December 10th : Sydney

Pannier Open	Pannier Closed	Better Breathing	Bag Harness	Bag Base	Tank Bag

Inside the bag	Outer Pockets	The charger	A place for parts	The Big Red Spring	New Screen

I chose to ride around the world in 1973 knowing nothing about motorcycles. All I knew was that an engine and two wheels seemed the device best suited to realise my ambition. So as I learned to ride, and as I fitted the bike out, I was thinking only what would be best for my purpose. I am not saying I was oblivious to the romance of motorcycles. I used to fancy the idea of them, and I admired the look of them, but the machine just didn't fit into my life until I found a use for it. It was a rather cold-blooded approach to something that many are passionate about, and I'm glad that not too many motorcylists have held that against me. The journey (and of course the book that followed it) succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. It was what made it possible for me to think of doing it again now. So naturally, when I planned this second journey I thought I would take advantage of all the wonderful new stuff that has come along in the last thirty years. It was a joy to be given carte blanche to get what I liked. All the equipment I have is superb, but a lot of it turned out, in the end, to be wrong for me at this time, on this journey. Why? Most of all because my needs, today, are quite different. I am not travelling as an anonymous being through a world of disconnected communities. I have no need to be self-sufficient today. I am welcomed almost everywhere, and most of what I need I can obtain almost everywhere. The world has changed. My situation has changed. For the last 40,000 miles I have been carrying far too much stuff. Because I have a bigger and stronger bike I thought it would be no problem to carry more. Bernd Tesch's boxes are enormous. It seemed a good idea to carry a lot of weight low down, but everybody knows the trouble with boxes. You have to fill them. And I did. I remember Dave Wyndham at CW Motorcycles saying, several times, "Weight is of the essence", but I wasn't listening. I remembered the huge amount of stuff I ended up carrying on the old 500cc Triumph. I thought it would be no problem, and Dave was probably too respectful to drive the message home. Unfortunately, though the bike is bigger and stronger, I am just fatter and weaker, and I set out in 2001 with something that weighed rather more, overall, than I ended up with in 1977. It's time to confess that on this journey so far I have not always been an easy rider. It's OK on asphalt (although even there at moments I'm at the limit of control) but on dirt and especially bad dirt, I am not happy. And as for picking it up, well if you've been following me, you know that story by now. But something else has happened along the way. I have begun to realise (and it's awfully late in the game) that I could really do things with this bike, that it isn't just a mule, and that if I could only get rid of some of this weight I would enjoy myself a whole lot more. So finally, here in Australia, I'm dumping the boxes. At the same time, I've had an opportunity to change a lot things. The other day, with this new set-up, I came from Melbourne to Sydney, that's 560 miles mostly at 75 mph, and I am very pleased. I found a few wrinkles, easy to fix. It's almost like starting over. I hope you're interested. BACK