The frame modifications begin

One of the things everyone knows about the Scottish 6 Days Trial machines is that the leg shields are narrower. Indeed, it is often thought that they are D leg shields. They are actually cut down S1 leg shields, as they fit the frame exactly correctly, but how wide are they? By closely watching the videos of the machines, you can see, from the remnants of the rear footboards (yes, I did say that. This is something that every replica I have seen has missed), that the footboards are as wide as the panels. This then gives an indication as to how wide the out riggers are. So, here you see I have cut them down so that the end is on the outside of the 2nd, or middle, set of holes for the runners on the front out rigger.

Cutting down the out riggers like this also, of course, means that I no longer have somewhere to connect the spring for the centre stand. Again, this is not an issue, as the original machines had side stands. Again, a mistake I have seen on all the other replicas.

One area where I am diverging from the original machines is what to do with the rear footboard supports. In the originals, both of these were cut off at the frame. With frame breathers being so rare, I don't want to modify the machine so much that it will be impossible for a future owner to take it back to a standard machine. So, I have left the leg in place on the kick start side, and the other side, I have cut a section off, as you can see, but will squeeze the remains of the leg so it matches the other side, and thus another detachable section can be added at a later date, if required.

Next is to get some welding done on some of the frame holes, and to beat the rear back into shape.

Money Raised

The Crimplenes have donated a 3 day pass to The Chords, for Mods Mayday, to Lammie Drive.

Tonight I attended 2-Stroke, organised by the ANSC and sold raffle tickets for the 3 day pass. Tonight I raised $361.60. Thank you, everyone, so much!

Sponsorship from LCoA

I'm pleased to say that, once more, the LCoA shows what a community orientated organisation it is, and it is donating again to Lammie Drive.

I'm happy to say that Steve Bardsley, secretary, proposed the donation and it was unanimously approved by the committee.

Thanks guys.

Sponsorship from the LCGB

First I knew there was an article in Jet Set, the LCGB official magazine, was when I got a call. About a week later my copy arrived. Tino Sacchi had definitely been busy promoting the ride, and there was a two page spread in there. Consequently, we now have interest from the UK on joining the ride.

Not only that, the LCGB has donated £500 to Lammie Drive 2.

Thank you very much!

Fund Raiser at Duck Inn, Pub & Kitchen

The Duck Inn, pub & kitchen are putting on a Fund Raiser for Lammie Drive 2.

Jan 25th 2012, from 7pm.

Two courses for $60 with $20 going towards the charity.

Contact the pub to book.

Hope to see you there.

Well we ran the fund raiser, and raised about $1,000 in total.

Thanks to the Duck Inn for all their effort. A true community pub.

Thank you too, to all the people who showed up, bought dinner and raffle tickets!

Also, thanks to all who provided prizes for the raffle. Duck Hollow, Seymour Centre, The Beauty Room, and Mr T T-shirts!

As you can see, the two scoots were in the restaurant. On the right is the Green Godess, that I rode to Perth in 2009. The rusty pile of metal on the left is the machine that is to be ridden from North to South.

An Update

It's been a while since I posted last, so I thought I'd give an update.

We have a new, longer route, to make it more interesting for the overseas visitors. It's now 6340 km. Google Map


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We'll be hitting Longreach, the home of QANTAS, and Parkes, the home of the CSIRO Radio Telescope that was involved in the Moon Landings, and was at the centre of the Sam Neil movie "The Dish". This will give visitors a much larger perspective of Australia and so they'll be going from Lush Tropical Queensland, into the more Barren Outback, along coast, into central NSW, to the nations Capital (Most foreigners think Sydney is the Capital) and back along the South eastern Coast where it'll be quite cold. I'm even expecting them to see snow... which should blow them away.

I have more sponsors on board. Lambretta Club of Italy and the Lambretta Club of Germany. I'm also pleased to say my local pub, The Duck Inn will be holding a dinner where the profits will be going to the charity. I'll post details as dates become available.

I've heard from Pat Joynt at Saigon Scooter Centre where he has now built the front mudguard I need. I also got supplied a set of original Framebreather side panels by Dean Orton of Rimini Lambretta Centre fame. basically, this now makes the bodywork of the machine complete.

Lastly, I'm glad to be able to announce that Tino Sacchi, of Lambretta Evergreen is on board and will be sponsoring the event by organising the Europeans, providing spares for the event and he will also be taking part himself.

Carter's Classic Scooters On board

I'm glad to say that Carter's Classic Scooters are again helping out. The owner, Mark Carter, donated a Prize to the raffle last time as well as coming to my aid with a Barrel and Piston to enable me to complete the ride in a satisfactory time.

Very happy to have see them here again.

More Sponsors

I'm happy to say that Saigon Scooter Centre is back on board as a sponsor.

So far they've provided a seat and tank straps for my long range tank. They'll also be providing the D front mudguard as well as the special exhaust needed.

Also the Gourmet Garage, Gembrook Vic, has also joined in as a sponsor. We'll be visiting them on the ride.

Scooter Techniques have also joined in, by providing some of their excellent DVD's on engine rebuilds to be put in a raffle I'll be running later.

A temporary set back

Well, it seems that I've had a temporary set back. I knew that trying to start in April was going to be difficult, but I've finally got in contact with the engineering department of the PDR (peninsula development road) which is the dirt track that runs through Cape York.

We've been advised that it is NEVER open in April. What this means is that, they are still grading it after the wet season and that if we rode it, which may be possible, our insurance would be null and void. When I add this to requests from Italy for August, I've decided to move the ride to later in the year and, probably, August 2013. The unfortunate thing about that is that it'll be damn cold by the time we get to Victoria. However, the upside is not too hot in Qld, and we will be traveling out of season, so accommodation should get easier to find the further south we go.

Draggin Jeans joins again

I'm pleased to say that Draggin Jeans has joined in again. They have donated a voucher for a pair of their jeans so it can be raffled off.

Thanks guys!

More sponsors

The UK's Classic Scooterist Scene have signed up again as a sponsor. They will get an article on the scooter build as well as a serialised write up of the ride.

SS Scooter Engineering, Newtown, have also signed up as sponsors once more.

Red Monkey Tea Tea House has joined in for the first time, and will be hosting the arrival party for us.

Thank you All.

SGI Architectural becomes first major sponsor

SGI Architectural have become Lammie Drive 2's first major sponsor to the tune of $5,000!

Thanks very much!

Geting more parts together for the machine

The specially commisioned forklinks have arrived from MB Developments in the UK. The front wheel was the opposite way around from normal to make sure the front brake and speedo cables had enough ground clearance.

Started research

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Just come back from the National Classic Scooter Rally, 2010, in Daylesford Victoria. I decided to start some of the research for the ride. I rode down to the event, via the coast that we will take. My Day 1, to Eden, will actually be 2 days of Lammie Drive 2, and my Day 2 will be a few days as well.

