my petrol cost was about �40 per week to commute to work.

i sold the ducati and put the money done on a new tenere paying the rest off on zero percent finance. payment was �60 per monthbut i was saving �20 per week in petrol cost so it was paying me back in savings!
only used the car once all winter when the snow was too deep to get the bike up the hill. Heated jacket - love it, couldn't commute in winter without it. like bing wrapped up in a warm douvet on the way into your at 5am when its -4

Hey uberthumper, Youre gonna love this, bear in mind that Landrovers are better than Toy otas.
I was planning on heading to Africa for the record, its a life altering trip down. We have a similar problem to you Aussies, only the thing is we keep hitting the Roos goats and dogs.

The Worlds changing, the Japs already have some serious catch up to play with the Indians... And in 2015, the Landy moniker takes it up a whole new level, but right now nothing touches the Disco or the Rangie, but yes the defender, though truly versatile beyond any other vehicle, is maybe perhaps a little out of date, and the recent "upgrades" an exercise in futility.

Now my good mate Abbo (its his surname... honest) runs two safari vehicles in Kenya, a Landcruiser 100 series VX wagon and a Landrover Defender with the 3.9 V8 engine. These vehicles are his living, he cant have a vehicle fail on him in the bush with clients, on that basis he uses the Defender, and has done so for the last 12 years The VX was brought 4 years ago, and hes gone back to the Defender.

The Cruiser is his preferred vehicle for the wife taking the kids to school... Admittedly hes put a discovery rear seat into the Defender, but he and the tourists prefer the Defender (other than his right elbow) they use the vehicles in convoy, and most of the Safari company use Defenders, with the odd VX wagon and a couple of Toyota station 80 troopies safari wagons. The main problem they have involves the cruiser being dragged off rocks with a snatch strap by the Landy that has just driven over it, it also wallows in the mud allot.

In Africa the Blasted 100 series are in and out of the workshops with the front suspension in all kinds of issues, generally referred to as ******ed. The departure angles suck, which we find problematic with the number of Antbear holes converted into well disguised mud pits we keep driving into. And then theres the Toyotas gearbox, the Manual is ok, the Auto is a total disaster.

My Dad had an '84 Range Rover from new In Kenya running at least 7 two week safaris a year till 2007 In one year he ran three trips to Turkana and separately 2 trips into the Chalbi to collect what remained of me and the motorbikes I "parked poorly" in the bush. (I still want to cross the Chalbi on a bike hopefully the Tenere is the one!)
Nissans dont come back from Turkana the same.

I've just come back from 1200 km's off road in the Maasai Mara in an '86 Series 3 soft top Landy. I genuinely would not want to be there in any other car. Leaf springs, shot shocks and all! If it had to be another car, it would be a ninety (Only Toyota I would do it in, After a Range rover would be a roofless 40 series SWB even that had the awful front overhang, and labouring engine)

I defy you to get out of any Land cruiser and into a l322 vogue Range rover and then even remotely want to get into the Cruiser again. I'm not a big fan of the body/chassis approach, but its so head and shoulders above anything else in its category its truly startling, oh and the front wheels dont try to run away. I know the Air suspension requires regular maintenance (�60 quid for replacement boot rubber for every wheel every 3 years) But it has everything you will ever need if you own anything that has the word farm tagged onto it and want to be carted around in shear elegance and luxury, but get out wearing wellies.

The Disco's never made it in a utilitarian sense that WE would use them for because of their "boot" space, or lack of it, but they are awesome family tow vehicles, and Mums love em. The Disco 3 was a pinnacle moment, the 4 barely better. Boat yard owners and stud farm owners use the Disco 3 and 4 here to move their respective wares all over the country

I will admit to having "pushed" a couple of Toyota's in my Landy because I was more enthusiastic than i should have been, but always because I know i can repair what ever I broke at a bush mechanics shack. (Recently exploded battery, where I "pushed" a Landcruiser for 2 miles before gluing the battery together and sorting out the short. but in fairness I did get to pull him out of a bog I have just jacked myself out of!)

Land Rovers...
 

