Sunday is day zero because on Monday I fly to Brisbane airport, grab a bus to the Sunshine Coast and ride my new bike home (eventually). I thought I’d walk through my journey and preparation and see how it all works on the ride back from Caloundra to Melbourne.
First up I hear it is raining a lot in northern New South Wales right now so I’m gonna need my wets. So I shipped up my boots and Gortex Dainese jacket with the Hyper when I traded it (saves me lugging it on a plane!), I’ll wear my Sartso Killer kevlar jeans on the flight and I’ve got some trusty Aldi overpants in my bag.
Speaking of bags, I got the 1200S MTS so I have no panniers. So that was my first problem. Now I have in mind either a set, or just a top box, of the big aluminium Touratech panniers eventually, but for now I just wanted a waterproof tailbag and Neil at Ducati City has been really pleased with Kriega gear so I headed in there for the open day on Saturday and grabbed myself a US-30 tailbag. What I really like about it is the strapping system. It is so easy to fit (well I’ll test that tomorrow with a fully stuffed one) and there is a waterproof inner liner that should keep my clothes dry in the wet.
I’ve got the Arai XD-3 lid out again because I do want to film some of the ride home on the Drift HD 1080P – shit I sound like a walking ad – and I think behind the screen on the MTS I will be more comfortable with the Dual Sport because it has the peak. I’ve brought the spacers with me just in case I’m wrong and need to take the peak off – I remember the sore neck from the wind blast on the Hyper last time I slabbed it back from Wangaratta. The peak is great but if you get caught in force wind it really wrenches your head about.
I decided last minute to take the Maxpedition Sitka gearslinger with me as a backpack (more ads, but seriously these are just endorsements I am not sponsored by anyone to talk shite), mostly because after stuffing the Kriega full of clothes and crap I realised that it doesn’t really have any pockets for small crap like wallets, phones, keys and cameras etc. So I packed that pretty light and just prey to jeebus that it doesn’t drive me bonkers on the way home.
I’ve packed basics, pair of jeans, shorts, few t-shirts, jocks socks and basic other stuff. I know the Multi has a basic toolkit (like I could use it) but importantly it has a tyre repair kit in it which should keep me out of trouble touch wood that I get a flat on my way home.
I fly out early, grab a bus at Brisbane airport and then get delivered to Motolife in Caloundra to pickup the MTS then wind my way back down the coast to Northern NSW where my sister has a cool tree house in Ocean Shores just up from Byron Bay – the perfect place to chillout, do some riding and relaxing before I head back home.
Stay tuned for more adventures soon.