Post by ianboshoff on Nov 23, 2013 16:04:42 GMT -5
I'm Boshie from Bunbury, 200 kms south of Perth WA. I've recently bought a Deauville. I started riding motor bikes late in life and wonder why I never got into them earlier. This little bike is a dream to ride and runs like a sowing machine. When I was looking at getting into a road bike, a mate at work suggested the Deauville. His name is Dave and has been into bikes all his life. His parents are in the UK. His dad has had the 650 Revere for about 15 years so the influence was born for me to get something along that line. The NTV 700 was chosen. I found one for sale in Melbourne which belonged to a 70 year old, someone who kept the little thing in good nick. Dave being an adventurous sort offered to ride the bike from Victoria back to Western Australia for me if I paid for his air ticket to Melbourne , Victoria. In return for the magic ride back to WA Dave said that he would pay for all the fuel costs to run the bike. The distance to do this little episode would be about a 3500 km trip. Things did not got to well in the beginning as Dave wanted to come off night shift and go to Perth straight away. My wife driving him to the airport and not allowing for a bit of heavy traffic and road works caused Dave to miss his flight. Remember he was tired at this stage. With great perseverance, Dave managed to get another flight 1 hour later and an extra cost for me. Not to worry, these things happen. While Dave was waiting for that extra hour to pass, he tried to close his weary eyes. There was someone's young bloke being a bit disruptive to Dave's shut eye. Dave spoke to the young blokes old man and got a dirty look, so no sleep for Dave. The flight was not great either so when Dave got to Melbourne, he must have felt a bit rough. A long story short, Dave liked the bike, paid and got on his way through traffic and headed to a planned destination for a nights sleep on the side of the road with camping gear, ect. Plus minus 1750 kms later Dave passed the Nullarbor Road House. This is a very remote region and 60 kms west of the road house Dave hit what looked liked a little stone at about 90 kms an hour which in turn cracked the water pump housing, causing radiator fluid to start draining. Dave stopped, almost had heart failure and then survival mode kicked in. Again long story short, Dave hid the bike behind the nearest bush 2 kms away by pushing the bike. Exhausting! Then he hitched a lift back to the road house where there was road side assistance. The bike got back to the road house ok and Dave made plans to hitch back to Bunbury. The water pump could not be repaired. Dave tried to glue it together but to no avail. Dave got lucky with the lift. The guy who picked up Dave said that cause the trip to Kalgoorlie was so far he normally slept over at a motel. Dave offered to drive him all the way home if they shared the driving. The chap was pleased as this saved him $150 for the motel. Again long story short, Dave got to kalgoorlie at midnight and slept in a ditch so the locals could not see his tent. The following morning Dave got onto a train for a 600 km trip to Perth and then my wife fetched Dave from Perth and drove him home for a further 200 kms to Bunbury. Dave got some sleep. He did miss his 2 day shifts because of the situation, however he came straight onto night shift with me and he planned the trip back to the Nullarbor. 3 hours sleep after the last night shift, we were on the road with Dave's vehicle and my wallet, motor bike trailer and a fridge full of pre cooked meals thanks to my dear wife. In 2.5 days the bike was back in Bunbury. Dave with his drive and energy was able to drive 90% of the time. We slept in our swags and the night temperatures were close to zero degrees C. Days later Dave had organized a second hand pump, radiator hose, O rings, oil, coolant and his services. With speed and diligence Dave had the bike up and running. Putting in the radiator fluid is not the most simplest thing on a Deauville, but Dave loosened off a few covers and used a small Funnel and hose. It worked a real treat. The bike has done 8000 kms plus in 5 months. I put an extender fender on the front wheel incase Mr. stone comes to visit again. Since the event if I may call it that, Dave and I have done 2 more trips on our bikes, but will save them for another time.
