Biking in Oz

cantdecide

Giving some strong consideration to doing the Oz thing. Like everyone else with petrol in their veins, my thoughts immediately turn to 'what will I drive'!

In reality, is biking an option?

maameeo

cantdecide wrote: »

Giving some strong consideration to doing the Oz thing. Like everyone else with petrol in their veins, my thoughts immediately turn to 'what will I drive'!

In reality, is biking an option?

youre really thinking of going?

sorry, ive no help or advice on the subject! lol

cantdecide

maameeo wrote: »

youre really thinking of going?

sorry, ive no help or advice on the subject! lol

It might not happen. I've never really had the itch to do it before but I'm not getting any younger. I'm working in construction and it seems all I can aspire to for the next few years is subsistence. Don't have much to stay for either. Life's a bit of a merry-go-round. I think I'm just starting to think I need to shake things up a little. It was my mate Andrew that mentioned going and I thought 'f*** it, if Andrew goes, I'll go with him'. Realistically, I don't think Andrew will be able to go but I'm just starting to think that there's nothing stopping me going on my own...

Who knows.

Pique

I knew a guy out there with a Ducati 888 who crossed the Nullarbor Plain on it. Apparently he got stuck a few times when the distance between fuel stations exceeded the Duc's range
If you get something with a decent fuel tank, you'll be fine.
I would think a big Trailie would be perfect, panniers for kit (and water) and spare fuel would have to be considerations.

CJhaughey

I had a mate who rode a Fazer 1000 around Oz with hard panniers and a topbox.
Decent range, high cruise ability in less populated areas. and he reckoned the topbox was a gift when parked up he could dump all his heavy hot gear into it and enjoy the sun.
Me, I rode a few smaller thumpers around there and enjoyed them but I never did any huge distances.
Distances are massive there and running out fuel is not just an inconvenience, it can be a fatal mistake in some areas.
Something like an XR650L with a Safari/Clark/Acerbis tank or better still the XT660Z Ténéré would be ideal for exploring the more remote areas.
For road use a somthing like a Fazer/FJR or similar would be my choice.

Del2005

It has to be an R1:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvhdr2ZCAQ

inchiuvatu

if you do go out to aus and are in melbourne check out the b100 road "great ocean rd" built by verterns after WW2 some great towns worth staying in along the way and it's just savage. stayed in lorne for two weeks and was well worth it. i did public transport when i was there but now i have a licence i would definatly use a motorbike at least for some of my travels.. as is said above the distance between towns can be huge, if you wanted to head to the west coast from adelaide or darwin just look at google maps.

also, depending on were you get work you might need a bike more suited to difficult terrain, if you go building in the west coast for mining companies/developments you can be stuck on dirt roads, if you stay east coast you will be fine, also if in sydney go for a spin up the blue mountains some nice twisties around there too.

The Don

Remember to check your bike every morning for some of Australia's wildlife!

cantdecide

Thanks all. Giving it some serious thought now. I'm leaning toward maybe travelling across Oz and getting set up in NZ on a more permanent basis. I'm a bit lost as to what way I can handle it but I think I'll be trying to work in as much biking as possible.

AgileMyth

Good chance I'll be down that way in the near future too. Haven't considered biking down there but I'm sure I'll pick something up as soon as I arrive!

cantdecide

AgileMyth wrote: »

Good chance I'll be down that way in the near future too. Haven't considered biking down there but I'm sure I'll pick something up as soon as I arrive!

Boards bikes road trip to NZ anyone?