Tom, the CSR is Australia's longest desert route. Known for having the biggest gaps between petrol stations. Read about it in Chris Scott's book.

Greg, I'm sure you're right, as I'm a naive road rider sitting here on the sofa in London dreaming. But why do you have to team up with other bikes? I can understand the satellite phone - I would definitely take one. But why other riders? Is it just to care for you if you are injured? If I got stuck half way along the route I'd want to just camp for a few days/weeks until the next vehicle turned up, and phone for rescue as a last resort. So a big water reserve would be the key. I imagine that half the danger of a route like this stems from the time pressure imposed by a limited water ration. Serious injury ought to be reasonably easy to avoid if you can afford to potter slowly along. And anyway I can't see that the trip would be much fun if you're riding against the clock the whole time.

As for fuel...well, with a 41L tank on an 1150GS, how far would I get? In theory the GS should do over 700 ks on tarmac with such a tank, but on the CSR I suppose you should reckon on doubling the consumption? So I'd need about 90 litres of gas for the 800k leg, plus 2 weeks water - say 140 litres - for safety's sake. How on earth can this be carried?

This is why I keep coming back to the idea of a trailer...with brakes so it doesn't overtake you coming down a dune. Is this just bonkers?

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