The ride was fabulous and, I'm pleased to say, that the Bed & Breakfast in Eden suggested going via Bermagui. This is a beautiful ride, and we'll definitely be doing that.

the aim is to stop in Eden, and this highlights one of the issues we'll have. Essentially some of these towns are very small and there are no single hotels large enough to take everyone. In this case, I asked the owners of the B&B and they can organise other B&B's and a place for everyone to gather and eat.

This is why I want to stop in Eden - The view from my bedroom window!

Planning for Lammie Drive 2

Well I've started planning for Lammie Drive 2. Getting to Cape York, in itself, is going to be an adventure.

We'll have to get the scooters to Cairns, and fly up. From there, we'll go by boat, for 2 days, to near Cape York. After that, I've started talking to a 4WD company to escort us back to Cook Town. We are looking at 2 4WD's with trailers to carry our spares and act as breakdown vehicles. The trailers are needed because we'll have rivers to cross that are unbridged.

The Boat has meant that there is now a maximum of 32 people who can do the trip, as we are limited by births. I have negotiated a very good rate to get the scooters up there, as we'll be taking multiple containers.

My Framebreather frame has arrived, I'm still collecting some parts, but when I have most of what I need, the building will commence!

Hits the newspapers!

Well it took a while, but finally the Lammie Drive story has hit the newspapers. I'm in Drive magazine, a supplement that we see in the Sydney Morning Herald.

I've also had the story run as a 3 parter in Classic Scooterist Scene. I'd like to thank CSC for the donation that went to the charity.

Lammie Drive the DVD is here!

Lammie Drive the DVD is now available.

It's a 30 minute movie of our ride across Australia, using a combination of video, photos, and music to tell the story.

It also includes:

Slide Shows of each day
Out takes from the Classic National Scooter Rally 2009
Out Takes of the Paradise Lost SC meeting us in Perth

Cost is A$10, A$12 including Australian domestic postage, and A$15 including international postage.

You can pay via paypal, or EFT. Contact Siobhan at siobhan@lammiedrive.org.au for more information.

All profit will go to the charity.

Lammie Drive the DVD

Lammie Drive, The DVD, is coming soon. Look for it in March at www.lammiedrive.org.au.

All profit will go to the Charity.

Lammie Drive 2 - The Route

Lammie Drive 2, will cover the East Coast of mainland Australia, from the most Northern Point, to the most Easterly, and most Southern.

It is a total of approximately 5200km, with the first 4 days being on dirt road, fording streams, etc.

So far there is interest in riding with me from Australia, Italy and the United States.


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How much, an update and reflection.

Well, I've been asked a few times how much money I collected.

So far it is about $7000. I was hoping for more, I must confess, but that's not to say I'm not gratefull to those that did contribute. Some organisations, companies, and individuals, have been fantastic!

I finally got all the prizes from the sponsors for the raffle, and they are going out now. Thanks to the winners for their patience.

I do hope to raise a little more as I hope to have a DVD out by the end of January. All profit will go to the charity.

Winners were:

Valiant Wooi - Draggin Jeans voucher for 1 pair of jeans.
Sid Deghain - $100 of Lambretta Goodies, courtesy of Motociclo
Mark Dyble - Sx200 Owners Manual, courtesy of Carter's Classic Scooters
Di Nowicki - Voucher from Deus Ex Machina
Justin Chisholm - 1 year subscription to Just Bikes
Leonie Sainsbury - Voucher from Deus Ex Machina
keith Whyte - 1 year subscription to Just Bikes

I think the most common question I've had was how sore was my arse. Thanks to Air Hawk, it wasn't sore at all. I genuinely do not think I could've complete dthat ride without it.

The second most common question I've been asked is if I enjoyed the experience.

Well, I did. I'm very glad I did the trip. It was, quite simply, great fun. Sure, we had down points, but we rose up and met the challenges along the way. The people I did it with were fantastic, and definitely contributed to the whole thing. Bill, Obie, Ron and John were the best people to do the ride with.

Next always comes would I do it again? That ride? No. I've done it now. No need to do it again. However....

May 2013! Lammie Drive 2 "An even longer way on a Lammie!". This time Cape York to Philip Island, via the coast. Literally the entire East Coast of Australia. Not only is it longer, but it's harder as it contains a fair amount of unsealed road.

I'm looking for Sponsors, riders, and support.

Watch this space.

And finally!

I'd like to thank the following people:

Steve Diffey for building the engine, the mishap is one of those things, and not a reflection on his skills.
Chalky, for doing the web site and updating it as we rode across the country.
Bill Guthrie for his company and support on the first leg to the Barossa. Also for many of the photos from that section.
Obie, for his Company and giving Bill a day off in the support van on the way to the Barossa
Mark Carter for having a Mugello kit in stock and being very lenient on the price ;-)
Alex Vukovich for providing work space, his time, tools, and lending me a carb.
John Cordin, for his support and good humour all the way from the Barossa to Merridin.
To all the sponsors, for your generous donations.

Without all of you, we would not have made this epic trip.

To Kirsty and Peta, I miss you both.

Lastly, to Ron, who rode the whole way with me. Not only did his constant company on the rd spur me along, but his parts made the different. An old worn out LI 150 barrel and piston, that he happened to bring along, is what saved me and enabled me to do the entire ride.

It wasn't a Long way on a Lammie, it was an adventure.

What would I do differently? Not do it on an untried engine. That was my mistake.

Would I do it again? Not on your life.... but Lambrate to Eibar sounds like fun.... or maybe Sydney to Townsville.... or Route 66.

Day 15 - The End

The last day!

I awoke at 4:15am, just looking forward to the end of the ride. Only 100km's to go.

I sat on the veranda of the homestead, listening to the cacophony of the early morning chorus, watching the sun rise over the hill with a cup of tea. The sky was clear, there wasn't a breath of wind. It was going to be a good day, I thought.

About 8am, the wind picked up, and it went cold. Bugger! No relief at the end.

We had a fantastic breakfast, and said our goodbyes to the owners of the homestead, and set off to Toodyay to get some petrol, and then on to Midland where we were to meet the PLSC. Once more we had head winds and hills. Not small hills though, huge bloody great big hills! Going down was fun, but up was not good!

Eventually, we came down out of the hills and on to the Coastal Plain. The temperature noticeably picked up, and the wind decreased in its ferocity. Suddenly.... a traffic light! I hadn't see one of those for a week! Civilisation again. Ron and I pulled into the car park near Midland Clock, and waited for the PLSC. We were ahead in schedule, and had to wait for about 30 minutes.

First there was one, then another and then we heard the sound of 2-stroke coming down the street, and the PLSC showed up. Congratulations were handed around, although we still hadn't quite managed the finishing point. I didn't want to tempt fate, we still had about 17km's to go, and much could happen.

