First trip...

[GTRPete]

Took a week off, took the GTR up the coast and back to visit my oldies (Dad's 92, Mum's 86 and they're still laughing it up!)
Great ride up, took my time (despite some of the speeds i got up too ), stopped at Coffs Harbour at a mate's, then at my brother's north of Brisbane then to my folks....
Didn't take many pics... totaled 2870kms on the ride... GTR went so good... although there was a fuel smell on every tankfull for a while...
On the way back I took the lovely Bellingen-Dorrigo road, a winding mountain road for about 30KMs, pure GTR-heaven!! then the rains started... it poured so heavily I had to stop a few times and just sit there wondering why
Flash flooding was happening all around the road to Armidale and it's the first time in atleast 5 years I've seen the creeks and rivers flowing (most were overflowing).
My new jacket leaked like a t-shirt....it then filled up my gortex-lined pants and my gortex lined gloves and I virtually froze my butt off , this was after leaving a steamy hot morning on the coast!!! So I stopped the night in a cabin and dried most of it off, hoping the rains might have eased, which they did....

What a great time... here's a few pics I did take... the GTR went like a dream...didn't get up to any great speeds... an occasional 200, but enjoyed cruising at about 130/140 (kmh )
Only one month old and it needs a service already!! (5777km all up)
the route and some points (clicky)

I'll put some up here, I like the scenery!

[08CC14]

[GTRPete]

I meant to compliment the Cee Bailey's (euro cut) screen I fitted the night before the trip.
Anywhere from 100kmh to over 160 I'm sitting behind it listening to the engine purr and a light wind noise around me... usually rode with my helmet screen up as a peak. Different settings for more or less wind, great for cooling off or rain! Brilliant!
Only cleaned the bugs off my helmet ONCE on the trip. so glad I got it!!!

[Sniper1977]

Nice country side pete. Its starting to get a little chilly here in Va. Will probably ride a couple more times before I pack it in.

[MarkT]

Pete, are the pics of the Ebor Range on the way to Armidale from Grafton? It looks quite similar. We always go that way on our way to Phillip Island. A very sweet bit of road. There is a group of us heading down to Tassie in March next year. Try and catch Holma down there. Any interest?

Mark

[GTRPete]

Hey, MarkT
You mean the last pic of the view with the clouds??? That's just as you get into Dorrigo from Bellingen, on that never-ending winding road .

I was going to stop at Ebor for a nice coffee, but the rains were so heavy there I thought I'd just keep going till I get fully soaked....

(The other pics are somewhere between Nowendoc and Gloucester)

Tassie will be nice, but early next year I'm doing a ride through central/outback Qld with a mate (lives nth of Brisbane), I will one day get to Tassie though... that and NZ are on my "ride before I'm too old"-list

Oh - for those on the "Seasons Over" thread...
Departed Sydney at the start, about 6am...18C and sunny, warmed into a pleasant 27C with about 70%humidity... got hotter as I went further... arrived at the Coast to a seabreeze in about 28C...

Up further in Queensland it got to about 30C but humidity was high in parts, so one got rather sticky under a jacket especially in traffic.
On the way back I left sweltering/humid coast and climbed that winding mountain road as the temps dropped to atleast 15C, when the rains came down I got chilled, but it was still only 12-14C, but being wet made that difference...
Summer starts this weeekend, then it becomes a bit warm to ride for me, 35-40C with humidity anywhere from 60-85%... whereas Winter in Sydney is never much below 5C at night... so nice to live in eternal-riding country!!!

[Hitman]

Awsome Pete....

Those roads look stunning.

[CRWDDYZ]

Beautiful bike, and country. I love that windshield ! Anychance you can send me pics in the full up and full down position ?

[scavenger_9]

yeah.. post some pics of the windsheild..

[08CC14]

http://www.zxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6217

[GTRPete]

good one, 08CC14, looks like you used a mobile phone or the pics??

But.. it's a good lots of pics showing the screen comparison and up.down shots..

again, bloody marvellous screen. the other night I picked it up from the 6k service and rode through was was to be half of December's rainfall in that bloody hour but cruised happily home getting only wet arms and legs
(had my bmw-rallye suit on, didn't soak in this time )

I am noticing, however, that when it's on the higher level (maybe 2" from top) I'm getting exhaust fumes 'in the cabin', as if following a smelly car or diesel.. the wind up my back isn't that obvious but maybe enough to get the fumes up, dunno if anyone else finds this ? This is only since the service, I wonder if they've richened it up too much? It's running so much smoother than before, in both vibes and engine noise, only been out once after the rainy ride, I'll recheck this on the next sunny day... puts me to sleep (doesn't take much to do that ).
Just a minor issue, still brilliant wind coverage...

[08CC14]

Originally Posted by GTRPete

good one, 08CC14, looks like you used a mobile phone or the pics??

Good Gaude Man!! Thanks for saying something. I just realized my camera's image quality was set on 640 x 480 instead of 3072 x 2304.

Sheesh...