Adventure Rider Issue #23

THE NEW DEFINITION OF ADVENTURE

THE NEW CLASS LEADER

When the road comes to an end, knock it down a gear and attack the terrain. From sweeping roads, to knee deep beach sand or rutted out mountain ranges the new KTM 1090 Adventure R is the ultimate adventure partner. The powerful twin cylinder engine outperforms the toughest rivals. The new KTM 1090 Adventure R incorporates the innovation and technology we have developed from our experience and victories on the world’s toughest terrain. Meet the new definition of adventure. Meet the new class leader. Don’t believe us try it for yourself.

Photo: M. Chytka

It’s we what

do

Tom Foster - Editor

On a recent BMW ride I got stuck on a hill.

There’s nothing unusual about me being stuck on hills, and I know what needs to be done. I was lucky there were a few kind souls around who helped me heft the bike up on its wheels and bulldog it around. I rode it back down, spun it around, eyed in my line, and had another crack at it.

Unsurprisingly, I cocked it all up and was once again left with a 1200cc adventure bike on its side on a loose, rocky hill, and once again it needed to be wrestled upright, wrangled around, ridden back down, and, much to everyone’s relief, ridden up without a hitch on the third attempt.

As I sat there on the top of that not-very-challenging ascent trying to catch my breath – hoping veins wouldn’t explode from my temples – I started

thinking of some of the everyday riding situations that can go from ‘tough’ to ‘scary’ when a rider moves from a small-capacity trail or enduro bike up to a big-horsepower adventure mount. Botched hill climbs are a good example. They can be nasty, heart-attack incidents for a t young rider on a lightweight two-stroke. For a more mature rider on

“For some riders it’s rocks. Others turn pale at the sight of wet clay. Riding in the dark on trails and terrain a rider doesn’t know well will often cause sphincters to pucker. ”

a 260kg adventure bike it can be a seriously threatening issue.

What else?

Deep sand, for sure. That one’s a personal nightmare of mine. I can make my way through sand, but it doesn’t come naturally to me and I burn enormous amounts of energy consciously telling myself, “Weight back. Power on. Don’t ght the bike,” and trying to make myself do it. As I sit here writing this I’m still

astonished at just how much energy that kind of riding saps from me.

For some riders it’s rocks. Others turn pale at the sight of wet clay. Riding in the dark on trails and terrain a rider doesn’t know well will often cause sphincters to pucker.

Flat tyres? Electronic problems? Being caught under the bike?

All these things are seriously challenging and can cause genuine anxiety that may push riders beyond their physical limits.

But then, as my breathing slowed and it became apparent I wasn’t going to chuck a thrombo on that slope in Victoria, I thought of the toughest challenge of all for big adventure-bike riders. I thought of the Ducati in the Adventure Rider Magazine shed. I pictured in my mind the Triumph Explorer. The release of the 2017 KTM models was just a few days away. MY heart rate began to climb again. The new V-Stroms had been on display at the Touratech Adventure Challenge and looked awesome. Yamaha’s Super T… my breathing became labored and I once again felt the strength drain from my legs and arms.

Surely that’s the scariest and most di cult aspect of the big-bike market. When it comes time to slap between $20,000 and $30,000 on the counter, which bike should you have?

On the cover: Con Thermos launches during the 2017 KTM Adventure Rallye. Image: Wilkinson Photography u

Adventure Rider Magazine is published bi-monthly by Mayne Media Pty Ltd

Publisher Kurt Quambusch

Editor Tom Foster tom@maynemedia.com.au

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Mitch Newell

mitch@maynemedia.com.au

Phone: (02) 9452 4517

Mobile: 0402 202 870

Production Arianna Lucini arianna@maynemedia.com.au

Design Danny Bourke art@maynemedia.com.au

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Accounts Jeewan Gnawali jeewan@maynemedia.com.au

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KTM Adventure Rallye 2017

Words: Craig Hartley. Images: Wilkinson Photography

Main: Cells River Road must be one of Australia’s most spectacular adventure routes.

Top: John Corbett got all colourful at Jenolan Caves.

Every time we get o the bike many of us are heard to mutter it was the best ride we’ve ever been on. It’s hard to say if the second KTM Rallye was better or equal to the rst – the 2016 Jindabyne High Country Ride – but in the eyes of everyone who rode this event, it was as good, if not better.

Preparation for the Rallye started when the rst information was sent out through KTM dealers to customers before the news went public. Not surprisingly, within 36 hours the entry list, capped at 150 riders, was full.

Within another 48 hours overwhelming demand meant entries had blown out to 190.

Meet the crew

The 2017 KTM Blue Mountains Rallye started at the Wisemans Ferry Caravan Park on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in NSW. Final documentation, GPS loading and last-minute preparation for the ve days ahead were dealt with. As usual, Rosie Lalonde, KTM Marketing Coordinator and Event Organiser, had everything nicely lined up and in place. The KTM support vehicles for documentation and machine inspection were set up directly opposite and very handy to the bar and lounge area.

That evening the riders’ brie ng set the tone for the week. Support sta were introduced and KTM Managing Director Je Leisk explained the Rallye was all about the riders, and was one-third riding and two-thirds socialising.

Next up was route coordinator Nick Selleck of Maschine and his marking crew, most fondly known as Sprocket, Grego, Hu y and newcomer Con Thermos from Otway Trail Tours.

Below: A very happy and committed group of KTM owners completed the 2017 KTM Adventure Rallye. u

Others to be introduced were photographer Danny

Wilkinson and videographer Adam Riemann. Both professionals had a few hints on how to get the best shots, like, “If you see a photographer, don’t pull up to say, ‘G’day’”, and that a good photo isn’t all about speed.

Above: Channel 10 commentator Kate Peck and her producer were with the event for four days and had also recently done a segment on Toby Price. Below: Ridin’ the storm.

Toby Price turned up for the Monday evening and had a bit of a talk about Dakar and his recovery. Being just a fraction over two months since he broke his leg, Toby had decided to ride an 1190R just for the second day. As it happened, he enjoyed the riding, relaxed atmosphere and camaraderie of the riders so much he stayed and rode four days. He mentioned it was like getting back to the grass roots of what riding is all about.

Slip’n’slide

The Tyres For Bikes 4WD truck was always on-site to keep tyres fresh where needed, and even to pick up riders having a problem. Rob and Anja Turton, and their crewie Mick McGuiness, worked tirelessly changing tyres, often until late into the night.

On the TV side of things, KTM had organised Channel 10 commentator Kate Peck to do a segment for RPM. Kate and her producer were with the event for four days and had also recently done a segment on Toby Price.

Peter Ziegler from KTM Austria was along to see how things were done in Australia, and also to get some inside information for the KTM rally to be held in Italy later this year.

Peter had a few wild stories of his riding escapades, like the time he hit, but luckily didn’t injure, in his words ‘a baby cow’. And then there was the concrete culvert with water over it that everyone was warned about, but did take a few riders by surprise. There’s certain to be good Youtube footage of Peter throwing Ray Barnes’ 1190R down and sliding across the culvert in a nearly graceful manner.

It was a new one for me. If you

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KTM ADVeNTuRe RALLYe

rode between the wheel tracks the traction was ne, but if you rode on the black tyre tracks, which looked like rubber, it was slipperier than ice. Danny Wilko got some awesome images there not only of Peter, but also of Greg Limpus and no doubt a few other unlucky riders. Best save was Damien McLoud, who came in on the slippery black line way too hot on his 990, but saved the day with a bit more throttle and a nice left-right power slide.

Maybe he was just lucky.

Star power

Another surprise visitor was former AMA Supercross champion, American Ricky Johnson.

Leisk and Johnson go back a long way to their early racing careers, and Je mentioned to him he should come along. As Je told it, the decision was made in about two minutes over the phone.

Johnson won AMA Supercross titles in 250cc and 500cc classes from 1984 to 1988, and then trophy track titles in the TORC series in two classes in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He was a Baja 1000 winner in 1997 and 2003 and has competed in many other o -road truck and stock-car races in his career, including winning the 2014 Frozen Rush, an o -road course on snow.

Ricky had several talks and interviews on di erent nights throughout the event and was a very informative and easy-going, down-to-earth type of bloke.

Pick and choose

Another frequent visitor who’s had large involvement with the KTM racing side of things was Colin Ross, on board for his second Rally.

Colin has been a long-term major sponsor of all of the KTM race teams including motocross, enduro and rally. It looks like for 2018 the KTM Rallye will start on one of Colin’s stations near Katherine in the Northern Territory, then run south through mainly cattle stations down to coincide with the Finke Desert Race.

There was never any reason for riders not to be prepared for this event, with Rosie sending out a How To Prepare rider dossier as well as a Registered Rider

Right: Riding through the Gardens Of Stone National Park near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains of NSW is like riding through a movie set.

Top right: From left: Chris Bostleman, Trudi Selleck and Toby Price.

KTM ADVeNTuRe RALLYe

Accommodation dossier. Riders paid an entry fee to enter, had a preplanned GPS and arrowed course to follow, had sweep riders to keep them going and also had backup vehicles to pick them up in the case of breakdowns. As well as all that, they received a free dinner ticket every night, not to mention having a support truck carrying their luggage. The only thing for them to organise was their own accommodation.

As some of the towns were quite small, occasionally accommodation ran out, so in these cases some riders would camp. Some riders opted to camp for most of the event.

A rundown

The opening day was like every day. Riders departed casually between 7.30am and 9:30am and had options of either the main route at 283km or the four slightly harder ‘Breakout’ sections which gave a total of 295km.

The course took in Burralow Fire Trail,

Top: Some snotty clay kept things interesting.

Below left: From left: Chris Page, Jeff Leisk and Michael Heaton enjoyed a quiet coldie in Walcha at the end of the third day.

Wollemi National Park, Blue Mountains National Park, Sunny Corner State Forest, Wolgan Valley, Hampton State Forest, Cooksons Creek and Evens Forest Road to land all riders at Jenolan Caves early with plenty of daylight left.

The second day tracked from Jenolan Caves to a farmstay-type campground called Dashville, which, for anyone keen to stop there, is on Kirkton Road, Lower Belford. Distances for the day were 334km for the main route, or 351km if the two Breakouts – which traversed Marsden Swamp and Polkolbin Forest – were included. Other landmarks on the day were Yengo National Park, Wollemi

Below right: The 2017 KTM Adventure Rallye kicked off beside the picturesque Hawkesbury River. u

KTM ADVeNTuRe RALLYe

National Park and Blue Mountains National Park and Dashville itself.

The big one Dashville to Walcha made up the third day.

The main route was 366km and the Breakout 369km with optional sections, and this was the day people will talk about for years.

After the course markers went through there was a big downpour that changed the scenery massively, especially for the big bikes on one particular hill that seemed to stretch for two or three kilometres. This is where the team spirit really kicked in, with many riders piloting mates’ bikes up hills, or blokes teaming up to push. It seemed pretty tough at the time, but it was only one short, character-building section that gave a lot of riders a chance to see how their hearts were working. Luckily all passed with ying colours, although there were few mirrors missing and some scratches on sidecovers after this section.

Other areas traversed were Nowendoc National Park, Ben Halls Gap and Barrington Tops National Park.

This day did see a few riders get in a bit late after spending a bit too much time on the hill, and there were a couple of fried clutches, but all were good to go the next day.

Accommodation was mostly in Walcha, with some opting to stay at the bivouac at a property called Langford about a kilometre from town. Once again there was great food and

Main: Ben Alsop and Dan Barker broke through the mist on the way to Moonan Flat. u

Top: And then there was the concrete culvert with water over it that everyone was warned about, but did take a few riders by surprise.

KTM ADVeNTuRe RALLYe

organisation and the night was a good sleep catch up for a lot of people after a big day.

Yankin’ it

Walcha to Riverwood Downs, outside of Dungog, made up the fourth day.

The course was an easy one, with 243km for the main route and 260km for the course with the two Breakouts. The route wound through Cottan Bimbang and Tapin Tops National Parks before pulling up at Riverwood Downs for a big night for many on the red wine. Here we had a pushup shootout between Fred Butterworth and one of the Americans (the Yankie won), along with an initiation ceremony for a few American visitors where they had to eat cold pies and drink hot beer. Lucky everyone had had the sleep catchup the night before.

Riverwood Downs is like a big campsite complete with bar, hall, lounge, dormitories, showers and heaps of camping.

All over

The nal day stretched from Riverwood Downs back to Wisemans Ferry with six Breakouts and a total of 327km.

The Rallye travelled through Belford National Park, Werakata National Park, and the Watagans National Park. It was all just more good riding, especially jumping on a freight train for a short while with Phil Lovett and his crew

20 advridermag.com.au

in the Watagans. It was a pretty handy –fast – bunch on a 690, 950SE and 1190R, and in no time at all it was all over and back to Wisemans for the ceremonial debrief. A few awards were handed out – which had been hand-crafted by Rosie’s dad – and there was a brief look at the new 2017 1090R and 1290R.

All up it was a great event with

R Two 1290 Super Adventures

R 69 1190Rs

R 12 1190s

R 26 990s

R Five 950 Adventures

R Eight 950 SEs

R 59 690s – about 18 of them had 700 Hard Kits tted and many had a variety of other Safari Tank and fairing options

R Seven 640 Adventures

R One 625SXC

There was also the sta team of approximately 20 690s and 1190Rs. Bring on the Northern Territory and Finke in 2018.

Above: Mark Edney, Greg Dalkeith and Rohan Donhoe enjoyed the views over the Wolgan Valley.

Below: Author Craig Hartley (left) did the hard work while Dan Godfrey and Scott Graham looked on.

The Great Australian Ride

The ultimate charity adventure ride.

Riding across Australia is pretty much everyone’s dream.

It’s a tough proposition. There’s adventure-riding with the challenge of having to share a room at a country pub and maybe repair a puncture, and there’s the adventure-riding with several weeks of toughing it out in tents and swags, bodging up repairs to make it to the next town, and the ‘next town’ being a settlement of perhaps a few dozen people two days’ ride away.

Riding across the centre of Australia is the second option. It’s not for wannabes.

The Great Australian Ride (GAR) is an opportunity for riders to make an attempt at crossing the Wide Brown Land with some proven support – but no hand-holding –and at the same time, make a serious contribution to a charity that deserves serious contributions.

Help where it’s needed

In 2017 the GAR will tackle the double crossing for the rst time.

Stuart Ball, based in Killmore, Victoria, is the driving force behind the GAR, and he’s hoping to o er a crossing experience to suit a wide range of riders.

“This year we’re doing two rides, both 21 days,” explained the very approachable KTM rider. “Eastto-west is the harder route and it’s called ‘AdventureMax’.

“Then I’ll have a week’s rest with the crew in Perth, and we’ll come back with a new, fresh team that wants to go from west to east – from Steep Point to Byron Bay. That’s the

The GReAT AusTRALIAN RIDe

easier route and we’ve called that one ‘BushCraft’.

“What I’ve found is you’ve got experienced guys looking for something extra, and if they’re in the same teams as guys who are a little less experienced it can be limiting on pace. This way we can better cater to those two types of guys –or girls. We’ve taken women across too.”

That charity that bene ts from the GAR is Red Nose. Formerly Sids And Kids, it used to concentrate on families a ected by Sudden Death Syndrome. Red Nose has widened its umbrella to o er grief support in other areas.

“Last year we raised $73,000,” remembered Ball. “This year, doing two rides, we’re hoping to raise double the amount for Red Nose.”

AdventureMax

Starting from Byron Bay, the AdventureMax route takes in Texas, Lightning Ridge, Bourke, Tibooburra, Cameron Corner, Innamincka, Birdsville, The Simpson across the QAA Line and French Line to Mt Dare, then into Alice. Ross River is included, which is a nice run through the rivers and gorges then Kings Canyon, Uluru, The Olgas. onto the Great Central Highway, Docker River, Warakuna, Warburton.

