Gunbarrel (or to be precise Gt Central Rd) and Tanami are dirt motorways compared to Mori Beach route, like the guys says easy in a 2WD.

A normal 1000km fuel range will be plenty but I hear they no longer sell petrol products at Warburton.

In Australia they have a different attitude to radios and sat comms - in my view on these relatively busy tracks they are not needed, tho of course they can help speed things up if they go wrong.

A see-it-all suggested route would take me some time to work, but I can do it if you like.

Chris

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Adventure Motorcycling Handbook 8 • Morocco Overland 3 • Overlanders Handbook 2 • Twit

Thanks Chris. Perhaps we could chat it through at Billing, if you are going this year.

Malcolm

Chris (Scott),

"... but I hear they no longer sell petrol products at Warburton" -> Where is your info from and how reliable is it? We're planing a trip for end of year and the (new) Gunbarrel Hwy was one of the planed routes. Will be tricky on 2WD without the petrol at Warburton, Carnegie Stn to Warrakuna RH is about 850km without petrol. I do not expect there is a petrol station I do not know about, eg. on Great Central Road between Warburton and Warrakuna?

Thanks for any info,

Kudi

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Ride Your Dreams

good advice offered up there, will just add that from Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) to Laverton in WA there is presently no leaded or ulp available. diesel yes, avgas possibly. that's over 1100km.
of course it won't solve your range problem, but may i suggest living life in the fresh air on two wheels?
all the best. can't rethink the time of year or length of visit, can you?
cheers,
Andy.
R11GS

i know it's not the outback but if you get to Victoria you gotta do the Great Ocean Road,it's magnificent on a bike or in the car,i go down there about once a week in the Bosses Landy 130 tray,heaps of great bush tracks around this area too

have fun
Slugnugget

Take it for a yank that is married to a ozzy girl from Perth...that lived in Melbourne and Sydney and Tazzi... See it all or at least as much as you can. But do not miss the south west and Tazmainia. It's going to be very hot there in Dec so the farther south you are the nicer the weather will be... I will be there at the same time in Fremantle and Perth so I keep a look out for you .. enjoy..

my wife and i did this trip several years ago in late May in our Defender, at that time you could only travel the gunbarrel from Wiluna to Warburton via Carnegie Station which made for an easy two and half trip. Its 350ks to Carnegie Station and roughtly the same to Warburton. A premit is required except ours had us going the wrong way, I quesioned this and was told not to worry about it. If you really want to get off road I recommned the Canning Stock Route from Wiluna to Halls Creek 1872 kms.
We're just outside of Perth so drop us a line before you arrive

malcolm,
tried to e-mail you but message returned.
can you contact me
thanks

we rode from laverton to yulara at the end of jan this year and it absolutely hoofed (rain) it down . the track was closed for 4 days and when it opened it was a quagmire. on the plus side, everything was in full bloom.be careful at warburton;some friendly indigenous people waited for us to go to sleep and then cut through all the cables and hoses on our bikes to nick our petrol to sniff.they set up blocks as well,we rode round them

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I als so confirm that petrol is no longer avaliable over most of the Great Central Road. You can have either Avgas 100 (no good if you have a lanmda sensor) or Diesel ONLY. This stops the petrol sniffers. I think more of the aboriginie communities will do this too. If you stay within a community make certian the kids see you fill up with avgas or you run diesel ... othre wise they will be after the petrol!!!!


Track conditions change in a matter of days (or a thunderstorm) so always seek local advice and then filter that.

Dirt routes from Perth eastwards -
The train line - alonside the transcontinetial train line - lotsa rocks - some sand, long way between petrol
The Ann Bedell ... long way between petrol, other tan that I don't know..
The Great Central road - as describe by others
The Gunbarrel track has on significant sand hill, some ohter of less significance. A 4WD will be fine, no trailer. Long streach between petrol... You can get permission to do the 'abandoned' section of the gunbarrel - you just have to sign away take full responsiblity for your life...

Further north will have lotsa rain at that time of year... even the southern route can get it so take a few days food and water just in case.

Any track may have been graded so could be 'fine' ... or may have been chopped up and now corrigated and good for 50 km/h only... you take what you get.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Hi,

Some time ago Toby2 wrote:

"I've been looking at taking my Defender back out there(I used to live in Sydney and travelled quite a lot in it) and do a grand tour."

He then went on to outline the route he would take. I am planning to go June - Oct this year and was planning a tarmac (mainly) circuit on a road bike. However this circuit sounds interesting but what degree of off road riding would it present? Would a transalp be a suitable choice? I am travelling alone as well but would have a sat phone if required.

Thanks

Not too sure on the suitability of the bike question as I'm not a biker but in terms of the route. The canning stock route is one of the hardest routes in Aus because of its extreme remoteness and long distance. Its a major challenge in a 4x4 and you normally would tackle it in 3+ vehicles. It would be a major challenge on a motorbike without support. I would imagine most of the rest of it is possible on a motorbike.

[This message has been edited by Toby2 (edited 17 February 2004).]

Thanks Toby2,

Any thoughts on the time of year i have selected..........July - October.

Well July to October is good for the heat. Forget when the wet season is up north but probably a good time.

I'd not travel alone on the gunbarrel or canning or the simpson. The tansalp would be ok. It is 90% rider and for the canning lots of sand hills. Not large ones but lots of them. 4WDs float on sand .. motorbike tend to sink into them. The canning would require lots of fuel carried on the bike if no 4WD is carrying it for you. As an example I carried over 50 litres to do the Connie Sue Hwy.

__________________
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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S