THE PLAN TO BUY ANOTHER BIKE

For some time now I had been thinking of buying another motorcycle.

I already own a 1959 BMW R60 that was kindly given to me some years ago by my father and imported from South Africa. Whilst I love this bike and maintain it in pristine condition, I was keen to keep it in this condition. Additionally, I have licensed it on a Vintage Club concession and am only realy supposed to use it on sanctioned club events and for limited testing.

1959 BMW R60

I recently completed a 2-day club rally on her between Perth and Busselton. The rally covered approximately 600 kms and this was a great opportunity to take her for a descent ride and blowout the cobwebs. Some photos that I took on this rally can be found at this link Busselton 2-Day photos.

The ride was great, although I have been suffering from severe groin or hip pain on the left side for some months now. I am unsure what the catalist for this has been. I have had some basic X-rays that have indicated that I may have some early onset ostio arthritis but this has been attributed to my age, several years of martial arts training and a few seasons of rugby when I was much too old to really be playing. I will be pursuing the cause and solution to this discomfort in the weeks to come with an orthopedic specialist.

One other contributing factor may well have been the 2012 Durban to Johannesbuirg (DJ) rally that I rode in earlier this year. I completed this 2-day of rally on my father's 1936 Zenith 600 single rigid and this did shake up the body somewhat.

1936 ZENITH 600 SINGLE

A full review of my experiences during this outstanding International event can be found by following this link: 2012 DJ Rally.

Anyway, back to the story at hand!

I had been looking for months at local classified ads, internet auction sites and more specifically the bikesales.com.au Australian website. I was looking for something that was at least 25 years old (so that I had the option to be able to club licence it) but was also going to be comfortable and reliable enough to ride all day.

I had considered a number of various bikes including some of the ones that I had owned in my early 20s. These included a Honda 900f boldor, a Suzuki GS1000S and a Suzuki GS850G. I had also ridden a friend's BMW K100RS for a while and remember finding it to extremely comfortable and easy to live with. Additionally, a few years ago, I had owned a 1985 BMW R65 boxer  and had become very impressed with Bavarian engineering.

After many hours of searching and reviewing various owner discussion groups, I had set my sights on either a R80, R100RS, K100RS or K75 variant from the BMW stable.

In early June of 2012 I located what appeared to be a nice BMW K75C that was being sold in Adelaide, South Australia. After several email and telephone conversations with the owner, John, I established that he had owned the machine for the past 17 years and had purchased it from a BWM motorcycle mechanic who had owned it from new and still serviced it. We negotiated a fair and acceptable price and I was keen to buy it. The only problem that I had, was how to get it from one side of the country to the next?

Inquiries with transport companies indicated that it would cost in the vicinity of $700 to have the vehicle shipped to Western Australia. Based on my research, I estimated that it would cost the same or less to fly to South Australia and ride it back.

I had always been interested in long distance motorcycle touring but never really been in a position to do any. The trip between Adelaide and Perth would cover approximately 2800 kilometres and take me across the vast Nullabor Desert.

I planned the trip for a few weeks and gathered together all the camping and touring equipment that I would need. This included a compact cold weather sleeping bag, 1- man expandable (quick erect) tent, thermal clothing, cooking utensils, gloves, boots and various other items of clothing.

My plan was to complete the trip in stages spaced over 4 or 5 days. I would travel during the daylight hours only and camp either at caravan parks or other camping sites along the major highways.

I had booked a flight to Adelaide early Monday morning, the 2nd of July and made arrangements with John to pick me up from the airport and take me to his place to collect the bike. I arrived in Adelaide at 11:15am and planned on travelling about 200 kilometres the first day up to the port town of Wallaroo on the western side of the Yorke Peninsular. I had booked into a local caravan park there and purchased a ticket on the Wallaroo car and passenger ferry for the next day departing at 9:30am. This ferry would take me and the bike across Spencer Gulf to Lucky Bay during a 2 hour leisurely cruise and effectively save me 4 hours of riding.

THE FIRST NIGHT

I was not disappointed when I saw the bike at John's place and it was everything and more than I had expected. It had been maintained exceptionally for a 27 year old and only had 56,000 kilometres on the clock. The only concern that I had was that the front tyre was getting a little worn and I was not prepared to risk travelling all that way without replacing it. Luckily, I found a dealer in Adelaide that did this for me at short notice and this only delayed me for about 1 hour or so.

WAITING TO BOARD

I arrived at Wallaroo at about 5:30pm and spent the night there before boarding the ferry in the morning. As the sun disappeared beneath the horizon the chill of the night air crept into my bones. It was very cold that first night with an overnight low of -1 degree celsius.  It was at about this time that I realised I had invested wisely by bringing thermal underwear, a scarce, balaclava  and other warm layers of clothing to wear. On the way to the caravan park I stopped at a local supermarket to purchase some foodstuffs for the trip. Thankfully, I also bought myself a 2 litre cask of port that helped to keep me warm at night!

In the morning I rode to the ferry which was only a couple of hundred metres from where I had been staying. I waited there for about an hour before I could board the ferry and tie down the bike on the deck. It was very cold that morning.

