Another Dirt Scalpel

 I have been looking for another registered dirt bike so that we can get out in the state forests and national parks for some trail riding in the safety of numbers. A couple of weeks back I finally found another low kilometre SWM, similar to the RS300R that we bought in July 2022. I really wanted another 300 so that they would be interchangeable - and honestly as beginners, the kids and I would be well served by a pair of 300s rather than a bigger bike. 

However, there were no decent, low kilometre 300s to be had and nothing new either. Apparently dealers are waiting for a container to land from Italy. So, when an immaculate, super low kilometre RS500 came up I jumped on it.

Pick up time!

Why the SWM? These SWM appeal to me because they are based on the 2010 Husqvarna TE510 and 310 models. Both were cutting edge in 2010 so are still very well specced bikes today that retail for under $10 and $9K respectively. There is simply nothing in that price range that packs the performance of these bikes. KYB suspension. Brembo brakes. Whats not to like?

The 500 looks sexy in black and yellow.

What else is in the price range? A DRZ400? Not even close performance wise and anything from the Blue factory or Team Orange will set you back $6-8K more and be too hard edged for general trail riding. The only “risk” with the SWMs is that they are a tiny manufacturer with a very limited dealer network. I am taking a gamble with two of them but hope to be able to keep them running sweetly through the power of the internet and international shopping. 😉

Will took a day off work to come with me to pick up the 500 so we could go for a ride in the pine forests of the Glasshouse Mountains, just a 20 minute drive south of the bike shop.

He was pretty excited and a bit nervous. It was his first real trail ride….. and my first since we used to ride these trails way back in about 2006! (Funnily enough, on my 2006 Husky TE510)

This 500, based, as I said on the 2010 TE510 seems less tall than what I recall my 2006 being and the power feels tamer. Not weak, but tamer and more useable.

By the time we got to the Glasshouse lookout Will’s nervousness was gone and he was loving the ride! So was I just quietly. 😎

I have ordered a bash plate and some radiator guards for the 500 to help make it trail worthy and I have just stumbled across the O2 sensor delete plug via the SWM owners FaceBook page so will be ordering one for each bike. The Euro 4/5 rules make the bikes run very lean and consequently fluffy on small throttle openings/sharp openings and the O2 delete apparently fixes this.

Now to just find time to ride these things between work, ADV riding and mountain biking! I think I like having too many hobbies.🤔

Cheers.

Kroombit Tops - Day 4 And 5

 

With the goal of visiting Beautiful Betsy ticked off the list it was time to head for home today. I turned south on Tableland road, past The Lookout and headed for Mahoon Creek rd and Monto.

The drop off the Tops was quite steep and very loose in places as it was in the process of being graded. Once I hit the national park boundary and got into private property paddocks the road surface improved greatly. I didn't take many photos along here but did shoot some GoPro footage which is lower down in this post.

There were plenty of gates to open and close along Mahoon Ck Rd. 

A major intersection!

I did think about going for a look at Cania Gorge but decided I wanted to make some progress towards home today instead. So, I just rode through Moonford and along the main highway back to Monto. The roads were lined with lush green crops and lucerne which was in stark contrast to the mostly grey look of the countryside this trip. After a couple of wet years when everything was beautifully green we are now seeing tall, dead, grey grass covering the countryside. Perfect fire fodder........

I had to make do with a gas station sandwich today as Monto was absolutely DEAD! Being a public holiday all that was open were the service station and the pubs...but even the pubs looked dead. This is the same busy main street I took the next photo down the page in on Friday, just looking up the street rather than down it.

Just out of Monto is the Three Moon painted silo. They certainly have a moon theme going on up here.

Not far after passing through Mulgildie I took the road toward Mungy State forest and Mt Perry. There was a nice mix of dirt and new sealed road along here through rolling farmland. I passed my first highway patrol car for the trip here in the middle of nowhere but was safe as 100km/h feels fast on an ADV bike.

I turned down Mungy road towards Gayndah ,(not really knowing where it went) but happy just to be heading south on dirt. The countryside was just soo damn dry everywhere!

Apparently the cattle aren't right smart in these here parts either! 

After quite a while on Mungy road I eventually popped out in Gayndah. Gayndah was actually quite busy and I stopped outside the courthouse near a cafe' for a sandwich and a cold drink. It looks like Gayndah's claim to fame is growing oranges. They even had a big orange. 

Pressing on, I stopped briefly for a photo at the pub in Wondai, as a mtbing mate grew up here.

Then on south to Kingaroy for fuel. Here I needed to make a decision - it was about 2pm - home was 3 hours ride away....or do I veer off slightly and camp for one last night. I was on holidays for another week.....

Veering sounded good, as did the name of the next little hamlet along the road, Kumbia. I decided that as I only had about fifty kilometres more to ride for the day I'd grab a beer at the pub. Chatting to the young guy behind the bar I discovered he and his mum had taken over the lease recently. He was a really nice young guy, a mechanic by trade but now a jack of all trades trying to keep this old pub humming along smoothly. I ended up having two beers and a long chat before wishing him well and heading around the corner, onto the Kumbia road towards Brooklands and Tarong. 

The road was a little ripper, especially with the late afternoon sun behind me. I soon arrived at my impromptu digs for the night, the Maidenwell pub. I have ridden past here before and thought it looked a great little pub to stay at and now I had the perfect excuse to stay - just because I could!

I set up the tent on the grass behind the pub then wandered over to the shower block for the first shower in a few days. It was hot and free. The perfect combination!

 Back to the pub I enjoyed a couple of beers and a chicken parmy as I watched one of the womens soccer world cup games unfold on the television. I even got accosted by a couple of local "women" looking to set their friend up with me. No thank you, time for this little black duck to leave.....

