In the beginning!

Departure day is upon us.

I everything is packed, weighed and I've (hopefully) attended to all that I need.

I guess it's just a matter of waiting to fly and leaving all the little things in the hands of the gods.

Less than 5 hours till wheels up and I'm just sitting here waiting to head off. 

It's always the same, the last moments seem to drag. 

Onward and upward...Awesomeness awaits!



















You should be able to follow our progress here:




https://spotwalla.com/request.php?ck=1c19532198849b71f

testie, aren't we?

So, here we are.

Less than 2 weeks before setting off and Michi offered to take the bikes for a test-run for their weekend away (Pentecost)

On a positive note - It would appear that the newer of the two bikes had no problem.  

The other bike (who has yet to be named) started misfiring.  The problem only got worse as the weekend wore on.

Shame for their weekend

good that we discovered this problem now, not on a camp site in the west Fjords of Iceland.

The bike had to be brought back on a trailer and Michi has begun the task of dismantling, problem solving and replacing parts.

I hope that It won't be too much of a drama to rectify. 

But hey, Them's the breaks.

Vorbereitung (preparation)

Almost there, (Bald ist es soweit)

Yesterday, Scott and I met to discuss the trip; timings, stops, sights, places of interest, people, countries, gear, tools, to IBA or not to IBA and any number of related and unrelated topics.
Scott is now writing up a rough itinerary that'll cover roughly where and when we will be travelling.
For my sins, I calculated all the distances between points of interest, rest stops, bars etc.

I feel that we are now better prepared for what lies ahead of us.
Awesomeness of epic proportions.
With less than 3 weeks to go, we are well on track.

The last of the Deliveries are to come in, but I am confident that all will arrive before we jet off.

It's amazing how short 3 months actually is when you break it down.
Although the majority of the first month will be spent on preparation and then Iceland.
Iceland and The Faeroes will take almost 3 weeks.

Smyril Line contacted me last week enquiring about rego numbers of the bikes (Icelandic Ferry Co.)
Last I'd heard was that the bikes were being prepared for Summer but not actually registered.
This morning I received an email from Michi regarding TÜV (road-worthy), registration and the general state of things.

It appears that we now have two freshly registered bikes.
all there is to do now is get ourselves over to Europe, name the bikes and hit the road.

Bald geht's Los, Mädels!

After all this time, the trip is almost upon us.

It's moments like this that I am reminded of something I learnt in the Army - namely the 7 P's

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

I can only hope that our planning has indeed been Proper and thorough enough.

Oh, I am sure there will be hiccups along the way, hurdles, challenges. Indeed, the whole thing would be a little boring if it all went smoothly, wouldn't it?

Michi and the guys of Samhain have retrieved the bikes from their winter sleep, Serviced the girls, Mounted the Engine bars and GPS cradles. All that needs to be completed is redo and test rides.

They will be given a good test ride into Harz mountains next weekend.

I'm super excited to hear how they performed.

I have yet to name the Mädels, yes they are both girls.

But girls with attitude and beauty.

In preparation for our time away, I borrowed a Paris-Dakar (Predecessor to the GS)  from Les and we set off for a couple of tours around SE QLD. Taking in the roads of Mount Nebo, Mount Glorious, Around Lake Wivenhoe, Fernvale, Beaudesert onto Canungra and back to Brisvegas.

Day two saw us heading for the border ranges, Beechmont, Numinbah, Murwillumbah, Currrumbin Valley and on to Yatala. 

The second day, being a Saturday, We came across plenty of Po-lice as part of  Operation Grenadine. I didn't get given any cordial, but they did jab a breathalyzer in my face and gave me a chamois for my support of their cause. I guess this infers that we could all "polish" our sixth sense, or some such thing. The bloke on the no-plated R1 that didn't stop may have gotten more than he counted on, but no more than he probably deserved.  I just hope he didn't meet with a tree or drop off a cliff.  Needless to say, He didn't get a commemorative Chamois.

Looking back at the rides - we did around 700 km, Awesome range roads, good and windy, no miss-haps, Scott brushed up on his skills, and we visited a load of places with silly names.  How Australian.

As time marches on and we finalise our gear and plans I feel confident that we are ready for this.  

What-ever this turns out to be, it'll be Epic.

Scott's ride in the German Sun.

The cockpit - new addition GPS mount

Same here

Engine protection in place

Sweet, sweet Ride

Test Ride - to The hoes of Wiven