DAVE'S VIEWPOINT

Perspective of a motorcyclist – A travel diary

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Category: The Everyday Italian

15/03/201615/03/2016davesviewpoint

The Everyday Italian: 38000km Tyre Change

07/12/201507/12/2015davesviewpoint

The Everyday Italian: 1199 hits 30000kms

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  • Africa Twin Across The Australian Outback 2017 (15)
  • Bike Life (18)
  • Europe 2018 on the R NineT (6)
  • Panigale ADV – A Divergent Italian – 2015 Summer Road Trip (6)
  • Panigale ADV – A Divergent Italian – 2015 Winter Road Trip (8)
  • Panigale Around Australia 2016 (28)
  • The Everyday Italian (2)
  • The Grom Tourer (9)
Hanging out with the gang 😎😎😎 🤙🤙🤙 #copsaretops #TheyMadeMeWriteThisHashtag #OrElseRiskImprisonment #bmw #s1000r #motorrad #makelifearide #motorcycle #travel #roadtrip #commuter #bikelife #adventure #biker #dualsport #sydney #australia #HashtagsLikeATeenageGirl
Just read on the news that a 31yo Perth man died over the weekend at the Kimberleys in northern WA during a solo adventure trip on his black Africa Twin. According to various sources, it is suspected that heat exhaustion was the cause of death after getting stranded in a remote area where temperatures were exceeding 40°C. This one got rather close to heart as it reminded me of when I was doing some massive distances before I dropped the Africa Twin at Innamincka, SA, a time when the winter season was a comparatively cooler 30°C. Despite the cooler conditions, both the preceding ride time and consequent effort required to collect myself still got so much out of me to the extent that I needed a total break for an hour under the shade with plenty of water. Always be mindful for this upcoming summer when you embark on your festive season road trips of how quickly the harsh Australian climate can affect not only your physical state but also your decision making process. RIP fellow AT rider 🙏.. #honda #africatwin #crf1000l #adventure #roadtrip #dualsport #motorcycle #travel #australia #summer #innamincka #cameroncorner #southaustralia #desert
Visited the ol' wheelie strip at Sydney Olympic Park. I guess the rumours were true. They even corrected the original typo "Debit Recovery" 😅😅 #ThanksTrump #AndOtherPointlessHashtags 👎👎👎 #bmw #makelifearide #s1000r #motorrad #sportbike #motorycle #weekend #sydney #olympicpark #homebush #australia #roadtrip #bikelife
#PhotoFail ... Moved way too much for the long exposure in this one. Tried going for a proper shot, then the GorillaPod mount for the camera slipped off at the last second. Just my luck when I went for another one that the battery runs out 🤦 The mellow snowy background and the softly lit stars of the night brings me back to it all, so I like it. Insta-worthy enough to be uploaded, in a cyberworld full of perfectly flawless photographs.. Btw, 1705m is pretty damn high up for us Australians 😄 The highest road in our predominantly flat country is at the peak of Mount Hotham not too far from where this pic was taken, standing 1840m above sea level 🏔️ #honda #crf250 #rally #crf250rally #adventure #travel #roadtrip #motorcycle #camping #greatalpineroad #mountain #mounthotham #victoria #australia
The Aussie ice wall, caving in! Always love this part of Australia, the Snowy Mountains + the Victorian High Country. Around this time last year, I rode down to Phillip Island on my Africa Twin for the MotoGP event. Busier with life this time around, so I'll have to watch the live race coverage from my own screen this coming weekend. If you're riding down from Sydney, please make me jealous by snaking through the thousands of turns across Australia's mountainous alpine twisties 😅 #honda #crf250rally #crf250 #rally #motogp #adventure #travel #camping #roadtrip #nature #motorcycle #dualsport #snowymountains #mounthotham #australia
Love my asymmetrical headlights 😉 Looking to get some accessories for the CRF250 Rally. Things that I need soon are side pannier racks to mount some Rotopax canisters, crash bars to install the Denali LED auxillary lights that I previously had on the Africa Twin, and multiple 12V socket chargers that are able to recharge my laptop. Hopefully get them all done in the next month, so that I can start on future routes for this baby adventure tourer 🌏 #honda #crf250 #crf250rally #adventure #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #camping #roadtrip #travel #overland #arai #xd4 #sydney #australia
