2022 Scooter 1500 Insanity (with a nested Commonwealth Star SS1600K)

beefybrain77000

beefybrain77000

Active Member
#1
#1
Chapter 1 aka Prologue

It was another rainy day of early May 2022, another Blursday when I did not do anything worth storing in my memory cells hence it is just a vague recollection, and more of an impression on what really triggered me to plan this ride.

There are always some ideas, some projects, inspirations, that go through my mind. Most of the thoughts are just transiting through my head whilst motorcycle related ones are carefully stored. All in separate, “watertight containers” that can withstand the test of time and sprout after a random period of time, frequently with a semi-unexpected twist, or three.

This particular thought of doing the Commonwealth Star themed ride was sitting in my head for quite some time. If I had to make a wild guess why it sprouted when it did, I would probably blame the Covid-19 which had stopped me a few weeks earlier from riding the Anzac Day ride this year. Ok, so there was also me trying to justify my recent purchase of 2019 Yamaha XMax - a better, more economical way of doing what I like. After a few minutes of connecting all the dots, I decided to find a good town for the previously mentioned ride which in my mind - had to be Dubbo. There are a few reasons for the choice and the main one being that the star-towns can be picked up neatly, and once plotted on map, the route resembles the Commonwealth Star, at least my impression of it. Then the usual happened, I picked my satellite destinations which were: Molong, Forbes, Nevertire, Orange, Coonabarabran, Dunedoo, Gilgandra.

I am not sure if anyone ever experienced it, but when something is meant to be, it just fits nicely together. The total distance of the Star performance, per Google Maps, was 1,637 kms, and it was already servo-to-servo, with most of the stops, open non-stop. The initial plan was for me to ride to Dubbo a night before, stay there, wake up early and then do the ride.

A few days later, after an unsuccessful attempt of buying a “limited series” SS2000K sticker from NZ, I modified my plan to include my return trip to Central Coast which gave me 2000+ kms needed for the certificate (so I could get my bloody sticker!). After that, couple of nights later, TJ posted his report on the Scooter 1000 Insanity GOLD, then Hairymcsweary posted the Scooter 1500 Insanity certificate which made me think of the best combination of the certificates and what I really would like to do with my weekend

The final decision had been made – to do a Scooter 1500 Insanity on my 292cc XMax and nest Commonwealth Star SS1600K. One thing I am happy about, looking back, is that I was not aware that I don’t seem to be a huge fan of stopping so frequently during a long distance ride!

TBC. (I have to return to my real life, because this is not real)
 
Skidoo

Skidoo

Premier Member
#2
#2
Thanks for sharing, great read and congratulations Krystof.

Your right, sometimes things just come together and everything meshes during a ride.

Glad you got your sticker :D

A long range tank certainly reduces refuelling but the Commonwealth Star necessitates enough to put you off doing it again :rolleyes: Who though up that absurd ride :eek:

Looking forward to reading your next adventure :)
 
beefybrain77000

beefybrain77000

Active Member
#7
#7
Chapter 2, closely following Chapter 1, which informs you, the reader, about what really happened in between the start and moment I met Karl in person.

I don’t know what your best strategy is when you do a lazy 2,500kms, but for me, with so many planned stops (which meant it was going to take a loooong time) I decided to go for a very good night sleep beforehand with an early start. I also packed all the more or less necessary things, aome food, red bulls, water etc. the night before. It’s worth to mention I did read again the great article by Don Arthur about motorcycle fatigue which I always aim to adhere to (and really rarely do). So this time was no different – my gorgeous Wife convinced me to have a nice whisky before bed while watching some random movie. I had to make my decision very wisely here and objecting The Wife would not be counted as one, so politely dismissed the no-alcohol before your ride advise by Don Arthur.

To compensate for the alcohol’s dehydration, I had a nice glass of hydrolyte right after I woke up then started the bike, correction, my scooter, at around 5.00am, and rode to West Gosford – to my starting point. I checked the weather forecast a day earlier and there was supposed to be a not-rainy and not-too-cold day on The Coast, so .. The morning started with a drizzle, just to remind me we are still on the East Coast NSW, A.D. 2022. I followed M1, Hunter Express to Merriwa. Thankfully, it was foggy most of the way in between Gosford and Newcastle, because I would have to call the morning a very pleasant one otherwise.

After a quick re-fuel at Merriwa, I continued to my Dubbo hub where I got a very nice long black coffee, some ice-cream aka long-distance rider’s superfood. In the meantime, I managed to exchange a few texts with Karl who was supposed to be back at Dubbo after 3.00pm on the day and we thought it would be great to catch up. I had never met Karl in person, so it was supposed to be our first meeting. Despite me not wearing any make up, I was still hoping for the catch up to be fun

Anyhow – my first stop was Molong. A very scenic route via Yeoval, with a light drizzle, or two, on the way, but nothing serious. After the stop, I went back to the hub-servo at Dubbo. It is worth to mention I travelled via one of my favourite roads in NSW, the Banjo Paterson Way which has the Animals on Bikes art installation along the way, so if you had never been, it’s definitely something worth checking out. Banjo seems to be also quite good for the purpose of checking your vehicle’s abilities – it serves anything from nice corners (some with gravel), quite a few flat and windy parts, or quite a few stretches. A fun fact, tested “by a friend” on the beforementioned road, XMax’s top speed was on the day 135kph (per GPS) which, for a relatively tiny 292cc engine, made me grin a few times. I mean, made my friend grin a few times.

