It was my birthday last week (lucky me) and as a present from everyone I got my first GoPro Hero HD camera (big thank you’s to everyone). After watching so many videos of other riders and their amazing rides I really wanted to record mine also, and have some videos with my stories. I’ve bought [...]

So it’s April already and the colder temperatures are coming. Time to sneak in another weekend day ride before more cold and rainy months arrive. Since owning my SV I’ve been a member of the SVDownUnder forum. A place for all SV owners to come together and boast about their beautiful machinery and chat about other things [...]

Yamaha Academy, Adventure Bike Course Last weekend it was off road time for the BMW R1200GS and its rider, learning how to keep the ‘shiny side up’ as they call it. Arriving at the training area in Merton near Bonnie Doon, Big Al’s property, I noticed a whole bunch of real trail bikes and only [...]

For Maurits’ 50th birthday he received great presents, one of which is a 2 day course in offroad motorcycle riding by Yamaha Adventure Offroad in Merton. Maurits has been riding his R1200GS for a number of years, but has never undertaken any offroad courses. So we all thought it was time to throw him and [...]

An awesome gift: for my 50th birthday, Joost and Bas arranged a two-day off road course for big-bore adventure bikes. I’m really excited and a bit scared at the same time…. It’s happening next week.

Rough Northwest Tasmania The trip was a great success, and it’s always sad to leave Tasmania behind but we’ll be back! Taking the bike on the Spirit was a breeze; you’re reasonably quick on (no waiting in line on Beach Road) and one of the first off. You can untie the bike and the centre [...]

Pic: Waiting for the FatMan ferrie at Corinna Although these German-engineered Panniers have the great feature of limiting space when empty  and extending when required, we discovered that dust plays havoc with the mechanism. We went on a great ride on the gravel roads of North-Western Tassie (see other articles) and were extremely lucky with [...]

Very soon Mylene and I will board the Spirit and head for friends in Gunns Plains, Tasmania. From there we will embark on a 4 day, 600km,  trip via Arthur River, Corinna (do the Pieman River cruise), stay in Waratah twice and ride many kilometres off road. The first pictures are of the Duvel being [...]

As all motorcycle riders know, greeting other riders on the road is something we only do to other riders, not even scooters. It’s the act of recognising another person in the exclusive world of motorcycles. It’s this understanding that makes riding a bike so much fun. But after riding for a couple of years and [...]

Today I left Canberra after spending a week and a half with my girlfriend. This of course wasn’t in the original travel plans, but it has been very nice since I don’t get to see her very often. I did do some travelling around Canberra which has been fun. Stephen of course is still repairing [...]

After being at my beautiful girlfriends house for the last few days in Canberra, it was time to press on North. I left Canberra nice and early so I could take my time. My plan was to go North to Bathurst then East to the Blue Mountains. Firstly I took the most direct route to [...]

It has been some adventure riding from Omeo to Canberra. Our route would take us over Mt Hotham to Bright, then to Tallangatta via Mt Baw Baw. Here we would head East to the Kosciusko Mountain ranges to Cooma and then North to Canberra. Our first day of riding was a cold day so we [...]

It’s Tuesday morning and we are having breakfast in Omeo. Mum and dad came along to Moe on the bike which was heaps of fun. We went via Yarra Junction which means lots of windy roads. And I must say both bikes were handling fine with all the added weight. From Moe it were long [...]

1 night to go and we are of on the roads. We’ve been busy all day packing, unpacking and repacking. Trying to find what to take and how to pack it as easily as possible and what should be on which bikes. I also want to do a “shout out” to my great parents and [...]

Well, after looking at lots of maps and talking to many other riders, we have finally got an idea of how we want to ride from Canberra to Brisbane. The main things we wanted to see were Bathurst, Blue mountains, Nymboi Binderay park, Casino, Border Ranges park, and the Gold Coast. Which is a nice [...]

As the deadline nears the trip route keeps on changing. I’m getting input from lots of people about places to visit, meaning the route keeps changing. But this way we do get to see awesome places. I say we as another rider is coming along on this journey. Stephen, an old friend from primary school [...]

