“Off – Centre” Rally 1984 – 2004
“Have u booked 4 ‘Famous Sunday nite roast’ at Innamincka Hotel?”
It was a
mid-winter Sunday night in Heathcote. I was left looking down at the message
illuminated on my Kyocera CDMA mobile phone. Bloody amazing
really. A couple of motorbike riders in
A long time ago
there was a motorcycle rally in
The aim was to
go somewhere really remote with at least 300 to 400 kilometres of dirt on the
way into the rally site. The two pre-requisites for the destination were fuel
and alcohol, not necessarily in that order. This is a pretty tall order, even
for outback
As you are no doubt beginning to understand, this was long before coloured one-piece leathers were worn by road riders on motorcycles with six inch rims.
In 1984 the
first “Off-Centre Rally” for road riding motorcyclists was held at Innamincka
in
As you can imagine, departing
In comparison, Innamincka is a doddle. So I quickly pressed a few 08 buttons on the mobile and in no time had the Sunday night roast booked.
Innamincka is
one of my all-time favourite destinations. A settlement of
some half-dozen buildings on the infamous
I quote from
Alan Moorehead’s book … “Burke’s grave is in a lonely place 10 kilometres
downstream from the depot. Fifty meters back from the bank there is a big
coolibah tree, and it was under this tree that Burke died. Nothing except a
small memorial cairn distinguishes the place.” Wills died some 23 kilometres
upstream of Innamincka and the ‘Dig’ Tree is 35 kilometres away across the
For this trip I was riding a newish on-off road creation. A modified DRZ400 electric start. The Suzuki is an interesting little jigger. Only 398cc, one cylinder, and 130 kg in weight. The trick is it produces 50 p.s. and can go like stink when it has to. Which isn’t very often with me at the throttle. The workshop refers to my bike as “the hybrid” as it has a lot ot KTM parts, but the first things you notice are the Tom Saville designed stainless steel rack and the big mutha of a fuel tank. It will travel more than 500 kilometres in one hit and we are about to find out just how much more on this trip.
Monday: The sky is reasonably clear
so I decide to make a run for it. My Heathcote B.P. servo is out of unleaded,
so the proprietor is selling Premium at the unleaded price. My lucky day, as
the big tank is filled. I point the Suzuki due north and am in
The air is ice-cold all day and between Hay and Ivanhoe I play hide and seek with a horizon of storm clouds. Ten kilometres the other side of Ivanhoe I pull off into the scrub and camp for the night. Already I have seen two bikes that are almost certainly en-route to the rally. A Yamaha 750 Tenere and an old stroke 6 BMW with a sidecar.
Tuesday: There is a long
157 kilometre section of dirt to Wilcannia. The road crews have obviously been
busy grading it up and rolling it down into a shape suitable for sealing. I’d
be very surprised if bitumen doesn’t start to go down in the next couple of
years. At Wilcannia, Russell on the Tenere pulls in behind me. His bike is
running the 850cc motor out of the Yamaha TRX, but he is a novice at the
outback touring business. His contact is with Greg from
The landscape is awe inspiring after some winter rain and cooler temperatures. We make it a short day and throw up the tents in the camping ground at White Cliffs. This is one of Australia’s famous opal mining areas with many dwellings built into the ground to avoid the excessive summer heat. We unearth Greg up at the underground motel paying $100 a night for the experience. He is a Honda V-twin man and rides a bike that is uniquely de riguer of Sydney, the Africa Twin.
Down at the $4 per night camp-ground, the rest of the peasants are now rolling in. About 20 or so; with the BMW GS being the dominant choice. By now we have picked up another lone rider: Ashley from Armidale (NSW). The alliteration helps my failing memory retention. He is riding, of all things, a Suzuki 650ccc Freewind. This model was to repeatedly surprise us with its ability.
