The big Little trip - part1 - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

peter-reebok · 02-14-2007, 08:15 PM

My (little) big trip.
The day started out uneventfully, but soon changed.
Up at 6:20 - ready to leave at 6:30 am.
Pitter patter of rain on the roof as I move the bike outside.
Sorta set the pace for the day.

You could be forgiven for wondering if we were in a drought!.
Run across lysterfield road, always good to get the heart started.
Down Wellington Road =- What was that flash - bloody speed camera!.
Down Belgrave Hallam Rd, and on to the freeway. Rain is more constant now, glad I packed everything in plastic bags.
Drop in at Rosedale to see a mate who has a winery there - down 5 km of dirt road - packed sand - wet sand, and very corrugated. First sightings of wallabies - a reminder to watch out.
Breakfast at Sale Maccas - time for a quick getaway!.
The real roads start after Orbost. Not raining now, and just made for touring on a bike. Long flowing corners - and you can just sit on 120, and flow through them all. No surprises, except for a few damp patches.

On to Cann river, where the rain starts again, and convinces me to cancel the side trip via the Monaro hwy to Bombala, and just press on.
10 minutes of rain in every hour!.
Bike not missing a beat.

Lunch at Eden - sky looks bad - but Hamburger is good!.

Plenty of road works after Cann River - with plenty of sand and rocks washed over the road - gives me my first scary moment when the front and back BOTH wash out for an instant!.
Lots of loose stones in the centre of the lane - makes mid corner drifts a possibility!.

And the wire rope barriers started appearing. Cheese graters we call them, and in NSW, they are used as lane dividers, without any high visibility protection. And they are everywhere! How can we stop them before riders die?
From there to Wollongong was more of the same - good roads, great corners, little traffic that bothers me - soon despatched by twisting the throttle. Had some fun with a monaro for about an hour. Start thinking of a bigger bike for more response.
Just before Wollongong the heavens opened with a vengeance - with an absolute downpour that lasted an hour, and I was actually splashing through standing water - in places about 3-4 inches deep. Speed starts to come down DRAMATICALLY. Visibility is even worse, with water on the inside and outside of the visor. Wollongong got 210mm of rain! Most areas I passed through got 100mm or more. I can sure pick the dates – NOT.

On a stop for fuel at Wollongong realise that I should press on. I am already soaked, and don't relish the prospect of facing monday morning traffic in Sydney when it is pouring with rain as well.
Not one of my better decisions perhaps - as it rained incessantly, all the *d$&kh%^d* were out in force on the road, and I became frustrated at the Sydney Road System. How can highway 1 go in 3 directions at once? In Sydney it can!
Bulli pass was shrouded in fog, and visibility was about 50 feet.
At the tunnel toll booth, I dropped my money, and then couldn't get my wet glove back on. The visor was wet on the inside and out, and visibility along the Pacific Speedway (highway) was nil. The lanes move about, and there are hardly any markings at all. And the road surface is worse than crap!
Finally made it out to the Newcastle expressway - looking for a motel - any motel - couldn't care less what they charge - to find none, and roadworks slowing us all down to 60km an hour in the dark. In the meantime, god is giving me subliminal hints on ark building while he sends buckets of water down on me.
Finally found an open motel in Gosford at about 9pm. Hot shower, change of clothes, full belly, (only thing I could buy was a toasted tomato sandwich.) and almost ready to start day 2 . But I did complete over 1100 kms in my first day!

Day 2
Took a bit longer to get ready - waterproofing was the name of the game. More rainex for the visor. Filled up the bike, then followed a bike cop along the hill approach from Gosford. He was not mucking around in the traffic, so I followed his lead and had some fun to start the day. He didn't seem to mind me tagging along, even though we were both being a bit naughty in the traffic, and even gave me a wave when we separated near Woy Woy.
The sun was out, requiring sunglasses for about 60 kms. Then the rain started again, and stayed for the rest of the day.
Then a bird hit me! It flew straight in to my helmet. I was more startled than anything. Big explosion of feathers!.
Amazing how you adjust to the conditions, just decided to enjoy the journey, and so it became fun. Cars I passed were surprised, I think, to see me smiling when the weather was so bad. Aquaplaned a few times, but no dramas.
Not a fan of the el cheapo road repairs, where they dribble hot tar in
the cracks, the bike tramlined badly on these in the rain.
I am a fan however of my Suzuki M50, the gear ratios are nice and wide, will sit on 140+ all day, nice predictable handling, and pretty vice free. Tank gives a usable range of 200-250kms.
The weather did clear for a few minutes at a time, allowing me to take a few photos, like the big banana and the big prawn. And a service station outside Bulahdelah shaped like Ayers Rock. Is this the Ayers Rock that the Leyland brothers built before they went bust?