The best and worst part of my gig is helping newbies get set up, or experienced people set off on an overnighter or that dream ride of a lifetime. I love sharing what little expertise I have and shooting the breeze about what might happen and where best to head. In the last few weeks, a few groups have been kitting up for big laps or desert sorties.
Bastards! They are as excited as a puppy with two tails and I return to my ornery friggin' computer.
Just kiddin', it really is a pleasure to find the best solution for each rider. I see my role as one of setting out the options and why I'd choose each one. Laying out why I chose certain gear to offer and how it will or won't work for each trip.
Closed borders have thrown spanners in a number of works and it's great to see groups taking a philosophical approach to where to go and how to get there. I remember Ted Simon saying something like "the disruptions are the journey". And John Lennon reminding us that "life is what happens when we are busy making other plans".
It's my favourite way to ride. Many a time we've lobbed at the meeting point, looked at the sky (nowadays, the rain radar) and had a discussion as to whether we should punch through a rain band or try and out-run it, letting the destination fall into place after that.
As we continue to get our head above water production-wise, this little black duck (I grew up in WA) has the horizon in his sights.
What's not much fun is sitting about waiting to see if a ride will 'come off'. My riding buddy Tomaselli has booked two lots of leave only to be struck with lockdown the very days they were approved!
Tuesday came and the plague gates were opened. Woo hoo, we had cracked it... So had Hughey. The dog was sans chain, pinned to the back fence by the wind and rain came in buckets horizontally. An hour of slithering and buffetting later we met at our usual servo for a planning session and to hide out the storm we'd just punched through.
The rain radar proved our best mate, we chose a wriggly line around the red and dark blue patches slipping and sliding through places like Allambee, Thorpdale, Grand Ridge Road, Mirboo North before cutting south-east towards the 'South Gippy'. Most of the roads in these places were predictable but sloppy, slippery mud patches lurked.
By Foster, a caravan park cabin had the appeal of the Crown High Roller suite so we snapped it up. Overnight and a slow start the next morning, the weather started clearing... A bit.
In the true spirit of 'Riding to Bourke for a Burger', we looped up and around, covering a hundred klicks to get 30 on similar roads to the previous day. By the time we'd worked our way into log truck country (read cut-up surface mud), we'd reached the point of 'Pain in the RRs' return. Tomaselli and I pushed on until the road ended in a log pick up area. A solid road showed on the map but a two wheel track shaking its reality finger at us. Push on? Yep!
Before we popped out onto black-top two kilometres later, we'd each has a gentle 'lie-down', been paddling over both axles in muddy ruts and worked up a sweat.
A quick resupply in Yarram and out to the cracking White Women's Waterhole campground. The upside of the wild weather is always a fresh supply of firewood and we won a jackpot.
A very special campsite, don't tell anyone, ok?
A wonderful fire, a few refreshing neck oils and a steak to die for topped off a day to remember..
The wind died down, the sky cleared, the Gods of Motorcycling rewarded us for persistence with a bright blue sky the next morning. By that arvo we'd made camp by the Macalister River, East of Licola by a combination of dawdling and mad dash road scratching... Glorious!
Just to rub it in Hughie tossed a scudding shower at us as we packed up the next day. A rip back down the fabulous Licola Road to breakfast and a thoroughly entertaining ride home via lots of little back roads topped off a long awaited biking re-fill four days away.
The rain and wind returned half an hour after tucking a very grubby bike back in the shed.
Tomaselli taking advantage of a free bike and boot wash on the way home
I sit finishing off this newsletter and feeling somewhat smug that we actually snuck a few days ride in between lockdowns. It seems a bit of a metaphor for life really. Take your opportunities, push through the tough bits and the 'sun will come out' if you do.
Blast this gentrification of motorcycling! It used to be that we had automatic 'social distancing'. Remember the days when we could walk into a pub or a shop and the seas would part for us? How handy would that be now? We'd be immune to plague restrictions as we'd have an automatic barrier by the fact we are 'bikies'.
Reach out? If I could only grab a hold of them! I'd pivot, move forward, drill down, run them up the flagpole, lean in, push back and create issues with their paradigm. That'd learnings them!
Clobber Clearance
A sale at Strapz HQ is rarer than rockin' 'orse 'nuer. The next generation of Held's cracking Carese Jacket and Torno pants is on the water. Dubbed EVO, 'cause that's what every person and their marketing department do these days.