From Warburton the route heads north on to the Gunbarrel Highway for around 380km of serious adventure, then up to Carnegie Station, Wiluna, Meekatharra, Overlander Roadhouse, Hamelin Pool and Steep Point.

BushCraft

The west-to-east BushCraft route kicks o from Steep Point in WA, then Hamelin Pool to Murchison, Cue and Laverton. From Laverton it’s the whole stretch of the Great Central Highway – 1129km –to Uluru. From Uluru to Kings Canyon, and into Alice for some r’n’r and some bike maintenance.

Leaving Alice the group takes the Donohue Highway and hits Jervois, Tobermory, Boulia, Bedouri, and Birdsville. From Birdsville the GAR heads home via Cameron Corner, Thargomindah, Cunnamaulla, Bollon, Texas and nally Byron Bay.

Long service

Doing a GAR would be a tough ask on any bike, but for 2017 Stuart’s KTM will clock up GAR numbers seven and eight, and even before the start of the 2017

double, the odo is showing 107,000km.

And Stuart’s not giving the bike a break.

“I’m looking to have a crack at John Hudson’s crossing record in May,” he said, in a matter-of-fact kind of way.

“I got from Steep Point to Warakuna in 27 hours. That’s almost halfway across the country, so things were going good, but the KTM faltered.” A wiring-harness failure was the problem, and according to Stuart’s description the harness: “…fused on the frame and just shut down.”

It didn’t seem to register as a big problem.

“We’ve just got all the gear here now –a new harness and all the rest of it – so I’m looking to have a crack at John Hudson’s record in May.”

Be a part of it

Rider numbers are capped at 12 each way, but there’s still a space or two as we write this.

If you reckon you have what it takes to tackle the ride of a lifetime, and would like to support an organisation that specialises in support, log on to thegreataustralianride.com or go to the Facebook page of the same name.

You’ll nd videos, images, thoughts from riders who’ve faced the challenge and whole stack of tips and information on how to prepare and what to carry, as well as how to sign up.

Triple

treat

Best known for his unsurpassed knowledge of Suzuki’s DRs, Vince Strang is also a Honda dealer. Now he’s turned his attention to the Africa Twin with the aim of o ering good development information to customers. Adventure Rider Magazine was lucky enough to get a close look at Vince’s progress so far.

HAbove left: Crash bars from Honda Accessories 昀椀tted snug and didn’t feel as though they added bulk or much weight to the CRF.

Above: Capable on- and off-road, and very easy to ride in almost any conditions.

onda’s Africa Twin has made a big impact on Australian adventure riders in a very short time. The CRF1000L – to give the bike its correct model designation – is available in three variants. When the chance came for us to sample all three variants in one ride…well. We were so excited the corny ‘Triple treat’ heading for this story was the best we could do.

Tasty trio

The three bikes ridden here are the CRF1000L Standard, the CRF1000L ABS and the CRF1000L ABS-DCT.

As the designations imply, the Standard is just that: standard. There’s no ABS or traction control and no electronic rider aids. It’s what might be called an ‘honest’ or ‘old-school’ bike. There’s plenty of technical re nement and leading-edge technology o ering good performance, but the rider still makes the decisions. If he brakes too late or too hard, he hits the deck. If he panics and spins up the rear wheel on a greasy hill, gravity will lay the smack down.

The ABS model has both traction control and ABS, but is otherwise the same bike as the Standard. Both traction control and ABS can be turned o or adjusted with a minimum of fuss.

The ABS-DCT model is the variant which will excite the most comment. We certainly thought a great deal about the possibilities before we rode it. Basically, DCT stands for ‘Dual Clutch Transmission’, and the best we can describe the system in practical terms is that it’s like the sequential gearbox on most modern automatic cars. The rider can select full auto and the bike will do it all. Or the rider can choose to select gears via buttons on the ’bars which are like

u

Main: Three Africa Twins, a beach, and another great day at the of昀椀ce.

TRIpLe TReAT

the paddles or buttons on the steering wheels in cars with sequential gearboxes. Unlike cars, the rider can select a few variations on the auto gear selection, basically a ‘normal’ setting or one of several ‘Sport’ settings.

Either way there’s still some mental adjustment to be made. There’s no gear selector at the rider’s left foot, and where there would normally be a clutch on the

left-hand ’bar is in fact a locking handbrake. It’s positioned well forward compared to a normal clutch, so it’s not easy to grab it by mistake in a panic situation. We know that because we experimented with the whole panic-situation scenario. With our left foot ailing away at thin air and our left hand frantically trying to grab for what re exes told us was clutch-lever salvation, we barrelled toward several frighteningly solid obstructions at ridiculous speed.

Thank goodness the braking on the Africa Twin is exceptional.

Tech knows

Covering the basic mechanicals of the bikes includes a 998cc, parallel-twin motor with a 270-degree ring angle and Honda’s Unicam head design. The cam is a very lightweight unit and twin plugs ignite the gases in the chamber.

The transmission is a six-speeder with an ‘assist slipper clutch’ to smooth out clunky downshifts and deceleration, and drive is via chain. Wheels are 18-inch rear and 21-inch front, and overall the Africa Twin is a modern and tidy-looking unit.

The ABS and traction control model is just as the name implies. The bike is the same as the Standard model, but has both rider aids.

The DCT is the biggee.

Honda’s own description says Dual Clutch Transmission ‘… features the standard manual mode – allowing the rider to operate gear shifts through triggers on the handlebars –and two automatic modes.

Top: Honda’s Dual Clutch Transmission makes riding any kind of tight or technical terrain a great deal easier than a traditional manual clutch and gearbox. It’s where the system works best. Above left: All Africa Twins are ready to accept the Honda Accessories panniers. Just slip them in place, turn the key and you’re good to go.

Left: Honda Accessories panniers 昀椀t straight on without racks.

D mode o ers the best balance of fuel economy and comfort cruising. S mode has now been revised to give extra levels of sports performance, with three di erent shift patterns to choose from: S1, S2 and S3.’

They’re the bikes Vince started with.

Not much to do

The Standard model seemed like a good place to kick o , and we can sum up our opinions on that bike fairly quickly. It’s pretty frigging good.

The motor is very manageable, suspension is way better than we expected it to be, handling is predictable and neutral, braking excellent, and the bike is a whole heap of fun.

We actually started to wonder where Vince’s development would go. The bike was so good in stock trim we doubt we’d do much of anything to it, and that included suspension…until we rode the Teknik-tuned model.

So then we jumped on the ABS model. Sure enough, it was every bit as good as the Standard, but of course there was traction control and ABS.

The ABS did its job well and we were happy with it. The traction control, on the other hand, was way too intrusive on anything except bitumen. The poor bike stuttered and farted over any kind of irregularity in the riding surface and was really a bit of a pain. Flicking the lever under the left index nger ran the traction control through its settings, including ‘o ’. We switched o the traction control and left it o . We’d have to think very hard about whether we’d pay the extra for what we experienced. If we were doing a lot of road riding we probably would, but it’d be a waste on any kind of dirt surface.

Then we jumped on the DCT model. We were pretty sure we’d never get used to the idea of an auto with no gear-selection lever or clutch, but it took all of about ve minutes. The gear selection is so smooth and rapid we very much doubt we could get the bike to perform as well using manual controls. Manual controls are more fun for us, but, geez. It’s really easy to slide into that lazy frame of mind where you can leave those things to the bike and concentrate on just hitting lines and braking points.

The DCT system works a treat.

TRIpLe TReAT

Add ons

So what had Vince done to improve the bikes?

Main: An excellent bike for getting away from the cities and pressures of work.

All insert pics: The B&B Off Road gear on Adrian Vickery’s Standard bike was premium quality and looked awesome.

The Standard was privately owned by Adrian Vickery. Adrian’s family owns Green Valley Farm in Tingha, NSW, where the Northern Congregations are held, and Adrian was happy for us to dash about on his new bike.

Being privately owned and very near to new, the Standard had little development beyond personal tuning for Adrian’s size and occasional lunatic riding antics (Vince had wide-eyed tales of ‘huge skids’ he’d seen following Adrian). A Tractionator graced the rear and a Pirelli Rally the front, and a Barrett pipe, B&B bashplate, radiator guards and rack rounded out the package.

The ABS model had a few bits and pieces.

First up were the Honda Accessories crash bars and pannier kit.

“The pannier kit’s quite interesting,” explained Vince.

“The adapters to accept the panniers are right on the bikes. You can take the panniers o one bike and t them straight to any other Africa Twin. You don’t need extra pannier racks and you don’t have to spend any extra money.

“It’s quite a good thing.”

Otherwise the ABS bike had stock exhaust and stock suspension, but Pirelli tyres front and rear.

We had Vince’s initial opinion when he rst rode the Africa Twins back in issue #17, but we asked how he felt about these new bikes with a little time on them. He started with the ABS model.

“Out of the box, basically, it was very good. Even with the stock tyres, o -road I quite liked it. When we put on the more dirt-oriented tyres, and turned the compression and preload up a little on the suspension, I reckoned it was really good.”

The Barrett pipes don’t o er a big performance di erence as far as Vince can tell, but he’s chasing a weight

saving, and the aftermarket mu er is substantially lighter.

On the DCT model the same Barrett pipe and Honda Accessories crash bars were in place as the ABS model, the tyres had been changed and the footpegs swapped for Pivot Pegz.

The big change was Teknik suspension.

Trail trial

When it came time to ride the bikes we were struck by a couple of things.

The rst was how easy the Africa Twin is get comfy.

Honda is sometimes criticised for its bikes lacking character, but we don’t think that makes any sense. These three bikes demonstrated beautifully Honda’s knack of producing bikes that will suit riders of a wide variety of shapes, sizes and abilities. It’s very seldom we evaluate a bike without thinking how we’d need to set it up for ourselves. All three of these bikes, despite their di erent riders, felt good. The power delivery was

TRIpLe TReAT

smooth and manageable – even though there was no shortage of horsepower – the bikes handled well, and we felt at home on all of them pretty much straight away. And that brings us to the DCT bike.

We were pretty sure we’d never get used to that set-up, but in a very short time we were roosting away in a carefree and cavalier fashion, allowing the bike to select whatever gear it thought would do the job. Vince advised us to select the S1 option for more aggressive changes, and he was dead right. That bike snorted and rorted around our test loop with little or no e ort from us. On those occasions where we looked to make things di cult for the bike it all but ignored our malicious stupidity and selected a gear that drove us up, over or around everything we pointed it at.

We were big fans of DCT by the

Top: Controls feel nice in the hands and ABS and traction control settings are a breeze. This is the right and left of the DCT model and the extra controls are clearly visible. Below: Footpegs are about the same as most dualsporters. The rubber inserts need to be removed and the ’pegs themselves are adequate, but not sensational.

end of the ride.

On top of all that, we couldn’t see how the Teknik suspension was going to make a big improvement over the stock suspension. It was really compliant and plush on the two stock bikes. But we should’ve known better. The Teknik suspension on the DCT bike was just a little rmer, and when the bike was pushed the upgrade really showed itself. While we were behaving badly trying to get the DCT to fail or land us in trouble, the suspension played a big part in ensuring the bike stayed stable and ran true.

It was an eye-opener, and if we owned an Africa Twin we’d think very long and hard about the suspension upgrade. It’d be high on our wish list.

Interesting

BIKe speCs

Web: www.motorcycles.honda.com.au/ Adventure_Touring/CRF1000L_Africa_Twin.

Rec retail: Standard $14,499. ABS $16,999. ABS-DCT $17,999. All prices plus on-roads and dealer charges

Engine type: Liquid-cooled, four-stroke, eight-valve parallel twin with 270-degree crank and uni-Cam

Displacement: 998cc

Bore/stroke: 92mm x 75.1mm

Compression ratio: NA

Starter: Electric

Carburation: PGM-FI electronic fuel injection

Ignition: Computer-controlled, digital, transistorised with electronic advance

Clutch: Wet, multiplate with coil springs, aluminium cam assist and slipper clutch

Transmission: Constant mesh, six-speed MT/six-speed DCT with on- and o -road riding modes

Final drive: O-ring sealed chain

Front tyre: 90/90-R21 tube type

Rear tyre: 150/70-R18 tube type

Front brake: 310mm, dual-wave, oating hydraulic discs with aluminium hub and radial- t, four-piston calipers and sintered metal pads

After another tough day at the o ce, nibbling our way through a late-afternoon gourmet lunch provided by Vince Strang Motorcycles, we gathered our thoughts.

The Africa Twin is a very bloody nice dualsporter. It’s extremely capable o road, the motor punches out bulk power without being intimidating, braking is really excellent, and the both the manual and DCT gear arrangements worked well. The bike is comfortable, handling is neutral, and there’s some great luggage and accessories available.

On the negative side…well,

Rear brake: 256mm, wave, hydraulic disc with two-piston caliper and sintered metal pads. Also lever-lock type parking system on DCT model

Dimensions: (LxWxH) 2335mm x 875mm x 1475mm (Standard)/2335mm

x 930mm x 1475mm (ABS/DCT)

Wheelbase: 1575mm

Seat height: 870mm/850mm

Ground clearance: 250mm

Fuel capacity: 18.8 litres

Kerb weight: 228kg (Standard). 232kg (ABS). 242kg (DCT)

we couldn’t think of anything we didn’t like about the Africa Twin.

And, the kicker, the price of these bikes is amazing. You get a whole lot of capable, comfortable adventuretourer starting at around $14,500 plus dealer charges and on-roads for the Standard. Add a few Vince Strang Motorcycles’ ideas, Teknik suspension and Honda Accessories and this bike is ready to travel the world.

Honda CRF100L Africa Twin

Technically Teknik

Nick Dole at Teknik Motorsport in Sydney’s west has done a great deal of testing on the Africa Twin suspension, especially measuring shock performance at various temperatures. The result on Vince Strang’s Africa Twin left us in awe. We thought the stock suspension was pretty good, but when we tried the Teknik mods, it was chalk and cheese, especially when we pushed the bike a little and asked it to cope with higher speeds.

“The stock fork springs are progressive, but there’s not really much progression there,” said Nick. “I didn’t change the springs, though. When I put them on the dyno they weren’t far from where they should be.

“The problem with the forks really was they lacked preload. That makes the front hang down a little bit. It can be xed by winding up the external preload adjuster all the way, but for Vince’s bike I machined up a sixmillimetre preload spacer. As far as fork spring and preload goes, that was all I did.

“I left the oil height at the stock level, but as far as damping goes, the fork is very soft. It sort of ts in with what Honda’s trying to do, but it doesn’t suit the guys who ride the dirt. So I revalved the fork.

“The shock was the same. The spring rate wasn’t bad, but the preload’s really light. On Vince’s bike I actually tted a lighter spring, but with more preload, so the bike is sitting level.

“The damping of the shock is probably the worst part of the

suspension package. It’s really lightly damped all over, and it only takes a temperature variation of about 20 degrees for that shock’s performance to go from acceptable to unacceptable. As the heat a ects the viscosity of the oil, its performance deteriorates.

“So the changes I make to the damping of the Africa Twin shock mean it goes from having too much damping when it’s freezing cold to having good damping when it’s hot.”

To put that in perspective, a rider commuting on his Africa Twin will probably never have a noticeable

change in his shock temperature. A motocrosser might see a rise of 60 degrees in his shock operating temperature. An Africa Twin coping with a bush trail would fall in the middle somewhere. That’s plenty enough temperature for the shock performance to decrease.”

Nick also had another tip: some of the Africa Twins he’s serviced have worn the anodising o the inside of the fork tube.

Ask your tech to check next service. Better still, get your bike in to Teknik and have an expert check it out.

challenge Adventure

How much fun can an organised riding event be? The Touratech Adventure Challenge pretty much sets the standard.

