WR250R Riding in Australia - 5 days 2000km - pics and text

Ride
report features - Adventure Moto,
WR250R, Honda 250, hamburgers, Kangaroos, great scenery and blood.

I’m an Australian expat living in Toronto, Canada having just recently returned from
five days of off road riding organized by my best buddy (“mate” in Ausenglish),
Steve Wolfman Smith of Adventure Moto Australia and a new best buddy Glenn
Maisy. Glenn is an old hand at trail riding and regaled us with stories of old
rallies and rides of yore. He has been riding for over forty-five years and
combined with Steve’s expertise, local knowledge and enthusiasm I was treated
to a huge variety of riding terrains and experiences you could only get in
Australia.


At home in Canada I ride a WR250R, a bike that I was introduced to by Steve as a
good starter bike but one I’m convinced I will be riding for a long time. Steve
has two WR250’s fitted with Safari tanks
- my only complaint about the WR is the stock tank being too small so
the Safari tank solves that problem.
Steve changed the gearing and fitted after market pipes. Glen claims the
pipes just let the wombats know your coming and don’t actually add any power.

After 5 days of hard riding on all terrains I can’t rave enough about the WR250R. It
has more than enough power and is a relatively light bike that with the right
tires can get you anywhere with power to spare a bigger bike would go, plus
they are robust and easy to pick up for lazy people like me. Adventure Moto
Australia has a range of ADV bikes including some BMW F800GS and R1200GS,
however the WR250R is the perfect weapon of choice for the novice ADV rider or
for anyone who does not want to struggle with a larger ADV bike.
Ride One
With perfect blue sky we left Steve’s workshop in the afternoon and headed down to
Wisemans Ferry and up Wheelbarrow Road to Putty Road along some well used fire
trails. In Canada, my bike has been winterized and spends three months in a
shed so it was nice to be eased into the dirt.

We hit Colo Heights road to the Mountain Lagoon fire trail to Bilpin up in the
famous Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, we re-entered the bush towards Mt
Irvine and Mt Wilson making our way Clarence via Bell on a good mixture of
trails. We rode out towards the old shale oil mines of Newnes along
Blackfellows Hand track hitting some steep and exhilarating trail in the
“Gardens of Stone National Park”. If I had known what was in front of me I
probably would have said “NO WAY… too early guys” but I blindly followed Glenn
up some rock steps, climbing a great rock track and whooping with adrenaline at
the top.

A few more great fire trails we came out at Ben Bullen and a little bit of tar to
ending up in Carpertee with fantastic views over an immense valley. We hit the small town at Carpertee late
afternoon to refuel and have dinner at the Carpertee Café, recently taken over
by a friendly English couple that had swapped small town England for small town
Australia. They had done their homework and were able to cook up an amazing
Aussie hamburger. I might rave about hamburgers but as a expat who visits every
12 to 18 months you really notice change – and the classic Aussie burger is
truly an endangered species due to a changing tastes and franchises. Some may
not notice it’s passing, done right, it truly is an underrated cuisine that is
truly unique to Australia.
A great Aussie hamburger with the works..
A real bread roll of a decent diameter slightly toasted, Butter, Real beef patty –
made by the owner containing actual beef. Beetroot (unique to Australian
burgers) Lettuce (shredded) Tomato, Fried onions, Bacon, Fried Egg (over easy), Real
cheese slice, Tomato sauce (Ketchup) to taste, Served with a side of chips (fries)
real potato hand cut. Much to the disgust of both Steve and Glen I felt the need
to top the meal off with another Australian food icon - the legendary Chiko
Roll – something I have not eaten for years and probably never will again. Not
everything tastes as good as we remember. If you don’t know what a Chiko Roll
is click on the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll

We stayed at the friendly Royal Hotel in Carpatee (with a new licensee) that
provided clean no frills rooms and friendly service with breakfast included.
The new owner is also a cattle rancher and reckons the next time we come through,
we would be able to enjoy an inch thick steak straight off the farm. This is my
kind of riding – carrying minimal gear and staying in a place where you don’t
have to pitch a tent and preferably has cold beer on tap.

Up early as Glenn doesn’t sleep much and country pubs have thin walls.We hit the
trails and headed toward Mudgee turning into the Turon Gates and followed the
Turon River. Steve had left his camera at the hotel so raced back to Capertee.
Glenn decided it would be a good time to teach me water crossing techniques on
his trusty Honda XR250.

