A good ride....

Last January a good mate of mine wth a Mille and me with the T went on a 4 day jaunt to Bateman's Bay on the NSW south coast. The route was: Whittlesea - Yea - Mansfield - Whitfield - Wangaratta with a quick transport section to Wodonga - Tallangatta - Bullioh - Granya - Walwa - Tintaldra into Corryong for the first night. Followed up with Khancoban - Dead Horse Gap for the obligatory photos - Thredbo - Jindabyne and down to Cooma, Bega and Bateman's Bay. The reverse had us take in Cooma to Adaminaby - Kiandra and down the Tumut Pond dam road (Wow!) and back sort of the same way.

Here are a couple of shots long the way.

This is the pub in Corryong we stayed at. Very biker friendly - we got a free jug of beer at the end of the night and the publican regaled us with photos and stories of his riding days. His son rides a VFR800. I'd stay there again!


The bikes up in the mountains very close to the Snowy Mountain scheme hydro plant. It's fricken massive.


The T on a piss stop in a valley somewhere after 50 kms of tight twisties


Kozi National Park sign


A few shots of me and the bike on Dead Horse Gap.



After riding in 35 degree heat for two days we ran into this fog followed by rain and 10 degrees! It was taken on Brown Mountain, a great ride in the dry but a bit of a ******* in the wet.


Almost there!


Me, being smug. Loving the comfort of the T


This is in the Koziosko National Park. You can go a million miles an hour. We didn't of course...that would be wrong.


My mate Mark being all nochalant at Tumut Pond dam


Me being a thumbs up ******** at Tumut Pond dam


A really big rock.


The whole trip was a blast. I wrote a bit of a **** about the bike, mentioning the trip, over at netrider. this is the link if you want the whole bike-love story:
http://www.netrider.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50421&start=0

I hate you!!!

That is an awesome ride. I've been through the area only once, about 20 years ago though. I would love to do it again though, especially on the T.

How's that R Jays tank bag deyago? I'm looking at the same one for my tank, plus its cheaper brother for the rear seat.

Dave

will you lot cut it out :argh: the roads round Hertfordshire are rubbish, flat, full of pot holes, covered in speed cameras..ooh and water tis biblical here 40 days and 40 nights of rain.





I am havin a HOOOOOOGE sulk!:bawling

Just to rub it in - I had to go to Holbrook in NSW (about 45 min over the border) for a birthday on Saturday. Naturally we took the bikes. Me on the T and my fiancee on a VFR800. I took her the same way as my last trip north so once more I got to groove on through Kinglake West, Yea (great pies) then over to Mansfield which is the start of the Victorian Alps country. From Mansfield it was up and over the mountains via Whitfield then down to the wine region in the King Valley area. That was only about 4 hours of solid fun!

The way back was boring if that's any consolation.:lol

Dave, I'm not a big fan of this particular Rjays tank bag. It's held on by suction cups (the magnets aren't much use on a plastic tank) and because the tank isn't flat not all the cups grip all the time. It moves around a bit but it never came right off. I've used it twice and then bought a Bagster tank cover and bag instead. If you want a cheap solution it'll do - infact I can probably take a shot or two for you if you wanted a secondhand one, I wont be using it now I've got the Bagster system.

deyago said:

Just to rub it in - I had to go to Holbrook in NSW (about 45 min over the border) for a birthday on Saturday. Naturally we took the bikes. Me on the T and my fiancee on a VFR800. I took her the same way as my last trip north so once more I got to groove on through Kinglake West, Yea (great pies) then over to Mansfield which is the start of the Victorian Alps country. From Mansfield it was up and over the mountains via Whitfield then down to the wine region in the King Valley area. That was only about 4 hours of solid fun!

The way back was boring if that's any consolation.:lol

Dave, I'm not a big fan of this particular Rjays tank bag. It's held on by suction cups (the magnets aren't much use on a plastic tank) and because the tank isn't flat not all the cups grip all the time. It moves around a bit but it never came right off. I've used it twice and then bought a Bagster tank cover and bag instead. If you want a cheap solution it'll do - infact I can probably take a shot or two for you if you wanted a secondhand one, I wont be using it now I've got the Bagster system.

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Thanks heaps for rubbing salt into the wound (shuffling sounds as he slinks away to slit his wrists....):bawling:bawling:bawling
And NO, it is no consolation.:no

As fas as the tank bag goes: I bought some anti-slip matting from Clark Rubber today to fit under any bag I might fit to the T's tank: both to prevent slippage and to minimise any rub damage that might occur. I realise this particular bag's suction cups and magnets are like **** on a bull, so I'd be scratching my head as to how to secure it. Maybe some Adystrapz would do the job???:dunno

I really want to avoid fitting any rack or hard luggage system. So I'm flexible at this point in time, plus I'll not be doing any long hauls for a few weeks yet.
Some pics of both bags would be a big help. Please PM me regards your price for the R Jays unit, or just post a price if you really want to sell it. Is it the expanding one?

