The Mighty K performed admirably, no punctures, no oil burnt, mishaps or dramas, and the (experienced) passenger loved the scenery, people and weather, on this, her second trip to Australia. Member Rick G and his most lovely wife, Marg, herself a K rider, met us for a much-needed break on our way through Stanthorpe on the first day's travel.



The New England Highway has an interesting view round every turn, cool as it was. At night it would drop to minus one or so and then be 15c or higher during the arvo. My passenger used her 12V heated jacket liner regularly.



How many insects did we collect and slaughter on the way down? All of them!



The canola fields were in full blossom for mile after mile right through New South Wales and into Victoria. It was brilliant.



We met up with fellow member Dee Why at Mum's place in Clunes to give him some spares procurred from the States, enjoyed a plate of biccies and a cuppa, before he rode off to do battle with Melbourne's peak hour traffic.




On the return along the Pacific Coast Highway the Conti Road Attack II back tyre wore rapidly down to the cords and faster than I expected so I had to source a Michelin Pilot Road 2 to replace it....at Australian prices, ouch! Twice what it'd have cost me in Los Estados Unidos. The fitter couldn't balance a single-sided swingarm wheel and as an added bonus mounted the tyre backwards - I got charged the full rate, however. He offered to swap it round in "two minutes flat" once I discovered his error but told him, "Take all the time you need, mate." Live and learn. I was grateful to obtain a tyre in our hour of need.




On the return we encountered a day and a half of light rain but accompanied by truly spectacular lightning shows from north of Newcastle to up round the Grafton to Ballina sugar cane fields.



It was drinks all round at the end of our ride, back in Queensland, warm and dry, enjoying the sunshine and reflecting on a marvellous ride once again. I dunno if waiting a year each time to return home to ride through OZ is worth the wait, so I'm planning to return in the Autumn, next year. Perhaps we'll have time to catch up with those K riders we missed this time.

Meantime, this arvo I'm on the plane back to Seattle via Hawai'i for a stopover as on the first leg. I look forward to more memorable scenes like this from Waikiki:



Happy riding and travelling to all.

Nice pictures of a mighty trip.

As for the tyres, the Paddys don't even bother balancing the rear wheel - many times I was told "there's no need". And every time they are surprised when I insist on it.... PR2 & PR3 are great tyres though, whatever the price.

Ta. I use PR4 on my R1150RT, and had PR3s prior. But I always balance tyres, front and back, never fail. It not only increases their life but makes a difference in smoothness, too, especially on bikes that are inherently buzzy to begin with. I will disassemble my balancer and transport it back here next trip. I'll also drag along a front Michie to match and fit it myownbadself. Stuff 'em.

Thanks for posting TWB.
I had a great ride back to Melbourne courtesy of reduced traffic due to school holidays.
The broken up back roads across to Daylesford always need to be treated with respect, but especially this time as I think I was about 2 hours behind the council bitumin repair truck. Lots of fine loose aggregate (don't know what it's called) everywhere.

Great to catch up with you both. Have a good flight back to the US.

Cheers,

Back in the States for another stint, arriving late last night after a 20 hour (total) journey. Hawaiian airlines is the best! I slept for over eleven hours, a jetlag record for me. This morning (at the crack of noon) is bright and sunny with relatively warm temps of 23c predicted today. My sunflowers are loving it.



It's not the Aussie sun but it'll do. I'm looking forward to and already planning my next 'visit' home.