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Winter Run
Get out of town
and spend a couple of weeks on the road
by Guy 'Guido' Allen, June-July 2026
June 29, Setting
off
With a bit of luck, the
pic above should resemble what we're looking at this
morning, as we embark on a run from Melbourne to
Brisbane and back, via the Newell and New England
highways. We're working on nearly two weeks for the
trip.
Our initial plan was to
take the current Honda Valkyrie Interstate, some
20-plus years since we took the first through
there with daughter Ms A.
Back then, we were all
young and silly. Now we're a little older.
And yes, I do have another
Valkyrie Interstate in the shed. However a scan
of the long-term forecast (wet and bitterly cold)
convinced me to leave it at home. It's better suited
to something like a Summer oyster run to Coffin Bay in
South Australia.
This time the mission is to head to Brisbane, Queensland, to cover a couple of feature stories for Unique Cars magazine.
Last time I tried this
was around September 2025 and it all went pear-shaped,
when the bike broke down near Inglewood. That was a
hugely expensive exercise and you can see
the wash-out here.
And I'm more positive as it seems we have rebuilt everything that usually breaks on these bikes. Let's hope I'm right!
June 29, Melbourne to Narrandera
So much for our earlier sunny outlook...in reality today was largely spent splashing about in rain and an ambient temperature of 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) on our way to beautiful downtown Narrandera.
If nothing else it
backed up the decision to take the big K1200LT,
with the giant aftermarket screen, plus heated
grips and seat.
A significant
feature in these parts is it has more than enough
power to whip past a road train or two without
raising a sweat.
We had to stop in
Wunghnu (what a name!) to get a shot of the local
Mechanics Institute building – one of my
favourites on this trip. It has since been
converted into a bar that no longer seems to
operate. There was once a time when such places
dotted the countryside.
Today, we've been invited to do a shed
tour near Parkes, where the owner has a bunch of
bikes and old cars. There are much worse ways to
spend an hour or two!
June 30, Narrandera to Dubbo
More bloody rain! It was another day of cold sidewinds with a generous helping of falling water to keep yours etcetera on his toes. It was okay. The bike wandered occasionally, but nothing death-defying.
Aside from the choice of motorcycle, the other good decision was to cut back the daily riding distances to a max of 500km. I'm also doing this for car trips as muggins no longer enjoys the endurance test thing on or in any vehicle. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt and ate the breakfast cereal. It sucks.
I'd much rather be on the road by the crack of 9.00am
after the morning espresso, stop somewhere for lunch, have
a little time to mess around along the way, and still be
at the other end by roo o'clock. That, in my world, is
about 4.00pm or 5.00 at the latest.
It doesn't always work out that way, but is worth a try.
Speaking of lunch, my favourite for road trips is this spectacularly ordinary offering: a couple of eggs on toast with a coffee. Cheap, quick, and not so big that it puts you into a digestive coma.
I would usually expect, and be happy with, two eggs.
However the giant BP fuel station on the north-bound
Parkes (NSW) bypass served three. That day, having
struggled to keep warm and focussed, a little extra
protein looked like a good idea.
July 1, Dubbo to Moree
Just for a change of
pace, we didn't get soaked and hopefully it will stay
that way.
Something you'll encounter up this way is what is billed as the world's largest solar system drive. (Above is one of the locations, in Bellata – between Narrabri and Moree.
Here is how Google
explains what's going on...
The World's Largest Virtual
Solar System Drive is a
unique, interactive tourism experience in New South
Wales, Australia, that acts as a 38-million-times-smaller
scaled model of our Solar System.
The drive uses
the massive dome of the Anglo-Australian Telescope at the
How It Works
-
True to Scale: Both the physical size of the planets printed on the billboards and the vast driving distances between them are mathematically scaled to match the proportions of the actual universe.
-
The Billboards: As you drive, you encounter large, colorful billboards on the side of the road displaying 3D models of the planets alongside facts about each one.
For example, if you start at the furthest edge where Pluto is, it’s a billiard-ball-sized graphic roughly 200 kilometers away from the Sun dome! -
The Routes: There are five different approach routes (spanning highways from towns like Narrabri, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Dubbo, and Gilgandra) that all converge toward the "Sun" at the Siding Spring Observatory.
🚀 Fun Fact: If you are driving along the highway at a normal speed of 100 km/h, you are "virtually" hurtling through space at roughly 1 million kilometers per second—which is more than three times faster than the speed of light!
