The last couple days have been busy…
Australian customs is pretty tight with what they’ll allow in the country. For any vehicle to enter, it’s got to be incredibly clean…like new is their request. Unfortunately, getting my bike to look like new is impossible at this point, but I at least made a bit of an attempt, using untold amounts of soap, water, degreaser, and gasoline, and going through a few old tshirts and a Costco-like pack of various brushes.
After a couple days, with everything back together, the bike looking as close to new as it’s been since it actually was new, and a exit stamp in my carnet, it was time to get the bike into the container. As excited as I am to ride in Australia, the ride down to the shipping company was somewhat bittersweet, as I’ve really come to love riding through SE Asian roads, landscapes, and traffic, so I made sure to really take advantage of these last few kilometers with an excessive amount of lane splitting and weaving through the bikes, taxis, buses, and trucks. 
We ended up with a whole container to ourselves, which made the loading and securing of the bikes pretty easy.
And just like that, the bikes are set to head to Darwin (via Singapore, unfortunately) 
a pat on a motorcycle 
You have done something few people dream about!! cutting ties and leaving the world behind.. I’m jealous but would help with your trip if you needed anything!! let me know!!
im still following your updates. almost a year on the road man, great job! just wondering how your bike is doing these days. what year is the bike? how many times have you adjusted the valves? have you done the valve adjustments yourself ? have fun in OZ.
Hey, The bike is a 2013, and it’s been holding up really well. Valve checks have been done on schedule at ~12,000miles, but adjustments haven’t been necessary yet.
thats awesome. are you doing the checks?
I’ve been able to get into a dealer for the valve checks…I’ve felt a little better having them do it, rather than doing it myself at a campsite or parking lot. Plus I like the peace of mind of having someone who knows what they’re doing (hopefully!) check out my bike from time to time, just to feel a little more comfortable that something that could get major might be going wrong