Add in the fact that my 210KG KLR650 ADV bike was stuck with me, and you’ll start to appreciate why this was one of those rides that I will remember for a while.
Whilst ridiculous rains kept my usual riding mates on the couch with their feet up, I don’t get that kind of luxury when Kawasaki has sent me a brand new KLR650 and the Mag’s editor will break my kneecaps if I don’t have a good story to tell by the end of the month. This solo mission started with a rainy ride through Sydney out again to the Zig Zag Railway where the trails begin. It was a long and roundabout trip as there had been enough rain to flood the Hawkesbury Nepean River for the second time in a month.
Maybe I should have taken that as an omen for what was to come, but I prefer to think of it as an invitation. Anyone who loves off road riding loves the gritty tenacity required that sets it apart from other hobbies like Golf and Soccer, and if a ride has sloppy mud and deep puddles in store then I’ll welcome it.
The Blackfellow’s Hand trail is a classic four-wheel driving trail that starts and ends in Lidsdale (north of Lithgow) and Clarence. Overall, it is beginner friendly and is a great option if you’re exploring ADV rides within a day of Sydney. On this occasion however the holes left by four-wheel drives had been inundated and transformed into sloppy sinkholes to trap both the brave and the foolish. Whilst most could be manoeuvred around, one such pit was fenced in by impenetrable scrub on one side and shoulder high wall of mud on the other, no way round, only through.
I judged my options carefully and decided on a line which appeared to be relatively shallow and solid underfoot. The only catch was a chest high mound on the opposite bank and underwater 4WD ruts. Its fine I told myself, I have done a day of trials training and have logged countless hours of Pol Tarres YouTube videos, I’ll just send it across and then pop the front up at the perfect time.
Instead, I crept into the pit with all the aggression of a dandelion and hit the mound slow enough to get beached halfway up. Thankfully I fell to the left and the handlebars caught the pit wall whilst I sank into thigh deep water and calf deep mud. I clambered back aboard and tried to tractor up and over but had zero traction. Instead, for my trouble the beached whale and I both fell to the right and into the middle of the pit.
Desperation. Scrambling on hands and knees, I forced the KLR upright and got her started before my problems multiplied. However, in a blessing from above the latest tumble had reoriented the KLR onto a new line, on which I could force it around the mound and out of the pit, enabling me to return home humbled and covered in mud, but with that day’s thirst for adventure well and truly satisfied.
KLR650 ADVENTURE
RRP: $10,129
WARRANTY: 24 months all parts and labour
DISTRIBUTOR: Kawasaki Australia
WORDS | PHOTOS // ISAAC MANN
