Gibb River Road

Haven't driven the GRR myself yet, heading that way next year to work. I have seen what the road can do to 4wd tyres though, sharp rocks. You would probably be pretty crazy to take postie bikes on it. How many punctures would you get? How tough are the chassis and suspension on those things? Postie bikes were designed for suburban riding on pavements, not bush touring.

You don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than a postie bike! If you do want to do a road like that on a bike then get a dirt bike, like a KTM or Yamaha.

Why not take the bus on the GRR and take the bikes on short detours from the main road?

Barnesy

Cuppa, go into Treks and then the GRR and scroll down to all the Waypoints. Click on these and you will see pix of road conditions, campsites etc. The GRR is over 600km of gravel, loose sand, dirt and sharp rocks and gets pretty boring in the middle so instead of staying at a safe non - damaging slow speed, drivers tend to speed up and you can guess the rest!! Cheers, Warrie

We did the GRR in June/July this year, including El Questro, Kalumburu Road and Mitchell Plateau.

I'm assuming you mean the little Honda CT 90 or 110? Are they genuine ex Aust Post (and therefore registered), or the 'civilian' version which normally can not be registered)?

The main feature of the GRR other than the wonderful scenery, Gorges, waterfalls etc, is the corrugations. Not much sand, but lots of rocks and corrugations.

We came across a guy on a PUSH BIKE would you believe, but he was doing it tough.

I'd say you should be OK (with care) going into El Questro. It is normally corrugated (but just normal corrugations) and the Pentecost River crossing will probably be between 200 and 500mm deep depending on the previous wet season and time you go. El Questro is well worth the trip for 4 or 5 days.

From the other end you could probably do the loop from Derby around through Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek and back to Derby. Maybe better still, leave the bus at Fitzroy Crossing and go up to Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge (good camp ground at Windjana), then go back down the same road.

As for the rest of the GRR, I'd just say that the road conditions very a great deal. Some is as smooth as glass. Elsewhere, the corrugations are near a foot deep. I'd sure hate to be doing the worst of it on any sort of motor cycle, even an off road one.

Would you have the fuel range, especially on the western portion of the road?

As others have said, a long dusty and VERY corrugated road to ride a bike on. Certainly no challenge if the weather is ok. I go along with others who say take the bus. If you want to experience a mini version of the corrugations then ride into the Bungles it's only about 50 km each way. I will probably be shouted at by some others for saying this but the scenery on the GRR is (in my opinion) not a great deal different to a lot of other roads way up north.

The GRR is as roads go resonable most of the time. In the wet a bit average but passable to a nissan civilian bus in the dry. Just think of it as a hammer- the harder you hit it the harder it hits back.

The road can vary enormously depending on whether or not work has been done on it recently. It can be vehicle destroying, or no problems at all. I did 4 shockers and lost 2 Cibie spots when the mounts snapped on one GRR trip. Assume the worst. Any trailer needs to be a good off road construction, they get pounded more than vehicles. There is no shortage of abandoned trailers along GRR. Taking it easy on a small bike should enable you to pick your way along the edge, but the problem will be tyre wear. Those corrugations are rock hard and the rocks are razor edged. I don't know the tyre size, but they probably wont be all that easy to get along there. Having spare tyres would be a real good idea.
I think the bus option and use the bikes for side trips sounds about right.

Traveling the GRR on postie bikes , glad its you and not me, the dust alone is enough to put me off, from passing motorist and oncomming traffic

Moser

As mentoned above, you are buying into a lottery - as we all do on these trips - was up there last July - joined the Gibb somewhere near ElQuestro (came off the Karunji track) and went west - not a problem - graders been in the region recently and it was a breeze _ we just soften our tyres for the gravel roads and take it very easy. The Kalumburu road above Drysdale (and the Mitchell Falls track) were another thing altogether - corrugation mania). You might win the lottery and have a great time - you might also need to change your plans when you enter the region. Re the suitability of the bikes - can't comment, but river crossings of around 500-600mm are common up there, in the dry !

was talking to a guy who had ridden the GRR on a bike (much bigger than a postie though) and he commented the worse thing he found was he had to stand up to see where he was going... sitting down his eyeballs were rattling around so much he couldn't see bugger all.

Wondering if there's a different bike out there that would suit better. How's your wife go on a PeeWee :)

Mate, if your experianced riding bikes it would be a piece of cake, boring cake though.Like you say, strap on a jerry for fuel, a swag and it would be a great ride but boring at times.Those postie bikes take a flogging and as speeds would be low they would handle it easily.I have flogged to death many posties in my time and all were subject to worse conditions than the GRR.
Now if your inexperianced at riding bikes, maybe a rethink.

Cuppa.
The bikes on the trailer would be a problem, the trailer and the bikes would be rattled to pieces, as mentioned there are plenty of broken trailers on the road. I would not leave my bus for any time anywhere on the road, there are plenty of "scavengers" around. If you take the bikes I would mount them on a rear bar or dismantle them and stow them inside the vehicle. The load capacity of the rear tyre on the bikes will prevent you from taking a gerry can and a swag, if you over inflate the tyre it will puncture very easily. Sorry to be so negative but it is all true. Eric.

Gday Cuppa

All advice above seems good. If time is no issue go for it. If you get in touch with ......arghhh I can't remember, one of the aussie bike mags - AMCN I think it was, there was a bloke submitting articles about 5 or 6 years ago who rode a postie along the railroad accross the nullabore and beyond, was a good read and he had a ball (but some wouldn't......its an individual thing. A bit like a young couple that went from Whyndham to kalumburu in a 13ft tinny, would be a great trip, but not for all!)

Cheers Andrew