You might remember the cartoon in the last Strapzagram about finding a way to get the PM (Pillion in a Million) back out on a bike tour.
Well... Me 'n' the PM packed up our 4bee, the recently acquired Disco camper and headed bush for 10 days at the end of August. I took her out to the real Australia, the outback, spending time around the Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre.
If I'd gone out there again on the bike without her, the locks to the doghouse would have been changed while I was away.
Much of the time we were blessed with glorious weather and spectacular scenery. This was the first trip the PM has made to the red centre and what a time to do it! I've never seen central Oz so lush, green and abundant.
These sorts of trips are a mixed bag for me. While it's nice to sit in a comfy seat, sip a coffee and have a chat, there are times when I so wish I was on the bike. And... then... we hit some deep sand or crappy muddy section, the 4by wriggles and shimmies and I think... Hmm; maybe not... Not this bit at least.
We spent much of our time hidden away from phones, the internet and the other distractions of modern life. We free camped in National Parks and on homestead campsites. The quiet and solitude is such a recharge. The silence out there is stunning, just us, a gentle breeze rustling the trees and my tinnitus.
As luck would have it, we arrived at Warraweena Station to be able to catch up with the Flinders Classic riders who stopped there for lunch. What an amazing place to ride, I was jealous again, and that afternoon I found myself trying to work out a way to get back next year for a crack on Dr Z.
That's a serious long range tank!
Arty shot of Mount Fitton Homestead ruins, on the Talc Road, connecting Lyndhurst to the Mount Hopeless Road. We called into the Freeling Homestead, paid our $20 were treated to a couple of beers, an orientation and a bit of history. Our host grew up in this home. We didn't see a soul in the two days we camped there.
Sturt's Desert Pea, the botanical equivalent of the Platypus.
BY THE WAY
I'm told by a SA native that the Marree servo does THE BEST roast dinner on a Friday nights.
Shoei Neotec 3 R 'ere
As you probably know I've progressed through Shoei's flip-front offerings from Multitec through to Neotec 2 and I'm a fan. Being bespectacled all my life, I struggled with glasses and helmets for many years until I found the flip front. It's hard to go back now!
The new Neotec 3 represents a slow and methodical development of a market-leading hat. Shoei are a conservative mob and sneak up on stuff. Rather than throw out the bath and bath water with the baby, coming up with a new tub, they revise and improve.
Most of what I can see as far as changes go work toward cutting down noise. They've tidied up the chin bar join, added airflow smoothing grooves to the trailing edge, filled the internal visor mechanism cover to reduce resonance and re-shaped the cheek pads to close off air ingress at the nape of the neck. The vents have had a workover, the internal sun visor is 10mm longer and there's a new lower profile Mesh technology Sena Comms available to integrate into it.
As with Neotec 2 it 'locks' in the open position, making it homologated to be ridden in the open or closed position. I'll stick with my 50kph rule and only have it up under that speed.
Price has jumped and weight has crept up, albeit much less than I was expecting, 50 grams due to the 20:06 standard coming into effect.
OK, so what's it like I hear you say? Fit is traditional Shoei, as is the plush comfort of the liner. On-line griping about the visor opening is drivel (in my humble... but it does take a bit of getting used to), the release is designed to simply rock the visor retainer and swipe it up. It is slick!
The internal sun visor is long overdue for an extension, I've grumbled about it since Neotec 1. It's now just that bit longer, nice one Shoei. Without changing helmets (and my Neo 2 is shagged out) to compare, I think the changes have made it quieter.
The only issues I found were minor – the buckle side of the chin strap falls through the opening in the new neck roll so it has to be held in a particular way to don said hat. And the little rubber cover on the tongue side fell off the second day, as I said... normal Shoei.
Initial delivery of stock is Gloss White (which we have on the shelves) and Matt Black (add $50, I'll order in for you if you must) and the price is a whopping, post-COVID $1299.90 but you get that.
