After a bit of a false start, I met up with David (Tenere 660) and Craig (DR650) at Woodford. We had planned to meet at Dayboro however the road in from Petrie was closed and so we had a few quick phone calls and away we went.
There was no real plan other than to head north and explore, so we went along Neurem Road to just shy of Kilcoy, into Kilcoy and then onto Jimna. The area is just full of dualsport options from muddy and snotty technical tracks that are more suited to smaller and lighter bikes to wide open forestry and fire trails that you can enjoy on the larger bikes as well.
The stop at the Jimna Information Centre was very helpful. We met one of the locals, Dave, who talked us through the maps of the various tracks. They have on sale topographic maps that cover the whole area for $15.00 each. You need four different maps to cover the whole area in enough details and it is cash only, so I will be sure to bring enough cash and a large enough container to keep them safe next time.
In the morning, the tracks were a real combination and probably much more suited to the borrowed DRZ400 I will take next time. I had a bit of a moment through some downhill mud but recovered with nothing more than a minor fright and a reminder to keep concentration levels up. Later in the day the trails opened up nicely. No matter what the conditions where though, it was all good fun. Here's a video of the last ten minutes and I hope to have a few more up over the next week or so:
Avid readers will notice that I have made yet another change to the front cowl. This is a three-part cowl that works really well, it is very functional but I really need to improve on the heating and bending process to make it look good. As pictured, it is running without a windscreen, which is a must for riding through farming areas. When without a windscreen, the wind flows directly into my eyeline and the helmet visor provides plenty of evidence of this. Nonetheless, I am certain I have the dimensions and angles down to exactly where they need to be. Earlier today I added the clear acyrlic windscreen that should not pop the air flow right over the top of my helmet, making a very comfortable ride.
Another important change is the rear suspension preload. I added about 11 millimetres of preload on Friday to stop the rear from bottoming out, It was also pretty poor through corrugations. I think I lucked out as the bike certainly performed better both on road and especially off road and a check of the mud underneath confirms that there is no more bottoming out. The ride height has increased slightly but now I am quite comfortable, finally, with the extra height and the clearance gained will be helpful when off road as well.
It was really interesting to look over Craig's and David's bikes. Both are setup very well with Craig using a ruggedized 8 inch Android tablet as a GPS and David's DIY racks are very impressive. Plenty to see and take onboard from both bikes.
There was no real plan other than to head north and explore, so we went along Neurem Road to just shy of Kilcoy, into Kilcoy and then onto Jimna. The area is just full of dualsport options from muddy and snotty technical tracks that are more suited to smaller and lighter bikes to wide open forestry and fire trails that you can enjoy on the larger bikes as well.
The stop at the Jimna Information Centre was very helpful. We met one of the locals, Dave, who talked us through the maps of the various tracks. They have on sale topographic maps that cover the whole area for $15.00 each. You need four different maps to cover the whole area in enough details and it is cash only, so I will be sure to bring enough cash and a large enough container to keep them safe next time.
In the morning, the tracks were a real combination and probably much more suited to the borrowed DRZ400 I will take next time. I had a bit of a moment through some downhill mud but recovered with nothing more than a minor fright and a reminder to keep concentration levels up. Later in the day the trails opened up nicely. No matter what the conditions where though, it was all good fun. Here's a video of the last ten minutes and I hope to have a few more up over the next week or so:
Another important change is the rear suspension preload. I added about 11 millimetres of preload on Friday to stop the rear from bottoming out, It was also pretty poor through corrugations. I think I lucked out as the bike certainly performed better both on road and especially off road and a check of the mud underneath confirms that there is no more bottoming out. The ride height has increased slightly but now I am quite comfortable, finally, with the extra height and the clearance gained will be helpful when off road as well.
It was really interesting to look over Craig's and David's bikes. Both are setup very well with Craig using a ruggedized 8 inch Android tablet as a GPS and David's DIY racks are very impressive. Plenty to see and take onboard from both bikes.