American Adventurist Down Under

[Greg]

A seven day solo motorcycle adventure touring Australia’s Grampians National Park, Great Ocean Road, and Blue Mountains National Park with resources and advice on what to bring, what not to bring, and suggestions for what to do when you get there.

Day 1: Arrival and Picking Up the Bike
I had reserved a BMW R1200GS with BikeRoundOz since I currently own and ride the same bike. I wouldn’t be dealing with becoming familiar with it or how it handles while at the same time getting learning to ride on the left. What I didn’t know was that they had set me up with a Rallye. This is a sweet bike.

One reason why I brought a JetBoil was that I knew Anaconda in Melton had the fuel...

Continue reading...

 

[Doug]

Great report, great photos, and helpful information for those planning a similar trip! Thanks Greg.

 

[Bryanseye]

Awesome. Needs the appropriate image for the southern hemisphere.

 

[richard310]

Nice report @Greg . You're making my ADV itch grow larger! I'm getting that much closer to making the leap to adventure on two wheels, on top of 4-wheel adventuring...

 

[Dave]

Nice report @Greg . You're making my ADV itch grow larger! I'm getting that much closer to making the leap to adventure on two wheels, on top of 4-wheel adventuring...

Yes! Can't wait to see you and the missus 2 up on a KTM

 

[Steve & Deb]

What a wonderful adventure, @Greg! Thank you for taking us along to enjoy with you.

It has to be weird on a bike riding on the left side of the road. I mean, it has to be weird in general, but getting the lines right on a twisty road are more important on two wheels than four. In a butt-clincher, my intuition would be to take the "wrong" side of the road.

 

[Greg]

Nice report @Greg . You're making my ADV itch grow larger! I'm getting that much closer to making the leap to adventure on two wheels, on top of 4-wheel adventuring...

Thank you.

The thought of doing both at the same time has crossed my mind multiple times. Get something like a MX hauler for the Tacoma and use it as a base. I haven't though because when the weather is nice highway travel on the GS is great. It's like a Zen moment for me. I guess that's one reason why I can just get on and go 600, 700 miles in a day.

Of course there are the days where I'm hating life

 

[Greg]

What a wonderful adventure, @Greg! Thank you for taking us along to enjoy with you.

It has to be weird on a bike riding on the left side of the road. I mean, it has to be weird in general, but getting the lines right on a twisty road are more important on two wheels than four. In a butt-clincher, my intuition would be to take the "wrong" side of the road.

Thanks!

Unlike being in a car where your position and controls have changed the bike's were exactly the same. I didn't have that unfamiliarity to deal with at the same time and after about the second day it felt natural for the most part. There were maybe 3-4 times in curves where the perspective combined with oncoming traffic to make me think someone was in my lane. But then everything would quickly click and sort out that I was in the left lane and they were in the right. Luckily I didn't run into situations where I was tested in one of those moments.

Generally most drivers stayed in the travel lanes and rarely parked in the passing lanes and a campaign for motorcycle awareness made riding a lot more enjoyable.

 

[Bryanseye]

What a wonderful adventure, @Greg! Thank you for taking us along to enjoy with you.

It has to be weird on a bike riding on the left side of the road. I mean, it has to be weird in general, but getting the lines right on a twisty road are more important on two wheels than four. In a butt-clincher, my intuition would be to take the "wrong" side of the road.

What I found the hardest to get used to was simply crossing a street/intersection. You don’t realize how conditioned you are to look left first at the near lane and begin to proceed as you turn right to the far lane. Well, you better hope nobody is coming from the right because that is closer than you think.

 

[Greg]

What I found the hardest to get used to was simply crossing a street/intersection. You don’t realize how conditioned you are to look left first at the near lane and begin to proceed as you turn right to the far lane. Well, you better hope nobody is coming from the right because that is closer than you think.

Yeah. Even a mnemonic didn't help.