Melbourne, and most of the east coast for that matter, has been having lots of rain and bad weather this winter and early spring. Which is good for the farmers but less for us riders. Today we were in luck with a beautiful day. Around 20 degrees and no cloud in the sky. So of [...]

Let me explain. Stage one is planning the trip. Part one, is the first stretch of the journey. As I’ve already explored the coastal areas before by car I want to stick to the inland roads for the first part of the journey. These roads will lead me through the National Alpine area of Victoria [...]

Well, winter is over and spring is in the air. The temperature is slowly rising to a more pleasant number. So it’s time to start planning for my trip. Coming summer I’m going to travel through Australia for some time. But before I do I need to plan my trip. Where I’m going and what [...]

Over time I discovered that fuel economy, smoothness of the engine and general sound (less pinging) certainly has a relationship with the depth of my pockets… Trying different brands and octane levels concluded that in general 95 ron and better were always doing fine, but since the introduction of Ethanol, this balloon does not fly [...]

Because of regular travel on the Western Hwy, the sign “Werribee Gorge State Park” became more and more a challenge for a visit rather than just a bit of “useful” information. Yesterday we saddled up and had a leisurely ride, the long way, to Bacchus Marsh for a coffee and some juice for the bike. [...]

Nothing bad to report luckily, all is going well, the tires perform excellent, off road as well as on tarmac. Braking hard on wet asphalt causes the ABS to engage a little bit faster than with road tires, but you should prevent a powerful use of the brakes anyway. The fuel consumption has decreased a [...]

A couple of weeks ago I traded in my old VTR 250 for a Suzuki SV1000. It was one of those days where you are “just looking” at bikes and at the end of the day, after a test ride you come home with a deposit on a new bike. The SV1000 is a V-Twin [...]

Yesterday we had a nice ride to friends in Sandringham to have a look at their newborn baby daughter. Afterwards we rode along the bay to Parkville for lunch and then via Edithvale into the interesting empty fields of Bangholme (never heard of…) in the direction of Narre Warren to cross over the M1 to [...]

Easter Weekend 2009 Easter, a religious holiday weekend, or in my view an excuse to get away on the bike for a couple of days. This time it was the Great Alpine Rd’s turn. It is said that this is one of the most challenging roads in the Alpine National Park in Victoria, so I [...]

Today Joost and I went for a drive towards the East to experience the off-road from Warburton to Healesville via Mt. Donna Buang. We went via Warrandyte, Wonga Park to Coldstream. Crossing the Melba Hwy and keep going via Killara Rd till you come to the Warburton Hwy. Onwards to Warburton for lunch and then [...]

In preparation of our big Tour-d-Australia, or MotoDuvelRun, it seems a good idea to try some tires, which can take us through dirt, rivers and other nasties we will come across. After searching the Web and consulting the BMW service at M.B.Motorcycles, Ringwood, VIC, we discovered the first set of Heidenau K60 Endurance tires, which [...]

Moday 16/02/09 Yesterday Andrew and I went for a great 3 and a half hour ride. And since I have an iPhone with GPS I decided that I wanted to track the way we rode. But half way through the journey my battery died of my phone. Andrew made a great comment, “It would be [...]

Sunday 15th of Feb 2009. Today, Andrew and I decided to go for a morning ride through the outer east of Melbourne. Andrew is a friend of mine but also a lecturer at my University. And he recently bought a Honda CBR 600 F. Since the weather forecast was 26 degrees with some cloud cover, [...]

First of all, sorry for not updating any sooner. I wanted to update regularly via my iPhone, but I didn’t have a 3G connection in Lorne. So, Jan 11th, we left for Lorne at around 10 Am. But instead of riding directly we decided to go the long way round the Port Phillip bay. Riding [...]

Tomorrow, Sunday the 11th of Jan, my dad and I are of on the bikes to Lorne. My brother and the girls(mum, Alicia and Tamara) are taking the car with all the gear for the week at Lorne. They will be taking the direct route across Melbourne, where as us on the bikes will be [...]

I was looking through YouTube when I stumbled across these video’s of the worlds first ABS system on a Superbike. ABS systems have already been installed on some bikes, for example Maurits’ BMW 1200 GS has ABS, but it has never been installed on a Superbike before because of the high speeds. Honda has installed [...]