Flinders Ranges Trip 2025 - The Ride Day 1

 

We were up early this morning to get a jump on today as it was going to be one of the bigger days on this ride at just on 450 kilometres. Not a huge day but with some dirt roads and plenty of stops for photos it would take long enough.

We departed under gloomy skies that threatened rain but thankfully it held out. There was a strong, cold wind blowing from the south that made the first few hours riding a little less enjoyable, especially as the first three hundred kilometres was straight sealed road. The boredom let one's mind exaggerate the cold so we stopped a few times to take photos. The first was at the New South Wales/South Australia border crossing in the little hamlet of  Cockburn. This was probably once an important railway/border crossing town but now the world simply blows by it.

At least the sun was shining in South Australia. 

A little further into South Australia we stopped at the next railway platform town, Manna Hill. Where the hill was, we were not sure but there was a cute little railway station that we took a quick look at.

A further 44km down the road was our first fuel stop at Yunta. There isn't much at Yunta but it is bigger than any other town we had ridden through so far. We stopped for fuel, a sandwich and a pretty average coffee. Thats two for two shit coffees in Yunta - three years apart - even though we were at the other service station this time!

After a break in Yunta we pushed on westwards to Peterborough. The countryside slowly began to change from the flat plains to some rolling hills.

Arriving in Peterborough we were just too early for the pub to be open. So we had a look at the steam train in the park, then pressed on. Rail was obviously a big part of the lifeline to these small towns a century or so ago.

The pub with no beer (for us 'cause we were too early!)

Gladstone was the next stop on our journey. 

We skirted the edge of Jamestown, well, we were going to but the main street looked so inviting we took a quick ride down one side and back out the other, onto the Gladstone road. Rolling into Gladstone we noticed the very imposing Gladstone Goal off to our right and had to take a look. It's huge compound walls were all made out of sandstone - very well made in fact, but the goal itself had been closed for decades. It would have been interesting to have a walk around inside but unfortunately it was closed.

A quick scoot around the town centre and we ascertained that there was only one pub open, so we parked up for beer. Probably not a well earned one for we hadn't done anything to earn it but stuff it - we were on holidays!

It was nice to sit in the sun for a while as it was still blowing a stiff, cold wind from the south. Watching the numpties negotiate the roundabout/monument in front of us was good entertainment as well! We wondered how many times it had been knocked over in the past....

We crossed the very southern end of the Flinders Ranges now to get across to the Spencer Gulf, bypassing Port Pirie and calling into the little seaside town of Port Germain for a look around. There wasn't much happening here so after a quick look at the old lighthouse and pier we were off again.

We would be hitting our first bit of dirt just out of Port Germain as we made our way to the Bridle Track. I had ridden this fun little bit of dirt a couple of times in 2022 and now I wanted Steve to enjoy the challenge and the views.

Steve hasn't done much off road riding so he was a bit nervous as we hit the dirt (not literally!) but having the helmet comms I was able to annoy the shit out of him errr.....coach him along but it wasn't really necessary as this entrance track was in much better condition than it was three years ago. The trickier bit was about to come.

We stopped part way up the climb as I wanted to get a couple of drone shots as the view slowly expanded and to give Steve some time to adjust to the slightly more challenging riding.

There is a short, steep rocky pinch climb that goes for maybe eighty metres that I worded Steve up for. He waited at the base while I climbed it and with the comms I was able to let him know it was in excellent condition. He shouldn't have any problem....and he didn't because as you can see in the next photo he was strolling around at the top taking photos in no time at all! 

The steep pinch pops up where you can see the track above Steve's head. 

We stopped at the top for quite a while, taking in the three hundred and sixty degree views over the Spencer Gulf and the farm lands to the north, east and south. (I apologise for the quality of some of these photos - they are screen grabs from the drone video that I hope to edit into something in the future)

One thing that was abundantly clear this trip was how dry it was. South Australia is in the grip of drought. It was a very different scene when I was here with Andy three years ago....it is hard to beleive this is the same spot as the three photos above!

Time to get going again. It wasn't very far to our overnight stay though so we rode quite slowly, taking in the views.

There were a few gates to open so we took it in turns.

All too soon we were at our accommodation for the night, the Mt Remarkable Hotel in Melrose. It was only around 3pm and our rooms weren't ready so the publican shouted us a beer and we sat in the afternoon sun letting the awesome day's riding soak in.

Pirate Life Stout on tap here.....mmmmmm

Once we were able to get into our rooms and get changed we went for a stroll around Melrose which is a very pretty little town, nestled under the imposing shadow of Mt Remarkable.