We started up again, with the PLSC letting Ron and I lead, a gesture much appreciated, as we made our way to James Mitchell Park. As we approached a pub, the PLSC's alcoholic Constipation showed, as they can't seem to pass a pub. They stopped, and Ron and I carried on to the end point. We had travelled over 4000 Km's, and in the last 2 Km's, Ron took us to the wrong spot! A quick phone call, and we hopped back on the scoots, and got to the correct point, where Akiko, Suzanne and Martin, Ron and Suzanne's Son, were waiting for us. "You have arrived", said the GPS. According to my speedo, we had travelled 3150.7 miles, 5070 Km, in 15 days. Whilst there was a feeling of achievement, there is also this sense of "Well, that's it. Done that. Now what?"


We rejoined the PLSC at the pub for a few, I think, well-earned drinks, and then we were off again. To 414 Murray St, which is where Wentworth Motors used to be, and the site of the earliest photo we currently have of Lambrettas in Australia. We were now about to connect the site of the Lambretta Distributors in Sydney, with that in Perth. To be honest, considering how much development has happened on Murray St, I'm amazed that the building is still there. We pulled up on on the pavement, and took some photo's, constantly looking out for someone wanting to give us a ticket.


At last, the last little bit to do. Only 3km's to Ron's house. We had made it all the way from my house to Ron's house. We had to do 2 engine rebuild's beside the road, we had fought against bad weather and here we were..... not quite! About 2000km's ago, aI noticed that one of Ron's gear cables was badly fraying. He decided to continue on with it, as we weren't changing gear much. 900m from his house, it finally broke! Once more, the scarf, hand knitted by his daughter, came into use and I towed Ron home.

Inside we discussed who rode the furthest, and if Ron made it. He certainly made it, as he rode from official starting to ending points. Who rode the furthest? Well, Ron rode from Bill's house to mine, an extra 70km. However, he didn't ride on the tour around the Barossa valley, and I did. I have no idea how long that ride actually was. I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Day 14 - Southern Cross to Northam

Ron changed the plan, we were now going to stop in Northam and not carry on to Perth. This would leave us 100km to go into Perth. I must admit, I wasn't too happy about it, but we had had a really hard day the day before.

Starting off from Southern Cross we immediately hit head winds... again. These were really bad. We were heading for Merriddin, where Akiko and Suzanne were going to meet us and John was finally to get released from support. That trip to Merriddin was so hard. I think the head wind was the worst we had had, but it wasn't the worst day. That was still reserved for day 1.

Ron and I waited at Merriddin for about 45 minutes before Akiko and Suzanne arrived. Ron was more concerned about making his rat bike look good again, and went off to degrease his scooter and put the foot boards back on. I just sat on the scooter and read the newspaper.

Eventually our new support arrived. I was described as looking exhausted and, I must admit, it was a fairly accurate description of how I felt. My shoulders will killing me from leaning down as low as I could against the head wind.

We set off again, but this time I was quite a few kilos lighter as I had put the panniers and the contents of the scoot boot into the car. It gave me about 5kph more, but still it was hard going. Eventually, though, the wind started to ease up... a little, and we were doing better. Then Ron waved me down to pull over... he needed to "go for a walk" (pee). He, though, had managed to stop just where there were bugger all trees. Still, off up the road he trudged.

Off again, and we finally got into Northam... and rode through Northam, and didn't find anything that tickled our fancy as somewhere to stay. I used my common sense and went to the Tourist Information Centre, to find out that most of the town was booked out due to an art exhibition. We were directed to a superb B&B called EGoline. Not cheap... but worth every cent!

That evening, we went into Toodyay (pronounced too-jay), for dinner at "Top of the Terrace". Superb food. Ron was wearing his "nice" clothes.... which basically means his only clean ones. They had Lambretta emblazoned across his back. because of that we got to meet a couple on another table, where the bloke was an ex-mod from Weston-Super-Mare in the 1960's.

On the way back, the cops picked up another member of the De'Pannone crime family... this time Suzanne. She got Breathalised. We actually think it was because she got slightly lost and did a u-turn in the middle of the road. It seems that all the cops, at least according to Ron and Suzanne, are 12!

Next day was to be relaxed. Breakfast at 8:30am, off by 10am, and ride into Perth! No problems... only 100km!

Day 13 Balladonia to Southern Cross

As we knew we were going to be going slow, we started early today. 6:45am. It was going to be a loooooong day. 553km at a max of 70kph. You have to love the directions in WA. You keep going until you get to Norseman, then you turn right, until you get to Koolgardie, then you turn left! So, Norseman it was!

The sun was out. Finally I could NOT wear my parka. It was a little chilly, but I was fine. That was not to last. By the time we got to Norseman, I was cooking! It was turning in to a hot day! The one advantage of going so slowly was that I had plenty of opportunity to take pictures, which I did. I race up in front of Ron, take some pics, let them go by and catch up again. This was easy…… until we got to Norseman.

How to describe Norseman? Well, I thought it might have got its name from a Scandanavian, but I think it is really "no-horse-man", it is a scruffy little town. There were people hanging around on the main street, doing nothing, except getting drunk… at 10am! However, we stopped at a cafe as we hadn't had our first breakfast yet, let along 2nd breakfast, and had a Norseman Burger…. which was very nice.

Time to get going again, and we turned right. Not so easy now. Indeed, much harder. First of all we had a head wind and it was very hilly. as we got towards Koolgardie, it got hillier and hillier. This was bad for me, as the speed Ron can ride at is exactly the wrong speed for me, with my combination of barrel and gear box. To make matters worse, my throttle grip was now slipping, which mean I had to hold it like I was choking a chicken…. for 170km! By the time we got to Koolgardie my right hand was killing me.

We pulled in at the first service station and filled up. It was 29C! No wonder we were hot. I mentioned the twist grip problem to Ron, and he said to use some gasket sealant…. which made it worse. Just make it slippery. So, then I bought some insulation tape to make the shaft thicker and readied the grip. That did the trick! Off we went again, up more hills and directly into the head wind with the sun baking down on us. However we were on our last stretch of only 188km's!

We stopped half way. As it was, it was right next to a memorial of 3 truck drivers who got burnt alive in a bush fire in 2007. Apparently, they had been told to go through, as the road was clear…. but it wasn't.

As I was riding this last section, the Sun finally went behind some clouds, and the headwind died. I could start to enjoy the ride again. Watching Ron in front of me, I was thinking that this was to be the scheduled pen-ultimate day. Whilst I'm very glad it is almost over, nay relieved it is almost over, I will miss the ride. The people I have spent time with, the people I have met, and just the riding itself…. seeing parts of Australia I would otherwise never seen.

We are both exhausted, I must admit. We were riding for 11 hrs! We are splitting the last day into 2 now. We'll ride to Northam tomorrow and into Perth on Sunday.

Day 12 - Mandura to.....

We were scheduled for a "short day" of only 318km to Balladonia. However John recommended going through to Norseman, which would enable us to cut down other days. We decided that what we would do was get to Balladonia and make the call when we got there.

