The three bikes we brought with us are now reassembled and ready to ride. All three bikes made it through the three-month transit intact. We’ll start first with the Eriksen.

One of the customs requirements is that the bikes had to be clean and free of dirt. This really isn’t an easy as it might sound. Rather than face potential fines and delays for importing a less than spotless bike, I completely tore down the Eriksen and cleaned each component. The tear down took about three days.

This is what I had once all of the bubble wrap and tape was removed. The reassembly was fun, and took only a few hours. Notable changes include the tires, which are new Hutchinson Toro 2.15″, and a new cyclo-computer.  Other wear items such as cables, housing and the chain were also replaced.

The computer I was using in DC suffered an impact with a stream bank on my last ride. The crash left the computer embedded in the mud with a mounting tab cracked off. This is unfortunate as I really like this computer, a Sigma 1600. The Sigma is still in use, but not on the Eriksen (more on that later).

The Eriksen now has a Knog NERD that I got from Bernie Jones Cycles in nearby Warradale. I chose the Knog because of the rubbery mounting and apparent resistance to crash damage. Furthermore, I mounted the Knog on the stem to keep it away from stream bank damage.  One note: the included magnet from Knog does not work with Mavic alloy spokes.  The Sigma magnet (which does work with Mavic alloy spokes) works fine with the Knog sender.

I’ll let you know if I break it.

Moving on the Gunnar. The Gunnar wasn’t as muddy as the Eriksen, so I didn’t do a full tear down. It went back together in less than an hour. The only muddy parts on the Gunnar were the knobby tires. Here is a tip: to quickly remove dirt from knobbies remove the tires from the rim, place in the washing machine, add detergent, and wash in hot water. This was done with kevlar-bead tires, and the results were pretty good. I wouldn’t recommend doing this with steel-bead tires as corrosion and mangling of the bead are quite likely.

The Sigma computer will now be used full-time on the Gunnar. Due to the now missing mounting tab, the computer is semi-permanently zip tied to the bars. This should work well for road use, but I’m not sure how long it would last off road. The Gunnar is the only bike I’ve ridden so far. Two rides up the coast so far (see the first photo), more to come this weekend.

The first addition to the Forester was supposed to be a mat or tray for the cargo area. The perfect light grey carpet would surely lose some of it’s appeal with chain lube smeared all over it. After an extensive search, I found no rubber cargo mats for a ’99 Forester anywhere in Australia. Mats from the US are available, but shipping is as ridiculous as you might expect. What to do?

I found some bulk rubber mat at the local hardware store, but the two square meters would have cost $60-100 AU. I made a cardboard template for the tray, and I liked it so much I covered it with black duct tape. So, with left over cardboard plus $9 AU of black duct tape and I now have a mat.

It has creases so that the floor compartments can be accessed, and even cut-outs for the handles and anchor points. So far the mat is working well. We will have to wait and see how long it lasts.

The Rocky Mounts were removed from the Impreza before we left, and they finally arrived late last week. They fit pretty well on the Forester factory Subaru rack, but longer hardware was needed to clear the larger crossbars. Maybe when I finish rebuilding the bikes I’ll have something to put on it.

Ok, I’m back. Now coming to you from the southern hemisphere, here are more projects and random thoughts. A while ago I mentioned that we were going to need a car with the steering wheel on the other side. Well, we now have one.

This is a 1999 Subaru Forester Limited. The first generation Forester, which this is, has always been my favorite. It is not the mini-SUV that the later generations became, but it is larger inside than the Impreza wagon on which it is based.

As an Australian model, this Forester has a 2.0L with 92kW of power and 184Nm of torque (123hp and 135ft/lbs) and a four speed automatic tranny. While the choice of transmission isn’t my favorite, it does have something the manual lacks: the ‘Power’ button. It is much more impressive if I don’t describe what it actually does, so we will just leave it at that.

Aside from the button, the Australian and Saudi Arabian model Foresters received auto-leveling suspension that sits a full 10mm higher than the Foresters found in the rest of the world. This 10mm, or slightly less that 3/4 of an inch, will surely transform an otherwise pedestrian car into a rock-crawling monster.

Anyway, this particular Forester has only 73,000 km (45,000 miles), and is nearly spotless inside and out. Not bad for a 10 year old car. The only non-stock equipment are the alloy wheels, which found there way off of a turbo Forester GT and on to our lowly non-turbo. The 16″ alloys not only look good, but they also have the added benefit of (probably) increasing rotating mass and emphasizing the distinct lack of power produced by the 2.0L motor. Not that this is bad, I’m quite fond of slow, boxy cars. The Forester fits in nicely with several of my past cars like the ’87 Vanagon, ‘83.5 Subaru-powered Vanagon and the ’61 bus. While the Forester is slow, I’m pretty sure it could take all but the ‘83.5 Vanagon with it’s comparatively massive 2.2L Subaru motor.

Did you notice that blue and silver basket on the seat? That would be a gift basket from the dealer, Eblens Subaru in Glenelg, SA. This is the first time I’ve received wine with a used car. So far we have been very happy with the car and the wine.