The 2016 Touratech Adventure Challenge had a curious e ect on participants and onlookers. When asked, “How was it?” some would giggle and have trouble explaining the things they’d seen while others’ eyes would glaze over as they stared o into the distance, clearly enraptured with very intense and pleasant memories.

We ran the story in issue #15, but we hadn’t been there ourselves and there was clearly something about the experience that was having an impact on people who were. The second running of the Challenge was on the calendar and Adventure Rider Magazine decided it was high time we had a look.

We’re always after an opportunity to ride in the Victorian mountain region, and Bright is one of our favourite places to go, so we loaded up the bikes and crossed the Murray.

Basically

The concept of the Touratech Adventure Challenge is pretty much covered in the name: it’s a challenge for adventure riders using the skills they need to successfully enjoy their sport.

In practice, competing is like a cross between orienteering and gymkhana on motorcycles. We’re not going to say ‘adventure bikes’ because u

Images:

Wilkinson Photography

Main: Steve Martin and his Triumph Tiger seemed to enjoy the enduro-X track. Above: Trying to putt a tennis ball with a lump of PVC pipe is tough enough, but when Nick Selleck joined in with some roost, a lot more concentration was needed. Below: Just short of 40 competitors entered the Touratech Challenge. Spectator numbers were high and bike test rides ran strong all day.

just about any bike is suitable, but some ground clearance and knobbies does make things easier. We hooked up the new long-term Husky 701 Enduro and the editor’s Touratech-kitted KLR and felt ready for anything.

Runo

After signing in riders attached the supplied stickers to the bikes, ordered co ees and breakfasts from the onsite caterers and stood around watching nine manufacturers set up displays and prepare for the test rides they o ered during the day. Elsewhere industry supporters like Andy Strapz and Kreiga set up their displays and shopfronts, and event organisers Nick and Trudi from Maschine marshalled their considerable support teams and prepared to get the day started.

clamber over a mound of earth, then run back to their bikes and get started. Adventure Rider Magazine’s editor was seen to take two steps forward, do a smart U-turn, then step to his bike and ride o .

You just can’t trust the media.

Challenges

From that point riders had a great many choices.

Perfect weather matched the perfect location and riders were soon briefed. The Challenge was on…for some.

The Le Mans start required competitors in full riding gear to run 100m or so,

There were three loops with di erent tasks and challenges spaced around them. Some were as simple as nding a designated spot and answering a question like, ‘What out-of-place object

Above: The Touratech Adventure Challenge in 2017 was strongly supported by the manufacturers. The weather wasn’t bad, either.

Left: The Box family, importers of Touratech, manufacturers of Safari Tanks, and some of the nicest people in motorcycling anywhere in the world.

Below: Ad manager Mitch blasted the 2017 long-term Husqvarna 701 Enduro around the course.

is hanging from the tree at the corner on Wet Gully Track?’

The answer was a motorcycle inner tube, and the correct answer earned three points.

A few orienteering tasks like that one meant riding through the superb countryside around Bright, a perfect way to spend a sunny Autumn day.

The route then led to a property with an enduro-X track. Tasks and challenges weren’t compulsory, so anyone who felt the track may have been a little too demanding could simply keep riding and forgo the points on o er. Those who wanted to thrash and drag their bikes

around a partly boggy, partly jagged dirt and grass track could do so and pick up 50 points for their e orts.

That was how the day went.

At the end of the day scorecards where handed in, points tallied, and the top 10 competitors lined up for a feet-up nal leading to an eventual outright winner.

If all that seems straightforward enough, it is. The magic was in the terrain around Bright, the fabulous people involved and, in no small part, the imagination in some of the challenges.

Oh yes. Someone with a questionable sense of humour came up with a few of those.

Think and act

There was no measure of speed in any challenge for the entire event. Success depended entirely on skill and being able to think carefully before easing out the clutch.

Riding short, winding tracks around

o -camber hillsides without putting a foot down was standard fare and tricky enough, but having a tyre roped to the back of the bike with a metre or two of slack, and then having to slalom around some drums in a sandy paddock caused some consternation. So did strapping a 20-litre container of water to the back of the bike and negotiating a tricky set of natural obstacles. Even the timed slow race raised a few eyebrows, but having to chip a tennis ball at a ag with a rough-hewn plastic golf stick was just plain weird – especially while being roosted with dust and crud – and whoever came up with the idea of mounting a Husqvarna Terra on a pair of kayaks and having riders paddle it up and down a pond was just plain diabolical. That frigging top-heavy, unmanageable, unsteerable pile of deadweight nearly did

for the Adventure Rider Magazine team of lithe and experienced campaigners.

But that was the fun. Spectators –there were heaps of them, at the main arena in Bright and at the outlying locations – and riders could join in and have a laugh at some of the antics and novel techniques. Best of all, riders could form groups and teams for mutual support and general socialising during the day. Probably the most notable group of this kind was the WARA girls. These half-dozen or so tutu-wearing teamsters made their way through the day and, judging by the hootin’ and hollerin’ at the presentation, enjoyed themselves more than anyone.

And that’s saying something, because the Adventure Rider Magazine crew thought it the most fun they’d had in a very long time.

Trophy girls

It’d be very di cult to choose a highlight from the day of the event. There were so many. The presence of Herbert Schwarz, founder of Tourtaech, was a de nite highlight, as was the sheer seamlessness of the organisation and logistics by Touratech and Maschine. Being able to walk around one gorgeous, sunny, grassy venue and see new adventure bikes on display from so many manufacturers, most of whom were o ering test rides, gave a warm and fuzzy glow to the place. Having the BMW riders show up from an organised ride and set up headquarters was awesome. The co ee was excellent. The riding was brilliant. The good-natured rivalry was gold.

Still, one of many sel ess and outstanding acts of teamwork stood out.

Amy Harburg won the female class of the Touratech Challenge but insisted on giving the win and the trophy to Julie Luxford, simply because Amy thought Julie deserved it more.

That pretty much summed up the whole event, we reckon.

Mark it in your calendar for next year. You won’t be sorry.

u

Top: Glen Hough and Brendon Roberts doing what sweeps do in their spare time.

Above: Winners!

Top left A Le Mans start got the heartrates going on a crisp Victorian morning.

Left: Teamwork wasn’t AdventureRiderMagazine’s strong point in the paddle.

Herbert Schwarz

Touratech’s founder clearly has a huge love of riding and people.

The electronics engineer from Niedereschach, near The Black Forest in Germany, was good enough to chat over a co ee during his visit to Australia and the Adventure Challenge.

Although Touratech the company came into being in 1990, Herbert had made his own aluminium panniers for travel through Africa in the early 1980s and 1990s.

“I started the company in 1990 with this little dashboard replacement

Quick thoughts

This was a long, pleasant, rambling conversation, and we don’t have room to run it word-for-word. Here’s a few interesting or important thoughts from a man who obviously sees our planet as one place, not many separate entities, and makes his ideas come to life…

On United People Of Adventure: “We wanted to bring an international team together. Not a competition like the GS Trophy or the Olympic Games where the world comes together to ght against each other, but to do something which couldn’t be done alone.

“That was really, really great.”

computer, an IMO,” remembered Schwarz, who always seemed to be smiling and happy.

‘IMO’ is an abbreviation of the German words for ‘information monitor’, by the way.

“I’m an electronics engineer,” he continued, showing some amazing tongue agility to recover spilled latte from the top of his cup, “but at the same time I was a freelancer for Motorrad, the German motorcycle magazine, as a photographer and for travel stories.

“That was a little bit the possibility just to earn some extra money, just to spend more money in travels.”

Herbert saw the need for a decent, compact, dash-mounted trip computer, and as a keen rider and electronics engineer, decided he could make one. German law requires a company entity to sell goods, so Touratech was born and 100 IMOs were produced. Herbert was working full-time for a company involved in heavy-vehicle tachographs and other electronic instrumentation, so Touratech was very much a part-time pursuit.

“It took me some years to sell those

Favourite place to ride: (Laughs)

“I think it’s ‘The World’. There is not really a favourite place.

Most amazing ride: “In 1990 and 1991 I had two-and-a-half months, and I rode from Togo in western Africa to Kenya in eastern Africa through the Congo and the jungle. I think it was one of the toughest rides through one the most remote areas. For me it was new to get in contact with these people and to feel their friendship, and to see you can get friends all over the world. I was only 29 years old when I started.

“It was really, really great.”

The toughest challenge in 26 years of Touratech: “Just to keep up with

rst 100 IMOs,” he laughed, “but some friends of mine bought one and all of a sudden KTM got one and asked me to make a modi ed version of the IMO for their 620 Adventure bike. That was in 1996.”

The KTM involvement meant Schwarz could make Touratech his full-time pursuit, and he’s never looked back. Over two decades later the passion for adventure riding, adventure riders and maintaining the highest standards for his products is as strong as ever, and it’s hard to imagine how someone who seems so easy-going and likable could be tough enough to build such a successful international business.

“We have distributors now in 50 countries,” he said, glowing. “The most exciting thing for me is to see how it grows all over the world, and to visit those countries and to see how our thoughts and ideas go to those countries and make their own way and to see how di erent it can be. That’s fantastic for me.”

It’s not hard so hard to understand Touratech’s success when in the presence of it’s founder’s passion and commitment, and especially when he outlines his over-riding philosophy for Touratech’s minimum standard of quality.

“If I want to sell something, it has to last at least twice around the world,” he smiles proudly.

He’s always smiling.

production. In Germany and in Europe now it’s not easy to nd enough employees to keep up with production. We are now 380 people in the Black Forest producing Touratech parts, but we would easily like to have 50 or 60 more people. With zero unemployment it’s a quite a challenge to nd employees.”

On the future of Touratech: “We’ll still focus on the adventure-riding market, of course. That’s our market. We have started producing riding gear that’s very popular now in Europe and all over the world. We have new helmet concepts. We’ll continue to focus on the bikes, but also on the rider.”

Herbert (right) had a ball at the event and was happy to chat to Maschine’s Nick Selleck.

Almost as an aftermath to the Challenge is the Sunday Touratech Travel ride.

After the celebrations and exertions of the previous day and night, riders were invited to join a Touratechmanaged ride from Bright, over

Mt Hotham, through to Dargo and on to The Dog’s Grave for lunch.

The Sunday rides are Touratech regulars and a cruisy, sightseeing pace is the order of the day. Morning tea was supplied at Dargo to keep the riders’ energy levels high for the run to lunch.

The two-day Touratech Travel event

of a few years ago has evolved into the Sunday ride after the Challenge, but enquiries for the two-day Travel gathering have been strong, and there’s consideration being given to running a separate Travel weekend following the previous format.

If the Touratech people keep this up we’ll have to move to Victoria.

DevilRun Tasmanian

Strait across and into it.

The Ténéré Tragics run isn’t simply a group ride. Owners are committed to what they ride and are proud of it.

Words: Mike Haysom. Images: iKapture

Map: Five days in one of the world’s premium adventure-riding destinations.

Left: The 2017 Ténéré

lapped Tasmania with a 100-per-cent 昀椀nish rate.

Main: Graeme Baker was living the dream riding up Jacob’s Ladder.

Tragics

TAsMANIAN DeVIL RuN

For the 2017 event around 75 Ténéré Tragics riders from every mainland state of Australia converged on the Spirit Of Tasmania to head across Bass Strait. Some Tragics arrived with family weeks in advance to get an early start and the last Tragic arrived at Tasmania Country Club resort in Launceston a touch after lunch on Sunday.

Rockhampton-based Tragic Graeme Baker picked up a classic fat-tanked 1983 XT600ZL gem from rural Victoria on the way down and had his Super T sitting on the trailer, just in case the mighty ’83 was unrideable. He slipped a new Dunlop on the rear of the ol’ girl and quickly made the decision to ride the glorious old beasty for the entire week.

Ride organisers, Andrew ‘Clubby’ Clubb and wife Tania were on hand to greet riders and present them with a showbag bursting with sponsor goodies and an optional ADV skills session was o ered by Stephen Gall.

During the skills session, Matt ParkerCharlton’s newly refurbished 1983 Ténéré decided to expel huge amounts of oil from the upper-cylinder area. Rescued by the Launceston Yamaha crew, the boys transported Matt’s mighty ’83 to their workshop for some urgent open-heart surgery. Matt was back at the motel before day’s end with a fully functioning ol’ banger.

Other Tragics took advantage of the Launceston Yamaha workshop being brie y manned on a Sunday to correct

some Tragic preparation. Those spanner twirlers really know their stu .

The Captain and Tania

The formal start of proceedings is the Ténéré Tragics welcome dinner. Bike displays from Yamaha Motor Australia – all Ténérés, of course – were spread throughout Launceston’s Country Club casino. Between classic courses, ‘Captain Tragic’ (Clubby), also on behalf of ‘Madame Tragic’ (Tania), introduced everyone and gave a rough course outline, some speci c advice on what to expect and a gentle reminder the event wasn’t a race, but more a touring group with like-minded individuals.

Madame Tragic rules

Everyone was on their bike and away early on the rst morning and stationary groups were scattered across the rst few kilometres, adjusting tyre pressures, re-attaching errant luggage and making nal adjustments.

About 10km along the rst dirt section Mike Ruoso had overcooked a 90-degree left hander while blinded by the dust and morning sun. He low-sided at the entry to the concrete bridge, fortunately missing all the solid bits, and ended up nursing a severely sprained right thumb. He cursed himself, determined to ride on.

The climb toward Legges Tor in Ben Lomond National Park is stunning.

Known as Jacobs Ladder, the half-dozen steep switchbacks wouldn’t look out of

Above: Logging roads covered in slippery gravel offered surprise viewings of timber-truck bullbars

Right top: An optional ADV skills session was offered by Stephen Gall.

Right bottom: Matt Parker-Charlton’s XT600ZL went back to Launceston Yamaha for open-heart surgery and was back on the pace in no time.

place on a Swiss postcard. Visitors were rewarded with eye-popping views back across the North Esk valley.

Heading north meant the welcome challenge of active logging roads covered in slippery gravel and many had surprise viewings of timber-truck bullbars. Entryspeed errors into some corners left clear evidence of long brake lock-ups with exit paths headed o -road toward fencelines. Few discussed these adventures, but many acknowledged the experiences of others.

Lunch was at Pyengana Dairy before a quick refuel in St. Helens, then a run through forestry roads around the back of Scamander o ered stunning views of the ultra-clear blue waters both north and south of Henderson Lagoon. There was very little time to look while riding as the slippery surface demanded full attention. Frequent stops to take it all in, and to grab a few photos, were necessary.

The long, black ribbon guided us to the Bicheno Motorcycle Museum, where a reasonable entry fee allowed everyone to recall machines from yesterday and admire current equipment – they even

had a mid-80s Ténéré in sparkling condition.

Strong crosswinds hammered the group on the nal blacktop into Swansea, where for the rst time the required last tasks of each day were performed. In order of importance these were

R Check-in with Madame Tragic and grab the next day’s route sheets

R Refuel at the local servo

R Head to our chosen accommodation

Reports of a quality feast at Swansea’s Bark Mill Tavern made those too lazy to walk the extra 100m jealous, but the evening views out over Great Oyster Bay to the Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island easily justi ed a short walk along the beachfront before turning in.

High spirits

The second day had everyone headed south by 7:00am, aiming for Little Swanport and through forest to Campbell Town and later Ross, a superbly presented heritage town that’s well worth a stop for a vanilla slice and latté.

Lengthy sections of what was now a familiar style of dirt road took us inland to Interlaken, then back to the coast at Orford. Temperatures climbed and many stripped liners from jackets during lunch before heading south again on the shortcut route via Bream Creek to Dunalley. A lengthy stretch of blacktop skimmed through Eaglehawk Neck to Port Arthur.

