Across Australia on a PCX150

[PCX150AUS]

G'day PCX fans,

I've just completed a two-week, ~9000km trip across Australia on my missus' 2014 PCX150 as part of a bigger charity ride to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. As this forum appears to be the best source of information on the PCX on the web, I thought I should post here to see if anyone has any questions on the ride.



The website for the ride is http://bit.ly/longride16 and contains a lot of photos of the trip. It is a fundraising website, but please don't feel compelled to donate.

The ride commenced all over Australia and culminated in Margaret River on the west coast on 16 April 2016. I started and returned to my home in Canberra. There was one other scooter on the ride--a 650 Burgman. I was by far the smallest bike, but still managed to keep up due to the outstanding fuel economy of the little PCX and therefore not having to stop very often. There were a lot of sideways glances when I turned up at the start point with the ~70 bikes who also departed Canberra, but the other riders warmed to me and the scoot over the course of the trip.

So please, if you have any questions, fire away.

Mark.

[Wingscribe]

Mark,

I glanced briefly at the provided link, I will delve into the full ride report later today.

First off, congratulations on making the trip! That is one long haul. I completely understand the sideways glances from other cyclists that sometimes turn to a grudging respect (along with may suggestions to get a "real" bike - but that might just be me).

The biggest question I have is one of setup? I can see from the pics here and on the link that you did not load up your rear end with panniers and dry bags, how did you carry your basic items, extra ties, and cuff links...looking very smart there, BTW.

An invoice and pics of your kit would be greatly appreciated...thanks in advance.

Mike

[kramnala58]

Hi Mark, welcome to hondapcx.org!

Thanks for sharing the link to your ride. Looks like it was an amazing trip. I also would be interested to hear about what you actually packed on the PCX beside the bright yellow suit and the double-breasted one.

Also, would love to learn more about the windscreen. It looks like it is attached to the stock one.

[gn2]

Also, would love to learn more about the windscreen. It looks like it is attached to the stock one.

Looks like the top half of a Givi airflow fixed to the standard screen.

[GatorGreg]

Wow - awesome trip! You also win the award for "Best Dressed PCXer" - I've never seen anyone except James Bond wear a suit and tie on a bike

[gn2]

As I almost exclusively use my scooter for commuting to and from work its very unusual for me to ride a scooter without a tie on.

And anyone who has read Jupiter's Travels will know that a suit is essential for a long motorcycle trip

[wojtek_pl]

Nice ride! Still must be challenging. I would worry about the range on a single tank. Circa 300 km may not be enough in Australia to find a fuel station

[PCX150AUS]

Mark,

I glanced briefly at the provided link, I will delve into the full ride report later today.

First off, congratulations on making the trip! That is one long haul. I completely understand the sideways glances from other cyclists that sometimes turn to a grudging respect (along with may suggestions to get a "real" bike - but that might just be me).

The biggest question I have is one of setup? I can see from the pics here and on the link that you did not load up your rear end with panniers and dry bags, how did you carry your basic items, extra ties, and cuff links...looking very smart there, BTW.

An invoice and pics of your kit would be greatly appreciated...thanks in advance.

Mike

Gday Wingscribe,

I was travelling very light for the trip. With only 14hp, I didn't want to weigh the bike down with anything but the bare necessities. As it happened, I used almost everything I had.

Under the seat:
5L plastic jerry can
Funnel for jerry
Rain suit in its mesh bag
Standard tool kit (minus screwdriver) augmented with 1/4" drive ratchet, 3" extension, 8,10,12 & 14mm sockets + screwdriver bits. Small section of gaffa tape folded flat back on itself. All fitted in standard toolkit bag.
~5m section of 25mm tube tape for tow rope or tie down (not used)
200mL bottle containing engine oil (not used)
bike cover and hammock (emergency camping option - not used)
thongs (flip-flops)

In the rear box:
Bag with clothes (running shoes, 1x shorts, 1x tshirt, 2x underwear, 2x socks, sometimes a spare tie (I would buy them at Op shops on the way))
Small charity donation tin.
*I would also put extra food and water in the rear box if I had additional supplies.

