Airhawk Cushion Review

I bought the Airhawk cushion for a motorcycle tour which I have blogged about previously. The ride was going to be considerably longer than what I had undertaken in the past. The longest previous ride being 200-250 km in one hit with generally no riding the next day. I usually felt sore after that, so I was rather getting worried about the 4000 km ride that was fast approaching. With this in mind I did a bit of digging on the net in the motorbike touring scene and the Airhawk seat appeared. There were only a handful of reviews at the time but it looked it promising. The Airhawk has been used by pilots of long flights which who it was originally designed for.

Anyway, to the seat review. The Airhawk seat arrived. I purchased the standard shape seat, this being the cheapest in case I wasn't happy with the purchase. The ‘Shaped’ version may  have been a better option for my bike. The next step was to install the cushion which involves attaching it to the bike as per the instructions and then filling it with air. Then sit on the cushion and slowly let the air out to basically empty. I followed the instructions for installation to get it right but in the end you will adjust it quite a few times till it actually feels ok to ride with. What I found was that it tended to move around while riding and cause more discomfort. It took a few rides and tests to get it fitted right. This might have been as a result of the standard cushion I bought over the shaped one i could have got. 

Airhawk Cushion Attached to the bike

The first initial tests were short rides of no more than 1 hour and in a city environment. I found the cushion to be comfortable but would move around and then cause some discomfort for the male crown jewels ;). The cushion isn't designed for this sort of riding; that being stop starting, tight cornering, and getting on and off. What I did find from the longer tests on more open roads that it was very effective in keeping you quite comfortable in the saddle. By comfortable I mean it it keeps your bottom cooler by allowing air flow under and also minimises soreness but providing an air gap between you and the seat. As a result this gave me confidence that it would be fine for the upcoming ride.

The serious test for me with the Airhawk cushion was on the 4200km touring holiday, which was basically all on tarmac. The average daily km’s ranging from 350 to 750km on winding back roads to long stretches of freeway. I realised after the first day that the cushion was very effective. There is no negative thought about getting back in the saddle of the bike at all. This continued for the rest of the trip which was great because you could focus on the road and scenery passing by. I found that you still did wriggle around a little from time to time especially when you would get back on after a stop, as the cushion might move or get caught on your clothing. 

To sum up I think they are really effective on all day rides and touring. You may want to take them off when on a dirt roads and around town but that's a personal preference.

Link to the Airhawk Seats below.

http://www.airhawk.com.au/

Motorcycle Touring Day 11 - Wodonga to Sydney

We decided to leave fairly early on Wednesday morning from Wodonga so we could get to Sydney some time in the arvo or evening. We were a little over freeway riding so we took a mostly scenic route over the Snowy Mountains along the Alpine Way to Cooma, then Canberra, Goulbourn and then on to Sydney.

The Kosciuszko National Park landscape is beautiful and sometimes eery in the higher areas where there are areas of dead Eucalupts covering the mountains. I'm not sure what has caused this.The Alpine Way winds its way up through heavily timbered forests past the turbine power stations. Temperatures drop fairly quickly 5 to 10 degrees. Steep cliffs on one side and near vertical hills rising from the road on the other. There was evidence of recent rock falls and small subsidence from recent rains which had closed part of the road.

The road starts to open up as you approach the winter ski fields, sweeping down through grassy valleys and over bridges spanning flowing rocky rivers. There were alot of photo opportunities but not always the space to pull over. I had the GoPro going for most of it on 1080 video so when I have time I will edit it.

We decided to skip lunch at Cooma and head onto Canberra and Goulbourn. We had a late lunch / early dinner at 4.30pm in Goulbourn before heading to Sydney. It was a long 750km ride and we were quite tired and sore when we got home.

This first motorcycle trip was a great learning experience. There is something really special about touring on bikes. You feel closer to everything and feel more connected to the journey, places and landscapes you experience along the way. I think this will be the start of many.

:)

Motorcycle Touring Day 10 - Port Campbell to Wodonga

Port Campbell is a little sea side town on on the Great Ocean Road between the Apostles and The Arch. It lies in a bay that has been cut out over time by the severe waves and winds. The cliffs are made of the same soft limestone rock as the Apostles and The Arch.  

Port Campbell - Wharf

 

Now that we were almost at the end of the Great Ocean Road, we were wondering where to go next and what to see. We didn't really want to go west any further at this stage as it just meant a longer trip home. We mapped out a route to Wodonga via Ballarat, Bendigo and Seymour. It would be a long ride but it would get us half way back to Sydney in one trip. It also bypassed Shepparton which was flooding.

The bikes at the Arch

We took a quick detour to the Arch and then headed north to Cobden and then stopped for lunch in Ballarat. We then headed on to Bendigo via the historic towns of Dalesford and Castlemaine. I haven't been to this area of the country in probably 15 to 20 years and was very suprised at how beautiful it is. These towns were built around gold rushes and show the wealth that this brought at the time through the historic buildings. I will certainly be returning soon to spend a little more time in the area.

We arrived in Wodonga in the evening about 6pm, after a long day on the bikes. We had travelled about 650km a mix of major back roads a freeways. We stayed in another motel because they are just so much more comfortable then camping! 

The Arch - Great Ocean Road

The lime stone

A small lookout near Daylesford

The lime stone

Motorcycle Touring Day 9 - Noojee to Port Campbell

Lighthouse at Airey's Inlet

After a very cold Sunday night camping at a free camp ground in the woods near the small historic timber town of Noojee we headed off early at around 7.30am. We headed for Melbourne and then on to Torquay and the Great Ocean Road.We managed to get through Melbourne without paying tolls using my Tom Tom.

A river exiting to the ocean.