Ron decided to come up with a new idea on how to keep his exhaust working, and in something approximating one piece. He based his new design on the Beijing Olympic Stadium, using wire gauze, fibre glass, and more wire…. and off we went, with Ron's scooter sounding like a steam hammer! Every time he pulled up next to me it felt like I was having nails driven into my head.

We stopped at Cocklebiddy service station, and got fuelled up to get us moving, and on we went. We were now onto the 90 mile straight, 146km of straight road to Balladonia. We were making good time. I was confident of making Norseman.

I looked in my mirror… no Ron! I turned around and went back. There he was stood by his scooter, with the exhaust on the floor. The main bracket had come apart. Fortunately, we had a spare exhaust in the car…. but this was for a standard inlet, not an Imola/TS1 and the standard exhaust would not fit. This meant that Ron had to now change the barrel and piston… because his u-bend was useless.

Once more, beside the road, we were into an engine rebuild! Still, at least it was cloudy this time, not like it was for me, and we had already come through the rain we had before! I was like a nurse to the Doctor. 13mm socket! 11mm ope-ended, Allen Key! Just as we were putting on the piston… the heavens opened! John ran for the car. Ron and I put on our wet weather gear and, at one point, it go so bad I even put my helmet on! We soldiered on and finally got the engine rebuilt. Amazingly it started first kick! Ron's 2nd place for best series 1 & 2 at the National now look dike he should've got best rat bike! No foot boards and no side panels, with the scooter, and Ron, covered in Grease and oil. Now Ron gave me the next piece of fantastic and heart warming information….. This barrel and piston were not run in. Effectively, this meant that Ron was limited to 60 to 65kph. There was no way we could rid ever 1000km at that speed.

John was finding it increasingly difficult with the truck drivers with both us, specifically going that slow. He told me to go on ahead an get to Balladonia… especially as it was nearly dusk, which means the wildlife comes out.

Driving that road, racing against the sunset was extremely scary. First of all it was looking for wildlife. Then the sun came down so low I couldn't actually se the road and had to ride very close to the centre line so I could see markers and, if I screwed up, I had plenty of room to manoeuvre. EVentually, though, the sun went behind a cloud and I could see again an then marvel at the beauty of the sunset.

I finally made it in to Balladonia. Obviously we were not going to get to Norseman. I made sure the rooms were available, and sat down with a beer with a few of the locals and a truck driver we had been shadowing all day. About 30 minutes later, Ron and John came in. I was very relieved. I then heard stories about Ron not being able to get the scooter to start and being towed, by John, up to 25kph using Ron's scarf!

Still, we made it, and the locals were definitely fascinated! I think we've given them something to talk about for some time.

Day 11 - Nundroo to Madura

Leaving Nundroo behind, we continued to see fields of grain. For the 2nd day in a row, we had a tail wind and so we flew along. What happens, though, on these long rides, is that you get almost mesmerised by the road and the drone of the scooter engine and… suddenly… you notice that the surroundings have changed. We were back to native bush. Thick with trees on both sides. That was soon to change, though…. we were on the way to the Nullarbour.

Just as we were approaching the Eastern end of the Nullarbour, there was a turn off to go and see whales, and the top of the great Australian Bite. Unfortunately, that was 12km away from the rd, and Ron would not be able to make the Nullarbour service station if we went down there. We did stop and chat with a family, from Gosford in NSW, who were riding in the opposite direction. Ron conned them out of an inner tube, to shore up his disintegrating exhaust. He could talk for australia if it was an Olympic sport! I had to remind him that we needed to get on. John went off to see the whales and was going to catch up with us later.


We hit the Nullarbour properly, and there were either hardly any trees, or they were big shrubs. Nullarbour service station definitely had tress around it, but we'll forgive them for that. We managed to get a photo next to a Road Train.

Just as we left the service station and we rode down the road, my scooter was behaving strangely, like I had a rear wheel puncture. I stopped and, indeed, I did have a puncture. Amazingly, the strength in the tyre's side wall was enough that I could relatively slowly ride back to the service station and change the wheel there… well done Sava! One of my concerns on the ride was what would happen if I got a puncture, now I'm much more comfortable.

Changed the tyre, and we were off again. This was the longest stretch without a petrol station. 201km. There was no way Ron was going to make that on his standard tank. Fortunately, I was carrying an extra 5L and my fuel economy with my 13L tank was just fine. We got half way across and John wasn't in view, so we used the 5L I was carrying…. or tried…. the wind was so strong, most of the fuel was getting blown away. We decided to move on, and about 5km later we found a parking area surrounded by shrubs, which would shelter us from the wind. Whilst we were in there, John drove by and didn't see us.

We got back on the road, but now I was feeling nervous. Not only did we not have John behind us, but Ron's exhaust was definitely getting worse again. Were we going to ma the next 90km's to Border Village?

We did, and there was John waiting for us. At the border with WA there is a checkpoint to make sure you are not bringing in anything that could bring a bug with it, such as fruit. He asked there, and we hadn't been through, so he knew we were behind him. It was good to see him again. Whilst I continually appreciate the support that Bill gave us on the first leg, and John is now providing, I never realised how much of a security blanket the support vehicle is.

Ron and I looked for some more exhaust bandage. These service stations no longer have anything. No putty, no bandages, no spark plugs… nothing! They are full of rubbish toys, food, and crap you don't need. They are not full of anything that you can use to service your vehicle! Fortunately, Ron was told about a road assistance place in Eucla, just down the rd. Ron called and it was fairly obvious that the guy was next to useless. So useless, in fact, that Ron decided to ignore him and carry on.

We went around Eucla and entered the Eucla Pass, as you come out the other side, you see a coastal plain with the road just going off into the distance. I think my words were something like "F*cking hell!" and then I just started laughing. We got down onto the plain, and just road in a straight line. … continuously. We had ridden down from the escarpment, onto the plain, and the escarpment was to our right. Fortunately we still had a tail wind.


We Stopped at the first Service station, about 80km's further on. There was one of the Nullarbour Links golf course. Something I'd heard about from my friend Kay. This is a gold course spread over hundreds of km's. The wind was howling, but there were people actually playing!

We only had 114km to go to our last stop for the day. The road went on and on… and on… in a straight line. My arse was hurting! This wasn't supposed to happen… my air hawk was supposed to stop that! Could I have another puncture? I just didn't want to stop. I was literally counting down the ams, to make sure I could take the pain. Fortunately, Ron came to my rescue, by breaking down again as his carb came off. I had to turn around and go back for him and appreciated just how strong the wind was. If we had had that as a head wind we would never have made it as far as we did. When I got off the scoot, the Air Hawk was fine, it had just mov dot one side.Relief at last!

We made Madura! Our longest day by distance, but not by time. Next day is only 318kms! Easy! Did I just say that?

