P.S.  ran across a good looking red dog in a sidecar in Newcastle this afternoon trying to keep her owner under control.

Not a chance!

nice and close to home shame ive got to work and be on call !!!  

keep warm you  lot, dr jurds works wonders,Ill be at the far cairn rally as long as all goes to plan

brrrrrrr

My first Alpine rally



"Leaving On A K Bike"
My tank bags packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here at the garage door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The bikes been started, billows of smoke is the norm
Already I'm so hungry, where’s my pie?

So kiss me and smile for me
I’ve done the splines and the brakes are sweet
My GPS will show the way to go

'Cause I'm leaving on a K bike
I’ve got spares so I'll be back tonight
Oh, babe, the clutch it just let go
 
There's so many times it’s let me down
So many times lying on the ground
I'll tell you now, I can fix anything

The shock let go, I think of you
The fuel pump froze, I sing for you
When I come back I'll sell the bloody thing
 
So kiss me and smile for me
I’ve done the splines and the brakes are sweet
My GPS will show the way to go


'Cause I'm leaving on a K bike
I’ve got spares so I'll be back tonight
Oh, babe, the clutch it just let go


Now the fork seals gone, there’s a hole in a hose
One more time, oh, start you bastard, shit!
An air leak is the last thing I need now

Dream about the days ride to come
When I won't have fix this bike on my own
About the times that I won't have to say ...

So kiss me and smile for me
I’ve done the splines and the brakes are sweet
My GPS will show the way to go

'Cause I'm leaving on a K bike
I’ve got spares so I'll be back tonight
Oh, babe, the clutch it just let go

But I'm leaving on a K bike
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a K bike
(stupid pump)
Leaving on a K bike
(Have you seen my 7mm allen key?)
Leaving on a K bike
(I need two 19mm spanners?)
Leaving on a K bike
(found my 10mm socket!)
Leaving on a K bike
(up to the dot eh? ok)
Leaving on a K bike
(it’s the side stand, the all do it)
Leaving on a K bike
(This seat is giving me an erection. It’s not the seat? I love these bikes)
Leaving on a K bike

Thinking "all the bikes are fine" and being told I really should take the Super Tenere to the rally as I've been riding and enjoying the 16v too much the last few months.  I thought last night that I should at least turn the Yamaha on and see if giving the battery a charge might be a good idea, I discovered a total lack of amps in the battery due to me leaving a phone charger connected inside the tankbag for the many months since I last rode it.

Battery stuffed, won't accept charge so the new battery is now sitting in the garage now waiting to be installed in the bike tomorrow.

i'll be there.

Al

still trying to pick myself up off the floor..          

the new forum theme song , will be waiting for Rossko's Ubertube version.
enjoy the weekend guys    

I went.
I saw a motorbike.
Stalked 2 new people.
It was cold.

I think my computer is playing up. I can only see 4 lines and no photos.
Is that it?
Iv'e been waiting all weekend for a ride report and photos. Did I miss anything?

As mentioned above, the water pump was replaced 2 days before and the night before I picked up my 2 new Shinko dual purpose tyres.
Off I went to the bottlo for supplies. They are obviously going to handle differently to the Demons but I was not expecting such a change. Scared myself a few times in the 4km round trip, I mean, what if I crashed and spilled my beer?
Shinko 120/80/18 dual sport dual directional front/ rear tyre.


Shinko 130/80/17 dual purpose dual directional rear/ front


And we start.


I had arranged to meet Gaz at Yass some time around 9. I pulled up in the street, looked at the phone, saw his Glympse and could see they were only a few minutes away.

Gaz had dragged along a few others it seems. Pick the brothers.


With the bikes parked up we headed off to the shop to stock up. It was a bit chilly so thought best to warm the gloves up.


Gaz


Rick and Pete. Pete was on a Honda so I didn't get many photos of his bike.


As we were camping, I bought a pint of milk, 2 cheese and bacon rolls, a can of lamb and vegetable stew and a packet of chips.
Rick and Pete bought the shop. Though I must admit the brie was very nice with the lightly peppered crackers.

And then time for coffee. Only the best for us.
I noted down the name Schorn so next time you are passing through Yass you will know which shop to avoid and find one with real man coffee.


Headed off on some wonderful roads including a lovelly little twisty bit leading down to the Murrumbidgee River. Would have been more fun with sport demons and not shinlos that have only travelled 300km on the centre strip of tyre. All good. Stayed upright.
Maybe someone more clever than me can post the route. google is not my friend when it comes to dirt roads. Seems to discount them.


