OzSTOC
OzSTOC Ride Reports, Pictures & Videos => RIDE REPORTS => Topic started by: STRay (Roo Killer) on August 05, 2012, 03:10:40 PM
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All was going really well for Border Run 2012. All my farkles tested and working fine last weekend ( except the CB radio, which also has Dale a bit stumped ). I left Perth on time at 15:00 and had a good quick run out and over the hills. Saw the sign left out wishing us all a safe ride.
The first lot of rain hit me about 25k before Southern Cross where I had my first fuel stop. Only a quick stop as it was still persisting down. The temperure started to drop on the run thru to Norseman, so I thought it might be a good time to test out my new heated clothing. Wrong, dead as a doornail and it worked fine when I tested it all last week. Another stop to strip bits of the fairing off to make sure nothing was unplugged. Everything looked fine so I gave up and carried on. I bit of thinking music and a couple of hundred more kilometres and it hit me why it was not working. The heated clothing uses a wireless controller, the transmitter is in a fairing pocket and the receiver is in a pocket in the heated jacket. Right next to and directly between them was my mobile phone with bluetooth, GPS etc enabled. Must have scrambled the signal and the transmitter and receiver were no longer paired. Bugger, I didn't bring the instructions on how to pair them again. Oh well looks like another chilly Border Run coming up. Another quick stop at Norseman for fuel and on the road again.
It was still quite cloudy, but a nice clear but cool night. The HID spotties were picking up the roo's in plenty of time. There were literally hundreds if not in the thousands that I saw on the run thru to my "favourite" stop, Caiguna. The HID's were doing their job really well, I stayed in the centre of the road and they all ran for the bush. Thank heavens for my MCCruise cruise control, it kept my speed at a constant 110k. It is far to easy to be doing a lot more without realising it on the ST's.
Another lightning fast stop at Caiguna, and off again. Still hundreds of roo's around. I figured I had less than 3 hours before sunrise and about 3 and a half to the border. By this stage I was about 20 minutes ahead of my plan, so I figured a good breakfast at the Border Village would be a good change to my plan. Then.......................................
Aprroximately 32k's east of Caiguna I noticed something different. Up until now all the roo's were grey's and behaving themselves. My spotties picked up a "red" which did not behave. I grabbed a real strong handfull of front brakes, stood on the rear brake pedal and the ST was trying to throw me over the bars, it was stopping so rapidly. ( It is the non ABS version ), But not rapidly enough. I think little red and myself were thinking the same thing at this point, Oh Sheet!!!! Then the sound of crunching plastic and the face of the roo about 300mm from my face as it nearly came over the screen. Adrenelin really kicked in as I had a bit of a "tank slapper" going ( not fun when you are my size on an ST ), but I managed to somehow keep the bike upright.
Stopped the bike and thought, what the hell, all my lights are still working. I also noticed bits hanging where they shouldn't. Went back to look at the 'roo, anyone for roostew? He was cactus. Half my front guard was torn off and the impact knocked both the mirror covers off. I stuck 'em back on and had a bit of a look over the bike. No fluid leaks ( that I thought at the time ). The rear half of the guard looked like it was still firmly in place, so I left it on.
The bike still looked OK, so I thought I could still do my SS2000m. I climbed back on and continued on. By the time I got to the next roadhouse my right shoulder was really starting to hurt, so a few quick calculations and I decided no Border Run or SS2000m, it was only about 70k back to Caiguna or 300k to Border village ( the next roadhouse that was open ). So I did a U-turn and headed back to Caiguna at about 75kph as I still was not sure of the bike condition and it just did not feel "right". All the way back everyone was flashing their lights at me and I was only on low beam. Turns out the impact had pointed my headlight somewhat higher than normal. I got to Caiguna and used their lights to lok the bike over and adjust the headlight as low as it would go. Had a lousy cup of coffee and it was sunrise. I figured I better get going, I don't want to be stuck at Caiguna for few days. Daylight now and the bike feels ok, but not 100%. Took a chance and cruised at 110k to Balladonia. Arrived there in reasonable time and wlked inside to get breakfast. I walk up to the counter where before I said anything the girl behind the counter asks , " Did you hear anything about the motorcyclist that hit a roo early this morning? I hope he is OK" Talk about the bush telegraph working overtime! I answered " Yeah he's fine, the bike not so. You are looking at him" The look on her face was priceless. Met a few other riders heading out, had a bit of breakfast and carried on to Norseman so I could make a few phone calls. Refuelled, made a couple of calls and carried on to Southern Cross. By this stage MCCruise had really paid for itself, if I had to hang on to the throttle I would not have even made it to Balladonia, the pain in my shoulder was getting quite bad by then, but I was able to do lots of "exercises" while riding and keep it moving.
