Sydney - A bike mecca

[Finn]

Just got back from 2 days in Sydney. Now that I'm back into biking naturally I'm looking for bikes. There are heaps there! I couldn't get over how many are on the roads there. All types includes guys with suits riding Monsters, RSV1000's & Harleys. To top that off when I check into the hotel I turn on the TV and there's an add on CH 9 for a company providing bike insurance.

I don't know what the riding is like there but boy do they like their bikes.

[SVrunner]

So does Melbourne have the same sort of love of bikes.

[Mental Trousers]

Yeah, I've heard there's a heap of bikes over there. Unfortunately, the riding isn't anywhere near as good (apparently), with the best roads being rare. A few Aussies I've talked to who have come over here for a holiday ride almost jizzed in their pants when they saw we've got roads that aren't dead straight for 100's of k's and have very few hair pins.

Besides, with the sun and temperatures they get, combined with shitloads of traffic and difficult parking in the city, who wouldn't want a bike??

[Motu]

That's what it was like here 20 years or so ago,there were bikes everywhere - everyone rode a bike....even the future Prime Minister.

[Lou Girardin]

That's what it was like here 20 years or so ago,there were bikes everywhere - everyone rode a bike....even the future Prime Minister.

Those were the days, then we became a dumping ground for unwanted Jap cars.

[Jonty]

hi ya all,

Hell, do any of you ride bikes at all? Just got back from Aussie also from a great christmas break and I find enough posts to last me for the rest of the year!! I may have to give up as I have got no work done today.

Anyway to say something that is not complete drival - as I said I have been in Aussie for 2 weeks Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast and I took a great deal of interest in the bike scene. My observations are as follows:

1. Aussies love bikes
2. You can actually buy a decent 250 for $6000 (where the hell do they get them from??)
3. only 1 in 10 of my survey wore any form of protective gear (blame the heat? still gonna hurt when you hit the road)
4. you can park anywhere (and I mean anywhere, in Melbourne you just leave it on the sidewalk, brilliant!)
5. They love Honda's (never in my life have I seen such a collection of fireblades).

All in all great place to have a bike!

Happy new year all

Jonty

[Swoop]

That's what it was like here 20 years or so ago,there were bikes everywhere - everyone rode a bike....even the future Prime Minister.

Which bloke are you referring to???

[Swoop]

Those were the days, then we became a dumping ground for unwanted Jap cars.

And some people wonder why there is a traffic crisis in NZ........

[ManDownUnder]

That's what it was like here 20 years or so ago,there were bikes everywhere - everyone rode a bike....even the future Prime Minister.

Hawke??

He rode anything mate... and anyone...

[ManDownUnder]

Those were the days, then we became a dumping ground for unwanted Jap cars.

I prefer "spare parts repository".

Dumping ground is so harsh

[thehollowmen]

I took photos of the bike stands last year... awesome bikes all over the streets... loved it.
you got a camera?

[Jackrat]

After five years in OZ I was supprised at how the bikes seemed to have almost vanished from NZ,along with rusty Fords and Holdens.
There were really only two Rds around Sydney that were "not bad" to ride on.
These are the Putty Rd and the Bells line.
Anybody that thinks our roads are no good should spend 5 years in Sydney.

[Al]

By July I should be in Darwin (sell house, have op, recover, leave!), wifey is there at present!
No speed limit, only have to keep an eye out for "them road-train things", apparently not advisable to be on the road after dark...

Al

[GSVR]

After five years in OZ I was supprised at how the bikes seemed to have almost vanished from NZ,along with rusty Fords and Holdens.
There were really only two Rds around Sydney that were "not bad" to ride on.
These are the Putty Rd and the Bells line.
Anybody that thinks our roads are no good should spend 5 years in Sydney.

Its over ten years since I rode a motorbike around Sydney and I'd have to agree about the some of the roads with potholes in places so bad you could fall into them.

I did a few miles travelling down to Melborne and also up to Brisbane (collecting 2 speeding tickets). I just enjoyed the ease of a bike to get around.

The only trip I remember as being an interesting ride was the road out to Galston Gorge? and Wisemans Ferry north. Can't rember the name of the river (Murray/Hawkesbury?). It is fairly close to Sydney. The day I went there was heaps of bikes doing it.