It all started here... Part One of the 2014 Sydney Perth Sydney run

It all started here...

In early 2013 the lads and ladies of the Australian Boulevards website decided to make a run to Bright in the gorgeous state of Victoria for some riding in the mountains followed by the traditional sharing of a few beers (Not together of course!).

On the first night we were there, after the mandatory checking out each others bikes over a few beers, a friend of mine named J.R looked around and in his quiet, but carrying voice said: "I've been talking to the boys in WA and I'm going to ride over there".
Before I even had a chance to think about it, I had not only volunteered to come along but to help organize the ride as well.

At first glance, this is an insane plan. I had just decided, without any thought at all, to ride an M109 or a C109 Boulevard (The two bikes I owned at the time) over 5000km from Sydney to Perth across the Nullarbor Plain. In the background as I was talking to J.R about this I could hear my wife chiming in "I'm in!" So we were both committed to this ride. As we were chatting, we worked out a date about 15 months ahead, in September. The WA guys had communicated that this was the best time to cross the Nullarbor.

So September 2014, the date was set and quietly announced. Now don't get me wrong, I had some idea of what I was in for. I have done quite a bit of what most people would consider long distance motorcycle riding.

Sydney to Broken Hill is 1100km, Sydney to Mildura is 1000km, taking the coastal route, Sydney to Victor Harbor is 2000km, all of these rides I have done, some multiple times. A day ride to me is 500ish km.

Now I was volunteering to ride over 5000km in one direction, along some of the straightest roads in the world, and back.

I had to ask myself why and over the next couple of months the answer came down to 2 things.
1. I will probably never get another chance like this again. Being able to do an organised ride across territory that is still widely considered dangerous, with other riders as support, was an opportunity not to be missed
2. I've always wanted to be able to say that I have ridden all 6 states of Australia. Technically I consider it 7, NZ just needs to actually join the Federation. The chance to do the kind of kilometers I needed to do, to be able to get to cross the WA border comes along very, very rarely and I wasn't going to miss it.

The Build Up

So over the next several months we started to get organised. JR and I set up a separate section of the ozboulevards forum for the trip, we worked out the route, the stops, the accommodation locations, we did our research on the trials and tribulations of crossing the Nullarbor and generally started to get our shit together.

At first, lots of people were enthusiastic and wanted to be involved. As time went past and the enthusiasm waned, more and more dropped out, until it was clear it was just going to be me and JR. We were chatting on the phone one night and committed that no matter what, no matter who else wanted to be involved, even if our wives backed out, he and I would make the trip. We had started this thing 18 months out from takeoff so all we could do was start to prepare.

The Route

JR and I agreed that I would organize the route and accommodation stops from Sydney to Victor Harbor in SA and he would do everything west of Adelaide. Basically I was looking to re-do the big ride that the M109 forum did in 2009 for a couple of reasons.

Firstly the wife was coming this time, she hadnt been on the 2009 ride, on that ride we had seen some spectacular scenery and I really want to show her more of Australia. In 2009 The Great Ocean Road was smashed by the biggest storm to hit the Melbourne coast in 40 years. On that day we rode through what was effectively a freezing hurricane. On that trip all I remember of the GOR was it was freezing fucking cold and keeping the bike on the road was incredibly difficult due to the horizontal wind and rain.

After such a crap experience on what is supposed to be one of the best motorcycle roads in the world, I really wanted to take the opportunity to ride it again and ride it in decent weather.

So the route I was planning followed the coast along Sydney - Eden - Torquay - Mount Gambier - Victor Harbor and after that we would follow JR's Route.

The Bike

When we first decided to do this ride, we were in Bright on my Suzuki Boulevard M109R. Normally we would have been on the Suzuki Boulevard C109R which is our long distance bike. So initially the planning for the trip was all about being on a Boulevard. Over the next 18 months Jick and I decided that we really needed to change bikes from the C109. Its a great bike, but its big, its heavy and it corners like a petrol tanker. If you are spending a lot of time on freeways or really good quality B roads its a great bike, but it really doesn't suit the kind of riding we like to do.

Jick and I like to get out into corners, out into the back roads and countryside of Australia. We also really like getting away for weekends or more.So over time we started to look for what is termed a Sports Tourer. Something that is designed to do long distances in great comfort but is also agile and corners really well.

So after much looking around we went for a test ride on a BMW K1600GTL.