We followed the Turon River riding through bush, farmland and horse studs
eventually arriving at the picturesque gold mining town of Sofala for a late
brunch. The cute little old lady managing the only café freaked out when more
than three people arrived at the same time and asked for some toasted
sandwiches and coffee. Because of the rush she called in reinforcements and we
were left looking at two identical old girls and Steve made the comment they
must be twins. They insisted they were not even sisters but Steve commented
that their eyes were too close together and in the distance we could hear the
banjo’s playing.

After some refreshments and shades of deliverance, we wended our way up to the Bathurst
end of the Bridal Track (look out for the great warning sign) The road has
spectacular views (keep an eye out for the car that went off the cliff) over
some beautiful scenery as we raced toward Hill End over some mildly challenging
rocky road (and beautiful) terrain.

The bridal track is a classic ADV ride and a must if you are visiting Australia and
want to explore outside of Sydney. However It was getting hot and my bum was
getting sore so the old gold mining town of Hill End was a welcome rest.

With perfect weather and lots of sun left we decided to push on toward Bathurst,
riding out along “Long Plain Rd” and I encountered my first river crossing at
the McDonald River. Steve hits the water crossing without hesitation and on the
advice of Glenn I decided to walk my bike across rather than risking dropping
it and having to spend time drying it out. Begs the question – Why are boots
not waterproof? – I have a nice set of Alpinestars that save me breaking an
ankle (that comes later) and the water gets easily and in it stays in – so why
can’t they keep it out?
Finished off with some nice tracks via the Rock Gardens – some of my favorite terrain as
long as you are going up! Overall covered a really great selection of different
terrains from good fire trails to challenging rocky terrain. After a short
diversion on the tar, we arrived in Bathurst late in the day to stay at another
Pub that was probably also called the Royal Hotel. After a hot shower and a
steak dinner and a five piece jazz band, we were left nodding off in the
comfortable lounge bar chairs. I just had to put up with the stink of wet boots
and the sound of Glenn snoring… however all I could dream of was twisting track
and trail, river crossings and rocky steps. Glenn is up early complaining he
didn’t sleep and Steve was unable to get cell phone reception (duh? It’s 2010)
On finally reaching his office on and old fashioned pay phone, he assures them
he is heading back to Sydney and would catch up with things that afternoon. For
a moment, he thought about heading back to home base to deal with some business
and leaving me with Old mate to take the more adventurous route back. However,
Steve was quickly seduced by the perfect weather and a promise of some more
time out of the office doing product research.

We rode out towards Oberon via the Pine forests near Blaney, stopping in at the
Chifley Dam. We came onto the dirt roads at Sewells Creek Rd and turned onto
Swallows Creek Rd and headed into Black Springs via Dog Rocks Rd. This is all
pine plantation and the roads are like a maze through the countryside. However
we found our way onto the blacktop and raced on to coffee at the Monkey Bean
Coffee shop and a fuel stop at Oberon.

From Oberon we rode out through the Blenheim (Million Acre Pine) Forest south of
Sunny Corner on Nunans Hill Rd. We cut onto the Jenolan Caves Rd and back into
the State Forest behind Hampton. After Hampton we dropped into the valley on
Marsden Swamp Rd. We rode up Ganbenang to Little Hartley on the Cox's River Rd,
crossing the Great Western Hwy through Hartley vale and up onto the Darling
Causeway which runs between Mt Victoria and Bell. This all classic “Blue
Mountains” Australian bushland filled with Eucalypt forest and so different
from anything in Canada or the US.


I swapped bikes with Glenn to try something different as we rode back out through
Mt Irvine . I dropped Glenns bike with no major damage – stupid Hondas, as I
was leading the charge. As Steve was fond of reminding me… “Your ego will
always be a far better rider than you”. The Honda is actually a great trail
bike but does not seem to have the punch or suspension of the WRR. Glenns bike
is so quiet I sometimes had to listen to see if it was still running. I
shouldn’t make fun as by this time I was feeling pretty comfortable and Steve
and Glenn were letting me lead out front until one or the other raced past. I
loved being out front in clean dust free air but when I was following I could
never catch Steve or Glenn.

