Adventure Rider Issue #25

THE NEW DEFINITION OF ADVENTURE

The ultimate adventure isn’t determined by limits. It is found by breaking through your own perceived barriers. With the new KTM 1290 Super Adventure R we have redefined the term “adventure”. We have taken the most powerful production off road bike and incorporated the innovation and technology we have developed from our experience and victories on the world’s toughest terrain. The new KTM 1290 Super Adventure R forces you to look beyond what you thought was possible.

Photo: J. Fruhauf

It’s

we what do

Tom Foster - Editor

was talking to a very capable mechanic and we were discussing a problem with one of my bikes. He had the solution of course, and he laughed and said, “You should always phone me. I’ve made all the mistakes.”

That struck me as very profound. Is that a more important consideration than mere ‘experience’?

I’ve met lots of riders who claim huge amounts of experience, but still seem to be short of common sense and often competence as well. Usually these people disagree with something I’ve written. They stick out their jaw before telling me how they’ve been riding for 40 years and owned more bikes than I’ll ever dream of.

There’s no denying time is a great teacher, but the mechanic’s comment had me thinking. It’s mistakes that teach the

toughest lessons. If you fit a twindisc front wheel backwards on a modern bike, the result is likely to be something you’ll never forget. The bike will run fine, but there’ll be all kinds of weird error messages and ABS warnings, and you’ll probably be scratching your head for a very long time trying to work it out. Chances are you’ll go looking for electronic faults and solutions. When the problem becomes clear, it’ll be a lightning bolt, and that front wheel is unlikely to ever be fitted backwards again.

“You should always phone me. I’ve made all the mistakes. ”

Forgetting to put oil in a two-stroke mix is a good one. No-one’s likely to make that mistake twice.

I once rebuilt a motor the night before a national road race and forgot to put oil in the sump. After all the expense and preparation, I roared down pit lane, out onto the track and locked that motor up solid. Do you think I’ll ever forget pushing that bike from Turn Two at

Eastern Creek back to the pits? It was probably 30 degrees, I was in leathers, and I’d spent a considerable amount to get there, only to DNF before I negotiated the first turn in practice. Do you think it taught me to check the oil level at least 50 times before I start a ride?

I’m pretty sure everyone has similar stories to tell, and they make for good yarns.

How often do you sit and listen to someone recite all the rides where everything went as planned?

No-one wants to talk about those rides or repairs, and I suspect a lot of us probably don’t carry very explicit memories of those occasions anyway.

So I was left thinking how profound was the statement: ‘I’ve made all the mistakes.’

But then I realised what made that particular mechanic so dependable and capable – he’s one of the best I’ve seen outside a race team – wasn’t just that he’d made the mistakes, but that he had the open-minded attitude that let him recognise those mistakes and learn from them.

I’m going to try and be like that. With the number of mistakes I make on every ride, and every time I work on the bike, I should be a world-champion rider and a technical genius within six months.

The Dakar

The KLIM Dakar Jersey and pant is the perfect highly durable balanced-ventilation off-road jersey. Designed specifically for aggressive riders who demand high versatility and toughness from their off-road gear. Engineered to give riders the ability to remain comfortable in a wide range of conditions and temperatures all-day. The Dakar Pant available in two different styles “In The Boot” and “Over The Boot”.

The Mojave

The KLIM Mojave Jersey is a fully-ventilated off-road jersey designed specifically for aggressive riders in the hottest environments across the Australia. Made from a strategically constructed mesh chassis the Mojave offers all-day comfort, incredible ventilation and epic durability. The Mojave Pant available in two different styles “In The Boot” and “Over The Boot”.

The XC Lite

The XC Lite (Cross Country) series was born from rider feedback and an integration of the latest fabric technologies. Introducing our fastest off-road gear yet. Engineered to provide the highest level of durability while maintaining an extreme level of mobility and ventilation, the XC Lite series is the perfect choice for the fastest off-road racers.

D2 2.0 LED TriOptic

This LED light kit with DataDim technology produces a remarkable amount of light in a very compact package that is perfect for all styles of riding and types of motorcycles

DR1 2.0 LED TriOptic

DR1 LED light kit with DataDim technology is the perfect choice for the demanding adventure or sporttouring rider looking for the greatest illumination distance.

Great Basin Saddlebag Roll Top

Features a convenient rolling closure that seals out water and dust while maintaining all the unique “go light, go fast, go far” features of our zipper closure Great Basin Saddlebag.

Africa Twin Engine Case Guard

Allows for even large impacts to be distributed throughout the entire frame minimizing damage to the bike’s engine, frame and other vital components.

MotoTrekk Panniers

A rugged, stable, universally fitting, affordable, waterproof, rack-mounted motorcycle soft luggage solution for virtually all motorcycle makes and models. Suitable for our new Africa Twin Pannier Frames.

Africa Twin Pannier Frames

Pannier Frames for the Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L are designed to fit soft luggage systems including Wolfman Pannier Bags, Rotopax & some hard boxes.

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CE Armour Safety Kit (elbows & shoulders) & HDF Back Protector

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Any adventure rider’s list of must-do rides is sure to include The Simpson, but not everyone has the same expectations or enjoys the same experience. Adventure Rider Magazine’s editor decided it was time to face the challenge of the world’s largest sand desert and set out to face his fears. Columnist Miles Davis couldn’t wait to get there and had a ball. The two stories show just how different things can be.

Like it orleave it

There’s probably not too many riders who hate riding sand as much as I do. It’s my least favourite terrain and the surface that has, time and again, defeated me. I hate how tough it is to ride and I hate the toll it takes on a bike.

I’ve done schools. I’ve had tips and tuition from world-class riders, and over the years I’ve arrived at the point where a sand section can literally make my gut churn, but I can be reasonably confident I’ll get through it.

I’ve had some notable failures. I competed in an Australian Four Day Enduro Championship in WA in the 1990s and the final motocross was at the Manjimup motocross track. While the good riders, especially the locals, sailed around as though they were on a grass track, I flubbed and wallowed my way from fall to fall, praying for the final lap board to put a stop to the torture. Just a couple of years ago

on the ADVX ride across Australia I destroyed a clutch on the Finke access road – a sure sign of fatigue and poor technique.

That’s two big examples that loom large in my mind. On any ride anywhere, confronted with sand, my blood pressure will rise, my heart rate will skyrocket and I’ll begin reciting the mantra, ‘Weight back. Power on. Keep moving. Leave the clutch alone,’ before, inevitably, the crashing begins.

It was time for me to confront this particular personal demon. I’d either conquer The Simpson Desert, or it would conquer me.

The stars align

I know plenty of hard-core riders tackle The Simpson on their own or with a bunch of mates. They load up their bikes with the food, water, fuel and camping gear they need to survive several days unaccompanied, cross the desert, then regale me with stories about how awesome was the experience.

For me it was an exercise in confronting a fear, and I wanted the confidence of knowing someone was watching out for me. When Ride ADV announced it would support

a double crossing of The Simpson I knew somewhere in the cosmos a major piece of a muddled picture had clicked into place. I’d ridden with Ride ADV several times and had confidence in the support that would be offered. Included were two camps with food and fuel, a couple of sweep riders, a recovery vehicle, and, best of all, a big group of riders who were keen to look after each other. I knew from experience I’d be free to ride my own pace, but Ride ADV would look after me without holding my hand.

I signed up.

The next chunk of good fortune was the availability of the Husky 701 Enduro.

When I decided to do the ride I intended to run my Touratechprepped KLR, but the Husky guys were keen to see the 701 do the run, so suddenly I had a new bike, the right support, and a very bright outlook.

Of course, I still had to deal with 1000km of deep sand.

I can’t pretend I slept well leading up to the ride.

Packin’ it

Prepping the Husky turned out to be

Words and images: TF

one of the easiest facets of the whole project. Husqvarna Australia was extremely supportive and, during the bike’s scheduled service, fitted Husqvarna-branded handguards, bashplate, radiator guard and an ABS dongle which allowed turning off the ABS on the rear wheel. The OEM Husqvarna pannier racks weren’t available in time, so Craig Hartley at Dalby Moto supplied an excellent Dalby Moto set, and a gorgeous B&B Off Road rack tied the whole thing together.

For tyres a Mitas E12 rear and C23 front were slipped on, and the luggage was a bit of a mish-mash of things found in the shed. A Wolfman tankbag fit really nicely because there’s no fuel tank at the front of the bike.

Some Giant Loop elephant-

ear-type protectors kept the cold off the hands, a Giant Loop Mojave made an excellent tool holder and sat nicely on the very old and beaten-up Andy Strapz Expedition Pannierz.

Ride ADV’s fee included the supply of a really good bivvy bag, so with my summer-weight sleeping bag, ground sheet, inflatable mattress and pillow, it made a compact bedroll that sat nicely on the B&B rack and still left access to the fuel cap behind the seat on the Husky.

The only small fly in the ointment was stock tank holding 13 litres. That obviously wasn’t going to give the range I needed to get to Birdsville and start the

ride, so a handful of fuel bladders completed the kit.

Getting’ there

With the bike loaded and time very short, I pointed the Husky northwest from the NSW coast. Choosing the fastest route meant covering 2000km of bitumen, and that was a worry.

First up I really knew very little about the bike. I’d ridden some distance on the 2016 model, so I knew it was capable, but it had such a nimble, slim, dirt-bike feel I was a little concerned at how it and the tyres – and I – would shape up after 2000km of droning along the blacktop.

It was a groundless worry.

The 701 is an amazing bike and I’m stunned at how good it is in all situations and the Mitas tyres still had plenty of meat on them when the tar was done.

On the bitumen the bike happily sat on

Main: Gavin Marchio from Sydney and his DR650 took the challenge. Above: If you like throwing up roost you’ll love The Simpson. u

130kph for hours on end, and I’ve ridden a lot of twins that aren’t as smooth as this silky sweetheart of a single. Overtaking road trains was a simple matter of rolling on a little throttle, swooping past and sliding back into the left lane. It was a joy. What wasn’t a joy was the temperature. The first night’s stop was Roma in Queensland, which meant about 750km for the day, and the temperature dropped below zero that night. It hadn’t felt a whole lot higher during the day, and I shivered and trembled my way across the Great Dividing Range. A light coating of frost had covered the bike the next morning.

From Roma the Husky purred its way to Windorah – another 750km – for an overnighter, then it was time to fill all the fuel bladders and cover the 400km of the Birdsville Development Road to make Birdsville itself. Again good fortune came my way when I met up with John Climpson at Windorah. John was on his way to the same ride and had his WR450F on his ute. He volunteered to sling the full bladders on the tray with his bike and we stuck together to Birdsville. It was a great comfort to have company, and I thought it a bit rough when it was John’s ute that got a puncture at Dean’s Lookout, about 200km short of Birdsville.

it up…mostly. Sometimes the position after the fall made things awkward.

So in the desert dawn on the first morning I hit the button, got a big smile and thumb’s up from John Climpson as he kick-started his WRF, and we rode toward whatever destiny awaited.

Running on empty

He’s a cheerful bloke, though. He had the water boiling for tea and coffee while he sorted out the tyre and got the show back on the road.

Face the fear

Soon enough it was time to hit the sand, and I admit I wasn’t mentally in great shape to take on the dunes.

Quite a few riders had been out to Big Red – the first big dune near Birdsville –and had a practice, and of course I’d done that too. I also rode a few kilometres along the QAA Line – the route to start the crossing – to see what I was up against. I probably fell half-adozen times, but a couple of things were encouraging. The first was how the Husky seemed to halve the work. Where I was used to tensing up and trying to manhandle bikes in the sand, the strong drive of the Husky and the smooth power delivery made it seem I was doing much less work than I expected to. On top of that, the bike was slim and light. Even fully loaded I had no real difficulty picking

Camp A, the first camp on the crossing, was about 180km west of Birdsville, not far past Poeppel Corner and just a few kilometres along the French Line. A thorough briefing from Ride ADV’s Greg Yager before departure had given some excellent advice on coping with heat and the mental challenge of the desert, and as I squared up to the first dune his advice and my own sand-riding mantra where spinning through my head.

I pointed the Husky at the dune, wound open the throttle, gathered momentum and cocked everything up, sailing over the ’bars about halfway up.

On the first dune!

According to legend there were 1100 of these bastards to be dealt with on each crossing and I hadn’t even made it up the first one.

I wrestled the bike around, rode back down, drew a breath, and launched again. With a gut-twisting surge of adrenalin that left me somewhere just on the right side of panic I made it up and over, wobbling through the whoops and ruts and fighting my way to the western base of that crap-heap sand hill. I sucked in a

Above: Even getting the bikes to the fuel drums was a battle against the sand. Adam Goldstien, 47, from Castle Hill, NSW, managed to dig in the Hard Kits 700. He wasn’t the only one.

Left: Colin Jay, 58, from Stirling North near Port Augusta in South Aussie, won everyone’s undying admiration when he rolled into Camp A on his 1988 TT250. He was one of the most perennially cheerful people on the ride.

big breath and checked I hadn’t soiled my Klim riding duds as I kept the Husky driving through the sand on its way to the next climb.

That first dune pretty much summed up my day. Every dune was a challenge. And when the size of the dunes decreased a little, the depth and softness of the sand seemed to increase.

As the morning wore on I found it tougher and tougher to hold a line. The sand became softer and deeper and the bike seemed to drag at the ’bars more with every turn of the wheel. I fell less often as I rode further, but the sheer work in keeping the bike upright and moving forward took a heavy toll. I gulped the first mouthful of air from my three-litre CamelBak as I rolled on to the very welcome hard-clay surface of Lake Poeppel and stopped to take stock and grab a pic or two.

Dig deep

I didn’t know it at the time, but Lake Poeppel was very near Camp A. The hard, chopped-up clay surface offered a break from the relentless, unforgiving sand and I gratefully relaxed a little and did a quick review of where everything was at. I was a bit surprised at what I discovered in that self-analysis.

The first discovery was that I was in very good shape.

I was tired and I could feel the work I’d been doing in my shoulders and arms especially, but I wasn’t exhausted, nor was I worried about the sand. Somewhere

The sImpson experIenCe

between Birdsville and Lake Poeppel I’d settled into a rhythm and, when I thought back over the ride, I hadn’t fallen for quite some time, even though the 15km or so to Lake Poeppel had been the toughest riding since Birdsville.

I also realised I’d been trusting the bike. Instead of feeling I had to make everything happen the way I thought it needed to be done, the performance of the Husky had allowed me to relax a little. I’d stopped chanting, “Weight back! Power on!” and began consciously telling myself to leave the clutch alone. There were numerous times instinct told me the bike should stall, but somehow the motor would give just a couple more chugs and that allowed me to get hold of myself, maintain the momentum and open the throttle again. The Husky responded every time, levelling dunes, tractoring through deep sand wallows and showing a heart as big as The Simpson itself.

Leaving the clay of Lake Poeppel meant an immediate return to the soft, deep sand, and although I was physically and mentally in good shape, and even though I had an inkling that perhaps I needn’t carry a deep-seated fear of sand any longer, it meant digging deep and once again continuing what was, for me, a miserable and unpleasant ride.

Camp A

Maybe 20km after Lake Poeppel I was taken by surprise when a Ride ADV

banner appeared beside the trail.

The banner marked Camp A and the end of the first section. I wheeled the Husky in to find Steve Smith, wife Jen and daughter Eve from Adventure Moto in charge. Water was boiling, shelters were set up, chairs were scattered around and everyone – except me – seemed relaxed and happy. I was signed in, directed to a chair and Steve began to hand-grind coffee beans.

I’d gone from a nightmare to a dream.

The day and night in Camp A will long stay in my memory as one of the best experiences I’ve had on an adventure ride. People rolled in as the afternoon progressed, each with a story of their own, and the twilight became a deep, black-velvet night with a display of astronomy that can’t be matched anywhere else in the world. It was magical.

Dinner was a hearty beef hotpot and the fresh coffees kept coming. Someone had even fuelled the bike while I was sipping java.

It really couldn’t get much better than that.

