Trip to Panorama

A Trip to Panorama

With commiserations to those that are locked down, maybe you might like to tag along on today’s ride vicariously.

As Tom Petty said, “Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks” - and today in SEQ was at the diamond end of the scale. 

I met up with Rowey and his crew at Coomera and we headed out around 100km west to the ‘Panorama Motorcycle and Memorabilia’ Museum near Boonah.

I was on the Pan America, the rest of the crew were on around a dozen very well sorted Harleys with Hughesie on his new (to him) Buell and John bringing up the rear on his Yamie. I’ve been mates with Rowey since the late 70’s and today was the first ride I’ve had with Greg (on the Softail Standard) but we go back even further – we were in Primary School together. It’s another great thing about being motorcyclists – the connections we keep. 

It was coolish when I set out from Brisbane, but the day was clear, with light winds and temps were nudging 20c by mid-day. 

We ran in reasonably tight formation all the way out to Boonah with a pit stop at Beaudesert. The roads along the floor of the scenic rim aren’t all that inspiring, but to be on them with a good crew makes all the difference. 

After a good look around the Museum, (which I thought was very well worth the $10 entry fee – there are some very interesting Harleys and Injuns) we headed back to the Wyalong Dam for a photo stop. 

From there it was back to Beaudesert where most stopped for lunch, but the call of exploring on the Pan Am was too strong for me to stop – I was seriously enjoying riding this bike so much  that I bade the team farewell, picked a direction and headed off on my own. 

I found some perfect roads for the bike Southwest of Beaudesert; narrow, rough and eventually turning to gravel. It’s the best fun I’ve had on a motorcycle for a long time and the bike was simply fantastic. Just a matter of dialling in the correct mode for the conditions and it devours them. Chews them up and spits them out in fact.

It’s comfortable, fast and capable. An absolute joy. 

From there I battled the roadworks on the Mt Lindsay Highway back to Brizzy and was home by about 2:30pm. 

Diamonds. Absolute diamonds. 

No comments :