This means we need to clear the shelves of Carese 2 and Torno 2. A true Aussie friendly suit it can be made to work from -4 to 40 degrees. Close it up in Winter, open it up in Summer with masses of clever vents. Adding 'off the bike' layers in the cold weather makes it super flexible. I've done it, trooly rooly!
The Over-Under technology, where the internal liner can also be used as a external shell makes this arguably the best suit for our conditions here in the 'wide brown land'.
My Goretex jacket liner is in the bulge on my bum, pants liner fitted over.
There's nothing broken in the old stock we need to quit, like all clothing companies they 'need' to keep the designs fresh, pushing all retailers into cycles of sales. Floggin' off perfectly good gear at what we bought it for. Don't get me started!
Sizes and colours are limited. There are a few pairs of the Stocky (shorter leg) pants BTW.
This month represents thirty three years of service for the Strapz engine room. Jody (left) and Lisa have been the backbone of the gear gracing you and your bikes for over three decades combined.
As the saying goes; 'behind every successful bloke is a woman'. Well, here's two of 'em.
A hooj thanks from me, team. You're the best!
Boot's Are Back in Town
Hey, it's all part of the great adventure.
The plague played havoc with Italian company, Forma. Factory close downs and materials shortages have seen an 'Old Mother Hubbard' situation here at Strapz HQ.
The wait is over, stock is starting to flow. By the second week of August we should be 'Up to Pussy's Bow' with boots.
Unfortunately there are the odd gaps in the range and the whole of the distributor's stock was gobbled up even before it was unpacked. Next delivery is due in November.
Many years ago my first home purchase was an old shed with a small flat attached. The shed was full of old tools, truck and automotive treasures.
This is one of them.
I have no inkling of what this might be or where it might fit into the world. It isn't plastic as we know it, I'd think it pre-dates it. I'm not sure it's Bakelite either. It's about 1 and a 1/4 inches in diameter.
I'll bet it has some stories to tell.
Happy ruminating, last month we got two correct answers. John K and Warren (again) came up with the answer. It was part of a pop-up bathroom sink drain.
Latest Additions
The newest member of the tried and tested Andy Strapz range are Komine Heated Grips.
Up until now the only real option other than OEM heated grips were the Oxford units. While they are reliable and robust the controller is one of the ugliest things in motorcycle history.
To prevent throwing the baby out with the nappy we took our time testing to make sure these things work well. We reached thumbs-up in the last week or two.
The best part is the neatly integrated 5 position controller in the left grip.
So far, the only downside we've come across is that the instructions are in Japanese Anime but manageable.
I was wandering the web (at lunchtime, honest) and found this. The interweb seems to have a never-ending stream of dumb shit but this lot are hard to believe.
How this mob could ride so bad, concentrate so poorly and not even wear gloves at times, is truly astounding.
As we know there can be a gap between a great idea and a great item (or a smart decision but that's a tale for the campfire).
Part of the policy here at Strapz HQ is that we only offer for sale the stuff we have tested and really like. As I said earlier, the goal is to match riders with the gear that's best for them.
On the last trip I took out a few new bits and pieces to give them the once over. One was a new 'flip-front' Adventure touring helmet. It is a very stylish bucket bit I'm in two minds at this stage. It's got a few good points and a few negative and I'm not sure it meets the high standard we require here. It wouldn't be the first time I have 'come around' to a product but this needs more time. It's a cheaper helmet and it shows.
I've also got what initially looked like a promising, budget modular ADV/Touring helmet but after a few minutes it became apparent that the chin bar might fall off if I have a coughing fit, never mind have a stack, definitely don't pass go.
I was rapt in the performance of the new Ether XT sleeping mat and it was a pleasure to re-visit my favourite tent, the MSR Elixir 2 tent.
A compliment to Sea to Summit too by the way... The inflation bag valve sysytem is identical to the Exped one. In this day and age of jealous scuntin' of other manufacturers by cynically making that sort of stuff different. Hats of to StS!
The other toe dipped into the waters of motorcycling gear was heated clothing. Again, I have a pretty balanced fors and againsts list on this topic. Although the heating kit within the jackets were amazing, the jackets themselves are made of cheap nylon fabrics and left my Thermalz feeling damp..
Here's a spy photo of a brand spankin' new bit of Andy Strapz kit that's in its last phase of development. It can be glimpsed up on the seat between my well traveled, Avduro LE (#1 of course).
That's about all from me this month, stay warm, dry and smiling.
While we are forced back in lockdown and the actual showroom is closed, we are still able to answer the phone and dispatch goodies.
