Tas to Cape York
 

Hi
Im 15 and ride dirt bikes. When i get my L's next year im organising some friends and myself to ride from the bottom of Tas to Cape York.

We plan to use AG100's for the trip:eek3:

ANY info/advice is welcome as i want to use the year ahead of me to organise the trip.

Thanks Matt

Good choice of bike mate, they will see you proud. My advice for cheapish waterproof luggage is look at a canoe bag across the back carrier, and work out some way of putting a 100-150mm diameter tube of PVC sewer pipe with screw end end caps across under the front motor for tools and spares. Soft side bags (some old Drifter or similar throw-over bags off eBAY might be a good idea) are OK for that sort of trip and way cheaper than metal or plastic side pannier boxes. Take a small tent and gas cooker. Get someone who knows how to camp cook show you a couple of simple things each to cook and then take turns.

Enjoy!

Regards

Nigel in NZ

hey cool dude
 

you may be the youngest yet ,dress up in super hero outfits ,if your not having a back up vehicle fuel will be a real issue up at the cape so you will need BIG tanks as stock aggies don't have much range ,if you try postie bikes you can put that second tank on them , make sure you do a great trip report ,better yet ,call SBS ,it would make a cool doco ,kids to the cape,lol ,haha way to go ,better yet ,maybe i'll call them ,i'd make a film about that
oh yeah you need some croc off ,you need to watch the crocs ,lots of crocs

Thanks for the tips and advice, its a great help about the fuel range, i think we will carry a 10L jerry can each. Would this be enough?

Think one of teh mags dist a trip "tip to Tip"? So you might get some ideas from that .. TBAM? If I Recall Correctly...

Go to your local libaray and see if they have any guides .. the Moons book on Cape York should be avalible .. might be an old edition in the Library - good info even if old.

Maps - the Hemma Victrian High Country one is a must .. join the RAA and get the maps - they should be free ... NRAM, RACV, umm forget teh Qld mobs name .. but get them all - you may have to write to them to get teh maps .. the RAA should have a touring department - they may help?

Posties to the Cape '08
 

Congratulations Matt on planning such a trip, never to young to start mate. Anyone can make it happen! Give me a few months and I will tell you how we went. Starting August 23rd there is 3 lunatics including myself riding CT110 Postie bikes from Cairns to the Cape and back to Cairns. XR250 tanks are an easy mod and will give us a range of somewhere around 340km. Lots more planning but that's the short of it.

Glen

WHen i go i would rather spend more time off the blacktop and was wondering whether the maps suggested would show all of the off road tracks or not?

it would be great to get a trip report from you when you get back! that info would be gold:thumbup1::thumbup1:

does anyone know what sort of weight the AG's can take happily
also the greatest distance between petrol stations
if we could get posties lots cheaper than AG's we could consider them too
does anybody know of any large fuel tanks that will fit an AG:helpsmilie:

thanks for your help guys!!!

hey dude
 

nearly any old xr tank will fit a postie bike and they are a lot cheaper than an aggie bike to buy ($800-$1600 as a rule),all those posties keep buying new ones ,farmers only sell aggies when the fence wire and baling twine no longer will do it,and if you want a lot of dirt time then you better have plenty of time up your sleeve ,not to mention kanga , get a sponsor ,are you all going to be on your L plates ,
keep the questions comin

How much time would we need if we took about 80-20 dirt-road?
Maybe a postie would be better for us
what do you mean by "kanga":blushing:
I dont reckon anybody would sponsor us, we have been talking about making it a charity run for some sort of group like camp quality or a cancer
We wont all be on L's my dad will come and his mate and possibly some others with full licences
Also what are some of the "must see's"
the super hero outfits sounds good:cool4::cool4:

Rule 6. No map shows all the roads.


----------------
The Hemma Motorcycle Atlas shows the petrol stations where they matter .. and if you are thinking of motorcycle riding around OZ for some time in the future it is a good purchase. Bound so you can put it in the map pocket of a tank bag, enough detail but large enough scale that you are not constantly stopping to turn pages.

More detailed maps ..
Hemma and West print do ones for most areas of interest.
Catoscope have some free ones (PDFs) on the web ... they are more touristy but have some of the major dirt roads of interest too .. Welcome to Cartoscope's Tourist Maps and Holiday Guides

---------------
Planning
1 in 7 days rest. Max 6 days a week travel .. but I'd throw in 1 more day off a week too ..

Max 400 kms per day ... average.

Figure out roughly how far you are travelling add 20% and go from there with the above average travel figures. That will get you are rough calculation.

