Dj & ducatijoolz head north- 2 darwin!

**ducatijim** · 16th June 2009, 17:03

Hi all, I finished up seeding over here last tuesday nite, Joolz had been 'in camp' since the sunday and taken over cooking duties from 'the german girl'( much to our enjoyment!). So it was neat to finally ride out the front gate of Ranfurly Pastoral for the last time midday sunday!
We were very lucky all our luggage packing went very well-the use of homemade/designed tank panniers allowed us to take everything plus all camping gear too and have room to spare for the groceries we will need when headed 'outback'!
Did a quick 450km trip up to Kalbarri for the nite...not so warm here now so got on the road again next morning and strove for warmer climes still further north...settled on Monkey Mia.....just had too! Nice place and warm too, only about 400km so got in with time to spare and used it well at the bar!

I must mention here that I have been fooling around with intercoms for a while now-tried some stuff from the dentist-too many wires and problems. Finally bought a Cardo Scala rider teamset while over here. Fitted it into our helmets in an hour and it is FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC! A charge last 2 weeks on standby, the wee travel mains charger tops both units up simultainously in about 3-4 hours. Voice activated so its set and forget at the begining of the ride. Can't speak too highly of it so far.

The Kt then? Well, how does 12km/litre sound? 2-up with our gear...farking terrible eh!!!! And, she is eating the rear tire too:scorp mt90, at 130kph. With that and fuel comsumption I am forced to slow down to the speed limit unfortunatly!! Anyway, 2moro we do only 200km of seal then turn right at the Wooramel r/h and do 400km of gravel out to Mt Augustus Station. Then another 600km the next day thru Tom Price out to Karajini NP.The gravel will slow me down and also reduce tyre wear I hope...its Broome before I can get a replacement now...am right now waiting for a call from bike shop up there confirming just wot they can get in( Hear that Neil....NO 18" tyres in stock either!!

)
Other than those 2 complaints, the Kt just eats up the blacktop at 130-140kph with all that stuff( I am sure Joolz has a kitchen sink in there somewhere!!)...just hope it stays that way!
I cannot post pix right now...this dickhead sent his cameras data cable home with the x/s baggage

....I have a plan 4 Bass to post a few pxt's I send if I can wrangle it!
So now I am off 4 a beer and a toastie and watch the bikini clad babes on the beach, watching me tan my love machines fuel tank....b outta touch 4 a few days while gone bush...see yas L8r!!!

**Triwi** · 16th June 2009, 17:46

DJ
Will be in Alice Springs area 19 - 30 July. What is your route and timing? Look for 990 with 2 into 1 and aux tank. Your 12kpl is scary.
Have a good trip
Triwi

**ducatijim** · 17th June 2009, 00:24

Hi Triwi, we will be home milking cows by 19-25 July!!

12km/L is truely shite eh? A piteful KTM tank won't take me far here in real adventure land at that rate!!

It is such a shame that KTM didn't make a great bike while they were at it :-(

**clint640** · 17th June 2009, 08:37

Hi Mate, good to hear you're on the road again. Have fun!

To get some pix up you could get a camera shop to dump your memory card onto a CD then upload from that.

Cheers
Clint

**ducatijim** · 19th June 2009, 00:24

Originally Posted by clint640

Hi Mate, good to hear you're on the road again. Have fun!

To get some pix up you could get a camera shop to dump your memory card onto a CD then upload from that.

Cheers
Clint

Great idea Clint, except....I have a 'netbook' not a notebook/laptop.....NO cd here m8!!

I am soooo glad I do adaptable, talk about stuff-ups-you can be sure I will not be getting a call anytime soon from Charlie, Ewan or even Gareth!
We turned onto the real stuff just north of the Wooremal R/H and 200km L8r we proudly turned up in....wait for it....Gasgoyne junction( I know...where?)
It was getting too late to go on to Mt Augustus as planned, another 350km so we bailed there in favour of a cold beer( or 3)
Now this was fortuitious.
I study maps when drinking you see( as all adv riders do,...).
I found that if we get to Mt Augustus, we will not be able to carry enough fuel from there to go either north( Tom Price) or east ( Kumarina then Newman), the only way for us would have been to backtrack to here...shit!
AND.....my rear tyre is really getting thin now!!
So, we did the only thing left and we bailed back to hiway 1 and Canarvon the next morning! After a great cafe brekkie we went round to the local Honda shop and guess wot? I got a new tyre, narrower than stock but it has tread!! Great!!!!

