Coonamble Amble

[Cejay]

The much talked about Coonamble amble is finally upon us, preparations have been made, changed and made again. For some of us it is just a short run (6 or 7 hundred klms) and for others there is a bit of a hike. We have discussed the weather but no one can really predict it so we prepare as best we can, this is but one story, Cejays tale.

Tuesday seemed like a good day to leave, originally the plan was to go south and take in the GOR but after some thought (rational for a change) it was decided to go South East, the GOR would have way too much traffic at this time of the year. This was later confirmed by TV reports of massive traffic Jams leaving Lorne...Good move Cejay.

The plan was to leave early in the morning and cover as much distance as possible before the glowing yellow god got too angry, but despite dropping the word to all and sundry that the Cejay wanted an early night on New Years Eve, we had company. My guests appologised for coming round knowing I was due for an early start and promised to have a couple of drinks and piss off, that was at 20:30. At 01:30 I finally pushed them out of the roller door and bid them a happy new year, time to go and finish packing. I got into bed at 02:30 and tried desperately to get some ZZZZs, it was not to be and still awake at 04:00 it was into the shower and dressed ready for the off, "Bye dear, see you in a week" "Yeah Ok, have a good time, Oh, and turn the light off some of us have to get some sleep!" "Right love"

Leaving home the temp was still a very balmy 30 degrees at 05:00, but this soon changed as I hit the hills and started to climb over the cutting, before long it was a cool 20 and I was loving it. From my home to the hills is about 15 mins and from there I had about 100 klms of beaut riding, constant left/right sweepers until I reached Palmer, at this point it was time to unleash and enjoy the last of the cool air as I rolled along at somewhere just a bit over the legal...Onest Ociffer. I hoped to put about 250 klms down before stopping and this was easy to achieve as I drifted through the fast sweepers on the way to Pinnaroo, my first stop.

As I was heading east it was not going to be very enjoyable, it was not long before the sun started to blind me and the temp soared to 33 degrees, stopping at Ouyen for fuel and an Ice Block (I have developed a real taste for the lemonade Icy poles now) was a welcome break as by now the temp was pushing 37 and it was still morning. The rest of the day did not get much easier, no more interesting bends and lots more heat, passing into Swan Hill for lunch at Maccas it was now 40 and the crowd at Maccas including the flies did not make for a pleasant rest, at least I had booked ahead and only had about three hours to go. I arrived at Cobram Motor Inn, a budget motel at 15:40 and was dissappointed to find that the motel units opened to the west, directly in to the afternoon sun, this situation soon improved when the proprietor passed me a tub of ice and a stubbie he had placed in the freezer an hour earlier..it pays to ring up and confirm your booking.

Tea time was sorted by a variety from the local supermarket and a six pack of Carltons finest, by 19:00 the sun had passed behind the trees and I could move the bike in front of the motel room ready to clean off the days bugs. It was still 38 but I did not care any more.

More to come including pics and some vid links...especially my unplanned short cut.

 

[FJR@DTS]

W00t! Thanks for the ride report, that sounds REALLY hot. What riding gear do you wear in that kind on heat? I can't wait to see pictures and get the rest of the story. Is there alot of humidity there? I took the wife out on a date in 107 degree heat on the bike, but we were in Arizona so it only felt a little warm. Oh, one more thing for us yanks, what is a Stubbie?

 

[FJR Steve]

For those not used to a bit of "stroyn" (Australian) :

Coonamble Amble - First get together of the New Year. And first 'official' meeting of many of the members of fjr13.org

GOR = Great Ocean Road. Coastal road that winds it's way around the coastal cliffs of SW Victoria.

Piss off = leave (without necessarily urinating)

Occifer = Party pooper (Police)

Maccas = Shrine of the Clown (McDonalds)

Stubbie = small bottle (normally 375ml) of beer

Carlton = Carlton & United Brewery

 

[Cejay]

Well it seems like the Oz forum has fallen into a deep dark hole...was going to update this thread based on my input to the Oz site, but sadly that is not to be.