Back in time

I’d decided not to continue on to Camp B and Mount Dare.

I felt good, the bike was fantastic, and I still had four days’ riding to get home. If I continued on to Mount Dare and everything went perfectly I was seven or eight days riding from home. After discussing with Greg Yager the state of the French Line through to Camp B, and considering how much I hadn’t enjoyed the riding so far, I just couldn’t see the point in slogging on through more days of the featureless, sandy, deceptive, shifting crap I’d ridden to get where I was. As the sun exploded over the eastern horizon the next morning I fired up the Husky and rode toward it, not looking forward to another day of merciless, wheel-sucking sand, but not frightened of it, either.

For me that meant I’d achieved all I wanted on this trip. It probably doesn’t sound like much, but to me the result was huge.

Riding east is said to be easier than riding west in The Simpson and it certainly seemed that way to me. I knew what I was riding into, so that helped enormously, but as I left Lake Poeppel behind me and cleared the worst of the really deep sand, I found myself doubling a couple of whoops here and there and even railing the occasional sand berm. I still fell a few times, I had a close call with a four-wheel-drive on the crest of a dune, and it was still incredibly hard work for me, but I wasn’t ever anxious or worried I wouldn’t be able to cope.

When Big Red finally filled the horizon I grabbed a handful of throttle, steeled myself, and revelled in the Husky clawing its way up the loose, tractionless, rutted, sand cascade to the top. Roost was flying, the motor was right in the sweet spot and I felt great.

The significance of crossing that dune at that point was that it’s optional. I could’ve ridden into Birdsville without negotiating that mutha, but I never doubted for a second I’d clear it, and clear it easily. That was a huge mental victory for me.

I didn’t cross The Simpson, let alone cross it twice, and there’ll be plenty of riders who mark me down for a poor effort. Fair enough, too. But I’ve stared down my demon and I’m comfortable with that.

Nightmare

As an interesting subtext to facing up to a fear, I arrived in Birdsville, fuelled up, packed the bike and headed back along the development road to Windorah, only to find there was no accommodation available. I’d lost my bedroll crashing

Top: Momentum is everything in the sand. If the bike stops, it usually means a session of hard grunt and wheelspin to get going again. Graeme Ball from Sydney showed the technique. Right: Hey look! This pic must’ve been before another crash left the bedroll in the dunes somewhere.

in the dunes, so my options were to sleep beside the bike in the bush somewhere or push on to Quilpie, 250km east.

I elected to push on, and while The Simpson was tough, riding 250km in the dark on an unmarked, unlit, unfenced, single-lane road through the Australian outback was

a scary and dangerous thing to do. I had an idea what I was in for when I left Windorah, but it didn’t make it any easier or less threatening and ridiculous.

It was another lesson learned: sometimes it’s not the challenge you’re expecting that makes the mark on your journey.

Geared up

This ride was tough on equipment, and some great gear showed its worth. Here’s a few bits and pieces that performed exceptionally well – TF.

6 7 8 3 4

1: The Husqvarna 701 Enduro was probably the perfect choice for this ride. It did around 4000km of tar and maybe 400km of Simpson Desert sand and dunes and not only never missed a beat, but had zero maintenance. Every morning the chain didn’t need adjusting, the nuts and bolts were always tight and even after a dozen or more crashes in the dunes the only thing that needed attention was a loose mirror (those mirrors vibrate like crazy, by the way. They buzz like angry hornets during normal riding). It was smooth and fast on the road and revelled in the sand and rough backroads. It’s a fantastic bike.

2: These plastic Giant Loop protectors are covering the Husky handguards, and the two things together were brilliant. The Giant Loops kept a huge amount of dust away from the controls during some heavy crashes as well as giving the hands some relief in the cold. The Husky handguards offered excellent protection from impact. It was a great combo.

3: Husqvarna Australia supplied and fitted a radiator guard. The bike worked hard and had no issues with overheating, and the radiator survived the trip just fine, so it was a good inclusion.

8: An old Wolfman tankbag gave maximum convenience. Because there’s no fuel tank mounted forward on the Husky, the tankbag didn’t effect the rider’s movement on the bike to any measurable degree. 1 2

4: Husqvarna bashplate. A must-have for just about any situation.

5: Mitas E12 at the rear and C23 at the front. Both tyres did the whole distance, road and sand, and were still usable at the end of the ride. The rear should be replaced, but it still has tread and is holding its shape well. The front could do the whole trip again.

6: A Klim Carlsbad suit and Andy Strapz Thermalz made the cold tolerable and, thanks to some great venting on the Klim suit, kept up a high level of protection and comfort in the desert. The temperatures in The Simpson hit the mid-30s and the suit still felt good.

7: The progress of all riders was monitored via SPOT tracker. Some kind of emergency beacon is vital for this kind of riding. The PLB is standard kit for Adventure Rider Magazine staffers.

left: The normal Forma Adventure or Terra boots were replaced with motocross-style Forma Predators for the sand, and the extra protection was much appreciated. The Predators aren’t waterproof, but that’s not much of a problem in the desert. The ankle support and foot protection was the reason for choosing the stiffer boot.

Below & below right: A very old pair of Andy Strapz Expedition Pannierz sat nicely on a set of Dalby Moto pannier racks. The B&B Off Road rack was the key to whole luggage package. It was incredibly strong, had a zillion tie-down points and was beautifully finished. A Giant Loop Mojave rested on the rack and panniers and held tools, tubes and tyre-changing gear.

Below

BMW Safari Simpson delight

Miles Davis wondered if it’d be possible to take a group of BMW riders across the Simpson. After competing in the Finke Desert Race he decided to give it a try.

Image: Peter Maguire

Words: Miles Davis. Images: Peter Maguire

My first trip across the Simpson a couple of years ago was a real tick off the bucket list. At the time I wondered if it would be practical to take a group of BMW GS Safari customers on a similar trip one day. Being sandy, it’s definitely not for everyone, and its mainly smaller enduro bikes that take on the 1100-odd dunes. But with a compact group of the right riders taking a suitable route, I thought it had wings.

In 2017 it turned out we had a small crew of keen riders. We met at Alice Springs to watch Finke, then set out straight after on the Simpson crossing.

Now that’s what I call a combo deal!

What a team

We had nine riders for the first BMW GS Tours Simpson Crossing (by BMW Safari), and it was a great mix of people and personalities. There was one couple, so it was great to have a lady on tour, most had done a GS Safari, and there was a mix of 1200s, 800s and one G450X. We also had a solid support team. Everyone gets a bit anxious when it comes to riding in sand, especially on the bigger bikes, and it would’ve been ideal to do some sand training prior to departure, but as I was racing Finke, it wasn’t possible. I didn’t think that would be a major issue. The first day or so would provide plenty of opportunities to offer support and advice to the team before we got into the middle of the dunes.

Mojo risin’

There’s one thing I know about getting riders to handle sand: they have to get relaxed, loose and playful. Unfortunately sand can have the opposite effect, making riders tight, stiff and scared. Even experienced sand riders have to recalibrate at the start of a sandy adventure.

The first thing we did as we left Alice on the way to Santa Teresa was regroup and talk about getting comfy on the bikes, and then played around in the loose stuff on the edge of the road to get used to the bike moving around. Everyone got the gist which was great. I knew it would really help everyone over the coming days.

Our first destination was Old Andado Station, and before too long the track did become quite sandy in places, so riders really needed to concentrate

Main: Author Miles had never ridden such bad bulldust. Above: Nine riders for the first BMW GS Tours Simpson Crossing (by BMW Safari), and it was a great mix of people and personalities.

Below: There were a few spills, but no major injuries.

on lines, precise throttle and balance. Unfortunately, a pretty innocuous low-speed front-end tuck turned into a broken collarbone for one of the team. I knew he was capable of making it across, but he was just unlucky this time. That was a bit sobering for the rest of the riders, but it definitely made them realise they had to be on their A game.

Out there

It didn’t take long before the terrain became totally barren with small red sand dunes here and there. We saw our first decent bulldust holes, so it was great to show everyone what u

Image: Peter Maguire

Image: Damien Coke

they’re like and how to deal with them. Before Andado we decided to take the nine-kilometre turnoff to the Acacia Peuce trees at Mac Clarke Reserve. Somehow these scraggly looking trees grow in rock-hard ground in the middle

Above: A small crew of keen riders met at Alice Springs to watch Finke, then set out straight after on the Simpson Crossing.

Below: The track became quite sandy in places, so riders really needed to concentrate on speed, lines, precise throttle and balance.

of nowhere. They’re so weedy they almost look fake, and if it wasn’t for some conservation efforts they would probably all be gone by now, taken as fence posts or firewood. Rumour has it the wood is amongst the hardest in the world.

On dusk we pulled into Andado station to set up camp and have a wellearned beer.

Unexpected

Anticipation was building as we left Old Andado. The Simpson was just around the corner, but before that we had some epic bulldust to deal with.

About 75km from the station the road had gone to hell with long, wide stretches of deep, evil bulldust. Expecting it is a huge advantage, but even so a couple of the guys went swimming in it. I’ve never ridden such bad bulldust.

There was more before Mount Dare, but then we were in for the real surprise: Mount Dare had run out of fuel that morning.

We’d called the week before (“No worries”), and the day before (“No worries”), so we had to come up with a plan on the fly. It’s all part of the adventure, right?

We put all the fuel we had into the bikes and headed off to Dalhousie for some hot-spring therapy and the cars waited at Mount Dare for the tanker to come in.

Sitting in the hot springs and camping at Dalhousie wasn’t planned, but it was awesome. We even bought 40 litres off some backpackers who shared our campfire that night.

The fuel issue put us behind schedule, but we had food and water for an extra day so it wasn’t a big deal.

Here it comes

Leaving Dalhousie meant we were only a few clicks from the start of The Simpson proper. The track was in bad shape and there were a few whoopsies along the way, but after a break at Purnie Bore we did a short ‘dune-riding boot camp’ and everyone was doing really well. The key is to have control without having to go too fast, as that’s when things can get ugly. Many of the dunes have a turn around them so there’s no point coming in flat chat. The team were all bouncing up and down, staying loose and starting to find their mojo.

We hit the Rig Road and headed southeast as we knew the French Line was a mess from all the Finke traffic. As the sun lowered we chose a nice spot between the dunes for our first night camping in the Simpson.

During dinner we could hear the dingos around us and a couple got up nice and close for some photos. The stars put on a typical desert show. There’s nothing quite like it.

Running low

A couple of the riders were finding the riding pretty exhausting, and as we weren’t under any time pressure I decided to head out with Kathryn and Damo before the rest of the group to give them some fresher tracks and try to boost their mojo. It turned out this was ideal. With just the three of us they found it much easier and they didn’t feel like they were holding up the group. There’s a fine line between doing it tough and having a ball sometimes, and they were loving it.

We decided to regroup at Lone Gum. Yes, that’s a single gumtree in the desert.

Image: Brian Cullinan

Image: Kathryn Haley

BMW Motorrad

It was a bit of a waiting game as we were getting low on fuel and really needed to see our fuelled-up support truck. We got through to them and put a plan together to meet them about 30km up the road. We also met up with Steve on his KTM690 who was out there on his own. He’d tried the WAA line and turned back to the Rig Road.

Poeppel Corner or Warburton track?

I really wanted to get the group to see Poeppel Corner and ride into Big Red on the QAA Line, but it simply wasn’t the right option. We’d heard stories of people having all sorts of trouble on the French Line in cars and on bikes, and we’d

burnt up half a day waiting for fuel. The smart option was to take the Rig Road to Warburton Track, head to Birdsville and party on at the Birdsville Pub.

Sometimes you just have to take the smart option, so with our tanks full we headed off. I’d been this way before and it’s an awesome ride with great scenery, dunes and massive dry lakes to ride across or around.

We were making good time and as we cruised around a small plain I realised there were some massive camels in front of me. I was stoked. I’d never seen camels in the outback and had been hanging out for the experience. It was so out of the blue, and very exciting!

Before we knew it we were doing the final twists and dry creek crossings to the end of the Simpson and the Birdsville Track. We regrouped at the sign for the mandatory photo and refuel before we headed north for the run to Birdsville.

The adventurous option

Decisions. Should we ride 200 clicks up the main drag or take the shorter, but rougher, Inside Track?

Feeling pumped we took the Inside Track.

Above: No problem for a Finke finisher. Left: A regroup at the sign for the mandatory photo before heading north to Birdsville.

Below: Sitting in the hot springs and camping at Dalhousie wasn’t planned, but it was awesome. Top right: Even experienced sand riders have to recalibrate at the start of a sandy adventure.

Image: Peter Maguire

Image: BMW Safari

Image: Damien Coke

It started off freshly dozed and sweet, but before too long it went to hell. Bogholes, diversions…we were basically bushwacking through two-metre-high cornfields following where a single 4x4 had been. It was really rough and hard going, and not what we’d expected at all.

After some sweat and stress we popped out onto some better tracks and had a great run into Birdsville. The funny thing was, at that end the road was fully barricaded as closed. A sign at the other end would have been very handy.

Big Red finale

We had a few hours of light to get out to Big Red for a bit of a play, and there was a real buzz at what had been achieved. There was a big mix of experience and skill in the group, but everyone looked after each other and most had probably exceeded their own expectations. A few runs up and down Big Red and a few tip overs was the perfect way to wrap up an amazing trip.

That night the steak tasted amazing, as did the beers. There’s always next time to get to Poeppel Corner, and we were happy to have had a really smooth run because we’d heard stories about many who didn’t.

From Birdsville there were more adventures ahead as everyone still had a big mission to get home. For me it was three solid days back to Melbourne with Grant from Safari, wrapping up a 16-day, 6150km, unforgettable adventure. I’m not sure if I’ll ever line up for the Finke Desert Race again, but I really like the idea of showing more people the Finke/Simpson combo deal. Who’s keen?

Scott Britnell Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2016

Image: Kathryn Haley

Which one’s for you? GPSvs

smartphone navigation

The nature of adventure riding means riders are often heading into parts unknown, so it makes sense to have a have a navigation aid, usually either a GPS or a smartphone.

I’m fortunate my work has me travelling all over the country finding great tracks to ride, and then leading groups on preplanned routes. This means I have to know exactly where I am on the planet at all times, and how to guide people back there.

Are paper maps redundant?

Nick Selleck of Maschine uses satellite navigation as a mainstay of his work, and he has a few thoughts to offer on what type of hardware might work best. u

I’ve accumulated a lot of grey hairs

Words and images: Nick Selleck

Which should you use, GPS or Smartphone? Nick Selleck of Maschine says, “Both!”

Gps vs smarTphone navIGaTIon

over the years of using GPS, so I hope sharing these ideas might shortcut some of the tougher lessons I’ve had to learn.

Same aim

I’m so often asked: “Which GPS should I buy?” or, “What app should I use on my phone?” These things clearly vex a lot of riders, so lets have a look at that.

First up, the similarities between GPS and smartphone:

R Both can pinpoint your position on the globe using satellites

Bottom: Good maps are vital for both phones and GPS. The better the mapping, the more detail the device can show. The opposite is true as well of course. Crap mapping

R Both can record a track log of where you’ve been

R Both allow uploading tracks to follow when out on the trail

R Both allow searching for, and locating, towns, track names, fuel stations and other features.

Does that mean paper maps are redundant?

Pretty much. Purists and ol’ timers may scoff, but I rarely use paper anymore, especially while riding.

When you think about it, motorcycling is the ideal medium for digital mapping and GPS use. We don’t have endless

storage compartments to stow maps in, but we can have a seemingly endless supply of maps right there on our handlebars. I generally still carry paper maps with me in my tank bag, but lately I’ve ridden more and more without them. Even when I do have them on board they never get used.

It should be said having paper maps on board gives you a backup in case of an electromagnetic doomsday or your bike gets washed down the Murray River at Tom Groggin crossing. Should all your electronics fritz themselves for some reason, or get damaged in a crash, paper maps should help you to get home safely.

