Rowey's Rascals

OK - flat foot *that*, smart-arse.

According to the Wiki, either Oscar Wilde or Winston Churchill said, “I'm a man of simple tastes. I'm always satisfied with the best.”

I have simple tastes. It doesn’t take much to keep me happy either.

A beautiful $46k motorcycle, a ride through the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales in near perfect conditions with about ten of the sort of blokes who like zooming about on motorcycles as much as I do – for example.

The lineup at some of the stops along the way.

 My first ride in the Northern Rivers with Rowey was about 35 years ago.

Dateline 1979-ish: For most of us on the ride it was our first BIG expedition north. We’d all been to Araluen on a tour. (Remember me taking that new SR500 bush and you ragging me about it being a trail bike, Rowey? It was just VERSATILE. I’ve preferred owning versatile bikes ever since.) But back then it was a big ride for noobs.

I think most of us were making it up as we went. Ken had ridden from Sydney to Byron Bay before and led the way up the coast on a CB550, Rowey had a CB750 and Col and Glen had CB400/4s. I was on that SR500.

You know what they say. “Experience is a good school – but the fees are high.” I broke the SR500 on the way home - twice.

However, dragging myself back from those Glory Days, I got an email on Thursday saying the ride was on. I hauled myself out of bed at some ungodly hour on a Sunday morning. Queenslanders! I tell you. They start at friggin’ dawn.

Even so, I filled up with fuel and made muster at the Caltex servo with 2 minutes to spare.  After a 50-minute freeway cruise south. The Indian just eats that stuff and the traffic was light.

‘Rowey’s Rascals’ - on a bunch of Harley’s - Dynas, Softails, Springers and Street Glides - all tres tasty, along with a big Vulcan and the Running Bull pulled out of Reedy Creek and headed south.

Into them thar hills.

The Northern Rivers district presents some of the best riding on the Australian mainland. It’s very picturesque, very green and the roads are often twisty. The early spring air about the lush rainforest that lies in the shady hinterland valleys vibrated with the sound of passing motorcycles - a lot of them. There were plenty of riders out and about today.

What a hoot.

For a the best part of a couple of thousand km, to the north or south, the Great Dividing Range can offer good riding. From Cairns to the Snowy I've found some good rides, but the combination of climate and countryside make the top of NSW one of my favourite places. The roads are great and there’s always something on.

All up I did about 300km on this very pleasant expedition. We stopped for a leg stretch in a car park near Murwillumbah, at the 'Moomoo Café' and had a farewell cordial in the pub at Pottsville. 

Innocuous looking stop had the biggest motorcycle I've encountered and a curio display. The Pontiac Club had stopped for a feed and there were some very interesting vehicles in a row.

Here's a slide show with some of the Pontiacs:

In between stops, we rode across sugar cane country to the cruiser friendly sweepers of the Burringbar Range, before wheeling back to the Coastal Strip and north towards home along the M1.

I was the last to exit the superslab that runs between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, 80km past Rowey’s turnoff.

The bike's stereo was blaring Rock Pile and Nick Lowe all the way back to Brisvegas. Keeping it simple of course.

It was great to revisit some of the roads that we covered on the Indian Motorcycles Australian launch, almost year ago. A year ago! I’ve covered a lot of ground on a number of Indians in that year and I'm now quite a fan.

That year has simply flown past. Just like the thirty-five years since that first ride through the Northern Rivers with Rowey. Talk about a ‘grounding’.

We had plenty to learn way back on that first ride. Today was great to be riding with blokes that had nothing to prove. On or off the bikes. No brand-snob bullshit or 'tude. Just there for the joy of it.

The Indian was a delight all day. I got it back into the garage and sat at my bench and just looked at it for a while. Longingly. I could easily have jumped back on and done it all again.

Decided to clean the day's bugs off it instead.

I put another coat of the Barrier Reef Carnauba Wax on it last night. I knew Rowey’s Street Glide would be absolutely immaculate and I wasn’t going to be out-concoursed. Shining up this paint is rewarding anyway and so far every application of the wax has added to the lustre - it looks almost like it makes the clear coats thicker.

