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Motorcycle Investor mag

Luxo Tour 2025

With a nod to the lovely 1978 Joe Cocker album, Luxury You Can Afford, we go touring on our cheap and cheerful $13k luxo barge.

More on this bike, here

And our model profile

Road diary

Melbourne, September 16

Final check

bmw k1200lt battery charge

Aside from tyre pressures, the final job today was to put the battery on charge so there were no surprises in the morning.

We head off tomorrow and it's fair to say we're not exactly crossing the Andes by a new route on a donkey. By any reasonable measure the 4000km (2500 mile) round trip from Melbourne to Brisbane via the Newell and other highways should be easy.

The big question was whether we'd take the Honda Valkryrie Interstate or the K12 Bimm. It ended up being a no-brainer. I have longish 600km-plus (370-mile) days planned for much of the trip, with three feature stories lined up in Brisbane, all of which has taken a lot of co-ordination.

The BMW has the advantage of a big and predicable fuel range and I know we can simply pump put the first 300km (180 miles) each morning without stress.

Moments after we unhooked the battery charger the temps in not-so-sunny Melbourne this afternoon halved from balmy to what-the-fug almost instantaneously, with winds and heavy rain. Tomorrow promises much the same.

Of course Brisbane, at the other end, is having good-old sub-tropical weather which will feel like we're on another planet.

That was when I reminded myself we should be doing this for pleasure and not as an endurance test. So we take the bike best able to deal with the menu of crap and good weather.

Meanwhile the Valkyrie can wait for the Adelaide cruise, with shorter ride days, we have planned for early November.

A reminder this is at least partly a work trip was packing the topbox with two camera kits and a drone.

Day 1 – Melbourne to West Wyalong, September 17

Wunghnu mechanics institute - BMW K1200LT

It was one of those days when I got away to a late start, which meant stopping only for fuel (twice) and the odd pic – and not many of the latter. My general rule with these trips is not to leave before 8.00am, or get in after 4.00pm, to minimise dancing around or through the local wildlife.

Speaking of which, I did find time to stop and rescue a large freshwater turtle from where it had freaked out and hidden in its shell, smack in the middle of a major highway. In the past, I've been rewarded for my intervention with the animal freaking out even more and emptying its bladder down my leg. Fortunately this one was made of sterner stuff.

One pic I had to get was of the Mechanics Institute in sunny Wunghnu (Vic). Institutes like this, aka a School of the Arts in some places, were once huge in this country. Victoria is thought to have had over 1200 when they were at their height, says Wikipedia.

This building has a colourful history and now needs an injection of capital, according to its online heritage listing.

It says something for the K1200LT that you can simply sit on it and cover just shy of 600km (370 miles) in six-and-a-half hours at legal speeds. The coverage of fixed and mobile radar so far up the Newell Highway feels pretty intense.

If there's a saving grace, the bike had been averaging just over 20km/lt (56mpg UK, 47mpg USA) at a steady 115km/h (71mph) – a pretty good result given it's a land yacht.

We've landed in West Wyalong which proudly claims to be a motorcycle-friendly town. There was a group of about 20 tourers in one of the local pubs tonight, so maybe the claim is right.

Meanwhile the choice of roadside mural for the day was a no-brainer.

There's another 620km to cover tomorrow and it certainly beats sitting in the home office tapping a laptop keyboard to death!

Day 2 West Wyalong to Moree, September 18

Just a little bit lost

Okay, so I got distracted. As anyone who has followed the Newell Highway over the years will know, there is no great mystery to it. Follow the sodding signs!

Whatever, I somehow day-dreamed my way past a critical sign and worked out the error as I was reaching the outskirts of Dubbo. Instead of heading up the Newell, we were going further north-east. I pulled up, looked at a map to see roughly where we heading and thought why not? To Dunedoo.

The name is said to derive from the local indigenous term for black swan, which is reflected in some of the town's decoration.

And since we've shown one pub, we should share another from today, with a very different style. This one is in Tomingley, NSW.

bmw k1200lt luxo tour

So there we were somewhere in NSW and I was using a mix of faith, hope, and occasional info from my phone maps. While I don't have an innate sense of direction (and some folk do), I have enough experience navigating in light aircraft to at least nut out some basics.

I thought we were all travelling nicely, until I hit a road closed sign. Do we ride the extra 11km (and risk an almost-certain return journey) or come up with plan C? Let's go for the latter.

There was a bit of trial and error in sorting out this one. It was also a reminder the albeit outdated K1200LT luxo barge was a good choice for the trip. With a fuel range of around 400km, and given I usually fill at 200-250km, there was plenty in hand to sort the whole where-the-blazes-are-we issue without also wrangling with range anxiety.

In the end, we followed a bit of a lizard track that added 100km to the day. I could have lived without the extra saddle time which added up to a 720km (450 mile) day. However the high point was seeing places and roads, including the Black Stump Way, I'd never before tripped over. What's that about every cloud having a silver lining?

Day 3 Moree to Inglewood, September 19

The end of the road

Well, that wasn't meant to happen!

The trip was going swimmingly, as we crossed into Queensland via Goondiwindi.

I'd pulled up to look at a few things including the oddball sculpture above.

Plus, this roadside display of old machinery had me wondering about how big a role technology has played in making broad-acre farming possible. Some of the properties around here look as though they're measured in square-kilometres rather than hectares.

Then there was a little rumbling noise coming from the rear of the bike. I pulled up to discover oil leaking from the rear shaft drive housing – the crown wheel housing. Not good.

So I limped into the nearest town – Inglewood – where the good folk at Pursehouse Rural have allowed it to be stored in a shed.

It's a little frustrating as the K1200LT has had a huge amount of work done on it, and is a fantastic thing to travel on. It's comfortable, fast on the overtake when you want it to be, and handles respectably.

I'll be very curious to discover what the problem is, when I eventually get it shipped back to Victoria.

Apparently there is a known issue with the hub bearings, so it will be interesting to see how bad the damage is given I had to ride it some distance to find help while knowing there was a problem.

I guess it could be worse. At least it didn't happen in the middle of our 2023 Nullabor trip!

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