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Letter of the issue

When 10 feels like 100

Nic Platt’s letter re fuel capacity (AMCN Vol 72 No 07) prompted me to recall what was, until then, my most stressful motorcycle touring episode.

I was heading into Port Hedland late afternoon with the fuel range reading on my fully laden 2017 BMW S 1000 XR down to just 15km. Either by miscalculation or wild optimism, I was now running dry and afraid, because I was stuck in a convoy of iron-ore roadtrains hammering into the port. Overtaking them was not an option – the roadside culverts are wide and deep with no shoulder – so I couldn’t pull off safely, and slowing down to economise on fuel use didn’t seem sensible either.

A similar convoy of empty trucks travelling in the opposite direction didn’t allow me to duck over into that lane safely.