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Bermagui Shed Weekend, 10th,11th and 12th December

Started by oldktmdude, October 31, 2021, 05:58:50 AM

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oldktmdude

   G'day everyone, the annual Bermagui FJ shed weekend will be held on the 10th, 11th and 12th of December 2021.
As usual there will be a limited number of beds available at Alf's place and my place, first to respond will get a bed. Camping
in our backyards and motel accommodation is also possible. The usual activities, meals, ride etc will apply and as a special event
for this year only, we thought we might have a beer or two as well.
Hope to see you then. Regards, Pete. :good2: :drinks:
1985 FJ1100 x2 (1 sold)
2009 TDM 900
1980 Kawasaki Z1R Mk11 (sold and still regretting it)
1979 Kawasaki Z650 (sold)
1985 Suzuki GSXR 400 x2 (next project)
2001 KTM 520 exc (sold)
2004 GasGas Ec300
1981 Honda CB 900 F (sold)
1989 Kawasaki GPX 600 Adventure

ribbert

Quote from: oldktmdude on October 31, 2021, 05:58:50 AM

  ....as a special event for this year only, we thought we might have a beer or two as well.
Hope to see you then. Regards, Pete. :good2: :drinks:


Haha, about time! Looking forward to it Pete.

Should be a great ride that time of the year, just before the silly season.

Noel
"Tell a wise man something he doesn't know and he'll thank you, tell a fool something he doesn't know and he'll abuse you"

Troyskie

Sorry fellas, I'm out. I've the work Chrissy party on  :sorry:
1984 FJ1100 Ms Effie brand new :)
1984 FJ1100 Pearlie, stock as.
1985 FJ1100 Mr Effie 647,000K and still running hard.
1985 FJ1200 'Yummy' takes a licking & keeps on ticking
After all is said and done, more is said than done :)
2013 Trumpy Tiger 800, let's do a lap of Oz

Sparky84

Quote from: Troyskie on November 02, 2021, 04:49:15 PM
Sorry fellas, I'm out. I've the work Chrissy party on  :sorry:
Again.....  :empathy3:

Pete, I'm a maybe and usual spot if it's there.
1984 FJ1100
1979 Kawasaki Z1300
1972 Honda CB750/4 K2

ribbert

Quote from: oldktmdude on October 31, 2021, 05:58:50 AM

G'day everyone, the annual Bermagui FJ shed weekend will be held on the 10th, 11th and 12th of December 2021..... as a special event for this year only, we thought we might have a beer or two as well.
Hope to see you then. Regards, Pete. :good2: :drinks:


As usual, a great weekend in Bermagui, our hosts Alf and Gayle kept us fed and watered and generously offered their home as accommodation for anyone looking for a bed.
Numbers were down a bit for various reasons but it didn't dampen anyone's spirits. An excellent ride on Saturday followed by a BBQ, a few quiet ones and solving the world's problems, by late evening we had fixed them all.
I had let the full rego lapse on my FJ a while back and because of the lockdown, I was unable to fulfil all the requirements for historic rego in time for the ride so it had to sit this one out. It will however be in good order in time for the rally.
It's two weeks before Christmas and supposedly the middle of our Summer. The photos below show midday temps of 5.5 C through The Snowy's, a forecast rainfall for Bermagui of 120mm (5 inches), of which I believe 100mm arrived and there was still snow over Kosciusko.






There were plenty of route changes due to road closures, damaged crossings, washed out bridges, water over the road etc as there had already been much rain in the weeks leading up to this particular deluge and the ground was already saturated.
On one such detour I found myself on a 37 km stretch of dirt that was in fact clay, the entire road, one end to the other, hard clay, soft clay, boggy clay, nothing but clay and it was raining!!  Surviving that is a story in itself but at one point I found myself between a short uphill clay bog and a washed-out creek crossing. I got through the clay with a combination of momentum, a whisker of throttle, skating heavily on both feet and picking the deepest tyre track, if it had been just a metre longer I don't think I would have made it, the bike had virtually run out of forward speed but with the back wheel still turning, just as I crested it. There is no way I could have turned around and gone back down it without dropping the bike, as it would have required brakes. The condition of the road showed it hadn't seen a vehicle for a long time and had I fallen, it could have been a long, miserable walk.

