As you know I planned a "outback for the city fella's" ride and the FJR is without a doubt the most comfortable bike I have had to do long rides on.

But you all know that so here's the lowdown on the ride.

 Poddy & Garry's Outback adventure

Well we got back Tuesday night from the trip and it was one of the best I have done.

We did over 2,650 klms in 4 days, somewhat shorter than originally planned but it was still great none the less.

Day 1 - Pakenham to Mildura; this was the hottest part of the trip as when it got to Mildura it was 39 degrees. The day started with Gary realizing at our first stop he had forgotten his wallet then my oil light coming on just before Bendigo, stopped, topped her up and all good. (I had changed the oil the day before and was told it needed 3.6 liter of oil, turns out it need about 4.0 liters if you had dropped the filter etc) Stopped at Charleston for lunched which we cooked up on the side of the road and soon after we left Gary was done for speeding (126klms in a 100 zone) with no I.D or wallet I thought he was a goner (I kept riding as if I didn't know him - we had decided that that would be the action if either one of us was pulled up) as luck would have it the cop let him off with a warning.

Continured on to Mildura and about 200klms out the temp gauge on the bike showed 41c, felt more like 50c. Those fans were working overtime and the sweat just poured down my face. The new Mesh jacket worked (for the best part) but it was really uncomfortable. Meet up a young guy going to see his Grandmother in Midura on his 2 week old R1, "big ask" in this heat and he was feeling it more than us.

Fitted a "home made" Rad Guard the day before I left which was good timing as a bird took on the FJR whilst doing 140kph; lets just say the bike won and the bird took his last ride stick in the guard.

Got into Mildura about 4pm all good, found a hotel with a pool, jumped in, cooled off and went straight to the pub to wash down a hot ride.

Day 2. Mildura to Port Pirie - This was when our outback riding began (see photos) and although it was flat to Broken Hill it was a truly amazing sight seeing the ground change from bush to red desert. Half way along the Barrie Hwy we hit a dust storm and pulled into the only town for 200 klms, all it had was a pub so we sat out the dust storm (it was only short) had a beer and headed on our way. The Barrier Hwy is a mix of straights, sweepers and tight corners and we had to deal with a gusting North Southerly (I think that's right) wind for most of the way but it was fun. Temp was a mild 34 degrees till we got closer to the coast where it dropped to 23 for most of the day. Stayed at Port Pirie for the night which as a town offer nothing on a Sunday night.

Day 3. Port Pirie to Murry Bridge via Luck Bay; we headed off towards Port Augusta, Whyalla rounding the Spencer Gulf to the Eyre Peninsula and caught the ferry from Lucky Bay to Wallaroo. From Wallaroo we headed to the Adelaide Hills and making a stop at the town of Owen where Gary changed the town name to Owens (his surname). By the time we got to Gawler I realized the rules of long distance riding and that is "if your tired STOP" and we had done over 700klms when I rode straight through a GIVEWAY sign and was nearly collected by an on coming car, he hit the brakes and I powered on missing each over by only a couple of feet - this is the first time I had done something so stupid in all my years of riding and way too close for comfort. We arrived at Murry Bridge by 8:30pm tired and hungry and settled into the pub for the night.

Day 4. Murry Bridge to home. Left at 7 am and the sky was over cast but by the time we hit Tailem Bend the heavens opened up so I pulled over and put my wet weather gear on. The rain stayed with us till we got to Boarder Town. Here we stopped and Gary fired up the Bar-B-Q and we had breakfast. It started raining again so we changed the route (we were to go home via the GOR) headed off towards Nhill where the rain must have realized it was in Victoria so it stopped. Horsham, Ararat and Ballarat were dry, straight and boring and this was the hardest bit of the trip. We had thought of turning off at Halls Gap but decided to just make a run for Melbourne. I started calling Gary "Casey Stoner" as he took off from Ballarat and didn't worry about the cops (avg 140kph) but I have no points left so for me it was 110 kph all the way. About 300 Klms down the road Gary was 800 meters from a petrol station with A) No Petrol and B) No Money so he had to wait it out till I got there. Firing up the H-D for one more time saw it limp into the Station, we filled up, complained to each other just how boring the Western Hwy is, talk about what we had seen and headed home.

Overall it was a Blast, to see the Outback up near Pt August, standing next to a 37m Road train, (actually passing one felt like it was more like a mile long) the Hills, the Plains, it was just a great mix of everything.

For me this was just as enjoyable as had hoped for, no back or knee pain but towards the end (Melbourne) my right arm and wrist were killing me; maybe I had to do the throttle mod?

Anyway, I hope this is just the first of many more tours on the FJR

Cheers

Poddy