SE Queensland

[winddown]

Hi Guys, I have been riding big sport tourers most all my adult life, starting with the Kwaka Z1R-II and ending on a gen-II Busa.  I recently decided to buy a T7 though, to handle our ever rougher rural roads and allow me access to the dirt roads.  I haven't ridden dirt since I was a kid on a honda mini bike, but I remember the most basic principles like it was yesterday hey.  Anyway I'm up in the scenic rim so anyone in SE Qld who wants to chime in with good places to explore or just to touch base would be welcome.  After I take delivery, (Feb) I plan on staying close to home for a few months, just learning and practicing technique on a circuit I have yet to map out.  I have never agreed with that generally accepted theory for new riders, "Just get out there and ride all day to places unknown"  I think it's much better for the inexperienced to stay in a controlled environment until they have the basics down pat and have built some confidence.

 

Anyway it's good to have found a home to discuss my new bike.  thanks for being here for me and doing all the hard work

[NZIAN]

Welcome! Spent 10 years in QLD before returning to NZ and then moving to Portugal. Was a road biker myself until a few years ago. Now I have a CRF250 and a T7. I am learning off road stuff on the CRF, LIGHTER AND EASIER TO GET MY FEET DOWN, but hoping to tour back country roads through Europe in 2022 on the T7. It’s good to see mid size adventure bikes getting the attention they deserve, and certainly fit that ‘go most places’ ethos people want. The only curb on my adventures will be my wife! She won’t ride and I’ve removed the pillion pegs just in case! Enjoy.

[Ray Ride4life]

Welcome.
I have some dirt options on my daily commute which i mostly take on the 3 days i take the T7 (the other 2 i do with my CT to take grocery's on the way home) and i do it in any weather.
Doing so i don't need to focus on where to go but can stay with the what's to come in the different conditions.
Most trails slowly deteriorate in the rainy season and give me the chance to build up to the worst.
But i also take on the unknown which i did in March this year on my XT660Z just after the snow melted... that was a steep learning curve and a bad timing but still a fun one afterwards (not so at certain moments during the day).

[winddown]

Seems like we all have an extra bike Ray, mine's a bmw s1000RR, a bit of toy for my old age really and a hell of a lot of fun when you find the smoother roads.  It's no fun at all on a rough bitumen road though, which we have a lot of out here, and we have a lot of potholes too that appear in the rainy season and can take weeks for the road crews to repair.  That's why I was initially pushed toward the T7, mind you I have had my eye on them for a couple of years now...  You know how you get it a bike in your head and and just won't go. 

 

NZIAn, you're a real traveler by the sounds.  I understand the 250, truth be told I wish I had one too, something I could screw up on and drop and not have to worry about a few scratches lol.  I'll just have to take it easy hey.

 

 

[Ray Ride4life]

I also have a Honda Crosstourer but the XT and the CT both gonna be sold next spring because the T7 is just great.
There will be a second bike as a back-up because i don't have (and won't) a car but public transport is a no go in my area and i still have to get to work when i take the bike apart for service or when i have to wait for parts when i break something.
Not sure what but it has to be cheap, different to the T7 and fun. One option i have in mind is an old Ural with sidecar.