Day 5

Bike problems

Towards the end of the Nullabor the cruise control had stopped working consistantly. With a long way to go on the ride and with my top box being almost impossible to open, I decided to take the bike to Adelaide Motors BMW first thing on day 5 to see if they could rectify the problems. They took the bike into the shop straight away which I was very grateful for, seeing I had to be in Mt Gambier for a 5.00pm function being hosted by the Lions.

Two technicians got stuck in to the work and had repaired the top box fairly easily but the cruise control was proving to be more difficult. Hours went by so I wandered off to get a late breakfast. The phone rang, it was Mark from T-trac rather concerned to see if I was ok. Yes thanks, I replied and asked him why the concern. Apparently the monitoring station for the tracking device fitted to the bike had received a reading which indicated to them that the bike had crashed. When I explained where the bike was it became obvious that the technicians had moved the unit whilst working on the bike and the motion sensor had detected the movement in excess of 66deg which usually means the bike has tipped over, I found it reassuring that the system was working as designed to and in doing so it provided a high level of security for me given that I am travelling on my own most of the time.

Unfortunately after 5 1/2 hours I finally left the workshop with the cruise control still not working and headed for Mt Gambier. The ride out of Adelaide through the hills is fast and picturesque but it was literally and figuratively downhill from there. The road is a shocker and the weather turned really ugly throwing down bucket fulls of rain whipped across the road by almost gale force side winds. Thank goodness for the DrRrider wet weather gear and the sure footedness of the BMW.

About and hour from Mt Gambier, in the gloom ahead I noticed a bike heading towards me. We both slowed and I realised it was Johnny Stuart who that day rode from Melbourne (about 450kms) to ride back there the next day with me.The ride from there was in some of the worst conditions I have ever riden in and to cap it off it was dark by the time we arrived at Ross Parkinson's an hour and a half late.

Despite this we were given a very warm welcome and enjoyed some excellent hospitality care of the big Lions crowd in attendance.

Thanks to Johnny for his dedication and support. I really appreciated the company in that last hour into Mt Gambier and will not forget that sort of camaraderie.