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Lefty wrote:Yeah it was bloody awesome. :woohoo: I can’t wait for the next one. I think the unknown is what makes it and having to deal with the conditions as they arise.
You hit the nail right on the head with that statement Lefty, that is what puts the A in adventure riding. Gotta throw the occasional Valley of death section in, or the ride isn’t as memorable!
It was the famous actor Clint Eastwood ‘ s birthday last week and to celebrate a few of his friends got together
and organised a sky writer to put a message above the Hollywood sign.
I don’t think it worked out the way they wanted it to…… :unsure:
Where do you start, when trying to do a report about the weekend just gone?
Friday night started with a shed party at my place, we didn’t play up too much but had enough sherbets etc to make most of us a bit dusty Saturday morning.
A Bacon and Egg roll got us all running on 8 cylinders again just in time to meet the crew at Timbertown.From Timbertown Moose on Ol Burple took the lead and we headed off through Papinbarra, then up into Werikimbee National park where the conditions were great, a little slippery but bugger all dust. A great run up through Kangaroo Valley soon found us on the Oxley Highway headed east towards Ginger’s Creek. The run down the tar through the twisties was a ton of fun. Toes on the V Strom, was poetry in motion as he hunted down all the Rossi wanna be’s on their sports bikes. I could only imagine how the boys on their GSXR1000’s felt when they looked in their mirrors and saw Toes’ goofy grin right up their clacker!
A feed and a refuel at Ginger’s creek saw us head west again on the Oxley, which meant a black top run through Yarrowitch. We turned into Tia Diggings road, it was about then that I started to feel a bit guilty that I was riding Moose’s Near new DR650 and he was on Ol Burple, so I hunted him down and swapped bikes.
From that very moment Ol Burple and I became as one and I had a great time on her until we hit the black top again and I realized that she still had bush gearing and she would rev her head off at 110 kmh. Back on the gravel roads, Burple comes into her own, so it was a relief when we turned towards Nundle and made the climb up through the pine forests and into the clouds that threatened to rain on us, we were lucky and arrived at Nundle in glorious sunshine.
A quick beer as the boys set up and then off to the pub where we all eventually congregated for what was not only a great feed but a top night of socializing before we retired to the fire pit back at the Caravan park. That is when the night really got entertaining and there was a hundred laughs a minute!
I wont elaborate too much as to what happened at the fire pit, as it all became a blur for me from that point! I do remember the Old Drunk bloke (not an old Bull) that was speaking Hebrew or some other exotic language. I dunno what time it was when I snuck off to bed but I know there wasn’t too many left at the fire when I did.
Sneaking off to bed was a good move as I wasn’t feeling too bad when I woke up at 6am, although Eagle shouted me a coffee that got me going a little better.
A Tandoori Bacon and Egg roll at the Café once again had me feeling good and ready to ride, not like Toes and Kram both who looked like shit!
Once the group was ready we headed off behind Bollocks on what was a fantastic ride through some great properties on our way to Moonan Flat. The road had around 20 creek crossings that kept you on your toes, the very last one was a concrete causeway that was slippery as nothing I have ever encountered. As I crossed it, I think it was only luck that kept the front wheel under me as Ol Burple, wobbled and weaved her way across. I thought it best that I stop on the other side to warn other riders. As I slowed and turned around I looked up to see Lefty in the throes of having a big come off. The front wheel shot out from under him in a spectacular spray of water and the Kato hit the deck and slid on its side towards me! The Kato and Lefty finally unceremoniously came to a stop at my feet. Lefty being the tough bugger he is, picked himself and the Kato up and was all smiles once he realized both him and the Kato were OK. It was funny to watch everyones reactions once they hit the slippery shit and they realized that they no longer had control of their bikes! The best effort to cross the Causeway was Bones’, he got right out of shape and was in a full “Flat Tracker” slide, he some how miraculously regained control and pulled up beside me with a very relieved look on his face!
Once we all got across the causeway from hell it was only a short run down to Moonann Flat Hotel, were we had a quick drink, a top up of fuel and the three groups went our separate ways towards our respective addresses. Our route involved a run up and over Barrington Tops past Polblue. It was a great run too as we wound our way up to 1500 odd meters above sea level. WE had “The Storm” that smashed TB and his crew just south of us and we kept and eye on it and realized it was chasing us as we hit Gloucester. WE hit the pub at Gloucester for a counter lunch and that is when the squall hit with copious amounts of rain and some hail.
It was at Gloucester that Toes spotted that there was something wrong with the rear hub of Strucky’s DR650. The left wheel spacer appeared to have failed and disintegrated, allowing the cush drive to fall apart and the sprocket bolts started to hit the swing arm. A decision was made to leave the DR at the pub and Strucky had to finish the ride on the back off Toes and the Vstrom. The pics aren’t that great as they were on a phone camera but they do give you the idea of how stuffed the rear hub was.
The cush drive
The hub just starting to grind away at the swing arm
Toes, Strucky and Puddles decided to Black top it from Gloucester and Moose Kram and I headed out of Gloucester towards Bundook.
It was on this road that Moose had a very rare brain snap and some how at a railway level crossing , he got all out of shape and found himself and the DR heading up the train tracks as opposed to across them! No harm done although he was lucky the XPT wasn’t coming!! We then headed off towards Comboyne where we were greeted with a pea soup fog and more thunder as another storm was threatening us. A quick run up and over the Plateau saw us with our ears pinned back trying to out run the storm! I arrived home and just got Ol Burple in the shed when the heavens opened up and it bucketed down. We managed to dodge all the bad weather and had a great 680km ride for the weekend. Thanks to all the blokes that came for the ride. A special thanks to Moose for the loan of Ol Burple, Boony, Bollocks, Snowy and the rest of the Tamworth crew for all the organization and Arron and Buzz for organizing the Marquees. It was agreat Xmas party and I am glad I made the run out for it!
linz770 wrote:Great photos, lovely to see that you are having a good time Chris and being looked after by the Aussie biking community. Special thanks to Mick for looking after my son.
No worries Linz, glad to help him out! Especially because he was on a XR600 and I had the gear to help.
I haven’t heard from Chris as of late so he has fallen from our Radar, which is probably a good thing as it hopefully means the XR is still happily chugging away. If you are talking to him, tell him not to be such a stranger and tell us of his adventures!
Cheers
Mick
