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Hi All,

I'm a new owner (2 months) of GSX650F, and thanks to this site and contributors - it helped me on the final decision.

During the Easter break, me and my wife plan to do a tour: Sydney - Snowy Mountains - Melbourne - Great Ocean road - Melbourne - Sydney. It'll be approximately 2800km's. We plan to ride 500-600km's a day and come back to Sydney in 5-6 days.

I have not been to Melbourne before, and this road trip is going to the be the most ambitious one so far. Any thoughts/suggestions would be great.

Cheers

EDIT: Changed the plan to do Sydney - South Coast - Snowy Mountains - Sydney because of limited days.

Hi mate and welcome.
I would go {google maps in this order will give you and idea.}
Sydney ..down the coast to Cann river ..Bombala..Cooma ..Adaminaby..Khancoban..Corryong {murry valley hwy }..kiewa ...{kiewa valley hwy to near mount beauty then onto Towonga gap road AWESOME }... Bright ...Mount hotham A MUST FOR ANY RIDER and Dinner plain..not sure after there.

On the way back you got to go back threw Khancobhan and up threw to NSW mountians to Thredbo ..Cooma ..{kings hwy} .. Batemans bay ..coast road home.

Sounds good, very good. I might just drop the idea of Melbourne cause of the time issue. 5-6 days won't be enough. So might just change my plan to Sydney - Narooma - Cann River - Nowa Nowa- Mount Hotham - Mount Beauty - Kiewa Valley Hwy, Dederang VIC, Australia - Snowy Mountains - Canberra - Sydney. Approximately 1800km's.

Map Link below:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 876709&z=7

Can you please also suggest me the places for night stay. We'll have 4 nights and 5 days to return home.

Appreciate it.

Yeah thats a great loop ,it's got alot of good places to see along the way and great roads.
With out doing the km's math and cutting it into even days.
Sydney to Bombala is a good ride ,not hard metally on the brain you will do it pretty easy.
About 500km's leave at 7am and be there with stops and looking around here and there ,by 5pm.
Stayed a the Imperial hotel ,nothing flash ,but has nice owners and food was ok and a quiet bar with 3 -4 locals midweek ,pretty relaxing and you can park you bike safely at night ...cheap cheap.
Day #2 ..
Bombala to Dinner plain ....
Dinner plain is sort or part of Mount hotham ski resort you right up in the high country on top of a mountain ,very very pretty place to stay some nice hotels etc ,and maybe stay in a bit of a flasher places ,they have a website ,nice easy 400km and enjoy the area with looking around...remember your the one having fun ,your wife wants to enjoy the trip also.
If you want to go abit more on day 2 ,go to Bright its another hour or so and stay at the Alpine hotel ,HUGE hotel with clean motel at the back ,great big bistro for dinner and breaky ..see their website.
Day #3 {dinner plain or Bright} to Thredbo ,not a huge amout of km's on paper ,but your not going fast with all the corners ,great ride with good roads and things to see and do.
Stay in Thredbo lots of places at different prices ..or Jindyne for cheaper ,but not by any means less flash and any budget .
Day #4 sleep in relax and enjoy a cruise day {your on holidays 3 days on a bike gets your buggerd} ride around the area ,go up to Charlote pass have a look around ,and stay the night at Jindy .
Day#5 ,take your pick your only 5 hours on the freeway home.

Just a guide of what I would do if I had my wife with me for 4 nights on a bike doing that loop.

Tips for touring ..drink plenty of water.

Get a seat cover from here on day one ,you ride past it ,WORTH EVERY CENT.
http://goodwool.com.au/m_products.htm
Get a tyre repair kit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdyLRdTRN3M
NRMA ..road side assist ..
And my favourite ,is get some rubber sandwhich making gloves or doctors gloves from the super market ,becuase no matter how good your gloves are they will leak in the heavy rain ,they keep your hands dry and stops the cold wind on your hands.

This is great Sleddog! Thanks heaps for the information. It looks like I am gonna do this. This Easter break is gonna be different.

