MIKE PULLS A MISSION ON THE RUN HOME!
Hi Clubby: Just a short note to say I am safely back on the Sunshine Coast after a great week with the Tragics. Again I would like to thank Tania and yourself for the organisation of the event.
Like you I had just left from Broken Hill on Monday morning when we gathered with Neil (TT #37) at the servo at Wilcannia. I intended to make my way to St George but upon leaving the servo decided to make it a run back home in keeping with a 'Longest Day' theme. Although behind the eight-ball to start with, I managed to turn in a respectable run, covering the 1,680km in 18 hours and 5 minutes to arrive at my front door at 12.45 am on Tuesday morning.
It was raining from just outside of Brisbane and road works also impacted on my time, along with two motorcycle police who ranged up beside me as I made my way over the last 100km. The lead rider looked at his GPS and looked at me and in the dark I assumed my best 'What's up, Officer?' look while slowly dropping speed. No ticket, which was just as well, as I did not want any questions about my number plate, which is still in the Flinders Ranges somewhere!
On the way I managed to avoid six emus, three kangaroos, three pigs and a possum, who all seemed intent on stopping my ride. I am now starting to develop a theory about the 660 Tenere's exhaust note, as it seems to attract emus, having already hit one on a previous trip. Being a safety issue, I was going to write to Yamaha and ask them to recall all the 660s and have them fitted with Akrapovic pipes (at their expense) to change the note to a rumble to keep our feathered friends at bay. What chance do you think I have !!!!
The thermo cooling jacket that Wolfy from AdventureMoto.com.au so kindly donated as a prize on Saturday night proved to be a god-send and I had it on all day until I hit Goondiwindi in Qld at 7pm, where I might had I was as fresh as a daisy. I refreshed it in Cobar by just dipping it back in water and away I went again. I will be sending Wolfy a full report, as I think he is on to something with this. To give you some perspective, when I stopped for fuel I did not even bother opening up my Dririder on most occasions, instead just keeping the jacket's vents open.
Well, I hope all the other Tragics and yourself made a safe return to the roost and look forward to the next instalment of Tenere 'cafe latte' adventure riding.
--Mike Ruoso, Tragic #19
Bloody hell, Mike, that is an awesome effort! 1,680km in just over 18 hours is the stuff of legend, in fact, it's truly Tragic! Thanks heaps for reporting in and thanks also for the feedback for Steve at AdventureMoto: please do fire him an email as he certainly appreciates all feedback on all his products. As for the XT660Z muffler exchange program, well, you can try ... but mate, don't hold your breath! As for losing your rego plate, well, at least you can console yourself you were not the only one to suffer this fate on the new XT660Z: you all needed to shift the rego plate higher up directly under the tail light where it is less susceptible to roost off the back wheel and/or bottoming out on the rear tyre when you G-out on creek beds and dips on the high-speed roads that litter the Flinders. Anyway, thanks again for coming along and looking forward to seeing you next year.
-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1
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