Anyways here is a brief report from the rest of the ride....Have more important news to report later.

Wednesday found me rising not quite as early as I had wanted...prolly due to uncle Jack and his friend Elijah Craig. But it was not going to be as big a ride and the temps were expected to be a bit lower. The ride out to Wodonga on the NWS/Vic border was uneventful tho' pleasant with a short run along the doomed highway at higher speeds to alleviate the boredom. The run out to Corryong was nothing short of awesome 140 to 170 kph sweepers for the next 120 klms Oh Yeah! this is why we ride motorcycles.

At Corryong I met up with a middle aged couple riding a Harley and had a lengthy chat about riding and the ride to come...the run from Corryong to Jindabyne...a tight twisty run up into the high country, the road reduced to a narrow strip of tarmac as it winds its way up into the alpine regions. This section is a great ride, but not to be taken lightly as many of the bends are very tight and with steep drop offs on one side and rocky outcrops on the other, can lead to disaster very quickly.

The Harley couple left about 10 mins before me but with limited ground clearance it wasn't long before I caught them up and slid by. It was comforting to find that the soaring summer temps had dropped to a mere 26 C as I climbed the alps through to Thredbo....the site of one of Oz's worst alpine disasters. Running through the fast sweepers on the way to Jindabyne the temp started to rise to a less comfortable 34 as I swung the big Yam through some very nice 140 kph sweepers.

After fuelling up at Jindabyne it was to be only 160 klms to Queenbeyan but the temp had now jumped to 39 and I was feeling the effects within the first 100 k's. Rounding a bend at Bredbo I spied a tavern right on the roadside and decided that this place was the ideal rest on the way to my afternoon stop. Three coldies later and I was on my way for the last steamy dash to the Rainbow motel.

The Rainbow was run/owned by a small asian lady (I guess they are all small really) and my room was at the back down a narrow laneway...barely enough room to get the bike down and park in front of the door. To say the room was small would be an understatement as I had to exit to open my panniers. At least it had air con and was not too far from town and a chance to grab a feed and a six pack.

Thursday I awoke to stormy skies and sprinkling rain, what a contrast to the start of my trip...the original plan had been to head out via Goulburn but there was a small patch of blue north of Canberra on the road to Cowra so a quick change of plan was implemented. Leaving Canberra I soon rode into clear skies and warmer temps. After a quick refuel at Cowra it was onward and northward to Bathurst and a chance for a feed, the temp was now climbing back up to 36 and the stormy weather was to the south and east, I was about to turn east for the next 70 klms.

Swinging north east into Lithgow the skies looked rather threatening but at least the temp had dropped to a more comfortable 29 and the road was about to get very twisty. This road through the Blue Mountains is a bikers dream with a mix of tight and twisty 25 to 35 kph bend and some 65 to 75 kph thrown in to keep up the exitement. Near the end of the Bells line of road, my GPS showed a short cut that would trim at least 60 klms and 1 hour of my trip and being a bit behind due to my change of plans earlier in the morning it seemed like a good option...Wrong, as it turned out the road quickly changed from a single lane strip of bitumen to a couple of wheel tracks that hugged the side of the mountain as it descended rapidly via some very tight switch backs, into the valley below.

As I reached the floor of the Valley feeling somewhat relieved at not having run over the edge, into the rock face or fallen off I glanced at the GPS to find that I had barely moved from my start point...added to that the road had dissappeared and made way for a great camping spot with a beaut running creek flowing through the middle of it...Yep that's right the road crossed the creek and the exit was rather steep and rocky, on a dirt bike it would have been fun, on a loaded FJR it was INTERESTING, especially with about 8 campers watching and waiting for me to crash, I disappointed them and rode out and up without drama.

From here it was back up the goat track to the top of the hill and then back down again...this was repeated for quite some time, I was now 1 hour behind schedule and had added about 50 klms of dirt to my run...Eventually I could see on the GPS that I was less than 200 metres from the Putty road (my destination) but was separated by the valley and a creek/river. The road came to a T Junction and although instinct told me to go north, the sign indicated that it was a "No Through Road" so I elected to turn south, against my better judgement.

