My next door neighbour, Steve, has three bikes. I think he has forgotten how many he has owned all together but at the moment he has three. All of them are in “as new” condition. He knows how to look after them but when not cleaning them he absolutely loves to ride them - the further the better.
I’ll be riding around Australia on the TDM
I happened to catch him returning from a short trip to Cunnamulla over the Easter break. He always looks for the back roads and was very happy that this time he found quite a bit of dirt. “I’m not worried about dirt roads anymore” he assured me. I couldn’t help but notice that his bike was still bright and shiny, though, so I thought he must have stopped on the return journey to give …… it the once over. But, no, he just looks after it in all situations. I did notice he flicked off a dead insect from the fuel tank as he spoke.
Steve is from Western Australia, in the south of the State, and he spent quite a bit of his life in the Esperance area. Why would anyone want to leave Esperance? It is one of the most picturesque places on earth, surely. Anyway, Steve spent a lot of his youth riding around off road with his mates until anno domini caught up and he now prefers the road bike scene. This last little trip was on the beautiful red Rocket but he says his favourite is the Yamaha TDM 900. Apparently this is the most comfortable of the three for him.
“In about eight week’s time” Steve went on to say “I’ll be riding around Australia on the TDM. I think I’ll go up to Cooktown first then across the top via Darwin. I’ll stop off in Perth where I’ll leave the bike with some mates while I go to work for a short while in Bahrain. When I get back from the Persian Gulf my mates and I will ride back to Brissy across the Nullarbor. I’ve already ridden across the Nullarbor three times. I love it.”
I asked Steve why he bought the bikes and he replied “that one, the Rocket, I bought in a bit of a drunken moment but don’t regret it. I was working with a guy who had one and I was quite impressed with it. I used to own a TDM and always liked it so when I got the opportunity while in Bahrain, I saw one on eBay, I decided to buy another one. The black bike, the Triumph, I have always loved. It’s a 1996 model with the gold calipers. I stripped it down then rebuilt it and it’s just great. It’s as good as brand new. I have always wanted to get a Triumph 900 Speed Triple so I swapped it for my first TDM. I keep it for local trips around Brisbane”.
Steve is a very unassuming character who lives for the outdoors and the freedom of the open road. As a young man he was a sheep shearer and from all accounts a very good one having competed in New Zealand and elsewhere at a high level. I think his love of the outdoors and his free roaming spirit was born in the WA outback and will stand him in good stead well into the future. I wish him well and happy touring on whatever bike he chooses to ride.
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