Hi All,
Completed a 2 day trip on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Easter from Sydney --> Gloucester --> Taree --> Wauchope --> Walcha (end day 1). Then Walcha --> Gloucester --> Raymond Terrace --> Sydney (end day 2). About 1100kms all up
This is the first overnighter I've ever done on the bike, and now definitely won't be the last. It was 2 days of the best riding I've ever had.
Went with 5 others on very different bikes. 2 Blackbirds, a 600 Hornet, a Custom painted Harley, and a Huyabusa to round it out.
Day 1 started at about 7:30am for me heading up to Tuggerah where everyone else I was going with lives on the Central Coast. It was relief to see blue sky when I woke up as it was forecast to rain the entire 1st day (it was raining really heavy when I went to bed), but God's blessing sent the rain out to see overnight and we only got rain for about 1.5hrs on the 1st day.
I only took a 15 litre tankbag for the overnight trip, which I purchased over the weekend for this - it's an RJays 15 litre (item link
here. I absolutely loved this piece of kit for the overnighter, was perfect for me. I might be raving a bit much, but it's the first piece of motorbike luggage I've ever bought...
We stopped roughly every hr or 2 for a quick break which made it very enjoyable, stopping first at Heatherbrae pies (near Raymond Terrace) for breakfast - mmm hot apple & blueberry pies for breakfast, then off to Gloucester for next fuel stop.
Half way to our lunch stop we took a quick break somewhere in the middle of nowhere. My mate on the black blackbird was no more than 100m down the road from where we stopped and had complete brain fade and went off the road into a ditch at about 60km/h (the road turned about 10 degrees, and he was looking at geese...
). But God was looking out for him again and he ended up without a mark on him (okay there was mud all over him, but not a scratch to him), however the bike didn't fair so well, it hit a concrete block in the ditch and cartwheeled 3 times. After heavily inspecting the damage, we managed to duct tape all the fairing pieces and headlight back on and he managed to finish the entire ride. I didn't take photos of the crash out of respect for him - he felt incredibly stupid. That served as a lesson for us all though - concentrate on the road.
So far after about 300km the scenery and temperature for riding was superb, with some real nice linking curves and rolling hills in the country side providing the views. After lunch we had to hump up the Pacific Highway (major yawn for motorcyclists) for about an hr to Walcha for last leg stretch and fuel before Walcha. We were running a bit late due to the accident earlier on and knew it would be getting close to dark by the time we would reach our destination. A few of us were a bit nervous as the Kangaroo factor can become an issue around then. Personally i was more nervous about impending onset of rain in the mountains coming up. I'd never ridden in rain deliberately before (ie only in the occassional 1-2 minute light shower situation), and with everyone else experienced in the wet was hoping I wouldn't hold anyone up. Sure enough, about an hr out of Wauchope, the road got wet, I wasn't as fast as anyone else on corners, but was able to keep up by going a bit quicker on the straight sections. After about 20-30mins of wet road, my confidence was building a bit, so was applying a little more throttle until one corner about 30km/h on exit I applied too much and the back fish tailed a bit causing my heart to jump a few beats - it's first time I've broken traction on a road bike before (in hindsight from my dirtbiking days it was very slight oversteer, the bike was almost completely upright when it happened, and brings a smile to my face thinking about how it felt
), this made me realise how slippery it really is for a bike in the wet on asphalt, normally in dry I would have gone through that corner at almost double the speed.
Not long after, we all stopped to don the wet weather gear - my friends had brought some for me as I don't own any yet. From here it got quite tricky for me. The rain started coming down, and as we got to the top of the escarpement on the Oxley Hwy, we got into cloud as well, I had to keep my visor open one notch to stop the fogging as it was just too slow to get enough air for the vents to defog. So we're riding about an hour from Sunset in constant rain & cloud, and to add to it all, the road has nice tree sap coatings from the covering of trees over the final section of the climb. This was a really great learning curve for my riding experience. I think my smoothness of throttle has improved 100% since that day. Finally we get to the top of the ranges and suddenly the road drys up, and opens up. We covered the remaining 40km in about 20mins (give or take 5
). All I can say is damn those Blackbirds and 'Busa's are hard to keep up with
We stopped at the local waterfalls just on sunset, which were just stunning. it was getting hard to see so we decided to come back the next morning in daylight for some better photos.
Into Walcha finally, and a stay at the New England Hotel (ie pub/bar hotel, not hotel hotel...). Rooms twinshare at $33 each - bargain, and they even provide a lockup garage for your motorbike (a lot of their business is motorcyclists doing this trip, so they cater quite well). A meal at the country styled chinese cuisined restuarant in the hotel was quite nice. It was great to have a warm shower and get into bed. My left hand was aching from all the clutching, not to mention my shoulders, wrists and lower back. Attached are photos from the first day. 2nd day to follow later...
Photos 1. Checking air pressures at Tuggerah. 2 & 3. Fuel at Gloucester. 4. Lunch near Taree (see taped Blackbird). 5. wet road, pre rain on the oxley
), yet to be so deep is just awe inspiring. Anyway, hunger started to get the better, so we started to head back into town, my mate on the 'Busa was keen for a try on the Duc, and I was scared of the Busa, but swapped we did for the 20km back into town. Until then, the Duc is the fastest thing I have ridden, but now all I can say is Phaaaa...... I've never ridden anything so purpose built for speed. Every person that ever buys a 'busa should all be fined for speeding as part of the dealer sale price, these things should be guilty until proven innocent, how one could ever not try to speed I don't know. Without divulging too much, this thing was like being in a car at quite fast speeds, not a breath of wind was on my body, the wind protection is unbelievable compared to my bike, it was just so stable. Anyway, breakfast...
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