I bought this sweet thing on gumtree last weekend.


For a while now I've been toying with the idea of an extended trip. Northern Qld or Great Ocean Road thru to Adelaide maybe. So I've been on the lookout for a later model K that would be up to a few thousand kms, trouble free (hopefully). A second bike would also give me an opportunity to do some much needed work on my old K100 Sweet Maree.

The above '96 K1100RS is located in Perth WA. Perfect. Been quite while since I was in WA so this will provide a good opportunity to take a look around South Western corner of WA, a quick trek across the great expanse into SA. A couple of days in Adelaide. A two day trip across to Melbourne for a few days visiting and back up to Newcastle. About 6,000km over about 3 weeks.

Thanks to Rawdon for taking a look at this machine for me and putting me in touch with the mechanic who has serviced this bike for the past three previous owners. I'm satisfied she's in great condition. I'll give her a full service when I get over there. She's now parked in Rawdon's garage.

Flight is booked for this Friday.

Ah man you just robbed 88's RS. Looks identical. Funny I looked at that for him before he bought. Seems to be the way to go....proxy buying.....

I must admit I was very impressed with it. You will definitely enjoy it and looks a really good buy.

Hope you enjoy the WA trip too, impressive run. Nice to see some more Krew meeting up. Will the Skroll be travelling too?

Fantastic, Kaptain! That bike is made for the roads out there. I did a sweep of the wonderful SW corner, middle to late 2010, with a blast back across the Nullie from Norseman. The Mary River area and points East are sweet motorbiking roads, too. See if you have time for a squiz at the Centennial Tree and if you dare, climb it. I did, couldn't feel my legs for a day afterwards.

Congratulations on a great find.

Holister (KH) wrote:I bought this sweet thing on gumtree last weekend.

Noooooooooo!!! This is not helpful at all Kaptain! I have been watching a 95 version of your beauty on eBay and resisting the urge to engage with the seller. I now feel my resolve weakening to the point of no return.

I don't need another bike, I don't need another bike, I don't need another bike...oh hell what's the use?!

Born Again Eccentric wrote:

Holister (KH) wrote:I bought this sweet thing on gumtree last weekend.

Noooooooooo!!! This is not helpful at all Kaptain! I have been watching a 95 version of your beauty on eBay and resisting the urge to engage with the seller. I now feel my resolve weakening to the point of no return.

I don't need another bike, I don't need another bike, I don't need another bike...oh hell what's the use?! I need one ASAP!!

I decided to fix it for you Paul. Your misery was simply too much to bear. Come to think of it Corkboy got his K1100 by proxy too. Not just 88 and KH.

Thanks Olaf - where would we be without the help of our friends?

Seller is asking top dollar - but it's so red and shiny, resistance is futile.....made an offer....aggghhhh the Kpox hurts so bad...and the waiting to hear if offer accepted makes the pain unbearably worse.

Well if it doesn't go your way and you still want a poxy proxy K1100 a few here ranging €1500 to €2000.


https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/bmw-k1100lt/12214177
https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/bmw-k-1100-lt-1996/11939400
https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/1996-bmw-k1100-rs/12071633

And the cream of them: https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/bmw-k1100lt-highline/11961866 A beauty and not too far from Will!!!!!! Even better its also got a Willy Wonka reg plate, just like Wills and mine.


Very accessible and I think one might even be known to Magda.

Happy hunting.

Picked up Sweet Thing in Perth yesterday after a 5 hour flight from Sydney. Rawdon very kindly picked me up from the airport and transportrd me to where he'd stored the bike for me. After a little business I took a 2 hour blast down the freeway to Bunbury. Beautiful countryside, sun setting over the West Australian coastline, a short but drenching downpour and I made it to Rawdons place just on dark. A very nice bike to ride. 

TWB.... Thanks mate. Yes, roads over in WA are great. Looking forward to a couple of day trips before I head back

Resistance is futile BAE.  You know you want to.


Heading into Bunbury shops this morning to pick up supplies
A couple of minor issues to sort. Then fluids and filters plus a spline check/grease and she'll be right to go.