We had the first of several chicken parmigana dinners for the trip and turned in pretty early. It had been a great first day on the bikes and it was only going to get betttererer!

Cheers.

Day 2 here.

New Boots

This adventure bike means that I will be heading off the beaten track a bit more. I really don't want to wreck my road riding gear by taking it into the dirt and anyway, bits of that kit are designed for off road use anyway.

Take my boots for example. 

My road boots are Sidi  Vertigos that I bought way back here. They are great on the road bike but they will get trashed in the bush. I began looking for some suitable replacements about a month ago. I wanted something that could be walked in, as well as providing decent protection. Waterproof would be nice but at the end of the day, nothing is truly waterproof so that wasn't a deal breaker.

I liked the look of the Forma Adventure boots but couldn't find any to try on locally(or at the right price).

Forma Adventure boot.

 I did find an end of stock TCX Track boot that was at a good price at one of the local bike shops. It was my size but I wanted one size larger to allow for foot sewlling when my feet get hot (because it will get hot in Oz) so I left them be.

TCX Track boot

I tried on some AlpineStar Corizal boots at the AMA Warehouse and liked the fit, style and the way the buckles latched but they didn't have the right size either.

Searching around the interwebs I found a pair in the size I needed (US10) at BikeBiz in Sydney (at a much cheaper price too!). A few clicks of a keyboard and they were winging their way north to me.

First wear of the boots was on last week's Tenterfield ride.

AlpineStars Corizal boots.

This is what they look like after two days riding.

Good looking(IMHO) and comfortable almost right away.

 Initially, they were very stiff which made it hard to brake or change gear but they very quickly softened to allow the right amount of movement. Hopefully this doesn't mean they won't have enough ankle protection but in saying that, I didn't want a pair of MX boots that would be all protection and no walking comfort. There is always compromise somewhere if you want them to be real world comfortable.

Not sure about the waterproof abilities yet as this wasn't really very testing weather, nor was the crossing deep. My feet felt nice and cool though as the water splashed the boots.

I was a smidge nervous about going AlpineStars again as the last pair of AlpineStars road boots I had (admittedly, bought in 1998), the sole came off. So did the sole of my Bro's last pair of AlpineStars. His were of similar vintage (SMX I think) so lets hope in the  last decade and a half  er, TWO DECADES (shit has it been that long?!!) their quality has improved somewhat.

I will keep you updated on what these boots are like in the long run.

The next bit of kit I want is a well ventilated adventure jacket/suit. My RST suit, being black, is just too hot to stand around in and shows the dust terribly. I suddenly understand why most of the adventure suits are some form of browny-beige! Watch this space as I search out a suitable er...suit...but don't expect a BMW product. I don't plan on selling a kidney to buy one.....

Oh. 

I didn't realise it at the time but my last post was the 400th since I started this blog back in 2010! I wonder how many original readers there are? Rarer than Unicorn poo I would imagine!?

Cheers.

Damn! I loved that bike AND those boots!

Cobwebs In The Closet

Well, maybe not the closet but definitely in the shed! On a recent trip to visit my folks in country New South Wales I was invited (requested) to clean out the old motorbike shed.

2871

With a mix of dread and wonder I eventually ventured down to open the door. The dread was knowing what a bit over 20 years of dust would look like and the wonder at what was actually in the shed. It had been a very long time since anything in there had turned a wheel under it's own power and quite frankly, I have mostly forgotten what was in there.

Well, I knew this old trooper was in there somewhere, under all of the dust. It is my 1970 Suzuki T250 Post Classic racer. 

Yep, first race and some work needed doing....

I last turned a wheel on it in the 1994 Post Classic Championships at the full GP curcuit at Oran Park Raceway(RIP). Well, actually I crashed on spilled oil in free practice the day before qualifying then during the warm up lap prior to Race 1 she threw a dodgy circlip off the end of a gudgeon pin and I was suddenly down to just 125cc of the 250cc that was meant to be available.....bugger! 

I drove the 400km home planning all the way how I was going to rebuild her to run on methanol and electronic ignition, not the breaker points and Avgas that I was running.

What happened then was ......life. I went back flying for a living. That made sure I had no spare coin to pee up the wall racing, so the little T250 was quietly pushed into the back of the shed......

Fast forward 23 years and as I waded through the dust and cobwebs she was unearthed again. Luckily for me my Dad had thought to cover her up years ago and while in need of a good tub, she actually wasn't too bad. I also have an almost complete road going version of the T250 as well and it had weathered the neglect equally well. This is due to the extremely low humidity in central NSW - a bit like the aircraft boneyards in Tucson.

This was the result after a bit of a scrub up.