It’s also nice sitting around a table on a fresh, cool morning with a map, planning out the day’s adventures with your riding buddies over a caffeine hit. I have many coffee- and beer-stained maps to attest to that.

Which way?

Smartphone or GPS? That’s what we want to sort out.

To keep things compact and organised, here’s some of the main points of each.

A GPS is best for following preplanned routes. The prices on units vary, but expect to pay around $800 for a Garmin. There are other brands on the market, but frankly I wouldn’t waste my money. They’re not at the same level as Garmin. GPS pros: R Can follow planned routes with turn directions, distances and so forth calculated u

Above: If you’ve got room in your cockpit there’s no reason why you can’t use a tablet like an iPad Mini or an Android.

Gps vs smarTphone navIGaTIon

R Hold a preloaded database of locations and services like fuel stations that doesn’t require mobile data access

R Motorcycle GPS units are very durable, being waterproof and dust proof. The touch screens also work well when wearing gloves

GPS cons:

R It’s difficult to get a good overview map of tracks nearby

R The user needs to understand how the GPS works and how to navigate the menu.

The blower

With smartphones, Apple IOS or Android doesn’t really make much difference.

Many people already have a smart phone and that makes the phone option cheap. But what we’re really talking about from a cost perspective is the apps required to make a phone really useful in the field as a navigation tool. Also, if you’ve got the real estate available in your cockpit there’s no reason why you can’t use a tablet like an iPad Mini or an Android.

Smartphone pros:

There are so many apps available it’ll make your memory more bloated than a beached whale Cameras built into the phone are getting so good now I use my iPhone 7+ for taking more photos than I do my ‘proper’ Canon camera. Hell, even some of the images in this article are taken with the iPhone. Can you tell which ones?

You can make phone calls

You can sync your phone to your Bluetooth headset to receive spoken directions from mapping apps.

Smartphone cons:

R Phones suck power when using GPS for mapping and will only get a few hours battery life unless they’re plugged

into an external power source

R Waterproofing and dustproofing is a consideration. Phones are generally more fragile, with broken screens a constant concern. Some later phones like the iPhone 7 are becoming tougher

R Using phone touchscreens with gloves on can be a hit or complete miss. Look out for gloves advertised as having touchscreen-compatible finger pads. You can also get a product called ‘Nanotips’ which I’ve had success with by painting it on my glove fingertips

R Phones are only as good as the maps in the app. The best I’ve found on the market is Hema Explorer Pro. See the list of apps on these pages for more

The rider needs to remember to download map sections over wi-fi before going bush, otherwise they’ll chew up mobile data or simply not have maps available to view.

Mounting and power

Regardless of which tech you choose you have to be able to read the screen while riding and have u

Below left: The Ram X-Grip is an inexpensive option but needs the optional rubber ‘tether kit’ to be safe. Below right: Touratech’s iBracket is the cat’s meow for holding a smartphone.

Gps vs smarTphone navIGaTIon

it powered up. This is where RAM mounts are gold. If you’ve been around adventure bikes for longer than a month you’ve probably seen the 25mm black, ballmounts hanging off handlebars and other places. They’re wonderfully universal and a great way of putting the screen exactly where you need it. It also makes it super easy to swap from one bike to another. Be aware though, it can also make it super easy to steal your stuff, so I take my RAM mounts off each night.

As convenient as RAM mounts are to stick things anywhere, you’re best keeping them off your handlebars if you can. Remember, all that additional weight will act like a pendulum swinging around and upsetting your control inputs.

Phone mounts are another challenge.

Top apps

Here is a list of smartphone apps I use regularly. Search your app store to find them.

R Hema Explorer Pro – the best mapping available for the whole of Australia with generally the most accurate detail. You really need the Pro version for off-roading. It’s $30 to purchase plus $50 annually

R MotionX GPS – cheap (as in free!) mapping with some good functionality and multiple maps to choose from

R Mud Maps

R Memory Maps

R Rever – USA-based social ride-sharing platform. Maps are still pretty good and as more people use it more rides will be available

R Emergency + – when crap happens this app will help remind you what number to dial for 000. More importantly, it’ll show your precise location with the nearest street intersection or lat/long coordinates you can pass on to emergency services

R Google Maps – best for navigating around towns when trying to find the local Bunnings or best coffee shop

R BOM weather – check out the rain radar to see if you really should be pushing north to Tibooburra

R Spotify – play music or podcasts to keep you entertained on the boring transport sections

R Go Pro Capture – preview the vision from your GoPro on your phone screen so you don’t get home with a whole bunch of blurry images because of the filthy big bug splat you didn’t notice on the lens

R Google Earth – sometimes viewing satellite images can tell a different story to maps.

There are two I recommend and use: the Touratech iBracket – not cheap at around $200, but simply the best and most secure way of mounting your expensive iGadget – and the Ram X-Grip – cheaper at around $50, but it’s imperative you use the optional ‘tether kit’ straps to secure the phone in the holder. I’ve seen more than one phone get ejected without the tether attached.

If you use a protective case for your phone (and you should) make sure you factor that in when ordering or test fitting a phone holder. I use a basic, thin, silicon case on my iPhone 7+ and it’s survived many thousands of off-road kilometres exposed to dust and rain without many problems.

Power on

To power up your tech goodies it’s best to hardwire them to your battery or use the bike’s power outlet if it has one. You may need to do some additional wiring on enduro-style bikes to make 12-volt power available.

The set up I run includes an SAE plug that’s hard-wired to my battery. I can plug in my GPS and then I have a USB power hub that sits in my tank bag that I can plug all manner of gadgets into.

Summary

So which should you use? GPS or smartphone?

My answer is to use both. For all the reasons I’ve outlined here they each have their benefits and I’d find it much harder to do my job without either.

A USB power hub that sits in a tank bag can power all manner of gadgets, including a GPS and phone.

SWM

Superdual

Australians have been frothing for the Superdual since it was first talked about at the time of the RS650R as a 2016 model. It’s here at last and it’s an interesting bit of gear.

The SWM Superdual is one of those bikes where narrow-minded people will ride it and turn their noses up.

“Not enough horsepower,” they’ll whine after a trip around the block.

“It feels a bit basic,” they’ll snivel after all of about five minutes. “It has some vibration.”

But if those people took the time to ride the bike and look for its strengths, they’d be saying things like, “Geez, it seems to be really good on the road, but then in the dirt the suspension and brakes mean you can go really hard!” and, “It seems to have incredibly long legs. It just punts along for huge distances and stays really comfortable.”

The Superdual may not have the refinement and whizz-bang technology of bikes costing twice as

much, but to some people that’s a good thing. It’s a very polished and accomplished operator, and when the going gets rough, this bike really shines. It also has just enough burr around the edges to please the rider who likes to feel in touch with the bike and the terrain, and who enjoys the thrill of riding without the safety net of electronics taking over as the ragged edge of the performance envelope gets nearer.

Look closely

Mechanically the Superdual toes the line with the RS650R which you can read about in issue #16. It has a 600cc, dual overhead cam, liquid-cooled, singlecylinder, four-stroke motor, a six-speed transmission,

Left: An already great bike tuned more specifically for adventure.

Below: Tough-looking red steel crash bars combined with twin, lowswept pipes, high front guard and matt-finished, polished engine cases give a striking look.

Right: The Superdual shines in rough going, especially the suspension.

hydraulic clutch, fuel injection, adjustable upside-downers at the front and a shock with preload and rebound adjustment at the rear.

Where the Superdual differs is in a bigger, 19-litre tank, a 17/19-inch wheel combination, a cush-drive hub on the rear and a fair chunk of extra mass –a hefty 15kg more than the RS. The wheelbase is also just a smidge longer on the spec sheet.

A little intelligence is called for here. Those measurements may be a little closer to the RS650R than it first appears. The extra fuel, crash bars and centrestand would account for most of the extra mass, and the five-millimetre difference in the wheelbase could be in part due to the different wheel sizes. We’re not sure about that, but it’s worth noting the variations from the RS might not be as big as a first glance would indicate.

For what it’s worth, SWM claims 54 horsepower for the Superdual.

Trigger

Climbing on the bike is a nice experience. A screen gives the impression the rider will be protected, and the uncluttered handlebars give a relaxed, light feel to the front end. Instrumentation is an LCD panel with plenty of information available by scrolling with a single button, and, best of all, the seat height of 860mm means there’ll be no nosebleeds. Our 175cm test rider had no problem getting a foot down flat, or both feet on the toes a bit. It was stable and the cockpit was open enough to feel comfortable without stretching.

Typically of Italian design, the bike looks good, especially from the rider’s perspective. Little touches like braided brake lines, the hydraulic clutch, a shiny steel tank, handguards and a screen mounted on a he-man looking tubular frame all make for a an eye-catching presentation. There’s a few less obvious things we liked as well, like grease nipples on the suspension linkages and a prewired mount for a 12-volt power outlet next to the speedo. u

sWm superdual

From off the bike the rack and tough-looking red steel crash bars combine with twin, low-swept pipes, bashplate, high front guard and matt-finished, polished engine cases to give the look of a bike ready to take on some real-world shit.

Even the 19-inch front wheel contributes to a kind of mean presentation.

We don’t know why. It just does.

Individual

There were a couple of quirky characteristics on our review bike we found attractive in a backhanded kind of way.

This isn’t easy to explain, but where so many modern bikes seem to be so much alike, and to have little or no character, the SWM is loaded with it, and we really enjoyed the idea we were on a bike with some unique traits about it.

For instance, although the SWM is fuel-injected, it still has a little starting routine. When we were younger it was a real badge of credit to know how to use a manual decompressor or to lay over an XR after it was flooded. The SWM is nothing as extreme as that, but it

endeared the bike to us when the SWM rep showed us to ‘prime’ the injection system if the bike had been sitting for a while – by turning the ignition on and off a couple of times – and how the bike had what we would’ve guessed was a hotstart lever. It’s actually a cold-start lever, the SWM blokes told us. Whatever. We couldn’t quite get it to start without that lever, or just the tiniest touch of throttle, at any time, hot or cold. It always started, even after a panicky moment in some deepish water, but it wanted that tiny little bit of help.

It was a quirk, and we just don’t see quirks much any more.

We know it’s weird, but we liked it.

Hold on tight

Riding the Superdual was a blast. It’s not the fastest, most frightening or most powerful bike we’ve ever ridden, but it was a hoot.

In standard trim it’s a very long-legged runner. In sixth 100kph comes up at around 4000RPM. The sweet spot for getting the motor to work is between about 5000RPM and 6500RPM, so at street-legal and freeway-legal speeds the

bike actually feels a little sleepy, if you know what we mean. It’s not putting in much effort, and that makes for a very relaxed ride. The Superdual would be a very pleasant bike over long distances. If a rider’s feeling a frisky he needs to either up the pace or snap down a gear or two. The bike will answer the call either way. It’s sure-footed in the turns and relishes being pushed at speed. It also arcs up nicely in lower gears on tighter going. No problem.

The Brembo brakes and hydraulic clutch come in to their own with this kind of riding. Both offer really excellent feel and allow the rider to take charge and ride the edges of reason. We loved it –those Brembos, especially. Both front and rear are so bloody nice to use.

In case you’re wondering, there’s no ABS or traction control. That was another thing we liked.

On the other hand

Another quirk is the throttle being just a tad sudden straight off idle. Response is pretty much instant and it’ll take firsttimers by surprise. There’s no problem with it from our point of view, but there were plenty of people who were unhappy with the early BMW 800GS throttle when it had a similar characteristic, so we expect there’ll be a few naysayers with this one.

Once the bike’s moving the throttle is progressive and easy to use. It’s a cable set-up, by the way. There’s no ride-by-

It took a little while for us to sort out in our minds what was going on with the motor and drive on the Superdual. The motor felt good, but it seemed as though it was just on the edge of lugging all the time. We finally worked out it’s geared just a smidge taller than we’d probably like for the type of riding we do. On the road it works a treat, but off-road, especially in sand and technical going, we found we’d need to select a gear lower than we expected. If we owned the bike we’d probably experiment with a one-tooth larger sprocket on the rear.

Of course, if we were off on a long-distance trip we’d probably leave it as is.

It’s a choice every rider faces all

Optional extras

All in all we really enjoyed the SWM Superdual and would be very happy to own one.

As we write this there’s an 18/21 wheel combination to be available in the very near future – it’s probably available as you read this – and the Superdual GT with Givi hard panniers and spotties had us drooling just a little when we saw one on the dealer floor.

SWM has left in place everything we liked about the RS650R and added some excellent adventure-riding features. The result is an already great bike ready for that dream trip, straight from the dealer floor.

It works for us.

Left: An optional 18/21 wheel set will suit the more off-road focussed riders, but the 17/19 set on the test bike was great on the bitumen and formed dirt roads. It was still pretty good in snot, and owners will have to make their own judgements and what works best for them.

Above: Plenty of information available by scrolling with a single button.

Below left: No need to replace these footpegs. They’re a good size and the rubber inserts can be removed and replaced without tools.

Below right: Suspension works really well. Forks are adjustable for both rebound and compression, and the shock preload and rebound.

ke spe C s

B I

Web: www.swmmotorcycles.com.au.

Recommended retail: $9990.00 plus ORC including 24 months or 20,000km parts and labour warranty.

Engine: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, four-valve, single-cylinder four-stoke

Capacity: 600cc

Bore x Stroke: 100mm x 76.4mm

Transmission: Six-speed

Clutch: Wet multi-plate with hydraulic control

Ignition: GET

Fuel system: Mikuni D45 EFI

Start: Electric

Front suspension: 45mm USD Fast Ace fork with 210mm of travel

Rear suspension: Fully adjustable Sachs shock with external shock spring preload adjuster and 270mm of travel

Front wheel: 19-inch with 300mm brake disc

Rear wheel: 17-inch with 220mm brake disc

Seat Height: 860mm

Wheel base: 1510mm

Fuel capacity: 19-litres

Weight: 159kg

great One day

Left: At Hill End, from left: Nick Fraser, Paul Wells, Tony Gullifer and Don Sinclair. Australia Day is all about sharing with mates. Note the hi-viz gear. Sensible stuff.

Above: Bathurst in NSW is a very popular adventureriding destination. There’s plenty of history and great trails throughout the area.

Below: Author Andrew Bickford at the Hill End Men’s Shed. There’s good food, coffee and accommodation available there.

Andrew Bickford and his mates decided to celebrate Australia Day with a ride. Just like the First Fleet, the crew had some dangerous waters to negotiate.

Bathurst riders are lucky. The region offers some great adventure riding right on the doorstep and we set off from our guide’s property at 7:00am to try and beat the heat of the day.

Five bikes headed off, including three XR650Rs, a lone DR650 and one KLR650, and the team consisted of Nick Fraser and Paul Wells from Newcastle, Don Sinclair, Andrew Bickford and guide Tony Gullifer, all from Bathurst (if some of those names seem familiar it’s because they were pounding through the snow in issue #22 – Ed).

The group headed north down the Box Ridge Road, which, after a few gates, turned on to the Bridle Track.

Main: Nick Fraser’s DR650 copped a dunking in the Macquarie River at Root Hog Crossing. It was up and running again in no time.

Words and images: Andrew Bickford

one GreaT day

Shed talk

Luckily a bit of local knowledge paid off, and a land owner sent us over on to the Root Hog Fire Trail to cross the Macquarie River.

It turned out one of the DR650s needed a clean, so it was dropped into the river and left with only the tip of a handlebar visible.

After we got the reliable Suzuki running again we followed the Root Hog Fire Trail through to Gowan and on to the Ophir Reserve. We then weaved our way back on to Long Point Road and did our second crossing of the Macquarie River, this time without any problems.

Ullamalla Road took us back into Hill End for breakfast at the Men’s Shed where there’s great-value food and coffee available. They also have some comfortable, reasonably priced accommodation that would make an excellent stopover for any adventure rider.

Hill End also gave a few a chance to dry their wet feet and dump the water from the boots.

Feeling refreshed, we headed home via the Bridle Track, checking out a few extra loops on the way.

