I'm off to Melbourne tomorrow (about 900km's away) to watch State of Origin 3 (Rugby League Football)

This will be the longest ride I have ever taken. Actually, it will be three times longer than I have ever taken.

We have been having light rain over the last few days so its not the best conditions for riding. All my friends, family and relatives have advised me I'd be better taking my car. But I really want to ride.

So I have all my gear packed (I'm travelling light. One back pack), wet and dry weather gear at the helm.

I will sleep the night there and be riding home the following night. (or might stay for one more day depending on how I feel)

So hopefully I will all be seeing you all back here in a few days. 

For all us non-Metric people

900 km = 559 mi

I did ~550 miles in 10 hours. Be sure to take plenty of stops (if you haven't left already) and drink plenty of Gatorade. I was surprised how much it helps. You'll be exhausted when you get there and when you get back, especially if you're on a naked model. Touring on a naked bike can get tough.

Good luck!

Good luck with the ride. Watch out for those crazy Victorians when you get south of the border.

GO THE BLUES

I leave in 7 hours (time for bed after I write this), trust me I'll be stopping alot.

I just hope it doesn't rain or worse, snow!!!!

and yes....


GO THE BLUES!

I'm taking my trusty Wests Magpies flag along to support the last 1st Grade Wests Magpies player (Brett Hodgson) who will be New South Wales fullback.

So off to bed, then time to hit the Hume!


Thanks guys, see you on here again shortly!

I made it guys!

870km's there on the Wednesday (12 hours travel time)

882km's back today (Friday) in 11 hours


I have learnt so much about distance riding it aint funny.

On the way there I got frostbyte on my hands from driving through 4 hours worth of thick fog with the outside temperature always close to or below 0 degrees celcius.

My visor and helmet gathered condensation on the outside which also iced. I then made the stupid mistake of wiping my visor with my gloves.

Wet gloves equal cold hands!!! Even if you are wearing 3 pairs of under gloves (1 cotton, 1 silk and 1 latex).

On inspection at my first stop my hands were a yuck shade of purple and had no feeling in them what so ever.

Visibility was so bad I had to ride for an entire hour with my visor up!!! I tell you, that is not advisable if avoidable & because it was still dark I couldn't ever wear sunglasses for some protection. So yeah, my eyes were pretty 

I can confirm the idea of layers layers layers!

I had:
a singlet,
2 x tshirts,
a long sleeve t-shirt
a fleece high neck jumper
a rain proof wind cheater
then my lined motorcycling jacket (gortex)

2 x pairs of socks. (long Nylon sox over shorter cotton sox)
wet weather motorcycle boots
cotton undies
thermal long john underwear
a pair of cotton shorts
dragon jeans

balaclava + helmet

I was generally pretty comfortable apart from the initial problem with my hands and face/eyes.

I found the throttle hand was the worse as it had to stay there to keep us going (obviously!) as the clutch hand I could tuck under my left knee to warm it up and keep it out of the air flow until needed.

As for the seat on the 2005. I have to give it a big  's up! Wasn't until I got off the bike after the return trip that I actually felt alittle sore in the rump 

The GS was a trooper. I sat on 100-120km/h indicated (see below) for the whole trip (5000-6000rpm) and the bike never missed a beat and gave me an average of 3.5 litres of fuel for each 100km's travelled.   

I also drove through a couple of "check your speed" radar traps they have in Victoria. At 100km/h indicated it said I was travelling at 94km/h. At 110km/h indicated on the GS, it registered 102km/h.

I am now a strong believer in taking frequent stops. Its amazing how much a quick 5 minute stop just to get of the bike, walk around, shake your legs and arms and have a mouthfull of water keeps you fresh. Combined with petrol and food stops and you can really travel great distances with minimal discomfort.

But the distance is still sapping and by the time I got home, I lloked weary, my hair was all over the shop, my face had lines, marls and creases from the rubbing helmet and balaclava, and all the bulky layers of clothes really takes a toll on you.

Apart from that it was a great experiance. If only the weather wasn't so cold I would have actually really enjoyed it.

Oh, and the Blues lost to Queensland in the last few minutes of the match. 

P.S. If you are considering going on a long trip like this, I hope you like the sound of your own voice. My poor ears not only had to put up with sustained wind noise, but had to put up with many of my own bad renditions of top 40 and 1980's songs. 

Also I must confess, the STANDARD springs seemed to work really well for long distance travelling. They absorbed the shocks and bumps quite well indeed.

I almost started having 2nd thoughts ubout putting in the new sonics I have, until I returned to suburban streets where once again frequent breaking and tight conering had me cursing at the stockers.

Talk about cursing at things, I have never cursed so much as I did when I passes those 'informative' signs that some businesses like to display telling you the outside air temperature.

Its amazing how all of a sudden it feels much colder when you see I sign telling you that your riding through MINUS 5 Degrees Celcius AIR!!! 

glad to hear the trip went without issue 

oh, that's right, it's winter down there... either I'm just a wuss, or you are crazy 

Awesome...

Did you actually wear the backpack? or strap it to the bike? I found that straping it to the bike gives you much more relief while riding 

Quote from: galahs on July 07, 2006, 09:07:36 AMI found the throttle hand was the worse as it had to stay there to keep us going (obviously!) as the clutch hand I could tuck under my left knee to warm it up and keep it out of the air flow until needed.

That very problem, along with a mistake by the guys who fixed my bike after hitting the cow (they mounted the throttle grip too close to the end of the bar end-less handlebar) gave me the impetus and the means to develop my Throttle Retainer.

Yep, it's kinda nice to be able to sit on your throttle hand when you need to.

PS: That's a 1095-mile round trip.  Congratulations!

Good to hear that you made it there & back in one piece. 

Mate that is a serious ride to do that trip, the most I've done is a bit over 700k's in a weekend, so you've done well. 

Quote from: scottpA_GS on July 07, 2006, 09:55:14 AM
Awesome...

Did you actually wear the backpack? or strap it to the bike? I found that straping it to the bike gives you much more relief while riding 

Nope I decided agaist wearing the back pack so I just strapped it to my seat (1 shoulder strap locked under the seat, the other one tied with a shoe lace to the rear grab bar.



Should also mention you can get really dehydrated riding for such long periods, so +1 for the advice of topping up on water and sportsdrinks (powerade, gatorade) when you stop.

The best news is today (the day after) I feel 100%. Not sore, or tired at all. The only sideeffect from the ride is I have is my ears feel a little bit dulled (real minor) from long exposure to wind and engine noise.