Catching Up…..
Arriving into Sydney Friday allowed me to hang out with my friends Craig and Jenny on the weekend.
We took a long walk along the harbor from one Park to the next.
Out to the South Heads. Stopping at Watson Bay Hotel for a drink, and then a picnic lunch overlooking the “heads” which is the entrance to the Sydney Harbor.
Somehow I did not take any photos 
Just was enjoying our time catching up and sharing conversations about Politics, Foreign Affairs, Technology, Marketing, Guns, and all sorts of life issues! Was really great!
We then stopped by Deus Motorcycle shop and Cafe.
Some really cool custom bikes for sale.
And a few oldies
Sunday we went to the Art Gallery to check out the Exhibition.
Monday Morning I organized my gear a bit and then headed off to get figure out getting my bike paperwork so that I can get some third party insurance. Sort of strange, but I need to have a “blue Slip” inspection, before I can get the insurance coverage that is required. It was a bit confusing and was not able to get it completed Monday but hope to wrap it up today. More on this tomorrow once I get it sorted out!
Also needed to get my side stand repaired. Ordered a new spring from BMW which was lost in shipping, and then needed the side stand bracket wielded up. I decided to go back to Deus to see it they would do it. Let me tell you, not having a side stand on a big bike is a real hassle!
I spoke with the shop foreman, and he was not super keen on doing the repair right away, but once he saw the issue, he jumped right in to remove the bracket, fabricate a new spring brace and tighten up the stand stand that has taken a bit of abuse with the extra weight of the bike.
Pulling the bracket off next to their shop.
The shop
Grinding and prepping
And putting it all back together! 
So glad to get this all taken care of!
Just a quick note on the entire shipping process. I used Peter Lambert at Bikesabroad to ship my bike to Australia. Overall it worked out great! I arranged a crate at BMW Auckland (Thanks to Sebastian !! 
) and Peter had it picked up (for a fee of course), then I mailed my Carnet to another shipping office in NZ (this was a bit of a concern as I have always been there while clearing customs but Peter assured me that it was normal). They exported the bike, onto the freighter and took care of all Customs and Bio security inbound in Australia. When I arrived at the Depot in Sydney, the Bike and Carnet were all in good order! 
What I found was I had lots of questions about the process as I just did not know all the issues, and Peter was good about answering them and assuring me that it would be good.
Cost of Shipping was $1,450 USD with all fees, and 1 extra week storage in Sydney.
Thanks Peter!