Home via Bilpin and the Patterson Fire Trail out at Kurrajong Heights which is a
fast flowing track and I felt like I was really cutting loose and starting to
get comfortable on the yamaha. We rode back up Comelroy Rd, back-tracking the
trail we came in on from Colo Heights all the way to Wisemans ferry again.
Heading home though, we took a great short cut up River Rd to the little fire
trail that ran up to Clifftonville Rd. – really nice rocky terrain - Out via
Riverside Oaks and Pitt Town Rd. Up Cattai Ridge Rd to Old Northern Rd and back
to the park where Glen ran out of fuel with less than 6km to go. That’s OK,
Glenn was keen to show off his fuel transfer skills. Steve was less than impressed.

Ride Two

A few days rest and we loaded up Steve’s awesome Renault van that you could fit
three bikes in and sit three in a bench seat across the front with relative
comfort. It was a late start as Adventure Moto HQ never stops, so we set off
for Goulburn to stay the night with the idea of getting up early and hitting
some trails outside of Braidwood.

Arriving in Goulbourn on a Tuesday night in March you would figure we could easily find
a hotel in a city with a population of 20000 – As one local put it “must be
visiting day at the prison” as we tried every hotel/motel and pub in town and
apparently found a the last room available. Steve generously offered to sleep
on the floor allowing Glen and I to share a broke-back moment.

Breakfast in Braidwood at the famous Braidwood Bakery that has a nice selection of baked
goods that far out weighs the size of the town. I’m told that it’s location
between Sydney and Canberra and the South Coast makes it a popular destination
for day-trippers on bikes and cars.

We drove out towards the town of Araluen, which was another old gold mining town
in the late 1800’s. We were heading out to Merricumbene and parked in a picnic
area guarded by a huge goanna down by the Deaua River.


We unloaded the bikes we made a short trip along the Araluen Rd and hit a fire
trail where we met a bunch of serious looking riders on much bigger bikes KTMs,
Hondas, 450’s or two stroke 300’s. It was a wide river crossing and immediately
onto steep uphill trails and we hit what I can only describe as challenging
terrain – some of my favorite which is rock going up. The only problem is that
these trails went up for several kms and then down again for the same amount
and then up again. I have no problem with the up part – it’s the down part that
had my sphincter working overtime and basically had me head fucked. Despite
careful patient advice from Glenn and Steve after peaking the third rise and
seeing Glenn disappear up a cliff about two kms ahead I decided this was out of
my league. Steve chased after Glenn and with my tail between my bike we
retraced our path passing the riders we met on the way up. Oddly enough I
realized a bit too late how much riding is in the head as I managed to break my
fear of downhill on the way back. However Steve and Glenn were totally
supportive and insisted that this would give them a great opportunity to ride
another area that was on their radar… Monga National Park!

We loaded one bike into the van and Steve drove while Glenn and I rode back up
towards Braidwood and parked the van out at Reisdale adjacent a back entry into
Monga. In my head we tackled some much easier but just as fun trails. Glenn
pointed out that the trails we were riding were just as steep and challenging
but simply not as long, so did not affect the head as much. It was supurb
riding out along Macquarie Rd, Milo Rd and the boundary fire trail.

We crossed creeks, steep sections, fern gullies and rode along some great single
track… Send me back to Merricumbene and I would be ready to try again.

Spent the night in Braidwood and up early again with another perfect weather ride day
for Steve’s great adventure – he wanted to scope some new trails that would do
a loop of about 350kms for potential future ADV rides. Adventure Moto leads
some great off-road tours and also does some charity rides in conjunction with
the Snowy Ride (Steven Walter Foundation) through this area.


Riding out through Bombay to Tallaganda State Forest, Our first stop was a
Fire/lookout Tower that gave us an exceptional views over the surrounding
areas. We rode South down the Main Range Forest and Rocky Pic Rds, we crossed
over onto a little used fire trail that ran parallel to the South Forest Way
and White Ash Rd. Steve lead us over whoops and some very rocky terrain onto
Bald Peak and Jerrabattgulla Fire trails. Local native Aboriginal names had
typically been given to many of these fire trails and Forest region, hence the
colorful spelling. Regardless, It was beautiful countryside and I was getting
more and more comfortable on the bike. Glenn commented how steep my learning
curve had been and the pace was being wound up.

We stopped for lunch at Jinden Creek and Glenn was immediately questioning and
contemplating the great mysteries of life… “If a tree falls in the forest and
no one is there to listen, does it make any sound?” “Of course it fucking does
you bloody idiot”, I told him. Steve said… “Yeah, it crashes down like a big
bastard and scares the fuck out of all the bloody Wombats!”

