CANNING STOCK ROUTE

[Digger]

Shane,
I'm dying to know....how did it go???

[_Wilks]

Shane,
I'm dying to know....how did it go???

G'day Steve

Had to abandon plans at Kununurra (was doing CSR nth > sth). Devastated at the time but improving steadily since getting home. My counsellor now tells me I won't be needing the crayons anymore.

The 3 of us deliberately rode the Gibb River Rd near on fully loaded as a last minute shakedown... eg I was carrying 20ltrs extra fuel (that's 45ltrs all up), 13ltrs water, 5 days of food, etc... the GRR was in OK condition except perhaps the last ~200kms which was badly corrugated due to heavy traffic loads (late in the tourist season). Overall, the GRR is a breeze and would present no problems for someone carrying the normal load. We were heavily loaded. Stripping the load off the bikes at Kununurra revealed each bike had suffered luggage 'rack' problems. They were absolutely minor problems... to fix in Kununurra... but were potentially major problems to fix trackside on CSR. Based on the unexpected rack failures we had and the conditions we were about to encounter on the CSR, we had to become very rational and realistic on our thinking and our prospects. None of us ever wanted the logistical nightmare and expense to recover our bike(s) & gear on the CSR, an outcome we now considered 'very possible' rather than previously thought 'unlikely to happen', so the hard decision was made. There's a fair bit more to it than that but I'll leave it there.

Our plan B turned out pretty good - we covered big chunks of the Kimberley and Pilbara (east and west). Still put in 6000km on the bikes, nearly half of which was off-road. My KTM640 and the DR650 performed faultlessly and never missed a beat; the F800 had an ongoing problem - the engine kept cutting out without warning but only at idle or when coming to a stop - did the usual checks, complete mystery. Apart from checking the 800, the only time we got the tools out was for air filter mtce. Not one puncture... no surprises there because 17yrs living in the NW taught me to keep tyre pressures UP when travelling hard, rocky ground even though there may be the occasional soft stuff. No falls... but my bike fell off the side stand when setting up for a glam photo beside a Boab tree . There is a photo.

Anyway - even though I've got a few decent rides under my belt over the years and thinking I've got most things sorted, I still learnt heaps about prepping bike & gear for a super remote ride which will be valuable for ANY future rides I do, remote or not. Happy to share with anyone who is interested.

Cheers

[Richard Hughes]

Shame about the CSR, maybee next year on the GSA's !!!
I know you were looking forward to the ride and the amont of prep you guys did was all there, the thought of doing it unsuported I'm sure is still on your to do list. How did the knee hold out?
Maybee a trans Aust line ride this year??

[spacey1]

Had to abandon plans at Kununurra (was doing CSR nth > sth). Devastated at the time but improving steadily since getting home. My counsellor now tells me I won't be needing the crayons anymore.

Glad you discovered the bad stuff prior to upsetting the Fitzroy Crossing / Wiluna police who would have been called for rescue.

I've done the CSR twice in 4wd in the late '80's. Both times in the August timeframe. Central desert rains are mostly finished by mid-July. Not too hot.

The first part from Wiluna to the Little Sandy Desert is easy enough. Mostly hard ground through cattle stations.

Canning wrote in his notes of the Little Sandy Desert: "the camels sank to their knees in the sand".

So for practice, take your fully laden GSA (mine weighed over 300kgs for the Great Central Road trip) down to the dunes at Lake Yeagarup, D'Entrecasteaux National Park then on down to the beach, then head east over the creek and back to the lake. If you thought this was easy enough, go to the CSR... however...

From Wiluna to the Well 23 fuel stop, my co-traveller in a 4 cylinder Hilux used less than 100 litres of diesel. He was very unhappy leaving all that fuel behind in a 44 gallon drum.
However for the rest of the trip, the diesel hilux used just as much fuel as the 2 other petrol hiluxes.

Why you ask? full throttle application required over circa 1,100 sand dunes.

On my recent trip across the Great Central Road (July), my GSA consistently returned 400 reliable kilometres out of a tank with some fuel to spare. This was on reasonably well maintained dirt track with endless slippery pea gravel, many loose sandy patches and corrugations forever.

So for the Wiluna to Well 23 fuel stop, I would be ok with the 400 kilometres to a tank (33 litres). However, after that I would reduce that to 300 km in a heartbeat. On our Hilux trip, we all 3 nearly didn't make it to the north due to low fuel. Real skin of our pants stuff.

So do your own sums for the fuel load required. Now carry this and all your other gear to Lake Yeagarup again.

On our first trip, one of my mates rode his XR600. We carted all his gear. He had a blast

Until he seized a gearbox, not long after experiencing starting problems. That was only half-way. The bike spent the rest of the trip on back of the landcruiser ute.

I do know that the track has gradually improved over the years, but sand dune crossings are exactly the opposite. They just get worse with huge whoop-de's created by huge heavy 4wds blasting their way up sandhills.

I have heard that it is a little easier coming from the north. I cannot comment about that.

As mentioned previously in this post, a couple of R80GS's did the trip in the early '80's. I read their story somewhere. They were real 'Heros'.

Not something I would ever want to do unsupported. However, on a light enduro bike with a 4wd carrying my kit... absolute bliss

Again, glad to hear you discovered the gotcha's before they gotcha.

Cheers
Nev

[_Wilks]

Cheers Nev.

My plan never involved my GSA. You might have confused me wth another poster in this thread... Richard Hughes, who was stirring the possum about taking his GSA on the CSR. BTW - thankyou for your practice suggestion, but riding a fully loaded GSA on soft beach sand is no fun at all... as I found out last year east of Bremer Bay (with Richard). After 2 or 3 kms we were turning back. I'm aware that at least one person has ridden the CSR on his GS but later reported that the ride virtually trashed his bike.

Like I mentioned a couple of posts back, I bought a KTM 640Adv which is just the ticket for the harder stuff or should I say softer stuff. I had it prepped to do the CSR and I was on this bike in Kununurra when we decided to abondon CSR plans.

I've ridden the GCR, then Mereenie Loop, then Tanami and then Gibb River Rd on my GSA last year - great fun and brilliant roads to ride on a GS or GSA. Similar to your experience, my range never got under 450km the whole trip... sometimes it was quite a bit better.

[Richard Hughes]

i wasn't stiring the possum!, i was serious, but nobody took me that way, it can be done on a gsa, just wait till i get my woodys wheels, remember shane,as a great man once said(me) "he who puts limits on his equipment, will find those limits before he reaches them!"
I'm already in training for the gsa/csr, building up my fat reserves as we speak, hence the one finger typing