It turns out the dirt track ran parallel to the main road for the next 15 klms and eventually joined up at a bridge effectively adding 85 klms to my shortcut and about 1.5 hours. Still it was a very scenic and interesting diversion and the temp had been cooler. Problem was I still had over 130 klms to travel on some very fun and twisty road and the fuel gauge was down to 3 segments. Looking at the fuel useage suggested that I should be able to make it with a few litres to spare so I bypassed the servo (Gas Station) just over the bridge and decided to go for it. About half way through one of the best biking roads in Oz with the footpegs steaming from the constant contact with the tarmac I rounded a bend to be confronted with a sign suggesting the last fuel for the next 80 klms, at the Halfway Roadhouse. The signs were repeated ominously on every second tree as I closed in on the servo, this I felt was a sign from above with the last segment showing and still 80 to go I was in luck...Not, turning in to the gas station I was greeted by the hand written sign "Pump Out Of Order" on every single pump...Bugger.

Now it was time to start conserving, within a few k's of leaving the Halfway Servo my final remaining segment started flashing...Now the speed throught the constant left right sweepers was required just to enable the best fuel economy, I had to hold as much corner speed as possible to avoid having to accellerate on the exits. It was a recipe for disaster...not far down the road, peeling into a very tight right hander with an advisory speed limit of 35 kph I found myself dropping in much hotter than I wanted to...I apexed the corner way too early and peering around the bend I realised that I was not going to make it at the speed I was travelling....

Grabbing a handful of front brake and gently squeezing the rear pedal I stood the bike up as the 50 foot drop off approached rapidly...Just before the front tyre dropped off the shoulder I yanked hard on the bars and pulled the bike down onto the right hand peg...F*&k that was close. That was pretty much the way I had to ride for the next 50 klms until I finally sighted the welcoming sign of an open gas station, I had been on reserve for 70 klms now and was extremely relieved to say the least. It was now only 80 klms to my motel and with the sun low on the horizon I was looking forward to the rest.

The stop at the Muswelbrook Motel was great, 50 metres from the pub, where I sampled the best "Surf and Turf" I had ever eaten...Now if my missus could cook a steak like that I would marry her again, it was that good.

 

[Cejay]

Returning from the Pub I decided to try out the free wireless internet access, had my laptop with me, but the signal strength was too low to be useful in the room. My room was in the corner and about 50 mtrs from the access point, so I picked up the table and chair and set my self up outside the unit. This worked great and I was able to surf well into the night whilst supping many cans of JD and Cola and watching the sky change from blue to grey.

Good job I put the cover on the bike, as during the night it did rain and although I had cleaned the FJR the night before, a quick chamois over the cover and all was clean. The previous night I had spent a lot of time cleaning of the dust from my dirt track excursion and had I left it would now be faced with the prospect of washing off mud.

Leaving the Motel at about 07:00 the sky above was clear, but to the left and right, heavy rain clouds were unleashing there loads upon the unsuspecting early risers. It was as if I had a channel of clear sky to ride through, unfortunately this was to change as I crossed the ranges before turning to the west and picking up the blue skies again. Although I did not receive any rain the road ahead of me had done and as a consequence the bike ended up filthy once again.

The plan had been to cut across to Coonabarabran just north of Quirindi but I was so obsessed with out running the fast approaching storm clouds that I missed my turn and had an extra 80 klms detour. No matter it was only going to be a 365 klm trip to Coonamble so the extra few klms just made it more interesting and I should still get there for lunch time. The run west to Coonabarabran was quite boring until the last 40 klms where the 160 kph sweepers added some interest, unfortunately the fuel gauge was once again flashing at me, hadn't taken into account my extra k's.