Short, but sweet

Home offered showers, lamb on the barbeque, family and friends and the chance to relax and talk through the ride. It was a great way to start the Australia Day celebrations. We only covered 210km, but had a great mix of riding through rocky gravel roads, two river crossings, sand and great views.

It’s always worth the effort to get together for a ride in this fantastic country, whether it’s for eight days or just few hours.

Top right: Only 210km, but a great mix of rocky gravel roads, two river crossings, sand and great views.

Right: Box Ridge Road, after a few gates, turned into the Bridle Track. Below: Guide Tony made Root Hog Crossing look easy.

Rajasthan

Graeme Sedgwick tackles a big one for his first adventure ride.

Words and images: Graeme Sedgwick

Ihappened upon a guy setting up to sell an ex-learn-to-ride bike in my neighbourhood and it prompted me to ring a mate who’s raced and ridden more bikes than I’ve had matchbox toys. He exploded when I ran my thoughts past him.

“If you’re serious I’ll take you riding in the Otways to knock some sense and skills into you. Get your licence,” he gritted down the phone.

A short time later, David – the mate –had run me through a training regime and successfully equipped me for an adventure I’ll never forget. I started from a base of zero riding and, after some coaching over Christmas and New Year, signed up for a 15-day Royal Enfield ride throughout India’s Rajasthan.

Wide-eyed

The adventure morphed virtually out of nowhere and gathered pace. I secured my licence and followed my tutor on his 501 Husky into the Otway Ranges. My first attempt at a small hill saw me execute a full double pike with tuck over the handlebars to land face-first in the gravel. This seemed to cause David a

Left: Riding a Bullet through India’s Rajasthan was a sensory overload of grand proportions.

Map: Rajasthan is India’s largest state. Located on the western side of the country, it covers most of the inhospitable Thar Desert. It’s a great choice for a first adventure ride.

Above: Rajasthan was at once fascinating for its monumental stone forts and palaces

Right: Palace’ must mean something different in India.

great deal of amusement and prompted him to name the first lesson: Try To Stay On The Bike.

Things progressed and so did I. I rode more fire and forestry trails and tracks, falling, sometimes bouncing, other times ploughing sand or slogging through bogholes. I regularly found myself crawling after a bike left lonesome for its rider.

I’d often fanned pages of magazines to find and read just about anything and everything related to adventure travel, but hadn’t until recently considered what motorcycle adventure riding might offer.

Fortunately, I was accompanied on this particular adventure by another mate, Trevor, a New South Welshman who averaged around 15,000km of riding a year and who had recently returned from a ride around Sri Lanka. In another time and place I’m sure he could’ve been an excellent Indian historian. The combination of these two traits made Trev perfect to help me embrace

and complete my ride through the subcontinent, and to open wide my eyes to a world of extraordinary adventuring beyond tin-top travel.

Monumental

Just meeting the other riders in India was an adventure.

It turned out the tour group was filled mostly with West Australians who, unlike

my rookie self, had been riding almost since they’d could walk. They also seemed to know more about the importance of having the right empirical data to design and build all sorts and sizes of permanent and temporary things. They were engineering types, gainfully employed on Australia’s beautiful western frontier stretching along the sparkling shores of the Indian Ocean.

It was also an adventure to meet a tail-end Charley called Damian.

Damian was a delightful chap who stood for his own – and the rental company’s – self-preservation mantra. Together with mechanics and bike-riding local Indian guides the 15-day adventure commenced and concluded with a train journey from, and returning to, Delhi.

Heavy rock

Indian train travel is an experience not to be missed. It forces one to recalibrate the joys connected with sharing space. Breathing and filtering the aromas that swirl around the swinging linkages between the carriage’s toilets is a unique experience. And when aiming for that hole in the floor, spare a thought for

Top left: Jaisalmer, a former medieval trading centre, is known as ‘The Golden City’.

Above: Cows, camels, pigs, dogs and goats test a rider’s reflexes.

Left: There’s no description that could go even close to describing India’s traffic.

fellow passengers of the opposite sex who seek to find similar relief without splashing their feet.

The railway-station markets encompass everything. There’s clothing, engineering, food, trinkets… the assortment is mind-blowing. And just when you think India might have run out of ways to leave you in awe, there’s Rajasthan.

Rajasthan was at once fascinating for its monumental stone forts and

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Above left: Looked after by mechanics and bike-riding local guides, maintenance during the 15-day adventure was no problem.

Top: The local cuisine added to the experience. Above: Amazing machinery was everywhere. u

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palaces of remarkable scale, detail and building bewilderment. How on earth could the heavy stone materials used to build such gigantic structures have been moved and erected?

Common senses

There’s no description that could go even close to describing India’s traffic.

The whole nation swirls around horn blowing and the laws of natural selection, and anything goes. It’s no

place for the faint of heart to hone their skills.

Rajasthan itself challenges every one of a rider’s senses. It’s a place where cows, camels, pigs, dogs and goats test a rider’s reflexes at every attempt to navigate a safe forward passage, and it’s not only the animals that make movement difficult. The 1.34 billion souls who ride scooters, motorcycles and bicycles –everywhere, any time, day or night –add to the challenge.

Divine

Riding a Bullet through India’s Rajasthan was a sensory overload of grand proportions, even afterward in reflection. As the sun rose it revealed the enormity of riding between gigantic, powergenerating windmill turbines scattered prolifically across a landscape that borders Pakistan. That landscape is scored by sand dunes that are fittingly illuminated by the rays of ethereal light, which, at dusk, could be the fingers of God.

The contrasts, natural or manmade, are stunning. Mount Abu’s another example that seems to jump up almost immediately from the earth and present a twisting, 29km ascent and descent. Spice was added to the winding mountain roads as locals, undaunted by the concept that two-abreast might be risky, streamed up and down the narrow thoroughfare, seemingly oblivious to everyone around them.

It can be done

Across undulations, through water, mud – or was that shit? – over tracks, pavements and tarmac we punted, the rough terrain interspersed with blasts of speed through tunnels along Rajasthan’s tollways. All eight of us loved the

Top left: For a rookie the ride exceeded all expectations.

Below left: Railway-station markets encompass everything.

Below: 1.34 billion souls ride scooters, motorcycles and bicycles – everywhere,any time, day or night.

crackling sound of the twin-sparked 500cc Royal Enfields kitted with carbies rather than fuel injection. There was lots to smile about when throttles were twisted and the group blasted past frantically waving locals walking either side of the road or chancing their luck dodging between trucks, cars, other bikes and motionless cows.

I learned so much on my first ride on a Bullet through India’s Rajasthan. So much about India, Rajasthan and about myself. This ride may not be for everyone, nor for that matter may it be the epitome of rides for the seasoned adventurer. What is sure, for me the rookie bike adventurer together with the seven other more experienced riders, was the ride and the adventure surpassed everyone’s expectations.

So I say to those who’ve remarked: “I’d give my right arm to do what you’ve done,” and those who may be may be contemplating such adventuring, anything is possible.

Above: Great people to be with. Below: The author gets a rousing reception from locals at Kapura.

Ulysses adventure riders’ SIG 2017 Wirrealpa

Wirrealpa, a 1500-square-kilometre sheep and cattle station in the northern Flinders Ranges of South Australia, was the location for the Ulysses annual adventure riders’ special-interest group (SIG) gathering for 2017. Peter Maguire was there.

On a Friday in late April I rode my heavily laden KTM690 across to Woodend for a rendezvous with Peter Murphy and Dete Hasse, both riding Suzuki DR650s, and Finn Butler, who was riding his Triumph Tiger 800XCx. The plan was pretty simple really: ride as much as possible on dirt roads and tracks to arrive at Wirrealpa, South Australia, late on Sunday, camping along the way.

Winner winner, chicken dinner

Our aim for the first day was to meet mate Trevor Verlin and his BMW 1200GSA at Manangatang in north-western Victoria and then camp somewhere along the Murray River. Dete had mapped out a backroads route that took us through some forests and interesting old gold-mining towns between Maldon and Wedderburn. Many of these old towns still have impressive brick buildings, particularly churches,

and I made a mental note to return to places like Kingower and Tarnagulla.

After lunch in Wedderburn we continued northwest before time got the better of us and we detoured onto the Calder Highway to make our agreed meeting with Trevor.

Later we set up on a bank above the Murray River west of Hattah and had the campfire blazing. Trev has the knack of preparing the best campfire dinners, carrying an array of fresh, frozen and tinned food in the BMW camp kitchen, and this first night we dined on chicken tikka masala with basmati rice while sipping a red wine. It was very, very nice.

We were soon asleep, warm and cosy in our tents.

Copping a spray

It had been wet in south-eastern Australia, so the country was looking fantastic. Multiple shades of green where everywhere, there

was water in the paddocks and no dust. It was almost perfect. I’d spent some time planning the route from the second day, so after a leisurely breakfast we packed up and headed along the River Track which follows the Murray north through the forest of the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. A couple of very slippery sections managed to catch out Trevor and Dete and we arrived in Mildura with two bikes and riders carrying some excess mud. A trip to a car wash was needed and Dete and Trevor were observed –unfortunately not photographed – washing each other with a high-pressure hose in the car-wash bays.

After a visit to the shops for our final supplies we fuelled up and headed for Wentworth and beyond.

We took the old Renmark road to Lake Victoria and then on to the Chowilla/Dangalli turnoff, just over the South Australian border.

Words and images: Peter Maguire

Feelin’ good

Morning dawned cool and overcast and we were packed and ready to roll by 9:00am. The track was good, with some hard-packed sections interspersed with very sandy parts and the occasional small dune. I think it’s fair to say for our ‘non-sand lovers’, finishing this section was quite an achievement. It’s well worth the ride if you’re travelling through the area.

Wildlife kept everyone on their toes and a couple of abandoned homesteads with outbuildings made for interesting stops. The country ranged from open plains to scrubby bush, which in some places encroached on the track, but about 100km from camp we

The track out to

Rock included one sandy section that was a challenge for some of the bigger bikes. All 15 riders made it.

Top right: The final roll-up was 74 riders and the average age was 60.2 years.

Map: The route the author’s group took to the 2017 Ulysses annual SIG riders’ meeting. Right: Real adventuring! Chicken tikka masala with basmati rice and red wine while camped on the Murray River east of Hattah.

were back on a formed dirt road with big smiles on our faces.

Scattered showers

A regroup at the intersection of the Yunta to Coombah road showed the dust from an approaching vehicle. As the ute got closer we saw a motorcycle in the back and, lo and behold, it was Barry Alford from Portland, also heading for Wirrealpa. He’d driven to Swan Hill with his DR in the ute and the bike had fallen on him as he was unloading, u

Camp was in the bush about five kilometres north of the main road and Trevor whipped up a feast of butter chicken with coconut rice. Yum.

Above:

Lizard

WIrrealpa 2017

injuring his shoulder, so he decided to drive to Wirrealpa instead.

What a small world.

That meant we had a group of six, albeit one on four wheels, as we headed for a very late lunch.

After a steak sandwich and refuel in Yunta we camped on the dry creek bed just east of the town and soon had the fire roaring. Pete headed back into Yunta for a shower while the rest of us decided we could survive another day.

Everyone was pretty tired after the sand so, blessed with another magnificent outback sunset, Trevor weaved his culinary magic with a so-called ‘saddlebag-mix’ of pork (yes pork) rogan josh with udon noodles before everyone had an early night.

All stations

We woke to a stunning sunrise and clear skies.

Barry felt his shoulder had improved somewhat, so he unloaded his Suzuki and joined us for the rest of the ride to Wirrealpa. Being close to Yunta, we had a nice breakfast at the servo and picked up some sandwiches for lunch before heading northwest to Arkaroola on Tea Tree Road. The old gold-mining area of Waukaringa was our first stop. Hotel ruins sit proudly on a rise looking across the vast landscape, and while the group visited the old mine sites I headed off to see if I could organise for us to ride across Curnamona Station on the way home, then waited under a shady tree for the group to catch up.

The previous week Tea Tree Road had been closed due to flooding but was now dry and dusty with corrugations and occasional nasty sections of wheel ruts. It was probably the worst road of the trip. We pushed on towards Frome Downs where we turned west toward Wirrealpa.

I’d organised with the owners of Wertaloona Station and Wirrealpa to travel on station tracks for about 80km from Frome Downs west to Wirrealpa so, about 90km north of Curnamona, we turned onto a little-used track that turned out to be two wheel marks across an open plain.

Perfect!

We pushed on to the ruins of the Wyambana Outstation and had our sandwiches under a shady tree while we examined the ruins of the old buildings.

Gate crasher

Wirrealpa’s boundary fence is just west of Wyambana and the station tracks were in better condition than the main road, and this was the scene of my big ‘crash’ for the trip.

I was leading our group and arrived at the gate, so I pulled up next to the post and unhooked the chain as usual. The problem was the gate swung towards me and, because of where I’d stopped, I couldn’t open the gate or move my bike. As I tried to wriggle the front of the Kato out of the way it overbalanced. I put my foot in a hole and down we went.

Did I get assistance from my good mates who had by then arrived at the gate?

No. Just laughter and a rush to get their cameras out.

No harm done and we were soon on our way again.

Above: Trevor Verlin’s GS hit the deck near Mildura. Nothing a wash wouldn’t set right.

Left: The Tiger prowling through a gulley. u

Teams based GPS Navigaton Rallye for hardcore Adventure riders

The course is suitable for larger capacity Adventure style bikes, Open to all makes of 600 -1200 Off-road based motorcycles,

• 3 day GPS navigation rallye route through the Victorian/NSW high country

• Sweep riders

• Baggage/tyre support

• Private property special stages

• Teams prizes/trophy’s

• Adventure Maniacs T-Shirt

Smooth as

We were soon setting up camp near the Wirrealpa shearers’ quarters – circa 1850 – our base for the next four days, and our first job was to light the wood-fired boiler to get hot water for showers. Then, clean and refreshed, we enjoyed dinner and a wine in the shearer’s kitchen with five other riders who’d also arrived early.

After breakfast I caught up with Barbara and Warren Fargher, owners of Wirrealpa, as well as their son Richard who’d come up from Adelaide to help during our visit, and Roxanne, a French backpacker, who was working on the station. This team did a fantastic job to organise everything and cater for the group. The food was

Above: The terrain went from open country to sand dunes, rocky gullies, gravel, creek crossings and hills.

Below: Gareth Lentle with his new BMW R1000GS – from 1984. Gareth was handy as an auctioneer, too.

delicious and plentiful, accommodation was good and everything ran smoothly.

A bit of everything

The main group was due to arrive the next day so, after a cooked breakfast, five of us headed out to check the condition of the tracks after the recent rains. Warren suggested we’d have a good ride if we continued southwest past Lizard Rock until we came to ‘the old netting fence’ – which was over 150 years old – then turned left and followed the fence out to the Ten Mile Creek. Or we could turn right and head north until we hit the Balcoracana Creek where we could pick up the track north to the Blinman road.

They were good Aussie outback directions.

We chose the second option and had a fantastic off-road ride.

The terrain went from open country to sand dunes, rocky gullies, gravel, creek crossings and hills. The ride had it all, including spectacular Flinders Ranges’ scenery as a backdrop.

Five riders arrived back at the shearers’ quarters with big grins on their faces, ready for a late lunch.

All in

A steady stream of riders arrived during the afternoon, all with stories of their adventures.

The final tally was 74 and the average age was 60.2 years, but ages ranged from 30 to 75.

Accommodation was found, tents were erected, there was a queue for the

hot showers and riders renewed old friendships or made new ones. Dinner was an enjoyable barbeque at the woolshed followed by many discussions over a beer or wine around the campfires and then off to bed.

For most it had been a long day.

Ab fab

Wednesday was a free day and some kicked back and had a rest or did some washing, but most went for a ride.

Some went to Arkaroola, many to Blinman and the nearby gorges or the old copper mines and others took a scenic flight over Wilpena Pound. The pilot was happy to land at the Wirrealpa airstrip to pick everyone up. How good was that!

I’d offered to lead a ride out to Lizard Rock, so at 9:30am, with 15 riders in the group, we headed out.