Early arrival allowed a tour of the historic buildings of Port Arthur, including the Memorial Garden to victims of the massacre in April 1996. At check in Madame Tragic reminded everyone of the required timing of the next day’s ride –including the need to be at the Pedder Wilderness Lodge before 5:30pm for a special, ‘don’t-miss-it-or-you-will-kickyourselves’ event.

During the afternoon, Keiron Je rey from Queensland lost third gear in his ’09 XT660Z. He started to limp the last 70km in second before realising fourth and fth gear were still intact.

Image: Mike HaysomImage:

Mike

Haysom

TAsMANIAN DeVIL RuN

On arrival, the message went out on the Tragics Facebook page that another bike was needed for loan, hire or purchase.

A willing Ténéré enthusiast in Launceston stepped forward with a loaner. After phone negotiations the next morning, Keiron headed up to Launceston. He swapped gear across bikes and met the Tragics at Lake Pedder to continue the run. Keiron swapped back Friday night before catching his scheduled ferry to the mainland early Saturday morning. That’s true Ténéré spirit!

There was a lot of mechanical action in the motel carpark that evening. It looked like the pits at the local vinduro races. Several ’83s were in pieces with either fuel or electrical issues, but there were always

smiles, lots of advice on o er and everyone was ready to go by next morning.

Rod the god

An early departure had everyone through Nubeena and on to Sorell for brekky. The local cafés were a good option but, with 70-odd Tragics hitting all at once, service took forever. An engaging ride around the Hobart environs, via Tasman Bridge, to a stop atop Mt. Wellington was a reasonable option, and the view across Hobart from about 1.2 km above was incredible.

A café stop at Horizon Motorcycles allowed Tragics a workshop visit to execute needed repairs and adjustments while they sipped on ca eine

concoctions, while Captain Tragic and some of the crew were interviewed by WIN TV News and The Mercury newspaper in Hobart.

A tight, steep and tough little section of dirt around Collins Gap brought everyone into New Norfolk for fuel and lunch. The afternoon was a ripper stretch of bitumen for over 150km out to the Gordon Dam wall and o ered an opportunity to use the tyre’s side blocks. Along the way views of Mt Wedge and the Sentinel Range in its barebacked beauty had everyone gobsmacked before reaching the amazing Gordon Dam. After photos, it was back to the Pedder Wilderness Lodge to check in with Madame Tragic and prepare for the special event.

With all Tragics eagerly awaiting the presentation, Stephen Gall invited Yamaha Yamalube Factory Racing Team Dakar racer Rod Faggotter on to the dais for a lengthy Q&A session with the Tragics. Nobody was disappointed with Rod’s presence and many insights into preparing for, and riding, Dakar were o ered, along with some insights into Rod’s issues during this year’s event. Rocket Rod joined the ride for the

Above: Ténéré Tragics isn’t a race, but more a touring group with like-minded individuals.

Left: Don’t own a classic if you can’t smile while 昀椀xing it. Neil Aspley fettled his beast.

TAsMANIAN DeVIL RuN

next few days before ying back to his home in Longreach, Queensland. It was great to appreciate his style as he ew past aboard YMA’s slightly modded XT660Z along the dusty run to Marrawah.

Booked out

Although only about 80km as-the-crowies, Strathgordon and Queenstown are separated by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Area. The consequence was a 370km detour starting with the same twisty bitumen we rode in on. Wide-but-slippery forestry roads beyond Westerway through Ouse ended at the historic Waddamana hydro power station museum. All Tragics enjoyed the interesting self-guided tour of this 100-year-old facility, one of the earliest hydroelectric plants in Tasmania.

A owing strip of good gravel stretched from Miena to Bronte Park, followed by entertaining blacktop to Derwent Bridge. The road entry into Queenstown is tight and twisty bitumen, but gave us an early arrival. Madame Tragic had yet more complicated instructions for timing of the next day’s stage as she handed out route sheets at check in.

The locals must have wondered what the hell was going on as Tragics bedded down at motels across the entire town.

All good

It was a great way to nalise the most enjoyable Tragics run yet.

After the required nal check-in with a visibly more relaxed Madame T, Tragics took advantage of the local car wash to avoid quarantine issues on the return to the mainland. Everyone was relieved when the sweeps arrived, showing the week had concluded with 100 per cent of Tragics as nishers.

some new, pronounced limps. There’d been very few mechanicals or at tyres so the bike toll was far better than anyone looking at the road conditions might have expected. Tragics unanimously declared this the best run ever.

Again, between dinner courses, The Captain thanked all participants, media and sponsors, then presented the traditional ‘special awards’.

It was cool and foggy as Queenstown was left behind and everyone headed for Strahan the next morning. Was this the day the weather gods were not going to shine upon us?

At Strahan all questions were answered – glorious sunshine welcomed everyone and raised the mood over breakfast. After co ee at Zeehan a tricky little road wound its way to the ferry crossing at Corinna. The ferry was small – about 10 bikes a run – and the queue long, which created a nice photo opportunity and the chance for a good chat.

Getting to lunch at Marrawah was hard work. Over 60km of thick, granite gravel, blinding dust and a few too many SUVs with campers made it di cult to choose a good line or overtake. The terrain changed after lunch to fast, well-formed farm roads for the run through Montague into Smithton.

48 advridermag.com.au

More next year

The Ténéré Tragics farewell dinner is typically a fun time of re ection, thanksgiving and anticipation. The injury list was short – a swollen hand and a few gammy knees and bruised feet and

The awards list a lengthy one, supported by an equally long list of sponsors, but the pinnacle is probably The Truly Tragic Award for the rider who best displayed the Ténéré spirit during the course of the run. For 2017 it was shared between Melbourne’s Matt Parker-Charlton and Colin Hayden from Dubbo in NSW.

Congratulations to all Tragics. Planning for 2018 is underway. It’s time to begin preparation.

Top: There was plenty of time to stop for a chat and to enjoy the scenery.

Above left: A Tragic trail tale.

Below: Andrew Dawson and Maryann Eime were obviously happy to 昀椀nish.

Image: Mike

Haysom

Meet Beak

His real name is David Murray, but everyone calls him ‘Beak’.

Born and bred in Geelong, Victoria, Beak is a stalwart of motorcycling in the area. He’s as classic a character as the ’83 Ténéré he rides. The Tragicness of this pairing isn’t just the massive swag perched out the back, or the $10-swap-meet trials universal rear tyre. There’s a bit of a miracle in the back story.

Because of a beer-infused deal between a bunch of mates, Beak rode the inaugural 1985 Wynns Safari on this Tén after buying it second-hand with high kilometres and a broken third gear. Surviving the torture of the opening days, Beak rode on to place eighth – 54th overall – among only 15 motorcycle nishers. It sat in his shed virtually unused for 10 years, then got traded at a Geelong dealer for a shiny new road bike.

Years later, a mate called to say he’d bought the Ténéré. They con rmed it by the presence of an additional 37mm on the swingarm, added to give tyre clearance during the Safari. Beak insisted he buy it from his mate. The guy atly refused to sell as the bike was in such poor condition. As the o ers became pleading, his mate insisted that Beak could not buy the bike – because he was going to be given the historic Ténéré as a gift!

Since being re-united they’ve ridden the annual Tragics runs, the Ténéré tted with the original panniers, tank bag and map reader from the 1985 Wynn’s Safari. Between runs, this magic bike literally sits on a pedestal in Beak’s shed.

That’s truly Tragic.

“This is amazing,”enthused Alan Hall, spreading his arms to indicate the wide-open expanse of the Mongolian steppes,“Why didn’t you make me come here years ago?”

Mike and Angela of Britton Adventures had been trying for years to get Alan Hall to join them on a tour of Mongolia. When they nally succeeded in dragging him o his Raglan, NZ, farm he

was clearly ecstatic at the Mongolian landscape and culture the ride uncovered.

“We knew Alan would love the riding, the people and the rural culture of Mongolia,” said Mighty Mike Britton.

“We just had to get him to part with some money, nd someone to look after his farm, and join us,” he laughed.

Hall marks Alan Hall made no e ort to hide From

50 advridermag.com.au

Left: Some teamwork on a deep crossing. Right: Taking Mongolian kids for a very slow putt around.

his amazement and wonder.

“The highlight for me was the Mongolian crew,” he Kiwied. “I wasn’t expecting to have a whole entourage of Mongolian crew looking after us.

“This was my rst dealing with people outside the western world and I just loved the interaction.

“The Mongolian crew were really friendly, and as fascinated by us as we were by them. They liked to have a vodka or three with us, and even though many of them didn’t speak English, we still had lots of laughs. I really enjoyed their sense of fun.”

Alan described the ride logistics as ‘a moving roadshow’ and was impressed with the level of support, including several vehicles carrying camping gear, bike parts, spare fuel, beer, dining tent, tables, food, a freezer, and, as Alan puts it, “Just bloody everything.”

All talk

As well as the drivers, the support crew included cook Boldera, her helper Nada, Buyan the mechanic, a Mongolian motocross champion in his youth, young Bolor, the translator who moved easily between the two cultures and was really helpful bridging the gap between east and west, and Munko, the fantastic and funny lead rider. Mike and Angela often refer to him as a ‘human GPS’ due to

his ability to tell one seemingly indistinct Mongolian valley from another.

Munko had lived in Australia so spoke some English which helped with communication as well.

“We just weren’t expecting to have a whole entourage looking after us,” beamed Hall. “We were treated so well. Buyan would ll your bike the minute you got o , and there, in the middle of nowhere, would be a dining tent the

INTO OUTER MONGOLIA

ADVENTURE 24 JUNE - 9 JULY 2018

The name Mongolia, conjures up images of vast open plains, rugged men on horseback and the distant dots of a Ger camp. The nomadic culture of the Mongolian people has changed very little since the ancient times of the great warlord Genghis Khan.

Highlights include… Kharhorin - ancient capital of Genghis Khan in 1220. Erdene Zuu - the longest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Tsenher - a valley of hot mineral springs. Perfect after a day’s riding. Lake Hovsgol - one of the world’s

cleanest lakes which contains 2% of the world’s fresh water supplies. Selenge Valley - the mighty Selenge River flows from western Mongolia to Lake Baikal in Siberia. Ulaanbaatar - Mongolia’s capital city where modern and ancient Mongolia come together. Ger Camps - enjoy the hospitality of a staying in a traditional Ger camp.

TOUR PRICE Motorcycle rider AUD$9999. 4x4 passenger AUD$7250.

Price includes motorbike hire, or a seat in our 4WDs, motorbike fuel, all accommodation during tour, all meals and a fantastic adventure! – airfares are additional.

Touring Mongolia since 2007

From raglan to mongolia

drivers had put up. Inside it there would be a big table, chairs and everything. Then Boldera and Nada would come out with this fantastic food – it was just amazing. For me the crew made the trip.”

“The food for the whole trip was bloody amazing. Mike and Angela had said the food was a bit basic, but I loved it. There were hearty casseroles when we stayed at the ger camps, and, for lunches and when we camped, our own cook made excellent food like burgers and spaghetti bolognaise.”

Wing man

While everyone else in the group rode Yamaha WRFs, Alan, a Honda a cionado, opted to ride the only one available, a trusty XR400. With his excellent wheelstanding skills on show at every opportune moment, and because mechanic Buyan had ridden for Honda as a motocrosser, Alan became a bit of a favourite with the crew.

then put in a very large pressure cooker which looks a bit like a cream can. Then cut-up mutton, vegetables, and water are added and the whole thing is sealed under pressure for a few hours. The general consensus was ‘delicious’. Some drinking and arm wrestling, complete with mutton-greasy hands, nished o a great evening.

Mixed bag

As well as lead rider Munko and Mike Britton riding sweep, the group included an assortment of Kiwis from

Christchurch to Kerikeri, a couple of Aussies, and even one Brit. Just to provide a cultural bridge was Kev, a Brit-Aussie, from who the bikes were hired. Kev said he loved going riding with the Mike and Angela’s customers because they know how to ride. There were many laughs during the tour, and lots of goodnatured banter between the Kiwis and Aussies and there seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to pick on Ant, the lone Brit, too much.

On the nal night, after a celebratory dinner with most of the crew, some friends of young Bolor took everyone out and about on the town. Oh the stories that could be told about that night!

But what happens on tour, stays on tour…unless it ends up on Facebook!

“The riding was great! Fantastic! Bloody brilliant!” bellowed Hall.

“Really though, you need to go and experience it for yourself.”

“The drivers, even though they couldn’t speak English, would come and pat me on the back and say ‘Honda, good!’, and give me a thumbs-up sign. Yeah, I reckon me and the XR were the crew favourites!”

Ring ins

Towards the end of the trip some other Mongolians – friends of Munko’s – joined the tour. Angela and Mike knew some of them, including Oggi the former champion sumo wrestler, and Batsaikhan, a bit of a dude in a Mongolian SnoopDogg kind of way. At the ger camp these guys arranged to cook a traditional Mongolian meal called Khorhog. It’s a bit like a hangi because rocks, heated by re, are used to cook the food. The rocks are

This pic: Nomadic settlements are dotted across the steppes. Below: In the middle of nowhere would be a dining tent with a big table, chairs and everything.

The anywhere bed.

Helinox Cot One is a camp stretcher that rede nes lightweight overnight comfort

Cot One gets you comfortably up off the ground – away from sharp rocks, uneven ground, crawling critters and unhealthy dampness. Add the optional extension leg kit for extra room to stow gear underneath.

Move up to the next level of comfort. Wake up relaxed & refreshed, ready for a new day’s adventure!

KTM 2017

Adventures

KTM’s released its new agship 1290 Super Adventure R and the sting-in-the-tail 1090 Adventure R. If you’re a fan of the Austrian bikes, grab on to your trouser weiner and look out for bones. Everything’s about to get very exciting.

This is going to be fast and furious.

The international media release of the new KTM adventure bikes was a massive production held here in Australia, and moto journalists from a stack of di erent countries worked in shifts to ride the bikes between huge, luxurious

Above: This is it. With a 160 horsepower and a suite of electronics that works well, the 1290 Super Adventure R is a powerful off-road weapon.

dining extravaganzas and some very involved and technical presentations. At the end of it all we were only able to get the briefest taste of what was on o er…with the bikes. We sco ed like pigs at the dinners.

All new

The focus of attention for every54 advridermag.com.au

Above: This new headlight is touted as the signature look of the current bikes.

Right: The 昀氀agship of the adventure 昀氀eet. State-of-the-art electronics with KTM’s competition development make it a scorcher.

Below right: The TFT dash on the 1290 is stunning. It can be tilted to suit the rider’s view. The 1090 has the same instrument set up as the 1190.

one, journalists and KTM sta ers alike, was the 1290 Super Enduro R, and that’s no surprise. While the previous line up of KTM adventurers proved incredibly capable – especially the 1190 – the competition had raised the stakes a tad. The 1290 is KTM’s leveller.

With a whopping 160 horespower and 140Nm of torque from the 1301cc, 75-degree V-twin, the big KTM is right up there with the heaviest hitters at the glamour end of today’s adventure-bike market. Dry weight is 217kg, which is pretty damn good, and means cracking open the throttle gets a very swift and hugely satisfying result.

KTM 1290 Super Adventure R

Rec retail: TBA. Web: ktm.com/au

Bike specs

Engine type: Four-stroke, liquid-cooled, 75-degree V-twin

Displacement: 1301cc

Bore/stroke: 108mm x 71mm

Power: 118kW (160hp) @ 8750rpm

Torque: 140Nm at 6750rpm

Compression ratio: 13.1:1

Starter/battery: Electric starter/12V 11.2Ah

Transmission: Six gears

Fuel system: Keihin EFI (throttle body 52mm)

Control: 4/DOHC

Lubrication: Pressure lubrication with three Eaton pumps

Primary drive: 40:76

Final drive: 17:42

Clutch: PASC slipper clutch, hydraulically operated

Engine management/ignition: Keihin EMS with RBW, double ignition

Traction control: TC (four-mode, disengageable)

A couple of other interesting features are a Power Assist Slipper Clutch (PASC) which helps with smooth downshifts, but also makes for an incredibly light pull at the lever, and a lightweight crank that helps o er a very responsive motor all around.

