My First Camping Trip - Ducati.ms

kma_jg · Jan 13th, 2012, 10:51 pm

Came back on Wednesday from my first multi-day camping trip with the Multi.
Went from Melbourne to the Victoria High Country on the Great Alpine Road.

Did just over 1000kms over three and a half days which is not too far. It was my wifes first long ride so I didn't want to make it too far and loose points

Anyway, the trip covered various different road and weather conditions.

On the first day we had a LOT of rain before we got to our first camping spot.
Roads were mostly paved and in fairly good condition.
Obviously wet and I had to take it very slowly through the twisties.

Second day we covered a gravel road through the Alpine State Forest which was VERY challenging. Steep hills and in many places it was so steep I had the bike in first gear with my foot hard on the back brake to slow down enough to stay upright. It was the worst road I did in a long time and with a full load 400kg bike, it was very scary.

Third day was easy. Didn't do much and the weather was good to enjoy the local surroundings and mountain roads. Used the day to rest up a bit for the last haul back home tomorrow.

The last day covered good roads with about 50% freeway. I had to miss the twisties because of bad weather and strong winds. The wind was very bad and we got a lot of rain again. My head was shaking side-to-side and I had a hard time to keep the bike in one lane.

Looking forward to the next trip already.
Learned a lot with this one and think we did good not to take too much unused stuff with us.

With the two of us, we had to take two sleeping bags and air mattresses. Didn't carry any food. The total weight of all the luggage was 45kg including the panniers. Didn't have a topbox, but think it wouldn't have worked well anyway. Got a lot more stuff on th tray I made than would have fitted in the box.

Here is a link to a album with more pics.
2012 High Country trip pictures by kmajohan - Photobucket

Kitesurfer · Jan 13th, 2012, 11:47 pm

Nice! I was driving a large motor-home in Gippsland on Wednesday and the wind was really bad. Well done! (Maybe) see you tomorrow

PS: with all that bulk and weight up high and behind the rear wheel, it's no wonder it was hard to ride!

Bugkiller1200 · Jan 13th, 2012, 11:54 pm

Wow... Excellent post

That ride looks like quiet the adventure two up full of gear... Well done!

Bike looks great in silver too

w0mb2t · Jan 14th, 2012, 12:46 am

tks for the post - thankfully the Handbrake hates camping

multi rider · Jan 14th, 2012, 1:10 am

Great post...very informative.

You folks in the southern hemisphere r very lucky that it's summer and you can go for trips like this.

Were in deepest winter here and basically just stare and drool over our multis....

Come on summer!

Ps how did she handle the graded dirt road? What speeds did you get up to? Was she stable?

kma_jg · Jan 14th, 2012, 2:51 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by multi rider

Great post...very informative.

You folks in the southern hemisphere r very lucky that it's summer and you can go for trips like this.

Were in deepest winter here and basically just stare and drool over our multis....

Come on summer!

Ps how did she handle the graded dirt road? What speeds did you get up to? Was she stable?

My video camera had fog on the inside of the lens of all the rain the previous day, so I couldn't take any video while doing this stretch of road. Wish I could.

I had a GPS data logger on all the time which tracks various stats like speed, altitude and position. Using this data, I checked and did the 30km road in and hour and a half. Stopped for maybe 20 minutes in between. So, average speed was very slow, but the bike handled very well on the bad road.

First had the bike in Enduro mode, rider and passanger with luggage setting, Then changed to urban mode to reduce power and have more traction control.
Some may have better suggestions and what I could have done and they would be welcome.

Long streches of the road were not graded lately and it was just basically loose stones. To give you and idea of the decline, one spot we dropped 75 meters in altitude while traveling 800 meters and another we declined 60 meters when going 500 meters forward.

Here is a link to a file that can be opened in Google earth if you are interested.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16254109/HighCountryrip.kmz

MTScott2 · Jan 14th, 2012, 6:45 am

Good stuff.
Quite an adventure with the crappy weather.
Nice scenery .
Does the plate have any support?
the top case has some tubing brackets for the added weight.

Great to get a first hand real life review of the bikes abilities...
What did the lady think of the adventure? that would be a Plus to get her take on the ride , comfort factor and such..
Hope you didnt scare her too much

Biker_911 · Jan 14th, 2012, 8:17 am

Great post and thanks for the awesome pics. I've wanted to go to Australia for years and this has re-lit the fire. I'm not much of a camper though. Camping for me means "Holiday Inn", "roughing it" means only 21 channels on the cable tv and "primitive camping" means no room service.

joeducati · Jan 14th, 2012, 9:43 am

Looked like a fantastic trip, thanks for the post and pictures!

kma_jg · Jan 14th, 2012, 2:13 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTScott2

Good stuff.
Quite an adventure with the crappy weather.
Nice scenery .
Does the plate have any support?
the top case has some tubing brackets for the added weight.

Great to get a first hand real life review of the bikes abilities...
What did the lady think of the adventure? that would be a Plus to get her take on the ride , comfort factor and such..
Hope you didnt scare her too much

She loved most of it. The exceptions were some tight corners and the strong winds.
According to the weather observation the wind reached 70km/h in the Shepparton area we came through.

Me wife also says the pillion seats is very good and there was no lasting soreness of the long riding. That helps to keep the positive attitude ;-)

Sent from my Motorcycle iPhone app