Russells Ride 2010

Trip summary

2010-06-20T12:37:00.001+10:00

Stats from Garmin etrex vista h :

Trip Distance 6508km

Time moving 68 hours 37 minutes

Average speed while moving 94.8 kph

The Good, The Bad , The Ugly.

The Good.

Suzuki DR 650

My bike has more than 20000km on the clock at least 10000km have been on some of the worst roads in Australia.

So far the chain guard broke and the horn doesnt work. These really are tough bikes.

B&B Bash plate and rack. Bash Plate has saved the cases twice but shows very little damage. Rack is well made and very strong.

Barker busters - legendary.

Garmin GPS - two years under the belt no problems.

The Bad

F*#king rim locks.(And trying to balance wheels).

I dont know where to start on this. The adventure riding magazines and websites all push for knobby tyres and rim locks.

Last year my rear tyre was worn out before I got to the Tanami. I'm not sure if I'm riding the same tracks and roads as everyone else but central australia is about hard rocky roads, tarmac and sand. There are no loamy soft dirt tracks with steep hills so I see no advantage in knobbies and only disadvantage.

My choice for next year is no rim lock an Avon Distanzia tyre (in which I will run a tube, it's designed as tubeless) and no less than 20psi

The Avon is extremely solid in the side walls and has a vert tight bead so I dont think the DR will spin it on the rim.

I was using the Distanzia this year with a rim lock which caused uneven wear.

The tyre itself has outstanding performance and at no stage or on any surface were Luke's knobby tyres a match.

Busting my Airhawk air seat. No comfort on this trip just a sore bum.

The Ugly

Carrying fuel in containers

I don't like doing it and I am going to find a better way.

Day 15

2010-06-20T11:57:00.001+10:00

Dubbo to Moss Vale.

Very , very cold start. Six layers of clothing and the cold is still penetrating.

Ride to Wellington for breakfast, dont want to get back on the bike.

Have get moving down to Orange and across to Blayney. Blayney is always cold in the winter and today wasn't about to change it.Coffee and more food then off to Goulburn.

Even the cold couldn't dent the pleasure of the ride through Tuena.

This is, although not completely sealed (no worries on these bikes) one of the outstanding rides in the country.

Got to goulburn with light sleet coming down.

Up the highway to Moss Vale a great trip finished.

Glad to be home - Corn Chowder waiting to warm us up.

Day14

2010-06-20T11:43:00.000+10:00

Glentuckie to Dubbo.

Homeward bound......Tarmac ride to Dubbo. Weather is cool.

Stopped at Gilarambone general store for a burger. Not as good as I remember. Place is for sale...shame I thought.

Headed to Formulae One for last night on the road. Safe storage for bikes as Dubbo has "a few issues" in this department.

Day 13

2010-06-20T11:37:00.001+10:00

Another day at Glentuckie.

Rest day today - you get to change two tyres!!!

I have a spare bike at Glentuckie with a good rear tyre which we need on luke's bike to get home so we swapped the tyres.

Checked the bikes over and removed prefilter I had fitted to air cleaner because of the dusty conditions. (Dont tell anyone but this is a Chux wipe carefully placed over and around existing air filter, not my idea but it really does work and makes maintenance easier.).

Ready to go, a quick look around the property, another day done.

Day 12

2010-06-20T11:26:00.000+10:00

Toompine to Glentuckie Station.

Tarmac ride down rural roads to Eulo. Several stops to check rear tyre. (It's a while since I've ridden on full knobby tyres and it takes a bit to get used to.)

Stopped at Eulo for fuel and a pie. The shop assistant was another backpacker. You get used to european accents absolutely everywhere even in the remotest places.

Pity more Aussie kids dont get out and see more of their own country and experience the unique lifestyle of these areas.

We rode down the Cuttaburra Road to Glentuckie.It's great to see the property so good.

A warm greeting and a cold beer, what more can you ask for.

Lyn and John Parsons have owned this property for several years and have expressed interest in providing accomodation to indivduals and small parties (say 6 to 8 persons).

This would utilise their well equipped but basic shearing quarter accomodation.

It is perfect for adventure motorcyclists. You wont find it listed in tourist brochures but Glentuckie is shown on Hemma Great Desert Tracks South East Sheet just above the NSW border and east of Hungerford.

You need to contact John or Lyn on 07 46554027 to book for a unique station experience.

I'm very tired today and Luke and I are not interested in changing another tyre. Will change Luke's tomorrow.

