FUSA 2014 - Flinders Ranges SA Adventure Ride.

The weather was perfect as we arrived in Hawker Sunday for morning tea.

Heading into the Flinders proper, our first dirt road was short detour
into the Sacred Canyon. The smooth, sandy surface is unusual in the
Flinders, but lots of fun. The canyon is home to a number of Aboriginal
rock carvings and we enjoyed the short walk from the bikes.

We visited Stokes Lookout and arrived in Blinman around 3:30; not a good
time to arrive on a Sunday as the few available food outlets were trying
to close. We rode 14km west of Blinman to Angorichina Village which
became our base for four nights. Chris D (Ipswich) Lee & Heather (Mt
Eliza via Broome) and Pete & Anna (Melbourne) were already in residence
and waiting.

The next two days of perfect weather the group of 11 bikes rode through
the popular Flinders locations. Parachilna, Brachina and Bunyeroo
Gorges; razorback Lookout; Willpena Pound; Glass Gorge; Wirrealpa;
Wilkawillina Gorge; The Great Walls of China. The Flinders is unique,
the country wonderful to see and experience and the ride is terrific.
Angorichin'a owner Dave took most of us (20) to the Blinman Pub in his
bus.

Tone (Melbourne) made a cameo appearance Monday night. Tone was
travelling with a couple of guys on BMW outfits who with Lee had
attended the OCR Rally Drysdale Station at the top of WA. His bike ran
without issue, and was now only 1,000km from home.

Wednesday was scheduled to allow riders do their own thing. Lou ran a
riders "kindergarten" to let some of the inexperienced riders improve
skills and confidence. Those who "passed" then rode PAR 3 to the
Nuccaleena Mine Ruin. Others did short photographic runs, lunched at the
Parachilna Pub (Goat burgers were popular), explored walking tracks
around Angorichina and generally relaxed.

Thursday was another perfect day and we left Angorichina for Arkaroola.
First stop was Chambers Gorge Gorge and Mt Chambers, an ideal location
to camp for a few days, but for us it was lunch and more pics.

We arrived at Arkaroola mid afternoon, and most of us explored the
village by foot. The bar and the communal lounge were quite popular once
I found the Pajero and some of my wine.

The following day we individually explored the area. Arkaroola has a
number of 2 and 4 wheel drive tracks and walking tracks, and all offer
wonderful sights. We found the 2 wheel drive tracks quite challenging;
the Pajero needing low ratio to negotiate some of the "earlier" 2wd runs!

We left Arkaroola Saturday intending to morning tea in Copley, lunch in
Lyndhurst, visit Talc Alf and the Leigh Creek coal mine and overnight at
Parachhilna. Unfortunately Charlie's bike shattered a valve spring 27
kms from Copley. Under tow and 5 kms down the road the final drive
locked causing further dramas. Fortunately Pete had his van and trailer 100km away at Angorichina. We waited in Copley while the trailer was fetched,
loaded Charlie's bike and headed direct to Parachilna.

We spent eight nights together and excluding travel to and from the
Flinders rode about 1,000km of which 500km was on gravel roads and
tracks.

September is the ideal time to visit the Flinders and this year the
vegetation was its best for 20 years.

The area is easy to get to, is definitely "outback" and the country is
stunning. Well worth a visit, especially inviting for those of us able
to explore the area by Ural.

Dog Photo Competition

Here are the entries for the 2014 Dog and Ural Photo Competition:

Charlie

Chico

Coco

Coco

Cooper

Cutty

Lucky

Lucy

Max

Max

Max

Milly

Missie

Missie

Molly

Molly

Biggles

Cash

Tully, Kelsey and Zeffu

Tully - winner!!!

Cooper

More about our 2014 model with EFI and disc brakes all round.

We have been thinking about how to quantify the power delivery of the 2014 models. We have a new camshaft that is lumpier and an EFI system which is delivering fuel economy and more torque. We all want to understand what this feels like in performance out there on the road.

We decided to take our demo Gobi Ranger model from 2013 with 1100km up and run the pre-production 2014 Tourist against it. Because it was mid range torque that we wanted to illustrate, we figured a 3rd gear acceleration up a grade was likely to best illustrate the difference.

The two models at 40kph approaching the start point at the foot of the hill.

200 metres up the slope the yellow 2014 bike accelerating ahead

On a quiet section of country road near Kentucky we chose a smooth gradient of around 1 in 8 that was some 300 metres long. We approached the base of the hill with the bikes in 3rd gear at a steady 40kmh and side by side. At a chosen set of guideposts we rolled the throttles full on and accelerated up the hill. 250 metres later we had our camera man waiting to record the situation.

At the 250m mark the 2014 bike is travelling at over 90kph and accelerating fast

The results were rather astounding and the camera man had to move away from the road to get both bikes in. We swapped riders and results were the same.

The comparison was repeated at 50kph start speed with similar results.

Repeating the exercise with a start speed at 50kph in third closed the gap a little as the 2014 bike had a distinct advantage in being able to accelerate quicker from a lower speed. At 50 kph the 2013 bike was accelerating better on the gradient and so did not get left so far behind after 250 metres.

Eine Story: Boatpeople

Boatpeople

A Dream, two Germans, a Russian Sidecar and… a Paddle.  

                                        

Text and Pictures:      Stephan Schwäble

Born during one of these long, dark, cold and icy evenings within the everlasting winters in the Northern hemisphere, we decided to escape on the search for the adventure on long windy roads through a wide and unlimited landscape in a beautiful warm and sunny climate under clear blue skies, green rainforests and never ending beaches.

We only had our dream, all our courage, the most necessary equipment and a paddle. We went out into an unknown adventure and… landed in AUSTRALIA.

I

n the middle of December 2013 we stepped into our Big Aussie Adventure and started along breathtaking and scenic landscapes throughout the South Eastern part of Australia.

We were very happy to be here.

                                                                                                               

We came upon samples of the well-known Aussie humour during Christmas time.

We met locals and other funny and very friendly “paddlers”.

We saw bright and colourful flowers.  

We came to witness impressive examples of the country’s history,

   We passed small towns and big cities.

And at last we found for what we were looking for in our dreams!

Long and windy roads throughout a wide and breathtaking landscape in a beautiful warm and sunny climate.

We experienced The Grampians,

and visited the Murray River Lands while passing the river at Murray Bridge.

After that we were riding the Barossa Valley,

before finding the clear blue skies, as we had in the Snowy Mountains.

              

We drifted along the Great Ocean Road.

And also visited the breathtaking white and never ending beaches in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

During all that time our Ural Yamal always was a faithful and absolutly reliable companion to us. She shipped us safely along the long distances, as well on tarred as on dirt roads all through the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and back.

She accompanied us during the most extreme heatwave in many years with temperatures up to 48° Celsius without making any problem or breakdown. The paddle - at least we never had to use it!

At the end there are 10.000 km’s true adventure with unique meetings between human and nature in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. And therefore the question of a really good friend was of important value to us. “What do you like in Australia?” he asked. And we just said: “Its bloody beautiful!”

***

The adventure continues! Show us the way!