Back out onto the main, but still unpaved “Snowball” Road, we headed south until we
found “Slap Up fire trail”. Glenn insisted we do another fuel transfer and
Steve told him what he thought of that idea but complied. Glenn stole a litre
or so out of each of the WR’s. Slap Up was a fast trail and Steve was making
mental notes for a forthcoming ride down to the Phillip Island Moto-GP in
October. Adventure Moto an off-road tour over three days to the island for the
great race, then take the group back to Sydney via another off-road route.

We had planned to be back at Braidwood at about 4pm and we hit a fork in the road
that offered us “The easy Way” or the “Interesting Way” as Steve put it… Steve
put up to democratic vote, Glenn was bored so just turned left and
democratically made up our minds for all of us. Of course we chose the awesome
route and everything was fucking “awesome” until I hit a downward track of
loose rock and washouts (man made mounds in the road to divert water off the
track). Let me backtrack a little – the day before after my no-go ride Glen had
shown me how to hit a washout and get some comfortable air. When it worked I
was having a great time (remember, I haven’t been riding that long) I headed
down fun but challenging trail hitting washout after washout getting minor air
and feeling real confident after 5 days and nearly 2000 kms of riding. Steve
shot past and I followed his pace. (He later told me he knew he was going too
fast and it took some serious and careful braking to try and shed some speed in
between the washouts). I went into a dip and stupidly hit the throttle big time
on the way out which launched me way out of my comfort zone. Needless to say
lack of experience caused me to feel exactly like the coyote as he runs off the
cliff and realizes there is nothing holding him up.
Apologies to the late great Chuck Jones

I came down like a sack of shit… The bike landed back wheel spinning fast and
took off while I fell backward onto sharp rock. Thankfully I had on good gear,
although my elbow-guard on my right arm was pushed up as I had taken off my
jacket sleeves because of the heat of the day and the pace we were riding and I
suffered a slight trauma to my left arm. Slight trauma? Well it was a gnarly
gash on my forearm and I was losing blood fast and feeling like I needed to
throw up big time. Thankfully Steve and Glenn realized pretty quickly I was not
behind them and Glenn arrived with the first aid kit and fed me some nice
painkillers and patched me quickly. My WR was ok with a few minor scratches and
bent pegs but was rideable 60 painful KMs back to Braidwood. Steve found a route
through to an easier grade road, but it was still painful with every jolt. The
pain-killers kicked in and we gunned it once we made the blacktop back to the
van.

We stopped at the friendly local country hospital and the Aussie nurse who took
off the trail dressing asked me if I thought I needed stitches, I said “I don’t
know”, Steve laughed and said “I think he will”. The nurse took a step back and
winced, immediately calling the local doctor. In a city hospital we would have
been left waiting hours, but in no time the awesome doctor and nurse cleaned
things up with a toothbrush (I shit u not) and patched me up with 25 stitches
while Heckle and Jeckle took photos, video footage and generally cracked jokes
with the very accommodating doctor in a great laid back Aussie manner at my
expense.

Back in Canada I had the stitches taken out by my unimpressed (what do u expect if
fall off a bike) Canadian doctor and pretty much alls good and I swear the scar
is a direct copy of the last trail we were on. Steve reckons it’s the kind of
scar that makes other men jealous and women swoon although when pressed, my
girlfriend looked at me with an "are you really that stupid" look.

I have a low pain threshold and it hurt like stink but I have got to say five
days of riding with Steve and Glenn was worth every stitch and more.

What did I learn – wearing good gear works, full pressure suits under your jackets
are great on trails so you can take your jacket off but still be fully
protected and with sleeves that have thumb guards/hooks so your protectors
don’t slide up, priceless. Riding with experienced safety conscious buddies,
priceless. Carry a decent first aid kit, priceless. Seeing landscapes you
wouldn’t normally get access to even in a four-wheel drive, priceless. Seeing
beautiful landscape like a tourist in your own country, priceless. I might
invest in a neck brace and some decent knee braces. I know that I have found a
passion that will stay with me. Glenn is in his sixties and reckons when he
can’t ride anymore, just turn off the switch. Steve plans to come out some time
next year and would like to ride the divide from Canada to the Mexican border.
Now that would be a great adventure for my Aussie mates (buddies).