Glentuckie Station

2010-06-20T10:08:00.001+10:00

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Pub at toompine

2010-06-20T10:06:00.001+10:00

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Dinner at Toompine Pub

2010-06-20T10:05:00.001+10:00

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Luke at Toompie Pub

2010-06-20T10:04:00.001+10:00

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Wrecked Tyre

2010-06-20T10:02:00.001+10:00

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Windorah

2010-06-20T10:01:00.001+10:00

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Treeless Plain

2010-06-20T10:00:00.001+10:00

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Border crossing

2010-06-20T09:59:00.001+10:00

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Camp site Gem Tree

2010-06-20T09:58:00.001+10:00

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Road near Oodnadatta

2010-06-20T09:56:00.001+10:00

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Oodnadatta

2010-06-20T09:54:00.001+10:00

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Lake Eyre

2010-06-20T09:53:00.001+10:00

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Ghan Relic

2010-06-20T09:51:00.001+10:00

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Ever changing conditions

2010-06-20T09:50:00.001+10:00

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Rest/camping area Strezlecki Track

2010-06-20T09:48:00.001+10:00

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Strezlecki Track

2010-06-20T09:46:00.001+10:00

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Cameron's Corner

2010-06-20T09:44:00.000+10:00

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Day 11

2010-06-20T09:18:00.001+10:00

Windorah to Toompine. We filled up in Windorah - the service station attendent was blind and appeared to operate the business by himself. I felt I was stuck in a movie. We left Windorah after stopping to check out the solar collectors at the edge of town. Road to Quilpie was a narrow one lane road and we spent plenty of time dodging grey nomads and road trains.

Our plan for today was to get to Glentuckie Station which is 80km south of Eulo and should have been an easy run.

Luke's tyre was holding up OK but my bike had developed a vibration which became more noticable when cornering.

At Quilpie we had lunch and I checked the spokes on my bike. The bikes had taken a real pounding over the last few days so this sort of problem would not have been a surprise..

We left Quilpie and headed south.70km out my rear tyre blew, worn out by being out of balance after loosing a wheelweight. This process was alarmingly quick.

Luke checked his phone and by a stroke of luck we had service. A few phone calls and a tyre was found at Quilpie.

As I had no way of carrying the weighty wheel a roadside tyre change was the order of the day. Back to Quilpie on Luke's bike to pick the tyre up and ride back. About 2 1/2hours since the blow out by the time I get back.

Removed the Avon rear and put on new tyre and repacked just as the sun went down.

I had found out that there was a pub 5km from where we had the flat so we headed there.

Toompine (known as the Pub without a town) was dimmly lit and I was feeling I was in that movie again. The bar as empty and eventually the barmaid turned up - she was a backpacker.

Thankfully that's where my movie ended and we went on to sink a few beers, get a cabin, have a HUGE meal and the barmaid, who was a hairdresser, gave me a haircut. What a top place!!!

The showers were straight from the bore and the cold water is cooled in tanks to get the temperature to a useable level.

Best shower of the trip. A difficult day ended well....

Day 10

2010-06-20T08:24:00.001+10:00

Boulia to Windorah. Slow out of bed to be greeted by a cold and windy day. The ride to Bedourie is through wide open plains , much of it completely treeless. There were grasses and herbage this year and there must be lots of small animals because tens of kestrels soared effotlessly through the sky searching for their prey.

We had lunch at Bedourie. More giant country meals, of which one a day is normally more than enough. Left Bedourie rode south a few kilometres and swung onto the Diamentina development road. This was another mixed surface road.

As a motorcyclist you have days where the bike feels it goes better, the tyres have more grip and confidense is high. This was not one of those days for me.

The front end felt skittish, I was tired and fatigued. The front wheel washed away on loose gravel and I was up out of the seat in a big "tank slapper". Got control back and pulled over for a break.

We rode cautiously to Windorah and stayed in comfort at Cooper Cabins which has its own cafe and bar. Another big meal (didn't really need it after lunch) and off to bed,

(We mostly dont get past 8.00pm through tiredness and we definitely need a days break to recharge).

Day 9

2010-06-20T07:47:00.000+10:00

Gem Tree to Boulia.

The original paln was to stay at Tobermoy which is on the Plenty Highway just near the NT/QLD border but after a late start and a reasonable run we were told at Jervois that Tobermoy was closed. This meant a 496km run on top of what we had already done to get to Boulia and it was already 12.30 pm so there was some prospect of riding in the dark which after last years wildlife experience I had decided I would not do again. Word from the locals was that the road was in good condition (better than last year).

We decided to make a run for it as staying at Jervois would put us back a day.

This decision was probably not a wise one because as we were soon to find out the road may have looked good but it's underlying condition was not.