Next morning I took my time to dry the tent out properly and air my sleeping bag so that they could be packed away when I got home.

I didn't have far to ride to get home, maybe three hours so I wandered down to the beautiful little town of Crows Nest for a cooked breakfast and a nice coffee.

Then it was a lap around Ravensbourne dam as I dropped off the range down into Esk, then along the Brisabane Valley Highway toward home. I love NOT riding in peak hour traffic so it actually was a pleasant trip home at midday.

I did notice while sitting looking at my bike at home  that I had picked up a nasty looking bit of wire in my new rear tyre! Eek. Grabbing pliers I reefed it out, expecting to hear the dreaded hissing of air escaping but was pleasantly surprised not to. It has since held up, so must not have gone right through. 

While I haven't done any wet pavement riding on it yet, I am super impressed with the Ranger's dry tarmac and dirt prowess. It doesn't seem at all noisy on the blacktop either.

This was my Spot tracker's take on the trip. It doesn't ping very well under tree canopy but this is a close enough approximation. I didn't check my odometer but the whole trip was approximately 1500 kilometres, give or take a hundred or so.

I recently discovered I actually have a basic video editor on the work iPad so I took a couple of the GoPro and drone videos to work last week and sort of taught myself to use iMovie. This isn't great (hopefully I'll get better) but it gives you an idea of what days 1 to 4 looked like. Unfortunately the GoPro was flat for the ride into and out of the bomber crash. 

Anyway, let me know what you think, crap or otherwise....

Cheers.....

Kroombit Tops - Day 3

 I slept in a bit this morning which was much needed. I felt much better in the light of day (and after 11 hours sleep!)

Some yoghurt, muesli bars and a banana for breakfast and I was ready to get going. The following photo sort of gives the game away. My plan for the day was to head out to the Beautiful Betsy crash site, then loop back around onto Tableland Road and check out The Lookout.

The main road out to The Wall day use area was a pretty easy ride with just a couple of steep-ish rocky climbs. I parked up and began the walk in. It was getting warm and the trail was quite sandy in places so the almost three kilometre walk was a bit taxing in moto boots. The one steep pinch was clad with this cool corduroy decking.

Once I reached the site the first thing I came across was one of the engines - or what was left of it.

The site has a few informative boards located along a looping walkway. It is sad that she sat here for 49 years before she was discovered. Families would never have known what happened to their loved ones, lost somewhere in Australia.

She hit pretty hard with the engines being thrown about one hundred metres up the hillside from the impact point.

Engine numbers on the back of a crankcase.

The nose leg strut, still gleaming in the sun, about fifty metres from the impact point.

A supercharger impeller with blade marks imbedded in the cast stator blades.

Below is the tail of the B24, inverted, about twenty metres from the impact point. I sat here and let the scene soak in. This is now a memorial site and it is sobering to sit here and think of how these guys would have been whooping it up, so glad to get out of Darwin and get back to the safety and civilisation of the east coast - some 3000 miles behind the front lines in early 1945, only to be tragically killed. They wouldn't have known a thing about it, likely in the dark and quite possibly in cloud.

One wing, with the flaps hanging off of it.

 

A still shiny bearing in the flap track.

One of the main landing gear hanging from the remains of the wing.

Concertina walkway hanging from the upturned floor of the tail section.

As I was walking out I heard some bikes quite close. These guys rode around the fence and saved themselves a long hot walk in. Maybe I should have done this.🤔

Back at the bike I geared up and rode on to The Wall day use area. This is where I should have parked and walked in from as it is only a 1.6 kilometre trek. It turns out I went in via the old access road. Oh well….I had all day after all....

The Wall track was a one way 4WD track that linked back onto the main access road that I had ridden in on earlier. Initially I thought “this Wall track is a doddle!” That was until I came to a steep left hand corner that was chewed up by 4WDs so much that my front and rear wheels were in separate holes so deep that my bash plate was almost dragging on the ground! Unfortunately I couldn’t see a line that I could rail the bend on, so had stopped.

Shit. 

This is going to be hard to get out of. So I straddled the bike, standing over it and clutched her out. Despite the deep loose powder the rear tyre hooked up and tractored the bike out of the hole! I jumped on and powered up the hill, avoiding the other rough spots. Gotta love the Heidenau Ranger rear tyre!

The rest of the trail was mainly flowy with just a couple of steep, loose uphills-around-a-bend that were no trouble with some momentum. I parked up at this lookout for a minute to take in the view.

Soon enough I was back on the main track. The Wall track was fun but I was glad the bike was unloaded as fully loaded would have been challenging in places.

Back at Tableland road I turned south and went down to The Lookout. The road was wide and recently graded so I powered along here. Arriving at the lookout a guy and his wife were there on a KTM1290, having a picnic. They were up on a day ride out of  Monto. Their fresh sandwiches looked very enticing. They soon choofed off, leaving me to take in the view alone.

I took the opportunity to get a photo of the bike on the deck and I could see from the knobby prints on the timber that the other guys had done the same. 😉 There was also mobile phone coverage here so quite a few messages poured in, having been offline for a while.

I motored back to the campground after a while, filtering some more water on the way back past the tap. I made a cuppa, sat back and read Toby Price’s biography - “Endurance”. It was an easy, entertaining read that I could relate to. Well, the growing up in the bush without much was the relatable bit. His skill and courage are on another plane that I can only wonder at!

The sun set and I lit the fire, boiled some water and chowed down on some Backpacker's pantry Spaghetti Bolognese. A new one for me. It wasn't bad but could have used some tomato sauce to liven it up.

Just a small day on the bike with 53km today, but a moving one. I think I needed the easy day. The campsite certainly was peaceful, the weather pleasantly cool and the book good.

Cheers.

Days 4 and 5 here.