G'Day from QLD

[Dan]

G'Day All,

My name is Dan, but since that name is always taken I use Des 

I have posted a longer intro on the ST-Owners site so I won't bore you lot all over again.

I am picking up an ex-Police ST1100 later today so I thought I would join up on here. 

No doubt I will have some questions to ask once I get it, but for now I'll just say Hi, glad to be here.

Cheers, Des 

[Brock]

Welcome, and congratulations on going for the best and fastest ST1100 out. If you look in the ST1100 maintenance section, you will find the ST1100 maint manual and the Police supplement.

[Dan]

Thanks I'll take a look 

[Streak]

Welcome Des! Great to see another Queenslander and another ST1100 I have a 1996  one myself.

I have grabbed your post from the American site and put it below for everyone to read.

Hi All,

My name is Dan, but as this name is always taken on forums I use Des - seems no-one likes to use that name!

I live in Qld, Australia and am picking up an ex-Police ST1100 later today. I won't bore you all with a picture, I'm sure you've all seen plenty of ST's on here (plus I don't have one yet...). If I am honest, I was really looking for an Adventure bike - I would love a KTM 990, or maybe a GS - but these bikes cost far more than I am willing to spend at the moment.

We only moved to Oz recently, we were living in the UK before. I had Hondas in the UK - an '88 VFR750 and a '98 CBR900RR FireBlade. So the ST is a bit of a change for me which is good - I found the FireBlade was far too small and uncomfortable for me. The VFR was a commuter, although I did use it to do my Iron Butt ride and some other bits and pieces.

I ride all year, and was doing around 30,000 miles per year across the 2 bikes. Most of all I loved riding the twisties with my mates, we had some amazing trips. I also like to do longer runs, I've done an Iron Butt BB1500, the English National Rally twice, and last year I did the Round Britain Rally too. I won't be doing too much rising to start off with - a little inconvenience being that I need to find a job - but once I do, I'll be spending a lot of my free time riding.

I no longer own a car, so the bike will be my main form of transport (my wife has a car anyway). I do as much of my own maintenance as I can, but I am far from being an expert!

It looks like you have a great forum here, I look forward to learning a lot about the ST, and hopefully I'll be able to contribute too.

See you on the forum,

Des /(Dan)

[Dan]

Cheers Graham! 

[tj189]

welcome Des/Dan enjoy your time here, some great info and people 

[Dan]

Thanks mate 

Well I've just picked up the bike - it was only 7km from where I live so I've not exactly given it a proper road-test, but first impressions were good.  Compared to my FireBlade....

Mirrors - wow!  I can see the road behind!  How the hell am I going to know what my elbows are doing though?

Riding position - why did I ever think having my a**e above my wrists was a good idea on a road bike?

Seat - like having your a**e massaged by a Thai virgin as opposed to slapped by a Greek wrestler.

Performance - no-where close to the FireBlade in terms of acceleration, but hey I didn't expect it to be.  Seems like it'll go well enough.

Handling - no decent roads for miles around so no chance to test it yet - but I reckon it'll be OK.  Much more comfy over the bumpy roads though.

Brakes - not really tested, but seem better than my old VFR (which I think had bars of soap instead of brake pads).

Overall - I think I'm gonna enjoy this bike.....   

[Dan]

Some pics of my old bikes.... the ones I actually used anyway!

First bike - 1995 Kawasaki ZZR600 - before and after crashing it....





My commuter - 1988 VFR750.  Owned for 2 years and sold it just before I moved over here.  It was in good condition when I bought it, 21 years old in this pic:



And my FireBlade - I went all over the place on this bike, a great sports bike - perhaps not the best road bike though.

[Streak]

Hi Des,

The one thing i can suggest that i did when i picked it up was service it head to toe, check every nut and bolt!

I took mine to the local Honda shop ( i know them well though) and did that, cost me $600, but it was money well spent, as i got a bike that was ready to ride around Australia.

when they did mine, they did everything, and found quite a few little things that i would not have.

but in saying that, there are lots of well qualified people on here who will happily walk you though the process of doing it all.

[Dan]

Hi Des,

The one thing i can suggest that i did when i picked it up was service it head to toe, check every nut and bolt!

I took mine to the local Honda shop ( i know them well though) and did that, cost me $600, but it was money well spent, as i got a bike that was ready to ride around Australia.

when they did mine, they did everything, and found quite a few little things that i would not have.

but in saying that, there are lots of well qualified people on here who will happily walk you though the process of doing it all.

Cheers - yeah I'm gonna give it a going over.  It's not as if I don't have the time to do it at the moment!!

I expect to find a few bits and pieces, but hey it's a 12 year old ex-Police bike.

I try to avoid bike shops if possible... yes they would probably find things that I wouldn't but as long as it's good enough that'll do for me.  It'll help me learn about the bike too.

