Living in the real world
We take our project bike out on Aussie roads
Why are people always in a rush? It’s especially noticeable on the road, with people darting here and there. It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s the same everywhere: people trying to get from point A to B in the quickest time. Yes, I admit it, I suffer the same condition from time to time; arriving at point B then saying, gee wasn’t that great but then coming to the realisation that I never really saw a thing along the way.
It’s my opinion that with the busy lives we all lead these days we all need to slow down a little and smell the roses. We need time to get away and unwind — away from the everyday stuff, such as work. It doesn’t even matter where you go — or for how long you go, for that matter — just as long as you do it to recharge your batteries and regain some sanity! Earlier this year, the Bear and I decided to do exactly that, so we packed the bikes and escaped. We headed south out of Sydney for a nice and fairly slow three-day ride taking in some of New South Wales’ great scenery along the Monaro Highway and the great towns along the way.
The destination was to be the Genoa Hotel and if you’ve never been there before, it’s just south of the NSW/Victorian border along the Princes Highway. It’s not your typical country town because only a handful of people still live there, but it has a pub. And it may be a little run down and in need of a lick of paint plus a few other things that need attention, but this is not about the pub or the guys we planned on meeting, or the icy cold beer behind the bar… No. This is about time and getting away from it all.
For this trip we decided to take our new long-termer: a 2009 Harley-Davidson Street Bob. Bob came to us earlier this year and if you’ve read the previous issue of Cruiser you’d know that our new long-termer wasn’t as comfortable as I’d hoped. But that’s OK because part of our deal with Harley-Davidson was that we were allowed to change a few things on the bike that we thought it needed and, yes, the first thing to go was the solo seat to be replaced with a dual seat. Just as a matter of interest, if you are going to carry a pillion check out the seats first because the one we chose wouldn’t be a good choice for a pillion but from a rider’s perspective it was better than the one fitted because it suited me.
Back to the trip. The ride to Genoa takes in some great roads and, if you’re not in a hurry, stop and take a break in some of the great little towns along the way. They really are worth stopping for.
Bob’s fuel consumption is good and was returning around 25km per litre
In true Australian tradition, the ride to and from where I live was around 1200km round trip and it was just what the doctor ordered. I’m glad I did it. As it turned out it was a good choice because it gave me some proper hours in the saddle to see what this late model H-D was really like and capable of on the open road, rather than being used as a daily commuter. I was more than happy with the way things worked out over the weekend.
Since then, Bob’s mainly been used for the daily commute to work and back, plus the occasional long rides over a weekend just to clear the cobwebs. You’ll be reading a little more about it before it goes back to H-D.
JA