Our first stop was the white cliffs on the Balcoracana Creek. It was a good photo opportunity and a chance to see some of the local rock formations. The track out to Lizard Rock included riding along two creek beds, and one sandy section was a challenge for some of the bigger bikes. Everyone got through okay, although a few bikes and riders had a short lay down along the way.

After a rest and photo shoot at Lizard Rock we headed back to Balcoracana Creek where the track turned west and upstream, crossing the creek multiple times. The creek is typically dry, but during our visit it was flowing in a few places before the water disappeared underground.

Register your interest in our 2018 ride calendar

It doesn’t matter what brand you ride, join us and have the time of your life!

16-18 Mar

Touratech Adventure

Challenge & Travel Event

Myrtleford VIC

18-23 Mar

TransTerra 2018

Alpine Explorer

Myrtleford VIC

3-6 May

TransTerra 4 Day

Wild Rivers

Port Macquarie NSW

2-8 Sept

TransTerra 2018

Flinders Outback

Flinders Ranges SA

21-26 Oct

TransTerra 2018

Southern High

South Coast NSW

30 Nov – 2 Dec

Alpine Assault Rally

Victorian High Country

Once again spectacular scenery was filled with rock cliffs and huge old gum trees growing along the river against a backdrop of mountain ranges on the horizon.

It was absolutely fabulous.

Single minded

Eventually the track left the creek up a short, steep, section and many riders were relieved to be back in open country for a fun run north along the fence line. I was enjoying the ride and could hear ‘Young Daniel’ on his XR650 barking on my rear wheel with Herb on a DR650 also in hot pursuit. It was time to go a bit harder! Daniel, Herb and I had a quick run across the rough country until we came to the main road and were back at the shearers’ kitchen for a late lunch.

Mixed bag

I was interested to see the array of bikes and riders. As usual, the ubiquitous Suzuki DR650 was the most popular bike and Suzuki and BMW, in equal numbers, were the most popular brands by far. Other brands were KTM, Honda, Kawasaki, Triumph, Yamaha and Husqvarna, and

some of the older bikes were from the 1970s and ’80s. The majority of riders were from NSW, but riders had come from as far north as Townsville in Queensland as well as from Victoria and South Australia. One was from Kentucky in the USA.

We relaxed during the afternoon and refuelled for the ride home. We’d had to get 1000 litres of fuel shipped to Wirrealpa because the nearest fuel was over 50km away. A fair quantity of beer, wine and soft drink was also required, and Warren had arranged to cart the fuel and wine to Wirrealpa for us, which was very much appreciated.

Great result

Wednesday evening was the gala dinner, and it was fine woolshed dining indeed.

After dinner was an auction to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). This medical service is dear to the hearts of all outback adventure riders and we had a great array of products donated by BMW, Honda, Adventure Moto, Touratech and Adventure Rider Magazine, as well as several Wirrealpa polo shirts donated by the Fargher family. When the dust settled, and with a few subsequent donations, we’d raised $3000.

The evening continued with talking around the campfires under a clear, outback, starry sky before calling it a day.

Extra

For most riders, the next morning meant the stay at Wirrealpa had ended and it was time to head for home.

I’d been told about the Nantawarrina Indigenous Protected Area northwest of Wirrealpa, so Peter, Dete and I decided to stay another day and ride into Moro Gorge. Bruce joined us in his 4WD, and this ride turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

The area has a self-registration permit system and it’s beautiful country with some outstanding gorges. We didn’t see another person all day. It’s well worth a visit, either in a 4WD or on a bike.

Back at Wirrealpa Barbara had again organised dinner. This time Roxanne took over the kitchen and we had quiche lorraine cooked in the traditional French style.

It was another memorable day in the outback.

Fuel shortage

Friday: time to go.

Under clear morning skies we packed up, cooked breakfast in the kitchen, cleaned up, said our goodbyes to the Fargher team and headed east past the airstrip.

Following my visit to Curnamona Station earlier in the week I’d also contacted the manager of Kalabity

Above: A happy crew on Lizard Rock.

Below: The team at Wirrealpa did a sensational job. Below right: Riders renewed old friendships or made new ones.

A huge thanks to the businesses who supported the fundraising efforts of the Ulysses SIG: BMW, Honda, Adventure Moto, Touratech, Adventure Rider Magazine and Wirrealpa Station.

Station, so we travelled on station tracks most of the way to the old railway siding of Mingary on the Barrier Highway, about 25km from the SA/NSW border.

It was a great ride without traffic, although there were a lot of kangaroos and emus who seemed to like sharing the same stretch of road. When we crossed into NSW we had another 47km of bitumen to Broken Hill where we camped among people and road noise in a caravan park.

Saturday morning we had a leisurely start to the day and even went into town for breakfast at a café. Then it was 115km of bitumen to Menindee.

The plan was to head across toward Hay, but I hadn’t done much serious planning for this part of our route, and even though Dete refuelled in Menindee (his Suzuki had a 20-litre tank) it became clear he wouldn’t make it to Hay, so we changed the plan and headed for Balranald.

The day was getting on so we had another delightful, busy camp about 140km north of Balranald.

Ticking the boxes

Sunday morning was cool and overcast with a light dew, so we had breakfast and gave our tents time to dry. We then packed our slightly wet gear and dreamed about a hot coffee in Balranald.

The fuel estimates were correct. Dete ran out about five kilometres from town.

We soon siphoned some out of Peter’s big tank and in no-time were having coffee and a sandwich at Café Cassaro; the best steak sandwich in town, according to Peter.

I was home at 4:30pm after a fantastic 2850km adventure.

Thinking back, Wirrealpa 2017 was another fantastic ride and event.

Good mates, great fellowship, beautiful country, enjoyable bush camping, fun backroads and tracks as well as Wirrealpa Station being a fabulous venue for our get-together, and everyone rode safely and got there and back without any major incidents.

Thanks to all involved: it doesn’t get much better than this.

The ride had it all, including spectacular Flinders Ranges’ scenery as a backdrop.

SIG: special interest group

If you’re interested in finding out more about the adventure-riding SIG, log on to adventureriders.org, or search for SIG on Facebook. They’re a friendly bunch of good people.

MOTORCYCLE TYRES

NEW ! NEW !

KLRRR

Tottenham, the geographical centre of NSW, was host to the 2017 KLR Rider’s Rally. Adventure Rider Magazine was there, along with 20 or so other KLR owners and a few ring-ins on various other brands and models. What a great weekend!

As relaxed, laid-back riding events go, the 2017 KLR Riders’ Rally was a good’n.

Sure, the overnight temperatures may have been a little low, but the town of Tottenham, population around 350, threw open its arms, general store and coffee shop to make everyone welcome. The KLR owners and assorted friends returned the embrace and quietly consumed large breakfasts, fuelled big tanks, and generally spent a day or two discussing and eyeballing each other’s bikes. There were some friendly tech discussions, a few yarns spun, some old friends caught up with and new friends made.

It was a tenth anniversary celebrated in a quiet and dignified fashion which reflected credit on all involved.

That’s right: the annual KLR Riders’ Rally has clocked up Number 10.

All the same, but all just a little different.

Above: Paul Griffin, organiser and top bloke.

Below: Barry Wallett’s 1999 C-model sidecar made the ride from Canberra a pleasant one, except Barry said there was too much bitumen. He had to take a diversion to get some good dirt time.

Above: A very happy bunch of KLR owners for the tenth anniversary.

The KLR Riders’ Rally at Tottenham in NSW had a good roll up.

The story so far

Owners of other brands may not have been aware of the Rally, but it kicked off when the first KLR Riders’ Rally made its way to Alice Springs to take in the Finke Desert Race. Paul, ‘Griffo’ Griffin was there and has been involved ever since.

“It was ‘Macka’ – Ian Mcrae,” explained the quietly spoken Gold Coaster. “He’s here on his Ural this year, but we’d been chatting on various internet forums. He said, ‘We should have a rally for KLR riders.’

“He was right, of course, so between he and myself and a couple of other guys we’ve organised every one since.”

That was in 2008, and only three riders actually made it to the first rally. Macka crashed on the Plenty Highway and had to be airlifted by the RFDS, but Griffo, Kiwi Allan Enright and a rider known only as ‘John from South Australia’ made up the list of participants for that first

year and it’s grown from there.

Although the Australian KLR Riders Facebook page is the main gathering point for participants, 2017 marks the first time that’s been the case.

Griffo again: “It started on KLR650.net, an American KLR owner’s website. It’s only migrated to Facebook in the last couple of years. Jared Smith and Richard Bell have grown it from there. This is the first year we’ve had more Facebook people than KLR650.net people.”

Free for all

The whole idea behind the KLR Riders’ Rally is to name a time and place, and then owners of Kawasaki’s hardy workhorse can be there if they choose.

“We don’t organise anything,” explained Griffo in his measured tone.

“We pick a place, we go there, and there’s a long-distance award for the

Right: Longest Distance Award winner Bill Van Haren. Bill rode from south-east Queensland via central-western Queensland, South Australia and north-western NSW. u

Top right: Richard Bell (left) and Jared Smith, both from near Brisbane in Queensland, did some serious distance. They rode something like 3000km following the Darling River from its source to the Murray, then headed out to the rally before clocking up more big distance on the way home.

COLOURS:

person who travels furthest to get there. There’s no organised ride.”

With that said, 2017 was unusual in that Linden Baker, a 25-year Tottenham local, volunteered to lead if anyone wanted to head out to the cairn which marked the actual geographical centre of the State. The offer was enthusiastically accepted by several keen riders.

Even though Linden was riding a

The Mac Attack

Adventure Rider Magazine’s editor fitted the panniers to his Touratech KLR and headed off to rendezvous with fellow owner Mac Eggins.

A puncture about 10km from home had the editor running late for the meeting at freezing-fricken-cold Ebor, in the mountains of the New England region of NSW. Mac was shivering away in a phone box – we’re not sure why he thought a phone box with no bottom panels would be warmer than the

Honda TransAlp he’d owned a KLR 23 years ago, and as far as the group was concerned, that made him a top bloke.

A dinner was the closest thing to an organised function during the event, and it was the occasion for announcing the winner of the long-distance award and for free and wide-ranging discussion on the destination for 2018.

For the record, the longest distance travelled went to Bill Van Haren, and next year the Rally will head to Stonehenge in Queensland, out near Longreach.

The editor’s making plans already.

Top right: Kelvin Lawrie’s 2004 Gen 1 was incredibly well decked out. Kelvin bought the bike new and built it bit-by-bit. He’s ridden it around Australia and ticked off names like Cameron Corner and the Strzelecki.

Left: Glenn Cochrane (right) found his speedo drive ‘shattered into a billion pieces’. He spent a very patient afternoon working out the problem and solution. It’s the KLR-owners’ way.

Right: Andrew Roberts from Brisbane and his ‘camo-model li-lo conversion’.

nearby servo, but that’s the mystery of the man – when the editor rolled up, and the pair set off to knock over the 900km or so to Tottenham.

Mac turned out to be the best kind of riding partner. He carried an insane payload of tools which came in very handy when the editor’s rear tyre deflated again not far from Tamworth, was happy to see the humour and positive possibilities of any situation and never seemed to be worried about anything.

After a couple of close calls with kangaroos, a temperature which went through the floor as the sun set and some dubious fuel calculations on the ride out to the cairn, the pair agreed it was a sensational weekend and both are looking forward to 2018.

Left: Who was that masked man? Mac Eggins, that’s who. It was a tad chilly.

Top right: A puncture about 10km from home kicked off the editor’s rally.

Right: A fuel miscalculation on the ride to the cairn meant the editor could repay the tyre-changing favours of the first day.

PLB rescue

Anonther story highlighting the importance of a good rescue beacon.

Ibought my PLB in 2009 and I quickly got into the habit of taking it with me, keeping it on my person in case I had a mishap and was separated from the bike.

I was returning home from Adelaide to Canberra with a friend, David Boulter from Melbourne, recently. We were both on BMWs with knobbies, and after an overnight stop at Mungo Lake

Shearers’ Quarters in western NSW we set off in the early morning for a tour around Mungo Lake before making our way towards Ivanhoe and Hillston. We’d checked with rangers on the condition of Clare Road, a rarely used track that bypasses Ivanhoe and meets up with the Cobb Highway at Mossgiel.

The rangers at Mungo Lake were unaware of any reason not to travel that way, although it became clear the road hadn’t been graded in a long time. From its intersection with the Balranald/ Ivanhoe Road, the Clare Road became trickier and trickier, with water lying around from rain three days previously turning the red clay into patches of greasy, soft glue.

Fall guys

Both of us came off, Dave after about two kilometres and myself about six kilometres later. I’d been carefully choosing my lines, but eventually went into a disguised soft section that grabbed the front wheel and caused the bike to rotate sharply around its axis, throwing me off.

I hit the ground hard. I knew I was hurt when I had trouble breathing, started to faint and couldn’t stand up. I crawled on to the road bank and waited for my friend to arrive. With no phone network and a prospect of seeing no-one for days, we activated my PLB.

Amazing AMSA

A 4WD ambulance arrived about

Words: Graeme Windsor. Images Graeme Windsor and David Boulter

Top: With no phone network and a prospect of seeing no-one for days, the PLB had an ambulance on site in around two hours.

Left: Dave Boulter (left) and the author were enjoying a ride from Adelaide to Canberra.

Above: Water lying around from rain three days previously had turned the red clay into patches of greasy, soft glue. Both bikes went down.

Below: Ambulance to Ivanhoe Medical Centre and then an RFDS aircraft to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

two hours later and took me to Ivanhoe Medical Centre. From there I was loaded on to an RFDS aircraft and sent to Royal Adelaide Hospital. Despite wearing body armour and good off-road boots I’d smashed an ankle and broken eight ribs, some more than once.

I don’t know how AMSA managed to track down my wife and eldest daughter. Those two were my nominated personal contacts, but they were both in the UK visiting relatives. Neither had made arrangements for their SIM card to take overseas calls, but somehow AMSA found and contacted them.

I called AMSA later to thank them for the service. It transpired that if we had set off my friend’s PLB as well, it would have provided AMSA with more confidence that it wasn’t just a false alarm. That’s a tip to remember.

I’m now recovering slowly. The ankle is fine, but the ribs have been an ordeal, to say the least.

Graeme scores a PLB

Graeme’s situation once again illustrates the importance of reliable, fast contact with rescue services for adventure riders. KTi, Australia’s leading producer of quality PLBs, is offering a PLB to riders who share their rescue stories with Adventure Rider Magazine’s readers. In an emergency situation where minutes count, a PLB can mean the difference between timely help and something much worse, and KTi wants to see Adventure Rider Magazine’s readers properly equipped.

Do you have a good rescue story?

If so, send it to tom@maynemedia. com.au. KTi is so keen to see riders carrying emergency beacons they’re going to give a free PLB to a rescue story we publish. It doesn’t have to be a story using a PLB, but it needs to be verifiable, and it needs usable pics.

If you’ve been in trouble once, you should know how important a PLB can be. Share your story and make sure you’re prepared if it ever happens again.

South The Riding Reporters PART 1

America

After a year of preparation and two weeks of struggling with Suriname customs the KTM 690s were unpacked and reassembled. The second stage of the South American journey for Dutch pair ‘The Riding Reporters’ was about to begin.

Words and Images: Irene Wouters

Three years ago I took seven months to ride the western part of South America. Now it was time to finish the transcontinental trip. My ride companions for the rest of the journey would be Lia Bexkens for the first three months and Carli Kooper for the last two, and our departure would be from Suriname on the northeastern coast. Over five months we’d travel through French Guyana, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chili to complete a 25,000km journey.

Stamped out

After two weeks, 36 emails, 32 phone calls, 14 taxi tours and even a visit to the embassy, we finally managed to get the bikes cleared through Suriname customs.

What a relief and pleasure it was to finally sit on our KTMs after so much delay, and know the next morning would start the ride and we’d cross into French Guyana.