We pulled in at
Golden Harvest Motel in Moree in part because it
has secure parking at night. It also happens to be
next door to the New Bo Wa Restaurant.
Aside from cooking a
decent meal, its main claim to fame is its
inclusion as a chapter in Chopsticks
or Fork? – a book on country Chinese
restaurants around Australia.
July 2-3, Moree to Brisbane and beyond
Welcome to
Goondiwindi on the New South Wales and Queensland
border.
I reckon
crossing a border of any sort – even just between
states – is worth a quick pic. I took a shot similar
to this around September 2025, and, about an hour
later, was diagnosing a major rear hub failure and
spending a fortune finding rescue and alternative
transport. From Inglewood in Queensland. Look it up –
everyone else had to...
Here is our
post-trauma report on what went wrong.
This time, we made it all the way through to Brisbane – our home base for a few stories for Unique Cars magazine and AllMoto.
One of the
missions for this trip was to head north of the city,
to the Glass House Mountains district. Here, former TV
host and wildlife park owner Steve Irwin
(RIP) remains a major presence. Yes, he has a highway
named after him.
On the way back into Brisbane, I pulled a cheeky move
with the traffic. Which was slide up between right-turn
and straight-ahead lanes and get to the front of the grid.
The lights turned green just as muggins reached the front
and, of course, I nailed it...briefly.
Luckily I have terrific peripheral vision and spotted a
cop bike launching from the other side of a van, two lanes
to the left. That was a nasty surprise and he tucked in
behind me on his Yamaha FJR1300. Of course I played Mr
Responsible and rode by the rules. Here is the thing: I
was on a Vic club plate bike and figured he would probably
play with me for a while and then pull me over. So I
accepted this was going to be difficult, and therefore
relaxed.
Though I did ponder what I might be booked for – lane splitting with a bus, perhaps?
He followed muggins for several kays,
including through a toll tunnel, and knew damn well I was
watching and on best behaviour.
"Know when you're out," as my aunts would
warn. From his point of view I'm guessing the thinking was
the bike was in good shape, I was wearing all the safety
gear and was riding ultra-clean while he was behind me.
Then he moved on – message delivered.
Motorcycle trivia for the day: BMW K1200LT side aero flaps
If you look at the centre of the photo, you'll see a
perspex blade located just below the mirror of the
K1200LT. No big deal? Today, when I switched from riding
in southern winter temperatures of 12 degrees C (54F) to
northern climate change at 27 degrees C (80F) this was
important.
That little blade can be swivelled back flat against the fairing and opens up a whole new cooling airflow across the rider's thighs. It's very simple and effective. Who came up with that?
July 6, Gold Coast Motor Museum
We've been in
Brisbane for a few days. With a bit of time to
spare we popped down to the Gold Coast Motor
Museum today, about an hour from the centre of
town on the edges of the Mount Tambourine
district.
Though I had heard a bit about the place, the reality held a few surprises. The presentation is special, as is the collection.
While motorcycle riders get the royal
treatment with parking at the front door, the collection
of bikes is relatively modest. That said, there is a
wealth of eye-opening cars and memorabilia and ephemera in
the place.
If you have a little fuel flowing through
your veins, you will enjoy it.
A bonus is the onsite restaurant, which
is good and reasonably-priced. It comes across as an easy
and fun destination when you're in the area.
A few pics...
Yep, it's a fair size and professionally-presented...
Automotive contrasts...
Quite a line-up: (from left to right) Honda CBX1000Z,
Honda CB750-Four K1, first-model Suzuki RE-5, Kawasaki
ZX1100R, and Harley-Davidson V-Rod...
There is some high-end gear in the shed, such as this
Jaguar XJ13R recreation.
The museum's website can be found here and, yes, there is an admission charge.
Meanwhile the restaurant (above) is worth a try and warns
that weekends are often flat-out – bookings are
recommended.
As for the Winter Run, I'm due to hit the road again next
Tuesday with Armidale in NSW being the fairly easy target
for the first night. The weather gods seem to have decided
we'll be cold (or bloody freezing) for much of the return
journey to Melbourne but generally dry. Given the whole
theme is a Winter run, I guess freezing your proverbials
off is part of the fun...
July 7, Brisbane to
Armidale
Today was the day we
realised how long it is since muggins had tried to
navigate to the New England Highway from Brisbane.
