Contents
Introduction
On the weekend of November 11-13,2022, members of the new Bathurst Motorcycle and Enthusiast Club (BMCEC) had a wonderful 3 day motorbike ride to Gloucester and Tamworth.
The ride was organised by the BMCEC members Rob Smith and Peter Williamson (again! — would we have any rides without these two?).
The intrepid riders originally listed to participate were:
Peter Williamson (BMW K1300S)
Greg Vinall (Suzuki SV650S)
Chris Bennett (BMW R1200RT)
Richard Bull (BMW K1200GT)
Peter Hein (Historic BMW R60/5)
Rob Smith (Yamaha FJR1300)
Nathan Taylor (Honda Africa Twin)
Neil Lumley (CFMoto 800MT)
Peter Gore (KTM 1290)
Brett Pangas (KTM 1290 Venturer)
Jim Merrick (BMW K1200S)
Noel Miller (Ducati 800 Scrambler)
The route took us on day 1 to the Roundabout Inn, Gloucester via the highway to Lithgow, Bell’s Line of Road, Putty Road, Singleton, and Dungog.
Day 2 took us via Buckett’s Way to Tamworth via Taree South, a detour to Harrington for Nathan to drop off a BSA part for repair, Herron’s Creek (but not actually into the township), Wauchope, Walcha, and Bendemeer.
We returned to Bathurst on Day 3 via Werris Creek, Quirindi, Scone, Moobi, Dartbrook, back to Muswellbrook (because of a road closure), Denman, Bylong Valley Way. The group then split into two. 9 crossed the flooded creek and returned to Bathurst via Rylstone and Sofala, while Greg, Rob and Richard turned back and returned to Bathurst via Wollar, Mudgee, and Sofala.
The full planned itinerary can be viewed here.
Incidents
- Rob got a great cheer when he finally arrived at Macca’s carpark. But the sleep-in left him in good spirits.
- At the best of times, the roads in the Dungog shire are an abysmal patchwork of repairs. After the continuous rains, the roads were even worse (as hard as that would seem). At least there was less patchwork…being replaced with large potholes.
- All bikes survived, bar Nathan’s who punctured about 40km short of Gloucester. Good ‘ol Rob bought a tube at Gloucester and rode back for Nathan to repair, using Neil’s tools. What an angel! [Something about Gloucester…last time we went there, the group split up, with one arriving somewhat later then the first.]
- Peter Hein had fuel issues on Buckett’s Way, but we all regrouped at Taree South before heading off to Harrington for Nathan to deliver a BSA part needing repair.
- Richard told us Herron’s Creek was a pretty town. The rest of us bypassed the beautiful town and headed straight to Wauchope.
- Lots of roadworks on the Oxley Highway, as well as lots of cops. Fingers crossed no-one receives a letter soon. [The Oxley Highway is closed during weekdays for repairs.]
- Noel had brake issues — a customisation left his rear brake permanently on. When he arrived, his rear brake was red hot. Luckily a quick fix was possible.
- We had a HUGE downpour at Walcha (see photos). Greg’s bike didn’t like it at all, running on one cylinder for most of the trip to Bendemeer.
- We planned a toast to Nipper at Tamworth, but we weren’t allowed to be served Sambuca Shots at Joe Maguire’s pub. [I’ve checked since, and cannot find any such restriction for such orders before midnight. Maybe the Joe Maguire’s has tighter restrictions due to previous trouble — not surprising after the night’s fracas between two feuding families where a man and a woman had to be restrained, and evicted.]
- Rain on the last day. ¾ along the Bylong Valley Way, we came across a flooded creek with dubious surface. 9 crossed and headed straight to Rylstone and onto Bathurst. Greg, Rob and Richard took the safe path, and returned via Wollar to Mudgee, and onto Bathurst. Luckily the forecast heavy storms bypassed us (to hit later that night — 86mm overnight at Bathurst, causing the biggest flooding that residents could remember.)
- With Greg’s Suzuki running on one cylinder, petrol consumption was sky-high. Having to return via Mudgee instead of Rylstone, his 15l tank took 14.94l at the Mudgee fuel stop. Just 60cc left…cutting it fine!
Maps
There are no statistics. The device that I used to record the trip (Garmin Edge 510) crashed and I had to hard reset it.
Map of day 3 (Note the map depicts the route taken by Greg, Rob and Richard. The others crossed the flooded creek on Bylong Valley Way, and returned via Rylstone, Ilford and Sofala)
Photos
Photos can be found here.