Bike the East Coast

Doc

Hi guys, I was hoping to get some advice on a trip I am planning.

My company here in Australia has offered to sponsor me to stay on after my WHV is up in about 4 months time and I have persuaded them to give me a month off just before that time so I can actually do a bit of traveling around and see a bit of the country as I’ve pretty much worked the whole time I’ve been here and not seen nearly as much of the county as I wanted to.

So my plan is to get a learners permit for a motorbike and buy a bike here in Melbourne. (I don’t drive a car or have a license but I rode motorbikes in SE Asia before coming to Oz and loved it. Plus having the bike would be dead handy for commuting here in Melbourne). Then I want to ride the bike up the east coast stopping off along the way at as many interesting / fun spots as possible and staying nights in campsites / hostels or possibly couch surfing. I have a very small tent that I would be taking with me.

So my questions are has anyone done a similar trip? What are some good places to stop off at along the east coast from Melbourne up? How far up do you recon I could get before I would have to turn back given that I only have a month? Has anyone bought a second hand bike over here?

Any help / advise / tips you guys have for this trip would be really appreciated!

m@cc@

Doc wrote: »

So my plan is to get a learners permit for a motorbike and buy a bike here in Melbourne. (I don’t drive a car or have a license but I rode motorbikes in SE Asia before coming to Oz and loved it. Plus having the bike would be dead handy for commuting here in Melbourne).

You are aware you will have to do training and pass a test to get that permit? Could work out being expensive.

Doc

m@cc@ wrote: »

You are aware you will have to do training and pass a test to get that permit? Could work out being expensive.

Na the learners permit is only a multiple choice question test not hard you only need to get 25 out of 35 to pass and it’s not that expensive about $35 for the test and another $20 for the permit itself. The skill test is simple too http://www.ridetek.com.au/learningtesting.htm

Standard Toaster

Hey Doc, do you mind me asking what your working at in Oz?

Doc

The_Edge wrote: »

Hey Doc, do you mind me asking what your working at in Oz?

Im working as an Architectural Draftsman.

Doc

Hi guys just wanted to update this as I now have my bike and license and am planning to do the trip really soon so any advice on the route I should take would be really appreciated!

The_B_Man

Theres really only 1 route! The Princes/Bruce Highway! Dont plan an exact itinerary. Just stop where ya want, if ya like the look of a place!

Mackman

We took the princess highway, its beautiful. A few of the places we stopped were Lakes Entrance, Eden, Noosa Heads (****), and a few random places between sydney and brisbane i cant remember. Gold coast is ok, We went to Warner Brothers World and Wet N Wild, both awesome! Sea World was meh.

Just do like The B Man said, dont plan it too much, just hop on and drive till you find a nice place. There's camp sites everywhere, you wont be short for accommodation.

ambasite

Doc wrote: »

Hi guys just wanted to update this as I now have my bike and license and am planning to do the trip really soon so any advice on the route I should take would be really appreciated!

Doc, what bike did you get? expensive? was looking in a few shops here in Sydney, thought the prices were crazy compared to Ireland.

Doc

ambasite wrote: »

Doc, what bike did you get? expensive? was looking in a few shops here in Sydney, thought the prices were crazy compared to Ireland.

Ended up getting a bike called a Loncin LX 250-8 cruiser

This is it...


As I'm on my L's I had to get a LAMs approved bike (most are 250cc or under) and I wanted a cruiser because of the look and the distance I want to travel on it. / stuff I want to take with me. The bike cost me $4000 new with alarm remote start and immobilizer, and I love it so far, lots of fun! I obviously don’t know that much about bikes but I use it every day on the motorway to and from work and it can cope easily with those speeds.

The reason it was so cheap is because of the fact it is a Chinese bike which slightly concerned me but it was a new bike with extras and good reviews and a 12 month guarantee for the price of an old second hand bike, so I went for it. Plus the dealership is close to where I live if I have problems.

brendansmith

You did well there. Remote start??? You wouldnt want to leave it in gear:D

Try and stay off the M1 as much as you can.

ambasite

nice looking bike, not heard of the model before but looks great. best of luck with it. the price plus 12 month warranty seems like a great deal.

Doc

brendansmith wrote: »

You did well there. Remote start??? You wouldnt want to leave it in gear:D

Try and stay off the M1 as much as you can.

Only ever use it once to scare the crap out of my mate who was looking at it.