Even the squished spring bugs wiped off the 23 carat gold-leaf-embellished paintwork most satisfactorily.

For simple tastes anyway.

Night Shoot II

Stage III Image Gallery

More on Flickr : https://flic.kr/s/aHsk2xkdLy

Another Friday Ride

The photo job I had booked for Friday didn’t pan out, so I looked at the Brisbane weather web site and there was only one conclusion. Ride.

First stop was to check in with Robertino at Brisbane Indian for an availability update on stage three of the project’s hardware.

It appears the next batch of works will be done in Melbourne, as the Sports Air Filter kit is still en-route. On to stage IV then.

I told Rob how I have been trying the Surf City Garage Detailing products and was quite sold on them. I said other Indian owners might be interested. Here’s the review.

After some banter in the workshop I headed back out on to Wickham Street.

It only runs one-way past the shop; north. North it was then.

What unfolded was a most enjoyable 230km, 3.3 engine-hour ride. An example of how good this bike really is for the local conditions.

No race here - but it wasn’t exactly a slug-fest either, just a pace to take it all in and enjoy a beautiful part of Australia, on a bike that makes me feel very good to be aboard.

Me, bike, pocket camera and a lookout for photo ops were the main orders of the day from the moment the work gig fell through.

Along Wickham Street, onto the Gateway Motorway and north to connect with the M1.

The ride propper started with 40 minutes of Motorway

 From the Gateway on-ramp it was a matter of winding the Bull’s big-arse windscreen all the way up and cranking the stereo – featuring a specially selected ‘Long Train Running’ playlist blue toothed from the phone in my top pocket.

Then it’s over to the right-hand switches to dial in the cruise control to ‘fast lane’ pace - and watch the world go by.

The on-board thermometer was reading a pleasant-in-leather 23c and I was just ferkin' digging the bike with the bling-o-meter set to 11.

I tend to use the highway pegs one at a time. Being able to sit comfortably in a number of different positions makes Freeway so much more pleasant. Even so, the sooner it’s crossed the better and the run to the Woodford turn-off was tres pleasant - if not particularly noteworthy.

On the weekend it’s not unusual to see some sort of convoy of interesting vehicles making their way north out of Brisbane. I’ve encountered big groups of Muscle cars, Panel Vans, Brits, MG’s even the Volkswagen Club out on the weekend runs.

Not so on a Friday morning. Lot’s of big rigs though and they make for interesting reading occasionally too.

I had quite a clear run over the 20km of rural main road to the Mt Mee turn off. (Yes, it would be a turn-off.)

The road over the uniquely named hill quickly becomes much more interesting with a series of smooth 30 and 40kph bends separated by nice side-to-side sections between sweepers on the ascent.

I stopped at the lookout for a shot of the distant Glasshouse Mountains and crossed the green plateau to the descent into Dayboro.

Looking NE to the Glasshouse Mountains and Coral Sea

The ground clearance on the Chieftain is pleasing. I didn’t touch anything down across the mountain and the bike corners very reliably. Having the correct air pressure in the rear pre-load is important (duh), but it is quite sensitive. Too little and it actually feels like the front is dragging.

Rear suspension pre-load is air adjustable. The side cover takes a little 'winkling' to remove and replace with the rear crash bars fitted - but the pump and gauge included in the tool kit make it easy to set accurately. The owners manual has a table of correct pressure for various payloads.

Correct wind in the tyres took me a little sorting too, but once you get the pressures dialled in, the way it side to sides and deals with the hairpins is very tidy for a mega unit.

The torque of the 111cube is in the mega category too. The bike has 4,000km up now and it’s freeing up nicely. It purrs along in top gear more sweetly with every km under its belt – or on its belt drive.

At Dayboro the next most pressing of the day’s decisions presented itself. Left and back to the motorway home. Or hang it right and head for Samson and make another ascent to Mt Glorious and a coffee at the biker’s haunt on the plateau.