There was a time I could have done it without thinking
– no more. The roads have changed and today I
lost the plot for a little while.
No matter, we
eventually got there.
Along the way we got
obsessed with a few roadside details. We had to
stop in Warwick to check the map to confirm when
we joined the Cunningham Highway. The answer: turn
left after the Buckaroo Motor Inn. I reckon Turn
Left After The Buckaroo is a great title for
a mystery novel and just might use it one day.
Meanwhile,
it easily wins our roadside attraction of the
day award.
A little way down
the road we tripped over the Peter
Allen Motor Inn in Tenterfield, which I last
stayed in maybe 20 years ago. My recollection is
the place had a mini shrine to the entertainer
installed in the foyer.
Does anyone remember Peter? His
Tenterfield Saddler piece may be his best.
See this
rendition via YouTube, which provides a
little background.
And our final bit of
roadside interest for the day: the blue motorcycle
project, of which we saw two examples during
today's run.
Tomorrow we're off to the thriving metropolis of Gulgong, aka the ten dollar town...
July 8,
Armidale to Gulgong
Here is my biggest regret of the trip:
the day before launch I left behind the old printed
Australian road atlas which would not have taken up
much room. While it's now hopelessly outdated when it
comes to major roads and bypasses, the towns have
mostly not moved – it would have been a useful and fun
reference for today's run, which was all about back
roads I had not ridden before.
The gist was to head to Gulgong, out
of Tamworth. See the routes via this
Google Maps link...we went for the centre option
as it was largely roads we had never previously seen.
On a map like you see here, it looks
very simple, but in reality there were numerous
opportunities to cock-up the next turn. In any case it
was a fun day with lots of culverts, deep flood drains
and dodgy stray cattle warnings to keep you on your
toes. Or the wild goat with magnificent horns, or
series of flattened wildlife to serve as a warning
about getting caught out there at night.
The suggested three-hour timeline on the map was of course delusional. Add another hour.
Road names for the day: Werris Creek Road and Black Stump Way (above).
As for Gulgong, it's the product of a
gold rush and therefore has narrow streets. Other
places in rural Australia, built on agricultural
wealth, famously have roads wide enough for a bullock
dray loaded with wool to make a U-turn. In Gulgong,
we're talking about a horse and sulky.
Perhaps more importantly, the place
trades on being the 'home' of famed 19th-20th century
poet and novelist Henry Lawson
who has become part of Australian literary legend and
folklore.
In Gulgong, his probably more
deserving mother Louisa Lawson
is also honoured as the backer and Editor of
pre-Federation newspaper The Republican. She
went on to set up a leading women's journal The
Dawn, which had an international impact.
Aside from making sure we bring a
printed road atlas next time, there was another
lesson: two phone companies are better than one. I
referred to this near the end of the Nullabor Run
Diary (Perth to Melbourne) in 2023 and it's
worth repeating.
For a few years I have carried two
mobile phones on road trips, hooked up to both local
sects: Telstra and Optus.
Today, when I tried the Testra phone
for satnav, it failed as part of a national drop-out.
So I used Optus.
Once we got in to the serious nether
regions of New South Wales, the Optus service dropped
out, while Telstra was back on stream.
I have one on subscription and the other as an annual pre-paid that is quite cheap. It works...
July 9,
Gulgong to Narrandera
Another morning in the saddle and another few hours spent luxuriating in a back road I had never before seen. In this case it was the run between Gulgong and Parkes, much of which enjoys the grand title of the Renshaw-McGirr Way.
As with yesterday's back road route, I can recommend it and here is the Google Maps link. That's so long as you stay on your toes – there is wildlife and even farm stock on the road. A little circumspection is recommended.
We're now back on the Newell Highway, staying in Narrandera. Tomorrow should be an easy 420km (260 mile) run home and we'll then do a bit of a sum-up of the trip, the bike and some general trivia. Happy days...
July 10, Winter Run Wrap – Narrandera to Melbourne
We made
it. Today was the home run, which I always
reckon is the most dangerous end of a longish
trip. We had been on the road for more or less
two weeks (albeit with a day or two off) and I
could just feel my riding wasn't as sharp as
it should be. I suspect there can be a
cumulative build-up of saddle-soreness and
white-line fever at work. Which is okay – you
ease up and compensate.