That was a long 350k to Southern Cross, Only 360k to home, Yippee! Refuelled again, and answered the calls I had missed ( thanks guys ) Carried on after a while something just did not feel right with the bike. All of a sudden a parking area showed up without a sign so I grabbed a handfull of brakes and found the first problem. When I really grabbed the breaks when I found skippy, I was pulling on the lever so hard I must have "popped" the seals in the front calipers.
When I stopped I also noticed one of the bolts holding what was left of the guard had fallen out and the guard was wedged between the mount on the forks and my lower fairing, I basically had no steering!! I had spnners on board, so I thought I would just remove the other bolt and guard and carry on, Wrong again. A ring spanner would not go on, I needed a socket and didn't have any. OK, only one way out of this try and tear it off. That was easier said than done but, achieved. By this stage I had also had the offer from Malcolm6112 to hook up his trailer to his car and come and get me. WOW, what I community we have going here! I figured I could now steer and my brakes were still working, just not as good as they should, so I thought I have come this far I might as well finish this thing.
Got going again, and guess what. It started pelting down with rain. I actually burst out laughing at this stage as I figured what a fitting way to finish this ride, and it rained most of the last 250k back to Perth. I arrived home me still in one piece, the bike in several at about 19:20 last nite. 27 hours in the saddle, 2338k in total, 1121k when I met skippy and after doing lots of maths in my head, I still could not even document an SS1600k. The only option I had for one, I missed by about 10 mins! Received another phone call from Brock with offer of help, and and had a very long hot shower, climbed into bed just after 20:00 and woke up about 10:00 this morning.
Unfortunately no pics, as the ones I took did not turn out very good and the only usable one is about 6.5Mb. The shoulder feels a lot better this morning, the bike doesn't look any better tho!
:dred11
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Ah well, could have been worse. Rest up today, plenty of fluids and light exercise to keep the shoulder from freezing up..
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Rest up today, plenty of fluids and light exercise to keep the shoulder from freezing up..
That was my plan to the letter!!!
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Great story there Ray, and what an effort to get home!
I am sure everyone will agree that if there is anything you need or help to find or fix our hands will be rised to help out.
Very glad you at both in relatively one piece, just proves what an excellent bike the ST1100 is :thumb
And big kudos to Malcom & Brock for being prepared to go above and beyond :hatwave
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Great story there Ray, and what an effort to get home!
Very glad you at both in relatively one piece, just proves what an excellent bike the ST1100 is :thumb
And big kudos to Malcom & Brock for being prepared to go above and beyond :hatwave
:phone Just depends on the insurance company tomorrow as to whether I still have a bike ( gonna make it hard to get to work if I get the wrong result, I don't have a car ). I had tomorrow off already, so I will have a busy day I think!! Might have to crawl to the boss for the rest of the week off as well. :whistle :whistle
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Glad to hear you are OK Ray.
I feel like I should surrender my moniker to you, although stROOth may be more appropriate in your case. My 'near' encounter was just with a mere wallaby.
Anyway, here's hoping the insurance will come through for you mate.
Cheers.
Skip. ( for now ) :)
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Stupid red roo. Should nickname them all "stew" :fp
But seriously STRay - glad you made it home safe
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Glad to hear you are OK Ray.
I feel like I should surrender my moniker to you, although stROOth may be more appropriate in your case. My 'near' encounter was just with a mere wallaby.
Anyway, here's hoping the insurance will come through for you mate.
Cheers.
Skip. ( for now ) :)
I like the new Moniker!!! lets hope I don't have to use it again!
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Glad to hear you're OK or at least on the mend. Shame about the bike. Hope the insurance comes to the party.
Cheers,
Gary
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A little time lapse of the first couple of hours of my ride, for some reason the camera was running on its battery and not via the USB Power.
http://s353.photobucket.com/albums/r379/Netdummy/?action=view¤t=BR2012.mp4 (http://s353.photobucket.com/albums/r379/Netdummy/?action=view¤t=BR2012.mp4)
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Really a shame about your SS attempt- going so well, too.
