Circumnavigation of Oz

martymoose said:
maybe heading further north are better roads.  Not sure about the gulf country, more research.
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Marty, if ya got knobbies on the SF road surfaces won?t matter.

Tip: When we did Cape York we rode 3 abreast on the dirt highway sections, where possible, to keep out of the dust trail.
 
Did several thousand ks with Trials Universals on the SF ... planned trip on the Oodnadatta Track didn't eventuate so most of the km were done on bitumen. Was a tad weavy in fast bends, but generally OK - very forgiving handling on SFs!
 
martymoose said:
, but maybe heading further north are better roads.  Not sure about the gulf country, more research. ...
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Ya gotta luv da cane fields.
My country. Plague proportions of cane toads and mosquitoes. And the beer is cold.
MountainViewHotel.jpg

Mountain View Hotel
Have a coldie out under the mango tree and consider if you're good for another fang up the Gillies,
and ask yourself, 'am I feeling lucky?'  8)
 
750 Enduro currently under construction. Bar risers and barkbusters going together today. Also rack cutting and shutting. Chris is kindly setting up my rims for tubeless, motor almost finished. Rocking gear lever needs building.
 

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Got new fork tubes to rebuild the old 3c forks, and Koni triple rear shocks should give good ground clearance. Looking at a Pirelli scorpion trail 2 100/90-18 front and Michelin sirac 4.10 - 18 rear.
 
Gillies highway, runs from Gordonvale to atherton, if your up that far you got the road to port Douglas, some say better than the great ocean road, then from there you have the Mosman mt Molloy road, then you may as well keep going to Cooktown, I believe it?s all sealed, crop at the mt carbine pub, coldest beer in the world
 
Nice handlebars.

I hope you've got a good comfy seat. You're going to be sitting on it for many hours at a time. I found an Airhawk inflatable cushion was some protection against bum soreness on my Jota, but the bike is still a pain in the arse (literally) on long trips.
 
Be careful after leaving Port Augusta heading towards Broken Hill, you'll go through the Horrocks Pass, first 35km corner after 2000 kays of straight road from WA. That first corner has caught quite a few out.
 
Legs said:
Be careful after leaving Port Augusta heading towards Broken Hill, you'll go through the Horrocks Pass, first 35km corner after 2000 kays of straight road from WA. That first corner has caught quite a few out.
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And your tyres will be square after 2000km of straight road.
 
Obviously a question of time. As Bevelman said, most on a time limit will hang a left at Townsville straight to Mt Isa.
If you can fit it in, the trip further North has much to recommend it. Certainly some better roads around the Atherton Tablelands and many interesting spots.
Winter good time to be up North, but note - the Tablelands will be cold!! (possibly also misty but if clear absolutely spectacular)
I have marked the roads mentioned on attached map (hopefully)
Quicker trip is take the Palmerston Highway at Innisfail to Millaa Millaa while the famous windy Gillies is accessed by going a bit further north to Gordonvale and turn left to Yungaburra.
I love this whole area but I am no fan of Cairns itself, best avoided in my opinion (I did live there for a while). However there is also a rather lovely coastal road (best done early morning) which runs North from Cairns to Mossman. (Again avoid overhyped tourist areas like Port Douglas ;))
If you took a trip up there you could come back to the Tablelands inland via Mt Molloy and Mareeba.
Obviously we an keep making suggestions (and I'm only talking about a small area of Qld) but end of the day impossible to cover everything in the timeframe, so your work is cut out chopping out the bits you can't cover :D

 

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What luggage are you going to use, any camping planned. Carrying water, fuel. BTW after my comment about there being the need for extra fuel in one section in the Noth West of WA on last Sunday's ride, I remember that was in the days of those around Oz record runs. 8x 22hour days of constant riding till you start hallucinating then 2 hours of sleep and repeat. How nobody died doing it was amazing. At that time it all wasn't bitumen and that was when there was a gap of approx 350 to 400ks between fuel stops somewhere in northern WA. Sometime in the late 70s early 80s, this was happening. Think about some Hwy pegs, which may be mounted on crash bars. Help those long legs of yours. Get some Plastic shields for the bark busters keep the rain and cold off. Mount them so you don't brake levers or purchase in whoopsy. Split purchases are much easier to replace if broken. Isn't winter the wet season up north? What was that gadget Brian W uses so his family can stay in touch on big rides, forget its name? It has a 2-way satlight text facility and epirb as well. Mini something it's called, just remembered.
You keep it in your jacket chest pocket so reachable in all situations.
https://hikingguy.com/hiking-gear/in-depth-garmin-inreach-mini-review/





 
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