Great vid TWB. Been down that road a few times. Cheers Tom

Our mate Born Again will remember this iconic ride spot quite well .

We are feeling lonely up here in the Northern Territory.

This year has passed and no visitors from down under. Although BAE did manage a reciprocal visit down under we haven't seen much of him either, in fairness due to family commitments. Rumour has it that he may have flown along our south coast on his way to a different volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and that's as close as we have got.

It was a sad year as we had been hoping for Rosskko to make it here and the man above had different plans.

So my question is will anyone be making trips up this way next year?

I know Indian036 may well be doing one and we enjoyed his company very much so we hope he will be back too.

Can't promise, but we will be in Europe, and another visit to Ireland is very high on the desired list. Sometime in the May June July range, but not all of it.

Bill

GroverK wrote:Our mate Born Again will remember this iconic ride spot quite well .

You're right about that Ed - beautiful road to ride and brings back very happy memories of a fantastic blast down under. Thanks for posting TWB.

Olaf wrote:We are feeling lonely up here in the Northern Territory.
This year has passed and no visitors from down under. Although BAE did manage a reciprocal visit down under we haven't seen much of him either, in fairness due to family commitments. Rumour has it that he may have flown along our south coast on his way to a different volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and that's as close as we have got.

Yeah, sorry about that Olaf, had really wanted to get over in August, but was still smarting from the cost of the Hawaii trip! Just as well I got over for St Pats day...

It was an important year, school result wise but it completely screwed up making any plans for August. Still, at least it was a successful outcome. Daughter 1 now of to Cambridge University at start of October, so I need to work on getting daughter 2 to ride pillion. The girls will be with their mother for Christmas this year...so thinking ahead, what date is the Christmas pud gathering???? Or perhaps I should have another quick trip back down under?

We really need to get planning for a eccentric escapade down under (Sep 2018 marks my freedom from being tied to school run duties) - at the rate Nigel is buying up K bikes down there, he'll have enough for everyone....

Putty was one of my favs back in my 20s. Can still remember taking my almost new R75/5 along the Putty the first weekend I had her when I was 19. Got a flat up the on my little Duc which had me stuck for a few hours. GF was not impressed.

The girls will be with their mother for Christmas this year...so thinking ahead, what date is the Christmas pud gathering???? Or perhaps I should have another quick trip back down under?

Sounds like an excellent idea. Come and experience our beautiful warming summer heat. Sweet Caroline would be available.

We really need to get planning for a eccentric escapade down under (Sep 2018 marks my freedom from being tied to school run duties) - at the rate Nigel is buying up K bikes down there, he'll have enough for everyone....

This would be even better. Start planning now. 24 months will go quickly. A date later in the year would coincide with our Northern Tablelands run. How good would that be!!

The last time I rode the Putty was in Winter (late June) several years ago. I was on my way down to visit Mum in Clunes, Victoria from Queensland and that seemed a good way to go as I wasn't in a rush. It was crisply cold, then soggy wet and light snow fell when I reached Lithgow that night, where I'd decided to stop. Heading through Bathurst next day I was numb to the bones and caught a chest cold which stayed with me for two weeks. I had to stop at a cousin's house in the Dandenongs to crash, and slept for a week. Next time I ride that wonderful stretch of road it will be warm, to help erase the memory.

First time I rode the Putty was easter 1968 on a 1959 Triumph Bonneville and probably every year since then and very often more than once a year. The most exciting rides were on the Z1300 Kawasaki and there were skid marks on the entrance and exit to every corner and also in my undies. You will understand why if you have ever riden a Z1300, they have a hinge in the frame under the tank and the OEM shockies were like an undamped pogo stick and the power was quite sufficient to break traction when accelerating out of a corner unless extreme care was exercised so exit slides were common and fun.
The road was built by the Australian Army during WW2 because a second road north from Sydney was deemed necessary. It had perfectly radiused corners but much of it was narrow single lane bitumen but well constructed. Since there has been many upgrades and unfortunately the so called engineers were not as bike friendly and changer the radius of many corners when realigning the road which did spoil some of the enjoyment by not knowing if the radius would continue all the way or change part way through.
Of course being a good bike road also attracts copious numbers of patrol cars all of them willing to book you for the slightest transgression of the rules.