Dodging kangaroos, borders and Sheila’s

[ianhogg]

Well done Tau! All of us expats are super proud of you! It's been such a pleasure when the locals start on their great battle with the endless outback story to chip in with, "my South African mate did it in.........."

 

[Chrisl]

Well done Tau! All of us expats are super proud of you! It's been such a pleasure when the locals start on their great battle with the endless outback story to chip in with, "my South African mate did it in..........and he was loaded like a container ship!!"

fixed

 

[tau]

And then I had my first issue / moment of the trip!!!!
The bike just grinded to a holt as I climbed a biggish dune.

I looked to my left side and a chain was hanging to my left. F@%#*^#% BI had no spare link or a chain breaker tool.

My GYTR chain slider was now on top of the swingarm and the top chain gaurd was smashed into the engine!!!!

My saddle bag was ripped open.

My brain wasn't computing this. I had no moment, I didn't hit a tree or a branch. Infact I was riding super smooth.

Then it dawned on my, from all the jumping and bouncing the straps holding my saddlebags and broken 3 of the 4 buckles. The bags now flopped inwards awhen I jumped and the rear tyre hit the bags, I had placed industrial rubber in the bottom of the bags at the start of the trip, however the E-09 got hold of a pair of my favorite Falke underpants and the sprocket the took over and took it for a full rotation of the chain route braking the bottom chain slider of and bending the sprocket in the process and destroying the top chain guide.

I wstripped everything to see how much damage I had. I was too scared to look towards the motor as I was expecting a cracked engine casing.

 

[tau]

I got everything stripped and got the chain on the sprockets. The rear sprocket was bent badly. I only fit steel sprockets to my race bikes for the exact reason. Aluminium sprocket break when you bend them or try to straighten them, steel needs to have been moered really hard to bent and then afterwards you can hit them with a hammer or a rock and get them back in shape.

I road the bike down this rather large dune. I immediately got angry at myself for not carrying a SAT phone or Inreach( none was available in Aus at the time) not for me, but to let my family know that I was safe.

I walked all the way to the top of the dune to get my duffle bag and tools and all the parts I took off the bike. On the way down I started thinking of what I could use to hit the sprocket and try and bend it. If you have ever been in a desert you will know rocks are a scarce commodity. I decided I would remove the side-stand and tape some sockets to iot and hopefully that would do the trick, however I was skeptical.

As I got to the bike I heard a voice, now I am a believer and I knew that I was in trouble. But the voice was a German one and it said, " hi you why do you walk like a Boer".

 

[VaalBaas]

Darem bly ek kon die boertjie gister motiveer om klaar te ry :biggrin: :lol8:

 

[tau]

Darem bly ek kon die boertjie gister motiveer om klaar te ry :biggrin: :lol8:

Ja maar dit het jou 'n nuwe bike gekos.

 

[skydiver]

Drama, drama, drama ..... I'm on the edge of my seat  :happy1:

 

[VaalBaas]

Darem bly ek kon die boertjie gister motiveer om klaar te ry [emoji3] [emoji38]8:

Ja maar dit het jou 'n nuwe bike gekos.

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787] het jou mos gister vertel hoe ek vir pelle nuwe bikes koop....darem nie 50"s nie[emoji16][emoji3]

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[Matewis]

EPIC!!!

 

[tau]

https://youtu.be/Lm9SbGWDz7c

If you want to see the video footage of the crossing by another rider

 

[Leo]

Awesome RR sover. Baie dankie Tau.

As ek so kyk na al die k@k wat daai ketting jou gee, het jy seker lekker verlang na jou HP2.  :ricky:

Hy sal ook lekker loop in daai duine - net die reikafstand wat sal pla.

Kom man, gooi die res. Die suspense maak mens mal  :thumleft:

 

[tau]

Awesome RR sover. Baie dankie Tau.

As ek so kyk na al die k@k wat daai ketting jou gee, het jy seker lekker verlang na jou HP2.  :ricky:

Hy sal ook lekker loop in daai duine - net die reikafstand wat sal pla.

Kom man, gooi die res. Die suspense maak mens mal  :thumleft:

My liefde vir 'n HP2 is groot, maar hy sou sukkel in die knap duintjies met sy hoër rat verhouding.

Ek sal nou weer laai, moet mos werk ook blykbaar.

 

[tau]

It was 16:20 I left Mt. Dare at 07:30 the morning, I had passed 1 vehicle for the day and 385 km.
8 hrs 50 minutes. Jy wil mos jaag en die ding in een dag probeer doen. I was mad at myself for "pushing it". I was honestly not getting massive airtime or taking chances, however I wasn't stopping enough to check my luggage. I was angry at myself .


I had the bike mobile, but knew the chain would not stay on the bent sprocket.

The wind was blowing from the south and I did not hear the Land cruiser V8 approach. Robert and his family stopped behind me as I got back to my bike from the top of the dune with my duffle bag on my shoulder.

If ever somebody showed up at the perfect time this was it. They had setup camp "just south of here, 5km max". I asked them for a hammer before I introduced myself properly.

"No sorry I don't have a hammer, but I have a rather substantial axe".

