Aus Black Ariel rally

[Eero.Korhonen]

Hi,
You have to have duct tape always with you.
Once I bought brand new tent for rally and in the first
night there was a hole in the bottom, stick in ground.
Nice pics.
Br, Eero

[brett.hayhurst]

Makes the trip all the better having people like that. Enjoy your time, it all goes so quick.

[brenton.roy]

We've had a crap day that has turned out really well.
The primary chain just got worse and worse. Bits were falling / vibrating off the bike - really! It got so bad that it broke a bracket, flapped and rubbed through the chaincase. The chain was riding up the clutch sprocket about half a tooth.
When i tried to adjust it, it looked fine until it was under load, then it tightened up and almost brought the bike to a standstill.
i bought a new chain in Broken Hill, but had to travel the 500km from Cobar, knowing it was stuffed.
What we did was to slipstream. I was able to sit close behind Simon and the VH on low throttle and low load on the chain.
New chain = different bike.
We were able to slipstream a road train for a fair bit of the way this afternoon (whee!) and have got to Olary.
Today was old speedway day. The motorbike shop where I bought the chain turned out to be be owned by the bloke who bought my first speedway sidecar - and he still has it. The pub we're at - carefully chosen by fading light - is owned by a "swinger" (passenger) who raced speedway with Simon and I in the early '90's. photo's on the wall and all.
It's a bit sad. Tonight is the last night of metho cooked rice and beans. Apparently we're using about 1 1/2 litres of red a day.. This'll probably have to slow down as well..
Back to work and a normal life...

[Paul Slootheer]

My goodness Brenton! Conditions where realy severe I guess. That primairy chain was at most 500 KM ''old'' when the bike came to yours! Hope it did not do any damage to the bearings?
All the best with the last stage of your trip!
Cheers, Paul

[brenton.roy]

Hello Paul, yes it was a good quality chain as well. I've replaced it with the same.
I think it was that I put the ball bearing back in the breather - which would have made it run dry.
The bearings feel ok.
Thanks for the good wishes. We're a bit quiet this morning and pretty well ready to go.
Regards to everyone who has wished us well from Simon and myself.

[barry.swanson]

...hi Brento, been lurking in the background and watching your adventure with interest... good on ya, but I think you're both bloody mad

[adrie.degraaff]

Well done, you never know wich parts to bring with you on such run.

[brenton.roy]

We are home - well I assume Simon is, having travelled 4100km and learned heaps.
Both bikes did brilliantly. We had a great time and met wonderful people.
Today's highlights included a cracked fuel line, head winds and rain. All the better to enjoy being home, dry and warm.
Thanks for all the great comments. We really appreciated them.
We took some video.if I can figure out how to, I'll have a go at putting a little online.

[brenton.roy]

This was in northern New South Wales. It's not of anything special, just a nice bit of road - I've never uploaded to Youtube before, so I hope it works.

[nevhunter]

Cracking along for a rigid frame. My Indian has a swing arm back end that actually works. It is the only reason I built it for the "long" trips. Bet you were glad to get off it at the end of the run. Nev