We left Paramaribo at a snail’s pace. Suriname’s capital has only one main road and it’s prone to long traffic jams. In fact, the second-smallest South American country has only one main road that runs along the coast. Side roads are dead ends because the vast majority of the country is covered by jungle and countless rivers. The areas away from the coast can only be reached by boat or by aircraft.

After weaving and lane-splitting through the hustle and bustle of the city, a mixture of relief, freedom and joy overcame us as we rode through the lush, u

Main: The riders were often short of their destination by sunset.

Right: Author Irene Wouters and her 690.

green landscape. Suriname not only looks exotic, it smells it. I enjoyed the waving palms and the cooling breeze for the 140km it took to reach the eastern border post of Albina.

The formalities at the border weren’t nearly as difficult as the hassle of getting the KTMs out of Suriname customs. Armed with our paperwork I walked to the counter and was stamped out of the country without so much as a glance at Lia or the bikes. That left us plenty of time to make the crossing to French Guyana with the last ferry of the day.

We entered a new country and began the search for a meal and a place to sleep – it was easier said than done. It was a shock to find there was nowhere to sleep for less than $100, and in general French Guyana was to prove very pricey.

Hit’n’missile

The next morning we continued to the city of Cayenne via the Center Spatial Guyanais (CSG).

The CSG is the missile launch centre of the European Space Agency. Unfortunately, there was no launch on the day we were there, but I did photograph Lia on her KTM next to a full-size replica missile.

French Guyana had some similarities to neighboring Suriname. It was exotic, green and there was only one main road along the coast. The difference to Suriname was the road being slightly hilly,

but unfortunately it remained straight and not very interesting or challenging. Seeing it was an expensive country, we decided to leave it quickly behind us. The Brazil border was only 170km away, and a thrilling water crossing awaited.

Don’t pay the ferryman

We would’ve had to wait a day to cross on the regular ferry, but a little Brazilian fellow offered to boat us over for a quarter of the amount in two fortified

Lia

customs to complete a crossing of the South American continent.

Below: Suriname is covered by jungle with countless rivers. The backwoods can only be reached by boat or by aircraft.

Right: The Center Spatial Guyanais in Cayenne is the launch headquarters of Ariane missiles for the European Space Agency.

Bottom right: A visit to the dune lagoons of Barreirinhas allowed running around in the soft sand like overjoyed toddlers.

Above:

(left) and author Irene leave Suriname

canoes. Famous Dutch motorcycle world traveler Sjaak Lucassen had taken this option, so I agreed. Lia didn’t seem convinced and continued to look at me in doubt when I confidently said: “If Sjaak could do it, so can we!”

With restrained breath, Lia and I watched four men lift our bikes, one at a time, into their boats. We each sat with the KTMs, and it was nerve-wracking, but we crossed without incident.

Once across and unloaded there was no pavement to be seen. Instead we were treated to hardened, worn, steeply ascending red-dirt tracks and the first bridge we crossed was on the verge of collapse.

Brazil promised to be a wonderful adventure.

Hangin’ with the locals

Washboards and potholes in the terracotta dirt were no problem for the 690s, and in the first 100km off-road in Brazil we crossed more than 40 narrow wooden bridges. Most of the route consisted of hard-packed dirt which was easy to ride. u

From Macapá we slept in hammocks for the 24-hour crossing of the Amazon in a riverboat. By the time the boat departed we’d hung hammock-against-hammock with the other travelers and all different kinds of fruity, shower smells permeated the air. Besides being an incredibly warm and hospitable people, the Brazilians are apparently also set on their hygiene. The scents were a bit overwhelming, but beat penetrating sweat odours any day.

Belém, gateway to Brazil’s lower Amazon region, looked like a metropolis with a skyscraper skyline. It was an incredible contrast to the wooden huts we’d seen from the boat in the Amazon forest. Numerous roads filled our map, completely the opposite of the previous two countries, and that was logical. The Netherlands fits 240 times into the area of Brazil, which has 290 million inhabitants.

We listened to tips from fellow travelers and residents and decided to

head via Alcantara for the colonial city Sao Luís, ride to Parque Nacional dos Lencóis Maranhenses to admire the sand dunes and lagoons, and from there on go to motor-vehicle-free hippie enclave, Jericoacoara – or just ‘Jeri’ for short.

Catch up

An election meant the streets of Belém were crowded with people holding banners and waving. The revellers slowed our pace and it was obvious we wouldn’t get to Alcantara before the dark. When I saw a hotel at a petrol station just on dusk we decided to pull up. We planned an early departure the next morning to make up for lost time, and our plan was to ride via Alcantara and the historic centre of Sao Luís to Barreirinhas to admire the lagoons and sand dunes, and the following day arrive in Parque Nacional dos Lencóis Maranhenses.

Alarmed

We were ready for departure at sunrise. Misty foliage hung in the green fields and the sun appeared like a huge orange ball. For the first time sweat wasn’t trickling down my body and the feeling was lovely.

The boring highway of the previous day made way for a more rural asphalt road and the terrain and views varied. The asphalt itself got a little worse and in some places looked like a patchwork quilt until, after a while, we reached a street with cobblestones and various pastel-colored houses. We’d arrived in Alcantara. It looked cute and was beautifully situated next to the water. We were hoping to be on time for a fast trip on the ferry, but from the dock at Alcantara you could only cross as a pedestrian. A village nearly an hour away had a vehicle ferry, but a route didn’t show up on the GPS, so we decided to use a motor taxi as guide and it turned out to be a smart move. We arrived at 11.30am, just in time to get on the giant ferry for a one-hour crossing, and parked the bikes in the designated place, a little doubtful of their stability.

Suddenly, the calm, open water changed into a fiercely turbulent sea which smashed at the ferry with every wave. An hour seems to take forever when you’re stressed for every minute!

The whole ferry started to sway heavily. Allowed or not, I grabbed some tie-down straps and jumped

Top: A little Brazilian fellow offered to boat the bikes over in fortified canoes.

Below: Washboards and potholes in the terracotta dirt were no problem for for the 690s.

Right: A colonial street in Alcantara had various pastel-coloured houses.

the passenger barrier intending to secure the bikes, only to find a deckhand already tying down the KTMs. It wasn’t a moment too soon, because the sea was going full strength and the ferry shook so violently the car alarms went crazy.

Two Brazilian observers nodded their approval and gave me the thumbs up as I returned to the passenger area.

Lucky dip

The historic center of Sao Luís is special to ride through and is largely decayed, which actually gives it an extraordinary appearance. Red houses with white trims, deep-blue houses with yellow ornaments – homes in all sorts of coloured variations, with or without decorative tiles, line the street. We’d had a long day on the bikes and, as usual, evening had fallen as we searched our way in sandy, windy Barreirinhas.

The next day we booked a tour to the famous dune lagoons but were disappointed to find it was late in the season and the lagoons were only ankle-deep. Nevertheless, Lia and I enjoyed the desert and the scarce waterholes. We ran around in the soft sand like overjoyed toddlers and took a refreshing dip.

It was a great stop on our long, long journey.

Future issues will follow The Riding Reporters as their journey across South America continues. To stay in touch with Irene and her travels, search irenewouters.ridingreporters on Facebook or Instagram.

Suriname and French Guyana: facts and info

R Suriname and French Guyana are two of the smallest countries in South America.

R Suriname is one of the world’s five most thinly populated countries. Its Caribbean coastline is famed for its turtle-watching opportunities, while the interior is covered by pristine Amazonian rainforest, rich in wildlife and accessible only by air or tropical waterway

R French Guyana isn’t frequently visited by tourists and has nothing really special to offer. Both countries have a tropical rainforest climate. To avoid the rainy seasons the best time to travel is from February until mid-April and from mid-August until mid-November.

R Suriname has 49 airports but only one international airport. The same goes for neighboring French Guyana which also has only one international airport and one main road along the Atlantic Ocean. You can opt to enter overland via a bordering country.

R Overnight lodgings and food are readily available along the route, including both privately owned and national chains.

R Roads in the northern part of Suriname are only accessible in the dry season. The main road is well paved, and mostly straight and flat. They’re not much of a challenge for the more adventurous rider.

Fork’s sake!

Damper-rod forks…“Wassat funny looking pipe with holes in

it?”

Teknik Motorsport’s Nick Dole puts damper-rod forks and aftermarket poppet valves to the test. Hang on to your hats here. This article has a propeller-head rating of about seven. It’s also solid, empirical information that’s not easy to come by outside of companies with suspension dynamometers and an understanding of how to use them.

If we had to divide current production forks into the simplest classes of design it would be:

R Damper-rod forks

R Everything else.

‘Everything else’ would describe the earliest prototype ‘cartridge’ forks on motocross bikes in the 1970s, the take-up into production in the ’80s and the pressurisation of the cartridge fork in the mid ’90s. Today, many adventure bikes from WR250Rs to KTM1190s use cartridge forks of some description. Cartridge design is characterised by a cylinder with a valve at the bottom, a piston on the end of a shaft, and shims on the valve and

Words: Nick Dole

piston to meter oil flow and create damping. There are many design offshoots all stemming from the same base design.

So what about the damperrod design?

At nearly 50, I’m way too young to remember where and when damper rods came into production. Pre-war is a safe estimate. Why do some bikes still use them? Cost.

It’s such a simple design: a tube in the fork with holes at the bottom and top.

The bottom of the chrome tube forms a rudimentary seal which displaces fluid through the lower holes on the compression stroke and the upper holes on rebound.

Author Nick Dole with a handful of valves ready to run on the dyno.

Both ways

What bikes use damper-rod forks?

Popular adventure bikes are the DR650, KLR650, XT660Z Ténéré, BMW F650GS, CB500, and NX650 Dominators.

What’s wrong with damper-rod forks?

Nothing if you chase sheep all day or ride to the cafe. Where the design falls over is damping control. The oil is free to move through the holes at low fork speeds, but the holes cause a restriction at high shaft speeds.

You wind up with an undamped ride that’s both soft and harsh. Kawasaki addressed this in the mid ’80s with a Travel Control Valve on selected models but it soon disappeared. Racetech introduced the Emulator valve in the late ’80s as an upgrade for the lowly damper rod. It was a great success and has been the stalwart of damper-rod fork improvement until YSS introduced its PD about 15 years ago.

Since then we’ve seen a number of damper-rod valves emerge, all claiming their own features and benefits.

Candidates

I’ve been collecting every popular valve with the intention of testing and comparing each under controlled conditions to see which valve is potentially ‘the best’.

For the poppet-type valves – valves, often mushroom-shaped, typically used to control the timing and quantity of gas or vapour flow – I’ve listed the poppet spring rate and preload as it’s one of the main tuning points.

Here’s the test victims…

1. Race Tech Emulator with one bleed hole and a 64lb spring, four turns preload

2. Race Tech Emulator with two bleed holes and 64lb spring, four turns preload

3. Ricor Intimidator, DR650 application (reaction valve not locked)

4. Cognet Dynamics DDC for DR650

5.Teknik V4s valve, 1.5mm bleed with 11.7N springs, fourmillimetre to 10mm preload

6. Teknik V4s valve, 2.0mm bleed with 11.7N springs, fourmillimetre preload

7. FFRC Plex valve, standard, no bleed hole

8. Stock DR650 forks

Standards

The test-mule forks are a set from a late-model DR650. We ran the same 7.5wt Silkolene oil at the same height in each set.

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The springs were 0.42kg/mm and all set at the same preload: 10mm, and our Roehrig 4K EMA shock dyno ran the same test on all the valves: 40mm stroke, up to 1.5 metres per second.

Dampers are velocity sensitive, not displacement. Additionally, you need to decide on some testing standards. We test at 40mm to give good resolution at low velocity, while the electromagnetic dyno can run high velocity on low displacement. The software is programmed to

remove the coil spring force, air spring force and seal drag so we are only looking at damping.

Cool huh?

If you seriously understand…

If you’re in touch with all Nick is saying here, you’re way in front of us. We’ve got the gist of it, but for those of you who really understand and appreciate Nick’s efforts and procedures, here are the dyno charts Nick sent us and the explanation that goes with each one. Enjoy.

Right: Plex (red) versus V4s (grey). There’s only a little more force at 100mm in compression, then the Plex falls away in a cavitation milkshake. Nice rebound curve, though.

Below: Emulator (Blue) versus Intimator (Grey). This is a continuous velocity plot. The closer together the lines are, the more responsive the damper is. You can see the ‘old-fashioned’ Emulator is more responsive than its new rival.

Below: This is all the peak velocity plots.

What happened?

Without writing a novel about the results, the poppet-type units – Race Tech and Teknik – had very similar results. From my

Below: Nick didn’t give us an explanation for this one, but if you’re following the graphs you’ll probably love this it. If it helps, it’s called ‘DDS vs Plex’.

Below: Emulators orange is two bleed holes, Emulators purple is one. There’s a bit more damping force in compression with one bleed hole.

previous testing I can say the pressure-spring preload has more influence than the spring rate. Once we reached eight millimetres of preload on our 9.5N spring the compression damping failed to increase. This type of valve doesn’t develop any additional rebound damping. Interestingly, as the fork velocity rose, the damping remained quite constant, with relatively good response time. This is something that becomes important as the fork moves quickly from compression to rebound cycles.

The Cognet DDC and Plex are similar in design but produce very different results.

Both valves suffered with poor response time, but the Plex is a clear winner in building damping force at low velocity in compression and rebound.

One area we didn’t consider in this test was long-term durability. I’ve seen DDCs with bent shims from leisurely adventure riders.

Ricor’s Intimator does well producing compression force (bump force), but the inability for the fork to refill sees quite a poor response as the velocity rises, plus the rebound is unchanged.

The odd one out, the Intiminator, makes good low-speed compression force. It has a small refill and suffers in response as a result. Testing its inertia valve on the dyno involves locking the valve in either position or letting the valve float as it would on the bike. I chose to let it float for these tests. While this would change the compression results, having it locked meant the rebound wouldn’t change.

Much of a muchness So, what’s the result? They’re all bad in their own way. It’s possible to build a poppet-type valve to have the compression force of the Plex while still having the good response time the poppet valves have as velocity rises. Is that worth having in place of the rebound force the Plex makes? I think the rebound force at low velocity counts for a lot. If you want great forks put RMZ forks on your DR650. All these valves (including my own Teknik valves) don’t make a damperrod fork good. If you love your bike but would like a better fork and you have reasonable expectations, most of the valves I tested do an admirable job.

Oberon, Goulburn, Bungonia

Bob Wozga and his camera rode through some history on a loop including Oberon, Goulburn and Bungonia in NSW.

loop

West from Sydney is the little

Once the judicial centre for the region, only a few sandstone buildings remain: the courthouse, church and a cottage. It’s a reminder of colonial times and the work done by convicts in building this country to nationhood.

A little further west is a left turn to Jenolan Caves and Oberon. The road winds around hillsides and climbs to a ridgeline where there’s solace in the sound of the engine and warm summer air on your face.

hamlet of Hartley.

Right: An abandoned cottage at Marulan, start of The Highland Way.

Words and images: Bob Wozga

Storm rider

The area west of the Great Dividing Range has been settled for over 150 years. Small hamlets are dotted along highways and farmhouses in fields mark where people lived, worked the land and survived with far fewer luxuries than we have today. The social scene would often have revolved around a local hall or church, like the one in Lowther. People would make the effort to get together to exchange stories of their week, what the weather was doing, how their crops were going, the price of hay and whatever else was happening in their community. They seemed to have had more regard for each

other than we have today.

Scattered along these roads and localities are old churches, halls and memorials to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars. Some have inscriptions of more recent conflicts. Some are well maintained while others are left as a reminder of a bygone age, and the young men who left their farms and family have been forgotten.

It may sound morbid, but it’s worth stopping at these memorials, halls and churches to have a look around and get a feel for the history of the area. The dates of the deaths on the buildings and remembrance stones give an indication of the age of the settlement. The dates and u

Map: A great day trip during Summer and a good weekend trip with plenty of places to camp overnight in Winter when the days are shorter.

