We are Wayne & Louise Cockburn (that’s pronounced “Coburn” in case you were wondering 🤣) and we’re a Kiwi Couple. We’ve been together for 28 years been happily married for 21, with 2 teenage boys aged 18 & 16. We’re now living in Melbourne, Australia after relocating from Tauranga, New Zealand just on 3 years ago.
We both ride motorbikes, and have 4 in the garage at home right now. Louise’s current bike is a 2015 Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle that we brought brand new. It’s an 800cc 90° V-Twin machine, poking out 75hp. It’s a fantastic cross over bike that is entirely capable on the highways and twisty roads, and will keep up with man sports bikes. It’s also equally at home on off highway roads and while it’s not a full on adventure machine, it’ll hold its own on most off road tracks. Waynes current bike is a 2010 Aprilia RSV4. This machine is a serious piece of kit, poking out around 180hp and weighing around 175kg. It’s perfect for a bit of fun on the track, or a spirited day ride, but not really an ideal touring machine. As well as the Scrambler and RSV4, we’ve got a 1988 Honda GB250 that Wayne recently rebuilt as a Cafe Racer, and not so long ago we added a 1979 Kawasaki KM100 project to the fleet. This latest bike is literally a box of bits, and the plan is to restore it with the two boys.
So now you know who we are, what is it this blog is about? Well, in short, the plan is for the two of us to do a motorcycle ride right around Australia - A Lap of the Rock. It’s a journey of around 15,000 kilometres that will see us ride through every environment this country has to offer, and every weather system you can think of. As far as timing for the ride, we’ve got to get our youngest through High School (he has 2 years left to go) so it’s likely to take place in 2022 - which in all reality is the perfect length of time for planning, an doing a few test runs and rides to ensure we’ve got the kit right.
As for the why? Firstly, why not! As hard as it is for a Kiwi to admit this, Australia is a beautiful country so why not explore it by MotorCycle. Riding is a sensory experience - there is no windscreen, no air conditioning or other creature comforts. You become part of the environment you are in, so to tour a country by motorbike thrusts you head first into the places you go to. And besides, we love motorbikes, so why not!!
And lastly, the elephant in the room. Earlier in 2019 Louise was diagnosed with MS. For those that don’t know about MS, in a nutshell it’s a neurological disease where the body’s immune system attacks itself and can manifest in any number of disabilities. For some patients, the symptoms can be very quick and very acute. For others, the effects may take years to manifest. Louise had some vision issues about 5 years back, and it came right after about 6 months. The brain has a way of being able to rewire itself on accessions and we are fortunate it did. We genuinely don’t have any idea as to what the future holds, and how or when the MS will make itself present again, but we have an excellent medical team around us, are getting fantastic treatment and together we are determined to not let it hold us back on this dream - we will do it by motorcycle in some way shape or form and in doing so, we will fulfil our plans, and hopefully encourage others to find ways to overcome obstacles and chase things they want to achieve.
So there you go. That’s who we are, a bit about what we do, what we are dealing with and what we are setting out to achieve. And in between now and the ride, we will share some details about our Motorcycle Safari’s to showcase a bit about what this country has to offer motorcycle riders.
