It was a long drive from my home in Batemans Bay to Coffs Harbour for the RIDEADV Yamaha Tenere Tour, and made longer by my bad habit of singing along to a homemade CD of classic Aussie 70’s rock but I was travelling solo so nobody complained. Be thankful that you’ve never had to sit through my rendition of “Ego Is Not A Dirty Word”.
It rained all the way there which did not look good for the planned five day trip with Ride ADV Yamaha Tenere Tour who were hosting the Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally out of Coffs. RideADV are known for being organised though and plans were in place if inclement weather were to affect things. My mount was kindly supplied by Yamaha Australia, a brand spankers T7 with a mere 500kms of run-in on the clock as it turned out.
The Sunday sign-in went as planned and we soon had 30 eager adventurers sitting around that night, drinks in hand as Sean “Geezer” Goldhawk from Yamaha welcomed us and a gave a short talk on the history of the Tenere. Trail Boss Greg Yeager then explained how the ride would work, where we would be going and how we would get there each day. The planned route was from Coffs Harbour to Evans Head for the first night, then subsequent days saw us climbing the Great Divide and overnighting at Tenterfield, Inverell, Walcha and then returning to the coast at Coffs on day five. As the ride was called the Tenere 700 Adventure rally there’s no prizes for guessing what everyone was mounted on, from early models right up to the latest World Raid versions of Yamaha’s twin–cylinder 700cc adventure machine.
The weather in May was hitting the east coast of the island with plenty of rain but (insert your deity of choice here) smiled upon us and we had great weather on day one, blue skies and sunshine with minimal dust due to the preceding nights rainfall. This was not to last though as Tuesday dawned wet and cold, more than compensating for the glorious conditions we had enjoyed the day before. Greg and the RideADV crew were right on top of it though and as we collected our pre-loaded GPS’s each morning we were informed of some minor route alterations due to weather enforced local road closures. The weather was to improve somewhat for the following days but gave us another soaking on day five by way of farewell.
Greg and his crew always plan a challenging ride, with some alternative easier detours on occasion for less experienced riders, but with the camaraderie that such groups soon develop plenty of help is always on offer if needed. Zero riders leave well before each mornings briefing and report back to Greg on any late occurring obstacles such as fallen trees and put up warning markers where needed. Sweep riders travel both mid-pack and at the tail end of the group, so help is never far away if needed, and a support truck not only carries everybody’s overnight gear but in case of a mechanical that can’t be fixed trailside, it transports bike and rider as well.
Leaving Coffs we were soon on a narrow twisting climb up into the hills and it didn’t take long for the unsealed roads to appear. Nice sweeping corners, a hard packed surface, minimal dust and an occasional scattering of gravel just to keep things interesting as we toured through farming country. Eventually our wandering ways brought us to Nana Glen (named perhaps for a cross dressing grandparent?) for smoko and a quick fuel top up as we were advised it was a good stretch until the next bowser.
The days end offered up a surprise as we followed some meandering twin track through native forest and came upon a water crossing that did just enough of an “S” bend that we couldn’t get any idea of the distance to regain dry land. After the usual procrastinations and all being gentlemanly enough to offer “you first” to each other one rider bit the bullet and sailed in full steam ahead. The water parted from his progress and flowed amongst the tussock grass and we then noticed a photographer bobbing up in the distance which only enhanced our apprehension. As it happened it was an ideal photo opportunity but not a particularly difficult obstacle and we all made it through and remained in the vertical position, possibly to Leon the photographers’ disappointment.
As already mentioned day two was wet and chilly and some route alterations had been forced upon us by last minute road closures in the State Forests but the RideADV crew are well prepared for such situations and an alternate avenue was available. The roads and tracks we were able to use were slippery enough with the occasional mud hole made worse by a generous amount of cow shit in places where we passed through farms. The smell when that hits a hot exhaust is not going to win any awards at a perfume competition.
One particular section that had been recently graded was as greasy as a butchers’ handshake and supplied more than a few sphincter puckering moments I’m sure. Another noteworthy sight was the WW2 tank traps on Paddy’s Flat Road a remnant of the defense plan known as The Brisbane Line, Google it. We were all glad to see Tenterfield and a hot shower at days end, and I might have even been treating myself to a small Peter Allen singalong in my helmet as I arrived at the motel.
We had had now ascended the Great Dividing Range and day three was spent in a large loop out of Tenterfield before returning for lunch and fuel and then making our way to Inverell. This took us along Rocky River Road which is a scenic “must do” on any ADV’ers riding list. Some early morning rain meant that once again hot showers and cold beers were eagerly sought out at days end.
Our longest day at 398kms (the shortest was 320kms) was our fourth of hitting the trails and took us to Walcha with another good sized water crossing near the end of the journey. This time Leons’ patience was rewarded as a brave soul decided to take one for the team and provided an action shot par excellence by dropping his Tenere in spectacular fashion. No harm was done except to rider pride, Leon snapped the piccy and it was well talked about over dinner that night.
Also over dinner each night the nightly presentation of Wally the Wombat for the best fail of the day was voted on by all involved, including crew. If awarded Wally you must carry him in a predominant position all the next day which resulted in “Stepdad” carrying him two days in a row for carrying him upside down on his screen the first time.
On night four extra awards were included. The Riders Choice Award of a free trip with RideADV went to Steve Parrish who appreciated it but would likely be on the next one anyway as this was his 20th ride with them. Other awards were the Dunlop lucky door prizes of V8 Supercar tickets which went to Greg Polson, and David Dawes took home a set of Dunlop Trailmax Raid tyres. Ben Lombardi won a Teknik suspension setup for the furthest travelled and the best set up Ténéré 700 prize, a MSC steering damper went home with David Poole.
We were also told to watch carefully for signs on day five as they would indicate extra prizes like Yamaha hats and other giveaways so we were all swivelling our heads in all directions on the run down the Great Divide back to Coffs. Just to finish things off the way they started it rained again for a good part of that day. We used some of the Oxley Highway in our descent to the coast, a road I’ve long heard of but never travelled and I can now understand why the sports bike riders get excited over it. It has more twist and turns than an angry black snake.
After enjoying a good nights’ sleep in Coffs it was time to hit the road home again and it rained all the way for nine and a half hours of driving. The only time I had the wipers off was in the North Connex tunnel. It was bloody well worth it though as no matter what the weather gods choose to throw at them, RideADV consistently run a great show which was evident by the number of repeat customers on this ride. Check out their Facebook page for future rides.
Rubber Side Down
Dunlop had fitted their just released Dunlop Trailmax Raid tyres to the front and back of the Tenere I was riding plus those of the Yamaha representatives on the ride, Sean and Jake. It’s a 60/40 design tyre for ADV use, 60% dirt, 40% road and as such worked well. The grip never gave me any concern on sealed roads even in pouring rain and the wear rate appeared to be quite good also.
I found the grip on firm off-road surfaces inspired confidence, even on gravel, but when we got into some mud and slop I discovered the limits eventually. To be fair it was some serious mud that really needed a full knobby and the tyres worked better than I expected them to but it was clearly outside their design parameters. Even so I kept the bike upright for all five days, and they never let go in such a way as to catch me out and dump me on my head but there was a moment or two of concern. For a rider who prefers to do their ADVing on well-defined unsealed roads and tends to avoid anywhere wet that 4WD’s have chopped up they could be a wise choice.
WORDS WARREN JACK || PHOTOS YAMAHA