The problem was much of the road had been graded and rolled. This was push the bulldust from the gutters and roll it into the exiting surface.

The surface looks hard but a skinny bike tyre goes straight through it down to the underlying ruts and holes which of course also means you now cant see them to dodge them.

Other spots were rough and over the border is narrow and rough for a few kilometres (as if to dicourage its use to leave QLD!!!).

Several stops to check equipment and refuel from our spare tanks and we were behind time and looking at arriving after dusk.

About 75km from Boulia the road started improving but the last of the sun and arrival roadside of the kangaroos meant we could not pick up the pace.

I had a close encounter with a roo which required maximum braking which thankfully was on a short section of tar.

Not so lucky the second time while on dirt. Luke reckons the entire side of the bike was lit up by his headlight as executed a huge brakeslide to miss a fairly big roo by centimetres. Off the back brake and the bike snapped straight. I swore at myself - why did I get into this situation.

Eventually made Boulia. No rooms or cabins available (big golf weekend in town) so we had to pitch the tent in the dark and cook in the dark. Fell into bed exhausted.

Day 8

2010-06-18T18:23:00.000+10:00

Yulara to Gem Tree,Have major concern about Luke's rear tyre. tried to organise tyre but Finke is on and the dealers have sold out. Decide to ride to Alice and evaluate position.

At Alice town was packed- this was not for us. Luke's tyre not visibly worse so decided we could make it acroos the Plenty Highway, This is quite remote so I was mindful that care was needed..

Got to the Plenty and realised there was no way we could make Jervois. Luke had noticed a sign for Gem Tree so I checked the map and decided that's where we would stay. 70km along the Plenty we arrived at Gemtree.

Only a campsite available by the time we got there so we pitched the tent. Meals and a bar were available so we feasted on homed cottage pie cooked in a camp oven.

The owners are decendents of a NT founding family named Chalmers. Lengthy conversation had me wondering why the government's handling of NT issues is so poor when there are such articulate, rational and caring people whose experience and expertise is ignored and instead taxpayers money is wasted on ineffectivre and worthless programs.

I highly recommend GemTree for an insight to the Territory.

Full stomachs, a head full of new ideas, off to bed.

Day 7

2010-06-18T18:13:00.002+10:00

Kulgera to Uluru. A half day ride. NT tar seems to eat your tyres - must be the materials they use. Played tourists at the Rock -Luke took some good photos.

Camped at Yulara had our own cooking - yum,yum.

Day 6

2010-06-18T18:13:00.001+10:00

Oodnadatta to Kulgera

Left Oodnadatta with cloudy weather.

Travelled about 20km and then turned off toward Hamilton Station.

This is a leser road to the Oodnadatta Track so maintenannce was of a minimal nature after recent rains. The road had parts that were in reasonable , good , poor and very poor condition. We soon realised more caution was required than previous days.

The scenary varied significantly between stark open desert surrounds to undulating dune areasand others with creek & creek bed crossings.

We alson passed a billabong.

The road was surprisingly twisty and the road surfaces varied from hard rock to soft sand.

It was an interesting and challenging ride which saw us both make a few riding errors none of which caused any problems.

The road changed dramatically at the Mt Dare / New Crown Station turnoff where we headed to New Crown to cross to the Finke road.

This was an old station road with very very little maintenance and for most of the way was just two wheel ruts.

I was caught off guard by a heavily rutted creek section which had the bike wildly sideways in the air much to Luke's amusement.

Note to self - take it easy....

This was slow going until we hit the Finke rode. This was a fast rode with patches of deep sand.

As there were no sharp corners and we could maintain a good pace the sand was no problem. Deeper sand taken slowly can be heavy going and is helped by keeping your weight back and using moderate speed.

At Finke we had a quick break and discussed navigation.

The GPS won the discussion, we had not noticed the turnoff to Kulgeraback a few hundred metres back up the road.

We turned to Kulgera and on the way passed a couple of other riders struggling in the sandy sections.

They later complemented us on our riding style. We passed them 100km from Kulgera, had time to book in have a feed and two beers before they arrived!!!!

Day 5

2010-06-18T18:13:00.000+10:00

Maree to Oodnadatta,

The morning was crystal clear , the air was frosty and the sun struggled to provide a little warmth. Extra clothing was the order of the day and we got away not long after sunrise.

The road was dirt (it's the Oodnadatta Track) but it's in fairly good condition for the first few kilometres. The road follows the old Ghan train line and we stopped for photos of relics as well as the lookout at Lake Eyre (which of course has plenty of water in it). Further along we came across a nunber of sculptures not far from the turnoff to Woomera.