After fueling up at Coonabarabran I checked my GPS for directions, I did not have a paper map and was working out my directions from a photo I had taken of my laptop screen the day before. According to the GPS I should be travelling WNW but the road I was on to Gilgandra was SW, I did a U-Turn and headed back into town finding a left turn that indicated Coonamble 106 klms. This road wandered through the Warumbungle national park and quikly dissintegrated into a single lane strip of bitumen with a faded white line down the centre. The road was tight and twisty but with no advisory speed limits on any of the bends leading to some very interesting cornering tactics, especially when confronted by fallen trees and or gravel mid corner. Despite this it was a very scenic run and I was having a bit of fun swinging the Yam through the sweepers where the exits were visible.

All too soon I was out of the park and back on to the straight and boring...that is until I hit the cross roads, here the road to Coonamble withered away to dirt road with the sign indicating 65 klms to go. Not wanting nor knowing if the dirt was going to carry on for the next 60 plus klms I opted to turn south west towards the Gilgandra road. Knowing that I was now about to add another 90 klms to my trip it was time to pull my finger out and give it some curry. Scooting along at 180 I soon found myself back on the main drag to Gilgandra...about 15 klms out of Coonabarabran, so much for the short cut, at least I had plenty of fuel.

The run to Gilgandra was taken a bit more sedately, searching the horizon for the ominous site of the government tax collectors, good job too as I passed a couple of them coming my way with roof mounted Richness detecters. Fortunately the road north from Gilgandra to Coonamble was much less travelled and the opportunity to make up for lost time was not to be missed, even made some of the kinks in the road feel like bends.

I arrived at the Motel ahead of anybody else and had time to clean up the bike and myself, then nip to the local for a few coldies before the rest of the guys started to wander in.

 

[Lake Powell]

What a great ride report!

My FJR is sitting in the garage without any front forks (at GP for a rebuild),outside is 6" of snow on the driveway.

Those scenic shots are killing me.

I'm sooooo jealous........

 

[Cejay]

As the rest of the guys started to trickle in slabs were bought from the local and we began the process of putting faces to names, checking out the various farkles and fibbing about our exploits. It wasn't long before one of the riders reported that it was happy hour at the pub so we descended en-masse for pre dinner drinks and more lies. Dinner was at the Local Chinese restaurant with more drinks and a presentation of awards by Tryg...our fearless bleeder. I received the award for Longest Distance, Thommo for best farkle and Lassie for the best FJR.

After dinner it was back to the pub for more drinks, better fibs and a chance to get to know each other perhaps too well. I apologise now for those that I forgot to insult, I was not being kind, just got too pissed. I think the die hards including myself where pushed out of the pub at closing, whereupon we went straight back to the motel for more drinks, as if we needed them. Thommo was still going and he had left QLD at 03:00am the previous morning, top effort mate.

Then next morning I awoke to a hammering in my head, that is until I realised it was Tryg trying to knock the door down..."Come On Cejay we need your bike for the photo shoot!"

Dragging myself of the bed I peered outside to find all of the FJRs lined up and their respective riders milling around, some looking almost as bad as myself, this give me heart and strength to get half dressed and line up the bike for the pics.

Breakfast of Bacon, Egg, Tomato and Toast was laid on for $10:00 and I wasted no time hoeing into mine, I then wandered around under very dark skies as the other riders started to load up their bikes. Not being in any particular hurry I walked over to the reception and booked another night, a chance to rest up properly and maybe allow the coming rains to pass.

After the last of the lads had left I sat down and had a Coffee with the motel owners, it turns out they where from South of Adelaide in SA, not far from my own location. They had both worked in the vehicle industry for the previous 25 years and had decided on a lifestyle change with a slower pace. After 12:00 I went back to the room, showered and collapsed in front of the square sleeping pill for the rest of the day.

 

[Cejay]

Sunday morning I awoke early paid my bill and was on my way by 07:00am. The plan was to make it back home before dark, this was going to be a challenge and the only way to achieve it would mean stopping only for fuel and a quick bite when needed.

20 klms down the road I turn left to head south west for Warren, not far down the road I am greeted by a road closed sign. I figured the rains of the previous day and night had cut the road again. Apparently Christmas had found Coonamble turned into an Island with no way in or out for a couple of days and as it is on a flood plain the roads in the area flood with only moderate rain.