Do figure the weather in your plans - you won't get there easily in the wet season. Nor do you want to go through the hight country when it is snowing ... they close some roads off then even if you tassies can stand the cold.

hey dude
 

kanga is dosh ,bucks ,moola ,doe the stuff that makes the world go round,in your case the postie bike wheels ,400 km a day on a postie bike is a big ask,it aint no GS Beema, especially if you put dirt into the equation,hobart to the top is probably 5000 + km,so allow your self at least 2 months for your trip ,if you want to stop and smell the roses that is ,unless you sell them all in cairns to japanese tourists as cape ready bikes,lol,then fly home ,if you only pay a little for them they would owe you fark all, on the way you ask ,when i did it, i stayed away from the tourist traps along the east coast and camped in the national parks, etc still plenty of great places if you keep off highway 1 good luck

We will definetely be trying to spend as much time in the bush as possible
How many K's would be realistic a day remembering that we wont to spend as much time possible off road and that we will be using AG's?

max 200 -250 km a day
 

remember 80 kph on the freewa y but the bush aint the freeway

Cape run
 

We are planning on approx. 90 - 100km per day average including rest days. The more rest days the more K's to make up. All depends how big the wet season was, how deep and fast flowing the river crossings are and how much of the road has been graded/repaired before we pass through. If you push to hard things will break and it's a long way to anywhere for parts.
There will be breakdowns along the way for sure. Realistically the bikes are only worth $1000, if it is a terminal breakdown the only sensible thing to do is take whatever gear you can carry and leave it there. Recovery is not an economical option.

Max. sustainable speed for a Postie if you want it all to last is approx. 70kph on flat ground. Any small capacity bike is just not built for this type of riding, so slow things down, look after the bikes, and keep it all together. Don't forget to have good safety gear, don't ever be fooled into thinking that slow speeds mean nil personal injury. I have seen RFDS planes take off many times and I never want to see the insides on one.

Roll with the punches and it will all work out in the end. :D


Glen

onya!
 

brilliant plan, matthew.
it is possible to get from near healesville in vic to near jindabyne in nsw on dirt for all but about 50km, no big river crossings or anything like that, and using mainly roads marked in the Hema motorcycle atlas mentioned by others above. i have done canberra - melbourne in a day this way, of course the more time you take the better. after that, from canberra out west of sydney you can get to at least about dungog on dirt, as i recall.

thing is, half the fun is planning, and half the planning is changing plans! don't forget there are plenty of backroads that are not dirt, and this may be good especially if you end up travelling on bikes without a whole lot of suspension.

i would suggest contacting your local abc radio station, or maybe triplej, as they may be interested in following your trip with you as the reporters. a couple of years ago there was a series on the abc called (i think) 'bloke on a bike'. although this means they have had a similar story before, there is every chance they will be interested. you can only ask and it might be fun.

cheers,
andy.

Good on you Matthew, way to go!

I'm thinking when I get back from Russia, the Cape on a postie sounds liek a god idea.

Mind you one guy did it on GSX1100R a few years back. I think he put knobbies on in Cairns and longer suspension and high bars, but otherwise stock, so it really can be done on any bike.

Garry from Oz.

Garry we fly out August 23rd, hurry up and get home. The more the merrier.

Need to talk to you about Russia, that's at the top of my list!

Glen

that guy on the gsx
 

i was up there on my wr and he was havin a hell time of it ,slow, slow ,slow ,no fun there

How's the trip coming along?
 

Hope you're still planning to embark on this trip.. Sounds like a cracking idea and a lot of fun.

If you haven't locked in your bike choice yet, I'd say DON'T do it on a Postie. Yeah, ok they're cheap (but not really that cheap when you consider the simplicity of components and the fact that you're getting no suspension and no frame for your money). This is not a real bike it's more of a scooter

You will learn a lot about riding and develop techniques for the future years. For this reason you should really get a bike with a proper frame and proper suspension. Optional, but I would also recommend a rider course (going beyond the rider training in the licence) where you can learn some good cornering techniques and then put into practice on the trip. Anyway (sorry Postie fans) the Postie is just not a proper motorcyle and you'll have much more fun, be much more comfortable and develop much better habits/skills on a proper bike.

I've done a lot of adventure riding between Sydney and Coffs Hbr area (2-3 days up, 2-3 days back. Couple pics attached. If you're interested I can give you some info on routes) over the tablelands, through eastern escarpment bush etc spending as much time as poss on dirt but I also enjoy the black-top especially if it's twisty and quiet, and there's a lot of just that in that region. I was typically doing 50/50 dirt/tar and I'd say don't be afraid of the tar, you can have a lot of fun, you can develop motard techniques (leaning bike over more like dirt, you upright) or more traditional road bike cornering (keeping bike more upright), BUT you need a real bike. Obviously you'll have the weight of your gear to carry so you can't go at it like an afternoon trail ride but the skills are the same, it's just a question of a little less right hand.

