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The JB500(2018)
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“There’s something wrong with my bike.” “Nah ... your arms just don’t work anymore.” Inver for ROTD for riding second day same pace (faster ?) than first day when all I could do was hang on to the bars. Day 1 - 9.5 hrs about 280kms A two day ride was planned so we made it for a Friday/Saturday (less cars on the Fri and gives ya Sunday to recover). Three solid days of rain that stopped on ride day made conditions PERFECT. Zero dust, great sand and coolish weather so easier on the bikes/riders too. Inver on his near new 450 (1200kms) thanks to the insurance company, Dazza is on a brand new 500 (200kms) and Adam on a 2 yr old Husky 501 (not a ktm ?). Added some extra armorall to the BRP so she wouldn't look too shabby alongside this lot. Didn't work. Inver to lead Quinns to Lano and dodge the morning roos with XRCass to go up front from Lano to Jurien once the sun is higher in the sky. All going well and making great time with Inver throwing in a few extra kms of track he found on a recce ride previous swing. Dazza gets his first ever flat - which is closely followed by his second ever flat. We're carrying 4 tubes, a patch kit, heaps of Co2 and a tyre changer (XRAdam) so no probs. A quick nod to the Seabird Tavern. 'Shall we stop for a pint?' is indicated by some hand signals and helmet nods but apparently its not on the agenda. Rain a few clicks out of Lano makes my day :) as I am the only one who opted to wear a jacket. It stops within a minute BUT I STAYED DRY !! Lano is about the mid way point and its after 1pm so we get a move on and take some of the many traditional tracks between Lano and Cervantes that we have all ridden over the years. Smiles all round and a bit of bike swapping takes place. I nearly flip Inver's new toy on a rocky section. Inver points the XR650 at a small but steep dune but instead of clearing it he buries the front end deep and nearly goes over the bars. 2nd attempt with more throttle and sitting way back and all good ! Bit of a break and photo op on the beach at wedge and time to strech the throttle cables on the sand highway heading north. Hard slog through some of the coastal stuff when we leave the beach and just getting into the groove of neverending left/right/left/right when a mob of emus decide they want to join us. Up close and personal with old manu emu at speed is new to me. Bit of contact with me and the bike (hip and shoulder stuff). He walks away ok but I tell ya this - he'll never fly again. We hit Hill river and the damn thing is flowing into the ocean so no way across. Only 8km short of Jurien and we have to double back to some tracks that will take us to the bridge on the main road. Running out of daylight so we make the call and take an easy cruise into town on the blacktop. And to the pub. Day 2 - 7.5hrs about 240kms (day 2 was a blur ... anyone want to write anything ?) Cheers boys for another great JB500 My new 500 is well and truly run in now. As XrCass said conditions on the ride where perfect. Day 1 you couldn't get any better and on Day 2 in the afternoon a couple of sections had dried out a bit but compared to the last couple we have done no where near as bad. Day 2 it was three up heading back on the bikes as xradam,s back was playing up and would have given him to much grief to ride back. Cass thought he would match my effort on day 1 and scored himself 2 rear flats. Luckily the boys had brought plenty of spare tubes and co2 canisters. The beach was pretty soft this year and didn't make much difference running up high or down low but at least this year we could get all the way through and not have any cliff sections to deal with. It amazes me how much rubbish is washed up from the boats,so much rope and floats and plastic Both Inver and XRCass did a great job of leading and we couldn't have done this trip without the help from Xradam partner Helen who drove up the support car carrying our much needed spare tubes:) XRCass sourced out great accommodation for the Friday night and it was just around the corner from the pub which was a bonus So again thanks for another great JB 500. I'll be back again next year and maybe we might get a few more takers Cheers DazzaM         |