This meant heading back to the Gilgandra road and looping back adding an extra 90 klms to my return trip. Oh well no sense wingeing just get on with it, I pulled in to Gilgandra to top up with fuel and grab a cold drink and a hot pie. When I had left it was a cool 23 with a hint of rain still threatening, leaving Gilgandra it started to sprinkle but heading west I soon rode away and into clear skies.

The further west I travelled the hotter it got, before long the temp was over 30 and by the time I pulled up for my next fuel stop some 300klms down the highway it was up to 35 with a strong cross wind.

I was managing about 300 klms in the saddle at a time but found myself moving around the seat and even using the passenger seat for short stretches. With the cruise control locked in at 120 kph, I was able to swing out my right hand ram mount and steer with the one hand...a bit like using a tiller on a boat. This allowed me to lay back in the seat and get a different part of my arse on the pressure points of the seat.

I had not wanted to stop at Wilcannia...Oz readers will understand the reasoning behind this, but due to the distances between fuel stops I had no choice. As I pulled in there was a couple of aboriginals parked directly between the two sets of bowsers, if I had a car I would not have gained access to the pumps. Whilst fueling up with the aforementioned idiots just metres away I was horrified to note that the driver was smoking with his smoke hanging from his hand outside the window. I finished fueling as quickly as possible and moved the FJR to a safer location, by the time I had paid for the fuel the clowns had taken off and the owner of the attached food shop had come out for a chat, suggesting that I deserved a medal for riding in the heat. The temp had now hit 43 and sweat was just rolling off my body.

As I left Wilcannia I began to do the sums and realised that to get home before dark I would need to up the pace. Before long I was cruising at close to 160 and rolled into Broken Hill at 16:00 for my last fuel stop in NSW I now had about 510 klms to go. The temp had dropped to a more comfy 33 by now and the road had changed from boring straights to fast flowing sweepers. 40 klms further on and I was back on South Oz soil, rolling along at 160 kph I began to realise that if I stopped only one more time at Yunta for fuel, then I had a good chance of making it home before sundown.

Unfortunately I was heading west into the setting sun but the roads were fairly clear and the scrub was low allowing good visibility to the sides...did not want to hit a roo at the speed I was travelling. At Yunta I rung Jacqui to inform her that I would be home for about 20:30 and with the temp dropping down to less than 30 I had gotten my second wind.

The rest of the trip was fun with plenty of kinks to swing through especially at my elevated cruising pace. I pulled into my driveway at 19:45 less than 13 hours after leaving Coonamble.

1356 klms this day and a total for the trip of over 4,500 klms, I would be happy to stay out of the saddle for a day or two.

Cejay

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Fun read, thanks!

 

[LAroo]

Great ride report Cejay. Makes me home sick for Oz.

Best LAroo

 

[jesse]

I don't know what it is exactly, but I think the FJR is the best looking bike out there. Just great lines, loads of personality and shear beauty.

 

[dcarver]

I want to ride with Cejay in Australia.

Riding, drinking, talking; not talking, riding, drinking.

I think this would be great phooking fun.

Hey Cejay, open invite to central California coast lands; a good time guaranteed.

 

[Cejay]

I want to ride with Cejay in Australia.
Riding, drinking, talking; not talking, riding, drinking.

I think this would be great phooking fun.

Hey Cejay, open invite to central California coast lands; a good time guaranteed.

Cheers mate, will hold you to that one day. Have a dream to ride across the states.

Cejay

 

[Cejay]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, I enjoy writing about the rides almost as much as the ride.

 

[madmike2]

What a fun report to digest. 85 mph sweepers to 10 mph twisty roads.....and dirt! The riders from the "Down Under" are a rugged crew!

And you didn't take a map, but trusted the GPS. We have the same problems over here, roads that look good on the GPS turn out to be (to use your term) "interesting".

What a great adventure....