Day 10 - Kimba to Nundroo

The day started as it meant to go on… giving Ron a hard time. Yesterday, Ron had managed 162 km on a tank of fuel, without going on reserve. We left the Kimba Hotel Motel (or is that the Kimba Motel Hotel?) to go to the Big Gallah, and he went on reserve… discovering that that is not as easy as he thought.

Still today's riding start well. We had a tail wind and my scoot was running well. We covered the first section very well, intending to stop at Poochera, but stopping earlier as Ron could not make it that far. I got a lesson in speaking South 'strain! I thought it was pooh-chair-uh, but he lady corrected me, and I though I heard something else. it sorted of went, as I heard it:

her: Putch-ruh
me: Putch-ruh
her: NO, putsch-uh
me: Putch-ra
her: No, Pooch-ra
me: Pooch-ra
her: That's it!

So, we were supposed to go on to Poochera (pooch-ra), but Ron's exhaust had other ideas. It decided to break again, and so Ron did some bushman's mechanics beside the road using a wire coat hanger from John, and some fencing wire supplied by me, courtesy of a local farmer.

He started up again, and it sounded very loud, but we continued on to Poochera… only to find that the local welding guy was out of town and wasn't due back until that evening. So off we went again to the next town - Wirrulla (weir-roo-la but said quickly)


Wirrulla wasn't a one horse town. The horse had been put down, and turned in to glue. Still it had 3 engineers! EXcept one couldn't get to his mig welder because it was behind other tools, the next one was crook (not well), but Eric Greatbirch was available! Eric was freshly back from a brain operation, but gainfully welded up Ron's exhaust… again! Fortunately, Ron also bought some exhaust blanket and some wire.

We were on the road again, and went hell for leather to get to Ceduna, and from there to Nundroo… which isn't even on the GPS…. not that you need a GPS to get to Nundroo as it is on the highway.

This place is "interesting" When I booked the rooms I had the choice of upmarket or down market. When asking the difference, I we stolid that the good ones had an ensuite, air conditioning, and a TV…. down market was a container! Also, bizarrely, the wifi internet worked, but no mobile phone reception or land-line capability! What I will say, though, was that the people running the place were lovely, and the food was fantastic!

Day 9 - Tanunda to Kimba

As I sit here in my Hotel room in Kimba… apparently 1/2 way across Australia…. I think about how bizarre this trip is. Here I am, riding a 1964 Lambretta…. but you can find out where I am via my mobile phone, and ever time I stop for the night, the first thing I do is down load pictures to my laptop, charge up the bluetooth headset, mobile phone, camera, laptop and GPS!

Today was a good, but long day. It was our longest section to date, at 460km. We rode from Tanunda to Kimba.

To start with, extremely pleasant… except these cyclists who were doing some kind of stupid long ride! Who would think of that? Obviously very well organised with refreshment stops, etc. Each rider even has their name on the bike…. I guess so you know who to contact to complain about being held up! Us? We are much more clever. To start with, we are on motorised Italian Shopping trolleys… ok, mine i Spanish, but you know what I mean…. and we don't put our names on them!

Riding through towns, it started to get a little scary as Ron does not have along range tank, and I noticed that all the petrol stations were closed as it was a long weekend. Instead of the scheduled stops, I thought, at about 100km, that we should take the first we found. This was Port Wakefield.. proudly proclaiming itself to be a tow of 600 people… with an 8km traffic jam coming out of it! It was bizarre! Apparently, it was everyone going home to Adelaide from their holiday… suckers!


We carried on to Snowtown (I know, how can a town around sea level in Australia be called "Snowtown"?) and topped up again. From that, we had an idea of Ron's scooter's ability to cover distance. We decided to go for Port Augusta, which was 142km away… and he made it! Without even going on reserve. That, mind you, was a hard section. Over 2hrs of continuous riding. So hard that Hardly Davidson's passed us, stopped, and then passed us again. of course, Ron and I with our trust Air Hawk's had no problem….. well, not quite true, but certainly minimised the problem.

Port Augusta arrived, and we stopped for a short break. It's interesting that the further west we went, the cheaper the fuel…. I bet that will change soon enough! As we were about to set off, John Cordin, our new backup, caught up with us in his ute. He decided to stop, so we went on within to follow later.

Riding out of Port Augusta was tough, we had to go through a pass, and the wind became ahead wind, and seriously slowed us down. Eventually, though, we got out of that… and the steady brrrrrrrrrrrrr of the Lambretta engine took over for the next 160km. That, and riding on a straight rode, to see a rise in the distance, which you get over and then see…… more straight rode! The scenery changed, though. Inistially it was very scrubby, with hardly a tree to be seen. It then became Australian Bush, with many gum trees, and it kept going! At one point there was sign just to tell you there was a corner. Not that it was a sharp corner…. just that there was actually a corner!


Kimba was a welcome sight, and especially to to see the Kimba Hotel Motel (I was always taught that the two were mutually exclusive). Food was fabulous. A word for the wise. They have money off vouchers on the room. Check to se if any have been used, and argue with the staff as you may get something else. e.g., one of us didn't have any vouchers, one had a free beer/wine, and the other didn't. Still, a great place to stop.

Tomorrow is the big Gallah!

Day 8 - Tanunda - National Scooter Rally

we had a great ride today, to a vineyard, naturally, and then a superb look out across the valley. For me, though, the biggest freak out was seeing one of my old scoots., Tigger. Last time I saw her, she was Orange with Black Stripes. Now the new owner, Billy, has had her sprayed bright green.

We had the show and shine later in the day, and then more drinks and music, including a great band called The Phonics.

Tomorrow is the 1st day of the long trek to Perth. Many of the PLSC have expressed an interest in meeting us there. It would be a great touch if they do.

Day 7 - Adelaide to Tanunda - Classic National Scooter Rally

The day started with us going for breakfast. This meant trying to organise Bill, Peter, Ron, Dibsy and Obie. Most were OK, but Obie was a tad worse for wear. It was a little like herding cats! Members of the Paradise Lost Scooter Club told me about a great place for breakfast, but it was a bit of a walk. All Obie and Ron did was complain about how far it was. They just went on and on... and on... and on.... an don about how far it was, so I finally lost it with them, and told them to find their own breakfast place. However, they stuck with it. Fortunate, as we found "Innocenti", a mens wear store. We finally arrived at the cafe for breakfast and, funnily enough, once we got there the complaints stopped.

Loading up the scoot to get ready I walked past a tree that was actually planted in the garage.... I could smell the sweet aroma of 2-stroke wafting out of the garage below as the PLSC were starting to line up outside. We finally joined them, and, for me, it was quite a sight to behold. All these classic scooters lined up ready to go. We finally pulled away from the hotel, and headed off to the main assembly point. Riding with this many classic scoots for me, was amazing. I loved it. Thoroughly enjoying it as we rode down the road and watching pedestrians literally stop and stare.

