The bike that Michael likes to call ‘the R’ is a 1995
model, one of the last airheads made, one that came
manufactured with the paralever swingarm. It’s a re-
markably reliable bike with Michael having just changed
the timing chain for the first time, it had just knocked
over 123,000 kilometres.
“It’s easy to maintain,” Michael nods.
“It’s balanced,” he goes on. “The ergonomics make it
great for long rides.
“It’s an unassuming adventure bike.”
Purchased in 2017, from Würzburg in Germany, Mi-
chael had no idea that this bike would take him halfway
around the world, challenging both rider and machine.
“It’s taken me through the deserts of the Middle East,
the Himalayas of Nepal, the Indian subcontinent, around
South-East Asia, and across Australia,” Michael looks at
the bike fondly. There’s a connection that many travel-
lers can honestly say they understand.
“”It feels as if it became part of my own body,” he
laughs despite telling of the times he came off twice
while riding through India and was almost washed away
by flooding rains in Malaysia.
“Other than that, I don’t seem to get tired of riding it.”
Michael has already been provided with so many fond
memories of riding this 25-year-old bike, he drifts off into
a sort of dreamlike state when recounting where it has
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