Trip Odometer: 11755km
Daily total: 624km

I made the decision to split from the Black Dog Ride, head for Brisbane and make a call to the suspension shop en-route once they open. I had a backup plan should they not be able to repair the fork seals, but that also required me getting to the shop before they left for the day.

I left Tamworth about 7am. I opted to go the New England Highway as I knew it would be relatively free from traffic, and it would also avoid the roadworks south of Ballina. I figured I should be able to cover the 600 kilometres in under 7 hours, and provided I can keep a moving average of close to 100kph, technically I should be closer to 6 hours. So no photo’s other than when I spotted the ‘Queenslander’ sign on the Border!

Aside from the cold, it was a pretty good run. The only real traffic I had to deal with outside of Brisbane was some school traffic heading into Armidale, and a few retirees and nomads doing the Stanthorpe wine runs.

I made a call to Suspension Improvements at around 9am and gave them a full rundown on my situation. I spoke to Steve, and he said provided I could get in before 2pm, they would fit the new fork seals for me. I rolled into their driveway at 1.15pm!

To their word, the bike was pushed into the workshop and repairs started immediately.

Before and and after

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I can’t recommend Suspension Improvements enough. Steve and Graham went out of their way to help get me sorted. They clearly know their business, and had me back on the road in under 2 hours.

I also need to pick up a new rear tyre. The current one is toast, a bit earlier than I hoped at just under 12000km’s. Its probably got 1000km left in it, but not enough to make Cairns. I also want to get the tyre shop (Dave Oliver’s) to take a look at the wear pattern so I can get advice on correct pressures. Dave has kindly offered to open up his shop early so he can fit me in.

Once the new tyre is fitted, it will be time to repack the bike and try and catch up with the rest of the riders as they pass through Brisbane.

Trip Odometer: 10648km
Daily total: 390km

Temperature at the Canberra camp dropped to -4.5degC overnight. It was very hard to get out of the warm swag and into the cold. Of course, everything was covered in ice, so my hands were freezing after packing up.

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After a cup of coffee and some toast and packing up the last of the gear, it was time to head to the briefing. I underestimated Canberra traffic, and only just made it to the briefing site in time. After the brief we started out toward Crookwell via Gurrundah, but there was confusion with GPS’ and we ended up doing some dirt into Crookwell.

Once in Crookwell, we were supposed to head to Bathurst via Trunkey Creek. However the road from Crookwell to Trunkey has only been fully sealed for 6 months, so our GPS’ were trying to route us via Goulbourn then back out to Bathurst. Eventually the ride organisers called up the Trunkey pub who got us sorted, so we backtracked back to Crookwell, and then hit some of the best motorcycling roads I have ridden in some time. After a great ride, we pulled into the Black Stump pub at Trunkey for a late lunch.

It was here that someone pointed out to me the oil leaking from the left hand fork. It was immediately obvious that fork seal had blown out. I put in a quick call to Team Moto in Brisbane, but they were unable to get a replacement seal fast enough to do the work on Saturday when I would be in Brisbane. So I am going to have to get it repaired in Cairns by the look of it. I will make a few more calls tomorrow to see if I can figure something out.

After lunch, it was off of to Bathurst. I rode at the back of the group and took it pretty easy on this leg to try and prevent more oil leaking from the fork seal. We rode straight to Mt Panorama for a lap and a few pics.

I departed before everyone else to head to Super Cheap Auto to pick up some rags and degreaser to attempt to stem the flow of oil down the forks and potentially into the brakes. A rag cable tied around the seal should suck up any oil before it becomes a problem, and I can replace the rag when it becomes saturated.

Trip Odometer: 10165km
Daily total: 492km

TODAY I CRACKED THE 10000km mark! Only about another 16000km till I get back home.

We assembled at the caravan park at 7am to see off the Victorian Riders. Once they departed we did a quick brief and gave them half an hour to get well ahead of the Around Australia Riders.

Finally today we managed nearly a full day of Sunshine. I started a bit cloudy, but old yella was trying to part the clouds. After departure from Lakes Entrance, we headed toward Cann River. A coffee and a hot pie was desperately needed here to help combat the cold.