The road was gradually deteriorating by the time we hit William Creek. While we were filling up several people heading for the Finke desert race came over for a chat usually enquiring if we were heading up to watch the race.

The Finke is THE big race of the offroad racing world and it was natural to think that was where we were heading.

We were slow to move out after we filled so we had to eat our Finke friends dust.

We managed to pass them in time to find a seriously deterioting and very rough going.

A couple of misjudged corners and dips had both of us thankful we had a little luck to get us through.

The road now had a b it of everything, ruts, potholes, potholes with water, dips, floodways. hard packed corners with a light dusting of sand and worst of all - fast corners with deep sand.

The terrain was slightly undulating and I approached a corner at about 90kph only to realise it was deep soft sand.

The front of the bike washed out heavily which took off most of the speed but this also resulted in me having to slam my leg down to stop the bike falling. I mumbled to myself I was too old for that sort of rubbish as my leg continued to pain for a few minutes.

Caught up with friends in Oodnadatta - we were going to head for the Simpson. They had decided the deep sand was not to their liking and their bikes (same as ours) were not suited to the conditions. They said they had already tried some sandy areas near Finke which they found extremely

difficult.

We later crossed these areas without problem but more on that later.

Had a late lunch - an Oodnaburger with the lot, booked a cabin and had a comfortable night.

Double Decker Bus

2010-06-14T07:51:00.003+10:00

Flood Plain

2010-06-14T07:49:00.003+10:00

Russell

Alcohol Free Zone

2010-06-14T07:48:00.002+10:00

Rare Sealed Road

2010-06-14T07:45:00.005+10:00

The DR's taking a break.

Going my way?

2010-06-14T07:45:00.003+10:00

Some of the ruts that make the road shall we say... somewhat challenging! You get in one of these and it can take forever to get out.

Day 4 - Cameron's Corner to Lyndhurst

2010-06-14T07:38:00.002+10:00

The day started with me showering at 4.30 am after I misheard a reply from Luke about the time (I thought he said 5.30). We are trying to get going just after sunrise, Packing the bikes is suprisingly time consuming so we dont always make it but we'll get better.

Packed up and on the road for 7.00am. The day was cold but we had clear skys and bright sun promising some warmth.

After catching our first real sight of the dunes we developed a steady pace on what seemed like an endless roller coaster

There was much new growth about and the green contrasting the red soil is very picturesce. We saw two very heathly dingos obvious benefiting from the good season too.

As you would expect after prolonged rains and numerous days off the job, a lot of roadworks are back under way today. We came across a grader towing that was towing his 4wd that was towing his caravan out to a remote site!

The road had turned to soft sand, a fact that I really didn't fully appreciate until I slowed down and the front end dug in wobbling me and the bike all over the place. The soft sand really needs to be negotiated with a reasonable speed, a habit that can be hard to practice when you are learning to ride this stuff... slow speeds feel like you are out of control.

We were soon on the renown Strezlecki track (more like a highway) We maintain good speed but were menaced by:

1. "Bash" Cars - RFDS I think. Must have been 100 of them.

2.More Birds- This trip is turning into an "Alfread Hitchcock"!

A bash travelling in the opposite direction managed to chase an entire flock into me. At least two hit me, to make it even more interesting I had no visibility and was on a slippery road. Could have turned nasty but it didn't.

Fortunately the road surface changed and we both pulled up to check the tyres because the bikes were moving around so much. It was like riding on ball bearings, a sensation you learn to live with.

Stopped at Lydhurst for a late lunch then rode through to Maree without incident.

A few beers and a big dinner and another day was done.

Bye for now,
Russell

Day 3 - Wilcannia to Camerons Corner

2010-06-11T20:44:00.003+10:00

I've been unable to find internet or phone connection for several days so I'm a little behind.Once again this proves that governments are full of worthless guarantees.

The day started bleak, overcast, and it was freezing cold. The road from Wilcannia to White Cliffs is tar sealed for much of the way which resulted in fairly high speeds which only accentuated the cold. We stopped at White Cliffs for a quick coffeeto try to defrost. The cold was soon forgotten as soon as we headed down the dirt road toward the Silver City highway.

Signage at the beginning of the road warned of damage, however we were lulled into a false sense of security during the first few kilometres of clear sailing, well at least until the sign rang true... Luke found himself caught in a deep wheel rut which he had to negotiate carefully for a considerable distance. I went a little too fast into a hashed out flood way the far bank of which was extremely steep and made what turned out to be a not too graceful exit. We steadied a little and made it to the Silver City Highway.

