Rear tyre still had air in the morning so off for a great ride to my mate's place at Lismore... jeez this the north east of NSW sure is purty country... sorry no pics, you'll just have to take my word for it. On the way I noticed the bike handling starting to go off (slight slow weave in the bends) – tyre deflating, I guessed. (Or was it loose front wheel bearings that Mal reckons I've got?)
Well, got to Lismore OK just before dark – phew! Parked up at my mate's for a couple of hours then when went to park bike in garage discovered rear tyre totally FLAT! Phew! (again) Just made it.
No worries, since the tread was down anyhow, I decided to get a new tyre/tube the next day.
In the morning we rang around the local shops. Of course no-one had a tyre for an old dinosaur like that... finally found one that said that had one that'll suit. Went there only to be offered some ancient Avon that was the squarest sectioned tyre I've seen in my life – a sidecar tyre no doubt... There was no way I was putting that on my bike. The mechanic was adamant “that's what those old beemers run...” Yeah, right... The only tyre they had that would remotely suit was a Metzler Marathon 110/90 FRONT tyre (as it was branded). At least it would fit as far as I was concerned, so that'll do... As it turns out a mate runs one on the front of his late model Harley.
They couldn't fit it until later in the afternoon so we decided to do it instead... A couple of hours and two tubes later we had it fitted – we was a bit too aggressive with the tyre irons. But boy hasn't that Marathon got a nice rounded profile, makes 'ol Slashie just wanna drop into the bends. Don't know how long it'll last though...
My Lismore mate, Rocket, had a beautiful R1200S until he troweled it in a pretty horrific accident a couple of years ago... it got written off (as he almost did too). But he still has his old 1100S which is now ready to be put back into action, once he can achieve the knee flexion required to sit on it... it's a nice looking ride. There's no doubt about it BMW has made some pretty good looking bikes...
After a couple of delightful days in the tropical north it was time to motor south and back to reality...
Had a stopover at another mate's place near Port Macquarrie – a little piece of rainforest paradise.
From PM it was another fun ride along some more fantastic country roads and beautiful scenery (Hunter region) and down to Sydney for an o/nighter at an elcheapo motel.
Then a quick 500k rip down the Hume Freeway to Wodonga for the night. Then a final – and very wet – day in the saddle to get me back home.
Over the couple of weeks I covered about 3000ml or 4500kms. Old No. 5 ran like the fine piece of German touring machinery she is...
So all-in-all t'was bloody fantastic and a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED way to expend a bit of long service leave.
