A wet Valentine, does it get any better 14/02/2010

[GregMember]

What was the weather going to do? How would the tracks be after all the rain? How would the new jackets and tank bag fair? How would the big new Bemmer go of road? Would it rain?

So Salina and I left home about 3 o’clock Saturday day arvo wet weather gear on and ready for all that Mother Nature could deal out. We rode out to Katoomba without to much wet weather we travelled along with a freight train for ages, when we finally caught the engine we waved at the driver using the etiquette forum rules from here and he blew the horn a few times which was fun. The weather closed in as approached the explorers tree, Crash had recently asked me about the explorers tree when we went past so I stopped and rode the NX right down to get so photos for Crash

Here Crash read away

Photo’s of Salina, the mighty NX and the Explorers tree that Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson marked

We continued along to Mt Victoria when the heavens opened, lighting, thunder and rain which made riding very intensive to say the least, Salina was happy to push on so we rode through it although it rained all the way to Lithgow. From there it was a good run to Mal and Donna’s

Donna was leaving for work and had given Mal instructions for the evening. We got out of our wet weather gear surprised to find out that we where still dry which was great considering what we had ridden through. Salina grabbed her book and headed to the house, Mal and I to the shed with Rum’s and beers to fit a damper to the Husky. I quickly had the Husky stripped and the under bar mount installed

Mal helped

Soon we discovered the damper or the mount or the pin mount was wrong which was a pain in the arse

Mal helped but was disappointed again

So Mal said he was going to have the suspension looked at by tekniks so maybe we should whip them out, I was on fire :laugh:

Still Mal helped

So after the explosion that was stripping the Husky we went back to the house a nice feed more rums and beers until Donna came home and then of to bed

In the morning we had smick coffees from the in house barista

End result

After some toasted banana bread we suited up and waited for the women folk, the NX was loaded with all the gear so the flashy BMW could travel unhindered :laugh: :laugh:

All the wet weather gear was on as the out look for the day’s weather was bleak to say the least

Of we went into Wang where we fuelled saw Donna’s brother

From there it was a quick run up to the start of the Black fellows hand trail

Salina with Donna hiding (nice pants Don!!!)

Mal

We stopped up at the pass for a sticky

From there we rode to Black fellows trail to the lost city, Mal and I had linked our blue tooths while the girls linked theirs. We could chat about road conditions etc while they talked about??

The road into the lost city was very slippery and wet with some bloody big puddles, clay areas, rocky parts and sand

The lost city was very spectacular this morning

Mal and Donna, Mal’s doing the BMW wave

Salina

Creek down the bottom

On the walk back up to the bikes Mal did a catch and release with a lizard that the name of escapes me at the minute

From there we left and rode out to the camping area on the main dirt road, it was here we spotted Tiny’s ute and trailer which confirmed that the tracks we saw belonged to Scotty and Tiny who we knew was going out that way

We rode out the dirt road to another track we had used during the biggest weekend and last weekend, he we had to cross an unused railway line, the mighty super NX crashed over bottoming hard on both rails without Salina but we decided to walk the BM Mal wasn’t sure on the ground clearance and it doesn’t have much of a bash plate

We travelled some railway service tracks into Bell and then up the Bell Rd to the Mt Wilson turn off

It was here we meet up with Mal from Sutto’s and his partner Natalie in his 4w4, they had attended a party in Windsor the night before and would be joining us for lunch and he would 4 wheel drive his way behind us!
We motored down to the Mt Wilson lookout

The crew with Donna hiding again

From there we rode down a rough long slippery wet wet wet track, dodging fallen trees, and big wash outs to a little bridge at the bottom. The wooden bridge was so slippery that standing on it was a challenge.

Whilst here we spotted some eels in the creek

The creek on the other side of the bridge

From here the going got tough, there had been a heap of rain in the last week here, we rode up through running water and came across a badly washed out area (for big heavy dual purpose bikes)

Salina and I got up the first bit, photo back to Mal and Mal

Mal and Donna

Donna jumped for the next bit

Mal (Sutto’s) then had a moment where it looked as though the Mitsubishi could fall on its side, unfortunately Salina was to busy panicking to take the money shot! Here are the shots before

And backing out and going up the middle

We rode on past and under some waterfalls

I have never seen water coming down the rock faces all the times I have been down there

View over the edge

Mal and Donna out in front

Bikes on the trail

We continued to the Apple Bar at Bilpin for lunch. The service was the worst I have ever had and the longest I have waited for a meal, remembering we had booked. Nothing more said about the joint, but Salina and I will never go back!

Everyone went their own way from there; we got home after doing just on 300 kms for the weekend

Thanks to Donna and Mal for the weekend. It was great to catch up with Mal and Natalie.