Aww, take a look at the Aprilia.. wanting to join the asymmetrical headlight squad by blowing out a light bulb on one side.. Oh yeah, almost forgot to tell you. Impulsively right after buying the CRF250 Rally a fortnight ago, I snapped up an S1000R because it was a deal too good to miss. I hate having clutter in my garage, so the Ape had to go the other day. Gonna miss that V4 thunder, but the crackle of the inline-four Beemer as I roll off the throttle is a pretty sound too.. Gotta love the annual Spring clean 🍃😏 #bmw #s1000r #motorrad #makelifearide #adventure #motorcycle #sportbike #landscape #nature #spring #aprilia #rsv4 #sydney #australia
Like father, like son..! Swipe ↔️ to witness the CRF250 Rally following along the footsteps of papa CRF1000L Africa Twin 😄 #honda #crf250 #rally #crf250rally #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #africatwin #crf1000l #scenery #landscape #nature #dualsport #greatoceanroad #ocean #roadtrip #camping #australia
I haven't had the opportunity to shoot a starry sky for a long time. The short weekend roadtrip on my newly purchased CRF250 Rally led me across some nice night-time sceneries but time wasn't in my favour (is it ever with my trips?!). Also didn't bring a full-size tripod, opting for just the compact GorillaPod for the long exposures so I was limited to ground-level shots. This was one of the last few pics before my camera battery died. Despite this, them light pollution from those illuminated marker poles and background city lights ain't gonna harsh my mellow.. I'm satisfied with it 😊 #honda #crf250 #rally #crf250rally #dualsport #motorcycle #roadtrip #adventure #travel #nature #stars #night #sky #astrophotography #greatalpineroad #australia
What a massive 55 hours it had been this long weekend. Saturday 8am was when I purchased my flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Took the 10:30am train to the airport, dressed in my touring gear, one hand carrying the helmet and the other grasping on the compact tail luggage bag. Boarded the 12:40pm plane to reach Tullamarine, then jumped on the airport shuttle directly to Ballarat where I went to purchase a Honda CRF250 Rally equipped with Excel Takasago rims and rear Ohlins shock. Stayed overnight at Apollo Bay so that I could do a quick morning run on the Great Ocean Road. I also promised myself that I will treat the bike with a taste of the Great Alpine Road. Black ice and pitch black darkness wasn't going to be an excuse for me to give it a pass, even though I was running out of time. Nevertheless, all boxes ticked for the trip. Made it back home by Monday afternoon with an addition in the garage. Hope you enjoyed your weekend! #honda #crf250 #rally #crf250rally #adventure #travel #roadtrip #motorcycle #landscape #nature #australia
I hope to post up the rest of my pics within the next few weeks, from the Europe trip that I had completed a few months back, so I can move on to a new project. Remember that the rest of my content is in my website. No pressure for you to visit though... It's just a personal diary that happens to be publicly viewable 😊... Anyway, for this post... It was imperative for me to follow behind @konrad.dng across the routes that we rode for at least the first week in Germany, as I was not at all confident with having to ride on the right-hand side (read: wrong side), and the handful of road signs to comply that I had yet to fully understand. I felt like I was learning to ride all over again down from the basics. There were too many instances where I had completely forgotten to check and scan for oncoming traffic when negotiating roundabouts, and even at intersections where I’d realise what I had done after completing the manoeuvre! Glad to be still alive 😎... #BMW #RNineT #rninetracer #caferacer #adventure #roadtrip #travel #nature #aggertalsperre #deutschland #gummersbach #germany #europe #makelifearide #ducati #motorcycle #motorrad
Finally sold my R NineT a week ago, so I can now calculate the actual cost of the Europe trip that I did a few months ago. Overall, I've spent less than I had originally anticipated, which gives me financial confidence for future trips in other countries around the world. Outright costs, totaling $27153, categorised below in AUD, conversion rate effective on the 29/08/2018. - Travel preparations: $3062. Includes air ticket, visa, insurance and currency conversion. - Vehicle: $16693. Includes vehicle purchase, registration and insurance. - Equipment: $2330. Luggage bags, apparel, tools, first aid. - Food: $1100. Mostly servo grub and grocery items, nothing fancy. - Accommodation: $492. Staying indoors when I really need it, at hostels and motels. - Fuel: $2664. A total of 1085 litres consumed. The largest on-road expense. - Tolls: $410. Includes vignettes and transit services. - Sundry: $402. Miscellaneous items including toilet fees, haircut and traffic fines. Accommodation: - Paid indoor accommodation: 7 nights (Total of $388.61) - Friends’ homes: 11 nights - Outdoor camping: 31 nights (5 nights on paid site to the amount of $104) Servicing: - Front and rear tyre replacement with Michelin Pilot Road 5 ($464 including labour) - Oil and filter change, brake fluid top up, at approx. 