We both LOVED it. She loved the comfort, the head whip, the agility, I loved all of that plus the sheer balls to the wall power of the thing. We took it up the Old Pacific Highway to our regular coffee spot at Kulnura. I got off it and the first thing I said to Jick when I got off "That's a license loser" (Remember that statement for later)

We both loved it, the problem was the price. Out of the box the K1600GT are nearly 40K Aus$. 40 grand in Australia will buy you a very decent car, so to pay that kind of money was just unheard of for a bike. So after a lot of debate we both agreed it was off the table.

So over the next several months we looked at and tried a whole bunch of different bikes
Triumph Trophy

Honda F6B

Victory Vision

Kawasaki 1400 GTR

and I even manged to get Jick on a Goldwing.

Each time we would go out and at the end of every ride or trial, we would start to compare the bike against the BMW. Each time the trial bike would come up short. The BMW had become the "Gold standard "against which we compared all other bikes.

The BMW K1600GT has every luxury and every bell and whistle that BMW is capable of throwing at a pair of wheels. A brand new flat 6 cylinder engine, ABS, electronically adjustable shock profile, blue tooth, electric wind shield, independent grip/seat heating, stereo, more torque than a tractor yada yada yada. When it was released the critics struggled to find new superlatives and to define a category for this bike, in the end it was decided that although its primary target was the Honda Goldwing, a luxury tourer, this bike truly fitted into the "Sport Tourer" category.

After all the debate and testing in November of 2013 I bought a 2014 Suzuki M109R BOSS. To be honest I wanted a Ducati Diavel, but at the last minute I had a panic attack when I was considering not having an M109 so I bought another one.

As part of the gift with purchase of the BOSS, I received a gift certificate to have a professional photography session and to get a free framed photo at the end of the session.  We decided it sounded like fun and they said we could bring the bike, so we booked a session of photography for us and the new M109R.

On the day we were at the studio, waiting for the photographer, we were having coffee with another couple who were also waiting and talking motorcycles. The chap I was talking to was also interested in the BMW K1600 and was saying he had seen a ridiculously cheap one for sale at Procycles in St Peters. We chatted about this bike for a while and then went into our separate photography session.

Then one day about 3 weeks later we were on the other side of the Sydney Harbour bridge from home, something we rarely do, and we decided to stop in at Procycles St Peters and say hi to one of the sales guys there and see if the previously discussed bike was around. We walked in and waved at Kerrod as he was busy and wandered about the shop. There was a very nice K1600GTL up on a stand and we stopped in front of it. Jick and I we were chatting about it when we were approached by a Spanish chap who asked us about our interest in the K1600.

We explained we loved it but the price for new was just too steep. He asked “ever thought about buying used?”

I said I would consider it and he ushered us over to a silver grey 2013 K1600GT on a stand. After some discussion we discovered:
This bike had the following mods – full Arkapovic exhaust system, GPS, K1600 GTL top box, K1600 GTL windscreen and a high mount stop light.
The bike belonged to the Spanish guy we were talking to, who worked for BMW.
It had 12 months warranty still on it
It had just been serviced (In fact it had been over serviced in its lifetime)
The Spanish guy looked after this bike like it was his first born child.

This was about 16000$ worth of mods. If you added that to the 38K for a new bike and you were looking at a $55,000 top of the range motorcycle. I simply couldn't resist it. Originally when we were trying out bikes I had been looking at the K1600GTL, ultimately I came to be very thankful that I bought this K1600GT.

I handed the man 1000$ and said this is mine! no one else can have it! I organised a trade in on the C109R and the following week, Easter long weekend 2014, I walked in and rode the BMW away.

That weekend we went on a long ride. We decided to head out to Denman up the Old Pacific Highway. We stayed overnight at the Denman pub and then headed west along the Bylong Valley way, which if you live anywhere Sydney, and you haven't done it, you are an idiot.

By the end of the weekend were both completely in love with the bike. Over the next 7 months we put over 7000km on the BMW. Riding up to birthdays at the Oxley highway, up and down the coast from Sydney, weekends to Oberon and across the Bells line of Road.

We had a blast each and every time and we were out every single weekend practicing our long distance riding skills.

The BMW was definitely the right bike for us and I was more and more convinced, the right bike to take on the trip to Perth. 

The Build-up

So we started to get ready, we were updating jackets, booking cats into cat accommodation, buying extra thermals and new socks, getting new rubber and having the bike serviced.

Constantly explaining to people we were going to ride across the Nullabor actually never got old. I never got sick of seeing the expression on peoples face when I told them I was going to ride across Australia. No one could believe it. So the weeks crawled past, we organised things at work so they wouldn't miss us, told people where we were going, exchanged emails and PM’s with the people we were going to meet up with, watched the weather, cleaned the bike and took our last training weekend ride. 

Suddenly it was time to go. Saturday September 30th 2014 was here!