Who says you need a big motorcycle for big adventures? Sydney riders Rob Nann and wife Bev have been doing big overseas tours on little bikes for years.
“It doesn’t matter what you are riding if you are in a beautiful place,” says Rob of their travel adventures.
“Even a small two-stroke quad with two people and their luggage on board can’t take the smile off your face.
“My wife Bev and I love to ride our Kawasaki Ninjas at home in Sydney and riding bikes always seems to work its way into our yearly trips overseas.
The Nanns’ Kwakas“It started on our honeymoon with small bikes in Hawaii.”
He says their three daughters have also spent many hours on their hired scooters on the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok.
“The smallest always got the front of the seat on mine which made the older ones jealous,” he says.
“We hired scooters in Laos which allowed us to reach some amazing places. The Plain of Jars is a life highlight of mine.”
Last year they bought two 110cc Honda Win copies in Hanoi and rode 4400km around Vietnam before selling them in Ho Chi Minh city.
“There are no words to describe the highs of that trip but my wife finds plenty to recall the lows,” Rob says.
“We lost her small bag off the back of her bike one day. We wasted a couple of hours looking for it without success then foolishly carried on with our planned distance for the day.
“This found us 30km from the nearest town with darkness falling on us. Both of our headlights that had worked a few days earlier when we bought the bikes had now stopped working.
“It was pitch black. At times I had to stop as I could not see which way the road turned. The bike would lose traction and you had no idea which way to turn to get grip again. At one stage I stopped to wait for my wife and the front wheel started sliding backwards on the slippery surface.
“Most of the men I know could not have ridden a bike through that without falling off. I am very proud of my wife for not giving up that night.”
About 10 minutes out of town, a local rode past and slowed to allow the couple to follow in his light.
“I still get tears in my eyes when I think of his act of kindness,” Rob says. “Unfortunately we stopped at the first hotel in town and he kept going so I never got to thank him.
“My wife organised a room while I organised repairs at the bike repairer next door. He stayed up late that night. The two bulbs he replaced that night were replaced again within the six weeks that we had those bikes.”
This year the Nanns went to the Greek islands for some adventures on small quads and scooters.
“We hired a quad if we needed to transport our luggage or a scooter if it was just us,” he says.
“At one island all the large quads were out so we hired a 50cc two stroke beast. It’s a good thing my wife learnt to kickstart a bike in Vietnam or I would have had to do it. It got us to everywhere we wanted to go.
“Just as well we were on holiday as you wouldn’t want to be in a hurry.
“Surprisingly it was not only the smallest motor that has ever propelled us but also the noisiest. As we drove back down the main road each night I yelled my apologies to the people in the street.”