We pulled into the assembly point, and there were a large number of scooters in total. I was asked if this was bigger than the Lambretta 60th I organised 2 years previously, and it was a hard call. But more came in. I heard the final total was 106, so it was definitely bigger. Funny how you can become happy with a hundred when, in your earlier years it was thousands. I guess you enjoy the moment, and the memories that it enduces.

We rode off, and went for a 70km ride through the hills of Adelaide and up to the Barossa Valley. A very enjoyable, but cold, ride. After the distances we had been doing, it seemed odd that we would stop every 25 km or so, but it became obvious that it was to make sure everyone was still together. It was bad enough with 3 of us, let alone 100. Everywhere we went, pedestrians just stared. I suppose they had never seen anything like it. Some gauked, some waved. For me, it was just a great feeling. Riding through Tanunda, itself, was the best bit.

Arriving at Barossa Junction, the event HQ, Ron overheard people complaining about their Sore Arses. Poor lambs had ridden 70km! The place was great. All the rooms were railway carriages. Unfortunately, for me, I was down the rd, but not too far. The first event was on. Alcohol started to flow, music was played. A great time was had by all.I think I went back to the hotel at midnight.

Day 6 - Adelaide

Day 6 - Adelaide - So called rest day

Today was supposed to be a rest day. It was the day I rebuilt the engine... again! Not because it broke, though, but because I want to get to Perth in a reasonable amount of time.

9:30 am, we started, and went to Super Cheap Auto. Getting on the seat, without the Air Hawk, was like sitting on a lump of concrete! I was amazed at the difference. After stocking up with cleaning products, it was off to Alex Vukovich's house. Alex had kindly offered his premises to rebuild the engine, but it turned out much more than that.

Mark Dyble (Dibsy) arrived, it was all about Macio Letta scooters, whilst I stripped the scooter, and then it was into serious work on the manifold and barrel. Alex matched the ports on both so we got smooth gas flow. As previously mentioned, he also provided a 200cc manifold, and lent me a 22mm carb from one of his scooters.

It took a total of 9 hrs this time, but the Green Goddess came to life once more with a Mugello kit on her. Not quite what i wanted, but better than a standard LI 150 barrel and piston. It was so exciting for Obie, that he had a "Nana nap".

This evening was spent at the first official event of the scooter rally. To be honest... I'm quite tiddled.

Night all!

Day 5 - Pinnaroo to Adelaide

Day 5, Pinnaroo to Adelaide

In the light of day, Pinnaroo was a surprisingly big place. It actually has a few streets and was nowhere near as small as we first thought. The first surprise was that there were houses across the other side of the road, which we couldn't see when we arrived as it was so dark.

We went into town, to the Bakery, which had been recommended to us for breakfast. Had a fantastic focaccia, and a yummy rock cake... the best rock cake I had had in years! Home made in the Bakery itself. Whilst we were there, Pinnaroo started to come to life, with people coming and going. Fascinated by the scoots and that we riding as far as we were. The common theme always seems to be "How far? On that?"

Finally, it was time to set off. Naturally, I had to start with a problem. My front shock had come off again and this time, I had lost the bolt. No matter. Out with the bag of nuts and bolts and found one that fit. I also got to use the hack saw that I had bought in Swan Hill, to cut the bolt to the right length. I also found a spring washer, so that shouldn't happen again. And we were off!

Today was a hard one to pick for stops, as petrol stations were few and far between. At about 110km's, we found Sherlock. A Tiny little town, but they had a general store with one petrol pump. So our choice was unleaded or..... unleaded. Ron and Obie Filled up. I have the long range tank, and decided to push it to see how far I could get, so I knew for when I do the Adelaide to Perth section.

The lady in the shop came out, was very chatty. We had tea and Lammington's. I asked about the town, it was about 10 people in town and 40 people surrounding. She actually had some days where she didn't fill up any cars at all. Some of the locals came in, and we chatted to them too. Time to mount up, and move on.

The scenery was starting to change a bit now, it was rolling hills, instead of sandy flat landscape. Reminded me a little of Bodmin moor, in Cornwall, except it went on for longer! As we went past Tailem Bend, I saw a series of signs.

"Oz"
"The way"
"It was"
"1860 - 1960"
"12 streets"
"relive your childhood"

It was a recreation of a pioneer town. I so wanted to stop and look, but Obie was behind me, and he'd just get grumpy.... again... and we don't want that!

The hills were a real problem for the Green Goddess. It's the only time I can think of when the downside is good! I was reduced to 60kph going up hills, but I could hit 80kph going down. However, they mostly seemed to be going up! I was going down hill and the scoot stopped running! I couldn't believe it. I looked at the supressor cap, and it was a little loose, so I pushed it on, and she started again. So, up the road I went, and it happened again. This time I replaced the supressor cap, and she started again and off i went once more.... only for her to stop again! So, I put the thinking cap on, and realised that each time was about the distance of a float bowl's worth of fuel. I put her on to reserve tank, and she started again.... and kept going. Or she would've, except I saw blue and red flashing lights in my rear view mirror.

What had I done? I certainly couldn't be speeding. I thought I was going to get some comment about such a slow moving vehicle should not be on the freeway. However, it wasn't me! It was Ron! Ron had overtaken Bill, in the Van, on the inside by using the emergency lane. I could hear the conversation.

"Why did you overtake on the inside?"
"because it's safer than over taking on the outside"
"Well the Emergency lane is just that, it's for emergencies, not for overtaking"
"we do it to not block traffic"
"Are you on some kind of charity ride?"
"Yes, we are riding to Perth"
"Where have you come from?"
"Sydney"

Big Pause

"Good luck!"

And that was it, and we were off again. I had to find a petrol station, in we pulled in into Mount Barker. My tank was as dry as a bone! She probably would only done another km or two.

Back on the road again, only 20km's to Adelaide. Then we started going down hill! And it was a massive down hill! it just kept going and going.... and going! It was fun! Wooo hoo! 80kph all the way down. Suddenly all that agony at 60 was worth it!

Then, suddenly! We were in Adelaide. It's bizarre. We spent days riding through country Australia and then we were in the city! The GPS' guided us straight to the street. Suddenly we here "Oi!", and looked up. There was a guy who was obviously a scooterist, and he told us how to get into the car park. We had arrived!

As we finally came to rest, we got to see the scoots from Paradise Lost SC. Very high quality machines. Unfortunately some got damaged in the container on the way over, but nothing to serious.

Time to check in, get a shower so I could feel human again, and then over to Mark Carter's house to collect the Mugello. Still don't know the price, but Mark said he'd look after me, so a big thank you Mark! I met some members of the Lambretta Club of South Australia, who were working on getting a machine ready.

Alex Vukovich also has come through with a manifold and a 22mm carb. Amazingly, he's lending me the carb from one of his own machines. I also received a call from Dibsy (Mark Dyble) to let me know he been looking through his parts to find a 22mm no.1 slide for me, but couldn't find one. Sometimes, scootering has a lot of politics, but this is a superb example of how, in the face of adversity, everyone helps and just gets the person going again. It is heart warming.

