Dusty Butt '10 SBC: Day 4 Alexandra to Fairlie

Sunday 17th January 2010

Second day of the DB1k

Set off with the Jatz's and The Boy.

The first pass was fantastic. I was blasting along and soon was well ahead of the Jatz's.

Quick stop in Cromwell and on to Thompsons Track.

Gate tag with TransAlper, but bike fell off stand and broke front brake perch.

TransAlper went on to catch up with others and I repaired brake perch with some wire. The fix lasted all the way back to Tauranga.

Didn't know about the pub at St. Bathans so continued on to Omarama. HoT and QOTH were waiting there and were very surprised to see me come in 6th on the 125cc machine.

On to Benmore where I forgot the lock code and had to throw bike over a fence.

Benmore back road was amazing.

Then out of Black Forest and along the straights to Fairlie.

Got back to the Gladstone Pub at 4:30pm. Talked with Woodman (RedKLR650) who had been there a while.

Back to camp for a shower and change of clothes.

Back to pub for a meal and spin shet/debrief.

Got to bed approx 11pm

Start Alexandra 12341km 07:50 hours

Finish Fairlie 12743km 16:40 hours

402km over 8:50 hours

Dusty Butt '10 SBC: Day 3 Fairlie to Alexandra

Saturday 16th January 2010

Started off on the DB1k approx 7:10am

See forum links here and here for general discussion and pics.

Travelled with Alane (XT600), Underground 2-up with Ms Underground (Africa Twin), and Mountie (F800GS)

Coffee break at Kurow.

Alane was great and slowed up for me so I could stay on route. Top man!

As a side note, it was great to watch Alane kick start his old 600. There is just something about kicking over big singles that I love.

Had a beer with Alane at Clarks Junction pub

Had to reweld exhaust header at Laurence. Alane rode on. This involved going to the local Video hire shop (of course) and asking to get my exhaust welded. Forty five minutes and $20 later and it was done.

Met the Jatz's just out of Laurence.

Had to find my way with no proper route information but did it. Wheel marks left by previous riders helped a lot.

Gave Shrek my front tube just out of the Lake Onslow Rd before the Serpentine to fix his front flat.

Chain came off on Serpentine right next to Racing Dave's abandoned NXR125.

Pulled in to Alexandra approx 8:30pm.

Brilliant day.

Thai resaurant with Jon24 and Aslan.

Start Fairlie 11700km 07:10hours

Finish Alexandra 12341km 20:30 hours

641km over 13:20 hours

Dusty Butt '10 SBC: Day 2 Picton to Fairlie

Friday 16th January 2010

Got off the ferry at 3:30 am

Rode out along the Port Underwood road for about 30 mins but was too tired.

Stopped and lay down on the side of the road to sleep for about an hour.

Rode on at 5:00am.

Exhaust header became detached just after Rarangi.

Lost 2.5 hours in Blenheim getting exhaust header welded up.

I now had to flag the idea of doing the Molesworth/Awatere section and just headed straight down along SH1

In Blenheim I also checked and topped up the oil, replaced a now missing engine mount nut and tightened up a bolt holding on the rear pack frame support.

Arrived at the Gladstone Pub in Fairlie 4:45pm. Met "XF650" and had a beer with him as others arrived. Great turnout at the Pub BBQ. Really good.

Got accommodation organised thanks to HoT. ($35 for Fri and Sun night) This saved me having to pitch my tent at the local camp ground.

Start Picton 11130km 03:30

Sleep 04:00 - 05:00

Arrive Blenheim 06:30

Depart Blenheim 9:10

Arrive Fairlie 11700km 16:45

570km over 13:15 hours

Dusty Butt '10 SBC: Day 1 Tauranga to Wellington

Thursday 14th January 2010

I rode off at about 8am and went via Waikaremoana, Napier, Masterton to Wellington.

Initially had problems with the kick start lever always flicking out at high speed.

Also, engine seemed to be running really hot. I removed the front mud flap and it ran a lot cooler.

Arrived Wellington 9:30pm

Caught the 11:30pm BlueBridge ferry to Picton

Start Odometer 10297km Time 08:05

Finish Odometer 11130km Time 21:30

BlueBridge Ferry: Midnight to 03:30

833 km over 13:35 hours

Dusty Butt '10 SBC: Preparation

OK this does not include the XT400 but it is one hell of an enjoyable adventure ride.

The Dusty Butt 1000km is to be held in the lower South Island this year.

There is a Small Bore Challenge sub group for those that do the ride on a bike with 125cc or less.

On November 10th 2009 I bought a '04 NXR125 off TradeMe from Gisborne for $900 with the intention of riding it down to do the DB1k SBC.

I did a bit of work on the bike to get it ready:

Replaced farm knobblies with Pirelli MT60's Fr and Rr ($170 from Coastline Honda)

Got rear rack welded up to take Top Box and Pack rack ($100 Wobbly)

Bought second hand indicators and 2 new lenses.

Replaced rear shock lower bearing and regreased swingarm bearings

Closed up tappet clearance from 10/7 thou to 5/4 thou

Checked and re-greased steering head bearings

Lubed the cables and freed up the throttle

Attached front bikini fairing properly

New front sprocket and chain. Used old alloy Rear sprocket off my CR (13 tooth front, 49 tooth rear)

Installed chain guard off my XT400

Bought spare tubes for puncture repair

Swapped out the standard cardboard air filter for two dish washing sponges.

Replaced the broken gear shift shaft.

Changed oil (Motul 3100)

Added an after market Front brake perch clamp that had thread in top for rear view mirror ($28)

Added rear view mirror from wreckers

Checked front wheel bearings.