12000km ($128 for parts only) - Free major service, after completion of road trip Fines: - Hungary: Failure to purchase e-vignette pass ($153.54) - Switzerland: Travelling 2km/h in excess of 50km/h zone ($56.14) Bike issues: - Excessive oil consumption. Cause determined to be related to prolonged riding in heavy traffic, aggravated by sweltering temperatures in Greece. Remedy: Top up oil reservoir and avoid idling the engine for an extended period. No repair needed. Recouped costs: - Sale of motorcycle ($12960) - Sale of luggage bags: ($640) Net expense of Europe trip: $13556 💶💶💶💶💶💶 #bmw #MakeLifeARide #rninet #racer #rninetracer #german #motorcycle #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #europe #norway #alesund
Behind the lens 📷 Thanks for the shot @zoomzoomphotography 😊 It was nice to have met up with Jason and also Hus from @drbig last weekend on the Old road 🚧 My photo album from the brief afternoon session is available on my Facebook page. Where to go this weekend?? 🤔 #aprilia #rsv4 #v4 #italian #motorcycle #sportbike #bikelife #oldroad #scenery #landscape #nature #road #roadtrip #adventure #photography #photoception #sydney #newsouthwales #australia
Day 50, 18/07/2018. After over 20000kms clocked on the odometer, over AUD $30000 depleted from my wallet, and an extra month of unpaid leave from work, I am officially done and out of Europe with many great experiences. I will miss the relentless R Nine T Racer, skipping not a single beat on the whole way around Europe. I think it is reasonable to say that there is not another Racer model in the world with over 24000kms, and with good reason; that riding position is as bad as it can get for a modern bike. But I'm so glad that I've done it on this bike. Now that I've gotten over my bubble fairing+boxer engine phase of my moto life, I can now go on to new and greater things. Many thanks to @bmwmotorrad for selling me a fantastic bike and sticking to their word on a free service. Also a huge shout out for my German friend @konrad.dng , just for being the absolute best mate that I could ever have, helping me at every step to comfortably settle down in Europe from day one onwards. He's even helping me to clean up the bike before putting it on the market for its eventual sale! Hope that you all enjoyed this travel series, and that you're inspired to believe that you don't need a well-paying job or a sponsorship to be able to travel like I have in Europe. All it required were a non-existent social life and hard work; so simple! I will do a recount of the trip with all expenses published over the coming months, although reports will be slightly less elaborate than what I've done in the past, as 7 weeks of travels is a lot to process with a hectic work schedule! #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #camping #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #cologne #gummersbach #köln #deutschland #germany #europe #MakeLifeARide
Day 49, 17/07/2018. A heavy heart in Cologne, as I spend the last night in Europe. So much done in these 7 weeks, travelling from Germany to Greece, then to western Russia and the Arctic Circle region of Scandinavia. But just like my first Panigale trip around Australia in 2015, I feel that this trip is half-done. I still haven't fulfilled routes that I'd love to do in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the rest of the UK/Ireland region. Similarly as what happened in 2016 when I completed the rest of Australia on the Ducati, I think it's fair to say that I'll be back on this continent some time in the future. Going to miss Europe so much! 🇪🇺🇩🇪🇨🇿🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇬🇷🇦🇱🇲🇪🇧🇦🇭🇷🇸🇮🇦🇹🇨🇭🇮🇹🇵🇱🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇷🇺🇫🇮🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰🇳🇱🇧🇪🇫🇷🇬🇧 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #motorcycle #motorrad #roadtrip #camping #travel #adventure #scenery #nature #landscape #europe #cologne #german #germany