Tunnel bag:
DSLR camera
toiletry bag (toothbrush, toothpaste (small), razor, small shaving cream, hand towel (in lieu of full sized towel)
muesli bars and the like
Water bladder (2L capacity)
camera battery charger, leads etc.
iPod mini
earplugs (not used)
daily maps
other misc small items.

On the man:
Riding boots
Kevlar jeans
Compression long sleeve shirt (first time I'd tried these things, I don't really like them)
Motorcross armour
Shirt
Tie
$15 Op shop suit
*The rain suit was both my cold and wet weather option.

That's all I think. The shirt was absolutely mank my the time I got to Margaret River so it didn't make it back. I bought a jumper at a local shop and wore that back instead.

There was consideration to not bring the jerry can and if I had accommodation already organised across the country I wouldn't have needed the bike cover and hammock and I think I could have removed the top box and fitted everything under the seat.

There was an approx. 95% grudging respect rate at the western culmination of the trip (many of the riders flew back), with some of the grizzlier looking Harley riders holding out. I didn't get a lot of 'get a real bike', as I do own a V-Strom 650 (which is somewhat 'real') and made it obvious I choose to do the trip on the scooter.

[PCX150AUS]

Hi Mark, welcome to hondapcx.org!

Thanks for sharing the link to your ride. Looks like it was an amazing trip. I also would be interested to hear about what you actually packed on the PCX beside the bright yellow suit and the double-breasted one.

Also, would love to learn more about the windscreen. It looks like it is attached to the stock one.

You're right Kramnala58, the windscreen was the one off my other bike, a Suzuki V-Strom 650. I know there are touring screens available for the PCX, but time ran out in the lead up to the ride and the shipping cost was really high. In the end, I managed to jerry-rig it using the V-Strom bracket, some clamps I bought from the local hardware store, some hot-melt glue, a piece of straight galvanised iron I found in the shed and a couple of squash balls I had lying around.



It worked surprisingly well in deflecting the wind up around helmet height (rather than hitting me in the chest) and I ended up jamming a piece of foam under the existing screen to stop it vibrating so much as I was afraid the extra load would snap the stock screen. On the return leg, the factory Suzuki mounting bracket came in handy as I mounted some 10W Cree spotlights via small brackets which allowed me to safely drive at night despite the considerable kangaroo threat.

[PCX150AUS]

Nice ride! Still must be challenging. I would worry about the range on a single tank. Circa 300 km may not be enough in Australia to find a fuel station

Hey mate,

Good to hear they have the PCX in Poland. I have a good mate over there I'd like to visit some day.

The longest stretch on this trip between servos (petrol stations) was just over 200km. The problem was though, with several hundred bikes all trying to use a couple of petrol bowsers in these servos, it soon became a bottleneck. To make up time on the group (which worked really well), I would cruise along at 80km/h to improve fuel economy, have all the big bikes pass me at 110+km/h then wave at them as I passed the servos and repeat all day. I didn't tell anyone that I had the sneaky 5L jerry under the seat and a due to my flip-face helmet I can eat and drink on the ride. Accordingly, I would rarely stop and would play hare and the tortoise with the big bikes all day. A bit of a legend started on how good on fuel the scooter is as I don't think anyone saw me fill up, even though I did:



My best economy was 530km on 12.2L which was from a place called Madura on the Nullabor to Norseman. I only stopped once to dump in the 5L from the jerry when the main tank ran dry after 546km.

[PCX150AUS]

Other than the windscreen and the spotlights on the return leg, the only other modification I had was the addition of an Omni-cruise throttle lock:



These things are awesome and a must-have if you are considering doing serious kms on your PCX. The ability to lock the throttle and rest one's hands provides great flexibility for long distance riding. I would dial up the amount of throttle to get the fuel economy I wanted and then kick back and enjoy the big skies of the outback. I think I had almost reached a zen like state out there on the Nullabor. As I explained to the other riders, I had lost the moment of fear one gets when seeing the police on the side of the road. Without having to worry about what speed I was doing, I was free to just sit back and watch the scenery slowly change.

[Bash On!]