Above: A reminder Hampton was once a welcome stop for travellers on their way to Jenolan Caves or the fossicking fields surrounding Oberon. Below: Lowther. Too nice a spot to not get a pic.

oBeron, GoulBurn, BunGonIa loop

how few are inscribed in the later years also map the decline of the area, and the architecture gives an indication of how prosperous the place was in its heyday –some built in stone, others used wrought iron.

Leaves and twigs were thrown in front of me as a crosswind buffeted my bike on the ridge road. Cattle trucks passed with forlorn eyes staring through gaps in the trailers’ rails as stock were transported to the sale yards.

It was a hot day and a storm was brewing in the west. Wispy clouds later gave way to dark thunderheads and cooling rain and I hoped to get some reasonable photos of the stormfront.

The landscape around me changed as I followed the dotted lines from grass fields to pine forests and approached Hampton.

Rock on

The Hampton Hotel looked deserted while renovations were being carried out. It should look good and be a welcome stop for a weary rider once it’s complete.

In the hamlet, the service-station street light remains with its logo of a long-forgotten petrol company. Abandoned, the bowsers are surrounded by furniture and other odds and ends, a reminder these were once welcome stops for travellers on their way to Jenolan Caves or the

fossicking fields surrounding Oberon.

On the outskirts of town two wind turbines spun in the breeze. I’d never been close to one before, and they emit a soft, low-pitched hum as they rotate. You can hear it when you’re close, but not from a distance. They also look far better than giant chimneys billowing acrid smoke.

Closer to Oberon road signs cautioned to be vigilant for logging trucks. These trucks fly past hauling huge stacks of pine trunks from the forest to the mill, and it’s amazing how much turbulence they create when they pass. A rider needs to keep on his toes.

As the sky began to grey, Oberon, a welcome stop, came into view.

It’s a small town with a wide main street crowded with cars, a few pubs and coffee shops. There always seems to be bikes parked out the front of the cafes in these places. I get the impression riders can smell a coffee bean from a 100km away.

Better known for timber and trout fishing, those with rocks in their heads can also explore Oberon for gold, sapphires, zircons and smokey quartz.

Plan B

Heading south through Black Springs, I took a quick break from the bitumen and headed into the pine forest.

Gravel roads wide enough for trucks,

tracks wide enough for cars and narrower trails run throughout these forests. You could spend a whole day exploring. In the autumn, pine mushrooms flourish on the forest floor, and if you happen to travel with cooking gear they’re worth foraging for to barbeque with lamb chops over a fire.

Back on the bitumen and cruising, bands of rain fell on the horizon. A few droplets fell as I stopped beside a lollypop lady at roadworks. The droplets were followed by a wall of rain that passed over, quenching the parched earth beneath my tyres and leaving rivers of water flowing along the gravel heading into the Abercrombie River at the bottom of the bends.

The original plan was to return via Wombeyan Caves Road, however, the eastern sky was black from the storm, so an alternative route took me through Taralga and into Goulbourn.

With a few hours of daylight still left, Bungonia to the southeast beckoned a visit.

Top: Oberon’s a small town with a wide main street crowded with cars, a few pubs and coffee shops. Below left: Wilderness stretches to the horizon on the south and east.

Below: Great choices in every direction. Scattered along the roads are old churches and community halls.

In the loop

Well-known among adrenaline junkies for caves, bushwalks, climbing and canyons, the roads around Bungonia were in good condition and National Parks had done an excellent job of building and maintaining lookouts and barbeque areas.

From ‘The Lookdown’ – one of the lookouts – you could see the contrast of wilderness against industry. Wilderness stretches to the horizon on the south and east. To the north, a mountainside is scarred with an open-cut limestone mine.

It’s well worth the ride just to go for a walk around.

Just past Hungry Jacks at Marulan is The Highland Way. The route ambles through Wingello, Penrose, Bundanoon, Exeter, Sutton Forest, Moss Vale and into Berrima then Mittagong. It’s a fantastic day’s ride just on its own during the cooler months, with plenty of places to stop for a coffee and pie in the picturesque towns.

Go the distance

As time goes by, the old gravel roads of our youth are being upgraded to bitumen, which isn’t such a bad thing. It only means the roads can be enjoyed by a greater variety of bikes and riders. It also allows venturing further afield to search out and explore other roads that aren’t on big maps.

During the summer months, this is a reasonable day’s ride. During the cooler months it would be a great weekend trip with plenty of places to camp overnight.

Coming past the Wombeyan Caves Road junction at Mittagong, a flashing road sign warned of the road’s closure.

It was lucky I didn’t try to come through.

According to the sign the road was closed due to a zombie apocalypse. Go figure.

Below: Zombie apocalypse. Go figure.

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Flinders-Cameron Corner

Main: The author thanks his mates for their encouragement as he repairs a puncture at Cameron Corner. Right: Four bikes, 4000km and eight days.

Words and images: Jason Bryant

After months of planning it was finally agreed Jason Bryant and his mates would do a run from Port Macquarie on the NSW east coast to the Flinders Ranges, up the Strzelecki and back through Cameron Corner to head east and home. All had arranged time off from work, wives and those ‘must-do’ jobs. Four bikes, 4000km and eight days. Bring on an adventure.

Iwas with three mates: Pete Turner on his 1200GSA, Tony McNeil on his GS1150, and Geoff Golding and myself both on GS800s.

Tony had elected to take camping gear and tent it each night, while the rest of us, not being soft – that’s what I told myself –took into account it was July and we were heading south and west, so pub and motel rooms ticked the box.

Small town

Day one saw us do over 600km, leaving Port Macquarie at 7.30am to travel the well-known Oxley Highway up the mountain and through Walcha. It was a smooth and enjoyable run, although the heated grips were on overdrive.

We crossed the New England Highway at Bendemeer and hit the dirt travelling west through Manilla to Boggabri and Coonabarabran before heading into the magnificent Warrumbungle National Park where spectacular cliffs closed in around us.

We went through Gulargambone and found a small dirt section that ran down to our night’s destination at the Collie Hotel – a hotel that pretty well made up the whole town.

On song

At around 800km the second day was our longest, and all on tar. It was our only option to get across the State in two days.

We travelled the Mitchell and Barrier Highways through Broken Hill, stopping at the Coburn Hotel in Cockburn on the SA border. The old pub has been taken over by the local people and runs as a ‘community hotel’, and a couple of the local ladies organised home-cooked meals and filled us in on the history of the establishment. They and the few locals at the hotel were very welcoming.

Tony had brought his guitar with him and played to a captive audience. I’d recommend a stopover at the Coburn Hotel.

Fire when ready

The next morning we crossed the border and, after a short run on tar, hit the dirt at Yunta. After the bitumen of the day before this was just what we needed: great dirt roads, great scenery and we hardly saw another vehicle until we hit Carrieton and Hawker in the Flinders Ranges. An old stone building in the middle of nowhere carried plaques showing it used to be a hotel for

Above: An old stone building in the middle of nowhere carried plaques showing it used to be a hotel for mine workers travelling through the area.

Right: A slow, semi-controlled off with no injury to bike or rider.

mineworkers travelling through the area.

During one of our stops we noticed oil coming from the rear strut of Tony’s bike. It wasn’t critical, but something he’d need to keep an eye on.

We headed to our night’s accommodation at Rawnsley Park Station in the southern part of the ranges. They have accommodation ranging from tent sites to self-contained cabins as well as a restaurant that does great takeaway pizza. The weather remained fine with sunny days and clear, starry nights, so we set up a good campfire to keep us warm while having a few drinks and discussing how cold Tony was going to be in his tent.

Range finders

To kick off the fourth day we headed to Wilpena, then travelled north on dirt and gravel roads.

We wound our way through the Flinders Ranges, taking in some side

routes that saw us riding through gorges, creek beds and magnificent viewing points like Razorback Lookout. There were a couple of close calls with emus and ’roos and we saw a lot of goats, but they appeared to be smarter than the native wildlife and ran away from the road instead of on to it.

That night we stayed at the village of Arkaroola in the northern part of the Flinders Ranges. Three of us were warm in our small-but-heated rooms, but judging by all the frost on the bikes the next morning our camper may not have been so snug.

Due to the load we were carrying and the road conditions, both 800GSs were now only getting around 300km per tank. We’d both brought extra five-litre tanks with us, but worked out they’d only give us 400km range, and by our math we needed 440km to make Cameron Corner. This saw both of us purchasing another five-litre fuel container from the Arkaroola servo.

Flat out

On day five we continued north on good dirt roads and took in a couple of sidetracks that turned out to be a little sandy in sections. Pete’s bike must have been tired at this point as, without any warning, it decided to have a lay down. Lucky for Pete it was a slow, semi-controlled off with no injury to bike or rider.

We joined the Strzelecki Track and travelled north to Merty Merty then turned east towards Cameron Corner.

We were 60km from The Corner when we all pulled up for a short break and Tony noticed something sticking out of my rear tyre. Closer inspection showed it was a pop rivet with its whole shank stuck in between the tread.

As the tyre was still inflated, we thought it may not have pierced the tube. This idea was soon put to rest when Tony dribbled some water on it and the bubbles confirmed the leaking air.

I was on the bike and heading to Cameron Corner as u

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FlInders-Cameron Corner

quick as I could, thinking I’d rather fix a flat there than on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. At least I could have a beer in my hand while fixing it if I could make it.

Luck was with me and I made it to Cameron Corner general store to start repairs.

Get the boot

Another blue-sky greeted our sixth day and we headed through Tibooburra to Wanaaring. This was a good dirt road with

Above: Razorback Lookout in the Flinders Ranges is a magnificent viewing point.

Below: It was a bit chilly at Arkaroola.

patches of light sand to keep us on our toes. There seemed to be a large number of dead ’roos on the side of the road and this helped keep us mindful of being able to avoid a collision.

It was a good night at the Wanaaring Hotel with the State Of Origin on, and although NSW lost we still enjoyed watching the game and mixing with the locals.

By this stage Tony’s bike not only had a leaking strut, but the front driveshaft boot had torn away, leaving the drive exposed to dirt, sand and mud. Tony put his bush-mechanic knowledge to good use and temporarily fixed it using a piece of old bike tube and some wire.

Pub grub

Leaving Wanaaring on the morning of the seventh day meant travelling back towards civilisation and leaving the outback behind.

On the way we came across two fellow adventure riders and stopped for a chat. They were heading in the opposite direction and had come from Victoria on their way to The Simpson. One was riding a new Honda Africa Twin and he’d already had two ’roos bounce off the front forks, breaking the left-side fork cover.

Wee Waa was our stop for the night, but we were already missing the dirt when we stopped at Walgett to refuel. We found an alternate section of dirt through open farmlands that took us off the highway, southeast through Pilliga and back into Wee Waa.

Another good night was had at the Wee Waa Hotel – the only pub in town. For a small country pub, it had the largest menu of any bistro I’d seen. We were all impressed with the meals.

Next!

Our eighth and last day arrived too quickly, as it does when you’re having fun. Again we opted for more dirt, so after a short run down the highway we turned west just before Boggabri and followed the same route home we’d used a week earlier: Manilla, Bendemeer and Walcha.

All up we’d done just short of 4000km with no injuries and no major breakdowns and a good time was had by all. Now to plan the next trip.

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DualSport Australia discs

Thousands of kilometres of premium dualsport and adventure riding on route sheet and as GPX files. 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

121.5 MHZ homing signal

GPS location

Visual strobe

Signal mirror

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

Southern Congregation

November 18, 2017

v Dargo River Inn, 13 Lower Dargo Road, Dargo, Victoria

v Camping/accom available before, during and after

v $40 for a camp spot, dinner and breakfast

v Limited rooms, book ASAP

v Supercoach Miles Davis will do skills presentations

We pointed the Multistrada 1200 Enduro at all kinds of terrain and some serious distance, and no matter what we asked of it, the Ducati answered the call.

All good things

The Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro has been reluctantly returned to its rightful owners. After a fabulous six months with the bike we freely admit to being very passionate fans of the big-hearted Italian V-twin.

Ducati hasn’t been a big name in adventure bikes in the past. The Multistrada models had some dualsport capability, but they were still most comfortable on the road. The 1200 Enduro joined the Multistrada line-up in 2016 and Adventure Rider Magazine, and the rest of the adventure-riding world, was blown away by Ducati’s first genuine off-roadready adventurer. It was big, awesomely powerful and had the kind of brakes, electronics and mechanicals that would make any serious performance-focused rider weep with envy. Although the bike

was a weapon on the tarmac, it was very capable and comfortable off-road as well, and that’s where the 1200 Enduro won us over.

Ride away

The Ducati is an exceptional motorcycle, there’s no possible argument there. Its every performance parameter is incredible judged by just about any standard outside a road-race team. Braking is unbelievable, the electronics controlling both suspension and motor are to die for, and the big V-twin is a beautiful powerplant.

But at the end of all the technological wizardry it was still the basics that we enjoyed the most. The Multistrada 1200 Enduro is just so damn comfortable, and handles so well, that the overall riding experience was an almost sinful pleasure. The electronics contributed to that, but at the heart of it all is the uplifting, emotional fulfilment of sitting back and watching the desert roll by for hours at a time, or of unleashing the beast on some technical bitumen. Even the amazement at the bike’s ability to overrule a bad decision and keep a rider safe when everything looked about to end

u

‘Image: Wilkinson Photography’

Adventure Rider Magazine’s editor has become a huge fan, and it’s no wonder. The overall riding experience was an almost sinful pleasure.

all Good ThInGs

badly seemed almost dreamlike.

On top of the performance was Ducati’s foresight in offering some great, Ducatibranded optional equipment. We found ourselves constantly attaching the panniers, even though we loudly proclaim we’re not fans of the aluminium units. They were so convenient we didn’t like to be without them. And the little handlebar-mounted pocket was a gift. It was like having the convenience of a tank bag without the restriction on rider movement. There’s also crash bars, lighting and all sorts of things we didn’t get around to, probably because we didn’t need to. The stock bike is a great unit as it leaves the dealer.

Niggles

No bike is perfect and there were a couple of things on the Ducati which kept it from achieving a perfect score.

The most obvious and noticeable factor that will hit potential owners is the weight. The bike is heavy. According to the spec sheet a dry Multistrada 1200 Enduro will tip the scales at 225kg. By the time 30-litres of fuel, some oil and overnight luggage is added, it’s a mass that needs to be taken into consideration.

There’s no way around that, but as always, the raw numbers don’t tell the

full story. A 30-litre fuel capacity is a serious load, but it needn’t be carried for general riding. We were getting a comfortable 400km from a tank, and that’ll cover most Australian riders for all but the most exceptional trips. A lot of other dualsporters will need accessory fuel tanks to match that. And for commuting or trips where that kind of range isn’t necessary, it’s sensible to carry less fuel, and thereby less load. That’s the

same strategy we use on single-cylinder bikes with Safari tanks: don’t fill them unless you need to. The fuel gauge on the Ducati is a good’n and will keep a rider well informed, and selecting the right figure on the menu will give the predicted range on the remaining fuel, so there’s very little guesswork needed.

Also, we were constantly amazed at how agile the Multistrada Enduro felt while it was in motion. The only time the

A quick run out to Bourke in western NSW gave the bike a chance to show its versatility.

The TFT instrument display is chocka with heaps of information and is easy to use and read.

Above: The bike seldom went anywhere without the hard panniers fitted. They were very roomy and meant a rider could carry a lot of luxuries with a minimum of fuss.

Below: No need to replace these footpegs. The rubber inserts slip in and out in a flash.

weight became apparent was when we were moving the bike around the shed or car park, or, of course, trying to pick it up out of the sand.

So we felt after our time with the bike that the weight was a manageable issue. There’s no denying the bike’s having some serious mass, but a sensible rider can minimise the effect, and if faced with a ride in deep sand or tight, technical going,

all Good ThInGs

could either look for an alternative route or perhaps even avoid the ride completely.