Cheers

If you remove the rear section of the drive shaft make quite sure it is cliped into place (same as front uni on K100) and phase the universal joints correctly.

Thanks for that info Rick. Didn't get to the splines today... went for a ride instead  Will attack those in the morning.

Blinkers started playing up today. They flash once when the button is pressed and then seem to cancel straight away. Will look at cleaning connections and earths to begin with. Starter motor may need a clean.

I've now had a few hours riding over the past two days and I've noticed there seems to be a wheel alignment problem. A little difficult getting it into a left-hand corner. Right-handers are no problem. I'll loosen the front axel and triple clamps and see if I can them aligned a better.

wow  looks good kh

and cheers to rawdon

have fun

Glad to hear it is all working out for you Kaptain - that's one heck of a ride ahead of you (4000km?), you'll sure know the bike well by the time you roll up at home. Hope it goes well for you - quite an adventure. 

Sadly, I didn't win mine - had a buy it now price of £2200 which I thought was a tad high (1995 vintage with 41k miles on the clock) although she looked immaculate (in the photos). However, as you have found, there is always something lurking under the polish and shine. The seller had only had the bike from the start of this year and, although he claimed a genuine reason for the sale (isn't there always?), it did sow a small worry bean with me and stopped me stumping up the full buy it now price. I initially offered £1800 (what I thought it was worth for a private sale) but recklessly increased to a maximum of £2000....I had somewhat mixed emotions of disappointment and relief when I didn't get the bike. Hopefully she will make someone very happy.

Anyway, enjoy your new bike - I know it's a lot of effort, but it would be great to see a ride report with loads of pics from your time with Rawdon and your long journey.

Ride safe.

I hope the bike goes well for you Nigel, it's a top looking machine.
Enjoy WA and the ride back to the east coast.

KH sounds a good bike but also check rear wheel spacer is correct/fitted and the rear wheel is the correct offset particularly if rear wheel is not original. I have a feeling some rear wheels looking similar have different offsets off different bikes.

Guess on east coast you don't get the opportunity of seeing the sun setting over the ocean. Your comment made me think how fabulous it is to see a good sunsset off the west coast and Cliffs of Moher looking out over the Atlantic. Never thought about that as our slightly smaller island we can travel one side to the other and back again in the one day.

BAE that Highline K1100LT has your name on it now. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You went to about €2,600 .............And its about time you made another visit.

Hey Olaf. The rear wheel spacer is in place. Not had a chance to check the front end yet. 
Been busy with the spline lube. They look to be in very good condition if not perfect.
Been having trouble uploading pics on my tablet unfortunately.

The sun setting over the ocean is a novelty for us easterners.

Cheers

RicK G wrote:"phase the universal joints correctly."

Can you explain what you mean by Phase please Rick?

Snap!!!   Delighted for you KH what a gem. I'm hoping to get mine back to action in a week or two after my misphap. 

Am I correct in understanding you are crossing the continent on it to bring it home? If so WOW what a trip!!! Let me know how you get on with the bar position - I'll be fitting a 25mm riser and 35mm setback to mine due to a niggling old injury.

Wishing you many happy and safe curves together 

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:BAE that Highline K1100LT has your name on it now. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You went to about €2,600 .............And its about time you made another visit.

But it's the wrong colour Olaf - I want a scarlet lady like Will, Reg, Simon and Nigel have. The other colours really don't do it for me. I'm still kicking myself for not going the extra £200...but that's the danger of bidding, only £200 more than my maximum...but actually £400 more than I wanted to pay. I've already had one pretty lady in my life and she cost me too much!

Hi 88,


Hopefully there will be a picture attached showing the uni joint phasing.

Ok. just looked at it and it's very small! Look carefully at the way each end is orientated. The top figure is phased correctly, the lower is incorrect.


Mike

mike d wrote:Hi 88,
.... Look carefully at the way each end is orientated. The top figure is phased correctly, the lower is incorrect.


Mike

Gotcha - cheers Mike, though that's what is was!

88

RicK G wrote:"phase the universal joints correctly."

Can you explain what you mean by Phase please Rick?

