Coober Peddy, Uluru, Alice Springs from Sydney

[Mr BYO]

Dear Busa fellows,

As you could easily guess, am keen to hit the road with a good friend of mine somewhere in late October or early November and finally visit some outback places.
Starting Sydney, via Snowy mountains to Albury. Continue to Melbourne, check out Great Ocean road, Adelaide. Two days to explore some roads....either Wine regions or some other recommended rides. Continue to Cooober Pedy. Ride to Uluru, sleep over and run to Alice Springs. Going back to. Melbourne as we have a work conference to attend on 12 November 14.

Would be much appreciated if some of you find time to share their stories, experience and what (not) to do while visiting destinations I've pointed out.
What's the weather conditions like in Alice and Uluru around that time as it seems that google brings back stories about 45 degrees already in November ?
Also, might need tyres on our way back, or even small service for my Busa , hence some contacts in Adelaide or Melbourne would be of a great great help.

By all means, if some of you can't find better way of spending your time during end of October or early November please join us along the way or at least get in touch while we are in your area.

Any help or info much appreciated.

Regards
Mr B

[Batfink]

Sounds like a fantastic ride MrB.. Would love to join but Tathra and my Feb tour is gunna suck all my funds lol

[mozzie26]

Temps in Alice Springs that time of year will be any where from 31 degC up to 45 degC.
Av 31-34, Max 45, High av 35-38 more likely.
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/st...e&lc=15540

I got stuck riding from Melbourne back to the Sunshine coast in the heat wave in Jan this year and riding for four hours at 40 degC was not fun. It took me 4 hours of this at the Royal hotel in Yass for me to recover! The second day and 38 degC going through Wisemans Ferry on the way to a mates place at Newcastle that was a little bit more bearable followed with more . The third day home was 900kms at 36 degC which just about every part of my body was aching.
I would suggest if riding in the heat to limit the ride to 3-4 hours!

[Busdriver]

Do not, DO NOT ride from dusk till dawn in the outback.

Camels, horses, roos, emu, sheep, cattle.

Rental car companies in Alice Springs will not provide insurance on a rental cars outside the city from dusk till dawn. There is that great a chance of hitting something.

What did they class as outside the city? Head out to the airport, and once you turned right onto the road to Adelaide, your insurance is void.

[black13]

Do not, DO NOT ride from dusk till dawn in the outback.

Camels, horses, roos, emu, sheep, cattle.

Rental car companies in Alice Springs will not provide insurance on a rental cars outside the city from dusk till dawn. There is that great a chance of hitting something.

What did they class as outside the city? Head out to the airport, and once you turned right onto the road to Adelaide, your insurance is void.

As les says, be very very careful, I drive to Roxby sometimes & the amount of roadkill is phenominal, I definatley wouldn't ride a bike at nite. Even daylight you still need to be very careful

[Mr BYO]

Mozzie, Busdriver and Black13, many thanks for stopping by and sharing some details and your experience guys...
Putting some maps together using Australia Motorcycle Atlas by Hema....but your experience and stories adds more value so much appreciated.
As expected, outback riding will be a much bigger challenge compared to the rest of our journey....

[Pa King]

http://www.australian-hayabusa-club.com/...?tid=19484

I was one of seven on this ride last year . I'll add some more info for you after I look it up regarding accommodation etc.
We were much earlier in the year so heat was not a problem.
Just a couple of tips at the moment. We ALL had Michelin Pilot Road 2 or Road 3 tyres and everyone did the complete trip on the one set of tyres.
9,700k in 12.5 days. Not one puncture and not one drop of rain .!
Most of us did an oil change at Alice Springs out the back of a Shell servo on the northside of town in a truck stop . Oil from local Super Cheap. So that's one of your worries over ?
We didn't stop over in Alice Springs but if I was I'd make sure I had secure parking. All the business owners must have steel bars over all the windows for a reason !
Uluru accommodation is all good and safe. Price can get up there.
Coober Pedy was great, we stayed underground there. I'll come back with the Motel name.
Most of Northern Territory petrol price was about 30-50c/litre more then South Australia.
Even Coober Pedy was about the same price as Port Augusta.
Some people will tell you it's a boring ride but if you have never done it before it's all good. It's a big country !!
You should have a great trip. Plan it well.....

Some good photos on page 6 and 7 of above thread.

[Pa King]

Coober Pedy accommodation was Radeka Down Under.
Driller did all the bookings for the trip.
Peterborough in South Australia was another good stopover on our way to Broken Hill.
If you have any interest in the Mad Max movies , the museum in Silverton is worth a look.

[Mr BYO]

What a great travel you guys had back in 2012 Mate....thanks for sharing this info and a link. Good to hear other Busa fellows went to places I' d like to visit for years.
Already checked the Radeka place and sent them an email with a query.
And by all means.....Mad Max movies.......it's on our list of rides to visit that museum.
Are you able to check with your mate who organized that GPS tracking for more details, wouldn't mind to do something similar?

Cheers
B

[kev11e]

G'day
You could use something like SPOT tracking gadget...have a look on www.gpsoz.com.au they are nice people and helpful. Disclaimer: Friends of mine, and very experienced in GPS and travel applications.
Regards
Kevin

[Pa King]

I'll catch up with my friend shortly who owned the Spot Tracker but looking at that link it was the orange Spot Gen 3 $179.

I know it was orange, other then that I didn't have a lot to do with it.
When set up with home numbers it can report back lots of information for family etc.

[Ward P]

I lived in Alice for a time. The Stuart is an easy ride. As the others have said. Daylight ONLY!! The black cattle are invisible and will stand in the middle of the road, and the kangaroos will jump into you. Starting to get heaps of feral goats along the edges of roads these days, but they seem to be aware of traffic and are not a problem. Your biggest concern is hydration. Stop often and keep your fluids up. Have fun, now the speed limits have been lifted again in the Territory you'll have a ball on your 'busa.

[black13]

I lived in Alice for a time. The Stuart is an easy ride. As the others have said. Daylight ONLY!! The black cattle are invisible and will stand in the middle of the road, and the kangaroos will jump into you. Starting to get heaps of feral goats along the edges of roads these days, but they seem to be aware of traffic and are not a problem. Your biggest concern is hydration. Stop often and keep your fluids up. Have fun, now the speed limits have been lifted again in the Territory you'll have a ball on your 'busa.

your right there ward, the feral goats are everywhere, some of the dead cattle ive seen right on the edge of the road are fucken huge,its definatley daytime travel only on a bike, just be diligant when travelling these roads

[storm]

Goats never get hit, dead ones you see are usually thrown outta trucks.
haven resort backpackers have cheap rooms and u can park outsid?!!fe the room.
ride close to centre white lines as most animals stand by the side of the road.
no speed limits in NT now?
why stay in coober? There are a few roadhouses after coober pedy

[Zoro]

NT Speed limits are still here, however there is a 200klm section north of Alice that has been trialled under an open speed limit.
Everywhere else is still 130kph.