Brass Monkey 2010 by gravel

[Transalper]

Excellent report XF650. I was almost riding with Paul and Jules but had to work a bit longer than planned and find myself getting a bit soft where sleeping in the the cold is concerned now days (done the BM about 13 timesalready).
Glad to note you guys were not the ones needing rescue.
The pass must have got a lot more snow after you got through to be shoulder deep in places if the Stuff.co.nz article is anywhere near accurate.

[XF650]

Struan you will get no flaming from any of us that have ridden with you!

Know what a prepared,awesome riding mate you are
You guys had made contact with locals along the way & checked ahead...and like you say,you made it & didnt have to be rescued

That was a day to remember tho!

Thanks Helen but I have to admit to being a bit cocky that day. I drive Danseys many times per year with work plus have ridden it heaps on bikes, so knew our best option was to push on down to the Pub. With Craig & Ian in front of us, following their lead / safety in numbers etc seemed the best option.

[XF650]

Excellent report XF650. I was almost riding with Paul and Jules but had to work a bit longer than planned and find myself getting a bit soft where sleeping in the the cold is concerned now days (done the BM about 13 timesalready).
Glad to note you guys were not the ones needing rescue.
The pass must have got a lot more snow after you got through to be shoulder deep in places if the Stuff.co.nz article is anywhere near accurate.

Yeah, Jules and Paul are good buggers alright. We knew each other very well by the time we got out......

[FJRider]

I was encouraged by the culvert repairs on the Duntroon side of the Pass, so thought the story might be true. Pic is looking down from the summit, no worse than the Haka, this is a piece of cake.....

The Duntroon side of the pass is maintained by the Waitaki District Council. Nasby side is maintained (?????) by the Central Otago District Council I believe ... hence the repairs seen done on the road.

[XF650]

As always, the Brass Monkey was a great night. The tracks iced up quite bad and I heard a couple of roadies got hurt just riding into the site. Plenty of pics over in the Meetings & Events thread. Also great to catch up other adv riders & KiwiBikers again. Even caught up with Mr & Mrs "snodpete" from Westport (red VStrom pic), who rode back to Timaru that night.
Pitching the tent on snow was no big deal and double sleeping bags kept me warm. Took other pic of burnt bike as a reminder of that being one of our options the previous night...

[XF650]

Next morning Craig, Paul, Jules & I arranged to ride the Thompsons Gorge Track. While waiting for them at the Rally gate I took these pics:
1) Brendon Price, owner of Honda Country with a show room full of bikes, yet rides a 50cc at the Brass & having a ball.
2) A bunch of roadies taking it real easy - that track was fozen solid & difficult enough to walk on.
3) For Jatz - this guy owns two 750 Big's.

[timg]

Great post mate. Glad I was working Friday the red whale would have been blardy hard work/impossible thru there

[XF650]

We stopped at Omakau to fuel up bikes & riders. It was pissing down and the tops were clagged in, so before attempting Thompson's I checked with farmer at other end to confirm it was open. Craig also checked with local at Omakau end. All this on top of the fact I had checked with Police it was open, back at the Rally. However we soon discovered why it's really only a dry weather track and anything with road biased tyres would have struggled. It was so different than the Dusty Butt ride - miles of slippery mud, ruts and then snow on the top. Still good fun though and at one point we were above the clouds, but too wet to get the camera out.

At Tarras I showed the guys a short gravel diversion then back on the seal. It was snowing & bitterly cold in the Lindis Pass so hot drinks & glove drying at Omarama gave us time to consider if we should really attempt BlackForest in such shitty weather and so late in the day. With memories still fresh of Dansey's, it didn't take long to talk ouselves out of it, so headed for home.

Today I'v had calls from people wondering if I was one of the ones who got rescued from Dansey's. While I can say that no, it wasn't me, I can still see how our wheel marks could have led others in, just like we were following Graig & Ian's wheel marks. Can't believe they would attempt it on road bikes though.
Some valuable lessons were learnt, thats for sure.

[XF650]

Great post mate. Glad I was working Friday the red whale would have been blardy hard work/impossible thru there

Hey Tim - if I was on the Freewind it would still be sitting in a snow drift!!
Real sorry to hear how your Tranny was pooly serviced and that you had to turn back at Kurow. As always, you would have really enjoyed the Rally.

[Aslan]

Great report Struan - glad you and your pals made it OK - as Tim has posted he was glad he wasn't along with you aboard his T/A - my sentiment exactly about my 'leven fiddy - cheers S

[oldrider]

No John, wasn't us - low cloud, rain & snow forcasted to low levels. I think we had pushed our luck enough this weekend...

Well Struan you wouldn't want to be going over there today, the low cloud has just cleared enough for the moment and the snow gods have been having a picnic over there this morning!

I hope no one has decided to return home that way today, it could take them some time but you know all about that now, don't you!

[XF650]

Woohoo - what a ride

How did the bike go on the ride home - did the water use continue?

Didn't use any more coolant so fingers crossed, the motor is OK.
Advice is to fit a little fan from a computor. So is there anyone on KB who knows anything about PC's ??

[That looks like fun]

When came the days end and the children gathered around the tribal fires to hear the story's of the Ancestors, the Legends told of a man (perhaps more than a man ) named Straun who on his steed of steel defied the odds and beat the mighty Dansy's to humble submission
And they sang his name to the stars such was his feat.
Well done that man,
But dont know if I am going for a ride with you again ya madman

[Phreaky Phil]

Hell of an adventure.!! I almost feel ashamed that were going down in the car next week. ! Call me a wuss, but ice scares the out of me

[chasio]

Didn't use any more coolant so fingers crossed, the motor is OK.
Advice is to fit a little fan from a computor. So is there anyone on KB who knows anything about PC's ??

Struan, I've got a collection of old PC's with fans of various sizes that I'd be happy to rip out and send you... but I'm pretty sure they all run 5v and would last about a quarter of a second in heavy rain, let alone a river crossing... where the heck would you fit one where it wouldn't be vulnerable?

Edit: Actually I just remembered that some of the larger case fans run 12v, but not sure if I have any knocking about. Let me know what size you'd need and I can have a look.