I grabbed the ax from him rushed over to the back of the bike and thought to myself, " self moenie te hard slaan nie nou net breek die ding"

Self begin toe mik soos 'n Golfer. One small tap on the sprocket and it moves!!! the vibration dampeners I thought. Another light tap and it moves more. a third tap and the sprocket is perfectly aligned. I was in shock, I could have kicked it into position and alignment. The bend in the sprocket was gone. Some of it was certainly  in the vibration dampeners. I had been lubing the chain vigorously every morning and some evenings it had no damge and was still in very good condition. I had no damge to the engine!!!!!!

I set the chain a little tighter than I like as I had no chain guard on the bottom now and I was worried the chain might derail. I said my thanks to Robert and his family and was loading up to leave, however he wanted none of it. He was an Queensland Parks ranger on holiday from up north where I stayed earlier in the year. He had done an anti-poaching course in kruger with SANPARKS in 2019. When I told him I studied conservation and also worked for Sanparks when I was younger he refused to let me go.

I told him I needed to contact my family and tell them that I was safe. it was 16:30 now and I knew I could make Birdsville (another 145Km) before dark.

He produced a Satelite phone, Garmin inReach and Epirb .....how did I want to contact my family. He had a Beef roast he wanted to make for us and have a big fire. I had minimal extra fuel and doing another 10km to his camp would be very risky...

He did not want to budge. I had to follow them to their camp. So there went my single day crossing. I had to have a braai with my German friend s in an Aussie desert speaking about Namibia.

18km later we arrived at their CAMP!!! We had brilliant food, conversation and a big fire.

 

[tau]

As you can see by my track I did an extra 36km to get to their camp and back, however friends was made and it was a great meal. I reached my wife using his Garmin inReach and that made me feel so much better.

His Land cruiser was seriously kitted for desert travel
260liter diesel
180 liter water
tools
fridge
split rim tyres and spare tubes
2 x kayaks (The desert lakes in the central Queensland area have amazing birdlife)

I left them at 08:00 and had now strapped my saddlebags, ziptied the straps and gave them all my food and extra water, rooster, blitz, and sweets. They had  been in the desert for 10 days so the kids sloved my noodles and jelly's.

I was now only carrying 5 liters of water and some emergency food. Rations as they planned on leaving later that day so If I had problems I knew I would be ok as they where following me.

From here the dunes become much bigger, however they are further apart and the sections between the dunes allow you to run at 60-90km/h safely.

This was some of the best riding I have done in my life. The little T7 was on fire and now ith almost 35kg less weight on my luggage rack I was flicking it over dunes and powesliding up the steep sections of the dunes rather than following the jeeptracks. The T7 was amazing on cresting dunes.

The sections between dunes got wider and wider.

 

[tau]

I came of the second last dune and there she was Big Red. The end of the Simpson desert crossing. I chose the steepest line possible and the T7 jogged up it without any effort. What a bike!!!

It was 11:42 exactly 4 hrs from the my start the morning. I had to cover an extra 18 km to get back on track however it meant I did 8.5 hrs the previous day and 4 hours today doing the crossing in 13 hrs. This is start to stop including fuel stops etc.

3 hrs longer than a local with a Rally kitted WR450 did it in 2 days prior, not bad for a standard ADV bike with " bad suspension as many say".

It was 558km at the end . I used 35 liter in total. That is amazing and also proof that I was not smashing the throttle. The T7 has amazing torque in 2 and 3rd gear and will chug along over most dunes if needed without stalling.

 

[Chrisl]

Kyk as mens sleg val daar kom pik die kraaie jou oogte verseker uit voor mens jou kom haal!!!

 

[Operator]

:sip:

 

[Rhino2]

:thumleft: :sip:

 

[tau]

I arrive in Birdsville. The town is much smaller than I anticipated.

I refuel and inflate my tyres at the servo(Petrol station in Aussie slang).

Everything in Aus at the servo is self service. I walk in and find a South African table in the store!!!! This is the oddest place I would expect it. I ind a nougat and fruit juice that is made in my valley back home and one of my my Dad's oldest clients!! The homesick hits me hard. I had been alone since the 12 August. It was the 15 th of September my Wedding anniversary.

My wife and kids left Australia without looking back. I didn't want to leave I enjoyed Australia. I worked hard, I moved up in the industry I was in and I had employers that wanted me to stay. Maar nou wou ek huistoe, Afrika toe.

I ate the nougat and then went to the famous Birsdville hotel for a Big Red burger ( the dune I just concurred ) and had a Ginger flavored beer. Like beer just gingerbeer, or is it proper ginger beer as it has alcohol in? I don't know.

I loved all the old pubs in Aus, And all of the barmen or owners where great people. Outback Queensland is a place I will always remember fondly after this trip. Good people, my kind of people. No ********, cold beer, hearty food and an honest answer.

I was supposed to stay in Birdsville. I did just cross the Simpson desert in very good time, I was now almost 4 days ahead of my schedule, however I knew when I reached Brisbane I had to sell my car, bike, lots of loose stuff, buy a plane ticket etc. I could be stuck here for another 2-4 weeks to get everything done.

I decided to ride west as hard as safely possible. I bought tickets to the Saturday rugby tests, and also a flight back home for the 25 September. 10 days to get to Brisbane (1700km away) sell my bike, sell my car, sell my loose ****, cancel all my insurance medical aid, say goodbye to friends and colleges and watch a Rugby test..... why not.

 

[Pumbaa]

I remember doing these tracks 15 years ago in a 4x4. It was great fun going through gunshot creek.

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