Electronics are all the rage at the moment, and the 1290 has its fair share: lean-angle sensitive ABS and traction control, four rider modes, tyre-pressure monitoring and an immobiliser are all impressive, as is the TFT display dash, which is incredibly easy to read and can even be tilted to suit the rider’s viewing-angle preference

Capping it all o is Quickshifter + allowing silky gear changes without the clutch or throttle adjustment.

It’s a smooth-running, comfortable, sharp-looking bike from top to bottom. Best of all, it’s awesome to ride.

Improved

We’re going to do a little journalistic stretching here and say the 1090 Adventure R is the next incarnation in the evolution of the 1190.

We actually don’t think KTM will mind us saying that, even though the 1090 is technically a new model.

There’s a lot that’s very familiar about the 1090. The dash is the same as the 1190 for starters, so is the menu and electronics. There are new shapes in the windscreen and some of the plastics, but it has a comfortable, welcome feel for anyone used to the 1190.

The 1050cc V-twin motor in the 1090 snorts out 125 horsepower and 109Nm of torque in a package that weighs in at around 207kg.

Frame: Chromium-molybdenum trellis frame, powder coated

Front suspension: WP-USD Ø48mm

Rear suspension: WP shock absorber

Suspension travel front/rear: 220mm/220mm

Brake front: Two Brembo four-piston, radially mounted caliper brakes. Disc Ø320mm

Brake rear: Brembo two-piston, xed-caliper brakes. Disc Ø267mm

ABS: Bosch 9M+ Combined-ABS (including Cornering ABS and o road mode, disengageable)

Wheels (front/rear): Spoked wheels with aluminium tubeless rims 2.50 x 21 inch and 4.50 x 18 inch

Fuel capacity: 23 litres (3.5 litre reserve)

Ground clearance: 250mm

Seat height: 890mm

Wheelbase: 1580mm ± 15mm

Dry weight: 217kg

ktm 2017 adventures

The bike runs on the same 21-inch/ 18-inch, spoked front and rear wheels as its 1290 stablemate. The PASC does the bizzo for gear changes and the tank holds 23 litres, same as the 1290.

There are a lot of similarities between the two bikes of course, and just looking at the spec sheet might leave a potential buyer wondering how to decide between the two. Believe it or not, the answer’s simple. Just ride them. They’re very di erent bikes in the real world.

Chalk

Another thing we need to make clear here is we spent way more time on the 1090 than the 1290.

There were a few reasons for that, and we won’t bore you with them, but keep it mind as we roll out these opinions. The good news is KTM noticed our dilemma and has promised we’ll get more time on the 1290 in the near future (yes!).

Meanwhile, we mounted up on the 1090 and found a compact, sharp-handling bike that was a pleasure to ride in every respect. After handling big dualsporters for so long we nd it natural to back o for rocks, edges and potholes because these bikes normally can’t handle rough treatment of that nature.

The 1090 did.

It did way better than just coping. It revelled in tough going. The harder we pushed it the better it performed. The motor is incredibly smooth for a V-twin, the clutch is light as a feather and gearbox and braking were excellent. We said ‘compact’, but we mean more than just ‘small’. The 1090 has a very solid, stable feel that inspired a lot of con dence and which gave the impression it was ready to be slammed into and over just about anything.

It wasn’t just us who thought that, it seems. From what we saw, Chris Birch did slam into and over everything. He also roosted around, pulled insane stoppies, and jumped on to and o of all sorts of things. Of course, he did that on the 1290 as well, but we were so

Main: The 1090 isn’t really ‘the little brother’. It feels light and easy-to-ride, and it gives the impression of being a very tough customer. We felt there’d be plenty of riders who’d probably still prefer the 1090.

impressed we had to say something.

For the hard chargers in the KTM customer database, for those who truly thrive on that competition-inspired performance KTM loves so much, the 1090 is a perfect choice.

Cheese

Jumping from the 1090 to the 1290 was a very interesting experience.

Straight away that big TFT dash o ers a wealth of information, the polish and re nement of the whole bike is luxurious, and the muted growl of the bigger motor lls a rider’s heart with promise. Twisting the throttle ful ls the promise as the bike moves quietly and e ortlessly away, feeling substantially heavier and larger and than it’s smaller-capacity sibling.

That’s not a criticism of the 1290, it’s just pointing out the di erent feel of the bikes, and trying to underline there’s a clear choice for potential owners to make.

Controls on the 1290 are a lot more involved as well. Cruise control is on the left-hand switchblock – there’s no cruise control on the 1090 – there’s a snazzy phone pocket with USB charging behind the Battlestar Galactica headlight, lighting is all LED and includes cornering lights, switching and menus are di erent, and of

Above: Brothers in arms. KTM’s new Adventure line is spearheaded by the 1090 Adventure R and 1290 Super Adventure R. There’s a more road-focussed version of the 1290 available as well, designated with an ‘S’.

Right: Everyone wants to know if the 1090 is a step up from the 1190. We think so.

Below right: All the bikes at the media release were 昀椀tted with optional Akro pipes and enduro footpegs. Nice!

course the modes are a far cry from the seemingly more basic o erings on the 1090.

The bikes share so much, it’s hard to accept how di erent they feel. The 1290 gives the impression of being far more comfortable and seems way more than 10kg heavier, and the up-specced electronics mean a rider can tune the bike with a much narrower focus. In our short time we thought the modes in the standard con guration – without us altering anything –worked well, but we’d need more time and experimentation to be sure.

We don’t need any more time to know how good it felt to select ‘Sport’ and start driving the bike deep into corners.

Yee-hah. That mode works awesome.

We were unhappy with the front end of the 1290. So many people had ridden the bike before we climbed on board, and they’d all been clicking and tweaking away like madmen, so we don’t feel we can make a judgement except to say that in our very short ride the forks were soft and bottomed out way too easily. They’re the same forks as the 1090, so we’ll see how the next ride goes when we’ll have time to fool around with settings and tuning.

More to come

After an all-to-brief run on the two new KTM adventure bikes we’re left with the impression of two di erent bikes, both awesome in their own way, and both very likely to be at the leading edge of performance in their category. We really liked the 1090 for the way it seemed to thrive on tough going, and we really liked the 1290 for it’s polished, modern feel and well-sorted electronics.

Conversely, we found the 1090 very comfortable on the road and wouldn’t hesitate to cover serious long-distance on one, and short of an enduro, there’s nothing we wouldn’t expect the 1290 to handle as far as challenging terrain goes.

Maybe we just need one of each.

That’d be ne with us.

We’ll have a more detailed look at the 1290 as soon as we can.

KTM 1090 Adventure R

Rec retail: TBA. Web: ktm.com/au

Bike specs

Engine type: Four-stroke, liquid-cooled, 75-degree V-twin

Displacement: 1050cc

Bore/stroke: 103mm x 63mm

Power: 92kW (125hp) @ 8500rpm

Torque: 109Nm at 6500rpm

Compression ratio: 13.0:1

Starter/battery: Electric starter/12V 11.2Ah

Transmission: Six gears

Fuel system: Keihin EFI (throttle body 52mm)

Control: 4/DOHC

Lubrication: Pressure lubrication with three Eaton pumps

Primary drive: 40:76

Final drive: 17:42

Clutch: PASC slipper clutch, hydraulically operated

Engine management/ignition: Keihin EMS with RBW, double ignition

Traction control: TC (four-mode, disengageable, including O road mode)

Frame: Chromium-molybdenum trellis frame, powder coated

Front suspension: WP-USD Ø48mm

Rear suspension: WP shock absorber

Suspension travel front/rear: 220mm/220mm

Brake front: Two Brembo four-piston, radially mounted caliper brakes. Disc Ø320mm

Brake rear: Brembo two-piston, xed-caliper brakes. Disc Ø267mm

ABS: Bosch 9M+ two-channel (disengageable, including O road mode)

Fuel capacity: 23 litres (3.5 litre reserve)

Ground clearance: 250mm

Seat height: 890mm

Wheelbase: 1580mm ± 15mm

Dry weight: 207kg

XRallye BMW R1200GS

What could be done to improve the R1200GS? Make it more nimble? Give it more suspension? Allow riders to ne-tune modes? Maybe a new, hot-rod look? It’s all been done on the new Rallye X.

For 2017 BMW o ers four R1200GS variants (plus the R 1200 GS Adventure):

R R1200GS

R R1200GS Tour

R R1200GS Rallye

R R1200GS Rallye X

The R1200GS is the base model and, depending on what a customer is looking for, they can option up any of these to full speci cation. It’s important to note only the Rallye X can be supplied with the longer-travel Sports Suspension feature.

Having ridden the new bikes, we feel the Rallye X steals the show in the biggest possible way.

Over all

The bikes in the new GS range naturally share some common traits. The good ol’ boxer engine with a new catalytic converter o ers 125hp at 7750 rpm, which may seem a little conservative compared to current trends, but ‘horsepower’ is a very rubbery gure taken on its own. Riding style and torque gures need to be taken into account, and the Beemer motor has more power than most riders – unless they’re very exceptional – will ever need or be able to use, and it’s delivered in a very friendly manner.

Above: The base model R1200GS is a great bike, especially for riders who prefer minimal electronics. On- and off-road it’s very capable and comfortable.

The bikes all have a new look that includes some bold styling and colour options, and there’s a few seat heights and variants on o er.

BMW says there’s a ‘signi cantly wider spread of model variations from the basic version to the re ned R1200GS Rallye X’. There’s also the latest generation of Dynamic ESA: automatic damping mode and automatic self-levelling suspension.

Riding modes have had a tune up as well, with DTC (Dynamic Traction Control), Hill Start Control and the new customisable modes Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro as optional equipment on the entry model and Rallye, while

standard on the Rallye X and Tour.

We said ‘good ol’ boxer engine’, but in fact it was only 2013 when the GS received the water-cooled boxer. It was a totally new motor, at the same time the shaft drive swapped sides, the fuel mixture now ows vertically and the six-speed gearbox is integrated into the engine housing with a wet clutch.

All up that gives a more compact feel to the motor, and for a bike of this capacity, it feels incredibly agile.

Modes

On the base-model bike ASC (automatic stability control) looks after traction

control, and Road and Rain modes allow the rider to choose a set of characteristics to suit on road from wet to dry conditions.

With the Ride Modes Pro option, there are two more modes, a third road mode called Dynamic and the o -road mode, Enduro. These two new modes can be changed with the inclusion of a coded plug which is stored under the seat. ‘Dynamic’ steps up to ‘Dynamic Pro’ and ‘Enduro’ to ‘Enduro Pro’. There are some key di erences with the pro versions. For example, Enduro Pro allows the rear brake to be locked while retaining ABS on the front brake. On top of this the Pro

Left: The new GSs are all good, but it’s the off-road capability of the Rallye X, due largely to the suspension, that won us over.

Above: The optioned-up R1200GS Tour was a plush-o ride with heaps of comfort and high-end accessories.

designation allows the rider to ne tune the settings within the parameters of the modes. Where Enduro mode o ers the more relaxed Rain setting for the throttle for instance, a rider with Enduro Pro could elect to change that to the more direct, shorter-pull Road throttle setting.

The Dynamic mode set-up is for direct throttle response, while a reduced level of DTC intervention allows some drifting. As before, ABS is set to Road, and with Dynamic ESA the bike is in a very sporty con guration. In Dynamic Pro the rider can select and combine throttle response and DTC regulation to suit personal preferences.

We have to say here we found the modes bang on for their intended purpose. If we owned the bike we doubt we’d be too concerned about changing those parameters. Both Rain and Road on the standard GS suited us just ne, and we were entirely comfortable with the Enduro mode for just about

everything short of extremes like deep sand and steep hills. Still, the options are there for those who want them, and given more time with the bike we may nd a tweak here and there would work well.

The big deal

We rode the base model and the Tour, and those bikes were nice. But we love to go o -road, and in the snot and tough going the Rallye X leaves the others standing. The key is the upgraded suspension. It has more travel due to the GSA struts and the GSA telelever arm. Dynamic ESA is also tuned to take advantage of this extra travel, giving more ground clearance and a plusher ride. On top of this the Rallye X receives spoked wheels, a shorter screen, radiator guards, wider footpegs and no centrestand as icing on the Black Forest cake.

All the models have the things BMW riders love – heated grips, an exceptional level of comfort, tyre-pressure monitoring

Above: The boxer-twin still does the bizzo in the best possible way. It feels more compact than ever, and power delivery is strong and manageable. Below: Braking is absolutely superb, and BMW still leads the pack with its ABS and traction-control packages. The other manufacturers are catching up fast, but we think BMW still has the edge.

Bike specs

Web: www.bmwmotorrad.com.au.

Engine type: DOHC, four-valve-per-cylinder, boxer twin

Displacement: 1170cc

Bore/stroke: 10mm x 73mm

Compression ratio: 12.5:1

Rated output: 92kW (125hp) at 7750rpm

Maximum torque: 125Nm at 6500 rpm

Carburation: BMS-X

Emission control: Closed-loop, three-way catalytic converter, exhaust standard EU4

Starter: Electric 0.9kW

Clutch: Anti-hopping wet clutch

Transmission: Constant-mesh six-speed

Rear-wheel drive: Universal shaft

Frame: Tubular-steel bridge, self-supporting engine

Front suspension: BMW Telever

Rear suspension: BMW EVO Paralever

Brake front: Hydraulically operated twin disc Ø305mm

Brake rear: Single disc Ø276mm

Fuel capacity: 20 litres

Width including mirrors: 953mm

Seat height: 850mm/870mm. Rallye X +20mm

Total length: 2207mm

Wheelbase: R1200GS 1507mm. Rallye X 1496

Weight, road-ready: 244kg

and so forth – and that makes them a pleasure to ride, especially over long distances, but it’s the o -road performance of the Rallye X that got us so excited.

To BMW’s credit, rough handling was encouraged during our review ride. The forests around Woods Point in Victoria o ered shitty, rocky hill climbs, slick red clay, some berserk road sections and everything from log crossings to a downhill that would’ve been taken seriously on an enduro bike. The only thing we didn’t see were deepwater crossings. And while all the models went around the course without any real concerns, the Rallye X felt like it destroyed the terrain and was crying out to be pushed

BMW R1200GS

harder all the time. It o ered a level of con dence and assurance the other bikes just couldn’t match.

It was none to shabby on the bitumen either, and features like cruise control and the feel of the Road setting made both the sport and touring riding a total pleasure. Braking was insanely good, and the feel to the rider, even on the tar with the Continental TKC80 knobbies, was exceptional. The Quickshift feature allowing clutchless gear changes had us frothing on the tar sections, but also allowed impossibly seamless changes, up and down, on rough going when the pressure was on. Does it seem like we’re struggling to nd words to tell you how the good the Rallye X is?

We are.

It’s a dead-set screamer of an adventure bike, on- and o -road, and, at $27,250 plus on-roads and dealer charges, we’re going to be raving about it for a long time.

Accessories

There’s not much we need to say about accessories for the R1200GS. BMW pretty much wrote the book. Panniers, navigation, di erent seats…just about everything that stores, ties and guards is available. Get to a dealer and have a look, or log on to the BMW website for details.

Whatever you do, if you’re thinking of upgrading to a new, big-capacity adventure bike, make sure you ride the new GSs. If you’re keen on tackling real o -road, if you want the joy of a truly exceptional bike that’s well capable of levelling really tough terrain, plant your backside on a Rallye X for a test ride.

