KTM WA Dealers Ride

September 15/17.

The 3rd Annual KTM WA dealers ride was staged over the 3 days of 15-17 Sept.

This year we started at Greenbushes, with most the crew getting down for the night prior, to be ready and fresh for Friday morning. Ray Moore did the big drive down from Kalgoorlie, arriving around 3 am, and sleeping in his ute! All 24 riders were gathered by 7am for a huge meal of Bacon and Eggs, and after speach from Norm Bromley and my usual pre-amble we were off. It didn't take long for the cross-town dealer rivalry to appear, and before long, wheelstand passes through puddles were the norm, and the roost fill-ins were abundant.

Huff n Puff Hills were the first big hillclimb, and we captured some great footage for the DVD here, with Norm flipping his mount on top of himself after missing a gear, Dieter ran out of fuel half way up thanks to a shut off fuel cock, and his abuse of the offender as he finally made it past is rather amusing! I went back down to take the strugglers around, and witnessed Brett Risbey do a huge 180 flip around and ride off. It was sensational from where I saw it, but real lucky not to go over the bars as he flew back down through the huge ruts and rocks at the bottom. From here were cruised some fire trails down into the Blackwood Valley to lunch at Tathra winery. After re-fuelling, we all cheered Don McGrath (motorex) for making it further than his previous 2 attempts, and then we hit Big Bertha, with only a handful having a crack. I got as high as I ever have, but still yet to make it to the summit, with Willy Thompson and Dave the Pom around the same height and a few others too. We then headed off towards Nannup. Closer to Nannup we enjoyed some single trails in the pines, and arrived at the Nannup Hotel in time for a few beers before a huge roast dinner, and the DVD footage from the day on the big screen.

The next day we had 4 more riders, and we were straight into the single trails to get the blood flowing and warm up. A couple nice big hill climbs, and then we were off towards Balingup along the mountain trail. Ray Moore was hot on my tail for a bit of this section, but before long I could hear nothing but the sweet induction noise of the Husaberg. We stopped at the scenic lookout to re-group, and everyone was raving about the Trail, except Ray, who came through towards the end of the pack. A large red stain on Ray's elbow, and an "ouch that hurt" look on his face told the story. The greasy section had taken him off, but showing his true grit and years of experience, he didn't fuss, and was ready for more after everyone had scoffed another couple bags of Snakes Alive!

We then headed to a huge river crossing about 150m wide, and found 3 4WD's there contemplating the crossing. We rocked up, expecting our camera dude Gaz to be across to film, but he'd had a nervous moment when his bike stopped halfway, and walked back. Boots and pants soaking wet, he was urging me to go, and with the water flowing very fast, it was decided, one in-all in. It was deep too, coming over the front mudguard in places, but I kept the Berg steady and rode across without incident. So, it was now time for the rest to come across, and miraculously all bikes made it without too much fuss, but some of the guy's were soaked from going too fast, and others were washed downstream a fair distance, but were able to correct it and keep their momentum to make it across. Gaz made it easy on his second attempt, and then we climbed out of the valley and rode to Balingup for lunch.

We were greated by Gerry and the support vehicle, and a great BRT burger. The fine weather looked like ending, and Willy had the garbage bag out, only to cop a handful of abuse. Most of us donned our Jackets for the first time, and we headed back out into the surrounding hills for more thrills.

Mark Pitcher threw the 300exc away and landed in a creek right in front of me, breaking his finger, so Scruffy (sore knee) joined him in an early retirement to the Hotel. Willy convinced me to tackle a rough track up a slimy hill in a recently logged area, and we all scrambled up like ants to the nest, and meandered our way down the other side through the pines. As we dropped onto the road we had a reasonably big hole to get across, so once over I threw some logs in it to help the latter riders, while at the same time Dieter was stuck in the drain, filling me in as he got out. He reckons he didn't see me, but admitted after the tour he just couldn't help himself. Lookout next year Dieter! Payback wasn't actually far away, as we crossed a snotty creekline, Dieter alomost came off and soaked himself in the process! Some more good footage too!

Heading back on the open trials towards Greeny, saw Jeffro and Gaske come to grief at high speed on the gravel -OUCH!! Gaske, not impressed with Jeffro's cross town tactics, was busy planning his own payback.

We then came across a group of 4WD enthusiasts, with a hire 4WD in a very precarious position, perched about 30ft down a steep revine, resting on it's tray with rear wheels virtually off the ground. We joked and laughed with the crew as we watched their attempts at recovering the vehicle, (which had climbed up some amazing terrain), before making the mad dash back to Greeny through single pines, a nice muddy creekline with heaps more hilarious fill-ins including the camera man, and then onto our favourite fire trail into Greeny. The night was a bit more subdued, with a few dissappearing early after dinner, and a trail of weaping blood let us know where Ray Moore had gone. Anthony Dowson (Bunbury KTM) must have heard that Norm threw $500 on the bar, as he made the trip down for the night after commitments abstained him from this years ride!

Sunday was the final day, and after a group photo in front of the shed, we headed south towards Bridgetown. Willy bailed after his earlier headache got severe, only later to find out it was a Redback Spider bite.

Flowing fire trails and more single pine trails were the go, and another hillclimb for those wanting the challenge. Dieter was the early leader, getting highest by a good 30ft or so from my first attempt, until my next run was clean and I got as far as I could, as a huge Jarrah blocked the track. Troy Wilson got to the same spot, but didn't want to be second, and ran his wheel up my leg and got his wheel over the log to claim the win. Unfortunately for Troy, his attempt was assisted by my leg and we dutifully disqualified him!

We then hit the best firetrail we know, known only to a lucky few, and we blasted our way along the loamy but sometimes greasy trail, through creeks, dodging emus and roos. At the cross road, Gaske had decided to call it a day, and returned to Greeny with his customer Darren, and we continued our jaunt into Bridgetown. The fire trail continued for another 12kms, and we re-grouped, before hitting an old special test from the Manjimup A4DE and arriving in Bridgetown bang on time for lunch. The crew were getting dreary by now, and were happy to be back around 2:30, so after fuel, we hit the tar for 5 kms, then onto the Rollercoaster. A few runs of the Rollercoaster, and we headed back to Greeny along another firetrail to be home on time, and all in one piece.

Thanks for coming again lads, and sure hope to see you all soon for another great ride.