Vintage Adventure Touring

[Colin Jay]

Sorry for the poor quality, but I left the camera at work and I am having to used my phone which only has a basic camera.

I am participating in the 2013 Tenere Tragic Longrun Long Haul. And thought that I would post a bit of a pictorial ride report.

I am riding solo and unsupported on my faithfull old 1983 XT600ZL Tenere, aka the Bushpig. None of those flashy modern adventure bikes for me.

I took the Bushpig to work (near Jamestown, SA) Friday and headed up to Yunta after work. After a quick fuel stop at Yunta, I made it another 150km and before it got dark and camped on a sandhill near Lake Frome for the night.


Saturday morning: On the road between Yunta and Arkaroola, the GPS direction said 'North to Road and Roundabout". I eventually went throught a roundabout some 3 days and 1500km later as I actually rode into Longreach, which is North of that bit of road, so the GPS was correct.



Saturday morning: The last bit of the run into Arkaroola, some hills and turns for a change.



Saturday lunchtime: Joining the Strzeleki Track



Saturday afternoon: The Strzeleki Track is a major outback trucking route and is not a pleasant ride on any bike. It might be 4 lanes wide, but it is sandy, rutted, dusty and badly corrugated. I found that I had to ride at 90 to 100kph to get up and "float" over the corrugations. Not a nice ride.



Saturday afternoon: Arrived at Cameron Corner 3:30pm. Tired and sore after 9 1/2 hours (550km)on the road, including some 120 sand hills on the road across from where I left the Strzeleki Track, according to one of the staff at the Corner Store.



Sunday lunchtime: After leaving Cameron Corner at 5:30am, looped out through QLD befor heading back into SA to refuel at Innamicka. From there it was back into QLD for a lunch stop at the Dig Tree. How ironic!



Sunday afternoon: After lunch at the Dig Tree, it was up the Arrabury Road to Haddon Corner. See the dust cloud in the middle of the picture?



This is what was making it. A crappy photo as I didn't get the last trailer into the picture.  These things run back and forward on these road carting oil out from the Cooper Basin gas fields.



Sunday Afternoon: Haddon Corner. The bike is in QLD and I and taking the picture fron SA. I was going to camp here for the night, but the place was desolate and the condition poor. I put the spare fuel I was carrying into the bike and at 3:30pm and decided to press on for Windorah, 215km further on.



Sunday afternoon: The biggest of the sand hills on the run out from Haddon Corner.



Sunday evening: 17km short of Windorah, "Bullo Born" and Dale come to the recue. I had gone onto reserve about 60km out from Windorah. Unfortunately, reserve holds 2 liters and there was no way I was going to make it. I slowed right down and went into fuel economy mode. The bike stopped and after laying the bike on its left side I got the fuel from the RH side of the tank over the the LH side where the fuel tap is. I made another few km before I saw them coming and stopped to flagged him down. Dale used his sattelite phone to ring the servo in Windorah and get someone to come out with some fuel.



Sunday evening: 15km short of Windorah, bone dry, 494.9km from last fuel at Innaminka. Trying to take an artistic photo while waiting for fuel. I got in to Windorah after dark at about 6:30pm, I had been on the road for 13hr to cover 725km. I meet up with Gary, another Tragic who was riding a similar route up to Longreach.



Monday lunchtine: Arrived in Longreach after covering the 320km from Windorah in company with Gary. First stop was the local Yamaha dealer. I though that I was heavily loaded until I meet up with Gary in Windorah Sunday night.



Monday Lunchtime: Proof that I made it to Longreach. 1877km in 3 days through the outback.

CJ

[Davey Crocket]

Well done, one day I hope to do the same....good luck with the rest of the trip.

[firko]

Now that's a ride. Good work Col, we're certainly lucky in this country,  still having such wilderness for adventures like this. The photos are great by the way.

[GMC]

Good stuff Col
Keep it coming

[Davey Crocket]

Col, you need to get the Jap tourists to take the photos of you and your bike.

