Farkleit SS1600 Muster Run

Farkleit

Premier Member
#1
WOW, cant believe how fast the weekend went bye. Tory and i started planning this ride back when the news of the Muster was first released. The planning was all about which route to is wildlife and cold weather being from QLD and the event in Parkes meant a lot of things to consider. Also the vast amount of roadworks ongoing between Brisbane and Sydney had to be looked into.
Eventually we decided it was best to sacrifice a little time due to roadworks than to risk wildlife and colder run down the Newell. As we both ride FJR1300 and get 500 plus KLM per full tank ( yeah mod in the filler) we decided to calculate on or around 420 to 450 KLM between fuel stops to allow for adverse westerly winds that come in around this time of the year. So the ride plan also needed to consider peak hour traffic in Sydney, working backwards from 1900 hrs (the time we planned to hit Hornsby to miss the traffic we had a depart time of 0830am to 0900am Friday morning.
We headed off around 0840am weather was fine and dry. First stop was Boambee (just south of Coffs Harbour,) smooth run with a bit of 110 limits as well. A quick drink fuel and southward bound to many miles of roadworks, why these takes so long who knows ...... but in a couple years we will be like it is between Sydney and Melbourne for sure. AS LONG AS NSW can get their act together. Eventually we made it out of the slow maize and hit the fast lane again. Rolled on into Heatherbrae (Raymond Terrace / Hexam area), it was at this point we added thermal under the pants and hooked up the home made heated vest to the bike as the next stop was Marulan and the possible coldest area we would ride through. The run down through Sydney was as planned hitting Hornsby right on 1900 hrs and out onto freeway. Arriving at Marulan in great condition and very warm, after we fueled the bikes we had a feed while stopped and coffee. The heated vest had been turned onto the low setting only a couple times and did the job a treat. As we left Marulan we ran through 2 areas of light misty rain, not much to speak of but in hindsight the best weather option the area had seen for a few days. We expected minus 2 degrees, instead we had 5 to 6 degrees. Things were just great. Down past Gundagai and past Tumbalong to swing off the freeway and head for Wagga Wagga. We had a planned stop at the rest stop at Borambola, Pulled up and laid out the swags under the picnic table roof area with the alarm set for 3 hours. When the alarm went off i thought i was dreaming at first but then the penny dropped we had to be mobile pronto. Packed up got dressed and packed the bikes at into Wagga we rolled for fuel (as a corner docket) We had 300klm to run and 4.5 hours to make it happen. Around Junee we located a couple Kangas but dodged them easily, it was smooth run into Parkes arriving at the BP just after 0730am Saturday. The funny part of this was that during the ride we had checked into Facebook at each fuel stop and Kimmie had a one point asked us our arrival time to Parkes at which my reply had been why, are you getting up to meet us? As fate would have it as we walked out from paying for the fuel Kimmie pulled into the servo and signed us off. Ride done. 1643klm and in the words of great riders. PLAN THE RIDE AND RIDE THE PLAN. and that is exactly how it went down. After a coffee and some breakfast we arranged an early checking with the Henry Parkes motor in. As fate would have it, The bike would not start after breakfast, Flat battery, but we had a jump starter with us. (well Tory did anyway, and that means i had one lol), Not sure why it had been fine all night and i had checked it before we left, put it down to "Shit Happens" anyway, Headed up to the motel, There were so many guys already there when we arrived but this was no race, as long as we were in Parkes prior to 12.00noon and our ride was completed within the 24 hour time frame we were good as GOLD!!
There was as Suzuki bike shop next to the Motel, i headed there for as battery, he didn't have one, but the guy started ringing all over Parkes trying to get me one. After 6 phone calls he says yep they have one. Great News, just so happened to the the local Yamaha dealer, ya think he would have called them first?? anyway he told me where they were and off i went. WHAT A GREAT SHOP the guys had, they could not have been more helpful, sold me the battery at trade price, told me wheel the bike round the back and gave me all the tools i needed to swap the battery over, made me a coffee to boot. Bloody good ol fashioned service. After this i headed back to the room and a shower, and a nap then ventured over the club for check in and sign off. All was good as was the company and greeting party (thanks Fatman and Lynne great Job)
The day was then filled with great discussions and stories from various riders. along with a great meal and evening session, although for me it went on a bit long as it had been a big day i wanted more sleep.

