Well, I moved on from the ST1100 I bought a couple of years ago. I loved my ST, but wanted to go off the bitumen sometimes..
So, I found one, in great condition and at a good price. Only thing - it is in Hervey Bay QLD and I am in SE Victoria.
After a deal was struck over the phone, I headed off by aeroplane to Brisbane, while the current owner of the Varadero started riding from Hervey Bay to Brisbane Airport.
We met, I checked out the bike, it what he described. So I parted with my cash and headed off for home - 1430 Friday Dec 7th. Some good friends of mine were camping at Amamoor State Forest and I was tempted to head up there "on the way home" but decided against it.
1st stop, Ipswich for a top up of fuel. Then on to Toowoomba to catch up with Streak for a quick chat., Then I kept going to my first stop - Goondiwindi. I broke the rules in a couple of ways...
1. The speedo must have been a little out and I had to chat to the local policeman who said I was doing 117km/h.... No way out of this one...
2. If ay of you know, there is not much at all between Toowoomba and Goondiwindi and once committed to the journey, one has to finish it. I had nothing with me to sleep out under the stars so I had to keep going
Arriving at Goondiwindi at 8:00pm - well after local darkness.. All the way I could not stop thinking about kangaroos jumping out in to the dim Varadero headlight...
So, this was supposed to be a ST1100 vs Varadero....
The Vara seemed extremely nimble after riding the ST for a couple of years, although it is only about 40kg lighter. It has the same acceleration, same comfort (great) and the same willingness to sit on any speed one wants to. The only exception is the vibration from the 80/20 or 70/30 knobby tyres... There doesn't seem to be much difference in wind deflection between the 2 bikes. Although, I am wearing a different helmet which may be slightly quieter than mine.
The Vara is wider than the ST with those wide Givi panniers, but they don'tseem to hold as much as the OEM ST1100 ones.. Not sure where I am going to stash the 3 Christmas puddings I am picking up in Shepparton tomorrow...
I arrived in West Wyalong tonight at 5:55pm.. A long ride from Goondiwindi, but the last leg from Forbes I followed (tailed) a sprightly late model Pajero.. He was quite surprised many times to see me hot in his rear vision mirror when he was overtaking trucks and cars by the dozen. Lets just say it was the best part of the ride so far.. At times, the tacho was over 5000rpm on the Varadero!
So I will leave early in the morning, bound for Shepparton, Mansfield, Merrijig and home near Warragul.
A long ride, one which I do not wish to do again in a hurry. Maybe over a week next time so I can stop and enjoy the scenery..
Nick
Nice to meet you Streak!
