Home › Forums › Dirty Girls › Dirty Girls › Katgirl Trip Across Australia 29 Sep 5900km DIRT
This topic contains 56 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by Cathi Meredith 14 years, 4 months ago.
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May 14, 2010 at 9:52 pm #98456
Well I thought I would start posting up my experience of preparing for my BIG trailbike adventure across Australia (5900km) on 29th Sep – Perth to Airlie Beach.
Firstly I had to twist my boyfriend’s arm into coming with me.
Wasn’t HARD. :silly:
The trip description:
“This ride is not for wimps. This is the roughest, toughest, grittiest tour we offer. This ride is full of gravel roads, snotty tracks, desert crossings, bulldust holes that would swallow a Mack truck and rugged outback towns! This ain’t any luxury tour. But if you have a sense of adventure, and want bragging rights to last a lifetime, maybe you should clear your calendar”
“WARNING: This is not a normal motorcycle ride. This tour requires elements of endurance and stamina. Riders must be able to ride in adverse weather conditions and adverse road conditions. These roads are some of the roughest and most remote in the world. Riders should be physically fit, mentally strong and able to cope with adversity. Do not expect the red carpet to be rolled out in the Simpson Desert! but do expect a very comfortable camp and great food.”
IM BLONDE BUT SHOULD I BE WORRIED…. nah…. just excited.
The trip is detailed on site:
http://www.outbackadventuretreks.com.au/across_australia.php
Highlights
Birdsville Pub – hope they stock rum and coke
Simpson Desert – I will be expert on sand after this section
Ayers Rock [Uluru] – don’t think I have the energy to walk to top
Gunbarrel Highway – need to investiage what’s special about hwy
Great Victoria Desert – more sand
Gibson Desert – even more sand
The Olgas [Kata Tjuta] – more rocks.
Little Sandy Desert – shit more sand
Purnie Bore – need to investiage what’s special
Road of Stones – i’m worried…got my heavy duty tubes
Dalhousie Hot Springs – oh my body will need a soakThe 2 day Sofala trip was one of many experiences that is helping me prepare for this trip. Today I’m heading out for full day on firetrails to work on picking up my speed. Need to be averaging 400km p/d on dirt and 200km p/d on sand.
4 MONTHS AND 2 WEEKS to go: :woohoo:
May 14, 2010 at 10:15 pm #179179What will you be riding Katgirl?
May 14, 2010 at 10:16 pm #179180looks intersting katgirl reckon it would be a good way to see that part of australia
May 14, 2010 at 11:50 pm #179199Uncle Fester wrote:
Quote:What will you be riding Katgirl?I am sure she said at Sofala she is riding her HONDA CRF230
What else would you use strong reliable light and a HONDA
May 15, 2010 at 12:00 am #179212Sounds like a good trip Kat. I’m sure you’ll be ready by then.
You’ll have to come back up to Sunny Corner and do a rock garden tour. :laugh:
I would highly recommend a steering dampener for all the sandy a rocky sections you’ll be doing. It will reduce fatiuge and save you arse on many occasions.
May 15, 2010 at 12:02 am #179213You go Katgirl……Sounds like a blast.
May 15, 2010 at 12:05 am #179216Yeah Mal’s right Katgirl (and a thinker :laugh: ) A damper will make the trip
TB
May 15, 2010 at 12:15 am #179217Good onya Kat
great to see! I would seriously recommend getting some tyre sealant for your tubes,wont stop the really big tears but will prevent the majority of pinch flats, just a bit of insurance for you
Ollie
May 15, 2010 at 8:56 am #179218Sounds like you will have a ball there Kat, better keep the reports coming thick and fast to help Kram with his boredom.
May 15, 2010 at 12:13 pm #179181Top stuff, I am very jealous, would love to do a trip like this, I have ridden bikes around Alice Springs and remote QLD, some of the most scenic and best riding I have done and after all the flood water that has been through some of those area’s you are going to have a blast, best wishes on the trip and prepration, you will do well.
As Mal5.1 said come on up to good old Sunny Corner for some rock trainingMay 15, 2010 at 8:21 pm #179255Hey Kat, good luck with it, is the Boyfriend riding a Beemer or is he gunna do it on his XR650??
May 16, 2010 at 8:56 am #179256micknmeld wrote:
Quote:Hey Kat, good luck with it, is the Boyfriend riding a Beemer or is he gunna do it on his XR650??No he has gone to the DARK side and hiring a 650 Dakar. No doubt he will be eating my dust/sand. The true red HONDA will be dancing in front of him. I’m sure he will let that happen as he likes seeing my arse wobble!!.. ha ha ha. :S
May 18, 2010 at 8:42 am #179297Sounds awesome KatGirl.
We all expect daily reports uplaoded so we can follow your progress. :laugh:
STM
June 25, 2010 at 8:04 pm #1791823 months & 3 days to go… omg :woohoo:
The trip preparations are going well. :silly:
Had a great night at Suto’s learning to do tyre changing. It was a good opportunity to put my new ultra heavy duty tubes and new Dunlop 606 tyres on my bike.
Came home after the night and had Adrian help me put the tyres back on the bike but were presented with some interesting complications.
1. The back tyre wouldn’t fit. After repositioning it the chain was too tight. The new spare chain I bought for the trip came out of the package and installed.
2. The back tyre kept scraping the front protector flap thingy. So after some mods the tyre seemed to spin without make shit load of noise.
3. The back brake went really spongy after putting the tyre on. Took it to procycles to replace the brake fluid… didn’t know how to do that and hoping that has fixed the problem.
Chris 72a sent me my new waist toolkit and I’ve started adding some bits to it.
My next big investment is working with Sutto’s to get a Scott Damper installed and also replace the alum sprocket with a metal one. Hoping this will occur soon so I can spend time on the bike working out how to use it.
This weekend I’m down at Bateman’s Bay and participating in a 2 day trailbike ride with KTM Tours. Thought this is the best way to get some time on the bike with some assistance. Arrived last night and meet 5 other guy’s who seem to be about the same level of experience as me. They have had some rain down here over the last week so I suspect its going to be a bit wet and dirty…. bring it on.
Anyway that’s it so far and will post my Bateman Bay experience up shortly.
June 25, 2010 at 9:34 pm #182553Half your luck Kat, would love to be out riding this weekend but with all the away time lately I need to use this weekend to catch up on some jobs about the place. Still have to fix the DRZ too with replacing the back wheel and fitting new bearings to the front, oil change and all the usual service stuff that I’ve been avoiding,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and some bike shopping
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