 

[Cejay]

Thanks mike, have some vid from the dirt run and will post as soon as I reduce the file size.

As far as dirt is concerned, it is all in a days work for us down unda...

Glad you enjoyed the yarn..

Cejay

 

[thommo]

Good read mate, good read. Twas good catching up with you and having a few drinks.

My trip started on the Thursday, loaded the bike up and made sure the house was tidy for a few days. At around 10pm i got some Z's and was then up at 2 am, making sure the tucker for the dog was where it needed to be and that everything else that the pooch would need for the next few days at my sister's was easily found and at 3am QLD time i hit the road. had a good easy 450 oddkm run to the first fuel stop and since i wasn't in a hurry, breakfast was the order of the day. After Breaky, i kept on trundling down the road and the next fuel stop at just under 500km where i met up with another fella who was heading to the same place as i was but via another road, and after a yack, twas back on the road for the last leg to Coonamble, arriving at 3:30pm local time (2:30QLD time).

The afternoon and evening was a blast, and after they kicked us out, we went back to the motel to see who we could drag out of bed, not many takers the pikers. Sometime around the 2am qld time mark i hit the sack for some shuteye and got back up again at 6 30am qld time for some breaky and the photoshoot.

After the photos were taken and most of the others had left JJ (on a 1200bandit) and I headed off for a short 350km run across to a mates place, and for that entire 350km we rode like dyslexic molls. JJ was muttering somthing about a headache, but i couldnt hear him clearly cos some ******* was hitting my head with a hammer, if only i coulda caught that sadistic *******!!!. After arriving at Quolly's, we went out some back roads to a nice little pub for lunch and another beer. Not long after JJ headed off north, his oldies were only a few hrs up the road and he reckoned it was long overdue to drop in on them. At this stage all i wanted to do was have a camp, but Quolly had other ideas, more back roads with some nice 75k/hr sweepers that just kept going round and some even nicer 35k/hr stuff before arrving back at his place for a shower and yack. Just on sundown it was up to the bowls club for dinner and then onto the first pub for a few quiet drinks, closing time and 3 pubs later... it was around 2 am again before hitting the sack.

Up at 6am for a short 130km run up the road for a prearrange meeting with another mate who was passing thru that morning heading to Sydney. It looked like been a long wet day so i prepared accordingly:

Left Quolly's at 6:30 am.

After arriving in Tamworth ( famous country music town) and meeting up with Russ, the wet weather was all to the south, so it was off with the wets. Had a coffee and donut whislt touring thru the powerhouse motorcycle museum yacking about bikes with Russ. An hour later, Russ had to get moving to make where he had to go on time, he was riding a trumpy tiger 955, it was also time for me to move on also, by the time i fueled up and got out of Tamworth, i had been stopped for over 1 1/2hrs. After Tamworth, small towns just flashed on by as the km's clicked over until my next fuel stop at 585km. This stop was just a splash and dash, for the final leg back to home, walking thru the front door at 6:20pm after some 1200km for the day. I left home with a near new Dunlop d205 rear tire and it was pretty much well shagged after this trip. PR2's i think i'll try next.

Overall another loverly trip with a few more good trips happening this year.

Superbikes at phillip island end of Feb. beginnning of March, roughly around 8000km trip, Bathurst pillgrimmage in april, about 4000km in less than as many days, Western Australia in october, thinking of turning that into a round oz trip, so around 16,000km in as many days, Tasmainia in march 2009, around 10,000km in a leiasurely 2 wks plus whatever i get upto inbetween. The fjr is a lovely bike for touring.

Cheers

Thommo

 

[FJR Steve]

Nice write up thommo.

Mate...I've lost your mobile number in the Great Web Site Crash.....can you PM me?

 

[crank_bear]

Mate -

Nice write-up and great pics. You've gone through some of my favourite country. I rode from Corryong back to Melbourne this afternoon and I'm knocking back a bottle of red enjoying your trip

Good stuff. Planning a few days on the Fleurieau in a month or so. Love the McLarenvale reds. Just love em.