Sunday saw us up early for breakfast and pack up and then meet at the club for the ride out to the dish for the picture taking. From here we all went our separate ways.
And as much as its great to do the challenge and success of an IBA ride, its also great to take in the scenery and the local sights of some places. So here's the trip home.
We headed straight for Bathhurst Mt Panorama (where else would you go?) with a customary few laps of the track we then took time for a few photos and a quick look at the museum. From here we took a big loop up around Hill end to Mudgee back towards Ilford then over to Kandos. We had planned to stay at Rylstone but the pub at Kandos had a Motel as well, yes we had swags but the weather was supposed to be cold. and we wanted to ride the Bylong Valley Way. The Kandos Hotel has great rooms but SHITE FOOD!!. Anyway we awoke to MINUS 4 degrees, brrrrrrrr by the time we had breakfast and packed the bikes the fog had rolled in. Oh well we were here to ride so plug the heated vest in and head off. It was that cold the fog turned to ice on the visor and was hard to wipe off. AS much as it tried the sun would not come. But we kept going all the way to Sandy Hollow for fuel and a coffee. I came out of the servo to find a half flat back tyre, the servo had no compressor, i had 20lb pressure so decided to head onto Denman. here the servo helped out with some soap to find the leak, it was a tiny hole with nothing in the tyre, whatever it was had gone in and out again. Plugged the hole and off we went. Heading towards Gloucetser via Dungog and all the way to Walcha for a fuel stop. At this point we had not determined our exact final leg home, but we were planning waterfall way at least. So we headed to Armidale. We had seen the weather report of up coming rain but were hopeful it may hold off. As we rode i called ahead to Ebor Hotel and they had a room available, the run from Armidale to Ebor after dark could have been interesting and apart from a couple of kangas was uneventful arriving at Ebor around 1830hrs. Ordered dinner and unpacked. Although it took a while the meal was great, as was the fire and electric blanket on the bed. We arose to rain. (It was better than the minus 6 degrees the publican had predicted). As this was not going to give us any photo opportunities, we decided on the shortest way home, Up through Nybnoida into Grafton for Fuek and Breakfast. ( yummy Lambs Fry and Bacon mmmmm) and a coffee of course plus our last fuel before home.
It rained all the way home. The RST adventure jacket and pants were fantastic, arrived home warm and dry just after 1400hrs. We had ridden a total 3165 on the garmin, My new seat I had made for the trip was just the BEST, and "ERGO LONGHAUL" by John Moorehouse, 0419730589, this seat i picked up on the Wednesday before the ride, and i could have got back on and ridden another 3000 plus my bum loved this thing, best seat ever and locally made. ( John has said it will need 1000klm to break it in) well that was over the first ride and wasn't really needed to be broken it is was fantastic from the get go.
In summary my wife put up with hours of planning, but it was worth every minute. To Ride the first part in 24 then 3 days for the rest was also worth it. To my Riding partner and Fellow FJR 1300 PILOT another fantastic adventure, cant wait to do it all again. Cheers Tory !! :D:D:D Huge thanks to the guys from IBA Australia for all the efforts and making this inaugural Muster a HUGE SUCCESS!! thanks to all the fellow riders for your sharing of knowledge and inspiration to do it over again next year somewhere.
 

OX-34

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#2
Great report Brian.

A good going SS1600K to the Muster and a nice and leisurely few days home - with adventure and misadventure mixed in. Well done.

See you on the road..