Field Burning or backburning in the distance

View East over the Apostles

View West from lookout over Apostles

View West over the Apostles

We arrived at Torquay just before midday. We had lunch, before heading off in the direction of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped at the south end of Bells beach for a bit before heading of to Aireys Inlet lighthouse. We stopped a few times at the various lookouts and took in the sights and sounds of the bustling Lorne town on this public holiday.  We arrived at the Apostles late in the afternoon lit by the setting sun.

We arrived at Port Campbell after a long day riding and decided a motel might be a more comfortable option that night.

Motorcycle Touring Day 8 Lakes Entrance to Noojee

We were aiming to reach the Great Ocean Road today. We thought it might be wise to book a night at one of the camping grounds along the Great Ocean Road, so I started calling. First placed was all booked out, second place was all booked. We were getting concerned as it was a Sunday night and were wondering why these places were fully booked on a night that everyone should be heading back to Melbourne. I called a camp ground run by Victoria Parks and they mentioned it was Labour Day long weekend which suddenly made sense as to why everything was booked. Researching the public holidays in other states was not something we thought to do.

The Camp ground at Noojee

We left Lakes Entrance about 11am and made it to Traralgon which is just past Sale by 1.30pm. We had lunch and took the scenic route up around Melbourne through a place called Tyers. The roads were very scenic, winding through tall forests with ferns below and open hilly grazing landscapes but progress was slow. We hadn’t travelled as far as we could have. It was now about 4.30 and we needed to start looking for a place to sleep for the night. We finally found a camp site nestled in a valley in amongst towering the Eucalypts 10kms outside a small town called Noojee at about 6pm. The camp site cost was free and busy with campers cutting wood, sitting around fires and shouting at rampent children. Total Kilometres travelled was about 300.

Motorcycle Touring Day 7 - Eden to Lakes Entrance Victoria.

Boydtown Church

We left at about 11 am on Saturday morning after a quick stop at this old church ruin on a hill in Boydtown, Eden. Apparently the Church was built as part of Ben Boyd’s plans to build a new city at Eden to rival Sydney Town at the time. He went bankrupt 5 years later and reminant buildings of his dream are scattered around the area.

We were heading to Lakes Entrance today but as it was only a short trip we detoured off for a more scenic tourist route to Mallacoota. Mallacoota seems to be a holiday town and mostly a very large caravan park! We had lunch and continued on to Orbust via the tourist route and ended up being cut off because flooding. This meant heading all the way back about 40kms which was rather annoying.

View from lookout at Mallacoota

 We made it to Lakes Entrance by 5.30pm and setup the Tent. By days end we had done 380kms to get to Lakes Entrance which should have only been about 250km.

View from Cape Conran

View from Cape Conran

Stone Face ;)

View from the camping ground at Lakes Entrance

Motorcycle Touring Day 6 - Sydney to Eden

The Wharf at Eden

We left under the cover of darkness on Friday  morning, skies were clear and the moon well lit. We had reduced the amount of gear somewhat as we intended to just ride along the coast down to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. By the time we had finally left the outskirts of Sydney the sun had fully risen.


We were planning to reach Bega or Eden today, a 450km to 550km ride. Our first stop was a lookout over Kiama. We spoke to a friendly chap who suggested a scenic drive down past Narooma on the way to Bega.

We stopped and had breakfast in Nowra before heading on to Bateman’s Bay. After we took the route suggested earlier, down through Narooma. It was a definitely more interesting ride. There was water on the road on the way to Tathra up to a foot deep but it was fine to cross. We got to Eden at about 4pm and found a camp site on the other side of the bay to Eden within walking distance to the Beach.

Motorcycle Touring - Day 4 and 5

We decided to have a rest day on Day 4. Using the time to clean the bikes, chains and check fluids. We also repacked the bikes a little to reduce the amount of stuff we were taking. The intention was to leave on Day 6, Thursday for Bega or Eden at 6am in the morning but on Wednesday night we were already postponing this till later because of the weather. The forecast wasn’t looking good and we awoke to a heavy downpour which hadn't stopped all night. Areas Sydney were flooding and it would have be hideous to navigate so we held off until Friday morning.

Motorcycle Touring Day 3 - Tamworth to ?

An old weathered tree trunk on top of the mountain

While on the farm at Tamworth we heard news reports about flooding South of Bourke and in North Western NSW. The road from Broken Hill to Adelaide was already cut which required a detour via Wentworth. The distances between towns are also much greater and if we had to turn around because of flooding we might be hard pressed to cover the distances with our fuel reserves. There were quite a few unknowns so in the end we decided we would now head back south down the coast with the final destination being the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

One of the farm dams

The Dunny

Day 3 ended up being a 450km ride back to Sydney which seemed sad in away but we new the trip wasn’t over. This was our first long tour and knew the route would change depending on circumstances.

The wind Generator

Rusting Thunderbird

We spent till midday viewing the property. We drove up to the highest area to survey the surrounding hills and countryside landscapes. The views were encompassing and majestic. The property is about 1500acres of bush and cleared areas of grazing land. They have sheep and a few Alpacas protecting them and the lambs from predators like foxes. The caravans are powered from solar and wind charging a bank of batteries. The seclusion of the property provides a peaceful and a real back to nature feeling. I loved it.

 





 We left the farm at about 1pm, luckily the wind over night had dried out the driveway and was now slightly easier to navigate. We took the New England Highway down through Scone, Muswellbrook, and Singleton. Just outside Scone I got a flat on the front. I ran over a nail somewhere through town, most likely at the servo filling up. The puncture repair kit we brought was certainly getting a work on this trip and we hadn’t don’t 1000km yet ! We then navigated across to Broke, Wollombi and then Sydney.  We arrived back at 8pm. I was glad to be heading to a comfy and warm bed for the night after a long cold ride.