Wednesday: White Cliffs turned on a typical inland winter night of about 1 or 2 deg. C. Brisk. It is a dirt road all the way to the Silver City Highway, and with no wind it makes it a super dusty ride. For everyone that is, except me, ‘cos’ I’m out in front. Being out in front is good, except you’re also the bloke that flushes out the wild animals. I wasn’t paying enough attention and before I know it I’ve instinctively got the front brake on and I’m eye-balling old man emu. So help me, I could almost touch the big sucker and he’s about to T-bone me amid ship. But unlike anything in the annals of emu folk-lore, he suddenly accelerates and veers ahead of me missing my front wheel by 2 metres. Unreal! Emu1… L. Leahy 0.
With 40 Kilometres to Tibooburra (tonight’s destination) we ride a few k’s off the main road to a very interesting little establishment, Milparinka. In the 1890’s this was the ‘Albert’ goldfield and, as well as hotels, had a bakery etc. It had a very architectural sandstone court-house, police station and lock up. Today, the court-house and police station remain in very good condition, but all else has been eliminated by time and the elements. The hotel is of a more recent vintage. A few families engaged in ‘roo’shooting live in bungalows across the road and a big semi-trailer freezer unit sits in the paddock until it is fully packed with ‘skippies’ and then hauled out for the Sydney dog food market.
Russell, Ashley, and myself are planning to ride the historical trail of Charles Sturt (the explorer) for which this area is renowned. Sturt and his 18 men managed to get stuck just down the road from here in 1846 and had to sit it out for 6 months with a pool of muddy slime their only ‘water’. Winter rain finally came. Complete with heavy wooden whale boat, they were on their way to discover Australia’s Inland Sea.
By now we are joined by Brett (660cc Yamaha Tenere single). I also know a link-up of station-property tracks in this area which make for a great 40 k’s of dual-purpose bike touring. Brett is keen to visit a current day gold mine at the end of a long dry creek bed, so I threw that into the cook’s tour as well.
When we finally each Tibooburra the three of them have grins from ear to ear.
This evening at the ‘Family Hotel’ many of the assembled riders decide to make another day of it by riding to Cameron corner (border gate joining Qld., NSW and SA) and staying another night. Me? I intend to go solo and head through Warri Gate and a few back roads to Innamincka.
Thursday: Only 300 kilometres today from Tibooburra to Innamincka. But it’s dirt all the way. I use the term loosely as most of it is sand, after all this is a semi-desert. I’m riding alone today as riding with unknown associates can out you off your natural pace. Either too fast or too slow and you find yourself checking the rear mirror instead of concentrating on what’s in front. The roads and tracks are in reasonable condition so I arrive in Innamincka in good time and in good shape.
Some of the early arrivals include two former Motor Scooter and Cycle Association members. Margaret Peart, a former Club Secretary and Co-Editor of the magazine ‘Good Vibrations”, is from Tasmania and has ridden up the Strzelecki Track on her brand new BMW1200 GS. It is a little over 30 years since I last saw Margaret.
The other rider is Neville Borgelt, a former Club Treasurer from Melbourne. He rides a BMW 1150 GS Adventure. Neville was one of the MSCAV members who started the BMW Club of Victoria and called in to an MSTCV meeting just a couple of years ago.
Friday: A very strong wind blew up during the night. So today we have a massive dust storm. Glad I rode in yesterday and not today. Gravity is not enough to hold the sand and dirt in place. It is a harsh land.
Most riders are rolling in this afternoon. A small group of sidecar riders came in safely after crossing the Simpson Desert from west to east. Oodnadatta to Birdsville. A huge effort on 3 wheels. Former MSCAV member from the 70’s, John Cecil, made the crossing on his BMW100 flat-four with home built sidecar Mk 17. Sidecar builders are always building the “next one” which will be answer to all their problems.
Arriving from the Strzelecki Track is Mick Fagan and his wife Barbara, two up on their BMW R1150 GS. Mick is a former MSCAV President and the leading light in establishing the BMW Motorcycle Club of Victoria. Mick lived and breathed motorcycles through the 70’s and 80’s, quite often running up 60,000+ kilometres per year. Love him or leave him, he really is a legend!
