RIDING DOWN UNDER

First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Robert and I have been living in Australia for 15 years. After riding Harleys for the last 50 years I have seen the light and am now the proud owner of a green and cream Valkyrie Tourer. Australia is the last frontier in terms of distance and isolation. To put things in perspective if you placed Australia over the map of North America the East and West coasts would be approximately the same at their widest points but the top end would be in Hudson Bay and the Southern tip would be in Florida. Yes it is large but very sparsely populated. The total population is around 17.5 million most of which is spread along the east coast in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The far North is tropical and the scenery changes character every 2 to 300 kilometers. The tallest mountains (hills really) are around 3000 feet and that is in the Snowy River country in the South. OK you now have the picture---a vast country with lots of variety of scenery and wildlife. I am from Canada and therefore I know what seasonal riding is and I also have lots of experience riding on super highways --- of which there are really none in Australia. The first thing to get used to is riding in the left hand lane. When first trying this I found that I always had to say to myself KEEP LEFT. The roads in the south and around the large cities are good and well marked for the most part but they are narrower than what we are used to in North
America. The next thing to remember is look to your right first ---- the vehicle on the right has the right of way.

Australia is a country of round abouts. This were inherited from England and they are the poor mans answer to traffic lights. These are probably the hardest thing to master of all the idiosyncrasies in Australia. Road signs over here are pretty standard and all distances and speed limits are in kilometers. This is a totally metric country as far as everything is concerned except the currency which is in dollars. One dollar Australian is presently 63 cents US. This means you guys can come on over and get great deals for your dollars.

Bike riding is very popular over here and as you suspected the Harleys are the dominate machine on the road. Petrol (gas) runs from about 58 to 85 cents per liters depending where you are. It is also very scarce in some places in the outback. (the center of Australia which is a huge desert). The scenery is gorgeous and the sky is mostly deep blue and huge. Riding a bike is a daytime function here as there are a lot of surprises around at night. First of all the kangaroo is a nocturnal animal and very numerous, but the first kangaroo you will see in Australia will probably be a dead one at the side of the road. Secondly the paddocks (farms) are not fenced therefore the cattle roam freely across the roads in the rural areas. Coupled with this there are Wombats down South and wild horses, camels and water buffalo in the outback. So for this reason I prefer to ride during daylight hours. 

In the tropical North where I live we have an abundance of great beaches, inland water falls and swimming holes and tropical rainforest. The restaurants on the highways are mostly the oil companies idea of fast food but there are McDonalds, Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and KFC in most of the small towns. The seafood is fresh and Abundant and usually quite well prepared. Wine is the best and the beer is very good. Sounds like paradise.   One of the real delights in bike riding here is being able to get away from traffic and congestion quickly. You can ride for days in some spots and see very little traffic. The highways in places become one lane--that's right one lane and you have to share the road by using only half of the lane when you approach on-coming traffic. These roads are used mainly by road trains. A road train is a tractor and up to five trailers behind it loaded with livestock. These guys stop for nothing.

I also forgot to mention this is the land of wild pigs. Pig shooting is big business here and for some reason the Germans buy all the pork we can ship.  One of the weirdest animals you will see here is a Goanna. This is a large lizard that looks like a prehistoric monster. It grows to five to six feet in length and is not to be fooled with. The Goanna has a reputation of climbing up the nearest tree very quickly if it feels threatened and if you look like a tree (standing still) it will go for you. These are flesh eating animals and they will easily take a large dog. I only once confronted one in the middle of the road in the rural roads and I gave it a wide berth.

The Honda organization is pretty well spread all over Australia therefore parts and service in most cases is not too far away. The cost of a new Valkyrie in Australia is around $25,000.00 plus registration and on road charges. We suffer at present from a lack of add-on accessories and also the latest news about new developments.  The Australian bike riders for the most part are friendly, helpful and love to camp out and party.

There are two or three types of riders here:
first is the dirt bike bush rider --- and there is an awful lot of bush to ride in.
Second is the hoon, rebel drug dealers with a big attitude problem. 
Third are the highway riders up to around 1100cc and
fourth are the cruiser long distance crowd of which I am one.

I said at the beginning that this is the last frontier and it is. You cannot compare America to this country because it has its own appeal without the hustle of all the daily pressures you have over there. The speech is different and the customs are different and neither is better than the other, but if you want to experience the great outdoors in a variety of settings then this is bikers heaven. We ride most of the year except when the monsoons come in January or February and then that is only for 3 or 4 weeks.

In closing I would like to hear from any of you Valkyrie or Gold Wind riders who would consider coming over and riding for 3 or 4 weeks with your bikes being shipped over in a container. I would gladly put together and escort you on a ride or just advise as you wish. (no charge). I hope I described adequately some of the flavour of Australia for bike riding. You can email me at flhtcu@ozemail.com.au or say hi on the GWRRA Valkyrie BBS. regards and ride safely,

Robert Down Under.
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