It’s another really nice climb. A couple of sweet hairpins present the opportunity to move some weight around and occasionally push it or counter-steer it around a fallen limb or pot hole. The bike is rewarding to do that on. Same with other obstacles you encounter in day-to-day use – manhole covers for example. Changing lines mid stream and hauling it back is very easy at most speeds. Fun.

It wouldn’t be bad in a slow race either. I’m guessing it has a reasonably low COM. It balances at the traffic lights pretty well if the change is imminent - and you can’t be arsed putting a boot down.

I pulled in to the Mt Glorious café and ordered a flat white and by the time I got back to a table there were 3 blokes asking me about the bike.

The best comment was from the rider with the Ural and chair. ‘What is this? 4 minutes old?’ He asked.

Well we’re going to Surf City (Garage Detailing Products) and it’s two to one.

His Ural was very tidy too. My pal Vege in NZ has one with two-wheel drive. When that Russian bug bites – it bites hard.

A few other riders at the caff asked me about the paint. I’ve got that story well rehearsed by now.

After pleasantries I downed a flat white caffeine hit and turned for home.

The run back down the mountain was most enjoyable. It’s speed limited and I’ve passed highway patrols on a weekday before - so it was just purr time. The noise the machine makes – particularly on deceleration is very sweet and I think it’s getting sweeter the more it’s run in.  I just sat on the speed limit and enjoyed the ease with which the bike dealt with everything.

There were plenty of bikes making the run up the hill on a flexi Friday too. It was a top day for it.

In through The Gap and back into the urban areas the bike was still dealing. Around town the engine is soo relaxed. It matches pace with the tin tops while running just off idle. 1,800 of thems cc’s dontchaknow.

As mentioned in other posts – it’s an engine that benefits from short-shifting and riding on the torque rather than seeking max power.  I haven’t gone anywhere near red yet. You just don’t need to.

It putts along in traffic effortlessly. Turn up the Cold Chisel and cruise again.

Then back down the M1 a bit, and out to home base in the east. I even beat the afternoon crawl across the city. After 3pm on Friday (most week days actually) it’s a shitfight. With the highway pegs fitted it’s probably the widest bike I’ve tested so it cuts down on some heavy traffic err … options. Which is the probably the only environment the bike doesn’t deal with very comfortably. But that’s a universal bagger thing anyway - and fitting those pegs was my idea.

230km, 3.3 engine hours. I forgot to scroll through for the average speed and fuel consumption data. I’ll get that next ride.

I don’t need much of an excuse.

Here is the list of the latest Stage III additions to the bike.

The Bull and Bush

Surf City Here We Come

Stunning paint and presentation. But how to keep it that way?

What else do you do when you have a range of cleaning and detailing products to try out?
Naturally I took the bike out on a few errands in pretty heavy rain - mainly to get it dirty.

Dumb, to take all that chrome and gold paint out in the muck, particularly when there’s a KLR650 parked next to it, but I wanted to see what the Chieftain was like on a wet road too.
It’s been a dry winter in Brisbane, but when the rain did finally arrive, it pelted down.

The first thing I noticed was how well the screen and bodywork kept the worst of the rain off me. In moderate shower conditions I only really got wet from the knees down. Those big mudguards do a great job of keeping the worst of the spray-effect off the bike too. It came back grubby enough to be worth washing, but cleaner than I expected.

The bike’s manners in the wet are quite good. It’s pretty easy to light up the rear wheel with so much torque on tap, but it’s all quite predictable. It’s like all the mega bikes on a slippery road.  There’s a lot of mass to mind. Mind it.

Back home and dry, it was time to survey the work bench again.

Surf City Professional Grade Detailing Products

Preamble

For want of a more original term I’ve always referred to the juice that makes a person want to keep a show bike showy as the ‘Elbow Grease’.

I’m not as 'retentive' as some of my pals (are you reading this Brian?), but I like to keep my stuff tidy. Machines operate more efficiently and it’s easier to diagnose a malfunction if they are clean. That's my theory anyway.