How does the Bagster unit go as far as scratching your tank is concerned? I have seen this combo and wondered whether it might cause some scrubbing on the paintwork if any dust/grit got underneath it.

BTW, I loved the pics you posted. It certainly is Godzone country in that neck of the woods. Keep 'em coming.

Cheers mate:cheers

Dave

I'll take some shots this week and put them up or send them to you. It might not be what you are after but you can see for yourself. It doesn't expand from memory, for the right tank it would be a handy small bag though. I'd want $40 plus postage, I think I paid about $100 when new.

I haven't noticed any scratches from the cover but I did worry about it a bit. The underside is soft padded and once on properly it doesn't move around so I don't think it will cause any damage.

Just FYI, I'm off to Lakes Entrance at the end of the month for a overnighter blatt with a bevvy of hoons and then back to Mansfield to spend the day cutting up the mountain roads around there. Of course there are the normal runs each weekend but these two will be special! I love Spring and Summer!

Hey there Deyago that area is GOLD.. I used to live in Croydon and then moved to Lakes Entrance for 5 years.. so i ran up and down the Great Alpine Road for years its awsome up to Hotham from Bruthen.
King Lake is great.. obviously you go up the Black Spur also and we continued on through Marysville to Lake Mountain but if its near winter **** its cold thats why i live in FNQ now. Lots of great runs but no where near the choice or the length of the runs back your way.. keep up the good work... cheers Towie

deyago said:

I'll take some shots this week and put them up or send them to you. It might not be what you are after but you can see for yourself. It doesn't expand from memory, for the right tank it would be a handy small bag though. I'd want $40 plus postage, I think I paid about $100 when new.

I haven't noticed any scratches from the cover but I did worry about it a bit. The underside is soft padded and once on properly it doesn't move around so I don't think it will cause any damage.

Just FYI, I'm off to Lakes Entrance at the end of the month for a overnighter blatt with a bevvy of hoons and then back to Mansfield to spend the day cutting up the mountain roads around there. Of course there are the normal runs each weekend but these two will be special! I love Spring and Summer!

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Cheers mate, some pics would be the go to helping me decide.:thumbup

I have gone a bit cold on the tankbag idea though, as I just bought a new 48 litre MotoDry tail bag. It straps to the underside of the pillion seat, as well as having a pair of inbuilt occys which fit straight onto the T's luggage mounting points - I'll post some pics soon. I just don't think I can get a smallish tank bag to fit properly without spending a small fortune.

Plus Motodry has some soft panniers which look promising as they are upswept to avoid the zorst.
http://www.motonational.com.au/product_details.php?pid=1100

Having those roads to ride, you must be in seventh heaven mate. I toured through there over 20 years ago, and camped at the Lakes Entrance caravan park. Memories of beautiful countryside and sublime riding conditions. the only trouble I had, was carrying around the extra 5kg of flies on my back. Man, they were thick!

Dave

Hein Gerick do some small panniers which are ideal for the T as they are very short, top to bottom and so are well clear of the pipes... also for a tank bag tis best to go 'Old School' and get one that ties on. I ended up using a small tail pack in thr end
.. I did lots of experimenting with my assortment of luggage, me an the GF are orf to france in a couple of weeks and Her Yamaha FZ6 is actually worse! to fit luggage to. Anyway heres a couple of pics, obviously i'm gonna be putting wonder web on the tank sos to not get it scratched.

I bought a set of Bagster sports saddlebags and they work really well too.Took me a little while to sort out the best way to attach them but after that I forgot about them. They keep out of the way of the pipe and can carry enough for one person for a few days. I'll be taking them and the tank bag to Tassie in January and don't expect to have to take a back pack as well. They're not the cheapest but the quality is good.

Hey Chunkylad, sorry about not getting the shots up yet. I lost the cable to my fiancee's camera for the computer. Probably be able to sort it out soon. Not trying to talk you out of it but I doubt it's what you are after. Still, you never know.

deyago said:

Hey Chunkylad, sorry about not getting the shots up yet. I lost the cable to my fiancee's camera for the computer. Probably be able to sort it out soon. Not trying to talk you out of it but I doubt it's what you are after. Still, you never know.

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Cheers Deyago

I have ordered a set of MotoDry sports panniers as well.

I do like to use a tankbag though. Not having a GPS unit, I like to make use of the map holder, as well as keeping odds and ends in one. A poorly fitted unit might be a right pain in the arse though.:dunno So, you're probably right, it may not be what I'm after.

Dave

That does look like a mighty fine ride:thumbup