I can’t believe I’m walking again and we still haven’t had the accident yet!!
In this blog we are leaving the Mornington peninsula heading towards Canberra, the final piece in our circumnavigation of Australia before we return to Melbourne to ship the bike.
Now we had the chance, friendly hosts and a workshop we thought we had better try and discover what the weird noises that were emanating from the gearbox area were. We had both been feeling some rumbles and vibrations through the foot plates from the bike ever since we got back from our tour of Tasmania.
Kev took the back wheel and swingarm out in expectation of having to delve deeper but soon discovered an obvious problem. The driveshaft and its flexible (cardan) joint are supported by a roller bearing in the swingarm and once it was removed he could see that there were only about half of the original ball bearings left in the race. Martin helped him to change the bearing, they also discovered that the cardan joint had, not surprisingly spun in the knackered bearing and was no longer the interference fit it should be. The joint amazingly still had no play or stiffness in it so they turned the cardan joint around as they are symmetrical and filed/sanded the other end until it was a good fit in the new bearing and all was well. This was a good result as the bearing was only $20 when the cardan joint would have cost nearly $400.
Kev is really grateful to Martin because he showed him a modified fixing method which will stop this problem ever happening again. It was so obviously a better way and once you have seen this you would never go back. Basically rather than the original thin flange welded to the end of the pipe you weld a thick diameter pipe straight to the header and clamp down onto that, we did both pipes while we were at it. Thanks to Liam for the excellent tig welding too !
To celebrate Martin broke the Tequila out that night, owch. Here are some shots of the exhausts and his tequila face.
Quick fire question for you, in 5 secs name the capital of Australia ?
Sydney ? Wrong !
Melbourne ? Wrong !
It is in fact Canberra which is roughly halfway between the two, mainly because there was a long running rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne both of which thought they should be the capital of Australia. When the continent was first settled by Europeans it was divided into states, each of which ran fairly autonomously like their own little empires, until federation in 1901. Canberra is in the Australian Capital Territory originally called the Federal National Territory and was literally built from the ground up as a home for the Australian Parliament and government.
This time we couldn’t leave the peninsula without first visiting Arthur’s seat, we didn’t get the chance last time we were here. It was named by acting lieutenant John Murray when he entered Port Philip in the ship Lady Nelson in 1802 because it resembled the hill of Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh (his home city). Its a great spot to admire the views over Port Philip and the Melbourne city skyline. We also took a wander around Seawinds gardens which has been planted with indigenous plants.
Next Up – The fabulous Barry way and a little closer to Canberra
#1 by Kev & Karen on October 2, 2012 - 2:20 am
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the well wishes, glad we are inspiring you to travel again and not stay in Perth forever!
All the best Karen and Kev x
#2 by Ruth and Pierre on September 25, 2012 - 9:03 am
I love reading your odyssey. What are we doing now at home, We should be on the road again…. We are glad you feel better. Greeting Pierre and Ruth