Motorcycle Adventures

My previous motorbikes were both small 250cc machines that were very much sports bikes. My first bike was a Honda CBR250RR which was painted in the Repsol Honda colours just like Mick Doohan's bike, who was the 500cc world champion at that stage. It was a pretty fast bike for a learner to have and I had a ball riding it around for a few years. I bought the bike as a write off after the previous owner had ridden it into the back of a car! I repaired and painted it myself and I must say, it looked pretty good and sounded great too with it's aftermarket exhaust system.

The second bike that I owned was a Suzuki Across. It was not quite as sporty as the CBR but it was still very sports bike in it's appearance. It had the unique "fake fuel tank" on top which was a great storage area for helmets, jackets or for a bit of shopping. I had that bike at the same time as the CBR as it was never meant to be my main ride. I only bought it as a project to do up and sell for a profit.

This time around I wanted something a little more comfortable to take on long rides and I also did not want to be limited by the occasional bad road that I might come across which is why in 2011, I chose the Vstrom for my current bike.

This was a ride that I did with a friend of mine in September 2011. From my house on the Gold Coast, we went over Springbrook Plateau and down through the Numimbah Valley and into Northern New South Wales and through Tyalgum before heading to breakfast at Murwillumbah. We ate with some other motorcyclists who we had bumped into just 30 minutes earlier while stopped at the border crossing lookout. They then went off in one direction and we decided to go out through the town of Uki at the base of Mount Warning and on to Nimbin.

Nimbin is a strange but fascinating town. It is famous throughout Australia and the world for that matter as a town that is very much for the smoking of marijuana and the use of hemp as a versatile and environmentally product. Writer Austin Pick described his initial impressions of the village this way: "It is as if a smoky avenue of Amsterdam has been placed in the middle of the mountains behind frontier-style building facades. ... Nimbin is a strange place indeed." The town went from a peaceful farming town to a counter culture haven overnight after an alternative "Hippie" festival was held in the town in 1973. The hippies never left and the town is a major tourist attraction these days, particularly with young backpackers.

From Nimbin, we headed back towards the coast through a series of tight and twisty roads that were a lot of fun. These are very visible on the map below. We joined the Pacific Highway near Mullumbimby and rode the freeway home to the Gold Coast from there. We had planned on heading back through Murwillumbah again and over Mount Tomewin, but time was against us as family duties called.

A friend of mine goes out here with this friends for breakfast every Friday morning regardless of the weather. It is a great ride that I have joined them on a few times. Leaving Nerang on the Gold Coast at 6am, we travel out over the top of Beechmont and then down the other side into Canungra for breakfast at this motorbike friendly cafe. This spot is hugely popular with motorcyclists from all over South East Queensland visiting here on weekends. It is not unusual to see close to 100 motorbikes lining the side of the road in this small country town on a weekend.

This was a ride that I went on with four friends in October 2011. Leaving from the Gold Coast we went west out through Canungra to Beaudesert where we then followed the Mt Lindesay Highway south through Rathdowney and into New South Wales. We split up at a spot just north of the town of Woodenbong (yes that is the real name of the town) with two friends taking a left through Kyogle and Nimbin before heading north back to the Gold Coast again.

That left my friend and I to turn around and do the nice winding section of the Mt Lindesay Highway once more in the opposite direction this time. What an awesome piece of road that is! We then turned west heading out on a long loop up and over the mountains where we stopped at Queen Mary Falls for lunch. This road was interesting as it had some creek crossings before getting very steep and tight leading us up into the clouds where visibility was limited. To make this particular section even more challenging, there were cows on the road that we had to look out for!

The road then took us out of the mist following the Queensland-New South Wales State Border through a beautiful plateau of land which afforded glimpses of amazing valley views as we road through. We did stop at one lookout called Carr's Lookout which is where this photo was taken of the Condamine Valley looking towards Wilsons Peak.

After a bite to eat we continued south along the road before turning left towards the town of Legume and then on to Woodenbong along the Mt Lindesay Highway once more. This section of road between Legume and Woodenbong was pretty rough but with my type of bike, it was not a problem. I would not recommend that you take a cruiser or a sports bike on this road though until they spend some money on resurfacing it.

It was very scenic though and before we knew it we had returned to the same place just north of Woodenbong where we had split up from our friends hours earlier. Then it was back through that awesome twisting piece of road again and back home the same way that we had come. 450 kilometres, great friends, awesome scenery and lovely winding roads made this the best ride that I have been on to date.

You know, some days you just feel like riding by yourself. This was one of those days for me, so on this particular Saturday morning I went out without telling any of my riding friends. I left home at 6am which was a little later than I had planned on leaving as I wanted to beat both the traffic and the heat of the day. As it turned out, the morning was overcast , with no rain and the roads were almost completely clear of traffic.

I came upon a few cars in front of me along the four hour ride, but luckily they either kept up a good pace, pulled over to let my pass or I came upon them in parts of the roads where it was easy to pass. In the best tight and twisty fun sections of road, there was no traffic at all. Gotta love days like these!


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