The bog below is not the afore mentioned hazard but one of a dozen or so smaller ones along the way on parts of the road that were obviously used.




It appears farms were accessed from each end of the road, leaving a stretch of some distance in the middle that was between the last farm in each direction, which is where I was, a sort of no man's land that showed no evidence of vehicular movement for a long time.
So, forward being the only option I tackled the causeway. The gravel had been washed away from where it butted up to the concrete crossing and was quite deep. I spent half an hour finding and throwing rocks into the void until it looked about 6" deep and wide enough not to collapse with the bike's weight and the lip on concrete not high enough to deflect the front wheel or lose all my forward speed or traction.





If the bike became too slow or unstable there was nowhere to put my feet down so a reasonable amount of forward speed was essential but no so much it would cause me to bounce if a bump was too severe.
So, with plenty of revs and clutch slip and what I considered to be enough forward speed to get me through I went for it and made it.
The clay beyond was so difficult to ride I forgot my triumphant crossing almost immediately and returned 100% of my focus to the task at hand, staying upright on the clay.
The tyres had become solidly packed and were effectively treadless and the clay was so slippery that at times all it required for the back wheel to lock up and start sliding was to close the throttle and start the bike drifting down the camber with some opposite lock and feet skating along the ground, engine braking being enough lose traction. I normally love dirt but this was way beyond any sort of fun. Anyway, by some miracle I survived. I don't believe I've ever been so glad to see bitumen.
Some time later after re-joining the bitumen and after 12 hours or so in the saddle and within smelling distance of my destination, I was aware of becoming fatigued, I thought that awareness was enough to safeguard me from the effects of it, that was until I found myself overtaking a string of cars at high speed around the outside of a corner and the realisation suddenly hit me that the roads were wet, a fact my tired mind had momentarily failed to take into account.
Thank God for good rubber, I was leaned over way further than I would have chosen to in the wet.

Many world class roads followed over the next few days and I was rewarded with stunning weather on the trip home, it was a great ride. Down the coast, inland from Pambula, Bombala, Jindabyne, Kosciusko, Khancoban, Beechworth, Mt Buffalo, Bright, Whitfield. Mansfield, Yea......home.







My wife thinks I don't eat well on the road. I guess that depends on your definition of "well"....
















Klavdy, as many of you know is well travelled on a bike but still raves about these roads. Not only are they technically brilliant, they're virtually traffic free and billiard table smooth, that's what sets them apart.





The Metzeler 01 SE's stuck like glue, wet and dry which these days is no surprise, performance for modern tyres seems to have shifted more towards wear characteristics.
2512 kms for the weekend with a variety of conditions rarely experienced over a such a short time. It certainly felt further.

It was great to catch up with everyone.

Great stuff indeed!

Noel

"Tell a wise man something he doesn't know and he'll thank you, tell a fool something he doesn't know and he'll abuse you"

Old Rider

Great reading and nice pictures Noel .That must have been a great adventure and good riding training on those roads with no dirtbike tires. (popcorn)

Millietant

Brilliant photo's and narrative Noel..........made me wish I was riding with you...........on a Super Tenere with knobbly tyres  :sarcastic: :sarcastic:
Dean

'89 FJ 1200 3CV - owned from new.
'89 FJ 1200 3CV - no engine, tank, seat....parts bike for the future.
'88 FJ 1200 3CV - complete runner 2024 resto project
'88 FJ 1200 3CV - became a race bike, no longer with us.
'86 FJ 1200 1TX - sold to my boss to finance the '89 3CV I still own.

T Legg

What a beautiful country . I've had nasty trips through mud and clay where you are just happy to make it back out         but I was on my dirt bike or driving my four wheel drive international scout.
I remember a conversation a while back on this forum when a member wanted to install knobby tires on his FJ and we were both of the opinion that traction was far more important at speed on pavement and street tires would be fine anywhere you would take an FJ but I geuss there are exceptions.
T Legg