Port Broughton is a small but fantastic coastal town about 160km north of Adelaide. It’s not widely known outside South Australia, and to be honest, not even that well known among city folk within the state. But hidden around the area is an abundance of cracking singletrack: ultra-tight trails cut through the bush, weaving in and out of country roads and coastal scrub.
Despite it being a long weekend, we had the trails completely to ourselves. Not another rider in sight. It wasn’t until we reached a beautiful stretch of beach that we finally saw some other bikes. A few locals in the know had set up camp, each with about half a kilometre of pristine white sand to themselves, shallow water for the kids and a few dirt bikes ready to explore the surrounding trails. But more on this later.
The day before the ride I’d been playing soccer with my 11-year-old son. He slammed another goal past me.
“Dad, I’m cooking.”
“Really? It’s pretty cool this morning.”
“Nah bruh, I’m on fire. I’m cooking. Scored another goal. You’re selling.”
“I’m selling?”
“Yeah, you suck.”
Well, this ride had been a long time coming. Tim Pengilly rode from Port Broughton on his 2020 Sherco 300 SE Factory and met me on his bike at the exact minute I rolled in from Adelaide. I quickly kitted up, with one small change to my usual gear. I was testing a new pair of KTM adventure gloves, essentially rebranded Klim Baja S4s, which I’d picked up on sale. I’m always on the lookout for gloves that offer a bit more protection without restricting movement, so I did a classic A/B test, running the new gloves on one hand and my usual favourites, Alpinestars Techstars, on the other.
The following morning was hotter, already 25°C by 7:30am as we rolled out. The singletrack in Port Broughton was reminiscent of the Riverland: undulating small whoops snaking through tight sandy corners, littered with tree roots, loose rocks and general trail debris. Low-hanging branches constantly reached out to snag a jersey, so it definitely paid to be switched on.
I wasn’t.
Before long I was cooking, not like an 11-year-old scoring goals, but like a middle-aged bloke wearing too much riding gear on hectic trails. I don’t know about you, but the first thing that tells me I’m not bike-fit is my hands. Mine were tiring quickly on these tracks.
Still, it was great fun. We had the trails entirely to ourselves and eventually began to find a groove. Occasionally when we stopped, the Sherco wouldn’t restart. That meant pushing it up a short but steep hill to the road, sweating and swearing we’d never take up hard enduro. Once there, we’d roll-start it and get moving again. Not enjoyable. Luckily we figured out that after a few minutes’ rest the cooking, or overheating, starter relay would cool down enough to work again.
In my last KTM build article I wrote about adding PHDS polymer bar mounts with 10mm risers and moving the bars further forward to open up the cockpit and reduce front-end chatter. It definitely made the bike more comfortable. Standing now feels natural and, combined with softening the suspension a further two clicks all round, the bike feels much smoother.
The downside is a loss of front-end grip at low speed. With the bars higher and further forward I got caught out three times and dropped it, tucking or washing the front in sandy or rutted corners. No damage done, but I’ll need to bring the bars down or back a little to find the right compromise. Standing is better; slow technical trails are a bit trickier.
Eventually the incredible singletrack led us to that beach south of Port Broughton I was talking about earlier. There were happy campers set up for the long weekend, each enjoying about half a kilometre of beach to themselves. Some families had dirt bikes, others had flat-bottomed tinnies for the shallow waters. It’s a real gem, free camping and plenty to do. And surrounding the beach are some fantastic riding tracks.
One narrow 4×4 track, with thick scrub on the left and a fence line on the right, delivered a proper adrenaline moment. A big Roo suddenly launched out of the bush, leaping over my back wheel while I was pinned along in fourth gear. With no time to react, sheer luck kept me from being launched straight into the barbed wire.
Tim kindly offered me some toilet paper afterwards, but luckily I’m made of sterner stuff… just.
All up it was a fantastic three-hour ride. We were hot, unfit and completely stoked with the day. The post-ride beer and debrief tasted pretty good.
Apart from discovering another great riding location, there are plenty in South Australia, so come and visit, I always enjoy testing new gear and setup changes. The Baja gloves proved very comfortable and make a great ADV or enduro option, offering extra padding and protection while still keeping heat manageable. The PHDS mounts are excellent too; I just need to dial in the perfect position.
And backing all the clickers off two turns on the WP Pro suspension has made the bike beautifully plush. Zero bottoming, just smooth.
Fun times on the singletrack. And to quote the Ariel MCC: “Thou shall not straight line.”
