today's ride

No-one much seems to bother with these little ride reports but I shall continue in the hope that someone is enjoying them despite the fact they aren't epic trips in a foreign-speaking land and don't get many comments! I am very fortunate that I have many miles of bush tracks all around me and whenever my health permits, I throw the creaking old bones into the saddle and head off. Today was after a week with six inches of rain, I was interested to see what the bush looks like after that, it has been drought stricken for 14 years.

These tracks get maybe two or three walkers or horse riders a month, mainly locals of course and the occasional motorbike when some of the youngsters get permission to hoon off for an hour or two. And me!

Bit wetter than usual ... Attachment 2610

I had no idea how to ride this stuff, I thought it would be easy as I knew it was just 150mmm deep - let's just say it took me twenty minutes of wheel spinning, bogging and cursing to get across a kilometer and i found every dip and rut and sunken rock on the way.

Well this is the first of half a dozen crossings I had to make ...
Attachment 2611
Quite deep in the middle, about 600 to 800mm, thats 2 foot plus. Over my boot tops and the engine anyway! I just went for it, couldn't do much else. Engines smell quite nice when they steam dry afterwards, I decided.

I guessed from the lay off the land which I know, that there would be a few more creeks ahead of me and sort of felt a bit cowardly, exhausted after just two kilometers! Then I looked back ...

Attachment 2612

- and that streaming clay and rock stream was the least steep bit of the slope. I decided to press onwards instead. Two fallen trees to get around (they are shallow rooted and fall easily after flood and storm), some long lengths of very slippery track under shallow water, a couple more creeks and well that was just 10 km believe it or not but quite enough for me. Home, dry feet and a cuppa.

i might try and get some of the more local members to join me on a run or two, it is selfish of me to keep this all to myself!!!!:riding:
I should add that so far the Kinlon is very good, puts up with all my mistakes and over-revving and wrong gear choices. Slides all over the place wet or dry but hey, it is fun, if a bit scary, ripping from one out of control front wheel skid skid into another in the opposite direction, narrowly missing trees - somehow keeping its balance -

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/at...1&d=1290907248
Mount a camera on your helmet and crash .. That's something too selfish not to share.
Any problems with rust so far?

Well I promise if I crash to get it in full technicolour - hopefully that is something I will never have to share! If the camera had been a movie camera not just a cheap stills one, well anyone watching it would have got seasick with all the sliding and wobbling and bumping. I am aching all over from that short ride. Same again soon in a different direction. the Police closed some roads because of flash flooding, I might go and explore them. This is gold fields area, I am hoping to trip over a newly exposed nugget.

http://www.nuggethunting.com/40ouncer.jpg

Lots of rust, from brake discs to pitted 'chrome' and especially the exhaust which looks like a piece of slag. And one plastic panel which disintegrated into a few bits overnight all on its own. But nothing critical, just looks. Being a bit beaten up and wrinkled myself I don't mind too much.

Nice to see you getting tons of rain, and hope it sustains for a few years.

I enjoy these little ride reports plenty, and hope some day to slog through those parts with you. What sort of tires are you running? Big knobs?

cheers

I didn't know knobs came in different sizes ... I'm sure mine must be big knobs, just a bit worn down perhaps. Could explain why I slide around so much, but then again I should probably go faster for grip, but the ex always said I was too fast so I am confused. You'd be very welcome Jeff, I shall sling another hammock under the verandah or sweep (shovel) a corner of the shack clear if you ever come over this way.

Having never had anything but road tires in my limited motorcycling history, I can only imagine how much better the traction would be with knobs.

Get your butt up here to China, and we can start talking about the reciprocal journey. I've long had a mind to ride to Australia, catching ferries for the various many wet bits -- including that last big one from somewhere in Indonesia or PNG to Darwin or Cairns. But that would be an adventure of many many months. Hey, why not?

cheers

Yup, the China trip is still foremost in my plans, just got to sort out some health issues and personal stuff. Shouldn't be riding at present but the thing about a bike on these tracks is you are to a great extent only risking yourself. Your idea of Indonesia down to Aus. is great, I must have a look at the routes possible. The good thing about Oz is that you can go tarmac in most directions on bad days, or shadow the run off-road or on the old droving and logging routes. Probably best to run the State to State bits (adds up to thousands of kms) on the tarmac with a few days to explore around each climate zone and bush conditions on dirt. Damn, I wish I was twenty years younger!

I did all my dirt riding as a youngster mainly on road tyres! This bike with knobbies is still a learning curve to me and I always get the feeling that gunning it a bit would improve the grip in bad conditions, just too wary of my old bones and inherent stupidity to let it rip. When I read the magazines, the smallest changes in type of tyre and suspension makes a lot of difference to the professionals. Would welcome comments about this tyre thing from experienced dirt riders. Of course knobbies are better than road tyres for many reasons, sidewall strength as well as grip but do they work best when cutting hard into a surface? ie, on slippy clay under water, do you go for it or pick your way slowly? I found that picking careful routes had me only just keeping upright, whereas gunning it got me through with the risk that the results of the odd skid were magnified, with less control and more narrow escapes.

Heck, that is probably the whole off-road riding thing in a nutshell, knowing the time for which/when!

For my two valued readers:
Most trees here have very shallow roots, they can stand for two hundred years or more somehow, then fall with just a puff of wind. This one is day before yesterday on the track I was riding on, one meter diameter, a couple of hundred years old. the other is near my house, (I would say also 900mmm plus diameter using road sign as reference) and I would say this one split from inner rot from termites (white ants) in our last storm a few weeks back.

Attachment 2624 Attachment 2625


These are the knobbies Jeff, I assume they are normal?


Attachment 2626


And this is the rust Slabo!


Attachment 2627

Cheers for the reports Jape, always a pleasure! Looks like a lot of fun!

Your knobbies look ok for riding in dry dirt, but for those conditions i think you could go a lot knobbier. Nice pipe by the way!

Lol, not exactly a pretty blued chrome pipe is it? I will wait until it rusts right through before I replace it. This bike is so damn slow it is unrealistic on free-ways so is going to be kept as a bush basher and emergency transport bike, I see no need to bling it up now and Kinlon obviously saw no need in the first place! Thanx for the tyre hint, most of the time it is dry here, or else I go on gravel and tarmac to the shops so i shall stick to these as they are until worn right out. It was fun in the wet while it lasted though!

Great little road report with some really good pics. Great to see an Aussie out there doing some real world testing of the old Kinlon.

Maybe in the New Year a bit of a meet should be organised?????

Yup, sounds good, just PM me closer to the time and I will give you my phone and address

Wow! Australia seems to be the place to ride real dirt. Cheers mate.