The Bikes

The BM

The postie because it's orange.

KLR 650 bought second hand and stripped and modified.

Homemade side carrier racks, Safari long range tank (38L), range 650 km before hitting reserve, 10L water, motortech main stand, ali bash plate, stronger rear spring, touring screen, tank bag, soft panniers, bark busters, Dunlop knobblies 606,voltmeter and clock, cig lighter socket to run the iPad, iPad for contact and navigation

The good

Really good at plodding along in second in the sand. It could go faster but I found on the holland my degenerating reaction time can't keep up.On the open dirt road it cruises easily in forth at about 80/90 which is about as fast as I want to go.this gives me time to miss Roos emus and oncoming traffic

The bad

Strong cross winds is the Achilles heel. Nearly gets blown off the road when it gets a blast from the side especially in the wide open wheat belt when a gate appears on the side after a row of trees. Sometimes I was leaning the wrong way going around corners just to counteract the wind.Throw the touring screen away - our average speed is 80km and you don't need a screen at that speed.

The ugly

The rider

The must do's

Beef up the suspension front and rear

Big tank

Bark busters

Camping chair

Buy and send your spares that you can't carry to an expected destination-don't expect the local dealer to carry the bits you want even for a KLR.

Carry spare air filters pre oiled - you will need them