Do any of you fellow tandem enthusiasts know of any Ventana Tandems for sale in Australia? 2nd hand? Cheeers, Tim

Tim, Ventanas are a bit rare in the US and probably rarer still down under.

Yes, I believe that to be the case, thanks for your reply, Tim

You might want to do three things:

1. There is a discussion forum on YahooGroups called Double Forte that I put-up several years ago for off-road tandem enthusiasts and there are about 300 members. I used to keep track of where everyone was from, but haven't attempted to do so in about three years. Not sure if we've picked up any in Australia or New Zealand. Feel free to join and post your question there; you never know...
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DOUBLE_FORTE/

2. Send an Email to Ventana ( info@ventanausa.com - Sherwood or Teresa check the mail) and see if they can give you any leads. KHS was their distributor for a few years and Venana also courted a few other international dealers. Moreover, anyone who needed parts for the frame would have likely gone back to Ventana so they might have a feel for how many are in Australia and where they're located.. owners tend to know other owners.

3. Send an Email to MTBTandems.com (Info@MTBTandems.com) who is a Ventana dealer. Alex probably sells more Ventana tandems than anyone else and has sold several to folks overseas. Again, he might know if there are any down under and/or may be able to discuss what it would take to hook you up with one long-distance.

FWIW: We're on our 2nd El Conquistador and while they aren't as nimble as a hardtail tandem with less clearance, they eat up the most demanding terrain with tons of control and without beating the heck of of you and your stoker... unless the captain biffs it going over a really steep berm.

http://static.flickr.com/27/57806312_9f07bcfeed.jpg