You’ll thank us if you do.

Many brands of equipment available ph. 1300 883 908 info@adventuremotorcycle.com.au Fyshwick, Canberra

Above: We reckon the Rallye X is the star of the new R1200GS range.

Major

In issue #21 three riders followed the trail of Major Thomas Mitchell who, as a government surveyor, led an expedition searching for new farmlands throughout NSW and Victoria in 1836. Bad weather called an early halt to the attempt, but the riders weren’t to be denied. They nished the trail…and now Ray Lindner nishes the story.

It was never our intention to serialise this trip, but when the heavens opened in Harrow, Victoria, last April we simply had to postpone our journey of discovery until a later date. Our group had a change on this second leg of the trip as Mark was unable to take leave. The third rider joining me on my Tiger XC and Andrew on his BMW 800ST was Leigh Wilkins on his 800GSA.

Once Leigh knew he was coming on the ride he researched Mitchell and the trail to the point where he knew even more about both the man and the trail than we did. Added to that

Words: Ray Lindner. Images Leigh Wilkins, Andrew Percy and Ray Lindner.

was Leigh being a guru when it comes to plotting a course and nding trails.

Catching up

Together with Leigh’s skills was a fabulous nd by Andrew: a touring book titled Victoria’s Great Outdoors that included a turn-by-turn drive of The Major Mitchell Trail and more maps.

This was a great addition to our trove of information.

Like the other publication we’d been using, this book was also out of print, and nding parts of the trail would’ve been far more di cult without the out-of-print information we’d gathered.

Leigh and his GSA set o many days before Andrew and I. He wanted to ride the section we’d done so he had more of a feel for what Major Mitchell and his party had accomplished back in 1836. Not only did he ride what we’d previously ridden, he rode as much as

he could locate of the route Mitchell had used after leaving Orange in NSW. When the three of us assembled at The Hermitage Hotel in Harrow in early December Leigh had lots to share about his ride following in Mitchell’s footsteps in both NSW and Victoria.

Down time

Our rst day took us from Harrow to Portland, a riding distance of just on 280km, and this day had more twists and turns than a Harry Potter novel. Andrew set o on bitumen to meet with Leigh and I in Casterton. We followed the trail which presented us with varying riding surfaces including deep sand. We seemed to be continually turning onto di erent trails and roads, and along the way we came across an old bridge over Pigeon Ponds Creek on Koolomurt Road. This bridge may have been in use by an occasional farmer, but it’d u

Below: It’s almost a shock to see just how big an adventure bike is when you add panniers and camping gear and lay it on its side. Below left: The story began in issue #21.

major mitchell trail: part 2

long been retired from general tra c. It certainly was a little shaky!

Prior to reaching Casterton, Leigh and I were riding in an area known as Wando Bridge. This was a pleasant gravel ride through some undulating country not far o the Glenelg Highway. Leigh was just ahead when he came upon a minor causeway crossing the Wando River. There was just 60mm of water over the concrete so, ‘No problem!’ right?

I was kind of glad he got there before me as the bike went out from under him. He had a lot of trouble just trying to stand up. The concrete was covered in slime and lifting the bike back onto its wheels was a challenge.

What a surprise this crossing was. I think many people would’ve done just what Leigh did and ridden straight in. I know I would’ve.

We got the bike out and found a better track for me to ride through.

When we look at the photo of this downed bike it’s almost a shock to see just how big an adventure bike is when you add panniers and camping gear.

Cave in

Moving on, we met a farmer who knew all about the slime on the causeway as cars had slid o it in the past. He invited us to ride on to his property to a point where Mitchell had camped.

After meeting up with Andrew in

Casterton for lunch we had to leave him again and arrange another rendezvous. This happened on almost every section of this second part of the trail which had lots of tracks unsuitable for the 800ST – although Andrew did ride some gravel here and there. Leigh and I were disappointed we didn’t get to share those rides with him.

We’d read about sections where Mitchell’s party had trouble getting through deep sand and maybe we struck the same area. We were on our way through to Nelson when we really had to battle. My bike laid down for a rest on two occasions but there was no damage done – not even to pride. Although di cult, this is what we were after: adventure!

Realising there was probably going to

It’d be impossible to 昀椀nd the trail relying on signs directing to the next turn.

be extensive sand riding, tyre pressures were dropped, feet were dragged (have we no shame?) and eventually we were through safely to a sealed road at Princess Margaret Rose Caves, close to the South Australian border. I had no idea this tourist attraction even existed, so it could be worth a visit at another time.

Out of sight

We rode into Dartmoor where Mitchell had camped at the convergence of Glenelg and Crawford rivers. It was a great campground, but we kept moving after viewing cypress trees carved into di erent animal and human forms.

Brie y crossing the border back into Victoria we rode into Nelson at the mouth of the Glenelg River. It was

Left: This bridge may have been in use by an occasional farmer, but it’d long been retired from general traf昀椀c.

Above: Mitchell’s party had trouble getting through deep sand.

Approaching Nelson, the riders did too.

rather a sleepy little place, but the river is really beautiful.

The rst day’s ride had disclosed a few tourist signs pointing to the trail, but we believed it’d be impossible to nd the trail relying on signs directing to the next turn. We believed there should have been more signboards than we’d seen, and in Nelson we learned some signs had deteriorated or been damaged and simply removed by local authorities.

With no booklets or maps available to the public and signs deteriorating and/or being removed, it’s clear that without action Victoria’s rst-ever Heritage Trail is fast becoming ‘The Vanishing Trail’.

Need a lava

Our overnight stop was in Portland, a very beautiful area.

Leigh and I rode into the camp park sometime after Andrew who had set up and was washing his bike. It hadn’t even seen any dust!

Okay, it looked quite smart. In his defence it was clear he’d ridden into a massive swarm of fat bugs that splattered both bike and rider.

Next morning we were o to Cape Nelson lighthouse with another monument to Mitchell close by. The lighthouse area is well worth riding the few kilometres out of town

Riding in an area known as Byaduk – there’s no town there – we found ourselves on Old Crusher Road, no doubt an area where there was once a crushing plant. There are huge mounds of lava rocks which, we agreed with Mitchell, looked as if they must’ve been dumped in heaps by mankind. In fact they were left by volcanic events in past times. They’re the amazing Tumuli Lava Blisters.

The blisters can also be seen on the edge of the Harman’s Valley Flow at Wallacedale, 13km west of Byaduk Caves on the Old Crusher Road. u

A 10 day adventure ride re-tracing the expedition o f Burke & Wills from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpent aria

major mitchell trail: part 2

Much of the ride had been done standing on the ’pegs

The road-makers must have torn down a Mitchell Trail sign and replaced it with a bright new one.

Small group motorcycle adventures Overnight through to custom expeditions

Peak condition

Near an area known as Hotspur we came upon a viewing spot over an extensive plain. Signs advised it was one of the largest volcanic plains in the world. It’s simply amazing what we’ve learned about our home State while riding this trail. Research even told us there was a lava blister in Williamstown, Victoria, which is about four kilometres from home.

Before going to a great camping park in Dunkeld we rode to check out Mount Abrupt in the Southern Grampians. This was signi cant as Mitchell was the rst European to climb several peaks within the Grampians.

We made a visit to the local Tourism Victoria o ce where they con rmed they had no information whatsoever on The Major Mitchell Trail. However, what we did learn was the State government is building a walking path to be known as The Grampians Peaks Trail that will take in the Major Mitchell Plateau. We can only hope the walkers will learn about Mitchell while doing the 13-day, 12-night walking adventure. So far $26 million has been spent and there’s still a long way to go. Surely a little can be found for the Major Mitchell Trail?

Lava blisters are huge mounds of lava rocks which looked as if they must’ve been dumped in heaps by mankind. In fact they were left by volcanic events in past times.

Talk it up

Riding out next morning we visited a Mitchell monument at Glen Thompson and hit some dirt riding on Stavely, Drysdale, Lalkaldarno and Maroona Roads to Willaura, an area Mitchell travelled through. He wrote in his journal “...a land more favourable for colonization could not be found.”

It was in this area we met a local character keen for us to ride to his workshop and view his motorcycle restoration projects consisting of several Triumphs and a Matchless. He was an interesting guy, and as I can’t recall his name I’ll call him Mr Have-a-chat. He certainly knew his bikes and had a lot to tell us, but we had to take our leave if we were to reach the destination planned for that day.

Food for thought

It was mainly gravel from Willaura to Buangor on the newly duplicated carriageway on the Western Highway.

The road-makers must have torn down a Mitchell Trail sign and replaced it with a bright new one which leads to a Mitchell monument and out-of-date information sheet. There are no further signs to show the route from there.

Buangor looks to be dying now the highway has passed by. There was a great old Cobb & Co building that looked to have been turned into accommodation. Unfortunately it’ll struggle now, as it’s not visible from the re-aligned highway.

Fortunately the information we’d gathered allowed us to continue, albeit with one or two wrong turns. Some deep sand on what was a well-formed farm road gave us some challenges, but we were soon onto better gravel.

The weather was getting quite warm, so after meeting up with Andrew in Talbot we lodged at the pub and got lucky when we were invited to the pre-opening event at a new restaurant in town.

That night was very special indeed. We met some great folk and drank good beer and wine to wash down truly great nger food –of which there was plenty.

What really was amazing was the restaurant having a framed map of The Major Mitchell Trail on the wall.

That night the heavens opened while we were tucked away in our hotel room and it continued into the morning, delaying our departure. But we did ride all day without rain after that.

Memorial

After the rain we rode o to Newstead, where a co ee break was welcomed. We did squib out at a river crossing (‘river’ sounds more serious than the creek it actually was) at Tullaroop Creek, which had a very near vertical exit and was owing rather deep and hard. It was in a close-by area known as Muckelford South we came across an old Ford high up in a tree. This was on a remote track that ultimately dead-ended. There was never going to be a ood powerful enough to put that car in position, so somebody had brought in a signi cant crane to do the job. It must’ve been quite an e ort for a humorous gesture few would see.

After a bit of a giggle and the obligatory photos it was onwards through Expedition Pass (named after Mitchell), Faraday and Kyneton (more monuments) before reaching the Memorial Cross at Mount Macedon. Here we not only got to further appreciate Mitchell’s e ort to reach that point prior to roads, but also to u

major mitchell trail: part 2

re ect on the gallant men and women who have made the ultimate sacri ce during times of con ict. With views that seem to go on forever this is truly a fantastic site for such a memorial.

Missed a bit

Our camp that night was at Nagambie.

We met up with Andrew who’d once again parted from us for much of the day due to the extensive amounts of gravel and mud. Leigh and I certainly had many sections on the ride where our ‘adventure’ bikes were well put to the test. As for driving the trail, there were several parts that wouldn’t be negotiable in a 2WD vehicle, but of course one can bypass sections if needed.

One trail led to areas at the rear of the Australian Army ordnance training area at Puckapunyal, with plenty of signs warning about the possibility of unexploded devices. It wasn’t hard to keep us from crossing the fence line. Surprisingly, this remote roadway did have signs for The Trail.

On this track and others ridden during the day we encountered some water and mud. The water wasn’t very deep and provided a welcome change in riding conditions while some deep mud proved a little much for the street-biased tyres on Leigh’s bike. It was di cult even for the aggressive tyres on the Tiger, so that section was averted.

70 advridermag.com.au

Dirt-oriented bikes are really the choice for this ride.’

After setting up tents in one of the local caravan parks it was o to the Nagambie pub. Great food was served with a choice of ale which was most welcome after a long day where much of the ride had been done standing on the ’pegs.

Great help

The nal day on the trail arrived and most of the terrain was to be gravel tracks, so again Andrew rode on bitumen to meet up with Leigh and I in Wangaratta. By the time we arrived in town Andrew had already checked out the local tourism

Top left: An old Ford high up in a tree near Muckelford South. Quite an effort for a humorous gesture few would see. Right: The 昀椀nish point just outside Howlong. A feeling of accomplishment.

o ce. The sta members at that o ce were simply amazing. One sta er who’d been there at least 15 years quickly produced a lovingly maintained le of information on Major Mitchell in which there was material we’d never seen anywhere else. As she’d recognised that

Some deep sand gave some challenges.

much of the material on le there couldn’t be replaced, and therefore didn’t let it out of the o ce, she ought to receive some sort of award.

The sta obligingly sent some material for copying at a local facility, so we walked away feeling very pleased indeed. We had tourist maps released back in 1990 but not available nowadays.

Enriching

Wangaratta has a close a liation to Mitchell. The main bridge over the Ovens River is actually called ‘The Major Mitchell Bridge’. Mitchell had crossed at this spot on October 15, 1836. In a publication of Wangaratta’s Signi cant Trees there’s an article on a large tree adjacent to the bridge under which it is believed Mitchell camped. Maybe it’s a guess, but it makes a good story anyway.

After fuelling both bodies and bikes we set o on the last leg of our journey, with Andrew once again having to bypass the signi cant dirt sections.

Dirt-oriented bikes are really the choice for this ride.

Apart from reaching the nish point on the Victorian side of the mighty Murray River at Howlong, NSW, the highlight of the afternoon was nding an information shed in the Chiltern Valley.

In an isolated area a tin shed had been built with a couple of open sides and it housed extensive information on the history of the area, including Mitchell’s discoveries. Unlike other information boards seen on the trail, all information in the shed had been protected from the elements and remained in pristine

condition. There was even a Major Mitchell Road nearby, with – you guessed it – another monument.

It was with a great feeling of accomplishment we ended the ride at a small park where the Howlong monument stands.

We’d ridden 1263 kilometres from Harrow to reach that point. There’s no doubt that’s a greater distance than the o cial length of the trail between those towns, but at times we had to search for roads and tracks to nd where the trail continued.

The o cial length of the trail from the rst monument outside Mildura to Howlong is 2100 Km.

Without some action from Victorian

Government authorities we believe Victoria’s rst ever Heritage Trail is doomed. How sad is that when Mitchell’s work was considered to be of such value that 70 monuments were erected in recognition of him and his team?

We’ve started work on trying to ensure the trail and information is revived by writing to our local State member of parliament, and with more work to follow. We can only hope we get some action so others may readily follow this trail of history and discovery.

In terms of increased knowledge of our State’s history and geography, riding The Major Mitchell Trail has been both rewarding and enriching to us all.

sparksBright

Adventure Motorcycle Equipment’s Darin Rowley and a group of like-minded riders headed to the Adventure Travel Film Festival in Bright, Victoria, taking in the high country, a few beers and lots of laughs.

Ipacked my little WR250R with a light camping kit and meandered from Canberra down to Victoria, mapping out some beginner-level trails and a number of technical sections as I went.

A chat with a couple of dog trappers, some rangers and meeting people on the y helped me sort the route, food and good spots for cold beer. With mates Terry Cunningham and Troy Collins I strung together some great tracks on the western side of Blowering Dam and up towards Cabramurra. Terry’s a crack photographer – as you can see on these pages – and we did have to recover his drone at one stage, but that’s a story and a laugh for over a cold beer some other time.

A track with multiple options was marked out and an email to Adventure Motorcycle

Equipment’s customers had about 30 riders ready to go. Richard ‘Richo’ Semmler, a mate of more than 30 years, and Cath McGrail, my assistant, volunteered to drive the support vehicle and be the designated rst aid o cers.

The ingredients were mixed and set to cook up an adventure.

Ready to roll

On a sunny Thursday morning the crew was at the Canberra Aboretum lookout awaiting the riders.

Lead rider Cade Brian, Terry, Cath, Richo and myself were debating if Peter Fenyvesi’s Husky would blow up on the ride – it blew up on the last ride – when Ray Miller on his KTM 1190 arrived, followed by a bright, candy-red Vespa. Cade gave me a quizzical look, but I didn’t know what was going on either.

