Fun Endurance

At 10:20 am I was ready to leave the bike rental shop http://www.bikescape.com.au/ where I mentioned last that I rented the BMW 1200GS they were also kind enough to let me keep my suitcase there until I returned, I put everything on the bike and headed to the Gold Coast as the destination of the hotel on the GPS guided me through traffic.

It took me about an hour and a half to get out of Sydney and suburbs on to a freeway, and after that it was easy going. It took me 12 hours to cover the 860 km to the hotel mostly due to the fact that the freeway entered many towns where the speed limit, which is strictly enforced, at times was as low as 50 km. This is why Google Maps estimated the trip at 11 hours.

However all this speed limit enforcement and safety signs did make me feel safe on the road, especially one that read "Be Aware of Motorcycles" which leads me to believe that there is a big Motorcycle culture here in Australia especially since I witnessed so many motorcycles traveling along the same freeway.

At the rental shop I was told that the route I intended to take was not as scenic as other alternate routes, I explained that I needed to attend a conference and that I had to make the trip in one day. However when the trip was on its way I found the route to be very scenic and fun, and then realized that they live here and to them this is normal. Compared to where we usually ride, on a strait road with nothing but the desert on both sides, it was paradise with trees all around and roads that twist in all directions but at slow speeds.



It started to get dark at 6:30 pm and that is when I saw my first Kangaroo warning sign and said to myself I couldn't have chosen a worse time to cross this area since it would be difficult to see if a Kangaroo was actually in the middle of the road or not and then all the bugs came out to play with the bike's windshield creating lovely patterns of the windflow.


I arrived finally at the hotel exhausted from the riding and the flight travel the day before and looking forward to a day of resting.

Australia Here I come

Yes; I get to add another country to my list of countries I will be riding a motorcycle in AUSTRALIA. How is this you ask? well I will be attending a conference in the Gold Coast and decided to rent a bike and do some touring. Initially I was going to go one way from Gold Coast to Sydney but decided to do the round trip Sydney Gold Coast Sydney riding an estimated 1,840 Km.

I have rented a BMW GS 1200 for this trip since I would be alone, and the GS gives good millage to the tank. I am worried though about riding on the other side of the road, I remember that I did drive once in England but that was year ago.

Also I will be arriving at 6:30 am on the 8th of March from a long flight and picking up the bike at 9:00 am then riding 865 km in one day to the Gold Coast, I have no idea in what shape I will be once I am there? I intend to have the blog updated regularly for all to follow.

Bike Damage

Well traveling that day in the sand storm has done a number on the bike, it looks as if some one took a sand blaster to the front end , there is no luster in the paint upfront where the wind hit it, and I didn't realize how bad it was until afterwards when I was cleaning it and cut my finger on some peeled chrome on the front fork brace.


I also noticed that the fog lights has a different color until a closer inspection revealed that the class was totally sand blasted.


Even the chrome on the highway pegs although not peeled were pitted and the luster of the shine of the chrome has gone.


Next time I think I will wait the sand storm out , it is easier on the bike.

Sand & Dust

Well what do you expect from the desert but sand and dust , and that is exactly what we got except we didn't expect to get so much of it. It was a cold front that was moving into the area with strong winds, we almost postponed our return back to Kuwait but decided to leave at the last minute around 8 am UAE time which was 7 am Kuwait time. the wind gusts were so strong at times I was wrestling with my bike to keep it strait, and didn't want to stop fearing that the winds would knock me and the bike over if I did.

So we were doing mainly 80 to 90 km/hr in the beginning and picking up speed later on. About two hours into the trip I spotted a pothole in the road , and since I was in front I pointed to it with my leg. It was unfortunate that Aziz didn't see the pothole and headed strain for it. I could see things flying off his motorcycle when he went through the hole, and then realized when I returned to him that his mirrors detached, fell on the ground and broke. So the only thing we could do is depend on my mirrors for the trip back which meant being extra careful when passing trucks and cars.

We finally arrived at 11 pm Kuwait time with sand everywhere we had traveled 1,242 km in a sand and dust storm muscles aching and tired. the next day was nice weather and I was thinking what would have happened had we stayed another day.