Today was
really a transport stage, on highways with
which I've become very familiar. Nevertheless
they had copped some recent storm damage,
which was good reason to stay alert.
Above is
the Royal Mail Hotel in Jerilderie. It seems
there was a time when nearly every country
town had a Royal Mail Hotel – probably of more
significance in a long-past era when the
arrival of mail was an occasion, perhaps
involving a horse and coach crew out of Cobb
& Co.
We got off
to a late start, thanks to a royal cock-up
with my website host service that was
eventually resolved.
About 10
months ago I was quietly considering pushing
this 1999 BMW K1200LT into a ditch somewhere
near Inglewood, Queensland, and abandoning it.
That crunching noise from the rear was a
chewed-out hub bearing about 1500km from home.
The pic above is from the day it happened. It
looks fine, doesn't it?
Today it completed a circa 4000km (2400 mile) round trip and restored my faith in the monster.
So let's roll back a little. I bought this machine back in March 2022, with around 50,000km on the odometer and priced at Au$8500 (US$5900, GB£4400, €5200). At that stage I was pretty sure it was going to need work, given the telltale oil leak from the seam between the clutch housing and engine.
In any
case, my belief is the triple and four Kay
series motors of the era have rear main seal
failure based on age rather than miles. 20-25
years is the timeline.
Once
they're done, you have another 20-plus to go.
Then, for
K and R series (1150) of the era, the hub
bearings need attention at around 70-80,000km.
My example is an early LT, a 1999 model, which
apparently had early failures and in this case
it left me stranded at around 69,000km as I
was unaware of the issue. When I say that, I
also suspect someone did tell me and I wasn't
paying attention.
The result is this thing has spent a lot of time in the BM Motorcycles workshop. Here is the breakdown, so to speak...
And the
all-up cost? It now owes me around Au$15,000
(US$10,400, GB£7800, €9100). That's more than
it's worth and so I have over-capitalised.
However there is a qualifier to that: which is
at 75,000km (47,000 miles) it now has a lot of
miles and years left in it.
From where
I'm sitting is it does everything I want in a
big luxo barge. It's fast enough and gets to a
160km/h (100mph) overtaking speed without
raising a sweat, handles very well for such a
lump and has decent braking with anti-lock.
Plus there
is cruise control, along with heated handgrips
and seats. Oh, and the windscreen (swapped out
for a giant American version) has electric
adjustment. In reality, it does everything I
value for a third of the price of a new
equivalent.
And I'm
not scared to use it as it is essentially a
tool that doesn't owe me a fortune.
A note on that screen. Though it's huge, it may have have
cleaned up the aerodynamics as this thing regularly gets
20km/lt or better (56mpg UK, 47mpg USA) at highway speeds.
I've now done two Melbourne-to-Brisbane loops on this machine, at about 4000km (2400 miles) each. And I'm not counting the failed trip. Plus there was a Perth to Melbourne run of about the same distance. See our road diary for that one.
While I have a few reasonably able tourers in the shed,
including a 2001 Honda Valkyrie Interstate, 2001 BMW
R1150GS and 2003 Kings Mountain Indian Chief Vintage, this
is easily the pick for a seriously long trip –
particularly if the weather looks like it might turn
against you.
This time around I planned the run so there was no riding
day longer than 500km (300 miles). A new regime. Plus I
launched at a civilised hour so the roads were clear, and
was in again before 'roo-o'clock – that is by 4.00pm
(going on dusk in Winter). I have hit and probably killed
a kangaroo with a motorcycle and it's an experience that's
not to be repeated.
I'm now thinking of taking a very different approach to
future trips, which is slow touring. That is, limit the
distance to 300km (180 miles) per day and spend more time
messing about actually looking at the places you visit.
Okay, that means I don't indulge in the sometimes crushing
distances – so be it. I'm now over trips where crunching
miles is a goal in itself.
And, increasingly, I'm going to take the approach I have used a couple of times, which is not to do a giant loop from home to a destination and back. Instead, ship the motorcycle to the end point and ride it home. I did that with the Perth Run on the K1200LT and the circa 2000km (1200 mile) 50th Anniversary Run for the 1975 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing from Brisbane to Melbourne.
Well, that's it for this run. Thanks for coming along...
***
More trips...
Darwin
Run – heading south on a cheap BMW
Nullabor
Run – across Australia
Kawasaki
Run – buying a GPz900R in remote Alice Springs
and riding home
***
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