How much can a DRZ carry? Part 1

Great RR Dennis
Lying in the couch thinking I had better get out on the bike again!
Sure can't beat a drz for bang for buck, reliability and your set up is a great model for future adventures.
67L of fuel 25l water , that's bloody incredible.
I will be reading with interest your trip down the CSR and it's going to be a great text book for others to follow. if you can avoid the well23 fuel drop off it means you have taken it to a new level.
Unsupported and solo will be life building.

Good luck and catch up some time

Jon

Thank's everyone for the positive feedback, I must admit to expecting a bit of ribbing over the amount of gear carried, but it was liberating not having the constant niggle of wondering if I had enough fuel or water and being able to travel for 3 or 4 days unsupported.

No Sat phone Rob, just the good old Spot tracker.

Ribbing...

Wow that is too much weight! Surprised you have not gone through an engine already.

Those spots are great for peace of mind and keeping family up to speed.
Can't let you off the hook with the ribbing Dennis
Did I see some jockey wheels under those low tanks?
How about you replace your avatar photo with a nice camel?

Agreed, you and the poor bike have to be descended from a long line of Afghan cameleers finest stock. Not since Burke & Wills day has a pack animal been so poorly treated. Awesome trip and thanks for the photo's. Got anymore you care to share? I'm sure there's plenty of blokes keen to see more of that countryside, as so few do such a journey.
Got to ask........what sort of tyres are you running and at what pressure range? How'd you go with the handling on the deeper sand? I'd imagine it'd sit fairly steady but gawd help you if she got a wobble up. Anything you intend changing before the big CSR trip? What're you doing for food? Have you considered carrying a 406mhz PLB as a compliment to the Spot?
Looking forward to more. Love the way you roll.

Those are some fascinating routes and sights.

Dennis mate, love your ride report. Makes me want to get out there again and explore a bit more.

Cheers,

Alex

Thank's for the ribbing it is deserved, soft sand was just a matter of letting a bit more air out and there wasn't any sections where I thought I couldn't get through.
Tyres are Bridgestone Gritty ED78 (rear) and ED77 (front), pressures varied from 25psi to 6psi (rear) - 22psi to 4 psi (front), going from Highway to very soft sand. There is long sections of sharp flint like limestone, so I would recommend close tread, stiff side wall tyres.
The tubliss tyre system allows you to use very low tyre pressure in sandy situations, have done a bit over 35k on them and only had 1 leak, got a really good price on a softer sand tyre (my mistake), riding in sand and hit a hidden root and partially tore 3 lugs. As it happened I was trialling some Slime sealant and it filled these slight tears and got me another 400 km home, but only desert tyres now.
Sorry no more pictures and no training wheels , suprisingly the bike travels well when on max load and it only gets lighter as you go along, plus it is not hard to pick up when it has a lie down, with the tank bags it doesn't sit flat, it's a bit like a bmw side pot.

Enjoying the pics of the coastline.

Hard to imagine such a flat, arid, seemingly endless place.

Love to see and read more...

Dave

amazing pics

now I see the meaning of getting lost in the middle of nowhere

in

Den,
Great RR and pics. I'd love to see some more detailed pics of how you packed the DRZ and carried all your supplies.
Thanks!

Great Report! Having a DRZ and seeing what you have done really does make them seem like exteremely durable machines! thanks for taking the time to write this. Really appreciated

Hi CanyonRider, a few pic's on my setup, the DRZ400E in Oz has the same sub frame as your S model and is a strong unit.



Fabricated a steel bracket out of 3mm plate and 20*20*1.6mm tube which picks up the threaded holes on the main frame.




Had a sheet of 4MM aluminium bent to fit around the 28L Safari tank, this holds the 5L water container and a large Wolfman rollie bag and bolted to steel bracket in case the tank has to be removed from the bike.




On the right side I have a Carbou 32L pannier with 2 canvas pockets, over the seat there is a set of Wolfman Tank panniers, these hold on each side, a 4L collapsible Ortileb water bladder and 1L of oil. The front rack holds 5L water container and a large rollie bag which holds the tools and spares.



On this side 25L fuel container, 2 large rollie bags, 1 for clothes, the other camping gear. Front rack, water and food in rollie bag.
There is a 3 gallon rotopax fuel container just on the top rack with tent and chair strapped to it.

I took the measurements as I fabricated the front frame and have started to draw it up, if interested PM me at the end of May and I will send you a PDF copy.
Safe Riding,
Dennis

Wow! Impressive. Nice fab skills also.
Thanks for sharing.
CR

That's pretty cool - I'm coming down there in July for this event:

http://rally.australianpropertycentre.net.au

Got a Honda XR650R to use

+1
I was wondering if this could be done unsupported without drops, can you pull water from the wells and filter it to cut down on the water carried? This is on my hit list, just wondering if I should bring my own bike or buy in country and kit it. Watching with interest.

John in Bogota at the moment...

What a great way to see outback Australia, I think last year was the first year for that rally and was a real success, by the way I like your motto "Ride while you can"

I have pasted some links to a few of the Aussie adver's who have done the CSR, 2 of them did it without a fuel drop and rode to Carnegie station (850 km) rather than Wiluna (970 km). The total distance from Wiluna to Bililuna is aprox 1600 km with fuel at Kunawarritji community (970 km from Wiluna), there are a few good maps of the ride that you will be able to purchase.
3 or 4 of the wells along the way have drinking water, I would recommend not taking less than 15 L as even in winter it does get warm and that with soft sand, might find drinking more water than you had planned. I will be finding out in July and will do a RR and let you know how it went.
Not sure of the costs involved in bringing a bike over here,but I would prefer to ride my own bike with my own set up, rather than start from scratch. When you do start planning a ride, post on the Australian thread if you wanted other adver's to join you on your trip, there is normally a few doing it each year.
Here are the links:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178744
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=707824&highlight=canning+stock+route&page=8
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=379786
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=616623

Safe travels,
Dennis

Dennis

What is that tent you are carrying and how heavy is it?