1st May 2004

Just a progress story on my trip to Asia.
One the first fateful Saturday of May 2004, Doris (that’s my bike’s nickname) left Brisbane on a Ulyssian epic that would take us up to 12 months to who knows what adventures and exotic places we would encounter.

Well first of these exotic places was Moree, for the Moree Muster, about 550k’s south west of Brisbane. Things were going along quite nicely at around 110k/hr on the Dakar, (I had installed an MP3 player in the tank bag, with ear phones). Then just out of GoondIwindi, FLAT tyre, Bugger! Shit! And every other bloody name I could think of!.

Ist flat in 10 years, up on the centre stand, off the the luggage, throw it all over the bloody place, looking for a tube and tools.

My old dirt bike memories come flooding back from 30 years ago, and the wheel was off in no time.

The predicament I was in, how do you break the bloody bead on a rear tyre!

As I sat on the side of the Newel Highway 55K’s out Moree and continuously holding my breath and closing my eyes every time a bloody big semi-trailer went past, I could hear the distant rumble of bikes in the distance.

Well the cavalry arrived in the surprising guise of Pat (The President of the Brisbane Branch of the Ulysses) his wife Barb on Pillion and good old Willy.

I’ll tell you what I have never been happier to see to Harley’s in my life.

We got to work breaking the bead using Pats side stand and the weight of the Harley, then out with the old tube, check the tyre and in with the new.

I just bought a new fangled pump, with CO2 cylinders, trouble is we used the only cylinder for a practice run and couldn’t blow up the tube. That’s when Barb found the instructions!

Well along came another good Samaritan in the form of a Honda Trike, towing a bloody big trailer. Another Ulyssian by the name of Andy, from Goondiwindi, he new a farmer down the road with an air compressor, so off we went me on the back holding on to the tyre like grim death.

No problems, the farmer wasn’t home, but his workshop was open so we were soon back and putting Doris back together again.

We spent the weekend in Moree having a look around, saying farewell to my Brisbane and Goondiwindi friends to road north, I turned Doris around with a south heading towards Newcastle, 500k’s away, were I plan to spend a week with friends and family, go to my mates 3rd wedding then watch mum jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane for her 76th birthday and Mothers Day.

Some of us have silly friends and Mad mothers.

I leave on 12th May 2004 Destination Darwin.