I can't remember where I read this but the spline teeth are offset by about ¼ of a tooth which means that when the UJs are aligned at exactly right-angles, you need to rotate slightly counter-clockwise to mesh the teeth.
That ¼ tooth is near enough equivalent to the 4° (see Rick's pic above) when you calculate it out.

88 wrote:Snap!!!   Delighted for you KH what a gem. I'm hoping to get mine back to action in a week or two after my misphap. 

Am I correct in understanding you are crossing the continent on it to bring it home? If so WOW what a trip!!! Let me know how you get on with the bar position - I'll be fitting a 25mm riser and 35mm setback to mine due to a niggling old injury.
Wishing you many happy and safe curves together 

Hey Will. Thanks mate. Correct. Perth to Adelaide to Melbourne to Sydney and up to Brisbane over the next 3 weeks or so. Planning on catching up with some family and friends as well as a few forum members along the way.
I'm finding the riding position pretty comfortable except for the seat. Sore bum after about 2 hours whereas on the K100 with comfort seat I can go about 5 or 6 hours.
_________________________________________________

Finished the splines yesterday and managed to get the paralever driveshaft and FD back on without too much trouble.

Removed the front-end today trying to track down the pull to the right. Front wheel would not free-wheel due to the calipers binding. This may be due to a twist in the forks but won't know till I tension it all back up. Wheel bearings have had it, the right is totally shot. managed to pick up a set here in Bunbury WA and got them in without too much drama.

Here's the front wheel heating up on the gas cook top next to Rawdon's boerewors while the bearings were cooling off in the freezer.

Does he use those things for retreads?

I dare not comment on that Rick  suffice to say.... they were very tasty

---

The front end hadn't been set up right. The right fork had been pushed in about 5mm and tightened on the axle. The pads were rubbing so the wheel was not running freely, the brakes were biting badly. The right wheel bearing was totally kaput and the oil that came out of the right fork was black. Both forks had 50ml less oil than required.
Its all gone back together fairly well with the wheel spinning as it should, brakes are working much better, new 7.5W fork oil.... but she's still wandering slightly to the right. I'll live with that till I get home.

Setting off in the morning (Sunday) for the journey back East. Very bad weather here at the moment with 45 to 50klm gusts and heavey rain. Have decided to forego the trek around the bottom SW corner of WA as that area is exposed to the southern ocean and experiencing similar bad storms. I'll head straight out from Bunbury towards Norseman, Baladonia and should be on the Nullabor hopefully  by Monday. If the weather looks tolerable Ill take the south route via Esperance. If not, the North route via Coolgardie.

A big THANK YOU to Rawdon and wife Sally for their warm hospitality and assistance over the past week. 

Cheers

Nice work Kaptain and great to hear that you enjoyed some good Kamaraderie with Rawdon & Sally.
Pity about the weather though, let's hope it blows through quickly and doesn't stay with you for the entire ride east.

If the forks had been that far out of alignment and the right bearing shot, then I wonder if the tyre has worn unevenly and, now you've got everything in proper alignment, that might be contributing to the wander to the right still. I certainly hope it is nothing more serious with the forks - you've got a long ride ahead

Ride safe.

Re tyre wear.... A distinct possibility there BAE. Rear tyre has unusual wear with scalloping. I'll be looking to replace that around Port Augusta or Adelaide.
Cheers

Day One (331km) - Bunbury to Albany via Frankland River
Decided to do the Albany/Esperance trip anyway. Weather was bad. Patchy skies to my left. Dark skies and heavy rain to my right. Danced in and out of that all day and managed to stay dry till the last hour or so going into Albany. Motel tonight with the heat on full to dry a few things out. 
There have been big storms over the South Western part of WA over the last 48 hours and more to come.

Off the main highways around here, there is very little traffic. Traversing across from the South Western h'way to the Albany h'way, about 4 hours, I think I saw about 8 cars going the other way and overtook 2. Even tho the roads were wet, it was a nice ride and Sweet Thing performed well cruising at 120kph most of the day and poking it up to 140 and more occasionally. Saw only one highway patrol car about ½ hour out of Albany and no speed cameras.

Tomorrow's weather looks like it will be much better. I'll ride to Esperance then Norseman and will spend the night tenting in Balladonia, the start of the big stretch across the Nullarbor.

