Motorcycle Adventures

Hi Again,

Here are a few photos from the trip.  The weather really wasn’t ideal for photos and it was difficult to stop to take them when the weather was favorable.  Here are a few photos:

It has been a wonderful week and weekend of riding.

The wet weather finally abated late last week allowing for some great riding over the last couple of days.  As part of the break-in process I had to be careful not to ride too long on the freeway, but I managed to get some great riding in over my long weekend despite the restrictions.  It feels so great to be back on the bike again!

On Saturday I took off to visit the famous Phillip Island.  This is an attraction that all tourists visiting Melbourne seem to visit.  Mainly this is for a local Penguin colony that resides on the island.  At dusk they come out of the water to sit on the rocks during the night.  I meanwhile came for the ride and not the penguins.  It was a lovely ride, though it was a relatively short distance that ended up taking almost all day.

Sunday took me to the Mornington Peninsula for a shorter morning ride.  The road winds it way along the coast, though I can’t say this was my favorite ride.  It’s clearly a nice place to live, but as the road doesn’t actually follow the water and spends most it’s time in reasonably thick traffic it’s a bit like riding through the CBD.  The rest of the day was spent with Nicole.  We had a wonderful time together.

On Monday I enjoyed a full day of riding.  The route took me from Melboune to a town called Shepperton, then through to Bendigo and home again.  It was a wonderful ride through beautiful countryside and great little towns.  I didn’t stop much to explore but look forward to doing so in the future.  It will be nice to take some more time in these little towns.  Bendigo in particular is a place we would love to spend more time in – it was the place we found the Bats on our last trip, but didn’t have more time to explore.  The route below is roughly where I went however I took a number of smaller roads to keep the freeway driving to a minimum.  It was a long day, but a great day!

Again, I didn’t do much stopping – it was really all about the riding this day, but I did take a couple snapshots.  Nothing of incredible beauty, but I did come across a grocery store that has shaded parking for all the cars – I thought this was such a great idea…  Keep the cars cool while you shop.. How great is that.

Saturday was the big day!  Off to buy my new Burgman.  I was up at 6, and out the door by 7am.  It took almost an hour and half to get to the dealership. I got there just after they opened, signed paperwork, and was off only half and hour later.  Of course there was a lot more to the transaction than that, but it had all been taken care of in the previous days.  The guys at the dealership were great – I’ll go back there for maintenance.

It was great to feel so at home on my new Burgman.  Though I have driven about 600km since I’ve been here, that driving wasn’t nearly as comfortable as riding the new Burgman.  I was instantly at home.  It was great.

Since getting home after picking up supplies, I’ve spent almost two complete days working on installing the communication system and GPS.  I had forgotten just how much work this was initially, and this time around I had a few more challenges as I was installing things a little bit differently (a little bit better) than before.  All told the installation took about 14 hours to complete the installation.

Here are a couple photos of the new Burgman, alone with one while things were being installed.

I’m so excited to have my Burgman back again.  It’s been a long time for me and this new freedom is really exciting.  I’ve already booked 6 long weekends for vacation in the next 3 months!  Not all will be for rides, but 4 of them have been set aside for motorcycle adventures!

After finishing the final install I went for a nice ride along the coast to test things out.  The communications system seems to work perfectly so far and I’m pleased to say better than it did in Vancouver!  I was able to listen to music, hear the GPS through it, and even make phone calls!  The new GPS is really fantastic.  Along with the typical GPS mapping features, it tells me what the current speed limit is, and even alerts me to traffic and speed cameras.  It’s great to know where I’m going!!

I’m totally thrilled – can’t wait to go for a long ride!!

OK…. So I won’t go into the long storey about how we decided to do this, but I’m very pleased to announce that I’m going to be geting a brand new Suzuki Burgman 650 Exec!!!

I’m very excited.  I missed my Burgman and I can’t wait to get on and go for some long rides!!!

So colour choices are wide and varying for this years modle in Australia.  There is a choice between silver, silver, and silver  So I’ve decided, after much deliberation, to choose silver

We have a couple bills to take care of in the next couple of weeks, and then I’ll be heading to the dealership.  So if all goes as planned, and I do like to plan, I’ll be picking up my new Burgman on January 15th!

I’ve already found the dealer that I want to buy from.  They are a little bit of a train ride away, but that will give me a chance to enjoy the Burgman on the way back!  I found them more than a year ago if I’m honest.  They have been incredibly helpful – answering all my questions (and I had many!) in great detail over email.  If they are as nice in person as they have been over the Internet than it should be a great experience.

