A Rolling Stone Gathers....

Digger · Post by **Digger** » Tue 01 Jul, 2014 3:11 pm

I am leaving for Darwin on Sunday 6th July to participate in the BMW Enduro from Darwin to Cairns (13th to 22nd July). I’ll be travelling along Great Central Road to Alice and then heading straight up the blacktop (yuk) to Darwin. At the completion of the Enduro, I’ll leave the bike in Cairns and fly back to Perth for a couple of weeks and then return to Cairns for the ride across the Top End to the OCR at Drysdale River. Another Club Member has generously loaned me his SPOT (I must get me one of them things!!!).
SPOT Link is here:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... 8mO4XYpg9l

I can smell another video coming on…

Regards

Robbo · Post by **Robbo** » Wed 02 Jul, 2014 7:00 am

Looking forward to the next video Steve.
Enjoy your trip mate.
Robbo.

Swampy · Post by **Swampy** » Wed 02 Jul, 2014 3:54 pm

Have another great trip Steve, Don't forget to pack your Hawaii retirement shirts, Nice in Darwin this time of the yeat mate.

Swampy

Cookie · Post by **Cookie** » Wed 02 Jul, 2014 7:29 pm

Lucky bugger, I hope you have another great adventure, are you taking the GS or XT? either way it will be great, look forward to video and stories upon your return:)

Digger · Post by **Digger** » Wed 02 Jul, 2014 8:56 pm

Cookie wrote:Lucky bugger, I hope you have another great adventure, are you taking the GS or XT? either way it will be great, look forward to video and stories upon your return:)

Cookie,
I'd probably get booed off the stage if i rolled up to the BMW Enduro on my Yamaha

. Big distances to cover on this trip....the 1200 will eat up the miles easily.

bully1 · Post by **bully1** » Wed 02 Jul, 2014 9:12 pm

Digger wrote:
Cookie wrote:Lucky bugger, I hope you have another great adventure, are you taking the GS or XT? either way it will be great, look forward to video and stories upon your return:)
Cookie,
I'd probably get booed off the stage if i rolled up to the BMW Enduro on my Yamaha . Big distances to cover on this trip....the 1200 will eat up the miles easily.

Good to see one getting used for what they are meant for...munching miles over mixed terrain...this is your 2nd GS Safari from memory..have fun..look forward to the video.

profoundly_disturbed · Mon 07 Jul, 2014 3:14 pm

For those of you interested in following the exploits of our own Grey Nomad, a brief summary to date:

DAY ONE - Sunday
He left early on Sunday to stay ahead of the weather - smart move!
Lunch was in Southern Cross and then continuing on a quiet bit of dirt to an overnight bush camp NW of Kal, but not before losing a hour mid-arvo fixing a rear puncture.

DAY TWO - Monday
Broke camp at 06:30 this morning, by 07:00 he had another puncture, front wheel this time. Took two hours to fix after the bike fell off the centre stand.
He said he's still in good sprits. I told him he should be, the alternative is to be at work.
Another update: 50kms S of Laverton, and yes, another puncture. He says he's not going to buy cheap tubes again. Valuable life lesson there Ladies and Gents.

DAY THREE - Tuesday
10:15 At Warburton, no punctures so far today.

Stay Tuned - Will update this as I receive them.হ

bill9117 · Post by **bill9117** » Mon 07 Jul, 2014 3:52 pm

Tubes?
Hasn't Steve"s GS got tubeless tyres ?. Plugs are easier to fix than tubes I would think

Any thoughts tubes versus tubeless for these types of rides.

_Wilks · Post by **_Wilks** » Mon 07 Jul, 2014 7:39 pm

A bit of a guess but I reckon in 2011, when Steve saw Chris G's ongoing problem of trying to ride a GS out from Neale Junction with an unplug-able puncture, it caused him to opt for tubes.

But being a guess, I'm probably barking up the wrong tree.

And on the net, barking up wrong trees is par for the course

Digger · Post by **Digger** » Wed 09 Jul, 2014 4:30 pm

Yes i have tubeless rims but i am using an old runout tyre from my Yamaha to get me to darwin hence the tube. Problem was i used an old tube which failed once and then again. The front rim has a ding in it and it was suggested i put a tube in it 'just to be sure'. I did not heed the advice and because of a slow leak in the front the bead broke partially and i had to put a tube in it on the run. While trying to break the remaining bead using the side stand, the bike fell forward off the centre stand. Oh s***. Now what. Continued changing the tyre (what else was i going to do) until 4 gorillas showed up from a railway maint crew. Problem solved. They did not care that i should not have been there in the first place.
Had to replace the runout at Alice (where i am now) because the blocks were starting to peel away. Too risky to take another chance with 1,500 km to go. The tyres are being changed (pre arranged) at Darwin before the Safari. I did quite a bit of prep work for this trip but became a little complacent with the things that probably matter the most.
Tonight in Alice (minus 2 in the morning is the forecast) andthen 2 days to Darwin. Tyres replaced on Saturday, Registration and 'welcome dinner' on Sunday and depart Monday.
I hate the section from Docker River to Uluru....what a s*** piece of road.

_Wilks · Post by **_Wilks** » Wed 09 Jul, 2014 6:16 pm

What didn't you like about the Docker R to Uluru section? I tend to think the same but for me the reason seems to change with each crossing. Last time (May this year), it was sandy with no clear driving lines. Cross ruts everywhere.

Going tubeless from Darwin?

jls · Post by **jls** » Wed 09 Jul, 2014 6:38 pm

Been enjoying the spot up dates ,glad your not staying in the Todd for the night

Looking forward to the MD production

Digger · Post by **Digger** » Fri 11 Jul, 2014 4:51 pm

_Wilks wrote: Going tubeless from Darwin?

Actually, yes and no...
I am getting a Mitas E10 tubeless fitted to the rear. On the front (and this will make the BMW purists cringe) i am getting a Dunlop D925 (?) rear enduro tyre fitted to the front wheel. The bike will look like something out of Mad Max. I will leave that on until i cross back over the Top End to attend the OCR at Drysdale River.
Arrived safely at Darwin Friday afternoon. Already seen a number of Beemers in town. That can only mean one thing. I should have bush camped outside of town tonight. $50 for a tent site in a caravan park. WOW. And i can remember paying $32 at Uluru a couple of years ago and i thought that was expensive.
It is a looonnng way from Alice to Darwin on the blacktop (although maybe it was just the perception).
Regards

Hugh.Jars · Post by **Hugh.Jars** » Fri 11 Jul, 2014 5:16 pm

Well Steve if you "share with a friend" It would be half that price

Just sayin is all.
I did the 2011 gs thing and it was great meeting huge amounts of people everyone had time to talk to you.
been watching your spot and looking forward to the rest of your travels
have a
great time

_Wilks · Post by **_Wilks** » Fri 11 Jul, 2014 7:58 pm

Digger wrote:On the front (and this will make the BMW purists cringe) i am getting a Dunlop D925 (?) rear enduro tyre fitted to the front wheel. The bike will look like something out of Mad Max. I will leave that on until i cross back over the Top End to attend the OCR at Drysdale River.

D952. Gott im himmel!

Dont tear any of those knobs off braking too hard. 300+kgs pushing thru that tyre... hmmm. But you're the guy who make it last the journey tho.

BMWMCCWA

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