Gone, Again... ( Random Adventures in Oz )

So a few of the local lads have gotten together and put together a bit of a group ride...

i'm lucky enough to be joining them for a bit...

(after catching up for a bit of a day ride with em to make sure they were decent blokes.. )



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so the plan is we head off in about 3 weeks, heading north, not really getting more than
about 50km or so away from the SA/Vic and then SA/NSW borders untill we hit Cameron Corner..

then across to Merty Merty...

from there, they are looping back home via the Gammon and Flinders ranges..

from there, i'm heading North...

so this ride has been planned for a while... maybe 2 months or more.. so its given me plenty of time to 'sort a few things out'..

i kinda like, each time i'm about to head off, sort out the 'worst' thing from the last trip... just so
i'm always making progress in getting my kit sorted and makin each trip better/easier than the last...

after the last trip, there were also a few things that just 'had' to be done...

boots were stuffed/leaking, most of the stiching was gone..after around 60,000kms..



plus i kinda wanted something with a bit more protection...

a bit of diggin around and these arrived in the post...






my helmet was shagged also..




i'd always wanted to upgrade... 7 weeks on the bike really points out the shortfalls of the Rjays Dakar... dont get me wrong... great for the price..
and i should know.. i've been thru 2 of them...

anyway this one had seen better days, was stinkin again, lost screws from the peak, blah blah blah..

i looked at the arai and shoei... but i just couldnt justify the price...

then i stumbled upon the AGV AX-8 Evo Duel...

a trip to Adelaide and $400 bucks and i had this bad boy...




seriously... under $200 bucks more than the Dakar... and everywhere you look...its just visibly better quality... and about a tonne lighter..

so boots and helmet sorted, i'm back to square-one..


i got the 30,000km service done when i got home from the last ride, and they replaced the notched headstem bearings under warranty..

i put some new rubber on, and that highlighted rough rear wheel bearings.. back to the dealer and replaced under warranty..

chain and to a lesser extent sprockets were shagged so replaced those...

The Garmin Zumo mount had shaken apart on the last trip, the 'quick release mechanism' is somewhere out in Western Australia...
the only thing thats been holding in the GPS for the last 10,000kms has been the little security screw..




a bit of on-line digging and a new one arrived in the post...



i think i'd mentioned here that i wasnt a fan of the colour of this GS (was the only color available the year i got it )

given she was now a bit scratched up, it was time to get a bit personal...

off came all the plastics...



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sanded and patched...





also got a few things sent out from Humvee Graphics in the UK.. an ADV sticker and some new badges..






gave the frame a bit of a touch up while i was at it..




the foot on the sidestand has always been a bit small for parking in the sort stuff...






off she came..





not massive but should go better..





a few corroded nuts n bolts replaced..




and the base of the tent given a good spray of waterproofer..




the slime compressor i been carrying around has always been a bit overweight...



it went on a diet too..



now i'm currently waiting on some new fork springs...

the sleeping bag has gone back to One Planet for a propper wash and down top-up


also gotta:

- replace the screen in the Zumo (it came in the post from Hong Kong and is sitting here waiting to go in..)



- waterproof the tent fly

- weld a crack in the aluminium pannier

- spoon on some new rubber (Mitas E-09 Dakars on order)

- get me 40,000km service (oh and do about 3,000kms to get me close to that number)

- replace the scratched up lens in me goggles

- clean out the old water bladder

- clean out the camera and lens...

- wouldnt mind finding a 'small' and 'waterproof' tank bag.. really just for the camera..

- sort out a few issues with the little old Asus EEE computer so i can update on the road (rather than waiting a year when i get home... )

oh and put the bike back together

in a tad over 3 weeks... :eek1



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so its been kinda a busy week...


I'v painted the bike plastics and put em back on...

welded , repainted and put the 'bigger footed' sidestand back on..





ordered a new front tyre... importer didnt have an E-09 rear, and wouldnt have one for a couple of weeks...

a few phone calls and i found a shop with one in stock... this arrived today..



updated the firmware on the camera to solve a 'loosing photos' issue!



reloaded linux onto the littel old Asus eee pc and got its usb ports working again..


decided i could get the seized pannier/muffler mount bolt out.... and snapped it off in the subframe! :eek1





and started picking up some supplies (new Spot batteries, cooking gas, cous-cous etc...)


new springs are still in transit but should be here in the next couple of days...

gettin a tad excited...!
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That's a fair bit of work you're doing there, but a well sorted bike is truly worth it - essential in fact considering where you go!!

Love your pictures and ride reports - maybe I'll have the time and guts to go bush as well some day, I can always hope and dream.....

