Dirty(ish) Run to the Phillip Island WSBK

[TripleTragic]

Plan was early departure.  It didn't happen, Navy time my arse!


We headed up to Piccadilly Circus:


And then down towards Brindabella, I have always loved this road for some reason, even on the speedtriple. On the Tiger it was just plain fun;


Once you get back to the bitumen it is one of the best roads in the country. (although it does kill speedtriples when chasing zx14s)



Pays to keep an eye out of the locals though;


Down into Tumut then Adelnog and then some dirt down towards Rosewood - bloody horrible weather so far;


From Rosewood south via some little forestry track and past a monument to a cop killed by bushranger "Mad Dan Morgan". I love coming across stuff like this that I had never heard of before.


Down to Jingellic and turned east along the River rd which runs along the northern bank of the Murray. Just Beautiful and a good road too, easily done on a road bike.


Lunch at Tintaldra - only pies and beer on offer, I had been hoping for a burger but I made do.  Then Corryong and fuel and down onto the Corryong-Benambra rd, pretty corrogated and rough but easily doable on fatarsed adventure bikes - much less the woman we saw in Omeo that did it on a 600 monster(I don't think hubby was going to get any that night though...)
We stopped on a bridge and Russ looked at the bikes;


Then I looked at the sun.


Got into Omeo. Beers, I pull apart the Tiger to tighten headstem bearings and then put it back together and then a feed and a pretty early night.

For those not blessed to be in Australia: http://g.co/maps/wg2uu

[TripleTragic]

The next morning was a bit better in the departure time, but not by much.
Headed down some more dirt through to Dargo. Found a little hut and Russ got all hardened adventurer:



Great run through some fun dirt roads,


shame the Tiger was starting to cough and splutter a bit then it eventually called time and refused to go up a hill.  Rolled back down and Pulled it apart (again). Yep that would certainly do it;


Rolled into Dargo a couple of hours later and after washing the filter in a lovely mountain stre...erm mechanics wash trough and re-oiling it with some chain lube.

Decided to not do the rest of the planned dirt but only one more 40km section cutting from the dargo rd through to Strafford, bloody glad we did this bit, it was sweet.

Then just the drone down the coast road from Sale around via Yarram and on to The Island.

Again for the unlucky: http://g.co/maps/r5j4h Although we cut straight through from Omeo to Dargo - Tigers go were google fears to tread. (yes, I am taking the piss.)

[Bixxer Bob]

Awesome mate, you do know how blessed you are to be able to do this stuff don't you? :lol:

[Advwannabe]

A couple of pics from the way down:

Thurs arvo right after contemplating the river we found a little track down and jumped in for a swim. On a warm day there's not a finer thing to do than jump off the bike into a fresh, cold river. Good to clean the dust off as well



On the Omeo-Dargo rd there's a memorial to a drover's dog. This road was once a cattle drive and attested to the partnership of men and their animals.





It's a National Park now. You guessed it, no dogs.

It was a nice break from pulling Ed's bike to bits. Again.

Well until Friday night anyway..



Which highlights one area where the Girly's design is an improvement over the steamers. The air intake for a Girly is up near the head stock, the steamer makes do with the same snorkel down by your sidecovers. If you look at the dust pattern on the side of Ed's steamer this is possibly the absolutely worst place you could put an air intake, but it is a function of the modular design I guess.

We had the most amazing weekend catching up with mates and not riding very far at all. Watching the races is especially good in Oz. The Supers aren't nearly as popular as the GP, so things are a bit more relaxed, less crowds and you can park your bike about 10 feet away from where you are sitting. I enjoy the whole vibe a lot more.

At stupid o'clock on Monday we bid adieu to turn 13 and went looking for some more interesting roads on our way home. It was wet. The makers of the Ixon waterproof suit are filthy liars. They all are. Yet this week found me hopefully trawling the catalogs for a waterproof condom style suit. Such is the way of the world.





We had planned to ride the Grand ridge road and after being directionally challenged a couple of times we found it. GPSs are filthy liars too. Another road well worth your riding. The bitumen bit is pretty with lots of fun low speed corners. The gravel bit is more challenging. Mostly traversable by roadies it features sections strewn with 2/3 golf ball sized rocks. On some sections the road engineers had thoughtfully laid these rocks down to enhance the road base. This stuff will make anything slip. Still, the rain was keeping the dust down. At the far end of the Grand ridge road there is a little gem of a fast smooth clay road with enough sand in it to prevent it becoming a skating rink. An absolute hoot on a Fat arsed adventure bike, lots of fast hanging the tail out with a relatively low risk of visiting the shrubbery. Unless you are Scotocon, but that's another yarn.



We rejoined the Victorian nanny road at Rosedale and saw at least 5 revenue collectors between there and Bairnsdale. After waving to Boris' tail gunner a couple of times at various fuel stops we headed North to the Barrie way.

Two years ago I shamed my ancestors by dropping Tigger at the Jindi end of this road. I had progressively passed a whole flight of TKC shod BMW1200 Adventures along the way on my tourance equipped Tiger, only to have to suffer their disapproval as they rode past again while I attempted to jury rig a gearshift. It was only this year, enjoying the road with Ed and some decent tires that I realized how tragically these people had been riding. A blinged up second hand 1200 ADV mightn't be a bad buy after all.











[/quote]

The Heidis transformed our bikes into things that genuinely enjoyed the gravel rather than merely survived it. A five k section at the Northern end of the Barrie had some moderately deep sand on it. The front ends struggled here, but that is a factor of a 250kg bike with a too fat front rim, not the tire's fault. The rocks on the Grand Ridge Road caught the bikes out as well, but I doubt anything would have gripped on that surface.

As a contrast we charged along the Adniminataby- Tharwa gravel section as opposed to tip toeing through as you do on tourances. Brother Ed has already mentioned that these tires will probably be toast inside of 5k, but they are worth it if you are heading for the gravel. Mitas make a FAAB tire (E07) for about $360 a set and we may try those next.

You never know how things are going to turn on the road. Once we rejoined the bitumen we witnessed a roo getting cleaned up by a canyonaro coming the other way. Wanker left the animal flailing around on the side of the road with a busted leg. Ed had to hold it down while he cut the poor critter's throat. We were still feeling crap about this episode when we witnessed a magnificent wedge tailed eagle rising from his dinner a few ks down the road. So it goes.

[TripleTragic]

Yes Bob we have a fair idea- doesn't mean we won't gloat about it though!

It was a nice break from pulling Ed's bike to bits. Again.

Well until Friday night anyway..

Hahaha! you bastard. And after I took all those pics of you from your good side and all!

[Sin_Tiger]

Does strapping a mirror to the side of your head m the make putting the carbs back on any easier  :icon_scratch

[TripleTragic]

Does strapping a mirror to the side of your head m the make putting the carbs back on any easier  :icon_scratch

Only if you haven't sprinkled the chicken blood correctly.  


Sheesh, any T3/4 owner knows that!