AN OUTFIT FOR THE OUTBACK Ready for (not) the road

I PICKED UP THIS MONTH’S copy of Aus Mototorcyclist with a vague thought in the back of my mind that it might be an opportune time to do a bit of an update on a very long running project, Charlie’s Outback Tourer. Much to my surprise on browsing through the mag: c’est moi. That slender looking chap of distant memory. One of the benefits of touring with the Bear is that he had the camera, he took the pics, and so I’m in some of them. Even better, The Bear has outsmarted me, and already come up with the idea of creating a present-day long distance bike, so I might as well fit in with his plans. Like him, I reckon we did pretty well with our well thought out XL 250s. Admittedly they were designed with Asia in mind, and the Bear did lament that focus when travelling in North America. But now he is going to update the idea. Well, so am I. Mine is a rather more specialised requirement: remote outback touring.

To backtrack a bit, after