So back to Dubbo, then a quick dash to Forbes via Newell Hwy (A39), and back to Dubbo again. I have to admit that Newell was quite good despite a few nasty potholes, I luckily avoided, and some nasty asphalt deformations, which on one occasion allowed me to briefly enter our Australian airspace, on my XMax, without a seatbelt fastened but thankfully there were no stewardess around to yell at me for this unacceptable lack of compliance. Once successfully landed, I stopped to recover from a brief shock. OK, I didn’t stop because that would be a waste of time. Instead, I checked my texts once finished fuelling up at the same Dubbo servo, again.

Karl was 30 minutes away from Dubbo and we agreed that he would catch up and then he would pace me to Nevertire. I am not sure about yourselves, but I do not require a better incentive to go fast than a situation when someone is trying to catch up I am pretty certain that on the leg in between Dubbo and Nevertire my scooter grew an extra cylinder and, by doing so, got an additional 1HP because it was flying almost as fast as a Turbo Busa Enough said, Skidoo didn’t catch up and I had to wait for him at Nevertire. By the time he got into town I successfully managed to explore two local servos which were not serving anything kosher for my scooter. Just when I left the second servo I noticed Karl, riding happily on his awesome adventure bike with an extra tank allowing him to cross Australian continent without re-fuelling (honestly, a huge fan of the setup, Karl), casually starring at me. Once we greeted each other and I explained the fuel situation in the town, Karl rightfully suggested we would get a receipt from the local pub where he invited me for a coffee. Again, huge thanks, Karl, for both the receipt, and the awesome coffee!

OK, I have to go again, another chapter tomorrow, I promise!
 
Skidoo

Skidoo

Premier Member
#10
#10
Great read Krystof, you forget to mention I was going to meet you on the Newell but you were too slick for me.

I entered the Newell via a back road and missed you by minutes, I miscalculated your cruising speed. I had to backtrack to TomIngley, duck across to Narromine and head west to Nevertire.

Great ride mate.
 
beefybrain77000

beefybrain77000

Active Member
#11
#11
Skidoo said:
Great read Krystof, you forget to mention I was going to meet you on the Newell but you were too slick for me.

I entered the Newell via a back road and missed you by minutes, I miscalculated your cruising speed. I had to backtrack to TomIngley, duck across to Narromine and head west to Nevertire.

Great ride mate.
Click to expand...
Haha, I didn't want to reveal too many "performance-related" details, but thanks for sharing :D and for your kind feedback :cool::)
 
beefybrain77000

beefybrain77000

Active Member
#15
#15
Chapter 3, Nevertire to the end

Okhaaay, sooooo … where was I … oh yes, Nevertire. So I got the receipt from Karl and, already buzzing from the coffee, took a few photos of it with my speedo, both via Bubbler GPS app (I am a happy Android mobile user, and it comes with such great perks, unlike iPhones). So we had a great chat, firstly, with some very nice, random, people who took our table while we were buying coffees (despite Karl’s stuff all over the table). Then we had a chat with each other. It actually wasn’t raining, and the night was pleasant so we ended up having our coffee outside. I really enjoyed that Karl was really caring about my overall ride time, and he mentioned on several occasions, very tactfully, that we should go. From my humble experience, when one takes responsibility, the rest, me in this particular situation, does everything to avoid such a thing. We ended up chatting outside of the pub for what it felt like roughly half an hour, and then Karl offered to pace me. When he turned on his auxiliary led lights the road was brighter than during day! As a side note, I have to add here, that I got inspired by the setup and, on the following Monday, I almost ended up buying a set of two led lights from Aldi. There were on a special, for $79. After a lengthy assessment of the set though, I reflected my scooter would look quite unusual with these 2 x 9 inch lights installed.

We rode back to Dubbo, and, for the first time, I did not go to the same hub servo – we landed in the more conveniently located one on the opposite side of the same intersection. I have to admit that Karl’s efficiency was amazing, so to equalise the effect I had to take more time re-fuelling. My next destination was Orange and again, Karl kindly offered to lead the way down to Wellington (Australia). He also warned me about a mobile speed camera which frequently is popping up near Molong. By the way, I had seen the camera earlier that day and was very grateful that a truckie was blocking me in that moment.

