MZ Riders Club
South of Scotland Section
Page updated : 27/12/2005
Site designed by Mike
A Skorpion in Oz
(by Jim Duffield)
Jim, his wife, and family
I'm a retired soldier and owner of a 660 Traveller. I am wed to a McDougall, she was born in Oz, and I, it’s a long story, live in Perth (WA) after 25 years in the Oz Army. I have a son in Sydney and all three daughters in Perth. Sort of London to Moscow and a bit!
I recently took up the craft of motorcycling again, and a past owner of such unmemorable things as an Ariel Square Four, a couple of Royal Enfields, then some Suzukis and then the Army, and to prove it to myself, I had to ride across the country - on a MuZ Skorpion Traveller.
At the Great Australian Bight, adjacent to the Nullabor Plain.
I, of course being a masochist, chose the winter to do it and on returning from Sydney, I'll just describe the Sydney Perth epic, and passing through Bathurst in NSW was bloody snowed on, a most unusual occurrence in OZ. Then across the "Hay Plain" to Adelaide. From there across to Adelaide, thence the Nullabor Plain, through Norseman to Kalgoorlie and home to Perth.
I rode only in the daylight hours because of the threat of animals on the road at night. Animals such as the Kangaroo, Wombat, Steer, and feral Donkeys, Pigs, Cats, Foxes and Camels. Catastrophic, and lethal on impact as the road is mainly unfenced. The road is OK since my first crossing in the 70s when it still had a gravel section. I say OK, by UK standards it would mainly be B & C class, two-lane and fairly well cut up by the crossings of many semi-trailers and road-trains (prime movers and two or more trailers).
It has a "Road House" (Service Station) about each 250km now so fuel is not a great problem, apart from the price. When the city pays 90c a litre, I paid as much as $1.46 a litre! Nonetheless, I carried an emergency 4.5 litres and change of coolant, just in case, as all water outside of cities tends to be bore water and laden with acidic salts - not good on an alloy water-cooled motor, if you know what I mean. Also a full toolkit, socket set, socketed allen keys and socketed torques, spanners, tyre inflator/gloopy-stuff, spark plug, and no other repair parts as the chain and sprockets (changed the front from a 15 to a 14 tooth for city riding - highly recommended) were new and I trusted the venerable 660 Thumper. This completely filled one pannier.
There is one section of the road in WA that is called "the 90 Mile Straight", and it is just that. The longest straight stretch in Australia. It undulates, the surface is a little patched, but it is 90 miles (150km?) with just the undulations of the land. Wow! Flat out! Got the Skorpion up to and indicated 180km/h, wow again! Like to try a Hayabusa on that!!
I got about 300km to a tankful of unleaded super, as opposed to only 200km in the city, and used no oil or coolant at all. I started out returning from Sydney with a half worn front and brand new rear Metzlers and, on arriving in Perth, had a completely scrubbed front and half worn the rear. I ran the front at 32psi and the rear at 44psi and for a long legged trip this appears to be about right for the load I was carrying.
I wore a high quality Dri Rider Kevlar fitted jacket, Dri Rider waterproof leggings over Draggin Kevlar reinforced jeans with Kevlar reinforced gloves and Rossi Calf Length zip Bike Boots with two pairs of socks, one adventurer wool and the over-socks were skiing socks with reinforced ribbing for circulation and muscular support. I was only cold when it snowed on me. The rest of the journey even though each morning was desert cold (3-8° C), often with drizzle, was quite OK.
Fully laden Skorpion
Would I do it again? Certainly, but next time in autumn or spring. I think in Summer it would be too "insecty" unless I had a visor wiper with motor and washer installed! All in all, fun for a 60 year old soldier and the MuZ never missed a beat. Oh, although on some of the early rougher roads I had what I thought was an engine cut-out problem, and on thinking (had a lot of time to do that!) and examination it appeared that the extension I had welded to the side stand protruded into my boot heel space and I was just touching the retracted side stand and operating the in-gear cut-out! Bit of quick detailed engineering that night with a 250mm shifter and a borrowed hammer on the welded extension soon fixed that.
Road users? I only saw another four bikes on my trip, outside of the cities. Two were Cops on their million dollar BMWs escorting a wide load, and two were on Suzi GSX’s on the way into Perth, going much too fast on a very under repair road, full of traffic and in rain! Good night nurse.
Other users, only in the city and on the central coast of NSW which is roundabout city. And the Traffic Engineers have a quaint knack of making the roundabouts just the wrong size for a m/c, not big enough to merge into lanes on a bike before the exit needed, and not small enough to just wiggle the arse. An observation of the main "pain in the arse to bikers" drivers, sorry Ladies, all women, and most in the 17-30 age group, who have their minds, if they have one, it would appear focused on something other than the road and its users, especially a machine with me on it. I could have often used an anti-tank weapon on them given access. I must fit a small flag in the rear to disguise a Ramset nail just for slipping into the horizontal and engraving their paint, no not really, just a water pistol filled with brake fluid would do the job!
So that’s about it peoples. I lurved it overall, and am now thinking about the big bore (720cc) racing engine fitted with new cam, piston, headers, ignition kit, and Mikuni Carbs, juz lurve the Thumper. One needs a calendar to time the motor and not a tachometer, perhaps.
Regards to all in the Nation of the Scot, I might meet you someday when my wife follows her genealogy, from the Clearances. She has identified back to Scotland and Ireland in her convict ancestry some time about 1792 I think. And if my Lady has her way we'll get there, but if I have my way, we'll buy a second hand Thumper on arrival and do it all by MuZ, in the British Summer, that's if I don't miss it going through customs! Sorry, had to get the old plug in, even if the sun has shone a bit more in recent years, the joke was good when I lived in Hackney Wick. And, as my Aussie McDougall would have me say:
Scottish Emigrant's Farewell
Fareweel, fareweel my native hame,
Thy lonely glens an' heath-clad mountains,
Fareweel thy fields o' storied fame,
Thy leafy shaws an' sparkling fountains,
Nae mair I'll climb the Pentland's steep,
Nor wander by the Esk's clear river,
I seek a hame far o'er the deep,
My native land, fareweel forever.
Thou land wi' love and freedom crown'd,
In ilk wee cot an' lordly dwellin',
May manly hearted youths be found,
And maids in ev'ry grace excellin'.
The land where Bruce and Wallace wight,
For freedom fought in days o' danger,
Never crouch'd to proud usurpin' right.
But foremost stood, wrongs stern avenger.
Tho' far frae thee, my native shore,
An' toss'd on life's tempestuous ocean;
My heart, aye Scottish to the core,
Shall cling to thee wi' warm devotion,
An' while the wavin' heather grows,
An' onward rows the windin' river,
The toast be Scotland's broomy knowes,
Her mountains, rocks, an' glens forever.
In the End; we will remember not the words of our enemies; but the silence of our friends.
- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 -1968)
Ex-Service, Service & Veterans Party