1-5-09

Oil change and Flinders Nat Park

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler (Let the Good Times Roll)

I decided to spend a couple of days here in Port Augusta, which is a fairly good size town. I checked out the library and found out that it does have wifi and my library card that the gal gave me in Steaky Bay works here. It is over a hundred I would think today. I asked a guy at the library where there might be a motorcycle shop in town. He gave me directions with a lot of hand motions for left and going up the hill and seeing the arch and then down the hill and it should be on the right. Well, I wandered around a industrial park for a while and then in to a residential area before finding the arch. Just like he said “down the hill on the right.” I have an appointment to have the oil changed and air filter cleaned and re-oiled. The book on the bike says to change the oil at 6,000km but I decided that five km is easier to keep track of. I am at 19,869 now so that is close enough to 20km. I would rather do it myself but don’t what to have to deal with the old oil (what do ya do with it here?). I walked back to the shop area to talk with the mechanic and there was a Suzuki DR 650 with one of those huge Safari tanks. They sure make that bike look ugly but I think I would go for it just to have the extended range. Those tanks are 33 liters I think and the tank on mine is 22 liters. The original tank is 12 liters. I have been carrying that original tank filled with 8 liters on top of my dry bag all the way across the Nallabor and back and never had to use the extra gas er, petrol. Finally I decided to drain the little tank and throw it away. As I was taking the tank out to the highway to leave it along the road I met a couple of guys that said they knew motorcycle buddies, er, mates that would like to have it. So, now I don’t have to pack that damn thing around anymore (too much weight up high). The bike gets about 20km/liter so I can go a good 400 km before I need fuel. If you multiply that by six you get 2400 and move the decimal point one place to the left and it becomes 240 miles. That is a little handy way to figure out how far it is in miles when you know kilometers. The little bike does run out and I have to switch over to reserve at 325 km or so. If it runs out then (which it hasn’t yet) I will need to tip the bike over on it side and get the gas out of the far side since there is no petcock on the far side. I have run it out to over 325 a couple of times but that was just to see how far I could go before it went reserve. If I was traveling the outback I would need that safari tank or carry a jug of petrol.

I really like the Ozdog for this ride. It sure could use a better seat but then my butt is getting hardened up some I guess. The main thing it needs is a little windscreen to block the wind on my chest. It is especially bad when I am in a strong head wind, which seems the way it always is eh? I have to have such a death grip on the handlebars it gets really tiring. This bike shop I am going to tomorrow I will look around and see if they have anything that might work. The bike shops I have been in before don’t seem to have much of anything other then helmets, which by the way are required here. This shop had a wall of tires, and road type tires I saw when I walked in. When I got that tire in Esperance for the bike they had about six road tires and maybe twenty dirt tires of various sizes. I actually had to use a bigger tire because it would have taken a week or more to get a tire because of the Christmas /New years when most folks just take off and quite a few of the stores close down. I put on a 130/90 when it should have a 120/90. It fits but had to deflate the tire to get it back on the bike and then blow it up. I only got 7000 km out of that Scorpion and this Bridgestone trail wing 42 will not do even that well I bet. 

I sure like the little bike on the gravel roads especially when I have the bags unloaded. I ride it mostly between 100 and 110 km/hr. The speed limit is usually 110 but the bike seems to like 100 best and I am in no hurry. Those dirt roads sure are fun though, and no cops. So far I haven’t had to deal with cops pulling me over for speeding. I did get stopped a while back when I went by a check point and didn’t stop. The cops waved me off the road and I just waved at them as I rode past as I knew I had done nothing wrong and they didn’t make any sign that I should stop. They got in their car and followed me into a gas station and then asked why I didn’t stop. I told them if you wanted me to stop why didn’t you put up your hand and make a motion for me to stop? I guess they thought they were dealing with a mental defective, which they were, and just checked my license and drivers license and got back in their car and left. They were nice but not sure how it would be if I were speeding.  

I met several old fishermen when I was in the little harbors and bays. I’m not sure why they came up to me to talk but I guess that for some reason I looked like someone they could talk to. I’m sure they are different than the regular townie type folks after having spent their working days out on the water away from anyone for days at a time. One really cool old guy when I was in Port Kenny at the Pug was telling me about going through three waves where the whole boat was under water. He said it was nothing compared with what his brother went through when his boat was rolled under water but came up with the motor still running. He said his brother was the lucky one. He was glad to be off the water and sitting in the Pub drinking beer. Yeah, that has to be a more enjoyable life.