Stay safe and keep the reports coming!

so that snapped off muffler (and pannier) mount bolt caused a bit of grief... :eek1

drilled a hole in it and wacked in an 'ezy-out'.... nope.... :eek1





in fact i was getting worried id snap the 'easy out' in the bolt.. and that wouldnt be nice...


tried a bigger drill... and a bigger 'ezy-out'.... nope..

bigger drill..

nope..

figured a tap might help me out.... but only had imperial ones... so rode around to a mates place, and after hitting it with a 7.5mm drill bit,
got the M8 tap in there and cracked out the remaining bits of stainless steel..




and still enough meat in there to hold the new bolt nice n tight...

havent done much else...

waterproofed the tent fly..



and thats about it...


did i mention i'm really diggin the new bike color...


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An eccentric update on the trials and tribulations of cantankerous stud removals......cool thanks

You definitely have a eclectic personality type!


Did you try heat(red hot) plus candle wax to aid in the removal process - it works pretty good. Try it next time.

What a great adventure. Thank you for sharing

well i'm here for ya mate...


thought about the oxy torch... but given that that big dark thing with the arch in it, about an inch above the broken bolt (ref picture above with tap in bolt hole) is me plastic fuel tank.... i thought the better of it :eek1..

now 'that' would have made for an interesting update....!

In other news, got a call today, washed, dried and topped up (and zipper replaced) sleeping bag is in the post today..

and another call... me front tyre has arrived...

heading to the post office after i have finished undercoating this ceiling, and hopefully some springs are there.......

stay tuned!


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Did you just stick to the original paint colour? Thanks for nice ride report with cool pics

With the rain pounding down outside your waterproofing of tent seems prudent. Did you paint it yellow to blend in with the DRifters?

Sent from my MB525 using Tapatalk 2

Not the same color... And not yellow



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Did you use a paint roller and tray - ceiling white?

hey greg
had a e-07 on the rear,got 10000k+ out of it,i wouldnt run a e-09 on the front(they dont like sand)not enough grip on the side of them for my liking,have one on the dr at the moment,sand no good,i run a ac 10 (michy)on the front of the 950,only get around 6000-8000k out of it but good in sand(dot approved too) 606 is good too get around 13000k out of them ,they are a bugga when new but once "run in"they seem fine,no time off for me ,left me run to late.have fun on ya mystery tour.

nah, too many ridges and fiddly bits..... had to use a brush


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cheers Aub,

XRMan doesnt like the E-09 front on his DR either...hmmm..

times getting tight now, and i did order one, and its arrived at me tyre place so i might have to give it a go anyway

shame about ya holidays mate... oh well, guess it means more in the bank for next year


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put up a pic of the bike when finished

so while stuffing about, i noticed a couple of cracks in the chain guard... :eek1


another few phone calls.. OEM one surprisingly cheap...but none in the country...3 weeks.... dont have 3 weeks..

orderd a surprisingly cheap Aluminium one... it arrived 3 days later..


dont like the color...




thats betta!





this big box arrived too




full of blue popcorn...



and other goodness



so the forks started coming out... 6 screws holding on the front mudguard thingie.... 4 out, 2 stuck..

who's idea was stainless in alloy anyway...

buggered me torx key trying to loosen it... :eek1




freezer bags over the calipers and a big old dose of penetrating oil till tomorrow..

next day picked up some new torx keys and a few more bolts, paint etc...



had another crack at the seized screws.....snap... both of em...

oh well, the muguard was off....

forks out..

internals out (after a decent wrestle with the bottom bolt...paranoid that was gonna snap too...




anyway, new cartridges, springs and caps...








got em back in the bike but darkness beat me before getting the wheel, mudguard etc on...and i dont have power in the shed yet...


next day i wasnt all that happy with the way i bled the first fork leg... so i pulled it out and apart and had another go... thats better..

back in the bike, checked front wheel bearings... all good... wheel back on...


time to pull off the old chain guard.... bloody tight srews...

snap, yay, snap....



getting 1 out of 3 out isnt too bad.. right?

now its bucketing down so cant run the extention cord out to drill em out...

sigh..


gave me panniers a clean and light respray after getting a mate to run a bit of weld along a crack in one..

downloaded the relevant topo maps to the gps for this trip..




chucked a few new tunes on there as well...

and took the file to a cheap set of earphones so they'd fit in me little ear-holes...


next day got the drill out and drilled out the 2 snapped chain guard screws... retapped first one, all good, only one to go then its 'test ride' time...

yay..

what could go wrong now...

whoops...



hey another (and me final) box arrived to...



yay, freshly washed, dried, new zipper and down topped up...!



goodness me she's bigger than she used to be... :eek1

pulled her out and she felt so clean and fluffy that i wanted to climb right in and have a nana nap...




had to make a new 'slightly shorter' tool tune, looked like on big bangs, that was hitting the chain guard which caused it to crack,..

put new screen in the GPS..



and an ADV sticker



and that my friends... is me done... if it aint done now... it aint getting done ('cept a service and a tyre change)

shakedown time...

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good job greg
i like the camo look!!

Nice! I like olive.

How has the machines mechanical parts held up? - yes the bolts/screws are too tight, but what about the engine, valves and rear shock?