I’ve already told them about my plans, so I hope to have all paperwork done well in advance.  Then I can sign everything on the 15th and ride away..

Of course part of the fun will be getting the Burgman back to where it was in Vancouver – with all the things that made it perfect…  The windscreen will likely be first as it’s the thing that gives the added comfort, then the communications system so I can listen to music, and finally the GPS so I can find my way.  I’ll have to save for those things over the next few months.

Most of all though, I can’t wait just to go for a ride!

It’s been a year and 5 days since I sold my Burgman.  A year and 5 days of incredible adventure.

In our plans we had initially put aside enough money to be able to buy back our motorcycles once we arrived in Melbourne and set ourselves up.  Sadly things didn’t go quite as planned and Nicole had to wait much longer than expected to get paperwork taken care of.  This paperwork was holding her back from working the job that she secured months earlier.

The money saved up to allow us to buy motorcycles quickly left as we waited and built up our new home.  Despite this the move has been an incredible success and one of the best choices we have made.  We are happier and less stressed now than ever before, and we are excited to be in a city that still feels new an exciting.

With all the success we have experienced, the biggest frustration for me remains that I don’t have my Burgman.  Ever since my first vehicle, it having a vehicle that I can call my own and escape in has been incredibly important to me.  With our new lifestyle we have chosen not to own a car.  That choice has amplified my urge to have my Burgman again.  Not make matters even more frustrating, we have decided not to go back into any debt.  That includes loans for vehicles… So the wait continues.

There is now some light at the end of the tunnel.  We have now bought all the household items that we need to live a very comfortable life.  We have also paid off debt left over from our move in Canada.  Now we can begin saving again.

We have decided to buy a small scooter to give us a little bit of mobility until we can afford our fancy bikes.  It will be small, but it will be nice to get back on two wheels again.  We hope that we can afford this in about 2 months.  So long as there are no unexpected vet bills or other surprises it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

We are thinking of two different models:

The Piaggio Fly 150 is my current favorite.  I love the styling on this one.  It has enough power to get us around on shorter trips, and it looks comfortable and well built.  It has a two year warranty and is quite affordable for the size and quality.

The other contender at a very similar price is the new Honda PCX.  This little scooter has a couple interesting features.  It’s a 125cc engine – just a little smaller than the Piaggio, but it incorporates some new technology.  To save fuel, it automatically shuts off when at idle for more than a few seconds.  It them starts again instantly as you twist the trottle.

I love the idea of this but I’m concerned about it at the same time.  If the engine wasn’t perfectly tuned I could foresee a time when the engine would simple not start, or would have a delayed start.  Either would make ride the scooter really problematic.  With it being new technology for this application, I’m a little hesitant to be an early adopter.

I styling is sexy and modern, but doesn’t look quite as comfortable as the Piaggio.  Thus I am still leaning towards the tried and trusted technology, but more investigation, and ultimately perhaps a test-ride or at least some time spent in the saddle will be needed to see which of these is the best bet.

Since insurance is cheap and so is maintenance of little scooters like these, we may end up keeping our little scoot even after we buy our larger bikes.  Having a small and nimble machine might be perfect for running those quick errands around town.  We want to make the right choice.

At the same time, planning begins for buying my new Burgman.  I can’t wait to get back on and go for a long ride.  I am already thinking about the weekend trips I will take. I have already begun researching how to best outfit the bike.  I’ve already picked up the GPS unit and the communications system that I will use.  I plan to make a few changes to my previous installations that will make the experience just a little bit better than it was buy using equipment specifically designed for motorcycle use rather than modified for use on a motorcycle.

If all goes well I hope to be heading to the dealer to pick up a new Burgman around the same time next year…  Hopefully.

Well  Things are going well in Australia.  Melbourne is wonderful.  Funds are tight however and so our new bikes are still off in the distant horizon.  While we wait to be able to afford our new dream machines we are thinking that getting a little scooter to keep us happy until then might be a good idea.

The Piaggio Fly 150 is on the top of the list.  It’s not powerful but for the flat Melbourne city landscape it would be a great little machine for getting around. It wouldn’t be a contender for long distance adventures for more than a few reasons, but it might fill the void temporarily and allow for some exploring where transit doesn’t take us.  Long term it would also make for a great little thing to have a round for short hops the store or to meet friends etc.

Despite all that funds are not around for this cute little fellow yet.  Time will tell.