After getting a few pictures it was back into the shed, covered with a nice clean sheet and a plastic sheet. Sparing no expense!

Little Bro, Steve was also in town and we laughed at some of his past indiscretions as well. The fairing panel he is holding here was remodelled on Turn 9 at Eastern Creek during a Sunday ride day. He then had to ride it the 400km home to be ready for work on Monday. The things you do when you are young and silly.........or old and...silly.......

Cheers.

A Little Box Of Memories

I was doing a little tidying up recently. 

You know how it goes. You start looking for something in a cupboard but can't find it for all the crap that falls out on top of you. I can't remember what I was looking for now but what I found was a mess. 

In that mess was a couple of old shoe boxes that contained packets of photos. Opening these I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of motorcycling photos from the '90s. 

Plenty of  some young bloke and a bike.

Some even feature my little bro. Yes, he of The Road To Nowhere fame. 

(some things don't change, eh?!)

Let the embarrassment begin......Stand by, further transmissions imminent.......

Cheers.

Cross Border Raiders

I had a call from Chillertek of The Road To Nowhere fame last week. It seems he and a few mates had hatched a scheme for a four day ride that would bring them into my neck of the woods.

"Would I mind showing them around?" he asked. 

Would I mind? Hell no! It would be my pleasure!!

So began a few days of frantic activity around my Yamaha R1. I decided that after three and a half years she needed an oil and filter change as well as a bleed of the brakes, both ends. I gave the gig away back here....

I decided to ride down into New South Wales in my own cross border raid and meet them at Kyogle. From here we would retrace the Summerland Way, past Mt Lindesay, back to Brisbane where the group were staying with Rick, one of Chiller's mates who had recently seen the light and emigrated from Sydney to Brisbane.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny overcast with periods of serious cloudbursts. Bugger! I hate heading out on a ride into heavy rain. So, I waited a while. I checked the weather radar and saw that there would be showers all morning along my intended route. Bugger! With it being a 2 hour ride to Kyogle and time starting to work against me I suited up and splashed my way out onto the freeway. Once I had crossed the hills toward Beaudesert the skies lifted and I was able to get out of my rain gear. 

I had a nice dry ride down to Kyogle (well, apart from a few light showers and wet roads) where I refuelled and placed myself outside Dave's Bakery to await the Southerners arrival.

I had plenty of time as I was a little early and the lads were a little late. By the time they arrived I was all pied-out.

I sauntered over to meet them as Chiller peeled himself off his new R1. From the grimace on his face, touring on a sports bike is clearly not as easy as it used to be!

The boys were in good spirits and it was great to catch up with my little bro, Geoff  (Triumph Sprint) whom I hadn't seen since Un Zud and to finally meet Rick (Aprillia Tuono), Stu (Aprillia Futura) and Dave (ZX10). They were soon tucking into some of Dave's Bakery's finest, with Geoff stealing the last steak and kidney pie from some unsuspecting tourist! Nice one Geoffrey!

It was then off to the servo to top up the lad's tanks for the push across the border. This was a good opportunity to get a closer look at the new R1.  And to compare it with the very first fuel injected one.

The lads insisted that I lead even though there was no way to get lost, so off I trotted. Not having ridden with them before I wasn't sure what sort of pace to set, especially as the road was wet in places. There were some B grade racers amongst them and I didn't want to hold them up so I set the pace to "holy shit", then backed it off a hair- to allow for the wet. As I don't ride much these days and certainly not in the wet I was more than a little apprehensive about the grip levels of the Michelin Pilot Power Pures that my bike is shod with.

As we got into the twisty section of road near the Queensland border I waved Steve past as I didn't want to spoil his fun. How fast could he go anyway, with the road wet and more moisture starting to drop on us?

Well, it turns out he can go pretty fr#ckin' quick! He was hooking into the wet stuff at pretty steep lean angles that had me marvelling at how good modern tyres are. This had me thinking "Well, if he can do it then so can I. I have the same tyres".......

Only thing is I don't have the same tyres! He is running some stock Bridgestones that came new on his R1. I am glad I didn't know that at the time. They do say that confidence is most of the battle.......

In spite of the rain this was a fun section to ride and it sure was nice to ride with my little Bro again. It was the first time we have ridden together on our own bikes since we toured Tassie back in 2003! Where has the time gone?

We stopped briefly on the Queensland side of the border to regroup then got stuck into the uber-bumpy section of road that passes in front of Mt Lindesay. Steve shot away through here as it was too bumpy and too wet for my poor old worn out suspension to cope.

We also stopped for a quick shot in front of Mt Lindesay itself. It was raining so we didn't linger.