My riding mate Kel and I had a weekend on a couple of offerings from lands to the North a short while back. My goodness, they offer a hell of a value proposition.
Keep an eye out for the full goss in an upcoming edition of AMCN.
More Hat Chat
There's only time and room for one historic hat this month.
Franco Uncini was the last Italian to win the 500cc crown (1982) before a certain Valentino Rossi came along. He's now the head of Moto GP safety for Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme.
Often referred to as the DWIS – Ghibli Spaceman Helmet later models claimed features like a close fitting (no wind leakage), 3 position visor and quick release chin strap. Not this one, it was the old press stud rattler style.
Franco could certainly see where he was going!
Hmmmm, it looks very Schuberth C4 like.
The Emperor's New Shirt
Over the last few months, we've been working on a new shirt, designed for year-round use. It's based on the cut of our Thermalz but single-fronted and tweaked to be useful across the seasons. Intended to be used alone or as a part of the light layering system it will adjust to the weather you're in. We also tried to create a good-looking shirt
Cut with a traditional T-shirt style neckline, the Allrounder is made of our superfine, super stretchy, 1 x1 Merino knit. Care instructions are in the left side seam, there's extra body, arm length and curved front and rear to keep it tucked in.
On our recent outback trip, I wore mine day and night for two weeks, washing it only once, not because it stunk but because it was filthy! I washed it in a bathroom sink and wrung it out by hand. And, thanks to a gentle breeze, it was dry by the next morning!
Filthy but not stinky!
Made in our Melbourne factory, please go easy on the model, he's the cheapest one I can get.
The problem with rim protectors is that they are so easy to lose while changing a tyre in the middle of nowhere. Here's a trick to make some for nothing.
Lop off a milk container handle, cut away the back and bingo!
You can lose as many of these as you like.
Pole Bag
No... it's not a bag to keep your Polish mate in.
Tent poles are a bugger to carry on the bike, anything you put within cooee gets a hole in it.
I'm sick of holes in my gear so I came up with this jigger. Made of our pannier canvas, with two pockets but only one lid and strap down loops on the rear, I reckon I've got it sorted.
Last weekend the Bendigo Historic Motorcycle Club and BMW Club Vic got together to kick up their heels to celebrate half a century of BMW's most iconic modern bike the R90S (Go easy the GS represents a series of bikes). Dear as poison when released the legend is that you could buy two Norton Commandos and a commuter scooter for the price of one.
BMW just weren't cutting the mustard in the late '60s, either they pissed, or got off the pot. The R75/5 lifted their game but the Japanese manufacturers were racing ahead, literally. Taking the bull by the pointy bits, ex-Marine fighter pilot Bob Lutz, a newly appointed executive, upped the pressure on BMW and was given the task of what turned out to be the invention of the 'Sports-Tourer'. Bee Em wanted a 900cc flagship and he and Industrial designer, Hans Muth came up with what we now know as the R90S.
Initially sold in the two-tone TT Silver Smoke, it was joined by my favourite, Daytona Orange in '75 after success at that race track the previous year.
Its performance cred was backed up by Reg Pridmore’s claiming of the Superbike crown and Helmut Dahne winning the Production TT in 1976.
I rode Tomaselli's part of the way there on the Saturday arvo and loved every moment of it. Smooth, rock solid and comfy, it's a classic bike that could be ridden the length of the country at the drop of a helmet.
Two dozen examples of the bike turned up on Sunday morning, remarkably, evenly split between the two colour choices. They just kept coming!
Each rider (and trailerer) received a 'trophy' to commemorate the event.
The most pleasing part of the weekend for me was seeing two different clubs working together to put on this event. A catered dinner, guest speaker, plenty of laughs and a campfire warmed up the fifty or so hard souls who camped Saturday night.
Copyalater
I hope your team wins. I'm off to try and work out which way I turn the clock hands.
Andy
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