One thing we do need to say there is that if the rider is reasonably competent the Ducati will tackle and conquer anything it’s pointed at, deep sand included. We just know from experience riders’ self-assessment of their abilities is usually fairly inaccurate, and that’s where the bike’s mass will become a problem.

Guarded

Another problem which emerged during our time with the bike was the blinkers being built into the handguards. It meant if there was any damage to a handguard the bike was without a front blinker.

We realised the problem after a gentle fall in a Macca’s carpark. Everything still worked, but we’d pulled one of the screws from the plastic. To replace the handguard would be an expensive exercise because the blinker was integrated into the guard.

Fortunately, Barkbusters has the answer, offering hardware that protects both the rider’s hands and the existing Ducati rig. A pair of Barkbusters would be a very sensible purchase for Multistrada owners – or any bike, really – and for that very small investment the Multistrada maintains its sexy look and good wind protection.

Blue ribbon

They’re the only things we found in our time with this awesome bike we feel need pointing out. Otherwise the Ducati was a motorcycling dream come true.

For us, everything to do with the

Multistrada 1200 Enduro was a pleasure, right from when we first were shown over the bike by Ducati Australia And New Zealand CEO Warren Lee at the Moto Expo in 2016, when we first rode the bike through the impossibly gorgeous scenery of Tuscany later that year, and through to a series of testing and potentially difficult challenges here in Australia in the first half of 2017. On every occasion, no matter what we asked of it, the Ducati answered the call.

We were stunned at how good the bike was, especially considering we rated it as Ducati’s first serious attempt at an adventure bike, and during our time with the bike our level of awe and respect continued to rise.

Everyone we speak to wants to know how the Multistrada compares to the big BMWs and KTMs, and we truthfully don’t feel the bikes should be put head-to-head. They’re so different it’s

almost a pointless exercise.

If you’re contemplating owning a Multistrada 1200 Enduro get to your nearest Ducati dealer and take one for a blast. We refuse to believe anyone could ride that bike and not come away impressed and drooling for more. Is it the bike that’ll do what you want it to do?

Only you can know that, and the only way you’ll find out for sure is by riding one.

Above: We’re starting to see these little handlebarpocket things a bit, but this Ducati unit was the first we’d tried. They’re incredibly convenient. Below left & right: The blinkers being integrated into the handguards means a wack on the knuckles can be expensive. Barkbusters has the answer. Great protection for bike and rider, and still leaving the sexy Ducati look unchanged.

Just sayyeS

Karen Ramsay and husband Dave spent two weeks exploring central-western Queensland armed with additional fuel, water and a rough plan.

One of the many highlights of travelling, whether it’s overnight or for months on end, is the people you meet. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me. Besides the breathtaking scenery and great riding, this trip was significant for the many offers of kindness and genuinely nice, down-toearth, friendly people we encountered.

Sleep easy

We’d already thrown away the plan on our first day out there.

True to form, we’d brought the rain with us, and those iconic, red-dirt tracks aren’t so conducive to riding when they’re wet. We ran into the National Parks rangers as they were heading off to ensure people weren’t going to disobey the ‘park closed’ signs and rip up the track with their 4WDs and camper trailers. After a long chat in the middle of the road, they offered to let us stay in the quarters at the rangers’ station that night. Although it was getting late in the afternoon, we declined. They told us about another good place we could camp, and although it was nice, we were kicking ourselves for knocking them back. I reckon we could have had a really good night with these blokes and found out a lot more local knowledge –plus they had cold beers!

Dave and I decided we should start saying yes when opportunities came our way. We figured that most people, like us, make offers because they genuinely want to and aren’t likely to make an offer that they don’t want you to accept.

We’d finally bought new mattresses, doing away with the yoga mat and the old foam job from a swag, and that was a revelation. Who knew you could get a good night’s sleep with gear you can fit on your bike? I rationalised the cost by reasoning if we used them instead of 10 pub nights, we’d cover our outlay. wI reckon they’d paid for themselves after that first decent sleep.

Nowhere to hide

At Opalton people offered us a hut for the night to save putting up our tent after we’d once again we’d arrived late in the afternoon. Rain overnight delayed our start in the morning, but taking up the offer of the hut meant we didn’t have a muddy tent to pack up.

Words Karen Ramsay. Images: Karen and Dave Ramsay.

We expected pleasant days and cold nights travelling in western Queensland in the middle of winter, but we found the nights were almost balmy and the days were hot, and we had to keep adjusting our plans to skirt rain and closed roads.

We spent a couple of days exploring Diamantina National Park and recklessly had pasta on our first night there. When you’re drinking lots and have a limited water supply, using a litre to boil pasta is very reckless! The river water probably wouldn’t have been too bad if we were really desperate, or it may have been

quite good if we’d had a water purifier. Instead, we got friendly with a farmer and his wife from Queensland’s Southern Downs region who refilled our water container. The travellers also offered us a run in the outside shower on their van, but even I, who was adamant we should say yes to offers like these, drew the line at that one. If they accidently came out of the van at the wrong time, they’d be traumatised for life.

The big picture

A couple of days later at Boulia we were

Left: Karen and Dave Ramsay love the big-sky country of the outback.

Above: Taking up the offer of a hut near Opalton meant not having to pack up a muddy tent the next morning.

Below: An emu chick wishing it could make it through the fence into Idalia National Park. Cute.

again offered a shower by a stranger. We were beginning to sense a theme.

We asked a lady where in town we could get a shower. She said we could get one for a couple of dollars at the roadhouse, or possibly at the caravan park, but then she said, “You could go to my place and have a shower. My place is just up the road out of town.”

The shower was amazing! I’m not sure how many days we’d had nothing more than a cursory bird bath and a slap of deodorant, but I do know we smelt like a pair of old wild goats.

From the start

Looking back, we’d started the trip saying yes to the offer of strangers. Ross and Wendy, friends of my parents, offered to let us leave our ute at their place near Windorah, meaning we could spend the transport section of

the trip talking to each other. Saying yes to a couple of days of mustering and cattle work on their station at the end of the trip was a given. In his head, Dave thought he was in his 20s all over again. It was the ideal ending to a trip that was perfect in every way.

Every place has its own uniqueness, but we can’t help but be drawn to the big-sky country of the outback. It’s a land of contrast and contradictions. It’s harsh and unforgiving, while at the same time being welcoming and abundant. The colours are simultaneously vibrant and subdued.

For us, it always feels like coming home.

What I’ve

R Flexibility of plans is paramount to having a good holiday

R A good night’s sleep is priceless

R If there’s no water to wash yourself or your clothes, there’s probably no one around to care how bad you smell

R Instead of saying no because you don’t want to put people out, try saying, “Yes thanks”

R There really is nothing like the smell of gidgee after rain

Checkout

Motul 7100 10W60

four-stroke Motor oil

Designed to suit specific Husqvarna and KTM engines requiring SAE 10W60 viscosity.

R Minimises internal engine friction

R Compatible with integrated and non-integrated gearboxes

R 100-per-cent synthetic

R Improves oil-film resistance at high temperatures and high revs

R Ester technology reduces engine wear and improves gear function

R Extends overall engine life expectancy

RRP: One litre $26.90.

Four litres $99.90

Available from: Bike shops everywhere

Web: linkint.com.au

MasteCh Crash bars for yaMaha XtZ1200 suPer ténéré

Simple, effective and tough to protect the vitals of the Super Ténéré in a fall.

R Constructed from 25mm carbon steel

R Powder-coated black finish

R Unobtrusive and suits the lines of the Super Ténéré

R Easy to fit

RRP: $260

Available from: Adventure Motorcycle Equipment

Phone: (02) 6228 1204

Email: adventuremotorcycle.com.au

MotoZ traCtionator adventure Mk2

Developed for riders focussed on off-road grip rather than good mileage.

R Ideal for five- to seven-day rides of mixed on/off road

R The same construction and compound as its Tractionator Adventure brother

R Purpose-built for twin-cylinder adventure bikes with 2.15-inch to 2.5-inch rims

R Ideal for long-distance off-road adventures where dependability is a necessity

RRP: $159.95

Available from: Your local dealer Web: jtr.com.au

ProCyCle luggage raCks by Moto-Mule

Designed and manufactured by dualsport riders who know what it takes to create a durable and versatile luggage rack.

R Easy installation of both soft and hard luggage

R Available to fit the Suzuki DR650 and DRZ400

R Top racks and side pannier racks can be used individually or together

RRP: Top racks from $199.

Side pannier racks from $379

Available from: Adventure Bike Australia Web: adventurebikeaustralia.com.au

eXPed ZiP PaCks

Ultralight packing organisers that fit beautifully into Andy Strapz soft panniers.

R Translucent fabric

R Sealed and taped seams

R Highly water-resistant YKK AquaGuard zipper

R 40 grams

R Items are easily accessed and viewed through a long zipper opening

R Both ends have a handle to whip it out of the pannier

R Colour: red-and-grey

RRP: $54 each plus postage

Available from: Andy Strapz Phone: (03) 9786 3445

kti Plb PouCh

A great way to keep your PLB visible and handy.

R Heliograph mirror

R Lightweight and tough

R Hi-vis so it’s easily spotted

RRP: $19.99

Available from: Wherever you buy your PLB Web: kti.com.au

tWo brothers raCing afriCa tWin eXhaust

A handcrafted system that delivers unparalleled sound and performance for the ultimate race experience.

R Carbon fibre

R Teflon-coated magnesium end cap

R Stamped, spring-fit inlet

Öhlins stX46 adventure sho absorber

Call Teknik Motorsport to see if there’s an STX46 to suit your model or visit the website.

R Complete shock-absorber assembly

R Proven damper design

R Variety of applications with or without external reservoir, either with a hose or in piggyback versions

R Option of spring-preload adjuster (depending on the bike)

R External damping adjusters (depending on specific applications)

R Ideal for adventure bikes

RRP: From $949.00 to $1775 (depending on model)

Phone: (02) 4732 2626

Web: teknikmotorsport.com.au

kliM f5 helMet

Designed from the ground up to be an allday helmet.

R Lightweight carbonfibre shell

R Intuitive venting

R Next-gen safety features

RRP: $695

Available from: AdventureMoto Web: adventuremoto.com.au

R Aluminium, CNC-machined outlet

R Rubber-lined, styled mount

R Spiral-wound perforated core

R Unparalleled sound

RRP: $855.95

Available from: Moto National Accessories

Web: motonational.com.au

barkbusters bike-sPeCifiC hardWare

For the 2017 Ducati Desert Sled.

R Product code BHG-067-00-NP (hardware kit only)

R Designed specifically for the Ducati Desert Sled

R Can be fitted with JET, VPS, STORM or CARBON guards (sold separately)

R Full two-point mount with heat-treated, reinforced aluminium backbone

R Easy-to-follow instructions

RRP: Hardware $125.95. Plastic guards $36.95 to $46.95. Carbon guards $160

Available from: Your local bike shop Web: barkbusters.net

tourateCh afriCa tWin ’bar risers

Ease sore arms and shoulders on a long ride.

R Raises the handlebar by 20mm

R Gives a more upright, relaxed seating position

R Adjustment range of the handlebar angle is increased

ZaC sPeed oCtane teCh vest

Designed to offer a versatile increase in storage ability for the extra gear required on the fly.

R Made from a durable 1680D fabric

R Multiple pockets are easily accessible while being worn

R Can be easily attached to any CONFIGR8 backpack via the tool-free Ladder Lock System

R Nine easily adjustable positions to ensure a custom fit

R Soft-vented mesh liner and two removable Nitrile EVA foam padding inserts

RRP: $129.95

Available from: MX Store, Zac Speed Australia and selected dealers

Email: info@zacspeed.com Web: zacspeed.com

R Makes riding while standing less tiring

Can be fitted in minutes with no need for long cables or brake lines

RRP: $103.81

Available from: shop.touratech.com.au

Web: touratech.com.au

garMin inreaCh eXPlorer+ and inreaCh se+

The inReach Explorer+ adds preloaded topographic maps, on-screen GPS routing and built-in navigation sensors (compass, barometric altimeter and accelerometer) to the following features of the inReach SE+:

R Two-way, global, interactive SOS

R Two-way messaging to mobiles, email addresses and other inReach devices

R 100-per-cent global satellite coverage with Iridium

R Tracking and location sharing

R Basic navigation (routes, waypoints, breadcrumb trail)

R Pairs with mobile devices

R Cloud storage and trip planning

R Weather updates

RRP: Garmin inReach SE+ $599.00. Garmin inReach Explorer+ $699

Available from: Overlander Adventure Equipment Web: overlanderae.com.au

advWorX afriCa tWin

Pannier fraMes

Designed to fit soft luggage systems.

R Giant Loop MotoTrekk saddlebags

R Wolfman Expedition

R Rocky Mountain Bags

sChuberth C4 helMet

The modular helmet is newly defined.

R Compact design

buMot XtreMada soft Panniers

Allows interchange between Bumot aluminium and Bumot soft panniers in seconds.

R 1100-denier cordura by DuPont sewn over vinyl-coated polyester

R Removable dry-bag internal liner

R Four-millimetre aluminium backing plate

R Attaches directly to Bumot pannier racks (sold separately)

R Reflective 3M strips to improve visibility and safety

R Roll-top enclosure with two straps and quick-release YKK

50mm buckles

76-litre total capacity, 35L and 31L (suit exhaust side) plus two, two-litre pockets on each soft pannier

Stainless-steel, key-lockable, quick-release mechanism

100-per-cent designed and manufactured in Europe

RRP: $789 per pair

Available from:

Bumot Australia

Email: info@bumotaustralia.com.au

R Modern style

Integrated antenna, pre-installed speakers and microphone

Plug-and-play designed for the new SC1 communication system

Extra-large anti-fog lens

Sizes XS-XXL (52-53cm – 62-63cm)

RRP: Standard colours $999

Graphics $1100

Web: schuberth.com.au

vsM dr650 Case saver

Good protection for DR650s.

R New heavy-duty design

R CNC machined from six-millimetre aluminium plate with a four-millimetre aluminium frontsprocket cover

R Exclusive to VSM

R Made by B&B Off Road

RRP: $69

Available from: Vince Strang Motorcycles

Web: vsm.net.au

Mra X-Creen sPorts Windshield sPoiler

Available to fit most original motorcycle windshields to act as an adjustable wind deflector.

R Larger X-Creen Touring also available

R Height and angle adjustable using double-jointed mounting arms

R Mounting hardware included

R Can be temporarily attached using a removable clamp, or permanently bolted to the screen

R Available in clear or grey

R Approximately 25cm wide x 10cm tall

RRP: $183

Available from: Good bike shops

Distributed by: Pro Accessories Web: proaccessories.com.au

naMib and karoo lightWeight folding Chairs

Chairs almost assemble themselves with self-locating, shockcord technology and have a one-year warranty against defects.

R Karoo is a 360-degrees swivel chair

R Weighs just over 1.2kg

R Fits into a bag sized 40cm x 12cm x 11cm

R The chair, when set up, will carry up to 120kg weight

Namib is a two-step relaxing chair with a drinks holder and a magazine holder

R Weighs just over two kilograms

R Has a high back, cushion and weight limit of 140kg

R Fits into a bag sized 42cm x 17cm x 10cm

forMa boulder Pro boots

Competition trials boots that double as great retro-style dualsport boots.

R Oiled full-grain leather construction (brown or black)

R Anti-slip sole

R Reinforced toe and heel protection

R Shin plate and internal malleolus molded protection

Anti-bacterial, replaceable insole

High-quality European production

Optional waterproof booties available ($89.00)

RRP: $299

rad guard 1090 adventure r radiator guard

Essential radiator protection that’s easy to fit and bolts to existing mounting points on the bike.

R Protects your radiator from rocks and other debris

R Allows adequate airflow

R Easy to fit

R Made from high-grade aluminium

R Three-year warranty

RRP: $195. On special now for $159

Available from: Rad Guard Phone: (02) 6658 0060 Web: radguard.com.au

RRP: Karoo $89.95. Namib $138.95

Available from: Exclusive to Rocky Creek Designs Web: rockycreekdesigns.com.au

Fit out Motorrad Garage