The Roag King rolled out onto the streets of melbourne 5.30am yesterday to head north along the coast. Even at this hour the traffic was getting heavy
I went out along the freeway regretting not wearing a jumper under my jacket and towards princes hwy encountered a pea soup fog. Vic has some fucked up weather!
At Sale I turned left and headed for Lakes Entrance
At Cann River I met a couple coming the other way and they suggested I go along the Sapphire Coast Hwy(?) that runs thru tathru and along the coast. Not sure what I missed out on but this was a tight windy road with beach and forest views the whole way. Long rides on slow twisty roads are more entertaining but also far more tiring and slower than interstate highways so you need to factor in less km and less hours on those days. By 4pm I had enough and swung in Batemans Bay for a feed of seafood, some bourbons and a decent sleep.
Today is an unrushed ride to the 'gong or sydney depending how the day plays out
cheers Surly
M8 it was a pleasure, All the best 4 the rest of ya trip
About that syd rd traffic, you need to be a bit CRAZY to survive
It has been a few busy days since leaving batemans bay. This is as close as I got to the gong as plans sort of fell through.
I did a lap to Kiama and back on a twisty little back road then carried on to Sydney to catch up with a fellow car nut mate for a night ride to Bondi and thru Kings Cross in his very tough 11 second HQ Monaro then enjoyed a few wild turkeys
Yesterday our very own Kanunski let me use his hose to wash the grime off the bike (this is why it rained today) then showed me the coastline on a beautiful sunny "visual" day with a few beers and and lunch at Watsons Bay then a few more at his local. Thanks Andy was a great arvo. Andy did an awesome job but I could tell he had had enough so I headed across town to catch up with KB
The bike now has just over 9000km on it and KB helped drop it off at Sys for a service this morning...while it was pissing down with rain.
It has been a great stay in Sydney and the hospitality shown to me the whole trip has been very humbling.
Next stop Coff's
Merry Xmas and a happy new year Mal........and to all ya Eastern supporters....
Ride safe and will cya in the newyear
Bt
hope that the return trip is less eventfull than your stop on Gold Coast mate... have a great Xmas whereever you might be
Merry Xmas to all!
I got home 4pm yesterday but after 4400km in 4 days I am shot. I will post up more stories and pics when my brain catches up with my body.
Ipswich to Warren => 840km I was moving the bike around Jilli's car which Ubes had kindly moved and placed my gear behind the car...big mistake. Jilli thought the car was still in the way and reversed onto my luggage. Luckily nothing inside it got broken but my nelson rigg bag was torn down one side. A bungy wrapped around it kept it together for the trip home.
I headed off on the first rain free day in a while...and proceeded to get sunburn on the only part of me exposed to the sun. I had an inverted triangle burnt on my face which drew comment almost everywhere.
It was a rather uneventful day with lunch in Goondiwindi then slipping back across the border into NSW. I pushed onto Warren and found a motel for the night.
Warren to Kimba => 1238km I left at first light hoping to make it into SA. Still no rain but lots of sunscreen over my face and plenty of water. I saw all the little country towns that I probably should of gone around.
Just before Emmdale I saw three goats on one side of the road and two baby goats on the other side. I knew the natural instinct would be for one lot to cross to the aid of the other and started slowing down rapidly and had gotten down to about 60kph as the baby goats started across from the far side of the road in front of me. I was that busy focussing on missing all the animals that I didnt notice the Landcruiser with caravan approaching that either hadn't seen the goats or simply didn't care. What would of possibly been a disaster for me was now mounted on the 'cruisers roo bar and disappeared with a thud. I stopped for lunch in Broken Hill then crossed into SA. Main North Rd down thru the hills of Adelaide was an enjoyable ride but I was glad to find a Roadhouse in Kimba and get some food into me before the roadhouse closed for the night.
Kimba to Norseman => 1516km of hell I fell slightly short of an IBA Ironbutt qualifying 1000 miles but this was by far the hardest and longest day I had done.