[Shiney]

Hi Des,

Just wanted to say hi and welcome to the site and to QLD 
You'll love the ST  it's a great bike and will take you anywhere in this great country 

[Dan]

Hi Des,

Just wanted to say hi and welcome to the site and to QLD 
You'll love the ST  it's a great bike and will take you anywhere in this great country 

Thanks mate and yeah, there's a fair bit of ground to cover over here, the ST should be just the job 

[Whizz]

Hi Des, and welcome to QLD from another ex-pom. I've been here for 25 years and people still think I just arrived.! The distance between places is what I found most difficult to comprehend when I first got here. I lived originally in Adelaide, and to drive from there to Melbourne takes about 10 hours, which is the same time it takes to get from Lands End to Edinburgh!, and Melbourne is only a short drive away from Adelaide in Australian terms!

Hope you enjoy your new ST, I bought the ST 1300A...and I LOVE IT!

Cheers
Whizz

 

[Dan]

Hi Des, and welcome to QLD from another ex-pom. I've been here for 25 years and people still think I just arrived.! The distance between places is what I found most difficult to comprehend when I first got here. I lived originally in Adelaide, and to drive from there to Melbourne takes about 10 hours, which is the same time it takes to get from Lands End to Edinburgh!, and Melbourne is only a short drive away from Adelaide in Australian terms!

Hope you enjoy your new ST, I bought the ST 1300A...and I LOVE IT!

Cheers
Whizz

 

G'Day Whizz, yeah I know, the distances are vast! - hence the ST.  It makes me smile when people here say Brissy is only 5 hours away!  Or perhaps, looking back, how much of a bunch of wimps the Poms are.     I don't mind a good long ride, and from what I hear I'll need to as there are no decent roads for miles!  (I'm in the Bundaberg area).

We've only been in Oz for a few months but we love it so far. 

Hope you enjoy your ST1300, I can't wait to get going on my 11. 

[Marcus]

Jeasus...we may as well...rename this site QLDOZSTOC... not another one...can have a cap on the amount of Queenslanders allowed to own motorbikes? 

[alans1100]

Jeasus...we may as well...rename this site QLDOZSTOC... not another one...can have a cap on the amount of Queenslanders allowed to own motorbikes? 

Yeah, but most banana-benders come from the rest of the country anyway.

[Skip]

Welcome Des.
I've been telling the rest of the country that people are crossing the borders to join the winning team here in Queensland, and looks like the word is spreading fast. Now they're coming from overseas. Such is the attraction of being on the winning side. Mate the ST's were made for the miles in this country. I've given up some of my quota so the FarRider boys can get their distances done. There is a contingent of ST's up there in Bundy, Des, no doubt they will be in touch.
Enjoy the ride my friend.
Cheers.
Skip.

[Dan]

Ha ha you tell 'em Skip, yeah we're even coming from the other side of the world to be in Qld 

[Tipsy]

  py
Its all good to see you coming over from blighty, but you have to remember one thing.
That is the use of the word POM
It originated in the days of convict transportation and the name put on the ships.

Prisoners Of His Majesty's England

As this was to long it was shortened to POHME and then to Pomme and to Pom.

So in reality then only true POM left is an Aussie whose Heritage stems from those poor buggers of whom most worked there guts to make this Wonderful Country What it is Today and I'm not counting the upper upper classe of those days nor any polly.

Thats just my ummmmm; 20c worth

(i reckon thats gunna draw some comments)

[Marcus]

Tomato, Tomarto.

[Whizz]

Hey Des, don't take any notice of the others, they are just jealous that they don't live up here with us in QLD.   

Tipsy, not quite sure what you're trying to say with the definition of Pom, other than maybe we people who got here after the Botany Bay incident should not be called poms because we arrived too late. This is fine by me, the use of 'pom' has always been seen to be slightly derogatory, so if Australians aren't allowed to call us that any more then fine. Anyway we are only copying the usage created by Aussies, so where does the fault lie? Just kidding, I really don't care what people call me as long as it's not late for lunch. 

The distances here are truly mind-blowing. Some years ago when I worked in Adelaide we had a couple of British engineers come over to do a modification to some aircraft. They had to do two in Adelaide and two in Darwin, and once they were finished with the first two they told me, with a perfectly straight face, that they were going to drive up to Darwin the following day. I had to point out to them that driving from Adelaide to Darwin would take them at least 3 to 4 days, and that they ran the distinct risk of dying on the way should their car stop for any reason. I finished the conversation by telling them that it takes 5 hours to FLY from Adelaide to Darwin and that they would NOT be driving but going by air! Took a bit of convincing but that is what happened in the end. 

Stay safe on the roads and enjoy your 11.

Cheers
Whizz

[Sicman]

Welcome on In Des 

[Dan]

Thanks all!   

[Poppy Dave]

Welcome Dan/Des.

Seeing as you're in Qld just some words of wisdom: Don't get an OzSTOC shirt (They're crap) and whatever you do, don't let anyone take your photo and never go to a Qld OzSTOC meeting.

Take care,


Dave R                                           

[Streak]

Now Dave, your lining yourself up for a smiting......

gents get your shirts and attend to whichever ride you like!