[Colin Jay]

Col, you need to get the Jap tourists to take the photos of you and your bike.

I think I have found the only place where there aren't any!

If you discount the work 4x4's around the gas fields at Dulligari and Innamincka, from when I left Cameron Corner until I got to Windorah, , I saw 4 tourist 4x4's at Innamincka, 3 more 4x4's out by the Dig Tree, a bus, and 3 more 4x4's on the track from the Arrabury Rd to Haddon corner. So that an average of 1 4x4 per 100km, shit that almost as bad as Pitt St in Sydney!

The road train that I flagged down was the first vehicle of any sort that I had seen in the 200km /3hrs  that I rode after leaving Haddon Corner. I was sure that I would be camping by the road that night waiting for some one to come by the next morning.

CJ

[popeye]

Well done mate great pics, I did a similar trip in 2006 on 950 Adventure best thing I've ever done 13500klms in 5 weeks....  Miss my Adventure riding.....

[the stig]

 

   Thanks Col it looked like a great ride with good weather
   thanks for the photo's.

   The Stig

[EML]

Top effort Col, should be on that tour as well with my XTZ but don't seem to be able to get away any more. Have to plan it better.
Me too Popeye. Miss it almost as much as swinging.
Plan B is to put a chair on the XTZ and add all my loves together.

[evo550]

I grew up in Jundah/Longreach, did you know the Yamaha dealer was the highest placed Aussie in the Dakar this year ?
Breed 'em tough in CWQ.

[Hoony]

great stuff col, i did a similar ride from Melb to the birdsville races in 1993 along the same path as you took. i had a 1988 KLR650 for that riding along the dog fence to camerons corner from tibooburra far nth west NSW after unloading some gear the vehicle of a bloke we met so we could "turn it on in the sand" was a highlight.

loved that trip. it's a big country.

[Tim754]

Great work Col and I am not jealous........not a bit.... not..... Tim754

[GMC]

I rode out to the ‘Back-o-Bourke’ once.
It was a ‘shortcut’ to the Sunshine coast so I could check out where the four day was going to be in 88.



This sign gave me a chuckle, it must have been at least an hour from anything.

[Colin Jay]

An update and some more pictures.


On Tuesday, did the rest day things, had a new rear tire fitted, done an oil and filter change, replaced the airfilter, checked the valve clearances etc. Caught up with the other rides as they all rolled into Longreach and at the welcome dinner. 55 teneres made to the event ranging from the original 1983 model through to the latest XTZ660 and XTZ1200. The big name guest for the event are Rod Faggoter and Steve Gall, both of whom will be riding with the sweep riders.

First ride out on Wednsday was a 500km loop down the the south east of Longreach through Isisford and Yaraka with a lunch stop at the lookout on top of Mount Slowcombe.


Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, Ridding with John from darwin on his 1999 Tenere.



A collection of the bike at the lunch stop on top of Mount Slowcombe.



The veiw looking west from Mount Slowcombe



The "sweep riders" trying to find where the spark has gone. As we went to leave Isisford after a short on the way back to Longreach my bike wouldn't start. Preliminary investigation found no spark. Rod and Steve couldn't find it either.



Oh, the shame of it. On the trailer behind the support ute for the final 135km back to Longreach. There was an up side to this though. They had cold beer in the back of the ute.


Back at Rods workshop in Longreach, everthing electrical checked out ok and spark magically reappeared. Hopefully it was only a Gremlin and not a major problem. We still suspect that it could be a pickup coil or source coil breaking down due to heat stress, as when the bike stopped out on the road I had just finished a 79km leg (in 32 degree C temps) where we spent most of the time at 100 to 110km running some fast dirt tracks. I will be taking the multimeter with me tomorrow so I can do some checks while the engine is still hot if I have another problem.

Even with my problems it was a great day of riding with a good bunch of people through some great country.

CJ

[pancho]

That's great really interesting stuff. I'm sure some of our international  VMXers would find it as interesting as I have. Excellent.
cheers pancho.