Albany is an interesting place and is quite large. Was a whaling settlement years back. Even tho it was raining and cold, I spent an hour riding about. Took one of the tourist routes and stopped at a couple of lookouts. I'd like to come back here and explore.

I'llpost some pics when I get to a computer 

Cheers

Day Two (684km) - Albany to Norseman via Esperance.

Getting out into the flat country now. Wide straight roads and everyone is travelling at 10 to 30km over the 110km speed limit. I saw no radar or highway patrols today. Wound it up a notch and spent the whole day cruising at 140 to 150kph. At one point I was behind 2 cars overtaking a road train. We were doing 158kph. I estimated the road train was doing about 140.

Only saw one kangaroo but fortunately he was already dead.

The straights in this part of the country are long. 10 to 20km and one or two around 40 to 50km with just one bend to separate them. Will have a big one tomorrow.... Balladonia to Caiguna is 154 km. This is the start to the Nullarbor crossing.

Sweet Thing is a dream to ride out here. She consumes the klms effortlessly. Can't wait to get her back home and into some curves tho.

Total so far - 1,015km

Making good progress there Kaptain. 

Coming from a small island where, with the exception of a little Roman influence, roads were generally added as an afterthought to fields and other land features and twist and turn at every opportunity, I can't even to begin to contemplate a road being that straight for those sort of distances. Awesome - but I imagine it must be a challenge to maintain your attention for long periods of time.

Great to hear Sweet thing is running well.

Hey Kaptain, it's not that far, only 146.6km across the big straight section.

Hope you stop for the obligatory photo.


Keep enjoying the ride. Hope the winds coming off the Bight aren't too wild as you come across. I almost lost my helmet when I put it down on the ground at one of the lookouts and it promptly got blown away like a basketball - must have been a sight with me in full riding gear running after my helmet. I caught it before it went over the cliff but my shiny near new helmet was chipped, scratched and full of dirt and debris.

Cheers

Glad to hear you are making good progress Nigel - keep it up. Speaking of straight bits of road, I digress, the longest straight bit of railway line is across the Nulla. and is about 430Km long. The trouble with long straight bits of road is that tyres are quickly worn in the centre. Catch up soon.

I used to go back and forth across the Nullabor regularly when I lived in WA. Be careful of the highway patrol. On a long straight they can ping you before you recognise who they are. What I used to do was to find a car doing about the "right" speed and sit about a km behind them. If you see blue flashing lights in the distance then you know they have been pulled over and you can ease down to the limit in plenty of time, cruise past with a smile on your face, and crank it up again. Worked for me.

Gaz80 wrote:Hey Kaptain, it's not that far, only 146.6km across the big straight section.

Hope you stop for the obligatory photo.

Thank for setting the record straight on that Gaz. I was working off Google maps.

I've had no mobile reception/data over the last 2 days while crossing the Nullabor.

Day 3 (644km) Norseman to Mundrabilla
I was disappointed to find it raining when I woke this morning. Wet weather gear on and i hunkered down for a wet day. Heavy rain only lasted for about an hour then managed to keep in front of it for the most part but the roads were wet nun-the-less.
Glad to see there were no road trains on the Eyre Hway. Plenty of trucks, semis and b-doubles tho.
Spent the day cruising at 140 to 150kph and although I was literally run off the road by a 4 wheel drive passing a b-double, I managed to keep it together. 
The problem is that with the wet roads there's a thick cloud of spray coming off the b-double's wheels because theyre traveling so fast. Getting around them can be very difficult in the wet. They usually indicate with their blinker when the road is clear to pass and then you run the gauntlet and hope he got it right. The truckie did not indicate but the driver decided to overtake anyway. I managed to get a blast off on the horn as we passed three abreast with me on the 30cm verge. 
I shouted myself to a fresh set of underwear that evening dispite it being only Tuesday 

Managed to get a pic of Sweet Thing in front of the 90 mile straight sign Gaz. 
I'll post pics when I get to a computer.
I rolled into Mundrabilla road house just on dark and pitched my tent in a light drizzle.