I'd heard & read the same things about Land Rovers being the supreme off road 4WD.

There just aren't that many on the road down here, I live just south of Toowoomba, thanks for asking Metzy.

When you travel any distance (we do one big 4WD trip a year, this year it's Dry Tropics; Townsville) all you see is Japanese 4WDs. Mostly Cruisers, the odd Nissan, even fewer Mazdas etc.

I wonder whether it's that Land Rovers are more expensive (but still good value for money) compared to Japanese equivalents. Maybe it's the support & service network away from the cities? A big factor here is the retained value. I don't believe that a Disco or Rangie would be worth much after a few years.

Landcruiser 120s (Prado) on the other hand are the slowest depreciating vehicle on the Australian market (7% per year), a factor for us in purchasing.

I'd love a Disco 4, my wife has gotten over the fact that they look like they're made of Duplo (2 boxes), but these factors probably mean that we'll go Toyota again, with head ruling heart.

The other thing which has been alluded to is the animal strike situation. There is lots of protection available for Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, but minimal bar work for Land Rover Disco IV. And to put a bar on a RR or RR Sport would be sacrilegious given the beautiful design of these vehicles.

I'll stick to my Toyota 4WD for now, onto our 3rd, seen a few Mihindras on the road, I'll wait & see how the Indians go...

Just keep left & slow down in case there's an XT rider around the corner

It would seem that the pom's never really got to grips with the size of Aus and lost thier chance a long time ago with Land Rover.

On the other hand there seems to be a Tojo dealer in every major country town in Aus (and quite a few minor towns as well).

Yes the old Land Brusier can have slopy front ends but not much holds together for to long on some of our roads.

Also parts can be found on the side of the road in central and northern Aus :hahaha[1]:, gummet get new one ay.

Been doing a similar commute on my Tenere for the last 2 years. Just as quick as the train and I save the 15 minute walk at both ends.

Oddly I am drier if it rains as I don't wear waterproofs when walking!

Your bike will still have second hand valu which will outweigh the cost or servicing and spares.

The ride to/from work is probably the only part of the working day I enjoy.

Quick tip - cover the bike in ACF50 for the winter to stop the spokes etc rusting and don't wash it off until spring.

I was trundelling around the Outer Hebrides last week, I saw many 4WD's, about an even split of Landies to Jap models (which were mostly Warriors). But just to add a little spice to the argument, the oldest Jap 4WD was around an 05 (2005) yet the number of Series Landies outstripped the new models.

Last night I was at my mates, he has a 25yr old (original chassis) Landie... I've never seen a 25yr old Jap 4WD on the road.

Then again, totally different environment to Aus/Africa where support (dealer/spares) counts maybe more than ability ? And we salt our roads more than our food!

I agree about roos. I hit one at work a few years ago on my TTR. Bloody nearly killed me with the pain! Another one jumped out of the bush onto my mate on his DR650, and shattered his left arm. We hate roos!! And emus. So we we creep around scared, filling our strides with fright.:hcrap:

Re Tojo: I drive a 15 y/o 312000km V6 petrol Prado. Sold my 81 Land Cruiser traytop to my cousin years ago, and it's now got 440,000 on the clock without a rebuild. It spent the first 340,000 on an NT cattle station. Most Toyotas at work have >300k on the clock. Admittedly I haven't seen a Range Rover ute...:smilies0966:

Sorry about off-topic. I can't figure out why property owners here don't use bikes like the Tenere for bore runs. Cheap to run, big tanks, handle ok in the dirt with decent tyres and are fairly tough.

And whether or not you heroes haven't any choice about riding in the conditions over there, you are still legends. Heated jackets and all. I reckon I'd fall off at the sight of a snowflake. Come to think of it, I'd probably fall off at the sight of a cornflake.

The only downside I can see is having to spend more time with the kids!

I was just thinking yesterday that it would be time to get the waxoyl out again soon.

Proper bikes & 4WDs...
 

This is what we like on Oz. Big steel bullbar, on a Toyota, here skippy...

And the XT ready for Monday's commute... Tourance's on, so I hope it doesn't rain...

Happy father's day all

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