V-Retro V-Raptors Across Australia
 

Reproduced from my intro thread -
Ok, where do you start? - Right here looks good I suppose!
I have just bought 2 Skyteam V-Retro 250's (223 to be precise) for an idiotic ride across Australia (16Sep 27Sep 2015) to commemorate my wife's 50th birthday. This surprised me somewhat because last year I bought her a funeral plot as a present and she still hasn't used that yet.
We live in South East Queensland Australia and are relatively close to some great weekend riding areas. Both my wife and I commute to work by bike, her on a Yamaha Majesty 400 scooter and me on a CTX700. On the weekend she rides a Triumph Speedmaster while mine is a Triumph Thruxton. The shed also contains a number of XR250's, KLE500, Ducati Monster 900 as well as some old school SR500's and a TT500 - yep we love our bikes.
Back to the V-Retro's, sometimes called V-Raptors. The bikes were bought sight unseen from Scooters and Buggies in Western Australia, price was $1995AUD registered ride away which equates to $1556USD or 1017GBP which (to me) is a bargain price. Bikes are new and have been delivered still in their boxes as I requested.
The ride is quite simple, we fly to Perth West Australia, assemble the bikes, load them up and then off we go on our 5500km "relocation" ride through the middle of Australia- what could possibly go wrong?
I'll let this sink in for a while and I'll be back to explain a little bit more shortly. Any V-Retro owners in Aussie please let me know - you may have "life saving" info.
And now for the update:
The bikes are still in their crates in West Oz and there is a pile of stuff in the spare bedroom waiting to be packed into the travel bags before we fly out. The pile includes DID VX2 chains, larger front sprockets, Loctite, hand guards, tools, Loctite, tubes, spokes, Loctite, topbox, 12v/USB power sockets, Loctite, wheel weights etc. We have a pair of Pirelli MT43's with the bikes thanks to the ChinaRider forum advice and a 10 litre fuel container as I'm unsure of how far we can go on the standard 10L fuel tanks. If we time the fuel stops correctly our max distance between stops will be 360kms. The longest day is the first day and is planned for 800km (500Mi) before the overnight camp. I have promised my wife 10 days of fun filled riding - well it will be fun when we stop - the rest will be an endurance.
Attached SHOULD be a map of the route and the other pic is either the 'endurance' or the 'fun' pic. I cant remember which.....http://www.chinariders.net/images/icons/gay_gif.gif

Wow. Don't forget the Loctite.

:D

Keep us informed.

I'm sure if I bought my wife a funeral plot for her birthday, I'd be using it first.

And like weld said, don't forget the loctite.

best luck on your country crossing
me and wife took a similar drive (shorter though) on a rent 4x4 Suzuki Jimmy on our honeymoon trip...............remember me getting out of the car for a quick pe* and my shoes' soles almost MELTING on the ground........... car's A/C was not malfunctioning as I thought................it was just TOO DAMN HOT for it

Yes, Keep up posted. Wish I could ride with you on my V-Raptor

On our way.
 

A funny thing happened on our way to our ride. The aircraft couldn't be refuelled due to thunderstorm and lightening so we were a delayed then a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere at 2:30am (4:30amEST) prior to getting to my parents house. at least the door was unlocked and the bed soft.
So much for the early start to assemble the bikes, do a quick test ride then pack for a 5am departure the following day. I'm too old to function with a total lack of sleep - so 3 hours later we were into it.
The bikes were un-crated and roughly assembled to see what we had to work with and what spares, parts, options we would need. The bikes were in in better condition than I expected them to be and were a higher quality than I expected also. On went the Pirelli MT43's (4.0x18) and the first quality related issue was found. The rim tape on the inside of the rim only went 3/4 the way around the rim and the original tube was perished. The chains were swapped for the DID VX2, on went the 14t front sprockets and out came the forks. The forks were emptied, flushed and 240mil of ATF oil added to each leg. The engines were cranked into life, run for 5minutes then drained of the cooking oil that inhabited the sump. In went some Penrite 15-50 oil (yes I know its a heavy weight oil) and the bikes packed.
My bike has 4.6km on it and my wife's bike had 2.1km when we were ready to ride out the gate for our 5500km ride across the country. The run in procedure would happen on the ride with another oil change after the first day.
More to follow if we have internet access/phone signal/civilization.
I think the 14T (PNo JT284-14T) front sprocket may be a little too big given our loaded weight and sandy country we will be travelling.
Pics to follow.

Trying to upload some pics from a borrowed computer.
1. Uncrating the donkeys.
2. 10 minute warning bell.
3. Perth city 125kmon the odo, all is good.

I'm going to enjoy following this adventure.

Very cool!


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I'm subscribed. :) The V-Raptors look great. :tup:

Ahh, Perth. Had a great time there.

red centre
 

I've received word from OzRider. At AM hours on Tuesday they're at or near Ayers Rock. Seemed to be in good spirits and making good progress.

Ian.

Welcome, Ian! Thanks for the update. How many km have they traveled now?

Almost 2100 km.


https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Pert...f7f8b78d82!3e0

Oodnadatta
 

Got a text msg from OzRider,

Fighting a monster headwind, will make Oodnadatta Wednesday evening.

Ian