Peter, Bill's brother showed up with his scoot in a van, and we joined the PLSC at a local pub. We then went on to have a malaysian dinner, and then called it quits for the day. We were exhausted.

Day 4 - Swan Hill to Pinnaroo

Day 4 - Swan Hill to Pinnaroo

How can I begin to explain how bad today was? I thought our first day was bad, but today…. just eclipses it.

It all started well. We left the hotel, who donated $20 towards Lammie Drive, and went into town and got a big breakfast…. that should've been called a MASSIVE breakfast. We left, and off we went to our first stop - Marangatan (Seriously). The scoots were all running well, we were rolling along at a steady 80kph, when mine started to slow down and then backfired, and died…. 16km's from Marangatan! Right in the open, between two sets of trees.

I tried to kick start it…. no compression! Took out the spark plug… It was White! At that point, I knew what we were looking at. So, I started taking the scooter apart and, yep, there was a nice hole in the piston! What seems to have happened is that one or two of the cylinder studs came loose and so the head wasn't as tight as it should be, so air was getting in, and so it was too hot, and…. I had a hole in my piston!

Fortunately, Ron had brought a spare LI 150 barrel & Piston, so that went on.However, we only had a TV 175 head. Still it all went on.

We got visited by this old gent who had been riding a bicycle around Austrlia for 25 years. Amazing! He was on his way to see his daughter with a gift, which was a dog in the basket on the front of the bike. At one point I had to go to the loo (A bush), and he waited until I had finished… because he was an old dog! (His words)

4 1/2 hrs later, the Green Goddess was alive again! However, disaster! I had broken a nail! Still, we went on. We got into Marangatang, our first fuel stop.

Small place. If I could name somewhere as being quintessentially country Australia, this would be it. It had the two women chatting in the pharmacy. The General Stores with not much of a choice in ice cream, and the petrol station that only had unleaded. That's it. Just unleaded. No premium, etc.

An American vintage car club came in and needed fuel, and the garage owner had gone to one of the other shops to have a chat, so they couldn't get fuel, and then left. The owner came back, and we told her and her response was "Well, if they couldn't wait… it wasn't much of an emergency was it?"

Marangatang, is also the scene of my 2nd breakdown of the day… a split fuel pipe.

Finally, we were on our way again, and off to Underbool. Considering the engine is now made up of such a mishmash of parts and timing and jetting, it ran extremely well. We made Underbool.

How can I Describe Underbool? Blink and you would miss it! We stopped, filled up and off we went again…. for me to stop again. This time, it was just because the suppressor cap came off my spark plug..a nod so we went on.

This was now getting scary. It was getting dark, and we weren't anywhere near Pinnarro. again, we found our selves driving through the night. We'd keep seeing what we thought was civilisations, only to be fooled. I saw the South Australian border sign, which I wanted a pic with and thought… I just can't be bothered (Actually the language was worse) and so we kept going.

At last! Pinnarroo! The Pinnaroo Hotel, nestled between the BP and the Mobil! We had been upgraded… two levels! We got told everything about our rooms, including how to use the TV, which we kept saying we would not use, but apparently we needed to know how to use it!

Dinner was excellent, at the local hotel. I mean really excellent!

Now, I'm trying to get the parts I need. Mark Carter, if you read this, I need a 200 manifold for a 22mm carb,a nod the carb itself with a no.1 slide!

Day 3 Cobram to Swan Hill

Day 3
It started well, with a fantastic breakfast at the motel, but went steadily down hill from there. First of all, I couldn't get my phone and headset to pair with the GPS, as I had paired them with Bill's yesterday…. and it was all getting confused. So, I had to blow away the configs on both GPS units, and start again.

Finally, we go on the road and filled up at a petrol station down the rd. I decided that I was going to miss out the next petrol stop, just to see if I could get to the one after on the long range tank.

Leaving the petrol station, we were going to have a long day. Not because it was a long distance, but because Bill was riding his LI 125, which has a maximum speed of about 65kph, or 70 when a truck goes by. This also meant that Obie was grumpy ALL day…. because he was driving the support van.

My phone rang about 10km's down the rd. One of us had left their phone behind. So we all stopped and checked. Turned out it was Ron. So, we got Obie to wait there, sent Ron back, and Bill and I carried on.

Amazingly, Bill and I got to Echuca, our first petol stop, before Ron and Obie caught up with us. We even had time to stop at the Down Under Dunny and take some photos. We had just filled up and were waiting for them. Then we heard Ron's Lammie coming down the rd and waved……. as he rode straight past us…… followed by Obie. I phoned, and got them to come back. Reminding everyone of my meticulous planning on petrol stops :-)

Whilst at the petrol station, we spotted a sign, saying "Historic Port" and on the way in another sign saying "Echuca, Australia's Steam River Boat Capital", so we went to have a look…. as Obie rolled his eyes. This section of the town is gorgeous. Preserved buildings from the late 19th Century. As we are riding a long, I could hear something rattling. I stopped, looked over the scoot, and couldn't see anything. So, we carried on,a nod found the "Historic Port". Stopped. Very nicely done! As it turned out, we were there for a while as I found the problem. The top bolt holding on my right hand shock absorber at the front had come urn down, and the shock was hitting the mudguard.

Fortunately, I had a bag of bolts with me, and one of them was the right thread. However, it was too long. Bill had noticed a hardware store, so off we went to get a hack saw. Apparently, Hardware stores in Echuca don't stock Hack Saw's. I'm sure they don't get much call for them! So back to the scoot,and pack out the bolt with washers. When I looked underneath, though, amazingly the original bolt was still there! This is a really difficult thing to fix, as the mudguard gets in the way. In the end, I had to take the shock off at the bottom. Offer up the top to the bolt, turned by Bill, and then put the bottom back on! By this time, we had wasted over an hr, and people had wandered off and come back again. Obie's eyes were nearly so rolled up that I'm sure he could see the inside of his skull.

Finally we set off, and went past the National Holden Museum (For non-Australian's, Holden is General Motors in Australia). This place is definitel worth a visit in the future!

Back on the open road, and we were steaming along at 65kph. Completely uneventful as we headed towards Kerang, our next stop. Just as we got outside Kerang, there was an ex US Army WWII DUKW outside a Honda dealers. ill had to stop, and have a look. Ron decided to fill up, and whilst he was doing that, I went to see if there were any gloves in side, as his hands had been getting cold. Then I heard…. "It's a scooter! It's a real scooter!" as the proprietor came out into the shop. he went outside to look, Bill got talking to him, and then we find out he doesn't just have the DUKW. he has a Jeep, a Tank, a halftrack, and Brenn gun carrier, a BSA despatch motorcycle, Austin 7 Racing cars, old Hondas and …. a Well Bike. This is the British Parachute Regiment's equivalent to the US Cushman, which is what sparked off Innocent's idea to make the Lambretta. Bill could hardly contain himself as we went off to see the Well Bike.