It turned out Sandra Malnar, on her rst-ever adventure ride, had her Vesper-riding sister seeing her o .

We rounded up the riders, gave

Words: Darin Rowley. Images: TC Photography

Top: A mixed bunch of bikes from 250cc enduro bikes through to Kato 1290 motherships. They sounded good!

Map: Canberra down to Victoria, including beginner-level trails and a number of technical sections.

Above: Sandra got more adventure than she bargained for when her F800GS speared off the edge of the Goldie Spur Track.

Above right The Adventure Travel Film Festival had a very laid-back and relaxed feel about it.

Below: Michael Lawrence (left) tweaked his back. Somebody had to ride that Moto Guzzi Stelvio. Darin (right)ended up enjoying the big bike.

a quick brie ng explaining, among other things, the lead rider/cornerman/sweep system and how Cath was going to man the Super Soaker water pistols when the temperatures hit 40 degrees.

There were looks of disbelief from riders. Water pistols?

We hit the road and I thought to myself, “Always plan that the plan will not go according to plan! Let’s see what adventure presents itself.”

We had a mixed bunch of bikes from 250cc enduro bikes through to Kato 1290 motherships and they sounded good!

Underway and laughing

We headed out of Canberra towards Wee Jasper. Conditions were dry and dusty and the group owed nicely.

Paul Johnston managed to domino Trev Hennocky’s bike and land underneath his own while parking near the Taemus bridge. No-one was hurt and no bikes damaged, but it was still a beerable and laughable o ence.

In the Wee Jasper forest the group split so the experienced riders got to play on more technical terrain before rejoining the rest of the group on the easier trails. Graeme Windsor showed he could handle a bike, hustling his GSA with a big grin. Terry took the lead of the

beginners’ group and gave them an extra, completely unorganised and unplanned loop. The group realised they’d been led in a circle and Terry had to take some funny one-liners on the chin for the rest of the weekend.

Running three or four people per corner meant riders generally ended up in the middle of nowhere talking to complete strangers about important issues such as bikes, tyres, travel, riding and beer. The group was already starting to bond and help each other out. When Richo and the support vehicle turned up with a dislodged spring on the trailer, the riders tipped the trailer on its side and had it xed in no time. Many thanks to Adrian Soligo and Terry for heading up this side-of-the-road repair job.

Temperatures were building, and those who were wary of the water-pistol idea earlier in the day were queuing and demanding their turn.

Cath ripped into the crew with the Super Soaker and, with riders cooled, we rode into Tumut for lunch.

Great day

From Tumut we headed up the western side of Blowering Dam, which was a little

technical. There were some issues with overheated bodies, bikes stuck on hills and a couple of small o s in the mud. Many thanks to Roy Chamberlain, who’d ridden most bikes up the hills by the time I arrived. Fortunately the support vehicle and its cargo of cold water was never far behind in the 40-degree temperatures. The run through the pines along Blowering Dam made us think we were riding in another country, and that had the group buzzing before heading back into the mountains and on to the Elliot Way where the day – which felt like it’d just started – was nearly over. We beelined down the Elliot Way to Corryong and enjoyed cold beer, good showers and a great meal at the Corryong Hotel Motel.

Benambra Spur

The next morning saw a quick briefing outside Corryong’s bottom pub before the group was o towards Lake Dartmouth via the Benambra Spur. It was one of those perfect still mornings made for riding, even though everyone knew the heat was coming and would hit hard.

There were some technical trails for u

Bright sparks

those who wanted them and some owing trails for those who wanted to take it easy. The technical trail had a downhill section that was well commented on by most who did it. I had a little snicker at throwing that one in. That technical trail did lead to the historic Dart River gold eld though, and some old mine workings. It must be mentioned ‘Cheeky Pete’ Sutherland had a touch of the red mist and overtook everyone waiting at a regroup point. He turned up 30 minutes later saying how nice his personal ride had been. Ray and his 1190 went for an unscheduled excursion and before anyone would help him retrieve his bike they all took photos! Ray was de nitely caught in the act.

Among friends

The group got together at the Benambra summit and enjoyed superb views and temperatures in the low 20s. A ranger pointed out topographic features including The Murray Valley, Mt Kosciuszko, Mt Pinnibar, Benambra Valley, Cobberas, Mt Bogong and The Horn. Stories were being thrown left, right and centre and there was quite a bit of chuckling going on. The group had gelled.

We headed into Mitta Mitta for a civil lunch and refuel. Temperatures were hitting close to 40 degrees again, so we beelined across Mountain Creek Road to Tawonga and into Bright, where all riders cleaned up and found their way to the Alpine Hotel for a cold beer.

It was a laugh of an evening and probably a few too many beers were drunk, stories embellished, one-liners dropped and jokes told. The Adventure Travel Film Festival was in full swing and we enjoyed a movie under the stars.

Coincidentally, a number of randoms in town were other like-minded adventure riders. It was a nice place to be.

Personal choice

Saturday the riders chose their own adventure.

A number of riders enjoyed the lm festival. The rest of us went for a gorgeous morning run over Goldie Spur to see some Victorian high-country heaven.

The Goldie Spur jaunt was a hoot. The granite cli s of Mt Bu alo tower above the trail with mountain views and blue sky for as far as the eye can see. Sandra got more adventure than she bargained for when her F800GS speared o the edge of the Goldie Spur Track. Luck was certainly on her side as she only sustained a few bruises.

After winching the BMW about 15m back on to the track, it was trailered home with a bent disc and some cosmetic damage.

One after the other

Temperatures had dropped signi cantly and there was rain on the horizon when Sunday dawned. We followed the Great Alpine Road over the mountains and enjoyed the stunning scenery until we found Terry pulled up with a collapsed rear-wheel bearing on his Africa Twin.

Above: Victorian high-country heaven.

Below: Trevor Hennocky took over sweep duties.

The bike was strapped on to the trailer as the rain started. The support vehicle could t one more small bike on it and one more small person in it. We had about 25 riders heading into the rain with about 130km of muddy dirt.

I remember thinking, “Here comes the adventure!”

We motored on past Benambra up Limestone Road and saw many a skidmark where it shouldn’t have been.

Mud and big-bore bikes with road-biased tyres don’t go well together.

Cheeky Pete had fallen at a low speed, hurt his ankle and was out of the ride. I radioed the support vehicle and let Terry know he’d be riding Pete’s DR650. Pete was to travel in the support vehicle, but took solace in letting Cath and Sandra remove his rain pants. Terry passed on his commiserations, grinned, and then couldn’t get his helmet on quick enough. He took o on the DR650, riding it like he’d stolen it.

Back in the saddle I thought, “What next?”

All change

Next was Michael Lawrence’s Moto Guzzi Stelvio on the deck.

Michael’s a lump of a man and he’d tweaked his back. Unable to continue on

the Guzzi he had to fold his big frame into the back seat of the Land Rover.

Terry was enjoying Cheeky Pete’s DR650 and looked like a squirrell on cocaine. Sandra jumped out of the support vehicle and o ered to ride my WR250R. That left me with the very heavy Guzzi to steer through the mud.

“Here’s the adventure,” I thought.

Sandra was shaking with nervousness as she’d binned her bike in a big way the day before and I was tentative about the piloting the big, heavy Guzzi in the challenging conditions.

Jindy

Trevor Hennocky and Scott Bridgement took over sweeping and I started to mop!

I pulled up 10km further on and grinned at Michael – the Guzzi’s owner – and beamed, “I get it!” I had a ball on that bike.

Sandra and I stopped at the lookout on the northern end of the Barry Way and laughed. We’d both had great rides and some real adventure.

The support vehicle pulled up and found us all in in good spirits. We motored into Jindabyne where the ride nished and heard how other riders had also enjoyed the day.

Epilogue

The bulk of the riders had a ball on this Adventure Motorcycle Equipment customer/social ride and the Adventure Travel Film Festival had a very laid-back and relaxed feel about it.

Sandra’s bike is being repaired and Sandra was very lucky to get away without major injury. Cheeky Pete ended up with a strange fracture in his ankle and a broken smaller bone just below his knee. He was heading into surgery at the time of writing this and will be out of action for six weeks. It was his rst major motorcycling injury in 50 years of riding.

The lesson from the above accidents is for riders to stay on their game. If signals of fatigue are creeping in, stop, rest and charge up with some snacks and a drink. Another thought which should be remembered is: “If you think you’re riding too fast, then you are”. Riding doesn’t feel fast when everything is right.

Terry begrudgingly gave Cheeky Pete’s DR650 back and replaced his Africa Twin rear-wheel bearings. Michael took the Guzzi into Jindabyne and his back came good over the next few days.

Scott summed it up by saying, “I love this adventure-motorcycling caper so much more than shing or golf. The big stories are generally true and you see the country one bend at a time.”

The Adventure Motorcycle Equipment team thanks all the riders for joining a great social ride.

Images: Wilkinson Photography

Imake no secret of my deep awe where the long-term Ducati’s concerned, and it’s a source of some irritation to me that I’ve been gifted access to what I believe to be a truly exceptional and exotic motorcycle, and I spend all my time at my desk wishing I could be out riding it.

Facing a very tight schedule – there were new bikes needed riding all over creation and a deadline looming – I saw a few consecutive days on the year planner that, with a little rm insistence on my part, could be blocked out as ‘Ducati Days’.

The designated dates arrived long before I was ready, and with a pounding heart I climbed on board the idling beast and snicked it into gear.

Ducati’s

to

Choose from the menu

Adventure Rider Magazine’s editor stole away for couple of days on Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 Enduro. A valuable lesson was learned on how di erent riding modes can turn a great ride into a sensational one.

I live on the coast, so east is pretty much out of the question. North is ne but it takes a long time to get anywhere. South is the same. West means I’m on the dirt within a few kilometres of the front gate and the bitumen I do strike is the kind Ducati dreams are made of.

I had my swag strapped to the back and, thanks to the panniers seeming to hold impossible amounts of gear, an amazing amount of luggage that included plenty of co ee and sugar, tools, camera gear, some magazines, a change of undies and a few bits and pieces of warm clothing.

Even then the panniers weren’t full.

1200 Enduro is a

in just about any situation, especially if a rider takes the time to learn the menu options.

Above: Red desert dust is a challenge on a bike as big as this one, but it’s a rewarding exercise to make it through.

I had no real plan, no GPS and no map. For a few days I’d live the adventureriding dream.

Trust the bike

Heading west is always a good option for me.

Curious to see what I could get away with, I chucked in some chain lube, a sel e-stick, a jumper, a few spare straps, a towel, a ground sheet and a chair(!), and it still seemed there was room for more.

Hmm.

Of course, all that weight over the rear meant there was a bit of a pendulum feeling about the back end of the bike,

u

Words: TF. Images: Wilko and TF

Left:

Multistrada

pleasure

ride

choose From the menu

and it was especially noticeable on the rst set of bitumen mountain bends.

I was a little disappointed. I enjoy a good scratch on the tar and I knew the Ducati excelled in that environment, so although I was looking forward to lots of comfort when I stopped, the weight of the luggage made the bike a bit swishy and to some extent took the shine o my fun.

Then I remembered how much tuning was available on this particular bike.

Above: It was one of those rides where the stopping was as good as the riding.

Below: We’ve loved the dashboard display on this bike since the very 昀椀rst time we saw it. Everything’s easy to see and in plain English. In the red square it says ‘SIDE STAND’ and the bike’s clearly in Sport mode. It’s 1.30pm, there’s about two-thirds of a tank of fuel and the preload on the shock is set for a single rider. There’s heaps more info available, but that’s good to have at glance.

I’m not a fan of lots of ddling about, but I thought I may as well give it a try. If there was an improvement to be made I’d be a goose to not take advantage of it.

I pulled over and started working through the menu options until I found a graphic that showed helmets – one, two or three of them.

I selected the two-helmet option and instantly had the strange sensation of feeling the height of the rear adjust as I sat there.

I took o and enjoyed all the re nement the Ducati heritage had built into that bike’s ability to carve up a mountain road. It’s not easy to describe the way the 1200 scalpels its way along winding bitumen. It’s built to do it, and the only way to appreciate how good it is is to experience it.

Even some rain couldn’t take the shine o things. The traction control and ABS dealt with the hairy moments. All I had to do was pick lines and enjoy. The bike

made sure I stayed smooth, and I bet I looked damn good, too.

Stop and think

Looping around some Secret Squirrel dirt roads had me quickly reaching for the menu button again.

I’d ridden the rst part of the journey in Sport mode and had a ball, but the safety margin o ered by the electronics on the asphalt was soon frustrating on the dirt. The traction control would get fussy on even small corrugations and the ABS was making things just plain boring.

I dived into the menu again. Almost literally, as it happened.

I knew the menu could be changed on the y so I didn’t bother pulling up. Unfortunately, because I didn’t know the menu all that well, I was squinting down at the dash watching the graphics change when a situation that needed my input caught my attention just a little later than was comfortable. The ensuing emergency stop and straight-line panic run into an empty paddock meant I ended up stationary anyway, thanks to the electronics still upright, so I icked through the menu, selected Enduro and headed o , once again thoroughly enjoying the exceptional performance of a bike built for exceptional performance. Having shown its obvious prowess on the road it proceeded to demonstrate just how lively and exciting it could be o the road as well.

Doesn’t matter

The rest of the day went pretty much like that. I stopped at places that caught my eye for co ee or even just for the plea-

Images: Wilkinson Photography

Left: Sand is one of the few times it becomes necessary to override the electronics. The Enduro setting will have the bike performing well in most off-road situations, but the traction control needs to be off to cope with this kind of running.

Above: The panniers will take a big load. No red dust or rain made it’s way in either side. They’re great units.

kilometres on the highway was a gift on a bike like this one.

I settled back into the incredibly comfortable seat, moved the screen up to its highest position, punched a good speed into the cruise control and sat back to enjoy the desert rolling by. It could’ve been 60kph for all the di erence it made to the bike.

Right: The bug splatter gives an idea how far the panniers stick out into the breeze. Even with the extra drag, and some reasonably long sections at high speed, range was still around 450km per tank.

Below: Gotta love riding east as the sun rises. It was just about time to drop the tinted visor on the Nexx.

sure of being there and soaking up some free time in a fabulous location. When interesting bits of road presented themselves I switched to Sport mode and let the bike have its head. On long dirt sections I discovered the Touring mode gave a brilliant, no-fuss compromise that seemed to give the bike a lazy attitude that meant no stress on bike or rider. Naturally, on the extended bitumen straight sections –and they don’t get much longer than some those west of Walgett – it did the same, except I had the added luxury of cruise control.

Speaking of Walgett, I ended up on the Kamilaroi Highway for the run into that town because I couldn’t nd the dirt road through Come By Chance. I’ve ridden it often enough, but I’m terrible at remembering routes and landmarks at the best of times. Suddenly I didn’t feel so clever heading o without a map. Then I remembered what I was doing and I really didn’t care. A couple of hundred

It grumbled along, seemingly living and loving the adventure every bit as much as I was. The tufts of cotton made blurred lines on the edge of the road, eagles swooped and screeched and emus ran around in circles out on the at, harsh ground.

Soon enough I found myself in Bourke with an e ortless 900km or so behind me and some decisions to make.

Where to?

Bourke is an exciting place for an adventure rider.

From Bourke a rider can keep heading west through Wanaaring, Tibooburra, Cameron Corner and The Strzelecki. To the south-west is Louth, Tilpa, Wilcannia, White Cli s, Broken Hill and the Flinders. To the north-west is Innaminka, Hungerford, Birdsville and The Simpson.

Another great feature of the Ducati presented itself as I fuelled up and considered my options. The 30-litre tank and excellent fuel e ciency meant I was enjoying around 450km range from each tank.

