forgot all about them.
Now, getting back into motorcycling and having an endurance mountain biking background the logical extension must be doing some long distance motorcycling in as short amount of time as possible, right?

Touring motorbi-cycles.....(190/50-17s were hard to find in 2003!)

Point Lookout

I had the last 4 days of my months annual leave in front of me and looking at the weather forecast, which was for perrrffect clear winter weather, I decided that I needed to get out for an adv bike ride. I had seen a reference to Point Lookout, a viewing point in the Great Dividing Range to the southwest of Coffs Harbour and decided that I should have a look at the view. Making it all the more intriguing for me is the fact that Point Lookout was an enroute VOR station that we had used for decades before it was decommissioned in 2016 to cut costs (lets hope the satellites don't get jammed!) There is also an AERIS located at the same place, which thankfully, is still operating.

So, I had the beginnings of a shell of a rough outline of a plan..... I could make the rest up as I went along. I planned on being self sufficient so stopping ANYWHERE would be an option!

After the kids were sent off to school I had a few jobs to do around the place as I had been away for two weeks. I used this time to actually convince myself that it was ok to load up and piss off for another few days.....I did have ministerial approval of course but I was feeling a little guilty. I soon shook that off and began piling things into the stairwell - hopefully things I would need! Now, what will I have forgotten? Time will tell.....

More Farkles

Things have been a tad quiet here on the blog but as usual, that doesn't mean there isn't shit going down! I have just returned from a two week 4wding holiday across the Simpson Desert with the kids but more about that in another post. When I returned from that trip I had a couple of cardboard boxes waiting for me.....

The FC Moto box was all the way from Germany. I have been looking for an adventure lid for over 12 months now to complement the BMW and couldn't decide on whether I wanted to go the "all bells and whistles mega expensive" route or the "$200 cheapie and get a new one every other year" route.

Well, I sort of put a foot in either camp in the end and went with an Airoh Commander. It had all of the features I wanted, was still a very light (1510 g/3lb 1oz) helmet AND by buying through FC Moto, I had it landed at my house for $105 less than the cheapest I could find it domestically! I like to support local retailers but when they are 21% cheaper, including freight from the other side of the planet, how can you not shop online?

Anyway, it is a thing of great beauty, to wrap a thing of not great beauty (my head) and protect it from the elements and the hard, hard ground.

It has the much desired flip down sunnies and Airoh include a pinlock in the box! I haven't fitted the pinlock yet but the flip down sunnies and sun visor are gold with the low sun we seem to have this winter!

The colour options are a bit limited but the one colour I didn't want in an adventure helmet was black.... and the most prevalent colour in adv helmets is.....black!?  Black helmets are just too hot in the Aussie sun. I like the bit of red as it breaks up the "too much blue" theme I have going on with my RST suit.

The other carton, from Staintune exhausts, was a bit of an impulse buy. Well, an impulse on the day that I saw the R1 pipe was half price! I had priced one of the stainless steel pipes up for my R1 back in 2012 when I first bought the bike but couldn't justify spending $800 on a slip on pipe. Especially when the bike already had a slip on fitted to it. Proving that good things come to those who wait, a mere 7 years later I was able to snag a bargain. 

Not that there was anything wrong with the little Remus pipe that came with the bike though. I did sort of hate it at first because I wasn't used to the modern style "mini" mufflers but it came to grow on me and after I ordered the Staintune pipe I was having some doubts about how the older style pipe might look. I did want an ADR compliant exhaust as interactions with the mobile tax collectors aren't high on my wish list.

I needn't have worried. The pipe looks awesome!!

The sound is much quieter than the Remus, which is to be expected as the Staintune meets the ADR requirements with the removable baffle installed. To be honest, I am happy with it as it has a better note than the stock pipe and will hopefully let me fly under-the-radar.

Cheers.

Breaking In A New Bike

Today dawned crisp and clear - and bloody cold! I know that cold is a relative term but when it gets below 10 Celcius, it is cold here in the sub tropics! 

Anyway, it was a great day for a good mate of mine to start his journey down the Adventure Bike route. He had just purchased a brand new KTM 1090 Adventure and was itching to get it dirty. How could I not help?

Slip, Grip And Stop

After the thrashing that Steve gave my R1 I figured it was time for some TLC...or as any normal person would call it, routine maintenance. But I wouldn't be stopping at the R1 though. No, I have done 5360km(3330mi) on the BMW in the 9 months that I have owned it so it was also due for some lovin'.

Chillertek, The Thrasher......

South East Queensland Mash Up - Chillertek Style

Okay sports fans, as you may have seen HERE, Chillertek has been and conquered South East Queensland (SEQ). 

He has pretty much covered it all but here is the trip from my angle.....to go with his full-blown write up.

Prepping for little Bro's arrival.