Once more, it was time to go and I notice that the bushes on my front shocks had come out. So, we fixed that with some washers, and were once more on the way. Thanks to Tim, the proprietor. Obie was still grumpy.

The scenery was getting VERY boring. Completely flat and fairly treeless. We got within 20km of Swan Hill, our stop for the night, and we spotted a Catalina museum, next to Lake Boga that we had all noticed had completely dried up. It must be recent, as the yacht club was still there.

Back on the rd again, and about 10km's down the rd, Ron's u-bend broke. The pipe came completely away from the flange. He was going to trailer it in to Swan Hill, but we persuaded him to ride it, even though it make an awful noise as we rode through down town Swan Hill. We couldn't find the Motel as our GP's insisted that the street number did not exist. So we stopped, and Ron spotted a muffler place, and got his u-bend welded up again. And, arose the rd was a hardware store…. with Hack saws! Meanwhile Obie went and found the motel and then came back to get us.

Finally, we arrived! A VERY long day, caused by slow moving vehicles, sight seeing, breakdowns, not following instructions.

Obie was no longer grumpy!

Days 1 & 2 Sydney to Gundagai to Cobram

Day 1 - Sydney to Gundagai

What a day! It was one of the worst days of scootering I've every had. As anyone in Sydney would appreciate, going through the M5 Tunnel was actually a relief! The Wind was so strong, t must have had 60kph gusts.

However, the day started in Stanley Street, Darlinghurst. Sydney Riders showed up to offer support, as well as a good smattering of classic scooterists, including some V*spas - poor lambs! It was very wonderful to have such a good send off. I must admit, though, pulling out of Stanley St and seeing Akiko on the corner really brought tears to me eyes. It really made me rethink some things in a Long Way Round. I often thought that their continual attachment to family was over done, but knowing I wasn't going to see Akiko for 2 weeks as I attempt to ride across Australia really wrenched my heart.


We rode out of the city, and on to the M5. The sun may have been shining, but the head wind was terrible. It just sucked power out of the machines. At one point I was in 3rd gear.... to go DOWN hill! We struggled for 368km in 9 hrs. I remember being in Pheasants Nest, and shouting "Jesus Christ!", with someone laughing at me. We were so COLD! The wind chill was amazing. I had a t-shrt on, with a leather jacket over it, then we put on wet weather gear, and then parkas..... and then we were still cold! However, Mother Australia had decided that wasn't enough, oh no! She had at to make it Rain as well. We actually got to the point where we discussed giving up getting the Gundagai, but we decided to go on.... and finally, the weather gave us a break. We did what we swore not to do, which was travel through the night, with bIll, in his Van, blocking traffic for us. STill, looking for wildlife was scarey (Non-Australians, wildlife comes awake at dawn and dusk).

Day 2 - Gundagai to Cobram
Much better. We started with an overcast day, but at least the wind had died down. We went to the Niagra Cafe for Breakfast, a favourite of Bill's, but a landmark in Gundagai... other than the Dog on a Tucker box (which we couldn't be bothered to get a photo with). However, the day soon slowed down because Ron decided to fix Obie's scooter which was making OPEC happy. Finally DR Ron worked his magic fingers, and off we went!

We managed to get to Holbrook. An important town for me, as I went to School in Holbrook... in the UK. We got a photo in front of the sub. Then we went to find petrol. So we got to the end of town. Then we went back into town, and went to the Mobil... but we had to wait for 1hr for fuel. So then we went back to the Caltex. And got Fuel. I happened to mention they had the only fuel in town... "Oh, so that's why we are so busy!", was the response. Then, whilst talking to Bill, Ron and Obie disappeared... BIll and I noticed. We found them in the nice warm restaurant! The first of a few indiscretions.

Off we went, Obie and Ron left me far behind! Hooning away! down the Hume highway. Obie and Ron leaving me way behind. All I could see was this fluorescent green dot on the horizon. Off they went and, I must admit, I was fuming! The worst spot was going through Albury and a vehicle went past. It caused so much of a wake on me that I thought my back tyre has burst.

I got back on the road, and everything was ok, but now I had lost Obie and Ron. I pulled off in Wodonga to get petrol, as planned, but Rona nd obie were not to be seen. I called. They had carried on down the freeway. You have to understand that in country Australia, petrol stations are few and far between. I didn't know where the next station was. Fortunately, we had 20litres in the van. Off we went. We carried on.

We got off the freeway. One thing we can say about Victoria is that they build straight roads! Straight to where they want to get to. This road took us to Rutherglen... where there was a Petrol Station. Of course, Obie said he knew all along that Rutherglen was famous for its petrol stations. Later he also said it was famous for its pie shops.

Finally we were off again. It was an amazing part of the trip. The sun came out, and we were off. Running a nice 80kph. Just running along. Un beknownst to me, Ron stopped, only to do up his jacket, but I carried on. It took Obie and Ron ages to catch up with me again. Anyway, we all arrived in Cobram to book in to the motel. Who had us booked in for tomorrow night! They booked us in somewhere else, which worked out well..as they have internet connection and they were cheaper.

Today ended well. I've just been typing this whilst drinking a bottle of Wine with Ron and Obie. Now I'm tired, and going to bed. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Today is the day

I've been up since 5:30am, can't sleep. Excited, but also dreading it. Finally finished packing at 10:30 last night.

Get Just Bikes! They have a 2 page article on the ride.

Now have to go and load up the scoot. Then it's breakfast, then the support van, driven by Bill Guthrie, should be here with my fellow nut cases, Graham O'Brien and Ron DePannone.

What I did on Saturday

I had a few last minute adjustments to make. The clutch needed adjusting, as I had it too tight. Also added the front legshield badges, and tightened up the steering column. Tried to get the other rear brake light working, and it still isn't. Tracked the problem down, but my soldering iron just isn't good enough.

Last weekend I tried videoing the ride, and the camera shook all over the place. Tried to fix that, but I can't. The basic problem is that the camera does not sit flat on the mount. It's the cameras fault, not the mount. This is a shame, as I wont be able to video whilst riding, but I'll still get plenty of footage.

Tomorrow is the big day! I haven't even packed yet!

Lammington Drive

Friday we had a Lammington Drive at the office. I had help from quite a few of my colleagues, some even coming in to work on their day off. I'd especially like to thank:

Leah Omar

Leanne Chakty

Bryan Stevenson

Ian Frank

Alison

Helen Macris

Brian Kaple

Andrew Sobb

I'd also like to thank the training centre for stepping in at the last moment to give us a place to run the event. We were supposed to run it outside, but there were some issues with the building owners, and insurance, etc

Last, but not least, Cafe Senso Unico, in Burwood, for organising the Lammingtons, Grinders to provide the coffee machine and personnel, as well as donating their own time and sacrificing profit in their own cafe.

How much? $1270!

We are now over $5000!