The road above is pretty typical of the roads that run all around WA. This is in fact the Old Yanchep road. I headed out to Gingin which is about 85km north of Perth, Western Australia.
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The Wanneroo road north of Wanneroo before the turnoff to Gingin is possibly the worst surface I have ridden in WA in terms of the number and severity of the hidden holes/bumps in the road. My impressions of the Fournales was that they were fairing slightly better but still the road was terrible but at least the edge was taken off it (not sure that was enough to justify the cost of these things though). However I kept telling myself I had only done a fraction of the 1500km break-in mileage.
The first big surprise with the Fournales though was just around the corner (literally). On the Gingin Brook road that runs between the Wanneroo road and Gingin there was a large section of road re-surfacing and the road was completely red gravel/dirt for about 2km. This red dirt riding fills me with dread on the Fatboy, the rear is normally squirming the hole way and I have to creep along ready to throw a foot down. So imagine my surprise when I hit the gravel/dirt and the bike felt totally steady and in control!! Way to go Fournales!! I kept up to the posted speed limit of 60km/h no problem and felt completely secure. This was an unexpected benefit that I was delighted to discover as I often come across red dirt when out exploring and previously I would just turn around unless it was very short or on a road I knew.
Finally on the way home I was about 50km out of Perth on the Wanneroo road and I hit this very rough section of road which is on a gentle curve that enters a tighter curve, and which was so crashy last time I rode it that I swore several times out loud as I struggled to maintain control of the bike. Anyway I had forgotten about his patch until I was well and truly in the middle of it but the experience this time was far more controlled even though there were still some pretty big bumps. So this chalk up another one to the Fournales after less than 200km.
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