Replaced rear wheel bearings

Checked and cleaned Fr and Rr Drum brake pads

Replaced front fork fluid

I ran out of time to pull the head and barrel off to check the engine out properly, so I just hoped it would be OK. It is basically an XLR125 engine with 10k on it so should be sweet as these engines have been truly tried and tested.

Work commitments really piled up near the time of the DB1k and I actually posted in the forum saying that I wasn't going to be able to make it due to stupid workloads.

However, I managed to do a lot of trouble-free productive hours in the lead up to the DB1k and amazingly was able to depart in time to get there after all. I was a bit disorganised as a result, but at least I got there.

The NXR weighs 123kg with 2 litres of fuel on board

When fully loaded up :

Tank bag 7.5 kg

Rack pack 13 kg

Top Box 12.5 kg

it weighs 156 kg. With a full tank I guess this goes up to about 165kg.

Then I sit on it and it is 267kg rolling along the road.

At DB1k I lose the tank bag and top box resulting in a bike weight of about 136-145kg depending on fuel level.

BMC: Overview

Start 53943 km

End 58392 km

Total Distance = 4449 km

The best day was from Fairlie to Invercargil. The strong wind made the high gravel passes a really fun challenge. Combined with the magnificently scenic visual impact it was a totally exhilarating day.

Otago and Southland have many roads suited to adventure riding, with amazing scenery. Hopefully I will get to travel a few more of these roads in the future.

The XT400 did not miss a beat. All I did was fill it up with gas and oil the chain. I did check the valve clearance on one valve but it was fine. I really need to clean the air filter now!

If I do another trip like this, I will sort out a better, more comfortable seat. My sore bum was the only really limiting factor that I struck during this little adventure ride.

Petrol Receipts

I kept all of my petrol receipts just to gather a bit more information.

Here they are:

25 Nov 08:22 Shell Riverslea (Edgecumbe)10.13 litre 95 octane 208 km $17.51

25 Nov 12:18 Shell Wairoa 11.65 litre 95 octane 227.5 km $20.37

25 Nov 15:58 BP Connect Taihape 14.08 litre 98 octane 264 km $25.76

25 Nov 18:04 Caltex Woodville 6.07 litres 95 octane 123.2 km $10.50

25 Nov 20:05 Faulknors Mobile Masterton 6.31 litres 95 octane 117.2 km $10.84

26 Nov 02:30 Ferry crossing $73

26 Nov 7:27 Geoff Noad Energy Centre (Blenheim) 8.5 litres 95 octane 178.5 km $14.78

26 Nov 10:36 Caltex Kaikoura 12.56 litres 95 octane 133.1 km $12.56

26 Nov 14:06 Lewis Pass Motors (Springs Junction) 11.66 litres 95 octane 220.3 km $22.27

26 Nov 17:39 Springfield Service Centre (Caltex) 13.93 litres 95 octane 266.8km $24.77

26 Nov 20:12 Fairlie Gateway Top 10 holiday park. Accomodation $60

27 Nov 10:40 MGL Caltex Fairlie 9.87 litres 96 octane 180.1 km $17.26

27 Nov 12:55 Kurow Caltex ?? litres 91 octane 125.2 km $9.82 (1 litre oil $10.95)

27 Nov 14:42 Danseys Pass Coach Inn (Beer and toasted sandwiches) 23.50

27 Nov 15:16 Challenge Ranfurly 5.05 litre 95 octane 100.6 km $8.94

27 Nov 18:33 Mobil Gore 11.07 litre 91 octane 192.1 km $18.36

27 Nov 19:30 get to Oreti Beach.

29 Nov 10:38 Kingston gas Ltd 12.74 litres 95 octane 225.1 km $22.67

29 Nov 13:29 Cardrona Pub (Beer (Pint of Speights)and pasta of the day) $25.50

29 Nov 14:09 BP 2GO Wanaka 8.9 litres 98 octane 171.2 km $16.82

29 Nov 15:15 Johnston Motors Haast (Caltex) 10.43 lites 95 octane 184.2 km $20.02

29 Nov 19:21 BP Hokitika 14.68 litres 95 octane 274.1 km $26.12

29 Nov 20:27 The duke Backpackers $40 accomodation

30 Nov 10:19 BP 2GO Westport 7.45 litres 95 octane 139.1 km $14.07

30 Nov 14:29 BP 2GO Westport 11.39 litres 95 octane 223.5 km $21.52

30 Nov 15:49 Murchison Tearooms (Ham roll) $6.10

30 Nov 17:30 StarMart Bishopdale (Caltex) 11.73 litres 95 octane 218.0 km $20.40

30 Nov 20:47 Rumba cafe Picton Coffee and pasta $19.50

30 Nov 22:30 Ferry crossing $73

02 Dec 11:24 BP Connect Levin ?? litres 239.2 km $21.82

02 Dec 14:40 Caltex Raetihi 9.47 litres 95 octane 202.8 km $16.76

02 Dec 18:35 BP Connect Te Puna ?? litres 280.1 km $23.68

BMC: Day 8 Wellington to Tauranga - Home.

Wednesday 2nd December 2009

Departed Wellington approx 9:00am

Rode to Wanganui and went along the Whanganui River to Pipiriki. Then over to Raetihi.

After so many miles on the bike, my bum was starting to ache. Usually the ache went away when i got onto gravel roads as I have to continually shift my body weight around on the bike to maintain good steerage. However, I had got to the stage where it was really quite sore.

I did have more adventurous plans to go elsewhere, but due to my aching bum, I decided to take the main roads straight from Raetihi to Tauranga.

I stopped off in Oropi for 15 minutes to see Dave's very recent purchase, an NSR250, and then home to Whakamarama.

Google maps link

Depart Wellington 9:00am odometer 57800km

Arrive Home 5:15pm odometer58392km

592km over 8.25 hours.