Pretty amazing to get through so many greys without any trouble only to strike a red.
We've had the same problem with Prime Ministers.
Do I detect a trend?
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Sorry to hear about your misadventure Ray, and glad you,re OK.
Just goes to show you can't trust Red Roos or Red Headed PMs. :well
:grin :blk13 :grin
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Bad luck Ray.
I was at Malcolm's when he heard the news :phone. He put a Post on straight away to let everyone know.
Mate, you're able to talk about it so it wasn't as bad as it very well could have been >:().
Any help required just put it in a post and I'm sure you'll get plenty of volunteers ( I wont be one cause I couldn't give a sh1t :p).
Seriously tho mate, any assistance required, give us a hoy :phone.
Take care and look after yourself,
Dave
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( I wont be one cause I couldn't give a sh1t :p).
Dave :spank :spank Norty corner..
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I walked in the door at 7.45pm tonight from the border had a good run ps Ray I found your red kanga with a red st1100 mudguard for a hat lol the wedge tails already on it No pics sorry
Turtle
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We saw the offending culprit with the evidence , but failed to act quickly to document with a photo until we were too far gone.
He still had the fender in his posesion
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Glad to see you made it back safely
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Only ever hit one Roo on a bike and it was a Grey just on the other side of Orbost. A Big Red would be scary >:()
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Glad to hear you stayed upright and made it home. Have hit a roo in the old EB Falcon, which was is bad enough. Never want to experience it on a bike.
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Only ever hit one Roo on a bike and it was a Grey just on the other side of Orbost. A Big Red would be scary >:()
In this case I was lucky. The Red was one of the smaller ones I saw, he was only a young fella. Some of the greys I saw were twice as big!
But agreed, those Big Reds from up north would not be a worry, you wouldn't be around to talk about it!
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Ray I saw heaps of road kill from Saturday night trucks from Eucla to Madura Pass and mostly Reds also maybe next year get the Friday off and stay at Caiguna the night and have some beers with me :) ps thanks for the note on the bike to inform me
And Gavo I did not see you at the border I met saaz and Lionel was in bed early lol
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Update:
Have the Insurance claim number and assessor name
Bike is at the Honda $tealer, the mechanic is going to strip it down and look at it early tomorrow before they open. He doesn't like the chances of me getting it back to ride until all the parts arrive.
Work have come thru, and I can have the rest of the week off.
Now to screw the car rental people for a good rate for about a months hire
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Ray, Glad to hear you walked (rode?) away from it without a serious damage to yourself. The bike can be fixed! Good luck with the Insurance bean-counters!
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:fp
The bike can be fixed! Good luck with the Insurance bean-counters!
Getting any required parts is going to be tricky, the mechanic did not sound to confident regarding any panels and the condition of the front forks. New fork springs and rear shockie were only done a couple of months ago! :fp
I have a feeling the parts and labour are going to be close to the insured value. Bugger 'cos I have finally got it mechanically in great shape and just had the cosmetic stuff to do. :well
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Arrrrrrr bugger :cuss they were sitting near the hill into eucla is that the spot you got done?
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New fork springs and rear shockie were only done a couple of months ago! :fp
Maybe you could rescue those new parts to put on your newer, better ST.
Looking for the "silver lining" here. :thumbs
Woohoo, that bring up my 1000 posts! All genuine ridgidy didge ones!
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New fork springs and rear shockie were only done a couple of months ago! :fp
Maybe you could rescue those new parts to put on your newer, better ST.
Looking for the "silver lining" here. :thumbs
Woohoo, that bring up my 1000 posts! All genuine ridgidy didge ones!
:think1 Not counting the old one out yet, they may still decide to repair it. But there is a lot of suff on the old one I WILL insist on keeping!
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Glad too hear you are ok Ray, it's only a bike and can be fixed easier than you. St one ,Roo nil.you did well to ride it and not come off. Go and buy a tatts ticket :blk13
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Glad to hear you are OK
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good read! a story to tell of that not many people can share. great you came out on top. fingers crossed on repairs as the ol girl has served you well and above expectation
regards royce
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Seeing as Brock has changed my username, here is the proof. I finally got my piccies to upload to photobucket!!:
(http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r379/Netdummy/Border%20Run%202012/RS1_0018.jpg)
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Ray you moved the body cause it had your st1100 mudguard on top of it when I passed it lol ps looks like a sleepy Roo to me in that pic hehe
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Ray you moved the body cause it had your st1100 mudguard on top of it when I passed it lol ps looks like a sleepy Roo to me in that pic hehe
:-((( :-((( That pic was immediately after the "meeting". After that I tried to stand him up sitting uncomfortably on the guard, but could not balance him! :|||| :||||
:dred11 ???????