So, back on the road( Hiway 1) and 200km north we divert to the left and after another 250km we arrived in almost tropical Exmouth!! Cold beer. Good showers and a great meal at the pub over the road, wot more could we need( An adventure bike with a REAL fuel tank, not a Coleman fuel cell!!)

Tomorrow we will head right around the peninsular and back to Hiway 1 eventually, just crawling to the next fuel stop even with 3l in cans in our bags. If the progress is good we will try for Tom Price or Paraburdoo tomorrow nite, as a jump-off to go camping in Karajini NP the next nite.

Footnote...the cruise control I fitted is indespensable on the main roads out here; makes cruising at 125-130 an effortless affair and you can wave with the right hand....really freaks the tintops out!!
The Scala rider bluetooth intercom has been fantastic so far; a great bit of kit if you can stand hearing from your pillion!
C U all, not missing NZ at all.

**shafty** · 19th June 2009, 07:03

Minus 3 Celcuis here this mornin Matey, - ENJOY that climate!

ps Did you mean: Gascoyne junction ?

**clint640** · 19th June 2009, 09:03

Originally Posted by shafty

Minus 3 Celcuis here this mornin Matey, - ENJOY that climate!

Similar @ my place, which means it's much colder in Reporoa, & probably foggy to boot! Is the cow/poodle minder sending you weather updates so you know how lucky you are?

I spose we'll just have to wait til you get back for some pix. It was funny on our last trip down south I called into a camera shop in Wanaka & asked if they could dump my cam card onto my memory stick - they said 'no, we can only put it on a CD cos we might get a virus off your memory stick' obviously not the most computer literate people in the world despite having a shop crammed with them.

Cheers
Clint

**TLDV8** · 19th June 2009, 14:39

SD card and Memory sticks will plug straight into most Netbooks.

**Highlander** · 19th June 2009, 14:51

Cool, DJ on tour again. Well done.

**emaN** · 19th June 2009, 16:12

Enjoy!
Amusing to read the distances involved! "after 200km...then after 250km..." How quickly one forgets the joys of long distance bike travel!

Don't worry 'bout the cows either man...you're the last thing on their mind!

**Jantar** · 19th June 2009, 17:58

Keep the report coming. Great reading.

**Bass** · 20th June 2009, 09:50

Quick pic from the DJ's, taken heading in to Exmouth.
Looks like one well loaded 990. Can't quite make out the kitchen sink though.
It's a bit fuzzy cos it's a phone photo for reasons that Jamie explained above.
I had to convert it to jpeg from bitmap as well and I have no idea what that does to the resolution.

The buggers have got me "pining for the fijords" to quote Monty Python.
I still have the packing crate from the last trip and I keep looking at it and at the bike and thinking hmmmmmm...
Then I realise that I have no holidays due and no spare cash either. Ain't reality a bitch when it comes crashing in?

**NordieBoy** · 20th June 2009, 17:54

Originally Posted by Bass

The buggers have got me "pining for the fijords" to quote Monty Python.
I still have the packing crate from the last trip and I keep looking at it and at the bike and thinking hmmmmmm...
Then I realise that I have no holidays due and no spare cash either. Ain't reality a bitch when it comes crashing in?

You're dead?

Reality is overrated.
I won tomorrows cross country race last night.
Tomorrow I won't have a chance.

**Bass** · 22nd June 2009, 08:50

Another phone pic from the DJ's - campsite in Marble Bar this time.
They seem to have really enjoyed the trip up from Newman through Nullagine.
Having been through there, I have to admit that it's a truly great ride.

Seems that it's a bit warmer this time than when Jamie and I were last through there. He tells me it was 25 when this shot was taken and it was 12 when we were last there - the hottest place in Australia - well, in summer anyway.