Doesn't everyone dress properly for a ride? What is the world coming to?

distinguished-gentlemans-ride-08-620x413.jpg (367.24 KiB) Viewed 5236 times

[Wingscribe]

Thank you very much for the inventory!

I think I need to get a few more things (like maybe a tie not from the 90's...)

Thanks again, you rock!

Mike

[honkerman]

Hi Mark, welcome to hondapcx.org!

Thanks for sharing the link to your ride. Looks like it was an amazing trip. I also would be interested to hear about what you actually packed on the PCX beside the bright yellow suit and the double-breasted one.

Also, would love to learn more about the windscreen. It looks like it is attached to the stock one.

You're right Kramnala58, the windscreen was the one off my other bike, a Suzuki V-Strom 650. I know there are touring screens available for the PCX, but time ran out in the lead up to the ride and the shipping cost was really high. In the end, I managed to jerry-rig it using the V-Strom bracket, some clamps I bought from the local hardware store, some hot-melt glue, a piece of straight galvanised iron I found in the shed and a couple of squash balls I had lying around.



It worked surprisingly well in deflecting the wind up around helmet height (rather than hitting me in the chest) and I ended up jamming a piece of foam under the existing screen to stop it vibrating so much as I was afraid the extra load would snap the stock screen. On the return leg, the factory Suzuki mounting bracket came in handy as I mounted some 10W Cree spotlights via small brackets which allowed me to safely drive at night despite the considerable kangaroo threat.

The words fail me to describe just how awesome that is.

[you you]

Doesn't everyone dress properly for a ride? What is the world coming to?

distinguished-gentlemans-ride-08-620x413.jpg

Silly bastard just sitting on a bike. What a prawn

[Mel46]

look at all of those riders who are around that guy with the pipe in his mouth. It looks like they are having a meeting of the dressed up gents.

Next time you decide to go across Australia invite Eiron. He can carry the spare fuel in that 55 gallon drum he has strapped to his bike!

[chicaboo]

Nice ride! Still must be challenging. I would worry about the range on a single tank. Circa 300 km may not be enough in Australia to find a fuel station

Hey mate,

Good to hear they have the PCX in Poland. I have a good mate over there I'd like to visit some day.

The longest stretch on this trip between servos (petrol stations) was just over 200km. The problem was though, with several hundred bikes all trying to use a couple of petrol bowsers in these servos, it soon became a bottleneck. To make up time on the group (which worked really well), I would cruise along at 80km/h to improve fuel economy, have all the big bikes pass me at 110+km/h then wave at them as I passed the servos and repeat all day. I didn't tell anyone that I had the sneaky 5L jerry under the seat and a due to my flip-face helmet I can eat and drink on the ride. Accordingly, I would rarely stop and would play hare and the tortoise with the big bikes all day. A bit of a legend started on how good on fuel the scooter is as I don't think anyone saw me fill up, even though I did:



My best economy was 530km on 12.2L which was from a place called Madura on the Nullabor to Norseman. I only stopped once to dump in the 5L from the jerry when the main tank ran dry after 546km.

Hey fella, aren't you worried about the fumes building up under the seat and coping a spark from the battery? I know there's a cute little plastic door there, but still... And does your underseat area smell like a Corroboree now?
I've thought about using one of my 5L jerry's for just in case situations, but I'd be worried about transferring the smell to my helmet or jacket later on.

Gav.

[you you]

Hey fella, aren't you worried about the fumes building up under the seat and coping a spark from the battery? I know there's a cute little plastic door there, but still...
Gav.

No, silly.

[chicaboo]

Giggles, my bad. At least he can get high every time he puts his helmet on now...

[Mel46]

We have a tail box on both of our bikes and when we go for long rides I carry the extra fuel in a 3.9 Liter container tucked in the tail box with other emergency items that are in zip lock baggies. I do have room behind me, between my back and the tail box, to put additional things, if I need to, plus I have a tunnel bag. A PCX can carry quite a bit of gear. Some of the forum members have even gone camping with them. You look like you had everything hidden, and I know you were worried about weight, but that little bike can carry twice your weight easily enough.