Committed to Action

Well I have now committed myself to the action I was discussing in Wagon's East.

After speaking to a few guys I work with who have motorbikes I came to the conclusion that any 2nd hand bike from this area is going to have been thrashed and might not be reliable for a 7500km or more journey with about 2500 - 3000 on unsealed roads.

So I have done something I have never done before and purchased a brand new vehicle. I have also opted to trade my old cruiser in rather than go through the hassle of trying to sell privately.

So for the cost of my cruiser plus an extra $5200 I will have a new Suzuki DR650SE road / trail (dual sport) bike. The new bike is $8000 (inc on road costs) and I am getting $2800 for the old bike, which is less than it's worth but trade in price always is. I did however only pay $4000 for it over 20 months ago and I've done 10,000 kms on it since then. I have added new tyres, brakes and bearings but all in all I think I have definately had good value from it.

The DR650 has been ordered and will be shipped from Perth and should be in Broome by the end of the week, so next monday on my day off I will go into the bike shop and help assemble the bike to be more familiar with it. So by probably mid next week at the latest I will be on a brand new bike, registered and insured and ready for some off roading.

So I should have 3-4 weeks to get it all run in and any potential adjustments etc made before embarking on the adventure, departing Broome about the end of August.

Photos will be forthcoming once the bike is in my possession.