I also rode up the Cape (the first part - Nth NSW to Cairns - just belting along the highway so can't say much about that). Had a brilliant time from Cairns onward though. There's a bit about it at and a couple of pics in the 'Dorrigo to the Torres Strait' part of this blog Australia to Germany via Asia and the Stans... I rode an XR600 but I'm not suggesting you need one. There are a couple of different tracks up the Cape (as well as many side detours*) but I found myself in some pretty heavy corrugations and also very deep sand. If you go for the more interesting/adventurous stuff the Postie will be a nightmare on the corrugations with no real suspension and will simply not go through deep sand with a tiny engine and centrifical clutch. You'll be pushing a lot!!

Ok, which bike then? Unless you're really set on the Postie or an Ag my suggestion would be XR250/400 or Suzuki etc equivalent. Honda always has the reputation. As you might read I ran my 600 out of oil but I think I was pretty unlucky as they're supposed to be bullet proof. If you are set on Postie or Ag then I would definitely choose the Ag as they have a lot more real bike/trail bike componentry (esp. new ones with proper shock/swing arm etc), rather than Postie which is like the scooters you see all over SE Asia!

The XR250 would be a great bike. I think the extra (probably only $800-1000) you'd have to put on top of a Postie would be worth it 10 times over. Also, on top of the touring riding, when you get to your campsite you can take all the gear off and you've got a capable dirt bike for an afternoon blatt - think about that, in some absolutely awesome riding locations..

Fuel: I had no problems with 21L (long range Accerbis tank on first bike, 11L tank + 10L canister on 2nd). You will probably even get further with a (more economical) 250 (?)

Good luck.

*You could contact some of the aboriginal communities for permission to access areas on the west coast of the Cape. Not many people get to see these areas. Just needs time and planning.

thanks for the info braat i would love to gethold of a few of the routes you have taken if that was possible?
As much as you wont like it we are set on Ag bikes having acquired six of them already!
I know that it will be hard on these bikes as they arent good at anything but that is why we chose them!!!!:funmeteryes:
thanks

Matthew see if you can get hold of a copy of Cape York Atlas & Guide by Hema. Cost was about $25 to $30 from memory. This will become the new Cape York "bible". Has maps and recommended places to go and has only just been released!
Just ride whatever you can get your hands on, don't be to fussy. Adjust your speed to suit and all will work out.

I leave on the 26th of Dec to head down your way and do a lap of Tassie, might see you around.

Glen

thanks for the info guys, i got hold of a hema map which really is good so thanks on that
how many kays are you doing down here on the mighty red devil?? sounds great!

Will be on the Suzuki DL1000 VStrom this time, distance should be about 6000 to 6500km depending how many side tracks and mountain roads tempt me. We have 5 bikes and 8 people in our group going!

Order some fine weather for me will ya!

Glen

Its good to see young people do such trips!

I wish I went on such a trip when I was 15. I think you will love it no matter what bike you take mate. The postie bike would add a extra level to the trip, bit more quirky that kind of thing. You will learn heaps !

I am jealous !

:funmeteryes:

Good for you mate
 

Good on ya mate great idea.. Like the others have said fuel is the issue, but with some jerry cans you should be right. I think its tard most of the way to the york now (not sure) either way those bikes will be fine.
Paul

Just a thought on SAFETY GEAR
 

Matt
Dont forget the riding gear!
You cannot do a trip like this without really good gear.
You will need to spend more on the gear than on the bikes by the sound of it!
My advise is dont focus all your effort on the bike and neglect the safety gear.

Jacket (vented)........$300
Pants (vented)........$150
Helmut....................$200
Boots......................$250
Gloves.....................$50

Sorry to rain on your plans but you will come off.................a couple of times

Remember the saying we OLD guys use...................

$20 helmet for a $20 head!

Good luck

Under

Body Armour
 

I would add some body armour to the above gear list too. I bought and wore this, UFO Scorpion body armour when I was off road up there. It has a back protector and kidney belt along with the usual protected points.
EDIT: Even though the pic of the back doesn't show the kidney belt, it does have one.

Attachment 1863

Maybe over kill but at the least you feel tough :rofl:

Hi Matthew

Ok, Ag, well that's better than a Postie! Which year/model did you get?

Sorry for slow reply, just picked up this thread again as I was on holidays for 4 weeks - actually returned to Aus for Christmas. Now back in Germany where it's minus a lot!

Please send me a PM and we can then exchange route info by PM/email.