THE BIKE TIED DOWN

Once the bike was tied down I entered the heated cabin of the ferry, ordered a nice cup of coffee from the on board shop and sat down to relax for the 2 hour journey across the gulf.

The trip across the gulf was great. Extremely smooth and calming. Just what I needed before I got into the ride home to Perth. My IPad's 3G connection had failed whilst in Adelaide and I intended using this as a mapping GPS for the journey to Ceduna. I was confident that once I got to Ceduna I would have no problem continuing west to Perth. Luckily, whilst I was on the ferry I picked up a booklet on the Eyre Peninsular which included a road map that I used to navigate with.

Once at Lucky Bay I unloaded the bike and headed toward Ceduna. The weather was fine during the day but the air had a particular chill about it. I am presuming that the daytime temperature was probably about 15-20 degrees celsius.

I travelled through a few small country towns, stopped to stretch the legs and brew up a coffee every few hours.

The distance from Lucky Bay to Ceduna was approximately 400 kilometres and I arrived there around 4.30 or so on Tuesday afternoon.

It cost me $15 to stay at a powered caravan site and I proceeded to set up my camp, cook up a meal and have a few warming cups of port before snuggling up into my sleeping bag and getting some sleep. I used the power to charge up my iPod, that I had preloaded with about 25 hours of photography and technology podcasts. Again the night was freezing and I tossed and turned a few times before rising around 6.00am. I showered, cooked up some breakfast, packed up the campsite and contemplated the next leg of the trip over a strong cup of coffee.

On rising, I noticed that a thick soupy fog had encapsulated the land for as far as I could see. This caused me some concern and I considered waiting for it to lift.

After waiting for a while I decided to press on. I mounted my bike, kicked her in the guts and was off toward the South Australia/Western Australia border.
As I pressed on, I rode into and out off several low plains that were extremely foggy. In some ways this was like riding in and out of a freezer?




As the sun raised into the southern skies, the atmosphere warmed up and I pressed on. I saw some amusing road safety signs in South Australia, some that i had never seen anywhere else. Someone over there surely has a great sense of humour?

I seemed to ride forever on this third day. I crossed the border around midday and pressed on into Western Australia. I filled up with fuel at the Border Village and noticed that this was the most expensive fuel that I had purchased in some time ($1.98 per litre).


I travelled nearly 1000 kilometres this day and on occasion headed a few hundred metres off the highway to make myself a brew and enjoy the scenery.

The Great Australian Bight

As the sun started to set in the west and the chill filled the air, I realised I needed to find somewhere to lay up for the night. I was caught between towns and after passing through Caiguna I was heading for Balladonia but was about 120 kilometres short and the sun set into the horizon.

One thing that I was not prepared to do on the bike was ride at night. Having spent some years in the Goldfields many years previously, I was well aware of the size of Kangaroos and other wildlife that ventured into the headlights of vehicles driving along the highway.

I had also seen several large dead roos, probably pushing about 160cm tall, on the side of the road. I managed to find a camping rest spot on the side of the road which had a tin shelter and a couple of benches. This was luxury to me by now and I set up camp under the shelter. This would ensure that I did not wake with a thick dew all over my tent and the bike.

I cooked myself another meal and sat back with a couple of cups of port enjoying the isolation and clear skies. Somehow the stars always seem brighter and the air clearer away for the city areas.

This was probably the coldest night that i had experienced in a long time and even though I was under shelter and encompassed in thigh layers of clothing, I was still cold. This is the middle of the desert and extremely sparse.

In the morning I got underway at sunrise and continued west toward Perth. Again it was freezing until the sun rose in the sky. Thick gloves, thermal socks, scarves and balaclavas still could not prevent a numbness of the skin!

After leaving this campsite I encountered the 90 mile straight (146.6 kms of straight road). The longest straight road in Australia with not a bend in sight. This was quite monotonous and my iPod helped to break the boredom. I arrived at Balladonia and had a nice cup of coffee and quick browse around the museum.

After a short break there I continued west to Norseman in the Western Australia Goldfields. Another cuppa and a tank full of fuel and I continued to Merredin which is about 300kms east of Perth. It was getting cold and dark now and I needed to rest up for the night.

After a cheap stay at the local caravan park I was in Perth by around 11.00am on the Friday.

4 nights and 2800kms on the road and I was home. This was a great journey and something that I had planned on doing for some time. The roads were fantastic and the weather, although cold, was fine.
I would have no hesitation in crossing the Nullabor again.  I found the isolation very regenerating. This was a great opportunity to be at one with the universe and rediscover myself!!!

The longs hours on the bike were not uncomfortable at all and I still felt quite fresh when I unmounted her at the end of the day. Much more comfortable over long distances than my R60.

Again, I must thank John for the great care that he took of this machine during the 17 years that he owned it. I can assure him that it will be ridden and maintained with the same levels of enthusiasm.

Maybe next time I will venture further east and buy another bike from Melbourne, New South Wales or Tasmania!

Sunrise and the start of the 90 mile straight!