December 4: Summer’s here

It’s a very pleasant Sunday arvo and I had to run into town for a quick errand so I pulled on the open-face helmet and went for a jolly on the KLR. That bike does feel good since the engine rebuild.

That’s the only riding I’ve done in the last week though. The Christmas shutdown is barrelling down fast and I’m pushing hard to get things done before it happens. It didn’t help I had to spend a day in Melbourne this last week, but that’s work, and that’s the way it is. I went down and back in the same day, and as I rushed from one aircraft to the other I wondered whether I’d ever done that before. I don’t think I have.

I see Marty HC is living it up in NZ and Dave Ramsay’s held another very successful ride. If the weather stays as it is today, I hope we all get in some good riding in the next few weeks.

The next one for me will be Longest Day – December 21. Craig Murcott is keen and Secret Squirrel’s up for a day ride, so it should be a very pleasant run, I’d think. I’m keen to put some distance on the KLR and check the oil consumption, and that ride will be perfect.

Speaking of Pottsy, the Secret Squirrel, he sent a couple of good images in during the week, and I especially like this one…

Ha!

Here’s his e-mail…

‘You meet the nicest people on a Suzuki!

‘I’ve bumped into two in the last week. Firstly while out with Squirrelette on the V-strom we bumped into a Canadian at Macksville. He’d flown over to Australia, hired a V-strom and set off north with no particular schedule – in other words he was a true adventure rider.

‘Anyway he was having a small issue with the bike, so I pointed him in the direction of the Coffs Suzuki dealer to diagnose the electrical fault and of course got him to stay at Squirrel’s treehouse overnight, and showed him around Coffs. But taking him to Emerald Beach headland where you can get up close to the kangaroos, he had his camera hitting the rev limiter with the ‘roos and the ocean as a backdrop.
‘The other Suzuki encounter was with the kids in the car, going up Pine Road out of Dairyville…yep, the steep trail. We came across a V-strom, two up, loaded with everything but the kitchen sink. A young couple touring around thought it was great fun slipping and sliding down the mountain,
the girl on the back giggling each time the bike swapped full-lock sideways. They were from Europe somewhere, here on an adventure, and they were getting just that.’

A short blog today. I really want to get outside and enjoy this great weather. This coming week I get a run on the new Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro Pro.

Hoo-aah!

TF

PS: Today’s pic is from Cambodia. As you can see, I was having trouble with the lens cover on the camera. Good mate and first-class guide, Brian ‘Ammo’ Amundsen took the pic. I forget why, but we were on top of some shit-scary mountain peak visiting a shrine and while we listened to the controlled detonation of land mines in the valley below.

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