Saturday 9 August 2014. The Great Australian Ride Send-Off.

On Friday night I rode the old Rainmaker down to Byron Bay and yes, it did rain. Only a little. The occassion was the send-off for the Great Australian Ride; an annual event for dirt bikers to cross Australia from Byron Bay, New South Wales to Steep Point, Westeran Australia ... across the centre. Not only is the entire trip an adventure but it raises an incredible amount for the Sids and Kids charity. By Saturday morning the riders had raised over $60,000.00. As they pass through towns they also give talks on SIDS and this has helped opened opportunities for people who have lost children through Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to receive counselling and support.

This is the Byron Bay lighthouse on Saturday morning where the "Send-off" ride started from. I was there for the first leg only; from Byron Bat to Tenterfield. From there the team went to Texas. After that the main team of 16 riders and one support truck were off to on a real adventure and I hope to join the 2016 team but there is some work to do to make that happen.

The cafe at Byron Bay lighthouse served great coffeee.

 Bike and bikers, coffee and donuts, views and fumes. What a glorious start to the day.

 This is Scott, one of the energetic team behind the Horizons Unlimited event at Beaudesert this year.

Bikes, man, bikes.

Cape Byron lighthouse.

Love this custom paint job on the BMW GS1200. This bike was with a group from Brisbane who had a very diverse range of bikes and personalities, as it should be.

We left Byron Bay, clogging up the roads with too many bikes to count. The organisation was excellent, with the groups split into a number of smaller sub-groups with separate ride leaders and the cornerman system of navigation/group riding working well. A stop at Lismore whilst waiting for the Bruxner Highway between Lismore and Casino to clear gave us all plenty of time to compare notes on each other's bikes and the glorious bike riding weather. 

Once we were back on the road, up through Casino and then on to Tenterfield. Lunch at the pub. Here I had a great opportunity to meet some real characters. The first was Christophe Barriere-Varju, a genuine Dakar Rally racer. Christophe is the ambassador for the Great Australian Ride and has competed in the Dakar Rally four times and finished twice. His story is quite incredible as he largely self-funds his campaigns and he is a very genuine guy. Christophe and his friend Simon have created and released a film on his last campaign called Dreamracer. I bought a DVD copy and watched it later thatr night. Brilliant! I even watched it again on Sunday. You can find out more about Christophe, his campaign and the film on dreamracer.tv . 

After lunch I had an hour long chat with Tex O'Grady of "Tex and Bundy" fame. Tex is a full time charity fundraiser who devotes his life to helping his fellow man. Bundy is his faithful companion and together they ride to event after event, raising awareness, visiting hospitals and sharing joy. Tex's story is one with listening to and I'm looking forward to having him and Bundy at the next Horizons Unlimited meeting as well.

After Tenterfield its was off to my own little Titan shed/chalet for the night just outside of Stanthorpe. This is a property own by some friends of mine who generously let me stay there from time to time. Its in a beautiful setting and gave me a great chance to watch Christophe's DVD and do some study. A great way to finish the Day.

Sunday morning was the slow ride home. Again, riding weather to die for and the bike ran well. I can tell that it needs new plugs and oil but the Cunningham Highway is always full of caravans and so the slower speed suited the bike well. A great weekend and if you are wondering, next year's Great Australian Ride send off is 8 August 2014.

Wednesday 30 August 2014. The Widowmaker is dead.

Well, at least for now.

Over the last two weeks I had a look at the electrics on the Suzuki DR800. Depressing. The harness itself is in worse shape than I remember. This is because all I ever this was to wind on extra insulation tape previously. Had I looked more carefully, I would have seen that there were some real issues going on there. I have also checked the ignition pickup coil, CDI unit and Regulator/Recifier unit with a multimeter. The CDI seems fine but the ignition pickup coil has inifinite resistance so that means no circuit, a break in the wiring. Its possible that the break is in the wires to and from the coil and not in the coil itself. If that is the case, its just a matter of time and patience. If it is the coil, that's another new part to throw at the bike and I am not up for that.

The regulator/rectifier tested OK on all but one wire, the orange wire with black tracer. That may not be too bad as its possible that it may be fixable or replaceable with an aftermarket part from a different machine. I am also aware that a common swap for an older Honda Africa Twin is a regulator/rectifier built for aircraft engines, so fingers crossed there.

The worst part is an example of poor workshop practice. I had failed to disconnect both the positive and negative terminals on the battery. Whilst moving cables around, I shorted out the 5 amp cables for the indicator circuit. A bit disheartening, no actually, a lot disheartening. Fortunately upon closer inspection the damage is restricted to this one circuit and is easily fixed.