Day 4  (557km) Mundrabilla to Ceduna SA
Its worth noting for those not familiar with this part of our large country that between Norseman WA an Ceduna SA (approx 1,200km) there is no civilisation to speak of apart from a string of road houses servicing the hundreds of vehicles that make the journey every day.

Woke again today to the sound of rain on the tent. By the time I broke camp and got Sweet Thing loaded I was already wet. By my first fuel stop I was in the clear  but it's cold so I change into dry gloves and flip the grip heaters on low.   At this point we're close to the coast and the cold wind from the southern ocean. I made couple of detours a 100m or so off the highway to check out the dramatic scenery where the Nullabor  meets the ocean. Pics to come.

Arrived Ceduna about 4ish local time and pitched my tent in the rain 
It was good to get moibile reception back again and find a supoermarket to get some decent food
Going to try to make adelaide tomorrow (774km) and hopefully catch up with Packo

Total so far - 2,216km

Cheers

Rockman wrote:I used to go back and forth across the Nullabor regularly when I lived in WA. Be careful of the highway patrol. On a long straight they can ping you before you recognise who they are. What I used to do was to find a car doing about the "right" speed and sit about a km behind them. If you see blue flashing lights in the distance then you know they have been pulled over and you can ease down to the limit in plenty of time, cruise past with a smile on your face, and crank it up again. Worked for me.

Time change and that's a good recommendation.....but beware of the double take. Buggers tried that on me one Christmas Day travelling to Dublin to parents' house for dinner. Nice sunny 3 hour drive, pass one of those parked up speed cops and thought I would just stay on the limit for a bit......only to find my self escaping another bugger a mile on, sitting nicely to catch those guys that cranked it up again thinking they were in the clear.

Sounds like a great trip. Wish 88 had asked me to 'deliver' his K1100 like that......Still I delivered his 'new' rear shockie last weekend and enjoyed a most pleasant 3 nights afloat.

Epic journey Kapitan!  If you added all the straights on out wee Island together you might get 90 miles  ! Looking forward to more pics when you get home.

Glad you're soaking up the experience 

One experience that I don't envy Nigel is a three abreast pass on a wet road with truck & 4wd.

Enjoy mate and say hello to Packo for me.

Cheers

Keep chipping away  at it, probably see you tonight

Day 5 (774km) Ceduna to Adelaide
Woke this morning to the news of Rosskko's passing. Very sad. I'd organised with Rossko to meet up on my way thru Sydney. He was keen to compare notes on our K1100s.

Left Ceduna in sunlight..   Great roads travelling across the top of Eyre Peninsula. Spectacular wheat growing country. Took the speed down to the limit as I'd been told by fellow travellers at the Ceduna Foreshore Caravan Park that the area is patroled. Later in the morning I came across the first hills I'd seen since just South of Bunbury WA.

Port Augusta is very unimpressive and was glad to finally turn South towards Adelaide. Awesome countryside with the late afternoon sun on the Flinders Ranges to the East and the flat country leading to the Sencer Gulf to the right. 

Made it into Adelaide in the dark and found my way (eventually) to Packo's place. The Nullabor is a trek that Packo has done many times so we had a great evening (what was left of it) chatting about Nullabor adventures. Some eeeexcellent home brew was consumed in memory of Rosskko.

Will be taking a day out to attend to some family business while in Adelaide.

Total so far 2,990km

Keep her rolling Kaptain - sorry about the wet.

Your East Coast has seen more pristine weather in the mean time!

Sorry also, that our talked of meet up with Rosskko is now 'delayed'....

A very enjoyable read Nigel , it appears the long awaited cooler weather has finally snuck up on us here in the east , and you are copping it too.
next time you get the "pass" from a truckie , and you"ve gone around , give him a quick flick of the indicators  ..... left, right , left to acknowledge his assistance . 
be sure that on Wednesday , you will be there in thought to support RossKKo's family , as will be the entire forum community.
I'm sure Rosskko would be smiling thinking there's another case of Kpox.
 travel safe .

rawdonball wrote:Sorry also, that our talked of meet up with Rosskko is now 'delayed'....