And the camp site. This little hill would prove to be the easy one next morning.




Home sweet home.


Others at the 'bottom of the hill'
Not sure how they got out. 2 Very nice Laverdas, couple of Guzzis with chairs including one off road outfit that rocketed past me on the way out with the passanger doing his best monkey impersonation on the twisty dirt road. They were flying. Not sure where he sat. No seat that I could see.


To be continued. Despite my best efforts I could not avoid lunch with the inlaws.

Pics and history from past Alpine Rallies:
http://alpinerally.webs.com/

Nothing for this year yet, but its only a matter of time, or you can register and upload your own.

Al

sounds great ...and no snow ???   sweet

good to see you guys out and about ....

thanks for the pics rossko ...would loved to have made the journey ....was really trying hard to get things organised ...but fail
maybe next one for me

I think I passed RickG yesterday on my way down the Moonbies...he going up and another bike. I waved but he ignored me....probably because I was riding the Triumph.  

Yes I do recall a Prime mover with a chair attached but was busy trying to stay glued to the cop in a pajero who was speeding and only much later realized who it may have been.

Belated wave Hi Ya Schoorn

Well I've survived my second Alpine Rally but it was a long time between, 1981 to 2014.

Any of you who have read this thread will recall that I had a bit of a dilemma at the beginning of the week with weeping fork seal on the K75 so I decided to fit the seal kit to the K1100 water pump. Duly completed that job and applied oil and water on Thursday afternoon after work. My record of success on pump rebuilds almost immediately dropped from 100% to 50% so the K1100 was off the list.

Waz had suggested to me to try a seal cleaner to try to stop the leak on the K75 forks, so raced off to the nearest bike shop to obtain one and gave it a go. Dried off any oil and slipped the gaiters down and clamped the bottom really tight (thanks Waz).

Friday morning and I climbed aboard the loaded K75 and headed for the planned meeting place at Sandy Hollow to find the G brothers, Rick and Peter. I was only a few minutes late and Rick still had coffee in hand. He promptly assured me that he would guarantee the fork leak would stop once 280ml had leaked out so now I had nothing to worry about.

It was a great riding day down through the Bylong Valley, Sofala, Kelso, Oberon (good pie shop), Taralga and onto our overnight stop at Crookwell. Having had advice from RT on the choice of pubs Rick had booked us into the "correct" one. We were early enough to have time for some lubrication for the riders prior to feeding time.



and the palatial suites out the back!



However there was undercover parking for the bikes. Peter's Transalp, the well known pink K1100 and my K75.



Saturday morning was clear and cold with plenty of frost around. The boys had agreed to follow me along the route that I had plotted down to Yass where I had arranged to meet Rosskko and I wasn't sure if they would enjoy my approach to going places, being the road less travelled. I figure if there is a line on the map and I haven't been that way before then it's worth a go. I'm sure the G boys will agree that we had a great ride through that section with a mixture of really good sweeping bends, some narrow sealed country roads and a couple of sections of dirt road to give us some practise for later.

Rosskko had arrived just a few minutes before us in Yass and with the Glympse app showing our arrival he was out on the edge of the road to wave us in. Once fuelled it was time to relax with a coffee in the winter sunshine before heading down to the rally site.



We followed the route that I posted earlier on this thread which was down the Wee Jasper road and onto Mountain Creek Road then onto Brindabella Road along the dirt to the rally site. This weekend was my first adventure onto dirt with the K75 since I purchased it - suffice to say I had a ball along there; very happy with the bike and tyres.

Once camp was set up we needed to get a fire going and I have to report that Rosskko has probably edged out Smithy as our forum Fire God. Here looking very pleased with himself, although there is a rumour about that Rick sweet talked a neighbouring group into helping him out with some burning coals during the start up process.



Even though Rosskko was looking very relaxed about his fire I suspect that Rick was making suggestions about getting some bigger logs.



Some of those Queenslanders can't help showing off how tough they are even in cold southern conditions; check out Peter's stylish shorts, although we didn't make fun of him as he was preparing a plate of blue cheese and crackers to share around. Notice that Rosskko has taken notice of Rick and now has a bigger log on his fire.


As the night was looking like it might be cold we wasted no time setting about taking on board some antifreeze mostly of a red variety. The next morning I noticed that Rosskko must have tried putting some alcohol into his bike - I guess to help it start??



After a pretty cold night (I guess that is why they call it the Alpine Rally) some of us found out we had left our belongings outside the tent and of course were now covered in frost.



Rick was explaining to me that it really was warm inside his jacket despite the frost on the outside.