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Roo Killer you Could of made a good seat cover or a nice vest out of Roo. :think1 :blk13
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Roo Killer you Could of made a good seat cover or a nice vest out of Roo. :think1 :blk13
:think1 The thought did cross my mind, but it is illegal to carry the knife needed these days! :law :law
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Roo Killer you Could of made a good seat cover or a nice vest out of Roo. :think1 :blk13
Nah, roo hide would make a horrible seat cover- too bristly. But it would make a nice trophy mat.
Maybe to park the bike on!
And you may carry a skinning knife. It's not among the illegal ones AFAIK.
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Seeing as Brock has changed my username
:eek :eek :eek :eek
Why do I get the blame
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you could have brought the hinds and tail home for the dog, namely mine. :rofl
Seeing as Brock has changed my username
:eek :eek :eek :eek
Why do I get the blame
Beware the Slapper.
:blu13
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Seeing as Brock has changed my username
:eek :eek :eek :eek
Why do I get the blame
Do I really need to answer that!
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you could have brought the hinds and tail home for the dog, namely mine. :rofl
Seeing as Brock has changed my username
:eek :eek :eek :eek
Why do I get the blame
Beware the Slapper.
:blu13
I thought he was a 'SPANKER' not a 'SLAPPER' ? :think1
I don't care what we call him so long as it's something. :nahnah
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you could have brought the hinds and tail home for the dog, namely mine. :rofl
Seeing as Brock has changed my username
:eek :eek :eek :eek
Why do I get the blame
Beware the Slapper.
:blu13
I thought he was a 'SPANKER' not a 'SLAPPER' ? :think1
I don't care what we call him so long as it's something. :nahnah
Gee that spanker slapper subject keeps popping up in all sorts of conversations :popcorn
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:hijacked :hijacked :well :well :well :well
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:hijacked :hijacked :well :well :well :well
Sorry Brock,
I just thought I'd put him straight. You don't want to lumbered with a name like 'Slapper' surely. :-(((
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:phone :phone
I just spoke with the mechanic, hardly any damage at all. Forks are good, brakes just need bleeding, a new fender, a new headlight garnish, new left tipover wing cover, new left handlebar weight, new front cowl stay ( I happen to have a brand new one sitting here at home ) and a few bolts. If I hassle him enough, I might even get it back for the weekend, until the other bits arrive.
:thumbsup :thumbsup :runyay
:dred11
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That's good news Ray will be nice to have her back on the road again and not saying good bye as a write off
And as you said the engine is running great :thumbs
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I’m glad to hear you and the ST :dred11 managed to survive and will live to ride another day :runyay
I’m bloody impressed with the way you managed to handle the crash and keep riding, what a legendary effort :-++ :-++ :-++
Hitting a roo sounds like a very scary experience :eek (I don't know if I could have handled it as well as you did >:())
It did get you an awesome handle though :thumb
Just try not to make a habit of it… or get a bulbar farkle :rofl
Cheers
Shiney
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Soory to heara about your roo experince when we got to Border Village. Lionle hit two roos not long ago on the bike he is riding. Panel work was destroyed bt mechanically a coolant leak was traced to a radiator bent back a few inches! I tightened up the drain plug and it works as good as gold. The ST is overbuilt in the main areas, and can survive a lot. The second roo directly hit the saddlebag as it must have learnt from the first!
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That's good news Ray, I thought you would of had more damage after a wrestle with Skippy. You are lucky Ray :thumbsup :blk13
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That's good news Ray, I thought you would of had more damage after a wrestle with Skippy. You are lucky Ray :thumbsup :blk13
Gotta agree there, considering the state of skippy! Good ol' steel frames might be heavier...........................but.
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Great news Ray.
Hope to see you out and about soon.
Best wishes,
Dave :wht13
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That is good to hear
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Great news STray.
Thank Onenut for setting me on the straight and narrow. It's spanker, :rofl
:blu13