Day 48, 16/07/2018. Fine weather here with a high of 28°C and low of 15°C in Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Enjoying the village niceties of suburban Germany, spending time with friends by the lake and just enjoying the best Summer that central Europe can offer to a lazy person like me who ain't keen to walk to explore. Regretful that I failed to bring my Omni Cruise for the long tour around Europe because my right wrist muscles ain't liking the rides I am doing around town, so I'll be looking forward to my 4-day break back in Australia before I return to work. Just checked the weather forecast in Sydney for this weekend. Just a chill 1°C on Saturday. If I were blind, I would think that I was back in Norway. Can I please stay in Germany for another month?! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #forest #lake #night #camping #campfire #bbq #gummersbach #cologne #aggertalsperre #deutschland #germany #europe
Day 47, 15/07/2018. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I arrived at Cologne, Germanised as Köln (pronounced "Coeln" as one syllable), thereby ending my Europe trip as a homeless motorcyclist. A well deserved day of relaxation with mates at Gummersbach, a small German town to the east of Cologne that I call my home in Europe. Spent the arvo hiking up a local mine, mindful to avoid stepping on the dynamite wires that lined the perimeter of the plot of secluded land, to look for a place with @konrad.dng to record @tommyleedepp Tommy Lee Depp's next bass cover. Great to be back, with all limbs and fairings intact! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #touring #motorcycle #roadtrip #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #woods #forest #landscape #sunset #bass #guitar #cologne #köln #deutschland #gummersbach #europe #home
Day 46, 14/07/2018. Crossed over the English Channel overnight back to France after staying less than 36 hours in the UK. Slept on the floor of a carpark at some random French highway stop so that I could spend as little time dithering about with accommodation decisions. By morning, I made it to Paris. It wasn't the best idea to visit the French capital this weekend, at least for riding around the city. Due to Bastille Day, many of the ideal places that I wanted to ride on were inaccessible due to road blocks, which exacerbated the notorious Parisian traffic situation further than it already was on a normal day. It's okay, though. I got an oh-so-cliche selfie of me and that steel lattice tower to start and end my very brief stint in France. I am sufficiently content with this all. The last thing I wanted at this point was for more time on the road. It is all finished; home is now calling. #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #roadtrip #camping #adventure #bikelife #biker #travel #scenery #nature #city #landscape #bastilleday #paris #france #europe
Day 45, 13/07/2018. The beauty of Brighton. Escaped the clogged roads of London, opting to go to the southern coast of the UK, where Londoners themselves love to go in the weekends for a brief sea change away from their comparatively frenetic city. Brighton had long been a town that I've had in mind, as it was featured heavily in the Kitchen Nightmares TV series that I used to watch frequently. So happy to have visited this splendid British town because I thought that I would never be able to visit the UK, let alone the rest of the European destinations that I've covered throughout this trip due to previous personal circumstances. This had all taken some huge sacrifices for me to attain this opportunity, but I am so grateful for these experiences 🇬🇧 #bmw #rninet #racer #caferacer #rninetracer #motorcycle #motorrad #touring #roadtrip #camping #adventure #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #beach #brighton #brightonbeach #brightonpalacepier #london #uk #england #europe
Day 44, 12/07/2018. Reached Calais in France to board the Eurotunnel le shuttle service, arriving at Folkestone for my overnight stay in the UK 🇬🇧... Watched on as political opponents in London raised up a large balloon that symbolised a leading figure of an allied nation. Time to escape this juvenile lunacy. Extreme political polarisation brings the worst out of people. #bmw #rninet #racer #rninetracer #caferacer #touring #roadtrip #motorcycle #motorrad #adventure #biker #bikelife #travel #scenery #nature #landscape #city #politics #brexit #protest #trump #trumpballoon #trumpbaby #london #uk #unitedkingdom #europe
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