Hi all,

I'm planning a route round Australia at the moment and was just looking for a bit of advice (or a reassuring nod) about taking an XT600E on these tracks. First up, the Gibb River Road. Now I should be getting there during the 'dry' season, so any rivers will hopefully be low, however anyone been round there and can give me a heads up on the sort of conditions to expect I'd be very grateful.

The other part of my proposed route is the track up to Cape York. Now I'd not want to miss out on getting up to the tip, but I'm a bit concerned as to whether the XT is a suitable steed for the journey. Any advice on that front? I'd rather get up there on my own machine rather than rent a trailie before I set out, but it's the only part of the trip that I have serious misgivings about. Any opinions?

Other than that, the rest should be pretty straight forward, hopefully include the Great Central Road in the loop too.

Any advice much appreciated!

Sly Fox;
I can't help you with The Gibb River Road,but went up to the Cape in 2004 on a Dominator accompanied by a KLR650 both bikes carrying all our gear,so the Yammy would be fine,if it is in good order.Good knobby tyres are essential we had ours fitted at Cairns.Fill up with fuel when avaliable and there will be no need to carry any, do carry plenty of water.
Ben.

hi sly fox heading to oz are we nice one mate, first up the gibb river road in the dry season there are only a few river crossings , but mainly it,s the corrugations that get to you , they do sometime,s grade it it,s fabulous area and well worth spending some time there, cape york is another area where you can spend plenty of time the thing is not to rush it, there is not to much deep sand, there are a few different tracks up there and it,s worth waiting till you are in the area before you decide whitch one to go up as the 4x4,s chew them up quite a bit and some are worse than others , 1 thing i can recomend is fit the best tubes you can lay your hand,s on i got some super heavy duty one,s from michelin whitch i think i could have used with out tires they were that thick ,not cheap thought but worth their weight in gold i have been throuth the central road and the old gunnbarrel ,althought i am not sure if the old gunnbarrel is still open or still used as much , the central road is a long dusty high way in the bush i have seen mcaffettys, coache,s going up it !!!
glad to see you are using a xt600 god,s own chariot, well that might be a little exaggerated !! in good condition and properly serviced you should not have to many drama,s look on this site for all you need to know about them more than i could ever tell you well mate i am heading back to oz in jan hope fully i have a ratty old ttr600 in perth whitch i am going to be heading out to the simpson and a few other track,s when it cools down a bit if you fancy a yarn drop me a call on 07718905005 i am over at gatwick cheers mate

Hmm.. keep in mind that bulldust is not bullshit and..hmm.. dont eat yellow snow, but thats not a big problem where you are going. Have a fantastic tripp!!

Been there, done that, want to go back.

All dirt raod change - with traffic and weather .. so only generalitis can be offered. What is going to happen .. will happen when yougetr there.

Gibb River Road.
Most crossing have a concrete base. Those that do not have a good firm base - rocks etc. The road does suffer from traffic generated corrogations. And some bull dust. The main problem is too many people leaving rubbish behind. Take more matches than you would normally need - I got to the stage where I could not burn other people rubbish because I needed the remaining matches form my own rubbish and cooking ..

Cape York - mostly sandy crossings. And you'll be a good sand rider by the end of it.

Here you go -
http://www.mynrma.com.au/outback_tracks.asp

http://www.exploroz.com/

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Great, thanks for the advice! I'd not even considered swapping out the tubes, good idea though. Always nice to get a second opinion on things when you're not sure about something. Happy trails!