This is not the best photo for sure but you might get the idea of how long and thin this little kayak is. It was only maybe a little over a foot wide and maybe 16 feet long. The guy that was loading the trailer with his stuff said it was for racing in the surf. I am not sure what kind of racing that is but I wish I had gotten a picture if him as he was all chest and shoulder mussels. He wife was one of the best-looking Redheads I have ever seen. The little trailer was stuff with surfboards, boogie boards, some odd boards and even a nice racing road bike. These folks are serious about their sports. I like his little galvanized trailer that must do well when he is around salt water. I see lots of these little trailers being towed around. Some of them I see at campgrounds that have tents that fold out and attach to them and others that just hold their camp gear. Most are built for backcountry travel and some I see have been in the way outback judging by the mud and dust.

I have been listening to my little radio and have been hearing reports about the massive flooding and huge amounts of rain that they are having up in the north. Some of the roads are washed out and left travelers stranded. It sounds like the even the grounds around Ayers rock are all green fields and wild flowers. The camels and emus have gone other places so the tour guides cant show their tourists the wild life.

This is the most rain they have had since ’97 they said or the most in 30 years.  I understand that there hasn’t been any rain to speak of for three years and conditions were extreme. Any of you flower freaks out there that want to come see the flowers better get on a plane and hustle your butt on down here. It also turns out that it is getting smoking hot up there. I was listening to the news and they were talking about a fire that was roaring. Most of the western part of the country is under fire restrictions. I saw a lot of signs that said absolutely NO fires of any kind from Nov 1^st to April 1^st.

I just tried two new different kind of licorice and had to leave them out on a table in the kitchen area. Yuck, some of this licorice down here is terrible. None so far have any licorice flavor or the licorice flavor that is common back home.

My riding pants had a zipper failure on the leg zipper. Damn, I finally got them zipped up and found some fine copper wire that I stitched the darn thing closed. There for a while I was riding with one leg unzipped and flapping in the wind. I’ll be able to use them now but sure is a pain having to take off my boot to get my leg out. I guess this serves me right for taking my old outfit that has seem too many miles and been down a time or two as well. I looked over both my coat and pants and decided that they might need a little cleaning as well so I bought some detergent at the store and washed them along with some other grimy clothes I have been wearing. They have a nice little laundry here at this camp and clotheslines for drying. I was surprised at how clean they came out. 

1-6-09

I made it down  to the motorcycle shop and they had this little Post bike there. It was almost new. I asked and was told it is a 110cc and the Post uses them for two years and sells them. They have an automatic clutch and nothing ever goes wrong with them, they just keep going forever.

Here is that Zuki with the big 33liter tank.

Not sure about this but sure like the logo. 

I met Troy who was getting a new tire put on his bike. A really nice dude and we talked about a lot of things mostly motorcycle related. He is a wealth of knowledge. Big? Oh yeah.

Here he is back out on the road on his 1200cc Kowsucker. He said he had it up to 300km/hr out on the Nallobar...using the 6x comes out to 180 mph...!!!!

I took off and headed for the Flinders National Park but had to stop along the way to check out this nice collection of stripper header combines. They start with the oldest one and go on up to the newest. I really liked to see the progression and refinement as they went along.

This one is the first one that was tractor pulled. All of them are ground driven. The traction wheel keeps getting bigger as the machines get bigger and heavy.

I was looking at some of the strange equipment in a shed and met this guy and his wife. They are from the eastern part of the country and he still lives on the farm that his dad farmed. I had no idea what this machine was but he told me it was a chaffer. He had helped his dad use one when he was young.

It cut hay into pieces that were about an inch long by this whirling wheel with knives on it.

The hay is fed into the knives with these.

Here he is showing me how the chaff was bagged off. The chaff was feed to horses.

A nice old one lunger in the shed.

He said that the thing that stuffs the hay into the stationary baler is called the Magpie down here. I was told that it was called the Chinamen by my uncles. The loose hay is brought to this machine and you threw hay into the mouth and the chinamen stuff it down and the plunger compacted the hay. You had to hand tie the bales. The guy I met said he and his dad used one of these.

There is a little narrow gauge railroad line that follows along the road. I am not sure if they sell tickets here for that or not but liked the station with the palm trees.

On the road to the Flinders someone had lit the oven and turned it up to BAKE and slammed the door. It got really hot I thought. A woman at a petrol station said it was 37C degrees. Not sure what that is in F temp other than HOT…..

The Flinders is a range of mountains (really nice big hills by western USA standards).

This was the check in station where you pay. Notice the rainwater collection system. There were quite a few of these little stations that they had set up for information along the road and at the campgrounds. All with the rainwater collector.

Two dogs.

It was a really nice ride on pretty good dirt/gravel road. There were a few rough spots and some washboard but for the most part it was a good ride other than it was like riding through an oven.

There were a couple of washes that the road went through with nice trees.

This is the sign along the highway coming back into town. There is quite a population of Aborigines here and I guess they are trying to control the drug abuse that is often the case in these areas. It is sort of a touchy subject about the Aborigines but everyone says to beware. So far I sure have not had any trouble with anyone here and hope it stays that way. I think it is the same everywhere that you best look out for yourself and don’t do stupid things.