Adventure bikes?

Hi Robin, had a few mates do the Simpson, on dirt bikes, unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to go at the time, kids and work commitments..
Have been on a few weekend trips, used to have an XR650 Honda.. Wish I still had it, was an awesome bike.
Would love to do a few longer rides.. At the moment, I have a BMW 1200 adventure bike, hardly gets ridden these days, but great peice of kit, very comfy, and good for getting into the bush, even with Sue on the back. Maybe I should join a club I guess..
Have seen on the home page, EO caters for bikes as well as the 4x4 touring scene, so thought I'd ask the question, and see what response I get..
The DRZ400 is a great bike too, new quite a few people had them, ultra reliable, and unstoppable.. One of the most dependable bikes out there.. Cheers Odog

G'day Odog

For a number of years I ran 4wd / motorbike tours specialising in Central Australia - many many trips across the Simpson Desert ! Had the Flying Doctor there one year for a poor fellow who cracked his neck - great rider but just had a very very simple accident - he's ok now but stays clear of bikes !

Whilst I still run a few 4wd trips I have stayed away from the dirt bikes coz the support required to do Simpson trip for the 10 bikes I usually took is huge - fuel, spares, tools, food, swags, shelter etc etc etc.

I've had a couple XR 650's and ridden them across the desert and on other occasions a WR 400 and a WR 426 but not sure I would ride a BMW 1200 across ( way too big and heavy )

You're probably already aware of offroadexplorer but there are people on there that do tours for adventure bikes or even if you post a query about clubs and rides you will get some info !!

All the best and stay upright

Gazz

You guys are tougher than me , I don't know how you could ride a 650 or bigger out there , but many do I guess.

This post made me re-read post 59635 which was about our simpson adventure ride.

In it we meet up with a group in real trouble and on verge of giving up on there bigger bikes after multiple issues before they got to eyre creek even. I even picked up a full 20lt jerry can that they didn't know had fallen off a bike !

I understand just how much organization is involved Gazz , although I think theres quite a few like the group we rescued who just shouldn't be out there at all.

Hi Robin, just read your thread on Simpson crossing, great read.. Thank you for that.. My youngest, sounds exactly like your young fella, he also raced an rmz250.. Now rides a ktm500 and lives in Perth, we will ride together again one day... I sent him your story, know he would love to read it.. Cheers Odog

G'day Robin
Yes - a lot of orginization and a lot of gear to carry !! We usually had 2 traytops ( 1 Landcruiser and 1 Patrol plus 2 wagons sometimes 3 ) - normally 18 people with ten bikes so that meant - 18 swags, 18 clothes bags, 18 chairs, 4 fridges, 2 camp ovens, bbq, gas bottles, quick shades, lights, lots of food, water, firewood for camp ovens - and that's before the bike stuff ! Three 44's of petrol for the bikes, two 44's of diesel for the cars, plus handle bars, chains, tyres, oil, tools etc etc etc !
Bugger me - don't know how we did it really - especially with 18 different personalities and ten different levels of rider abillity ! But we did it without too much drama.
Agree - some motorbike riders / groups shouldn't be out there, we have also helped out a few but having said that we have also helped some 4wdrivers that were ill prepared and gone out of our way to get them on the road again !
"You guys are tougher than me" Tougher ? More stupid ? Or just crazy ? Not sure which one suits best but of all the bikes I have ridden across the desert I found the XR 650 the easiest to ride - I seemed to be forever changing gears on the smaller capacity bikes. ( could just be my larger frame lol )
Some of the younger blokes who came on my trips asked me what the best training / preparation is for all the sand and the sand hills. That's easy I said - buy 5 tonne of play pit sand and spread it 300mm thick on the corner of your house, go inside and get all your riding gear on, boots, nylons, armour / jacket, gloves, helmut and goggles. Then, using a ladder, climb on the roof, go to the corner where the sand is and jump off - repeat this several times jumping backwards, sideways and with a couple forward rolls thrown in plus the occasional belly flopper / face plant ! Do this twice a week for a month and you are now prepared for the desert !!!
Why is it now I have the urge to ride the desert again ??? lol
All the best
Gazz

Gday Robbo, think the Beamer would be a handful in deep sand, and nothing wrong with doing the easy way, when you have the option, either, price of parts can be a deal breaker, why risk doing damage.. I also have a ktm 625, was a good mate of mines, that past away, so I ended up buying it when his wife needed it gone.
That bmw enduro, from streaky, in the details, said you need to pay for spare tyres, in case you ruin one, so it's all extra costs. We are leaving on a 5 week trip, a few weeks after this ride, so trying to save my pennies for that, but next year I'm going to try and do a BMW safari.. Always wanted to do it.. How did you find doing the safari? Where was that one held? Cheers Odog

G'day Stu & "Bob"

Ah - the good ol days, remember them well !

Nice looking bikes mate

Cheers

Gazz

Old thumpers! They all look great.. Wish I'd kept my XR650r... Loved the low down grunt, then hang on!... Remember I'd always have to wait till the others are nearly at the top of any hill climb, or steep fire trail, get it up into 2nd or 3rd and hit it.. The weight and the traction, together with the tourque were so good together, miss that bike so much, just the basics, easy as to work on, and so reliable.. When I had my property, my neighbor had one, 70,000 km on the clock, only ever did the valve adjustments... Unlike my ktm625, just to do an oil change is a pain in the butt.. 2 different oil filters, and need to bleed the oil in the frame when done.. Bit of a joke really.. Odog

"Unlike my ktm625, just to do an oil change is a pain in the butt.. 2 different oil filters, and need to bleed the oil in the frame when done.. Bit of a joke really."

Hey Odog - when blokes in the desert were working on their KTM's, I would just park the XR up and enjoy 3 extra coldies while watching them change filters and oil etc !


Cheers

Gazz

Few mates did a trip, across the Simon, an xr650, wr426, and 2 ktm625s (one of which I now have) and a husaberg 650 I think.. The 625 I now have, had the rear hub, totally shatter, 6th gear pinned.. He was lucky! Only bike to get home was the XR...

The Honda XR is a pretty much bullet proof design. A mate of mine rode his XR650L from Cairns to Pt. Hedland and back via Ayers Rock and the Great Central Road. He rode solo, with a satphone and a spot messenger for backup.
11 400 Km round trip, oil change and new rear tyre at Pt.Hedland was all that was needed.

Was away with a mate, he was on the phone, purchasing another bike (his 13th, likes to restore them) mean while, my missus rang me, told her mate was on the phone buying another bike. When we had both hung up, he said "ya didn't tell Sue I was buying another bike, what if she tells Cath! " he was panicking big time.. So I rang my missus back, and told her not to say anything.. Was so funny..
Unloaded a semi at work, got talking to the driver, he had 35 bikes, all going.. Had been collecting European bikes for years, had 3x900ss ducatis, 2x750ss ducatis, and Mike hailwood replicas, just to name a few, was his passion.. Hate to think the value of them all..