[Dave WigginMember]

Lefty’s garage looks cleaner than my lounge room.

[Dave WigginMember]

xy-transit wrote:

Nar it’s a Freeride E. just disguised in a tuning forks box.

The FS 1E would be interesting on the trails.

I’d just like to see TB on one.

[Dave WigginMember]

Nooooooo! I want one!

[Dave WigginMember]

What a great ride that was.

They do get better and better.

Jindabyne to Omeo was a blast. Barry Way as usual a pleasure to ride. Then some more great trails and some steepish downhills. But on to The Hill Top Hotel (Where The Hill Top Hoods were discovered) in the early afternoon. Plenty of time for some R and R before dinner.

Second day things got a bit interesting weather wise. Blue Rag was off the agenda, but the ride up to Mt Hotham was about as adventurous as it gets on the tar. It reminded me of my 30 mile commute to work back in the day during one of the coldest winters in the UK. No heated grips on the CB200. I had just moved out of home and was bunking with a mate at his house, where the only heating was a fireplace in the lounge, which is where we kept our barrel of home brew.

I can’t ever remember being cold back then, but clearly I was a better man then than I am now because I was bloody frozen and couldn’t tell whether it was the visor or the glasses fogging up, or whether it was genuinely bad visibility. It was all three, but to ride with the visor open risked frostbite of the bugle.

But coffee and the best sausage roll I have ever had restored things, and the Dargo Rd was fantastic as the clag began to lift a bit. A bit of pace was had on the more open sections (or so I thought until a 990 went past me) and on to Ensay where the feed at the Little River Inn would have to rank as one of the best in Australia.

Day three dawned. Usi and I had signed on for all three “special” sections but word came through from the imposing figure of Chicken (is there a less aptly named bloke on Old Bulls?) that the special was off due to the conditions, unless your first name was Chad and your second name was Reed. We were advised to hook up with a group that had the standard route on the GPS.

Somehow we got tangled up in a group of Reed look alikes and before we knew it we were mired up to our nuts in the special.

And this was a very different special than any thing I had done before due to thick layer of red mud that covered everything. The first steep hill I almost got up but stalled out near the top. Usi went passed and crashed right in front. We had an epic getting the bikes over the top (all captured on film by Josh, who being a true pro urged us to go faster so he could record more carnage).

Well Usi duly obliged as at the first steep downhill he charged off only to come off again twice. I took a more pragmatic approach and got down slowly but in one piece.

I resolved to ride with a bit more aggression and it seemed to work on the hills and the Tenere was brilliant as it tractored up them in second , sometimes first gear when it was really steep. I think I could have been in trouble on the Tiger but was really enjoying myself on the Ten.

More tricky and very slippery trails had Usi off again a couple of times. He was getting a full body pump going! We came to another loooong steep down hill and the plan was for me to go down first and then park up and wait for him.

I waited for a while but no Usi, so I climbed all the way back up (thank god I’ve got a bit of bushwalking fitness, it was still knackering though) to find him pinned under his bike. The nearly full 30 litre Safari tank was working against him and it was an effort to get him out from under it.

We certainly were having an adventure. Moose and Troy swept up and urged us both on and we finally hit Buchan after a very challenging morning.

The first bit of the Barry Way was very slippery and I rode quite tentatively, not wanting to spoil my record of no off’s so far. Then it flattened out towards and after the Pinch river and speed was back up. The tarmac sweepers back to Jindabyne were fantastic and I gave the Ten her head as a reward for looking after me. Bliss!

So a brilliant and most enjoyable ride. Thanks to Lefty who noticed my rear pads were low and changed them. You are a champion Sir!

Of course a big thanks to all the drivers and sweeps. You are all legends and these rides couldn’t happen without you.

And another masterful planning exercise from TB, especially with what he had to contend with weatherwise.

Great to catch up with The Old Bulls once more. Bring on the next one.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

FS 1E

(Google It)

[Dave WigginMember]

Just arrived home after a leisurely cruise back from Jindabyne.

The best ride yet in my opinion, despite some sections having to be missed due to weather.

Three days is much better than two!

The morning of day three was the most challenging ride for me to date and well happy to get through without falling off. The bike was brilliant and I’m glad I was on the Ten and not the Tiger, which I think might have been slightly outside its design envelope.

I am grinning like a Cheshire cat with satisfaction at another ride completed.

Well done TB, another cracker and big thanks to Lefty, Troy and Moose for reasons which will become apparent when I do the ride report.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

Yes it’s going to be cool.

I think I’ll follow British mountaineer Doug Scott’s advice. On climbing the first ascent of the South West face of Everest, and enduring the highest ever survived bivouac at over 28,000 feet without oxygen, he was asked by a rather naïve reporter wether he had any advice.

“I’ll tell you what youth, if you ever go up there, take an extra sweater”.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

I definitely need to improve my skills on an adventure bike.

Count me in for the week end of the 22nd.

I have tried getting on the websites to pay but can’t see how so I’ll phone up the number given and pay tomorrow.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

No heated grips for me on the Tenere. I could take the Trumpy which has Oxford heated grips, but I’ve just put a set of 606’s on the Ten so I’ll just have to man up and use a secret weapon from my mountaineering days. Much cheaper at 4 bucks a pop too.

I’ll be cruising down from the Northern Beaches in Sydney on Thursday if anyone wants to hook up.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

pete the wulf wrote:

Jeffro wrote:

Anyone had experience with Rally Raid D908 tyres?

They will lock up and slide through a T intersection just like any other tyre mate :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Good to have you home Jeffro, shame I won’t be able to catch up mate, maybe next time.

PTW

I remember that footage. Jeffro on the charge and then “Oh F**k, that was close”.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

Jeffro wrote:

The bike prep has gone well, cleaned her up and she looks like a different bike. Just need to sort the luggage and pay the rego.

[attachment=4365]image.jpg[/attachment]

Hey Jeffro, where’s that dusty old Tenere!

[Dave WigginMember]

Happy Birthday Lefty.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

Have a good day PTW. I hope your battery packaging opening has improved.

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

That’s a bugger Eagle, but as you said, a relief to be able to move on and get something else.

I hope you got a decent payout at least (to pay for a new fuel pump for the 690).

Wigster

[Dave WigginMember]

Bowie wrote:

Hi Wigster
The name is Bowie and I recently joined the old bulls trail riders
I ,m afraid the Batemans Bay Tenere is gone because I picked it up about 2 mths
ago! Sorry about that mate! I,ve retired to the north coast and
I,ll be keen to do a few rides
Cheers Bowie

No worries Bowie. I hope you are enjoying it. I bought a good one in Tamworth with only 7k on the clock. Fully tricked out now mate and am loving it.

By the way, and with all due respect, I preferred your early stuff. The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, Diamond Dogs, Aladdin Sane, and especially Ziggy. I think you lost the plot a bit with Heroes, Scary Monsters etc.

The Thin White Duke on a Tenere, now that I’d like to see!

Wigster

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