The presentation of badges was on at 9:00am and if you look closely at this crowd of well dressed gentlemen you might recognise a couple of good looking types towards the left (photo courtesy of Davorallyfan on the ADV forum)


Shortly thereafter the rush of bikes up the frosty grass covered hill, which quickly turned to a muddy hill, resulted in a bit of carnage. Rosskko braved it early on his new dual purpose Shinkos and with just a little encouragement from a couple of his friends made it out of the valley safely and away. Lots of others typically met this fate (again photo courtesy of Davorallyfan on ADV forum)


Rick and Peter were ready to go about mid morning and headed off while I was still wandering around packing (I was really delaying my attack on the slippery slope as I was heading west to Tumut in the opposite direction to the other guys).

About 12:30pm I was packed and had no more excuses to put off the hill climb but I tried to gain any advantage I could by letting the tyres down to 24psi and was able to hit the slope with some momentum as there were no other bikes going up in front of me. Much to my relief I was able to get out of the valley unscathed and headed west across what was supposed to be another 65kms of dirt road towards Tumut. There was a pleasant surprise when after 25kms of dirt I came out onto some brand new sealed road, so out with the compressor and inflated the tyres back to road pressures.

Had a great run up to Young where I stopped for the night. Left Young heading home at 8:00am Monday with the temperature a nice round zero degrees C. Safely home with about 1600km under the wheels at about 4:00pm.

Thanks to all for the great kompany and already looking forward to our next adventure.

nice trip gaz

thanks for the pics and travelogue

great to hear the k75 is getting you places 

do you notice much difference in the way that the bike rides ...compared to the lt ?

cheers

RicK G wrote:Yes I do recall a Prime mover with a chair attached ......

 A curious comment coming from a Z1300 owner!  


Great pics Gaz!
Looks like it ought to be a sidecar rally.

Charlie, the K1100LT and the K75 are totally different to ride from my perspective. Little brother is noticeably lighter and much more maneuverable in tight going and with the setup I have using the GS bars you can comfortably ride standing on the pegs which is good in the tricky stuff. Naturally it has nowhere near the grunt of the 1100 but it is not shy of high revs. Rick was telling me that the power curve continues to build right through the rev range.

On the other hand the K1100LT is plush in it's ride compared to the K75 (which is still good and remember I have the 1100 comfort seat on it).

Sean, the rally already attracts a good number of sidecars and I'm sure they love going around the fallen solos as they charge up the hill. This Guzzi may be the one that passed Rosskko on the dirt road out.
(photo courtesy of Davorallyfan on ADV forum)


Cheers

Saxon7 wrote:

RicK G wrote:Yes I do recall a Prime mover with a chair attached ......

 A curious comment coming from a Z1300 owner!  


Great pics Gaz!
Looks like it ought to be a sidecar rally.

first time i saw a djp sidey was at the alpine rally seanii ... was hanging off one of many black r bikes from the south aussie bmw club

back in 75 and 76

was a long time ago

thanks for the heads up gaz ...i can see why dave ( tackler)  likes his too

Saxon7 wrote:

RicK G wrote:Yes I do recall a Prime mover with a chair attached ......

 A curious comment coming from a Z1300 owner!  


Great pics Gaz!
Looks like it ought to be a sidecar rally.

I have never made any pretense about its size but it's more like a tractor

Stupidly created a whole post, post post to the previous post and managed to delete it. Taken 3 days to get over it.
Now where was I?
With the benefit of a late second post I get to comment on the posts of others.
Yes Gaz, that is the chair that went past me. If I had half a brain I would have asked for a ride when I passed them during a rest break. Next time. Only had one change of undies.

The Hill. Quite surprised my bike was not one featured having 'a lie down'.


I had tried all my tricks to get some magical fire and even Rick's old rego papers were not enough to coax some flame from the cold dead wood. Resorting to the old 'blow on it till I pass out' trick.
We had a fire. Courtesy of a hairy biker (not Rick G).
He strolled on over with his very special fire stick and said ' I hate to see a man on his knees blowing like that'
I said 'blow was a figure of speech'
He said 'come see me later'
Not sure what he meant, but I did find a shiny coin under my pillow.


Cheese? Yes there was. Enough to fit on two stumps. With lightly peppered crackers. And maybe a foreign beverage.
Not sure what Rick found in his sack. Cheese?


Wow. My deleted post was much better than this one.

This sign says Wombat Holes. For those familiar with the species, but unfamiliar with the size, I told Gaz I would give him $5 if he went down a wombat hole and double it if he made it out. Wombats don't like visitors. In all honesty I think Gaz and I could have gone side by side into that hole and still not touched the sides.