From Cann River it was off to Cooma via Bombala and Nimmitabel. By now the sun had fully emerged, and the clouds had departed. This was not much help as we climbed up into the great dividing range and watched the temperature drop to 5 degrees. Still, the riding more than made up for the cold. I have done a lot of the roads in this area, and they really are quiet beautiful. They are also great for motorcycles. This road however, I have never travelled on, so it was good to check out some new country.

Once in Cooma, it was time to refuel, and then we had an hour to spare to have a look around. I have been through Cooma and the main street many times, but I have never had a real good look around the place. I headed up to Nanny Goat Hill Lookout for some photo’s with Winston.

We departed Cooma and were intercepted by the Australian Federal Police for an official escort into Canberra.

When we arrived in Canberra, I parked up the bike only to see coolant leaking out underneath. Given I am not even half way through the ride yet, I had a sinking feeling. After looking closely, it was clear that the coolant had come from the overflow pipe. There was still coolant in the overflow bottle, but not much. The bike never overheated, and the thermofan was working fine. After setting up camp, I took the bike down to the local Triumph dealer in Canberra. They suggested that its quite common, and not to be concerned. They also said it would probably never happen again! I topped up the coolant tank and so far so good.

Camp tonight is at the exhibition grounds, about 6km from the rest of the crowd. There is only 2 of us game enough to attempt the Canberra night in a tent and swag. Tonight’s forecast is -1degC, and tomorrow is -3degC. I have had worse!

Trip Odometer: 9147km
Daily total: 402km

This post comes a day late. I really hit the wall yesterday (I write this on Day 10), and was battling fatigue all day. I decided to sit out all the formal proceedings and get an early night. Needless to say, that fatigue also meant very little time was spent taking photographs, but I did get some!

It was yet another early start today. with a 7am briefing. This does not seem too early, but the sun does not rise until after 7am in this part of the world. It was also a bit of a new experience as the number of riders in the leg swelled to over 100. I rode out toward the end of the pack, and the sight of the riders as far as you can see was a bit of spectacle.

Departure was at 7.30 for Portland. This took us via some pretty neat coastal roads which I have travelled before, but still enjoyed thoroughly. We arrived to a warm welcome at Fawthrop Community Centre in Portland and as usual, the reception left me speechless. Morning tea here was organised by several community groups and was so much more than I had expected. I have said it before, but the support we are getting from the community is beyond overwhelming. Its clear the black dog touches more people than we think.

On the way to our lunch stop, we stopped briefly in Warrnambool for a a quick photo shoot with the local press.

After fueling up on food at Portland, we headed to Mortlake for lunch. Once again, lunch was hosted by the Lions club, another stellar effort.

The final ride for the day was on to Ballarat. Most of the riders stayed at Sovereign Hill, but half a dozen of us peeled off to camp at the local caravan park. I opted out of the group dinner tonight and chose to get some sleep.

Trip Odometer: 8262km
Daily total: 542km

We departed Port Augusta back over Horrocks pass and onto Wilmington. It started of nice and sunny, but once over the Flinders Range the sun dissappeared and the temp drop to around 7 degrees and stayed there just about all day.

The first stop was Jamestown for a quick top up of the fuel tanks and to try and warm up a bit.

Departing Jamestown, we then headed to Clare for a morning tea supplied by Woolies. Woolies is a sponsor of the Black Dog Ride, although I am unsure of the extent of their involvement with the ride.

Off to Robertstown for lunch. $10 bbq. Nice little pub in a interesting little town. So many of these small towns in South Australia have a lot of history, but its near on impossible to get a full understanding of it all. There are so many old buildings that I am sure have plenty of stories to tell. We also did a quick refuel at Robertstown before heading off.

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With a quick fuel stop at Truro, we had an awesome ride through some fantastic Adelaide wine country into Goolwa. The campers headed off to the unpowered sites up the back, where we quickly discovered an unused camp kitchen that was cleary there for peak season overflow. A couple of us rolled out the swags in the unused space, and we all parked our bikes undercover. It was nice to wake up with a fully dry tent.

Off to Goolwa RSL for dinner provided by the Lions. Goolwa RSL is struggling with members, but is a trove of memorabilia. Once could spend quite a few hours in here looking at everything on the walls.

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Goolwa lions presented the Black Dog Ride with a cheque for $1000, and the RSL also kicked in a couple of hundred dollars.

I am not even going to pretend to know where went today. I knew a few of the places in the Adelaide Hills, but that’s about it. It was mostly all new country for me.