Don't be in too much of a hurry to meet up with him again Rawdonball!
 
If you think about it, all those K bikes that are no longer with us will be now be with Rosskko and he'll need time to get them all ready for the rest of us when we finally join him for a truly heavenly ride.  

Kaptain - great progress on your epic ride.

Days 6 & 7
A 2 day layover in Adelaide courtesy of Packo and family. Thanks guys.  Attended to some family business. Spent half a day concreting with Packo and his neighbour. A little spanner time on Sweet Thing. A few beers and biking stories into the night. Apologies to my hosts for keeping them up a little too late.  :pirat:


Day 8 (444km) Adelaide to Mount Gambia
A last minute clutch adjustment and a squizz at Packo's amazing outfit and I was on my way. Very easy to find my way out of Adelaide (South Eastern Hway) and head South (Dukes Hway) and into the most prestigious wine producing region in Australia. Some of our best reds come out of Coonawarra.
Got to Albany late afternoon and booked into a cheap hotel for the night. Its bloody cold... lucky I put thermals on before I left Adelaide.


Day 9 (339km) Mount Gambia to Apollo Bay VIC
Thermals again today. Temperature drops again as I head for Warnambool and closer to the coast where the Great Ocean Road starts. Twelve Apostles, London Bridge etc etc. Stopped a few times thru the day for pics of these ancient remnants of the Australian coastline.

The run down into Apollo Bay thru quite a few km of twisties was a great ending for a day's ride and an opportunity to try Sweet Thing out in some decent curves at last. Rear tyre was already kactus when I left Perth so I didn't push too hard. Booked into a half decent motel and bought a pizza. Overnight temps are expected to fall again tonight.

Total so far - 3,773 kms

Day 10 (354 Km) Apollo Bay to Churchill (via Melbourne)
An early start and it's a sunny day for a change and although the night temp was pretty low, the day is relatively mild. From Apollo Bay The Great Ocean Road heads North East hugging the rocky coastline. Steep wooded headlands and cliffs to the left. Beaches, rocky outcrops and crashing waves to the right. The road is very twisty between here and Angelsea and partly in sun, partly in deep shade from the low sun as the road twists around the headlands. The shaded sections are wet and sometimes slippery from leaf litter and occasionally water flowing across the road, seeping from the cliff face. I'm nursing my rear tyre along now so I'm just taking it easy (I'll fit a Pirelli Angel GT when I get to Sydney). Breakfast and a coffee at Lorne, just up the road, and I'm set for the rest of the day.

From Geelong I head across to the M1 which will express me straight thru Melbourne inner city and 2 hours past out to the La Trobe Valley where I pull up for a few days of R&R with my sister in Churchill. I'll head for Sydney Monday/Tuesday next week.

Total so far 4,127 km

Days 11 to 16
Had a relaxing visit with my sister. Good food, plenty of cab sav. Mounted her new flat screen to the wall, signed her up to Netflix and we spent many hours watching movies and docos plus quite a few cups of tea while it rained outside. 
Monday the rain stopped and I thought I'd go for a spin around the local area. There are some very nice rides around the Latrobe Valley area being a very hilly district. I headed towards Mirboo North, a small town to the south west, and that's as far as I got.  As I cruise thru I notice a few bikes parked across from a cafe. It was called the Inline 4 Cafe... Oh wait! .... I'm riding an inline four . I did a quick Uey and went in and ordered a flat white. Quite a while later, after a long chat with the proprietor and photos of Sweet Thing parked in his court yard, I left to find some back roads that would lead me home. He was keen to hear about my trek across from WA and to tell me about the biker's festival he organises every year in October called the Blessing of the Bikes. Food, music and a quasi spiritual gathering to bless bikes and remember bikers we've lost for whatever reason. Sounds like a great event, there's some great riding in that area and its the week before Phillip Island GP. I'll post a separate thread about this as I'm intending to go and it would be great if we could get a few other Ozzie members along for the ride.