Said the vicar to the ... never mind


The amenities.
As close as I wanted to get.


So I went for a wander. Found a nice K1100 RS. Thought I better talk to the guy nearest and see if he owned it.
He did. Chris is his name. Owned the 1994 RS from new. Mentioned there were a few Ks just over there and he should come have a chat.
I may or may not have said 'you better come, I know where you live'
This is my second newest stalker buddy. Chris. And Rick, but everyone knows him


Camp fire perfection.


During the evenings activities there was a competition between to K1300s on who could make their bike stand on its own the best. This guy came second. Redline in each gear up to 6 and leave the bike where it stands. Idiots.
But it is a better shot of stalker buddy Chris in his BMW jacket.


The adventure machine.


So I packed my bags. And then packed the things I had forgotten. And then added the other things I had forgotten. And then talked to my second stalker buddy Lindsay who I had approached the night before and suggested he come visit our little posse, which he did and I didn't get a photo as I was a bit star struck as I had earlier seen Stalked #2 standing next to the event organiser, but Lindsay has an 83 RS in Klompy green and has owned it for 10 years and has never heard of the forum, but has lots of papers printed and stashed for away for Justin.

Then it was my turn for the hill.

I took my place in the line and waited. GS. GS. GS. GS. KGS (thats me with the shinkos).
I made a good start. By good I mean I did not fall off despite the best efforts of the bike.
Suddenly two friendly chaps came to my aid. Thanks Gaz and stalker boy. Bit of a shove and I was off. I mean up, not off.
I got to the top of the hill and took my place amongst the other valiant riders and thought 'time for a selfie'
Could not find the camera. Damn. Fell out of my bag. That hill is a once a year deal. No going back.
Unfortunately missed all of the spectacular scenery on the road out.
Next time, don't lose the camera.
I was sure I had it in my back pack. Oh, there it is. The road out. And surprisingly the road in.




The road in to the site was via Yass. Gaz said if I turned right where we turned right then that would be left from the oposite direction and that would take me to Canberra. The Nations Capital.
Guess who listened. Or got lucky.


I now want to say that this next little 7km stretch has to be one of the best bits of road in the state.
Scream up, turn, scream down. Repeat.



Takes you down to this. Murrumbidgee River below the Cotter Dam.


Then off to Mt Stromlo Observatory. The original burnt down in 2003.


Today


The view over the nations capital. It's ok. We don't think much of it either. Apologies Canberra Dave.


Parliment House and the $4,000,000 flag pole as seen at 70kph and a winter glove.


I stopped and took a photo. Cause I could.


Tarago railway station.
Cause I could.


So after this many kilometres I was home.


Not as far as some, but enough to do in a couple of days and know you have had fun and a good ride.

Shinkos.
I think I like em.
They seem very hard wearing. 700km and still had some of the little nippley bits on them.
At 110kph the blend in with the natural rhythm of the bike.
I have not ridden any kind of off road bike apart from the old RMs and XRs so cannot say how good the tyres are on the dirt, but they gave me enough confidence to have a bit of a go in the dirt.
On the tar they perform well round the bends all be it with a bit of a squirm that can be unsettling.
They will be coming off the bike now and I doubt I will use them again unless there is a good amount of dirt in a future ride. For $300 fitted I think you could do a lot worse.


Lastly, two small issues.
I am a fan of sheep having the poo scared out of them by a tooting horn while riding past. Sadly not this time.
I thought I had blown a fuse. Luckily I hadn't.


Secondly, a watch and act.



Top weekend. Thanks blokes.

Great ride reports and pics Rosskko and Gaz - they had me chuckling.
Sounds like a great adventure into the wilderness and you were all lucky to come out alive! 
Weather looked perfect - in the UK, we would call that a good summer.

Glad to hear your government invest taxpayers money wisely too (flagpole)

A bunch of pictures posted here (even Rossko)
http://alpinerally.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=15628038

Al

Secondly, a watch and act


I have a seal cleaner if you want to try it, my RT was weaping before Ninjagully so I cleaned it and it's still dry.

They don't write songs like that any more......

Waz wrote:Secondly, a watch and act


I have a seal cleaner if you want to try it, my RT was weaping before Ninjagully so I cleaned it and it's still dry.

I made one out of a plastic milk container, but really anything similar will do. Its just a strip of plastic with a rounded hook on the end to slide around the inside of the seal and pull out any dirt that has jammed in there.