I think the first thing that people wonder is why did he do it, but then people often say I wish I had done something like that.

After my stay in Esperance I started to make my way to Perth. I noticed the south west was quite damp and sort of misty and also the trees were a lot bigger and greener - it was quite a lot different from the east in that respect.

It was on this part of the trip where the bike had its first problem - the tacho cable broke. It was quite a useful instrument and I used to ride on it a lot. It makes you check on the engine and also when the speedo broke I could almost know my road speed within a little. I noticed as I got nearer to Perth the weather was getting warmer which made it quite a lot better as far as I was concerned. I like it really warm, though when you ride a bike you are not aware how warm it is until you stop as the wind cools you down.

In Perth I was told by a traffic warden there was a problem at Fitzroy Crossing, some 1750 miles north east. This was the only bit of dirt road left on the round trip which I would need to tackle and he told me it was cut off due to rain and bad weather and nobody could get through till the roads dried out.

After Perth there were a lot of forests of fir trees, apple trees and grape vines which was quite nice to see. Going north for the next one or two days the roads were quite long and straight and there is not much to say about this part of the trip. It was a case of every 200 miles fill the bike up, stop for a beer and do the same thing again 200 miles later.

There was, however, one incident which made me run cold at the time... I was riding along at about 45 mph when I noticed something drawing alongside me. When I looked properly I saw it was an emu, towering above me as I sat on the bike. I shouted at it and it ran off. This was quite an unexpected and unnerving experience. I noticed there were a lot of dead animals laying on the side of the road due to the road-trains that travelled a lot at night. That is when most get killed as they are attracted by the vehicle lights.

It was now Sunday 28th March and I had been on the road for almost 2 weeks, having clocked 4200 miles and I ended up at Karratha quite near Dampier. I got up the next day and, at this point, I started to go slightly more north east. As soon as I turned in this direction I noticed the glare from the sun more in front of me, which made riding more tiring. I carried on through to Port Headland, where I made my first mistake. I thought I would continue to the next town to pick up fuel but there wasn't one and, being Sunday, this caused me a problem as I would find out in the next few hours.

I saw the sign to Mount Goldsworthy and decided to go off the beaten track onto the dirt road to try to pick up some petrol. When I got there some fellows came over to see me and asked what I wanted - they told me the petrol station was closed and the local Police officer did not seem to want any one other than the workers around. To cut a long story short the men set me up with a full tank of petrol and a couple of beers. I asked what I owed them but they said 'we want to help you out of trouble' and sent me on my way. I thought 'what a great lot of blokes'.

This next part of the trip was where I met some really great people. I arrived at a place called Sandfire Flats. The story goes that a man filled his ute up with 44 gallon drums of petrol, filled the ute's tank up and, when he ran out of juice, that was where he built a filling station and it was named Sandfire Flats. I filled the bike up ready for the morning and met a road work team who told me to come over to the hotel and join them after I had a shower. I was warned to get out of the tent before dusk as the mosquitoes would get in and they would be waiting for me when I crashed out. I went over to the Hotel that night and we had a real laugh - they made me part of their group and it was free beer for me that night - those road fellows were a really good gang!

The next day it was a trip to Broome - 208 miles between petrol pumps. At this stage you really know you are in the outback. I saw 2 cars, a truck and a motorcycle on that trip. I was nearly into Broome - about 20 miles away at the time - and the bike got a real wobble on the road. It was white metal and extremely glary, so it was hard to see all the ridges in the surface made by the large road-trains. What had happened was that each wheel had got into a different ridge, causing the bike to become unbalanced. I thought I had got a puncture so it was a relief to find I had not, as the temperature was quite hot and it would have made me really sweat to stop and mend it...

I spent a few days in Broome waiting to get the all clear to go through the only bit of dirt road on this round trip. While there I met a couple of Canadians and a couple of Aussies which made for a bit of company. Over the next few days I kept checking at the Police Station for the all-clear to leave Broome. At last I was informed that the dirt road had dried out and it was time for the off. What happened next was amazing - I had made it almost half way through the trip and now I had my first breakdown - the bike stopped and refused to start.

I made various checks and, after a time, I found the rotor at the end of the cam in the electronic ignition had come loose but, as I did not carry a manual, everything had to be done by memory. I had to sit and think for a bit and go back to when I first fitted it in the UK. I think it was quite an easy set-up and, after a few minutes, the old thing was ready to hit the road again.

I had a bit of a late start and I knew I had to get through from Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek by the end of that day. As I was using cast alloy racing wheels I did not know how they would handle the dirt road so I kept my speed down and took more care. It was one of the hottest rides I made in Australia and I remember there being a ford which I had to cross, with a few inches/cm of water. I rode through it a bit faster than I should and the water came right over my head. It was the best thing I could have done as it cooled me down. I was quite soaked but it dried out very fast.

It was getting a bit dark when I came off the dirt road and I rolled into Halls Creek, stopping in town to ask where I could find a motel. A couple of men stood there and one of them said;
'Don't stay here, join us. My name is Smokie and I am the leader of a road train gang.'

So I followed them and spent the night under one of the trailers. They were another good gang and set me up with a steak sandwich, a couple of beers and fitted a bolt to my headlight as I had lost one on the ride the previous day. The next day they all wished me goodluck and sent me on my way. I must admit I met some great people on this section of the trip. I feel they are the real Aussies and are a really good lot. I always enjoy my time with Australians as they are my sort of people.

The Norton In Australia Archive

NVQAssessor

07.09.06 Front Page

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