Day 17 (444 km) Churchill to Nimmitabel NSW
More rain and wind is on its way but Tuesday is looking like it will be a reasonable day so I decide to make a bolt for it. I head East on the A1, the Princes H'way which is the main coastal route between Melbourne and Sydney. It passes thru Lakes Entrance and I take a quick spin around the town checking out the marinas and other scenic spots. This area is at the foothills to the Snowy Mountains, a part of the Great Dividing Range which extend right up the Eastern seaboard of Australia providing some great riding.

At Cann River I grab a coffee. From here I'll be detouring off the main h'way and heading North into the Snowy Mountains via the Monaro Hway. I ask the locals about accommodation in the area and I'm told that Bombala, over the boarder in NSW would be a better choice.  Whats left in my tank will get me that far so I head off. The Monaro follows the Cann River up into the hills heading North. The valley is deep and heavily timbered. The road is still wet from little sun and with just enough twists and bends to make it interesting but still an easy enough ride. Although it's only about 3.30 in the afternoon it seems dark. The valley itself is in shadow so no sunlight is making it to the roadway. About an hour and a bit out of Cann River the Monaro H'way breaks out onto the Snowy Mountains plateau region and into bright late afternoon sun. At 1100 metres altitude, its nothing like you have in the US or EU, but this is Australia's highest region. The ski fields to the North are around 1800meters and Mt Kosciuszko about 2200. We Ozzie's had a run around Mt Kosciuszko just last Feb.

A fill up in Bombala and a ride thru the township to find accommodation. I have all my camping gear but it's far too cold for a tent tonight. Its only a bit past four so I decide to push on to Cooma, about an hour North. Up on the plateau proper now and a lot of this area is treeless. The road is nicely undulating with wide sweepers and I decide to push it along a bit faster to enjoy the ride. Grip heaters are on high. Sweet Thing is purring along very nicely. She's quite responsive and has lots of torque and if you don't keep an eye on the speedo you quite easily find yourself sitting on 140/150 without any effort.

The sun dips below the horizon and there's not a cloud in the sky. The temp drops dramatically so I pull into the little township of Nimmitabel and decide to try the pub. It's old. The room was cheap at $30 (not much more for a camp site) and it was comfortable enough. There was a heater and I could get a hot shower. I down a beer at the bar, consume the last meat pie in the food warmer and have a chat to the only two locals at the bar who tell me it will get down to minus 3 overnight. I ramp the room heater up to full and hit the sack.

Day 18 (433 km) Nimmitabel to Sydney
The morning is bright and clear and very cold. When I drag my gear down stairs to the back of the pub where Sweet Thing is parked I find the publican has kindly covered her over with a light tarp.  It's a nice ride into Cooma had then into the ACT briefly thu Queanbayan where I grab a coffee. A detour out to Bungendore and up to Goulburn for lunch. From here it's a quick blast up the freeway right into the inner city Sydney. Once I hit city traffic, the temp rises dramatically almost into to the red and the fan is on all the time. Sweet Thing does not like the city.
I'll stay two nights with my son and head off on Friday morning to Newcastle. I'll only spend a day there and head up to the Northern Rivers just below the QLD boarder.

Pics and videos to come

Total so far 5,004 km

Holister wrote:Pics and videos to come

It will be interesting to see australian sights and travel occasions

I've enjoyed reading your ride adventures, and am also looking forward to seeing the pics.
If your coming through Guyra while heading north I'm sure we can muster a warm bed and garage for Sweet Thing.

Holister wrote:At 1100 metres altitude, its nothing like you have in the US or EU, but this is Australia's highest region.

Good grief! I didn't realise Australia was that flat! I always thought the Snowy Mountains were, well, mountains. The granite lump I can see out my back door is about 900m.

Dai wrote:

Holister wrote:At 1100 metres altitude, its nothing like you have in the US or EU, but this is Australia's highest region.

Good grief! I didn't realise Australia was that flat! I always thought the Snowy Mountains were, well, mountains. The granite lump I can see out my back door is about 900m.

S'pose you'll be mourning about that now.....sweeping down to the sea.

Just sent you a PM smithy. Yep, I'll call in mate.
Cheers

Dai.... its almost embarrassing isn't it    I don't think anything here can actually be classified as a mountain but we Ozzies like to kid ourselves. Mt Kosciuszko is just a mere 2200 metres.