What a gift!

Without carrying any extra, bulky fuel cells or bladders all of those destinations I’d considered were within reach. But it was late afternoon and kangaroos and pigs had started to appear on the roadside. It was time for sensible riders

to bunk down and get some rest.

Bourke is pretty much the edge of civilisation heading west, and the red desert surrounds the town. With the Ducati running in Enduro mode the size and weight of the bike soon made itself felt. The 19-inch front wheel is a little prone digging in when the surface gets loose, and for a while the riding became very hard work indeed.

But by this stage I’d learned the lesson. I pulled up, sinking deep into the dust, switched o the traction control and pushed on.

It was as though the bike had been set free. It was still big and heavy, and the panniers gave a solid bi here and there as legs were ripped back o the ’pegs, but at least the whole show kept going forward, and that’s a big plus in the sand.

An old chip o the block

After some spirited riding and maybe even a few harsh words shouted inside the helmet, I somehow found myself back on the road just a few kilometres from Bourke town centre.

I’m not sure how I managed it, but there it is.

And it was just getting to the point where it’d change from ‘late afternoon’ to ‘dusk’.

I considered my options, my solo status, and how much I’d enjoy a hot shower, and then made my way to a low-bag motel on the edge of town.

With a sigh of contentment after a longish day I parked up for the night and considered my dining preferences.

I needn’t have bothered. The bain marie at the servo across the road had a few leathery chips in a large clump and a warm liquid which showed up on the docket as ‘co ee’, and that was that.

Back to work

The next morning was a little sad because I knew my very brief time was up. I had to be back at my desk the following day, and that meant this day had to be given over to a run east. Another 900km, and no time for exploring or daydreaming.

But still, it meant another full day on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro, and any day I can get with that bike is a very, very good day.

Haven’t the foggiest

Winter’s well and truly with us, and that means riders will have some speci c challenges to face. Cold is an obvious one, so is wet weather. But a problem a lot of people just put up with is a fogged visor. There’s no need to.

fogged visor is a serious safety hazard, not to mention downright annoying.

A rider’s vision can be totally obscured by a fogged visor, and the unpalatable x is usually to ride with the visor partly open. The result is often a drenching inside the helmet that’s accompanied by a freezing of exposed areas – nose, lips and cheeks.

The situation makes a substantial contribution to fatigue and is a real pest that can totally take the fun out of a ride.

Copping a pasting

There’s a few possible solutions oating around, and one of the most common

is anti-fog preparations like Cat Crap.

These concoctions often work well and have a few other bene ts beside preventing fogging. For starters they must be applied to a very clean visor, and for some riders we know, making them clean the visor regularly is a huge advantage that justi es the product’s use. Another advantage is the product often contains a polish that minimises the e ects of tiny scratches and cracks which inevitably appear in clear polycarbonates over time and with use.

The drawback is the visor needs to be constantly retreated, especially if the rider inadvertently wipes it, say, to remove raindrops or dust. Another problem is the product itself coats the visor and often leaves visible swirls or smears.

Bearing all that in mind, we’ve been using Cat Crap for a long time, and always have a container of the green, waxy goodness in our CamelBak.

But for purely preventing fogging we’ve discovered something better.

Cold, hard facts

Goggles fog in the cold because the air warmed by our faces and breath holds moisture, and when that air hits a visor which is at a substantially lower temperature –because of the cold outside the helmet – that moisture condenses on the cold surface inside the visor. The condensation manifests as fog. If you leave it long enough, the fog will become droplets.

If there were some way the visor would avoid that temperature difference, there’d be no

condensation. Circulating air is one way. Instead of letting the warm air sit there in contact with the cold surface, moving it around with a fan or some tricky ventilation will help a great deal. There used to be goggles with little builtin, battery-powered fans, for instance. Another way to control the fogging would be to prevent the warm air from coming in contact with the cold surface in the rst place. Ah.

Are you beginning to see the light?

The primo protector

We recently started wearing a Nexx X.D1 helmet, and they’re supplied with not only a Pinlock-ready visor, but with a Pinlock insert included, and we’re in raptures about the way this set-up prevents fogging inside the visor. Using the same principle as double-glazing on windows in cold climates, a very ne polycarbonate

1. Remove the visor from the helmet. Then ensure the visor is completely clean and free of dust, wax – like Cat Crap – and moisture.

2. With the beaded side of the insert facing the inside of the visor, 昀椀t the two ends of the insert onto the locating pins.

layer is adhered to the inside of the helmet visor in such a way as to leave a tiny space between it and the visor. The edges of the Pinlock insert are lined with a soft silicone bead, so once it’s in place the cold helmet visor never comes into contact with the warm air from the rider’s skin. That means no fogging.

That’s just the start, and is really simple enough as a concept, but there’s more to consider. The insert has to not interfere or distort the rider’s vision, and it has to be removable for visor replacement if it’s not needed in summer.

Pinlock meets the standard there, no worries.

The thing we see most often is people not tting the Pinlock inset correctly, so here’s how we do it. Remember, you must

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

3. The insert will be roughly shaped inside the visor, but will still stick up a bit. Lay the visor on a 昀椀rm surface and gently 昀氀atten it out until the bead on the Pinlock insert has contacted and adhered to the visor. You can actually get that visor fairly straight without doing any damage.

4. Allow the visor to resume its correct shape. The Pinlock should seal itself to the visor in the process. Give it a gentle press with your 昀椀ngers in a clean cloth to be sure.

5. Remove the protective 昀椀lm from the inner surface of the Pinlock insert. Done. Now go riding.

You can watch the Nexx Helmets video of the procedure on the Adventure Rider Magazine website.

Log on to

www.advridermag.com.au/store and keep the adventure throbbing…

DualSport Australia discs

Thousands of kilometres of premium dualsport and adventure riding on route sheet and as GPX les. Complete with fuel and accommodation contacts and info, route section times, stories and heaps more.

Motorbikin’ DVDs

Serious hard-core adventure riding at its best, all captured on camera and crafted into 20 DVDs.

KTI PLB $299

The ultimate adventure-riding distress beacon that should be part of every adventure rider’s kit. Provides six independent means of rescue:

406MHZ transmission

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Whistle on lanyard Manufactured in Australia. 10-year battery life. 10-year warranty.

2017 Congregations

What could possibly be better than the 2016 Congregations in Victoria and NSW? The 2017 Congregations, of course. They’ll be better because there’s three of them: NSW, Victoria and Western Australia!

If there’s one occasion no-one wants to miss, it’s the annual gathering of adventure riders called The Congregation. On that one weekend riders, industry and bike personalities all converge on a given destination and, having adventured their way in there, set up camp, then sit around yarning, comparing bikes, swapping information and, in general, relaxing and enjoying themselves.

2016 saw the second NSW

Congregation at a new venue. Green Valley Farm at Tingha, near Inverell in NSW, proved an inspired choice. The family-run sheep farm o ered sensational accom and facilities, excellent catering and the standard of fabulous riding only the New England region of NSW can o er. In the middle of a couple of weeks of downpour, even the weather came up sunny for the Friday and Saturday…although it was a bit of a drizzly e ort

on Sunday as everyone departed. Still, a little rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Those with cabins peeked around curtains and chortled while those with tents got together in the large camp kitchen and, later, the shearing-shedcum-dining hall.

A couple of loops were o ered for those who wanted a ride, the zoo

Left: Miles Davis set new standards in skills demonstrations.

Below: Green Valley Farm at Tingha, near Inverell in NSW, proved an inspired choice for the 2016 Northern Congregation. It’s the venue for 2017 as well.

Above: Northern congregationalists got together in Green Valley Farm’s shearing-shed-cum-dining hall.

Above right: Lots of giveaways and presentations.

animals kept everyone entertained, and the folks at Green Valley Farm cruised around in utes making sure there was plenty of dry rewood available.

From an educational point of view, Miles Davis set new standards in skills demonstrations and various industry folks o ered adventure-speci c goods and advice.

It was a tremendously successful weekend. One of the best ever.

South of the Murray

Eight weeks after the NSW event Victoria held its rst Congregation, and thanks to some brilliant lead-up work by Alpine Adventure Tours’ Bob Bondeson and Julie Luxford, it was a screamer. Riders rolled into Myrtleford

in the very heart of the legendary Victorian high country to nd a lush, green footy eld o ering camping around the perimeter, vast expanses of food thanks to the local footy club, and, in keeping with the established spirit of the event, skills demos from Miles Davis, tech demos from BMW’s Craig ‘Benno’ Bennet, and even a mini Touratech Adventure Challenge overseen by Nick and Trudi Selleck from Maschine.

What a frigging top weekend!

It would’ve been crazy to hold a meeting in the Victorian mountains and not o er a loop, so that was taken care of too.

Once again, the weather was perfect.

Oh, yes. The 2016 southern Congregation will be a hard act to follow.

Best of the west

In 2017 things are really set to rock.

The NSW Congregation will once again be at Green Valley Farm and the Victorian meeting will move to Dargo in an e ort to allow riders to form a closer group on site – the footy eld in the middle meant people were spaced out a bit in 2016. But in the most sensational news of all, 2017 will see the rst Western Australian Congregation.

Petra and Howard at Motorrad Garage have had the throttle cracked wide open making preparations, including a recce run with a group of friends to check out the venue and surrounding trails.

Apparently it all went really well, and the Loose Goose Chalets near Nannup, about 270km south of Perth, will play host.

Howard Bathgate from Motorrad Garage rocketed his HP2 through the West Aussie Jarrah forests

2017 congregations

and was pretty happy with what he found.

“We’re very excited to be part of this,” said the deceptively quiet bloke.

“There’s a lot a lot of adventure riders who support us at Motorrad Garage, and this is a chance for us to give something back to the adventure-riding community. We’ve followed the success of the eastern Congregations over the past couple of years, and we’ll be following that format as much as possible.”

The area around Nannup is very heavily forested, so for those looking for a loop or two during the Congregation there’ll be plenty of options.

“We spent a few days looking at di erent venues,” explained Bathgate, “and Nannup became the favourite because of its proximity to Perth. You can get there within three hours if you want to get there via the road. Or you can spend a full day getting there if you want to make an interesting ride of it.”

Howard and his recce crew have scoped out a couple of possibilities which they hope to make available as GPX les, and there’ll be easy and tough options to suit everything from a DT175 through to the big-bore tourers.

Hang loose, Mother Goose

The camping and facilities came under heavy scrutiny was well.

“We chose the Loose Goose Chalets because it had pretty much everything we needed,” continued Howard. “It’s on a 40-acre property with a couple of cabins and plenty of paddock space for camping. It should be nice and green in October, and there’s space for various skills demonstrations and so forth.

“Then there’s the Goose Shed.

“It’s an old shed that’s been converted into a function centre with a di erence, and it’ll be the main hub from where we’ll be doing presentations and so forth.”

Catering and administration is still in the planning, but there’s a strong focus on making the weekend as inexpensive as possible, and that’s good news for everyone. The demonstrations and presentations which have been so popular at the eastern Congregations will be part of the western Congregation, of course.

No excuse

If you’ve used the excuse that a Congregation was too far to travel in years past, that won’t wash now. One of these three is within range of just about any adventure rider anywhere.

Now’s the time to plan. Pick your weekend, pack your bike and we’ll see you there.

Above: Awesome loops for those who want a ride. Below left: There’s nowhere quite like the Victorian high country. Below right: The Dargo Inn is just around the corner from the site of the 2017 Southern Congregation. Bottom: Big bike or small bike. There’s something for everyone at a Congregation.

COLOURS:

Top left: Any bike will do…almost any bike.

Left: The Loose Goose Chalets near Nannup, about 270km south of Perth, will play host to the western Congregation.

Top right: Loose Goose Chalets had pretty much everything a great Congregation needed.

Right: There’ll be plenty to see and do. The demonstrations and presentations which have been so popular at the eastern Congregations will be part of the western Congregation, and there’s some great things to see in the area. Wellington Dam is about 100km away and well worth the ride to have a look.

All in the

mind

Karen Ramsay goes a bit mental.

Words Karen Ramsay

First things rst: I didn’t realise people were actually reading anything I wrote until a stranger told me they were slightly shocked my kids hadn’t been taken into care after leaving them at home while husband Dave and I were out riding all the time.

Then, recently someone was asking about the kids and was surprised to hear they’d all left home (I like to think it’s because we don’t look old enough to have adult children).

Yep, that’s right. We’re empty nesters.

The girls moved out over the

past couple of years. Son Darcy got tired of being left at home to do all the chores so he moved out too. Fortunately he moved not too far away, so we were able to call on him to help move cattle to high ground away from ooding after Cyclone Debbie.

And if he thought living independently meant no more xing mum and dad’s bikes, he was mistaken. When the DR conked out on the way to work the other day, I didn’t call roadside assist (to recoup some of the money I’ve been paying them for years), I called Darcy. He was very obliging. He told me I need to be more responsible, loaded the bike on to his ute, dropped me at work, then worked on my bike during his lunch break.

Now our eldest, Tinonee, has headed o overseas for her own adventure. Funny, if it was anyone else’s daughter I’d be so excited for them, but it’s a completely

Above: Things can get iffy when someone ahead stops or appears to struggle.

Right: Tell yourself, ‘I don’t have to fall’.

di erent matter when it’s my own child. I guess it’ll be a good excuse to go overseas and go riding…I mean visit her.

Talk it up

With one thing and another I haven’t done much adventure riding for a while and, because of that, I’m beginning to get a bit nervous about my riding skills. Even watching footage of people riding the type of stu I’ve ridden a lot is making me apprehensive. I’m curious if it’s just something unique to people who haven’t been riding since they were young, or if seasoned riders who haven’t ridden for a while get anxious too?

One of the worst situations is when someone up ahead stops or appears to struggle. Instinctively I start thinking, ‘If they’re having trouble, what hope to do I have?’When I get there I already have it in my head that I’m not going to make it, so I just make a meal of it. The worst part is, it’s usually something that isn’t too hard anyway. A number of people I’ve spoken to have the same reaction. We get defeated by ourselves, not the track. When I rst started riding it was all over in an instant and I’d be mysti ed by how

I could be riding along one minute then staring up at the sky the next. People would suggest I think through what had gone wrong and try to correct it next time. Well, I’m afraid I usually had no idea. Now I can recognise and even correct some things, and if not, I have a fair idea of what went wrong. Once I thought falling was inevitable, now the running commentary in my head also includes, ‘You don’t have to fall.’

It’s helped me a few times.

Positive action

The most recent occurrence of this phenomenon was when I was coming down a washed-out track. I was relieved as I rode past a family with four little kids bushwalking on the track and kept it upright. Next thing I was riding on an ever-narrowing part of a washout. I managed to yell out a reasonably tame expletive (apologies to the family) followed by, “I think I’ve picked the wrong line,” while also telling myself not to fall. Somehow it worked. Not long before that though, I got o and walked the bike over an even easier washout because I saw Dave put his foot down as he went across it.

Hopefully I’ll be back out on the bike a bit more soon and I’ll be able to put all this positive self-talk into action and spend less time embarrassing myself.

R The most signi cant riding skills are the ones in your head

R The cat doesn’t sneak into the drink cabinet when we’re not home

R Family are just a phone call away

R Some people are naturally fearless riders

R I’m not one of them

Left: We get defeated by ourselves, not the track. Below left: Is anxiety unique to inexperienced riders? Or do seasoned riders who haven’t ridden for a while feel it too?

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just 1 j14 adveNtuRe Helmet

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KTM Super Adventure 1290

The new KTMs are as sexy as Taylor Swift with a jug of whipped cream. About the only thing that could make them sexier is a big batch of accessories like these ones from Motorrad Garage. (Mmm…Taylor Swift covered in whipped cream…now that would be a super adventure!)

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