Just ordered 'Gopro HD' from ebay. This cam is awesome! Will post some videos.

Will I need a GPS? A good idea right? I checked a few - all too expensive. Can use my phone, but not for long cause of the battery. Car GPS with power outlet installed?

Pffft to GPS - never had 'em when I started riding, and half the fun is getting lost!
If you're really not sure of the route, try writing the major turns on post-it notes and sticking them on your tank - you can then tear them off when you get to that intersection...

Funny story ,on this very ride we done a few years ago.
Where you turn onto the Kiewa hwy to head towards mount beauty ,there is a fork in the road and we had about 20 bikes all with differnet thoughts of what way to go ...the GPS guys with the wizbag $800 GPS's went left as that what it said ,the guys with the maps went right ..and a few of us got left behind with no freaken idea where we were .
Just head south one dude said so off we went ,on onto a back counrty road full of pot holes and cow shit every where we ended up lost .
Someone found a photo copy of the google maps and some town we should head for if we knew where we were ...then the old old tryed and tested way to find out where you are and what way to head ,was ..drum roll please !!!.....Ask a local .
We got the short cut ,threw the cow shit had fun being lost ,had a laugh with a cool old dude on the tractor that got us there 3 hours ,YES 3 hours before the GPS guys ..we had had showers had beers and was about to send out a search party into the moutains at night to find them
No GPS ,just a copy of google maps and a friendly local with get you there.
Like nitekreeper said its fun getting lost and seeing new places.
In riding its not the destination ,its the journey that the fun part.

I hear what the wise men say. I am not keen to spend $500+ on one anyways. So what the heck, I'd take some prints with me and follow the curvy road, it will take me somewhere. Just need to finalize the night stays.

Night 1: Imperial Hotel, Bombala. (Yet to book)
Night 2: Harrietville Caravan Park - one of those cabins. (Yet to book)
Night 3 & 4: Somewhere at Jindabyne. Yet to find a good deal.

Really looking forward to this one. Will put more updates for anyone who wants to do it. And yeah, a detailed blog entry.

Thanks again guys.

Another destination if you had more time.

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,61209.0.html

Yeah Harriettville in a nice small country ski town ,I leave my car there for a week when I ski at Hotham .Get up and hour early then the wife and do a run back up the hill for a little bit on your own.
Lake Jindabyne Hotel is a good large hotel and pretty good value ,they have $10 meal nights in the snow season not sure in the off season ,but its on the lake with nice views and walk around the town at the door step. Park your bike safely at the front of your room.
There is caravan parks but if you want a beer then its a long long walk back from the pub.
We base our selves in Jindy some times for a few days and ride around the area ,as this way your not loaded down with a pillion and all your gear and get abit more fun out of it.

The Easter break has come early for us. Leaving this weekend, hoping the weather holds up. Got to get new tyres Pilot Road 2. The cheapest deal I could find was $429 a pair fitted at Teammoto, Blacktown.

Thanks everyone. Specially Sleddog. Appreciate it.

PS: Tried to attach the map image, failed.

The trip was incredible. Apart from the sore bums (we couldn't buy the seats, the shop was closed for days). Had few hiccups on day one though, but all in all, a very very satisfying trip.

Some photos.



Lessons learned:

- Must have a comfortable seat.
- Do not carry a backpack (no matter how small) while riding two ups, invest in saddle bags.
- Never ride after dark (I knew it but couldn't avoid) specially in the mountains and all the more when it is raining!
- Take more breaks. Every 1.5-2 hours.
- Keep it to 4-5 hours of riding every day, anything above that takes away the opportunity to admire the nature the way it should be.
- It's cold in the mountains.
- Have more fun.

Will be doing something like this again, this time I'll be much more prepared.

I believe a teaspoon of concrete will help with this issue - take one in a glass of water and you should begin to harden up fairly quickly...

Ah! Nitekreeper, the tough guy. Was that a suggestion to me or self assurance?

Take it as you will matey.
But I don't fret about leaving my neighbourhood without a GPS, and I'm certainly not afraid of the dark...