I rolled out of Kimba at about 6am and collected a galah before the first town. No damage but they leave a dust over whatever they touch that has you panicking until you stop. At 7am the weather was perfect but I knew the forecast wasn't going to be kind on me.
I stopped for fluids and brekky in Ceduna around 9am and it must of been approaching 40 degrees with a howling northerly sand storm that rattled my helmet and would randomly blow the bike from one side of the lane to the other. It was easier to look south and glance sideways down the road than put up with the rattling from the crosswind. I was wishing the painful rain from a few days earlier would return...anything would be better than this super hot, sandy dust storm shit.
As I approached Nullarbor Roadhouse the weather cooled and I enjoyed a pleasnt 15 minutes or so before the rain started (be careful what you wish for!) The cyclone to the north of Oz that had turned the weather to shit in SE Qld was also affecting the Southern Coastline. Visibility was well down and I saw a large brown 'thing' across the road ahead. I slowed right down as it looked like a truck has jack knifed from afar. As I got closer I realised it was about 20 camels standing across both lanes of the road. Several blasts of the horn and engine revs had them casually amble a few metres off the road. I took the opportunity to take my sunnys off and while I was stopped a man of middle eastern decent...either directly or out of melbourne...stopped and asked if everything was ok. I told him I had stopped because of the camels...CAMELS??? WHERE ARE THESE CAMELS???? I pointed at them some metres off to the left and he immediately grabbed his camera....perhaps he was out of melbourne after all.
The WA border approached and I filled the bike at border village standing in puddles in my boots...soaked thru wets and all and considered holing up here for the night. I (correctly) guessed the weather would be better further inland and pushed on. Around Madura my rain jacket shit itself and the zip split. I pulled over and ripped it off and binned it in disgust. My hands were black from the dye in my cheapy summer gloves and I put them in the bin too. My good gloves were almost dry so I put them back on. The weather came good around Caiguna and I aimed for Balladonia. As RT had pointed out somewhere earlier Balladonia is a straight rip off. I considered a room there for the night but the prices were well above anywhere I had stayed and I had enough light left with crossing back into WA to push for Norseman. I found a room at the Great Western and had a quick bite then passed out with only one day to go.
Norseman to home => 723km Yesterdays huge ride had set me up for a much more comfortable day. While checking the bike I noticed I had lost a bolt that supports the right side pannier, I had tightened it up before but it looks like the vibration there is just too much. It is where the seat strap bolts on. I rumbled out of Norseman around the usual 6am and was quickly on familiar roads.
I am not sure why but riding on roads you have seen many times before seems to take longer than riding on the unknown. It was a nice crisp morning and it never got hot enough to be uncomfortable. Despite the shorter day I was running on fumes by the time I got to the Northam bypass and the last hours ride seemed like several times that. That last run up my driveway was awesome
Wrap Up
11,445km done between 5th December and 24th December.
Both tyres still have plenty of tread but the rear is squared off. Only one bolt dropped off the bike that I have found so far. The sundowner seat made for comfortable riding and my back and muscles adapted quickly to the long days in the saddle.
The Road King is a bloody awesome tourer. I was getting over 350km per tank depending on speed and winds. It didnt burn any oil and is running better now than when I left, although it has an annoying hesitation if you let the revs drop too low then try to accelerate off but this is easily avoided and I will have a play with it later. The stage 2 103 sat on the limit all day with plenty of torque to overtake road trains or steam up mountain passes.
I know I have commented a lot on the weather throughout this thread. To me this was the single biggest factor versus cruising in something with a roof, wipers, climate control etc
I am not ready to get back on the bike just yet and it needs a bloody good clean.
RT,
Right on both counts. The sandstorm was much worse than you can see in the picture but wouldnt pose properly for the shot.
The state of most of the facilities in the country towns was shocking. The carpark at Nullarbor Roadhouse is like something off of the moon. I had to fjord several streams/puddles to get into bordertown BP.
congrats Surly... a marathon ride, one that I wouldn't mind doing one day.. nice pics and story.. thanks mate. Look forward to catching up on my next trip back