Within a few kilometres aong the highway we were greeted by water in recently flooded lake beds. This was to become a quite common feature of the surrounds for us for a long while.

We stopped in Milparinka only to find there was no fuel available. To get to Tibooburra would be a close call on the main tank but we had the foresight to strap 10 Litres in containers onto our bikes. Just outside of Tibooburra I had to switch to reserve but made it OK.

Tibooburra to Camerons Corner was a good dirt road and a most enjoyable way to finish the day. Some unusual lines were taken due to lack of adequate road signs and we had the unique experience of travelling through two other states in less than two minutes. This is where the corners of NSW, SA, and QLD meet.

We had a cabin that night, a good meal, and met lots of friendly people.
Bye for now,
Russell

Day 2 - Condobolin to Wilcania

2010-06-06T18:43:00.003+10:00

The day started as one of the coldest Condobolin days so far this year.

We put on extra clothing but still struggled with the cold until eventually the sun provided some relief somewhere around 10.am.

Our morning 'cruise' found us riding through Lake Cargelico and Hilston. From Hilston we headed to Roto but changed our plan when we found a dirt road direct to Ivanhoe.

The DRs really came into their own as we achieved similar road speed to the bitumen on severely rutted and slippery road. Luke soon got the hang of this after "tram tracking" a couple of times. You have to keep a keen eye open for changes ahead of you.

For me it was like last year's ride and I have enormous confidence in the DR in these conditions. We were back on bitumen a few kilometers to Ivanhoe.

The wide open flat along here make you feel so insignificant and then there's the outback 'big sky'! Leaving Ivanhoe we headed to Wilcannia and soon on the dirt again.

Todays bird encounter was with an emu which fortunaelty for us both he didn't hit my helmet (ha!ha!)... he ran the other way.

Plenty of roo's and bird life everywhere.

Staying in Wilcannia tonight.

Bye for now,

Russell

Day 1 - shoving off... Moss Vale to Condobolin

2010-06-06T06:24:00.004+10:00

As it had been raining for much of the 2 weeks past, we figured we'd be leaving Moss Vale in the wet for sure. Well you have no idea how grateful we were to see the sun this morning, I'm sure it broke specially for our trip!

We had packed beforehand but we were a bit slow for the first load up... we'll get better, we'll sure get enough practice!

Leaving Moss Vale we headed to Marulan. I was keen to see if this extra weight of gear, equipment and technology would affect the DR's handling so we turned off and headed across swallow tail to Taralga.

I completely forgot Luke had a brand new front tyre which was a little disconcerting in the wet and dry patches we found on the initial stretch of road, they were everywhere.

My positive first impressions of my Avon Distanzias' held true. Everyone was telling me "mate they're road tyres!" but in reality they are proving to be a great all round tyre. The swallow tail was a bit slippery but overall the performance of the bike was good and we were happy with the way they "felt", at least thus far.

From Taralga we rode on to Laggan then to Binda. We hit the tar again and headed towards Tuena, enjoying the fabulous winding and undulating road. Somewhere, just after we crossed the Abercrombie I had the good fortune to experience our first "incident"... a Galah flew straight into my helmet!

Initially I was a bit stunned, wondering what had happened, unfortunately for the bird it was dead so we wouldn't be exchanging contact details and my no claim bonus would remain intact! Luke said I didn't waiver my line much when it struck and I stayed on my side the road frankly .... I had no idea I just charged on!

From that point it was plain sailing through Blayney, Orange and Parkes. We finished up in Condobolin.

That's it for day 1, stay tuned for more.

Regards, Russell.

Test run

2010-06-03T16:01:00.003+10:00

This packing "everything" onto the bike is a new experience.....some learned friends suggest you layout everything you think you need, take away half and then halve it again.... I've got a lot to learn. Maybe I'll be posting a few things home!!!! One thing is for sure I wont be getting rid of any safety or communications equipment. I feel like I've got half the bloody office with me , mobile phones, ASUS computer, flash drives, cameras - video and still, lights, the bikes even wired to plug in the equipment. I reckon some smart arse will want to knock up a tax return or a new ad.

We also have a topo GPS and a GPS PLB just in case. Speaking of the GPS navigating on a bike is not easy. I'm trying route notes this time and trying not to forget to reset the odometer (which is also important for judging fuel consumption).

Using the odometer function in the GPS gives me two odometers but neithers any good if you forget to reset them. I'm going to use the dymo to make myself a reminder and stick it on the screen.

Anyway, roll on Saturday I cant wait to cut out.

Regards,
Russell.