This really was a ride to remember in honour of a great friend and all-round top bloke. Even his spirit hasn't lost its sense of humour...

Mmmmm nice, looks a great place mate - a shame about the weather though.

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Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big an wear glasses if you need em.

Jist what a was thinkin on both counts... clear pics an a shame about the weather... ye need Drizzle tae pump yer spirit up. aye right... imagine that weather all the time.... thats a crackin pic tae lift us all out the miry clay this october day.. roll on the better weather..... sayin that a think we all need tae move tae Spain...

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1st post of 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2014 gold star award

Aye.

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Touratech big guard. Yamaha handlebar guards. Pivot Pegz. Yam main stand. Camel Toe. 30 mm risers. 14 tooth front sprocket. Big balls. Old and not wise.

Yeah, nasty weather... But it really was nasty in the couple of weeks prior to the ride. And those clay roads are like trying to ride on KYd glass. Most people crash (eg, self)

I was wondering about your tyres - I expected you to have knobblies on to be honest.

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Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big an wear glasses if you need em.

Yeah, there's a bit of history to my tyre choices. I'll probably bore you, but here goes:

I grew up on a sheep station about of 870 sq miles. I used to think my BSA B33 was the best dirt bike in the world when I was a kid. We used any tyres available over all kinds of terrain, and ran them till they were bald or fractured from rocks or big hits. Sometimes pain happened.

Later, I competed in winter reliability trials, usually on 70s and 80s big singles, where we were restricted to trials universals only, no matter what the weather. Pain was inevitable, but lessened as we learned to ride the worst goop with these tyres. It still happened, though. But in the dry, they were brilliant. Even on bitumen.

I relatively recently retired from the life of a mustering contractor in northen South Australia (hence the TTR250). The only reason I used knobbies was simply because of their tougher sidewalls. I could ride the bike with a flat if there was no time or equipment to fix it. If you were careful, a tyre would still be useable even after riding with a flat for about 50km. Just fit a new (hd) tube and away you go. Again, simply due to economics, we would use the tyres until the knobs were worn down to the casing. Traction in the dry was better with a worn tyre than a new one for general everyday use, even in sand. A new knobby skates around in normal going, and digs into sand too much. Pain resulting from worn tyres was minimal.

I learned from the above that in the dry, chunky tyre tread is overrated. However, I am a HUGE fan of new knobbies in the wet. No substitute is even close. But my default is dry, dusty going. So no knobbies for me. And no pain, I hope... although one patch of wet clay almost brought the whole issue to grief on the ride, the Tenere's inherent stability saved us. Gotta love that bike. Everywhere else, the tyres were totally fine and hooked up well. It's not an enduro bike.

Sorry about the book; just wanted to explain.

Thanks, always interesting to hear of others experience.
Not having the experience you have I thought knobblies would be a must for the sandy stuff - you live and learn.
Again I suppose I have to mention weather - sorry! I ride on TKCs to allow for the wetter conditions here and they run well on the harder gravel surfaces too.
Suppose my brain is still partly routed in my all tarmac days too, ie off road = knobblies full stop.

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Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big an wear glasses if you need em.

Actually, experience is relative. You have more experience in the wet, and I have no experience using TKCs at all. I understand that they are a really useful tyre, but with limited life on hard ground.

If I was to undergo a really hard ride, with a low transport content, I'd definitely use knobbies because of the strength factor. Pinch flats are a pain, so a good strong tyre is a must. But I really need an all-rounder, so next time I'm going to try Mefo Explorers.

You just gotta luv the Flinders. I was on that ride too (on my DR), we had the house at the bottom of the main street where the firepit was, on the Monday night I think. I reckon the downhill shot of you might have been taken by Danny W as you left the lookout on the Public Access Route (?). Great event all round.

We have 107 riders returning there in late April for the Flinders Ranges Classic 'V' - 2012, staying at the Angorichina Village (where the TK Ride bikes got fuel). We're into a mix of enduro and adv riding. Might even add a little photo album here too...we'll have a couple of 660Z's there as well.

cheers

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2010 XT660Z
Suzuki DRZ400E
Suzuki PE175Z