As far as protective gear, yes essential and the more you pay the better it is. There are (sort of) three main configurations: 1. High speed road = leathers = high speed slide/abrasion resistance + some protective armour built into jacket/pants; 2. Motorcross/Dirt riding where you have full body armour, knee braces etc, but high speed slide/abrasion resistance is not such a requirement and the jacket is really just a riding jersy; and 3. The merging of these two extremes, jacket pants which have some abrasion resistance and protective armour built in. My advice would be go for this option, most adventure riders do. The jackets and pants are pretty good these days with tough materials, waterproofing (don't overlook this, it's so worth it) and leather patches sown into crucial areas (on the moderate to higher priced stuff). And yes, get ventillated stuff with panels that can be opened and closed as necessary.

Regards, Martin.

You have reminded me Martin of what I actually did on my Cape trip. We wore textile jackets from melb and left them at a friends place in sunny QLD. Then wore the armour up the cape (too hot for my jacket) changed on the way back down.

The gear we wore off road. Sorry about the quality :(
Attachment 1869

The other option, anathema is it may be to some, is that you can always just ride slowly. :cool4:

Garry from Oz.

Hi
yeah safety gear is of course on the list i have been looking at different sorts but i understand that the gear varies for different purposes
i race off road and so i have the hi air flow jersey/pants, knee guards and body armour that we will put on for the top section
Ideally i think the bmw rallye stuff would be good for our trip but it is far to expensive!
also on helmets can anyone guide me towards a well priced helmet that is suitable for both on and off road use
i like the shoei but it is again to expensive!
thanks for your help

touring on AG100's
 

Matt,
I rode 4500km with my brother in Mongolia on AG100's. You can read the ride report here:
Mongolia on two Yamaha AG100's - ADVrider

Should give you a good insight as to what to expect.

Cheers.

Matthew,

If you are looking for a bit less traditional route to the Cape, you should head west a bit. I did Adelaide to Cape York in October 08 up the Strezlecki (did it previously on the Birdsville Track, which is dead boring) to Innamincka, then the Cordillo Downs Road to Birdsville. A lot of Outback history there. North of Birdsville, I had to keep altering the route because they had laid bitumen since my previous trip in 2000. Managed to stay off the blacktop pretty much most of the way except for sections near Birdsville, Julia Creek, Karumba and Coen.

From Karumba I headed up the west side of the peninsular, taking in indigenous communities Koeanyama and Pormpuraaw (couldn't get across the Mitchell at Dunbar this time). No permit required.

Needed fuel for 400 kms (had 22 litre tank on XR400). The XR250 would be a perfect choice, but the ag bike will do it. You just need to take your time and forget trying for 400 kms per day.

Have a great trip.

Chris

gethro
 

Hi matt
On ya mate, good to hear that your doing such a trip. I am half way up the Gt Divide at the moment on my klr 650, Yes it's a huge country and what your undertaking is massive! My mission to ride the divide from the first bumps in western vic to the cape traveling the highest parts of the range.The back way! taking in mostly unused trails and dirt roads etc.I have made the QLD boarder after 14 days of riding.
Its not easy and being solo I have to be very carefull and thats why I have written to you. There's somthing about the remote tracks and trails, if your not carefull you can get sucked in to a false sence of sceurity thinking your the only person for a thousand kilometers and therefore can get over confident when rounding corners! what I really want to say to you is a simple... THINK LEFT no matter where you are..it will pay off! I have also ridden a honda ct 200 - over 3000ks from Gosford to Carnavon Gorge and across to Fraser id and return taking in remote tracks even old railway lines and walking trails.Got busted in Coolah tops NP riding down some stairs! Since then I have ..Gone around NSW (torture) (dr 650) ..ridden the flinders ranges were I came off 300k west of Broken hill (don' want to talk about it )... Ridden to Broome via Arnhemland (klr 650)were I worked at the meatworks at Oenpelli(2 big to even talk about)
Also if I may say so Matt is its important to get a good nite's sleep and getting a good slef-inflating matterss should be considered, I know there a bit bulky but there worth it . Diet is important also, one of my favourite meals on the road is a bread roll with a layer of raw beans topped with a sachet of tuna! it's light to carry and dosn't take much room. My dietictian wife recons its' ok too. Although missing a meal here and there dosn't hurt you either.
Matt all the best mate, this trip will sort you out! your either going to be satisfied when your finnished or your gunna get bitten and continue doing these sort of trips.....hey there's nothing wrong with that pal!
and keep an eye on your wheel bearings too! ..after many creek crossings you could find they can fail, i've had problems with new bearings even.
Please let us know when you come through as we would love to get a photo or two of the expedition when it comes through.......and go the back way son!!
kind regards Geoff.