So what to do? I've grown tired of replacing expensive parts on this bike and really just want to ride. The answer is to get better mechanincal and electrical skills; that takes time and when you are paying registration and insurance on a bike not going, that's just more money wasting away. So I've canceled the rego and insurance and that allows me to take my time. Whilst I have sme basic hand tools, in the last few weeks some good friends and many web sites and YouTube videos have shown me that some better tools and techniques can really make a difference. Fortunately those same friends may lend to me the tools. Once I've mastered the tools and techniques I may purchase my own but its really good to be able to try different things without expense.

Fingers crossed that this situation will have some good outcomes. A better bike, with sound electrics and much better knowledge, experience and techniques for me.

Saturday 5 July 2014. Reflections on Timor Leste

I've been back a week and its given me time to clean my gear, start back at university, post some photos to the blog and so on. Haven't had time to visit the farm yet and I'll have to do so soon. Its also given me time to reflect back on the trip and I hope that I can add some words to the pictures I've uploaded.

Before leaving I was often asked "why Timor?" and would reply "because its there, man". That is to say, why not Timor. The truth is that as a trip the timing was perfect, the cost was doable and it is about time I stop watching other bpeoples adventures and start some of my own. This trip was not just a trip on its own but part of a journey for more adventures. The next obvious questions are:

Did you enjoy it? Heck yeah! It was a scream.

What were the other guys on the trip like? Tour leaders like David Carlos are a rare breed and he was brilliant. My two riding comrades, Alan and Tim were excellent company, great riders and I hope will remain good friends. I think I lucked out to have such good company.

Would you do it again? As soon as time, money and circumstances permit, I will go. Timor Adventures has a 13 day tour option and David has some excellent ideas for larger adventures and I hope to find my way on to some of those as well.

Would you recommend it? Yes, but not to everyone. You do need to be able to ride off-tarmac OK and have a great sense of adventure. If you are after a nice BMW GS style adventure and be tucked away each night, its not for you. Conversely if you wnat to have some excellent riding over all sorts of terrain, happy to try a range of culinary delights then book now. ( http://www.timoradventures.com.au ).

Here are some Youtube clips to help paint a better picture of what it is all about:

My own clip, mainly helmet camera footage and some photographs at the end:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=r8c1FMT1qV0

Timor Adventures own Youtube channel:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NOXRSfhK3aA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TVJA7tFPbNU

 Caroline Pemberton from "Places we go" video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezCkqOEmNU&feature=player_detailpage

Friday 27 June 2014, Timor Leste Day 9

Hatu Builico to Dili

Last day of the best tour EVER.

Back up the 18 km, one hour road to the main highway. Then turn left and off to Dili.

Another view of the famous Mount Ramaleu road. I've come off again and broken the headlight lens. Nothing too serious.

Parked outside our lunch stop, another series II Pajero. These things are everywhere in developing countries and in my opinion more trusted than modern Landcruisers. We have one of these at home and you only need look at the incredibly heavy duty ladder frame to see why.

Thursday 26 June 2014, Timor Leste Day 8

Same to Hatu Builico.

Its not a holiday, its an adventure (a favourite saying of motorcycle adventurer Kevin Sanders, Globebusters).

This was the day of my first 'off'. The road to Mount Ramaleu is somewhat challenging. Originally cut out by the Portuguese, the surface is a combination of mud, large stones worn smooth over many years, water and potholes. The 18 kilometres from the turnoff to Hatu Builico takes about an hour. Very exciting.

Anyhow, as my motorised Timor pony and I were exiting a fairly large pothole, the front wheel washed out to the right and I fell to the left. If I had the left side covered by a bent leg motorcross-style, or even if I had been standing up with my weight over the front wheel, I may have made it through OK. The damage wasn't too bad; a broken mirror and bent gear lever. The team first secured the scene, checked my minor gravel rash and covered it in iodine to prevent infection. They then bent back the gear lever and we were off again. Great stuff. 

A mighty Kawasaki Ninja?

This is the corner I washed out the front wheel and let the bike have a er, small sleep.The fine dirt creates a fairly slippery layer above the smooth rocks and it takes a fair bit of skill and attention to not come off. As well as a little bit of luck.

Our support driver, Edu. The Timor Stig.

Wednesday 25 June 2014, Timor Leste Day 7

Viveque to Same

Had to take the time to check if the marks on this roadsign were bullets. As it turned out, it was just rocks. Ironically though, this was the only roadsign in Timor other than the very distinctive distance markers.