Pom heading for Oz

[MaxMan]

I do an annual trip to spain and france, normally cover 2,000 miles... glad you guys like the pics, here are a few more. I hope I do not crash the site with too many pictures.. I am sure the moderators will be quick to tell me...

Hey Benno, the Mojito's were surely great, we stayed there for several hours for some reason, lol

[robracer]

OK... so fess up.... you are a professional photographer
Great pics Max they are a joy to look at & study the detail

[javaman]

Not sure about Perth but it seems like the flatter part of the continent, not many mountains (as supposed to the great vic )

Lovely pics... would love to ride in europe one day.

[MaxMan]

Cheers for the compliments Robracer and Javaman... I like taking pictures .. I generally take a lot so get a good chance of success lol


Here is another of a typical French road, they are normally tree lined and traffic free.

[hoffy]

You Bastarge !! Spain looks like Da Shit, but it surely cant be as good as parts of NSW and Victoria

[mick_dundee]

Umm think again Hoffmeister, bigger mountains and more mountains would probably lend itself to better roads... and man, so much history... ya not gonna find castles built in the 1400's here

[MaxMan]

....well very sadly for me I will not be heading down to Oz after all, global recession and all... the up side is that I do not have to move the family and sell my bikes

anyway for those of you who enjoyed the pictures I have posted, I have created a website where I can upload loads more... so you can see what the Europeans get up to touring Europe...

http://redzed.ning.com/forum

Any one heading over this way and what some advice about touring Europe, or join me on a trip.....give me a shout ..

[robracer]

Bad news there Max maybe some other time... & thanks for the link, youyr pics are ace

[swearbear9r]

Hi and welcome mate ............ some really good pics there may i say lol....

[brockzila]

I just moved from teh UK to sydney so was going to impart my knowledge on importing bikes to OZ. those pics of that steak (im guessing it is spain) bring back some memories. i Fn LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE north Spain. did not get to ride there but spent colse to 3 weeks in Baisk country for San Fermin (runnig of the bulls) the only 3 weeks of summer i had in two years i might add. I rode through germany, 19 day stop over in munich for octoberfest, that was hard work then went down through north italy to ducati and farrei. then over to st tropez and back to london 4500km total on a TRX850.
Yes some of the roads are epic, massive drop offs endless valleys and mountan passes.

120mph every where on the motor way(rang the nuts off the TRX all day every day on the long hauls), never looked at the speedo any where else as they cant take my lisence off me any way, but there are very few cops, and they dont look as they have better things to do. I pushed as hard as i comfortably could most of the time. But i still got passed but the absolutly F*%Kn mental local kids on scooters in the italian and french alps, and a old man in a fiat panda crazy crazy old man had a death wish.

the pacific highway here in sydney is just as good as any thing i rode over there, its a big call, and it may be that im finding the ZX9r much more comfortble and easyer to ride. but it is a top quality road and its only 10 min from my home. but in europe it would be 200km long though.

[MaxMan]

Yep that was some steak and your are right agian brockzila, that was Spain...

I was gutted not to get to Oz, it was a 99% certainty, my wife was really pi@@ed... it was a 3 year assignment but I had intended not to return... anyway i may still make it out one day

I have moved my site as the new one is much easier to use, still working on a logo and design... please take a look.. I will be adding stuff ...

http://www.redzed.proboards.com

[hoffy]

See you on the road girlfriend !

[MaxMan]

Check out the pictures from my site of my 2009 trip through Spain for those who have an interst in touring in Europe...

I hope to make it to Oz, but with the present world economic climate looks unlikely in the short term

[stepbro]

I was posted to Darwin from the UK in 2005 and me like yourself decided to bring my bike over (Yamaha YZF1000). Personnally i would never do it again, not because of the MPH/KMH facer changes or marking up as there are no other diffrences but mainly because of the import problems at this end.

Once the bike had been delivered to the customs area the nightmare began:

Relace the air filter (even though the old one was brand new) and give the old one to the customs rep.
New tyres if you cant remove all traces of UK soil.
Removal of the radiator to show them that there was not any hidden road deposits (grain particles) within the vains.This was a total pain in the ass as removal of the fairing is always a nightmare.
Also be prepaired to be able to give the bike a jump start as the removal of all the fuel from the machine prior to departure and disconnecting the battery does not assist with easy starting when the bikes been in a crate for three months.
Last but not least i also had rub marks on the tank from all the tie down lashes, even though i thought i protected the bike really well.
Once i had the bike back though i suppose all the nighmares went away untill 6 weeks later when it was written off in a road accident by a RAAF fighter pilot who did not see me (they fly jets at the speed of sound and cannot see a bike parked at a T junction).
Now have a ZX14 best bike i've ever had.
Pity about the Perth posting i just left there after two years. There are some great rides up in the hills lots of twisties and no cops, some good pubs too.
Insurance is totally diffrent over here there is "rego" and then insurance. All up for my bike being 44 years old its $650 rego and $730 insurance.
Cheapest place for bike insurance in WA is Western QBE it was about 1K cheaper than its closest rivals.
As for bikes and gear i brought my ZX from Kim Britton Kawasaki, 91 Dixon Rd, Rockingham Tel: 95921113. Really good bloke and does good deals, his brother owns a Suzuki dealership in the City.

If you need any more info let me know. Dont know a lot about the dirt bike riding as im more for the road than off.

Enjoy

Hi All,

It looks like maybe be posted to Perth from September 2009 for a three year assignment. Presently I have the following bikes in the UK:
2006 registered ZRX 1200R A5 in green
2005 registered ZR1000 A2 in red
1992 ZR1100 A1 Zephyr in maroon.

The second hand bike market has crashed here in the UK, so I intend to bring two of the bikes out with me. As I will have only owned the ZRX for 10.5 months on my departure, this bike will not meet the personal import criteria for oz of 12 month continuous ownership, so I will be forced to sell .. Shame as it has 1,955 miles on it

Can any of you help me with a few queries I have

1) Will the ZRX1200R be available in Oz in 2009? It was discontinued in the uk in 2007
2) Where is the best place to get a new ZRX1200R in WA, what price would I expect to pay? (on the road price)
3) What are the roads like in the Perth area, twisties or just long straights?
4) Is dirt biking a better option?
5) What is the cost of bike insurance? (45 year old, fully comprehensive?)
6) Any idea what the difference in the UK vs the Australian spec bikes are? In the uk the speedo's are in miles with km inside the mph scale. Are the Oz speedo's only kms?

Many thanks in advance.

It took me 4 months intensive labour to restore the Zephyr:



I fitted Kawasaki ZX636: "forks, rear shock, brakes and front mud guard", plus laser pipes, power commander and a custom map set up on a dyno.


Latest bike, I will be sorry to have to sell it without the chance of using it;

[seiko1]

Seems noone else mentioned it but I think Aus has taken in their quota on poms now, most of em are here in KSRC too

Well we can hardly be blamed for taking over "OUR COLONY" now can we