A couple of days ago I wrote a report on my first Border Run last weekend. I did have a few more things I had planned to write but ran out of time before leaving for work, so I shall do that here and answer a few of the questions asked in that thread.
I think I covered all of day one. I departed on day two to a beautiful sunrise. This is one of the photos captured by the gopro located under the top box.
After a few stops for photos at Penong, Yalata and the treeless plain sign I refuelled at the Nullabor Roadhouse. There I spoke with a couple who passed me as I was taking photos at Penong and then in turn passed when they refuelled at Nundroo. They had come across from New South Wales for the event but I never actually saw them at Border Village. Stinky Pete said he and Langers spoke with them at Nundroo.
Just metres out of the Nullabor Roadhouse I came across the distance to signs that dot this country but this one got my attention because being initials of a locality (ie. EU for Eucla or BV for border Village) this one was devoted to a whole state: WA for Western Australia. I have never seen one for a state before so I made a point of getting a photo of it one the way back the following morning.
I also bagged the treeless plain western sign on the way back. To be honest I did expect them to be a lot further apart.
I saw a lot more of Eucla than I had originally intended. There were no plans to traverse this road when I took the first photo but I soon learned there were 40000 reasons to do it.
Back at the border I got a snap of the big kangaroo before parking up the kwaka and going for a late lunch, then a walk around the border and quarantine area.
Over the course of the weekend I did get photos of a few big things although I never actually went looking for them. The Galah I noticed as I passed and windmill was sign posted. Whether or not the whale at the Nullabor counts as a big thing I don't know but I did get that and the Wudinna farmer after Stinky Pete told me where it was. He also taught me the correct pronunciation of Wudinna. I didn't see the big pyster at Ceduna because a caravan was parked in front of it but I did pull up at that location to get a picture of the On The Run. I think it is highly like that this is South Australia's most western On The Run. No doubt the one I snapped at Pinaroo on the way to Balranald in march is the most easterly one.
Any chance of a long term owner review of the Versys its on my list
I am very happy with the bike. I have had it for just over two years now. I was going to invest in a Suzuki V Strøm until I saw this at Bills Motorcycles around the corner of my house. The Suzuki dealer said it would take a while for panniers to arrive and the location is what swayed me towards the kwaka. As it turned out the panniers and the other farkles I wanted took between six and eight weeks to arrive. Bills would go bust eleven months later which could have been a real pain had it happened whilst waiting for stuff to arrive. I discovered this forum as a result of their demise. I've make many friends, gone on a few RTEs including interstate ones and learned of the border run as a result of this so a lot of good has come out of it too.
Back to bike. I am very happy with it. I've ridden it in four states now and clocked up 40000km in the two years since I have bought it. Almost everything on it is kawasaki products apart from the grip warmers and the led light bar I put on it about a week before the border run. They came in very handy along Port Wakefield Road and the Port Augusta Highway. The kawasaki dealer didn't recommend kawasaki's own grip warmers and suggested another brand. A tank of fuel gets me 350km although I tend to refuel after 300km.
Someone advertising a Corbyn Smuggler on here a month or so ago had me googling to find out what one of those was. I likes the idea of having a little storage space in the pillion seat but the Corbyn make for the Versys does not contain that option. There is a heated option. A few comments I read on this was how uncomfortable the stock Versys seat was but I don't find it uncomfortable at all.
The only thing I dislike about it is the lack of a glove box type compartment to stick your sunglasses when they are no longer required. I have to pull over, get off the bike and unlock the top box to do that.
I always wondered about Kimba and the halfway claim and I've never stopped at the map they have there either.
I sent the Kimba council an email to shed some light on this but as yet have yet to get a reply. In 2015 I wrote the Port Augusta an email asking about the "out of districts" signs and got a response the following day. In Japan I also wrote to the Sasebo City Council and Ibusiki City Council regarding things in their areas and both took two weeks to reply.
Hey there Bodo...being a newbie on the forum, just wondering what other bikes you have as you rode your Kwaka on this ride...also from reading your posts, we have a Japanese connection as I have been there many many times over the past twenty years...mainly Oita prefecture in Kyushu with our rural primary school kids on exchange...but also travelled to most of the know tourist areas of Japan, though the country-side villages etc are the best eh! I would like to do a motorbike trip from Hokkaido down to Okinawa one day...maybe taking three months or more...but leasing or buying a bike is tricky in Japan for foreigners so hopefully will organise one via one of my many friends there... 
Chris
In Australia my previous ride was a frinze 300i maxi scooter from Sym. I killed it with many long distance rides. It would also appear that is was not suitable for ploughing the fields.
In Japan I had a Yamaha Tenere XT1200ZE. That and my kwaka are very comfortable to ride.
A trip from Hokkaidō to Okinawa sounds awesome. You no doubt know they have very different climates and Hokkaidō really has to be done in summer. Either side of that is Tsuyu (monsoon) and Taifū (cyclone) seasons which could dampen the experience. Okinawa is hot most of the year. I've walked from Okinawa to Hokkaidō pushing a wheelbarrow if you were wondering what Jdbiker's comment was all about.
Bodo Sans other ride is a Wheelbarrow 🤓
Yep. This is me aged 23 on the island of Honshū. On the other side is the island of Kyūshū. I had just passed through the pedestrian tunnel linking the two islands.