Having the Running Bull in the shed (that phrase still makes me lol!) has made me think that the ‘Elbow Grease’ is a renewable resource.

I ran out for a while. True. I had a Triumph Thunderbird that I polished, chromed and customised along with a heap of handling performance mods.

The day it retired with 120k on the dial

I kept it spotless for years and went through untold tubes of polish and countless hours of shed therapy.

Then one day when the T’bird was getting on a bit, I fell in lust with a Buell that had no bright finish parts at all and was pretty much good to go after hosing it off.

The T’bird was partially retired with an honourable 120,000km on the clock and that Buell and its no-bling finish dried up all my Elbow Grease. There just wasn't any point.

But since I’ve been in charge of the project bike I’ve whiled, fussed, cleaned and polished away a ton of enjoyable garage time again.

In case you missed it, here is the story on how I came to be testing these products and some advice from the painter - Mark Walker.

So far I have used them on the Project bike, my 14 year old Jeep and the Co-pilot's Merc. All have come up brilliantly. Literally.

The Products

Pacific Blue Wash and Wax. RRP $14.

‘Super concentrated’ according to the instructions. If the paint it in good order you can probably get away with just using this product. Soft towel it dry and it certainly won’t detract from an existing shine job. Fourteen bucks will last a while – the packaging claims 30+ washes to the bottle and a ‘scratch free’ clean. It’s got the hard wax. It worked well.
***

 

Barrier Reef Carnauba Liquid Wax Kit. RRP: $34.00

For me this is one of the stand-out products I have tested. It’s not only the brilliant, deep finish produced; it’s the ease of finishing it. On the bike it is easy to apply with the pad included in the kit. After giving it a few minutes to dry, it is remarkably easy to remove. Truly wipe on – wipe off. With the expenditure required with this product – the Elbow Grease will outlast my time with the bike.
I used the electric polisher to apply to the Jeep and was again impressed by the ease of bringing up a quality finish.
*****

Speed Demon Wax Detailer RRP: $19.00

For in between washes this stuff is brilliant. ‘Advanced Particle Suspension’ protects paint from scratching and after buffing dry the bike looks like it’s just had the full-shizzle liquid wax treatment.
****

Beyond Steel Wheel Cleaner RRP: $15.00

I used this on the Jeep and the Mercedes and it does what it claims to do on the packaging. Cleans the wheels. The Merc’s mag wheels were pretty dirty and needed a bit of help with a brush to get the worst of the caked on disc dust off. The bike’s wheels are well enough enclosed to not need attention just yet.
***

Killer Chrome Perfect Polish RRP: $19.00

Non-abrasive, yet will deal to surface rust and oxidisation. I found it very easy to apply to the acres of chrome on the Bull. It’s also very easy to finish and the mirror shine it puts on the chrome is as good as any product I’ve used.
Again, the beauty of the product is how easy it is to remove.
****

Dash Away Interior Detailer RRP: $15.00

Another new favourite. Apply this product to the Dash Board (naturally) and other non-metallic finishes. It cleaned and renovated the kick marks on the saddle and backrest WITHOUT making them at all slippery. Good for grips and footboard rubbers and plastic infill panels. It restores to ‘as new’ condition.
*****







Conclusion
After application, the bike and cars looks fabulous, the products were very easy to use/remove and the pricing is pretty keen. And they encourage Elbow Grease.

I've always had favourite products for these jobs. I now have some new ones.

There is more info at Rollies or the Surf City Garage site features videos, application tips and more detailed product information.

If your local auto-care outlet doesn’t have the Surf City Range, tell them to call Rollies & get it.
To find your nearest stockist visit: http://www.rolliesspeedshop.com/dealer-locator/

Stage III additions

Here are the Stage III additions fitted by Indian Brisbane. Prices include fitting and are in $Au.

The latest additions to the project have added a deal of road presence.

The extra chrome and wire work fits well with the ornate paint job and it’s given a more complete looking presentation.

Stage III has added very well made ironwork and chrome to the bike's presentation.

Luggage rack – RRP: $440 

Nice rack. Handy for camera kit that won't fit in the bags. It's fitted to the backrest installed in stage II.

