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Well better late than never, sorry for the long delay. I have finally got a few days off so I will attempt to finish this ride report. Day 3 was spent riding around the Atherton tablelands. This area is fairly elevated and as a result is always a bit cooler than the coast, so it makes for a very pleasant days riding. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos this day, but to to give you an idea of the country I have attached a few photos from the net (yes I know that's cheating) This is Lake Eacham, one of two very picturesque lakes located very close together, the other being Lake Barrine.

Great write up and photos Phil except for the sad and injured VFR!....as the saying goes - shit happens. I bet you're glad to have it back in it's new showroom look again. That headlight assembly is one hell of an expensive bit of kit! I never bother with the centre stand at fuel stations, there's a good chance you could end up with slippery oil, water, or diesel fuel on the soles of your boots, have almost experienced your incident fortunately the bike was falling towards me and was quickly able to steady it. The early Kwakas look superb. Cheers.

Great photos and tour wrap-up report. Thanks for posting them! Sorry to hear about the damage, but glad insurance covered it and your VFR is already back to 100%. Centerstands are a blessing and a curse in my opinion. 😕 Anyway, congrats on a great trip!!

Got the bike back from the dealers so I rotated the plates back to original. Can't say I noticed any great difference to sitting height, but maybe I'll see on MOnday when I go to work, along with the stiffening up of the suspension now I can reach the rear adjuster.

Holy cow, $2000 for a headlight. That puts me firmly in the camp of those who did not know. I am quite sorry for your mishap. Been there, got the t-shirt.

A lot of people are over-building their packs with higher-capacity than necessary due to comparing to outdated CCA-ratings of lead-acid batteries. First, some background on CCA: CCA - cold-cranking amps is rating of lead-acid batteries to deal with loss of power as temperatures decrease. At -10 degrees, a lead-acid battery will have only 25% of its CCA rating. So V8 needing 150-amps cranking current at low-temps, requires 4x150=600CCA battery. Just in case it's ever needed to be started in cold-weather. Since I lived in Santa Barbara for so many years, I never needed cold-weather s

mello dude, I will reach out to you this winter, probably a winter project. Thanks

There really just isn't a vfr alternative. They are so well balanced and near perfect. You get all day comfort to cross the continent and performance to rip up the mountain roads. And the v4! The vfr just does it all, and does it well. If you are a vfr rider, well then your are a vfr rider.

DAY 2. Malanda to Cape Tribulation and Return. . After a slow start to the day, we headed down the Gillies once again. Turned North at Gordonvale and rode through Cairns heading towards Port Douglas. We stopped at Ellis Beach just North of Palm Cove for brunch. Very nice bar and grill here with views out over the Coral Sea (not the greatest Photo sorry) Next stop was the Rex lookout about halfway between Cairns and Mossman. I came close to getting run over while taking this photo, what I thought was the exit lane from the parking was actually the highway, I

Well, I could not right the bike by myself... The petrol station proved closed..... But luckily, a drunk (yes at 7am on a Sunday; I could hear Johny Cash starting to play in my head ) staggered past. Unable to communicate (my Latvian or Russian language skills are zero), he pointed at his chest and shouted "Popeye!!" I gave him a tenner (probably good for 10 bottles of vodka...) for his help... 4 hours later, an oncoming car took a left turn w/o seeing me. And that finished my 4th gen (and my trip) off....

Great shots! For a moment (at the 1st picture) i thought "when did that lass join your trip?" Sorry to see the damage. I was lucky at the time (7AM) when my brain farted in Latvia...