Weipa Croc Run

[NSR]

Ya can't get more aussie than this.  Boobs, Crocs, bikes, mud & Beer

and Oh yeah, Jocks

 

[Big John]

1986, thats the year I had a go on my CR 125. A mate and I drove up in a Holden Ute from Victoria. Lack of training and bike prep caused a DNF on day one. It was a great event and getting there was half the fun. I was 16 at the time.

[smed]

I done the Croc run in 89 with 3 mates,drove from Vico to Weipa in Toyota cruiser & Holden utes,after the race we done the trip to the tip with the Weipa mcc crew, I cannot recall the exact cost to do the tip trip but it was something like $250(Cheap!) they carried all our camping gear,supplied fuel & food, grog cost extra & everyone mucked in to set up & knock down camp & groups took it in turn to cook every night that we moved on,we put our bikes on a pvc pipe raft & waded across the Jardine river,left the bikes on the other side at the end of each day & waded back to the other side to our camp as we stayed there for 2 or 3 nights,all up we took about  7 days to get from Weipa to the Tip & back again,It rates as one of the best holidays ever for me

[NSR]

I did it in 85 & 86.  Both were great Adventures.  Went to the tip in 85.
I don't know who did that story, but that's me helping Norrie (we did the trip in 85) out of the swamp and Tim on the 200 is who I went with in 86.  On both trips we lost the mufflers on the utes.   
 
 

[NSR]

David Rose rode a WMW125 in the race then bolted some pegs to it and doubled his girlfriend to the tip and back.


 

[NSR]

The Jardine 

[NSR]

We could get this TT600 going again in about a minute.





The things ya see.

[NSR]

How the XR came back from the tip. Like a dead Pig



86

[huskibul]

    great shots of the cape ! there had to be a 40 series cruiser in amongst them  compared to 86' the roads are like a freeway these days -but still a great getaway  cheers

[crossedup2]

I reckon the story is getting there. The Croc Run itself is great and the flaming wheelie bin races outside the pub after are hysterical but the real fun is getting there (and home).


The road to Cook Town then was all dirt, dust and hard work.

I think the stories from ADB sowed the seed for me in the early '80's. It took until 1994 for me to get there. Three mates including DG26 all brought Honda Dominators to ride around Australia. They left 6 weeks before us. Bill Pengilly from Penrith and myself drove from Sydney to Townsville and parked my ute at a relatives place. Bill riding a 1983 IT250 and me on an XR600.
Met the others at Mareeba and headed North the next day. On the tar Bill (67 at the time) was only good for 80km/h and we all thought that Cook Town was going to be a week to get there. Once we hit the dirt he was happy to sit on 100 plus.

Young Bill and always a gentlemen.

1994 there were only about 18 entrants. Pretty sad really. XR600’s aren’t the toy to play in the mud with! Day one was pretty flat so to make it interesting the FNQ boys cut a track that took you over 10k’s of fallen trees (over a 100 of them easy) and 5k’s of the marbles they mine to make aluminum. Day two was just mud, vines and mud. Great stuff for light bikes not big tanked XR’s!

The trip north to the tip was the 5 of us, a bloke we met in the caravan park riding a GS800 BMW and 3 locals. One 4wd with our gear, food and petrol, the other towing a bloody great petrol powered fridge full of beer. 5 day trip to tip from Weipa to Weipa cost us $300 plus beers drunk. Great value really.


We left the mates in Weipa after they got 6 weeks work there and traveled south with the BMW. There were a lot of funny stories from this trip, but one of the last ones was about 10k’s from the car in Townsville at a set of traffic lights Bill was easing away very carefully. The IT was struggling to go forward. It only had one tooth left on the front sprocket! Almost 4000k’s on that front sprocket and Bill was still smiling while he tighten the chain that last little bit.



We found the Bridge after Don drown his bike in the near by creek and tried to convince us it only 12" deep!


Don packed with everything!

I'd do it all again tomorrow if I could!
Peter B

[EML]

I have always wondered why we dont have a Baja style event up there. If you look at the Cape it is much like an up-side-down Baja peninsular so why not. There is f all on either of them except dust and it would make a fantastic race.

[Hardex]

Great stuff