In a summary of our Club riders, I mustn’t leave out a current day Club member, Robbie Langer, who made the journey on his KTM 950. Robbie kipped up in the dog boxes at the Innamincka Hotel, but his isn’t a room with a view. He has a room with a generator nearby, running 24 hours a day.
Saturday: During the night the Queenslanders arrive and set up camp at my location. During the day I wash the smellier of my clothes in the Cooper Creek. Those who think I travel carrying nothing, get a big surprise when I put up my cloths-line complete with pegs. But I notice there are plenty of people keen to use it.
This evening there is an informal meeting at the Hotel and the decision to hold the 2006 Rally at Gascoyne Junction is reached. This is nearly as far west as Carnarvon, the western-most town in WA. Don’t expect a write up from me on that one.
Sunday: A numbers count first thing this morning reveals an attendance of 174 motorbikes. A handful of riders have already left and then there are the machines up at the pub. Let’s call it 180. A few bikes were 2-up and almost all the sidecars carried an extra person. Let’s say 200 people in all.
I invest one dollar and 4 minutes of my time to have a shower at the public amenities. Don’t want to overdo this washing thing.
Many of the riders are back on the road again today but the real stayers are still entrenched. Because tonight is the big one … this is what we’ve come for. The Famous Sunday Night Roast at the Innamincka Hotel. A total of 90 bikes and tourists partake. Keep it to yourself, but I didn’t think it was particularly good value. Ah, such is life.
Monday: All remaining riders are packed and heading out in every possible direction. After 3 days of wind, the air is almost still and a perfect temperature for riding. I head south-east to Epsilon Station. No-one else is going in my direction as it involves the dreaded word ‘S-A-N-D’. I’m very relaxed on the little Suzuki 400 by now, due to a lot of modification engineering by Tom Saville and several others to improve the front to back geometry.
My return trip to Tibooburra goes down to 4.5 hours. This compares well with the 6 hours it took going north on Thursday.
There are no vehicles on the road at all today, through to the Warri Gate on the border of Queensland and NSW. Up here in ‘Corner Country’ it is very hard to keep a check of which of the 3 states you are in at any time.
Once through the border gate, the flat ugliness of the far south–west Queensland turns to distinctive rolling horizons of north-west NSW. The far west of this state is brilliant country and as good a destination as central Australia.
I cruise into Tibooburra in the early afternoon and take up my usual spot in the camping ground.
Tuesday: There is a colder wind this morning, so back on goes the thermal singlet. Tomorrow the thermal long johns will resume their winter inclusion. There is some storm activity on the vast horizon which makes the sky a washed out navy blue. This highlights the foreground to almost white.
The road to Broken Hill alternates bitumen, dirt, bitumen, dirt, all the way to within 15 kilometres of the ‘Hill’. From there it is south-east to Menindee. The Menindee Lakes are a fascinating quirk of waterways in this dry land. It is also the location of a lengthy stop-over for the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860.
Wednesday: Today is half and half day. A little over 200 k’s of dirt to Ivanhoe in the morning and then about the same of bitumen to Hay in the afternoon. A beautiful sunny day but the air is like ice when moving. With luck I’ll be able to make ‘Hay’ while the sun shines (to quote Bill Bryson). On the road to Deniliquin I look for a suitable camping site and pull off half a kilometre or more onto the plains. A kilometre or two south, a herd of beef cattle are mustered for the night. They are drought stock grazing on the “long paddock” out here where there are no boundary fences along the road.
Thursday: It is a cold night with my MacPac Microlite tent zips in tatters. The only casualty of the whole trip and a result of age and outback dust. Up early in the morning and there is ice frozen on the Suzuki seat. Must be getting closer to Victoria. The sun is over the yard arm, so I’ll hit the road for the last day. Hey, I’ll be in Heathcote just after lunch.
Oh, I almost forgot. How far did I manage to ride on a tank of fuel? Answer: a long way, a very long way.