The rest of the ride into Brisbane was pretty uneventful with a coffee stop in Beaudesert then we battled Sunday afternoon traffic in pouring rain for the final 30 minutes or so. I peeled off for home as my tail light had filled itself with water and my brake/park light wasn't working any more and I didn't want to splash my way home from Rick's new place, in the dark, with no rear light.

Monday morning did dawn bright and sunny, looking like a cracking day for a ride. The lads don't seem to go for early starts and eventually I met them on the M1 heading south at about 9:30am. We droned down the motorway for 30 minutes before taking the Nerang turn off.

I had two options for our return trip to Kyogle this morning. They were the road up to Springbrook or the Advancetown road down the Numinbah valley. I figured that the Springbrook road would still be wet as it is a 15km long series of 25-35km/h twisties, under tree cover whereas the Advancetown Road is more open (and a hell of a lot faster if thats your bag). So, we went down the western side of Hinze Dam along the Advancetown Road.

It didn't take Steve long to zip by me through the series of 35-45 km/h bends. It was a pleasure to watch him work as he makes it look so effortless, despite the still damp road.

We continued on up the valley to the old Tick gate crossing, where we stopped for a breather and took in the view over the Mt Warning caldera.

The lads were suitably impressed with the roads and the views.

Having been an El Nino summer with very little rain, it had finally begun to rain in the last 2-3 weeks and things were taking on their normal, green summer state. Something a little unusual for these southerners who are used to dry, brown summer landscapes.

From here Steve MADE me ride his new R1. I knew that the road coming up was narrow, bumpy and wet so I was suitably concerned! He gave me a short rider briefing then jumped on my bike and shot off.

My concerns were well justified as within the first kilometre or so I found out just how insane a modern sports bike is. The ride is ultra stiff, bordering on fully rigid feeling and the power.....the power is INSTANTANEOUS and COPIOUS!

I have never ridden anything with such a light-switch throttle. It is seriously ON or OFF. I was having some difficulty in the narrow, bumpy wet conditions and to be honest, wasn't enjoying it at all. That was until Steve said "Let me put in on Mode 3".

You see, Mode 3 is apparently the wet weather ignition setting. The throttle response went back to slightly more docile than my R1 but the insane power was still there if you wound it on.

Here is Steve asking me if I had tried the flat shifter and demonstrating how it is done......

Yep, just hold it FLAT and shift up. The ignition interrupter will take care of the shifts..........

Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of this chance to explore the engineering advancements since my old R1 ! These things are absolute weapons and no way could I hold it wide open on a public road!! I must be getting old.

Closer look at the fun section.

We had a morning's worth of winding roads to ride but we needed a caffeine break so took the opportunity to imbibe some of the good stuff in the little hamlet of Uki.

I was still trying to come to terms with the power and handling of Steve's R1 compared to my old version. What was glaringly obvious was that my suspension was shot. Fair enough, the bike is 14 years old and I am sure everything is original.

During the conversation it came to light that Rick was driving down to Sydney later in the week with a half empty bike trailer (he was racing Post Classic in the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed). My gears slowly turned over and we hatched a cunning plan. I would send my bike to the suspension gurus in Sydney that Steve had seen for his old R1 suspension upgrade.

The ride out west to Kyogle was far better than I had remembered it. The road was a good mix of fast bends, tight bends, smooth bends and bumpy bends. I think there was straight or two in there but they were bent over a hilltop..... Unfortunately I hit the wrong button on the GoPro and all I got was burst of pictures of the palm of my hand along here. The curse of the GoPro operator stikes again!

The Mt Burrell store looks like a great place to stop for a coffee and feed. I will have to return to find out.

Once in Kyogle again everyone was grinning about the ride as they filled their bikes up and sipped on an ice water. The lads were debating on which way to go back to Sydney and Dave (ZX10) and I both argued for the Bruxner Highway up to Tenterfield. This was agreed on and I hear the guys had a great ride up there as it is quality road with little traffic.

Rick and I however turned north, back along the Summerland Way back to Brisbane. We were home in about 2 hours and I soon had my bike washed and ready to load into Rick's trailer for it's trip to Sydney.

It was great to catch up with my Bro and his mates. I put almost a year's worth of my normal mileage on the R1 in the 2 days and it has definitely sparked a bit more interest in the motorcycle. I am looking forward to heading down to Sydney to pick it up after it's nip and tuck at Teknik Motorsport.

Keep an eye out for the ride report in a month or so, as I plan on joining Steve and the lads for a lap around their (and my old) home roads before I bring it back home.

Steve's write up on his entire 4 day trip can be found here.




Cheers.