Good on yer Andy.. Hope the arm is healing well mate. I look forward to escaping to the Americas next year for the divide ride. I have some ADV inmates who have promised us some great back country riding. Maybe the real Wolfman in Colorado will lend me his DRZ I hear you have added another bike to the stable for your daily commute. Don't let that WRR go, It's a keeper!

Awesome RR, Andy! Nice war wound too, something to always remind you of the 'Coyote Jump.' So what gearing and tires were on that beast you were riding, and what pressure were you running it at?

Bravo ! GGrrrrREAT report ! * jealous *

...and yeaup, that one needed them ! I'm an expert on stitches much moreso than riding ! * laugh *

Good job, reporting, sure enjoyed it.

Art

Nicccceeee! I enjoyed that thoroughly.

*truth be told, I'm equally impressed with your buddies level headed "get the camera" thinking.

SheWolf wrote:

Awesome RR, Andy! Nice war wound too, something to always remind you of the 'Coyote Jump.' So what gearing and tires were on that beast you were riding, and what pressure were you running it at?

Steve changed the sprockets from 13 teeth to 12 - but don't quote me on that. Wouldn't have a clue 'bout tire pressure except to say it was pretty soft. I like riding with a soft suspension - I bottomed the bike out often on rocky climbs and I don't weigh much.

inspector wrote:

Nicccceeee! I enjoyed that thoroughly.

*truth be told, I'm equally impressed with your buddies level headed "get the camera" thinking.

Oh believe me don't be fooled by the smile - it hurt like stink but it was my idea to take the camera out when I realised I wasn't going to die. The guys are well prepared and safe riding was always a priority during our ride. Steve has hundreds of pics and video in the emergency room - too gruesome to post - I finally yelled at him to put the F*%$*ing camera away. I think he secretly wants to be a doctor as he was asking lots of questions of the very patient doctor about stitching technique.

Morreski wrote:

inspector wrote:

Nicccceeee! I enjoyed that thoroughly.

*truth be told, I'm equally impressed with your buddies level headed "get the camera" thinking.

Oh believe me don't be fooled by the smile - it hurt like stink but it was my idea to take the camera out when I realised I wasn't going to die. The guys are well prepared and safe riding was always a priority during our ride. Steve has hundreds of pics and video in the emergency room - too gruesome to post - I finally yelled at him to put the F*%$*ing camera away. I think he secretly wants to be a doctor as he was asking lots of questions of the very patient doctor about stitching technique.

It's just that I want to be prepared for the next time I need to stitch anyone up on the trail . You gotta admit Andy that the doctor was pretty cool. You really should post up one or two of the vids I took of your fleshwound being scrubbed. At least put it up on Youtube??

We always carry a first aid kit and the nurse and doctor were suitably impressed by our field dressing expertise.

About the bikes. Andy's WRR was a 2008 with a GYTR exhaust, Exup and AIS removal and powerbomb header. I am running a Yoshi on my bike which is louder. I am fitting a mega bomb header which I hope might take out some of the bark.

The suspension is stock and I left it plush for Andy as we were covering some distance and I wasn't expecting him to hit the whoops like he did. On his bike I was running Dunlop 952's and we were running pressure pretty high as we were covering some blacktop and transport legs in the mix. So 18-20psi. On my WRR I was simply running Dunlop 606's which are a great all rounder IMO.

The Safari Tank is needed if you want to treat the WRR as an ADV bike, especially in OZ where we have some big distances, some times six or seven hundred km's between drinks, in which case we will also take fuel bladders. The bikes were giving us in excess of 360kms indicated but the speedo is off by about 10% due to our gearing changes, so I'm not sure if the odo id also out. I was running 13/49 and 13/48 sprockets respectively on the bikes. I usually also carry a 12 tooth front if I plan or expect to ride tight stuff. Both bikes have fitted, BarkBusters, Reikon mid height bars, Ralle Moto underbar steering dampeners and Pro Billet racks. I like these racks as they are perfect for a Wolfman Peak Tail bag.

On my bike I have had my seat locally trimmed to be a little wider at the rear and narrower up front. I have just put the bike in for some suspension work with our local Race Tech guy. I have been finding that the landings are a little high and I have the preload on the rear wound all the way up and so feel i need a heavier spring and am having the shock and forks re-valved.

Steve

How is your Arm healing Andy? Show me some pics