A rough day all round
If only the next 12 hours would be so easy! And the day that Scott "Hollywood" Norris shed a tear.
During breakfast and a perfect sunrise over the Mungilli water hole nearby we all laughed at some of the dribble that was spoken around the camp fire last night. Satts quote saying the “400EXC single handedly opened up this vast country to the population” and is still regarded his as the best bike KTM ever made. Troy and Scott nearly rolled into the fire laughing, Matt and Tony stopped giving him beverages and Shaymo tried to put him to sleep. A quote that will linger for ever in our minds, thanks Statter. A good thing Len Beadell didn’t have one all those years ago!
We all mounted up and turned left for what was going to be another epic day. Shaymo got all of 6 meters when sand was once again in the path of the tenacious Tenere. “SHAYMO DOWN” and Tony was first to respond. The big girl was righted and we were off heading East again. The terrain was just perfect, the right mix of all hidden dangers and this is what caught Hollywood out. Through a fast flowing section of sand and hard pack, Scotty lost the front end at pace and laid her down pretty hard, not soe sure these 606 tyres are any good on the tough stuff. If you have ever seen anything that Hollywood proudly owns, it is always in impeccable condition and has more bling than Mr T (BA Berakas). After picking himself up off the deck and the troops right behind him, we inspected the damage to his bike far before asking him if he is ok, then we pissed ourselves laughing. The spanking new gold rock stompa foot pegs didn’t have a mark on them. Statt burst out with “I’ll give you market value for the 690, $4000”. Seems Statt loves the number 4, his 400 EXC is worth $400, and 4 is the number of times he has washed it in the last 11 years. A quick check and its only cosmetic and the windscreen torn off. Scotty gives the double thumbs up and we are off again taking some great videos and still pics along the way.
We start to encounter probably the heaviest conditions for the whole trip and the Tenere pilot is struggling to keep her righted. The bike has awesome power but the front springs are a soft as 2 week old celery sticks left in the sun and once the throttle is backed she wallows badly and ultimately ejects the helmsman at any opportunity. We round the bend only to see the Tenere listing badly to the starboard (or on the hard for those nautical folk) and Tony scrambling in the spares kit for the “knead it”. The Tenere hit the reef hard and was gushing oil not unlike the Exon Valddez on March 23, 1989 at 9:12pm. Only this time the pilot of the Tenere was sober and not taking a nap. Shay was gutted thinking that this was the end of his journey and we only just started.
After about 30 minutes Tony had stemmed the flow, fixed the wound in the ignition cover and fresh oil filled the bilge once again.
Well after another 4 get offs Shaymo wouldn’t lay down and it was thought that he could ride the formula 1 bike (400EXC) of the trip until camp tonight through the deep unforgiving sand. Shaymo mounted the Thoroughbred and cracked the throttle in the deep sand and the sound was similar to that of a fruit bat being torn apart by a rouge wild pig! There was the shrilling sound of the 400, the squeal of the rear Bridgestone 606 tearing itself apart of the unseen shale outcrop. Shaymo with the grace of a man trying to give an enema to a feral cat then performed a ballet like maneuver first removing one leg as his left hand parted company from the domino grip as then the bike roared up a vertical rocky embankment, flips, destroys a termite mound end and retires in an ugly heap beside a tree. Troy was immediately on the scene, Shay in a heap with the 400 still idling beside him, Statt arrives moments later looks around and asks the question, “are you serious Shaymo?” this bike has the most power to weight ratio of all, go easy or she will bite you hard. We dusted Shaymo off and though it an opportune time to have a cold beverage and ponder the rest of the afternoon on the Gun Barrel.
Shaymo was rested up and we got him back under his own steam and we were facing our next major challenge, Beadell Monument. Len Beadell? Is there anywhere this Legend has not been? Every turn, every hill, every tree he has been there and documented it. A true Legend indeed.