Yes Mal as discussed today on the blue tooth there was just two things missing today

TB

[BrettMember]

Good report there, great to see you and Mal out about with the girls on the dual sporters, shame about the feed, live and learn, shame Mal had to supervise you so much in his shed but someone has to do it( keep an eye on the help) :laugh: .

[Mick DMember]

Good report TB and some top pics. Pics certainly add spice to a report.

[TrentMember]

Didn’t realise Mal had bought the F800GS – bloody serious bit of gear that is hey! I’d love to be able to justify buying any dual sporter let alone one of those.

[Dwayne OMember]

Great Report there

Looks like a top day out,, as if I would expect you blokes to do anything else :laugh:

Wish my other half was into that sort of thing too :huh: :dry: :unsure:

Look forward to the next expedition guys!!!

[Scott SouthwellMember]

You guys must have left a fair bit later than us. Could barely see for the fog when we come through Blackfellows

[MalMember]

Great report TB. As usual your accuracy for details is impeccable. :laugh:

Here is how I remember that rainy night in the shed.

TB and Salina arrived just as Donna was leaving for work. We all had a quick chat and Donna left. We tucked the NX in the shed for the night and hung up the wet weather gear to dry. Grabbed a few drinks from the fridge and over to the house for cheese and biscuits. A quick intro to the animals and accommodation sorted, we got into the pre dinner snacks. Then I had to perform some domestic chores in the shed and TB and Salina come over for moral support.

TB decides to start installing the dampner while I do the chores and Salina decides to go and read her book. TB’s photos shows how far he got with that job. :(As TB said I did make the comment of getting the suspension sorted before doing this A4DE thingy and as he also said he was “on fire”. I went to the fridge for refreshments and all of a sudden a hail storm hits the shed. FROM THE INSIDE!!!! :ohmy: TB has hold of this cheap little Y bar of mine and is spinning bolts of so fast that it sounded like a hail storm when they hit the ground. Before I knew it he handed me two front forks and then went to work on the rear. Seriously though, thanks TB for your help mate.

Ride time.
The morning looked promising and we left a bit later than expected after coffees and dicking about, and loading up the taxi so the Beemer could just sit on the road and look good.

Straight to the servo for a splash and then off to start the dirt. I really like this bluetooth headset as Donna and I can just chat away and it’s really easy to point stuff out to look at.
When we get to the dirt TB stops for a photo shoot and to give a pillion briefing. Well that’s what it looks like.

One pillion had a question and this was TBs response. :laugh:

We swapped bluetooths here, as TB said, so I could chat to TB and get some track info on the rougher stuff. I don’t normally need this info on this track but with a new bike and having never had a pillion on the dirt I was a little nervous. TB is great to have in your ear and it helped me a lot through whole day. We only swapped while on the dirt section and we could hear the girls chatting away happily.

We went to the lost city for a bit of a look. It was a nice place but I told TB I think there is a better one somewhere else. Just have to find it again. The lizard I found on the track was a baby Eastern Water Dragon.

The run over to Clarence was good, with TB taking us on some power line tracks which were a little technical for us dual sport novices but not too hard to be scary. Getting the bike over the railway line was probably the most challenging part of the day for me. To say I was nervous was an understatement. But with TB and Donna’s words of encouragement and TB ready to play catch, I walked the bike over a lot easier than expected.
We met up with Mal and Natalie at the turnoff to Mt Wilson and we all headed for the best track of the day. It was very greasy on the mossy tar road going down into the valley and once on the dirt I was a little more confident. The bike was handling very well and Donna was loving the ride. TB and I were linked up again on the Bluetooth and TB was calling the track for me which made for a smooth ride.
We stopped at the bridge for a look and I nearly fell over the wood was that slippery. A few pics were taken and we were off on the climb out of the valley.

We stopped on what was to be the roughest section of the track and TB said watch where I go and then pick your own way. I didn’t get up enough speed to maintain balance and we had a moment that nearly had the beemer on the deck. I asked Donna if she would mind walking the section so I could ride with a bit more aggression. The bike and I did it easy and Donna jumped back on. We watched Mal crawl up in the 4WD.

We stopped at a few waterfalls on the way out and took some pics.

TB and Salina

We have the same feeling as TB about the Apple bar and will leave it at that.

We headed straight home from Bilpin and hit heavy rain about half way. Donna wasn’t fazed and we kept chatting away about how good the days was and how awesome the track from Mt Wilson to Bilpin was.
All up a great day with great company. The bike is awesome and is now due for its first service. Thanks heaps to TB for sorting a great track and thanks Mal and Natalie for coming along in the 4WD.

Looking forward to the next one.

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