A few years back when I bought my first Tenere (at TigerBill's wise urging
) we swapped bikes for an hour or so on the Bylong Valley Way. Last year when TigerBill was still healing up from his kangaroo crash I rode his 1993 Tiger around the corner to get a rego check. Last week I rode the Tiger from TigerBill's place across town to my place.
I grabbed a start docket from my local servo at 02:54hr with the odometer showing 33016km.
I'd bolted on a spare GPS and zeroed it, I'd bolted on a little ride plan holder, I put on a tank bag and little tail pack and the Tiger was ready. As part of the preparation TigerBill showed me how to turn on the lights and what to do with the fuel tap if the bike coughed. There's still a couple of litres hiding in there if you turn the fuel tap if the bike coughs. Sweet
I was ready. I headed south into scant traffic on the M1 freeway. The bike is a 900, so has enough poke. TigerBill has had the suspension sorted to suit big blokes so it handles. It has some Michelin Anakee tyres fitted so there is good grip. The bike turns 25 this year. Easy, Tiger.
Down through Sydney with no dramas. There are no fancy pants spotlights or anything, but the old school twin halogens do just fine. In no time I rolled in to the Pheasant's Nest servo on the Hume. (05:32hr, 234km, 21.78L) "Sorry, how much?" 21.78L. I hadn't done any more than look into the filler cap in Newcastle and the tank was almost full. TigerBill parks them up that way. I tend to the opposite, parking them up almost dry. Usually because I'm about to drill an aux hole in the tank or something. Like the KLR, these old technology machines chew the juice at freeway speeds. I'd already decided not to carry any extra fuel and also to stop regularly to 'rest' the bike. I decided to stop a lot and and fill up regularly.
Carrying on down the Hume I was soon at Yass (07:38hr, 430km, 17.1L). The Tiger certainly holds its own on the open road. Its a lovely bike to ride.
Exiting the freeway I headed west along the Burleigh Griffin Way, through towns with familiar names like Harden, Stockinbingal and Wallendbeen to arrive at my goal for the day:
Temora's Tiger Moth Cafe. (09:30hr, 573km)
I told the owner what I was up to and he even came outside to check out the Tiger for himself. Not from 'round here', I think the idea of anyone riding over a thousand kilometres in a day was a bit hard for him to comprehend but he was very enthusiastic about it. I bought an iced coffee, soaked up the atmosphere, then hopped on board again and continued west to Ardlethan - home of the Kelpie.
Wide open spaces in these parts.
Next stop was only passing through. Down the Newell to Narrandera for fuel (11:17hr, 710km, 22.46L). It was getting pretty hot by here, so I took the opportunity to fill my cooling vest with water. That little garment is a champ and worked great with the full mesh suit I was wearing.
Continuing south west I reached the farthest point from home and half way point of this ride at Jerilderie (12:35hr, 819km, 12.92L). Leaving the Newell and riding due east put me on a series of completely new roads for me. Through a bunch of farming villages like Oaklands and Daysdale. I propped for a pic at Rand
Then just continued on my merry way until I popped out onto the Hume again at Holbrook (14:41hr, 994km, 16.91L). I chose the Caltex servo at the southern end of town - its become a regular pause point over the last year. Good facilities and fast entry and exit from a town that now finds itself completely bypassed after a long history of being smack in the middle of the Sydney-Melbourne traveller's route.
Heading north now I stopped for a drink and a pic at Gundagai just for the sake of it:
Then fuelled up again at Yass (17:06hr, 1208km, 17.19L) then paused for a silly pic just to the north
The Friday 'get out of Canberra' rush had started, so there was now a stream of traffic to keep me company. One last stop at Pheasant's Nest (19:13hr, 1406km, 20.21L) then a sashay around Sydney, over the Hawkesbury River and rolled back into the Newcastle West servo (22:07hr, 1641km, no fuel).
1600 kilometres in a day. We did it easy, Tiger
I grabbed a start docket from my local servo at 02:54hr with the odometer showing 33016km.
I'd bolted on a spare GPS and zeroed it, I'd bolted on a little ride plan holder, I put on a tank bag and little tail pack and the Tiger was ready. As part of the preparation TigerBill showed me how to turn on the lights and what to do with the fuel tap if the bike coughed. There's still a couple of litres hiding in there if you turn the fuel tap if the bike coughs. Sweet
I was ready. I headed south into scant traffic on the M1 freeway. The bike is a 900, so has enough poke. TigerBill has had the suspension sorted to suit big blokes so it handles. It has some Michelin Anakee tyres fitted so there is good grip. The bike turns 25 this year. Easy, Tiger.
Down through Sydney with no dramas. There are no fancy pants spotlights or anything, but the old school twin halogens do just fine. In no time I rolled in to the Pheasant's Nest servo on the Hume. (05:32hr, 234km, 21.78L) "Sorry, how much?" 21.78L. I hadn't done any more than look into the filler cap in Newcastle and the tank was almost full. TigerBill parks them up that way. I tend to the opposite, parking them up almost dry. Usually because I'm about to drill an aux hole in the tank or something. Like the KLR, these old technology machines chew the juice at freeway speeds. I'd already decided not to carry any extra fuel and also to stop regularly to 'rest' the bike. I decided to stop a lot and and fill up regularly.
Carrying on down the Hume I was soon at Yass (07:38hr, 430km, 17.1L). The Tiger certainly holds its own on the open road. Its a lovely bike to ride.
Exiting the freeway I headed west along the Burleigh Griffin Way, through towns with familiar names like Harden, Stockinbingal and Wallendbeen to arrive at my goal for the day:
Temora's Tiger Moth Cafe. (09:30hr, 573km)
I told the owner what I was up to and he even came outside to check out the Tiger for himself. Not from 'round here', I think the idea of anyone riding over a thousand kilometres in a day was a bit hard for him to comprehend but he was very enthusiastic about it. I bought an iced coffee, soaked up the atmosphere, then hopped on board again and continued west to Ardlethan - home of the Kelpie.
Wide open spaces in these parts.
Next stop was only passing through. Down the Newell to Narrandera for fuel (11:17hr, 710km, 22.46L). It was getting pretty hot by here, so I took the opportunity to fill my cooling vest with water. That little garment is a champ and worked great with the full mesh suit I was wearing.
Continuing south west I reached the farthest point from home and half way point of this ride at Jerilderie (12:35hr, 819km, 12.92L). Leaving the Newell and riding due east put me on a series of completely new roads for me. Through a bunch of farming villages like Oaklands and Daysdale. I propped for a pic at Rand
Then just continued on my merry way until I popped out onto the Hume again at Holbrook (14:41hr, 994km, 16.91L). I chose the Caltex servo at the southern end of town - its become a regular pause point over the last year. Good facilities and fast entry and exit from a town that now finds itself completely bypassed after a long history of being smack in the middle of the Sydney-Melbourne traveller's route.
Heading north now I stopped for a drink and a pic at Gundagai just for the sake of it:
Then fuelled up again at Yass (17:06hr, 1208km, 17.19L) then paused for a silly pic just to the north
The Friday 'get out of Canberra' rush had started, so there was now a stream of traffic to keep me company. One last stop at Pheasant's Nest (19:13hr, 1406km, 20.21L) then a sashay around Sydney, over the Hawkesbury River and rolled back into the Newcastle West servo (22:07hr, 1641km, no fuel).
1600 kilometres in a day. We did it easy, Tiger