It’s rated to carry a bit over 3kg and has been very handy for carrying my camera kit. The tripods mainly, and it adds some length to the bike's aesthetic appeal. Nicely finished and it completes the rear backrest assembly. Indian says: “This strong, sturdy Luggage Rack bolts directly into designated mounting slots on the Indian Motorcycle Passenger Backrest (sold separately). This rack provides riders with a remote yet convenient place to securely attach cargo. The slotted rack offers countless tie-down locations so cargo can be secured in place, and it complements saddlebag storage for longer trips when riders want to carry extra gear.”

Saddlebag Racks – RRP: $520 

Does my arse look phat is this? Most of the stage III additions are to the rear of the bike.

These pannier racks are one of my choices. Even with long legs it’s easy to inadvertently drag a boot over the edge of the lid while dismounting. These racks add paint protection and look great.
Indian says it best: “These racks mount securely on the lids of Indian Motorcycle Hard Saddlebags (sold separately) and complement the interior cargo capacity of the saddlebags so riders can take along more gear. These strong, sturdy racks bolt onto the saddlebag lids. Special washers are provided to seal the mounting holes and maintain the excellent cargo protection the hard saddlebags provide. And protect the lid from scratches and work with saddlebag audio.”

Fender Bumper Front – RRP: $280

The Bumpers add a bit of protection around the shed and are completely in character.

Mainly an aesthetic addition, and worthwhile just for that, although it’s a handy thing. I’ve been pushing other bikes around in the shed and haven’t had to worry about the going too close to the leading edge of the painted fender.
Indian’s take: “This strong, sturdy bumper bolts onto the fender and extends beyond the sheet metal to create an appealing chrome leading edge on your Indian Motorcycle. The bumper can help prevent impacts with the painted fender, and it is strong enough to withstand all the rigors of hard riding.”

Fender Bumper Rear – RRP: $230

Tidy.

 Same as the front bumper. They offer extra protection backing into a parking space and look great.
Indian says: “Install a Rear Fender Bumper on your Indian Motorcycle and you enhance the motorcycle’s style, add bright chrome to a high-profile area at the rear of the bike, and provide dependable protection for the rear fender. This strong, sturdy bumper bolts onto the fender and extends beyond the sheet metal to create an appealing chrome rear edge on your Indian Motorcycle®. The bumper can help prevent impacts with the painted fender, and it is strong enough to withstand all the rigors of hard riding.”

Chrome Floorboards – RRP: $300

The footboard inserts add another layer of bling.

The way these footboard inserts reflect the side covers actually add more ‘bling’ to the engine’s presentation.
Indian says: “They are direct replacements for the stock floorboards, and they feature a stylish chrome-plated top surface that adds a bright custom touch to the center section of the motorcycle. These floorboards feature Indian Motorcycle® War Bonnet icon branding and provide a rider’s feet with sure footing.”

Saddlebag Protector Rails – RRP: $575

The saddle bag protector rails are nicely finished.

 These compliment the saddle bag racks nicely and add a bit more in-the-shed mishap protection.
“These strong, chrome-plated rails bolt on easily and provide protection along the outside edges of hard saddlebags (sold separately). These rails feature Indian Motorcycle® script branding and complement the look of the other chrome components on the motorcycle.”

Highway Bar Rear – RRP: $475 

Welcome to Sticker hell.

The warning stickers on the rear crash bars warn that they are not designed to protect you in a crash. Welcome to anti-litigation protection 2014 style!
Personally I reckon they would provide ‘some’ protection in an incident and will stop a lot of fall-over damage if you do knock the bike over. They also add some presence to the bike. Those warning stickers are b@stards of the highest order to remove. It took a concoction of De-solve-it, WD40 and a plastic paint scraper to get them off the front bars.

Next?
There are still a few bling items left in the catalogue to add. We have a sports air filter on the way and Brum is on the search-case for the camshafts we covet. Stay tuned for stage IV.

More pics - Here's the latest gallery additions