Topic: OZ Bike Tour - Back of Bourke

[gregk]

I was lucky enough to tour Australia this January with some Aussie friends.  i had to rent a bike there and tried out a Suzuki Bandit 1200S.  I thought this would be appropriate given the number of curves.  Unfortunately there were no SOHC hondas available.  The others rode BMW, Harley and Honda.  Also had the luxury of using a Holden HSV wagon for a chase car.  We started in Noosa, Queensland and road through some of the interior through Parks, Forbes etc with our destination being the Great Ocean Road.  3 days through the pouring rain and it was still worth the trip to travel along the coast.  This area is unbelievable for a Canadian, and I thought we had some excellent riding roads!  No wonder that Australia is able to produce so many world class riders, its out the front door and they can ride year round. 
We traveled through to Phillips Island but missed the Vintage races by 2 days (next year).  Our trip then took us into the mountains into the ski areas.  This area is similiar to my home in British Columbia, just had the seasons switched.  The roads through the mountains were as great as the coast road with less traffic.  We continued north to Bathest and did a couple of laps around the Mount Panorama race track.  I was shocked the track is part of the local road system.  The first time around I ended up following a truck and camper trailer?  The second time a cop appeared out of nowhere and followed me for about half the track.  I realize that the track is posted at 60kph but the tempentaion to open up that Suzuki was just too great.  Third time around no interference. 
We travelled from there to north of Sydney via the Putty Road which is still one more great windy road.  We spent the rest of the trip along the coast heading back to Noosa. 
This trip had been in the planning stage for several years and was worth the wait.  We travelled 6000km in 17 days and only had 3 bad rainey days.  Meet alot of great people and the country itself is beyond words. 
I would recommend this type of trip to anyone. 
now to figure a way to make some money to return next year!
Thanks Australia

Greg

[azuredesign]

Hi Greg, thanks for the report. How did the Bandit hold up? Did you like it? why or why not? I'm thinking hard on buying one and would appreciate your thoughts.
Best,
Ben

[dusterdude]

didnt happen to see terry shagging any sheep did you?

[gregk]

 
Ben

The bandit was good.  No problem except there wasn't much left of the back tire after 6000km.  Lots of power, bike handles very well.  The down side in my opinion is the limited protection.   A larger fairing/windhsield would have been nice but that isn't the purpose of the bike.  I wasn't impressed with the rear brake but the front has lots of stopping power.  It handled extremley well on the twisties and that is why I rented it.  This was an older model, as I understand the new bandits are liquid cooled.  if you need a bike that handles at speed, buy it!

Greg

[andy750]

Thanks for posting Greg and I am also interested in a Bandit so thats good to hear.

On the trip side - this sounds great!! I want to do it myself! Can you tell us who it was organized with? On your own or through a travel company and how much was it for the bike rental (and what did this include?). How was the accommodation? Roads  -quality wise? How did your gear hold up? Were you using saddlebags/tank bags? Rain gear? Always interesting to know what works and what dosent :-)

Also do you have any photos!!?? Web based or otherwise. Sounds like a great trip!!!

cheers
Andy

[azuredesign]

Ben

The bandit was good.  No problem except there wasn't much left of the back tire after 6000km.  Lots of power, bike handles very well.  The down side in my opinion is the limited protection.   A larger fairing/windhsield would have been nice but that isn't the purpose of the bike.  I wasn't impressed with the rear brake but the front has lots of stopping power.  It handled extremley well on the twisties and that is why I rented it.  This was an older model, as I understand the new bandits are liquid cooled.  if you need a bike that handles at speed, buy it!

Greg

Thanks Greg! I glad to hear that it handles well, as I wanted it for riding in Europe. For some reason, the Bandits are almost decently priced in France, rather than most bikes which seem exorbinately expensive there.
All best,
Ben

[sparty]

That is a pretty cool looking car/wagon.

http://www.hsv.com.au/index.asp

Sparty

[gregk]

Andy

The trip was planned by ourselves.  I bought a bike atlas of Australia and planned our trip in co-ordination with some of the recommended roads from the atlas.  This was a great help due to the size of the country.  It rates some of the bike routes and makes recommendation to accommodation, food, landmarks etc.  it was essential in the planning. 
We rented the bikes from a guy in Noosa, Queensland.  (Ozzzie Bike Tours ) I think.  He can be reached through the internet.  http://www.aussiebiker.com.au/html/rentale.html.  His bikes were in good shape and the prices vary with the length of the rental.  He also operates organized tours i think. His prices were better than the other sites we check out.  Some of the dealers have rental facilities but were expensive ( harley and BMW) 
We planned to travel about 300 to 400 km per day which would give us time to stop at tourist type sights etc.  This worked out well and we were on schedule for the most part. 
We used a Holden HSV Avalanche for a chase vehicle.  Loaded all the gear into the wagon and didn't have to carry much on the bikes.  We also used a GPS in the car. 
We all had wet weather gear whiched we used for about 3 days straight.  The rainy parts were through through the areas off the coast.  Roads through this area seem to be heavily travelled by "big transport trucks" and are relatively flat and straight.  ( I know that some Aussies are going to read this statement and correct me) 
Accommodation was not booked and we had no trouble getting decent rooms in the local hotel or pubs. 
One item which was usefull was cell phones.  Everybody had one so when we got split up ( which happened alot) we were in relative close contact.  Our meeting spots were ' first pub on the left" 
The roads generally were in good shape with the exception of some of the heavy haul sections.  Due to the recent rains, some of the surface had started to break up.  Not a big deal but something you have to be aware of when riding.  The shoulders appeared to be "pumped out" due to subgrade failures in these sections. 
I will attach some photos when I get the camera sorted.  I rercommend this trip to anyone who has ever swung a leg over a bike.

Greg