After reading the achievements of Len Beadell we decided to climb the small but rocky incline and check out the view. The first three bikes got up ok and it was Shaymos turn, good thing Robbo had his trusty GoPro helmet cam on to catch any unsuspecting fall the next 2 bikes may have. First Shaymo. All was going well until the USS Missouri missed one of the cardinal marks off the starboard bowsprit and it went all downhill from there. Too much vertical weight, helm facing the wrong way and she was listing at an angle that would splinter most femas. The sound the crash bars made while sliding down the mountain would have put a shiver up poor old Len Beadell’s spine. Three more vertebrae crushing recoveries and poor Shaymo was ready to take to the bridge of the USS Missouri with a huge rock. We then heard this distant wale of the mighty 400EXC at pace and ready to clear this monumental mountain. All of that pace and testosterone ended the same way as Shaymo, upside down and eating granite.
Statt picks himself off the deck for the second time and we all nearly fell over laughing as this is 400 country remember.
One good push for Statt and Shaymo and we are all on top of the monument and feeling like we were on top of the world. Next were the cars. Tony had this notion to try and cross Australia in 2WD. Well at one point he had only the 2 rear wheels on the ground and we were all so worried that the Engels may not work at 60 degrees of angle and the beverages would get warm. Slipped both cars into 4x4 and we were all up
It was pretty hard going for the rest of the day but it was one of those days we’ll never forget. Long sandy stretches, hitting the shrubs that line the track all day, dodging some of the biggest camels one would ever see, keeping out of brown snakes strike radius and lastly, keeping in front of Shaymo so you don’t have the back breaking task of picking up the 209kg monster.
Stat was in a world of his own, the front wheel barely touching the terra firma. The rear wheel was either stopped from block passing the slower guys into corners or throwing dirt and rubbish all over the poor person following. It was awesome.
It’s getting late and time to camp. We camped at Lynettes Bore on the side of the Gun Barrel and spotted a Dingo that was stalking us all night.
We really are starting to like Matt (Nissan #1 driver) a lot more now. As he is by far the worst snorer I have ever heard, he said he would camp away from the non-snorers and he was renamed as our sacrificial dinner for any large carnivore, or simply the dingo that stalked us all night. We also loved the rib fillet steak as we could cut off any fat and lay it around Matts swag to entice any meat eaters.
Bikes: Shaymo’s in need of a really good panel beater, preferably one with a mobile spray booth and baking oven.
690’s, One is very second hand looking, pilot moping around the camp kicking himself, the other still new
530 and 400, Keep the fresh oil in them and they will go like cut snakes. 400EXC is starting to shed parts, Statt calls these unwanted additional weight that doesn’t add to her performance. (Right rear indicator, torn off when Statt nearly took out the recovery party for Shaymo on Beadells monument)
Cars: Can’t get enough of these conditions
We cant believe it either, the 400 has made it this far, this is looking back West towards Wiluna. The end of the Wiluna Shire and the start of the road that hasnt been graded since 1991 :-) awesome
Robbo high speed fly by
The Great Northern Hwy
How Lovely
Nice, our first desert - Robbo, Statt, Shaymo (STIG) and Troy. Sorry about the 400 sneaking in :-)
Norris DOWN, the gunbarrel catches this accomplished rider off guard. Apart from a bruised ego and dusty dusters oh and a broken windscreen all was good on the mighty 690. Back on the horse Norri!
Scotts bike is now second hand!
How Lovely!
Carnage on the rocky slope - Tenere down
and..........again
Oh no is that the 400 in 400 country on the deck....yep!
The eagles sense the carnage
Oh dear, maybe Statt should have done some maintenance on the 400, never fear we are in 400 country as he calls it. Will be fine as long as there are trees and other bikes to support her
Tony was hoping to get across in only 2WD, sadly that goal ended trying to get to Len Beadells Lookout
Robbo putting Nissan Two into 4WD, nice of Tony to lift it up for him!
All good, on ya way champion
Robbo and Statt at Len Beadells Lookout
Back to the bikes...lets go!
How Lovely!
The view from Robbos perspective
How Lovely!