Chillertek's Visit To South East Queensland - The Planning

Steve and I hatched a plan at the MotoGP for him to come up and spend a few days riding the roads in South East Queensland (SEQ). He had previously done only one trip up this way. That was when Kwoky moved to Brisbane and got an escort out of NSW....probably just to make sure he left.... ;)

We decided to wait until the weather cooled down a bit up here as it is just too muggy to enjoy riding around SEQ all day in summer. To maximise time on the roads he will fly up and ride one of my bikes, thereby saving at least two days travelling time. It is looking like we might have a window of opportunity in March or April so I have been getting everything sorted. 

This is what I have come up with as a rough plan so far.

Wind it on like Mick!!

Wearing Out Some Rubber

WTF ????? I hear you ask.......

No, not wearing rubber out. Wearing out some rubber. A very different proposition!

Steve finally came up to Queensland for a ride and we wore out the rubber on both my bikes. 1600km in a few days will do that.

As a result, the F800GSA got a new  Heidenau K60 Scout on the rear today to match the front it got a few thousand klicks ago. Not surprisingly, it tips into corners very nicely now!

Stand by for further transmissions.......

Cheers.

Not Farkles, But Close

I had a bit of a mini Xmas today with several parcels all arriving at once.

They are for the bike but they aren't really farkles, well not according to this description. They will make the act of touring on the Beemer much more pleasurable and safer.

The first item(s) is a Rocky Creek Designs MotoPressor pump and tyre pressure guage. I hope I won't be needing this ever, but it will allow me to get off the beaten path with some confidence should the worst happen.

 Deciding weather to go lockable hard panniers or soft panniers for the F800GSA was a choice I couldn't make for what seemed a looong time (8 months in fact!). While I want the security of being able to lock my stuff onto the bike, hard panniers had two major drawbacks. Number one was the price. They are around the $1500 mark!! Number two is that they can injure you or bend/break in a spill, which is more likely to happen when tackling dirt roads.

Soft panniers aren't as secure for your belongings but they fit both the crashworthiness and the wallet test! There is an absolute plethora of soft luggage out there but in the end I decided to support a local manufacturer, Andy Strapz. Andy has been making bike luggage related gear since at least the late Nineties and I have used his strapz before, which are top notch.

Enter my new Avduro II Panniers. I also bought the extension straps to allow the panniers to fit my Beemer's fat arse end.

Time to get the panniers fitted up and test ride them I reckon! But first, a little three day jaunt for work beckons......

Cheers.

Farkle it!! Who am I kidding? 

There is still just enough light to get out to the shed and fit the panniers up!!

After quickly reading Andy's "fitting hints" it took me all of about 2 minutes to fit them, then 20 seconds to take them off again!! How awesome it that?! 

Take them off again? 

Well, you see the bags are canvas and need seasoning before I use them. Seasoning just means wetting them and letting them dry out a couple of times. Easily done using a step ladder as the horse.

Cheers.

Best Of 2018 Photo Challenge

Sonja issued a photo challenge a few days ago.

Ten photo categories were specified.

In The City
In The Countryside
By The Water
Something Red
People
Animals
Plants
Something Unusual
Something Funny
Best Photo Of 2018

Welcome To 2019!!

Yes, welcome indeed! 

The juggernaut that is time continues to steamroll everything in it's path. 2018 only just seemed to be getting into the swing of things when it was blindsided by 2019......well, that it the way it seemed to me!

Urban Trails

A long running monthly photo competition on the local Netrider forum has called for photos of your bike with graffiti. I have been taking photos of my bikes (both motorised and pedal powered) with graffiti for a few years now, so have a bit of a collection.

Tingalpa, QLD

After going back through my collection I thought it might be fun to post up some of the photos I have taken over the years.

Tingalpa, QLD

Eugowra, NSW

Tingalpa, QLD

BVRT, Walkaraka.

Eugowra, NSW 

Tingalpa, QLD

Loganholme, QLD

Many of them are taken on a bike path that runs behind a light industrial estate in Tingalpa. The kids and I have been riding past this spot for a number of years now and the graffiti seems to change quite regularly.

Tingalpa, QLD

New Farm, QLD

Tingalpa, QLD

Loganholme, QLD

Tingalpa, QLD

Loganholme, QLD

Fremantle, WA

Loganholme, QLD

Loganholme,QLD

What sort of graffiti or street art do you see (got to admit some of it is very good) in your area or country?

Cheers.

Tingalpa, QLD

Exploring New Roads And Remembering The Fallen

Again, I had some days off during the week and with crackingly great weather, thought it would be criminal to waste it by doing nothing (or staying at home if you like). Following on from the aviation theme of my last motorcycling post I had read of a roadside memorial to two RAAF pilots who had lost their lives in an F111 training accident near Tenterfield back in 1987. I decided that I wanted to pay my respects and designed a route around that location. The route would also be largely new-to-me roads too, making it an interesting prospect.

The route

Return To Mt Glorious

This roster sees me working every weekend which generally sorta sucks. However, to put a positive spin on it, it sees me with weekdays off and six-ish hours each of those week days between family commitments. That can only mean one thing....well, two actually......solo mountain bike rides AND solo motorcycle rides. Yep, working weekends sure does suk!!