It is funny how one can quickly get used to a great visibility at night. Once I waved Karl goodnight and continued on by myself. As I did not want to go down South via Mitchell Hwy, via Molong I took a turn left at Apsley to continue Burrendong Way. In this instance, it was not the best decision from a few reasons which had not been apparent when I did my quick desktop study before this ride. Burrendong Way in between Dripstone and Euchareena was a big mess with a few sections of roadworks with no asphalt, some gravel, and many, very dangerous, potholes. On top of that there was an unmarked speed camera on a corner of Burrandong St & Railway Parade, Mumbil which almost took me by a surprise while I was focusing on potholes and the pleasantly cold drizzle. Right after the speed camera, I spent 5 minutes at the local rail crossing waiting for a cargo train to move from A to B travelling 10kph.. At least the rain stopped which was great, but it got quite quickly replaced with a thick fog which, on the Burrandong Way, was quite exciting as I couldn’t see the local potholes anymore. I am not sure if you have a list of roads to avoid, but I do, and the road landed on 2nd place. It lost only to Lachlan Valley Way which I had ridden through on my big Harley Ultra Limited. The Lachlan is stretched in between Hillston NSW and Booligal, and back in January 2021, it was a mix of deep soft clay and gravel, plus, on the day, it was still wet after a heavy rain.. How come I did not drop my bike while sliding from one side of the road to another, I still do not know till today, and I blame magic for it.

Orange at 10.00pm that night was cold and very wet. It must have rained earlier on the day but thanks to my perfect planning skills I managed to avoid it. Once I re-fuelled, I decided not to take the same exciting Burrandong Way back to Dubbo, but took the Mitchells instead, which I had been trying to avoid while planning. Anyhow, this road was super pleasant, and despite more fog, it was a very pleasant return to the hub.

The last three destinations: Coonabarabran, Dunedoo, and Gilgandra were very pleasant weather-wise. The roads were dry, and other than Mendooran Road which was quite uneven, with a few potholes - it was a smooth ride there and back to the hub.

It was around 7.45am the following morning when I visited Dubbo for the last time, finishing my Commonwealth Star. I was extremely happy, and also grateful for the weather so far. It wasn’t too cold at night and I managed to avoid any heavy rain. Once I re-fuelled, high-fived my mate selling at the servo. I visited them 7 times in the last 24 hours, so he already recognised me. I got a delicious black coffee and some chocolate ice-cream for breakfast. I also called my wife to let her know everything was going smoothly and how awesome it was to meet Karl in person.

Just before I finished my nourishing brekkie, a heavy rain popped up out of nowhere, so I waited another 15 minutes for it to ease a bit. It must have been just a local cloud as I managed to get away after approximately 40 minutes of ride towards Merriwa. Then I had a quick stop at Merriwa and continued to Gosford to conclude my ride. The weather was great, no rain, and I finished at 1.10pm on Sunday, pumped and proud.

Including start and finish, I stopped 18 times for fuel, 2 times for brekkie, 1 time for a good chat with Karl, and 1 time to let that cargo train go. I believe that Dubbo is a great town for the Commonwealth Star ride’s hub, probably one of the best ones in NSW. The next time I decide to do Scooter 1500 Insanity, I will probably just focus on riding the one ride, without any special nesting including more stops. This way, on my XMax, I reckon, I can do it under 30 hours. BTW – I was going quite fast for that scooter yet still averaged under 3.3 l/100km for fuel consumption. Xmax’s tank capacity is 13 litres so it gives me almost 400km range, which is probably a few percent better than my H-D Ultra!

I would like to thank everyone who did read it patiently to the very end. Big thanks to Karl for the great coffee at Nevertire, patience, extra lights and pacing at night, and a great chat.

Oh, one more thing – the amount, on the receipt from Nevertire Hotel, for the two coffees, was $60. With only two items on it, the first one was $55 and the second one $5. I only hoped that the more expensive coffee was Karl’s

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Skidoo

Skidoo

Premier Member
#17
#17
I really enjoyed the read and your photos Krystof, it actually felt as though I was along for part of your ride :)

That was not an easy ride you executed on such a small bike. Well planned and executed mate in far from perfect conditions.

It really is inspiring seeing other riders out having a ball and pushing the limits, we’ll done!
 
beefybrain77000

beefybrain77000

Active Member
#18
#18
Skidoo said:
I really enjoyed the read and your photos Krystof, it actually felt as though I was along for part of your ride :)

That was not an easy ride you executed on such a small bike. Well planned and executed mate in far from perfect conditions.

It really is inspiring seeing other riders out having a ball and pushing the limits, we’ll done!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Skidoo, for your kind words! It was really quite a pleasant ride, for one executed on a scooter :D
 
Tele

Tele

Premier Member
#19
#19
Thoroughly enjoyable read of a very impressive effort Krystof. I find it hard to believe you didn't take the time to put on some decent make-up before meeting Skidoo. :D:D Very much looking forward to your continued long distance exploits!
 
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