The Gillies Range - Far North Queensland Australia

[Tony Smith]

Ok, I have been threatening to do this for a while.

Yesterday I went up to Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands, the attraction is twofold, firstly the Whistle-stop Cafe does superb food and very good coffee and secondly the Cafe is the Sunday morning congregation point for motorcyclists given to restoring and riding "older' bikes. A few weeks back when I arrived walking along the line of bikes in amongst many, many other highly desirable bits of machinery was a Norvin, a Square-4 and a road registered Manx.

Yesterday was not a particularly big turn-out, it is the Australia day long weekend and the roads are full of coppers and idiots (with the idiots winning as usual), still this rather nice R69 survivor was there.


But the main thing was that I remembered to not only mount the camera, but to also turn it on.

Some will recall that I have been banging on about the Gillies range  since I got here - it (in my less than humble opinion) deserves to be in the top 10 bucket list motorcycle rides on the planet. Just count the corners.......

Anyway, I can go quicker but in honour of the number of idiots and the number of police about I went very steady.

About 15 secs before the video starts I was passed by a lad on one of the new V7 Guzzis, we will see him again briefly, near the top of the range where he is assisting the highway patrol with their inquiries.

The 4WD that I am stuck behind at the start did its level best to keep me behind it heading towards the bottom of the range and then dawdled up the range. Sensing a trap I waited until the legal passing lane and passed them - sure enough two constables int he front seats, looking to pinch someone for crossing double lines, driving without due care and anything else they could make stick. Its a good thing I am old, suspicious and cynical....


Once past the coppers in mufti just enjoy the ride (and join me in wishing I had a better camera).

At the top of the range we break out onto the tablelands for the brief run to Yungaburra.


Please forgive the fact that I am old and slow, a search of the word "gillies" in you-tube will produce a number of anonymous videos showing the range being ridden in ways that vary from merely bold to downright suicidal.


Oh yes, you might want to turn the sound down, I didn't bother with any nice themed music and simply left the muted howl of the R65 - it gets boring very quickly....


BTW I know how many bends there are officially on the Gillies - try to keep count and lets see how accurate you are!

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/QHGAqm3SI5Y

[Burt]

The 4WD that I am stuck behind at the start did its level best to keep me behind it heading towards the bottom of the range and then dawdled up the range. Sensing a trap I waited until the legal passing lane and passed them - sure enough two constables int he front seats, looking to pinch someone for crossing double lines, driving without due care and anything else they could make stick. Its a good thing I am old, suspicious and cynical....

Not that you would have done anything like that in your day Tony.    

I nearly rode the Gillies once .... but broke down after coming out of Gordonvale.  Luckily a Suzuku riding young fellah came by in his ute and gave me a lift back to Cairns whereupon the bike was shipped back to Brisbane.  

[montmil]

Like our secured R65 battery side covers, it would seem the R69 owner feels the same way about his tire pump.

[Tony Smith]

Like our secured R65 battery side covers, it would seem the R69 owner feels the same way about his tire pump.

Well yes.......
BTW have you ever tried to use one of the useless things? I carry CO2 cartridges and adaptor, but as a last resort I also carry a Zefal bicycle frame pump - it has the huge advantage of locking onto the valve so that your efforts can be concentrated on pumping and not split between pumping and holding the pump engaged with the valve.


On a related subject I will try and take photos of interesting bikes spotted at the Whistlestop and publish them regularly.

Pictures:-

1/. Zefal HPX
2/. An interesting Command with I suspect some racing heritage given that everything was drilled and had lockwire fitted
3/. Well, I saw an appropriate caption recently:- "We were wolves once, wild and wary, hunters and cunning. Then we noticed you had sofas."

[Tony Smith]

I nearly rode the Gillies once .... but broke down after coming out of Gordonvale.  Luckily a Suzuku riding young fellah came by in his ute and gave me a lift back to Cairns whereupon the bike was shipped back to Brisbane.  

I sincerely hope you get back up here and get to ride it at least once. My favourite time is just at the beginning of winter, start at the bottom at around 6:30 still dark and then the 5 dgree temperate drop when you hit the pine forest and finally bursting out into sunlight at the top.

Very few coppers about that early and the young lads on their sports bikes aren't out of bed either.

I am hiring a Royal Enfield for a weekend in the near future (kind of an extended road test prior to buying one), I am planning to go up Rex range, down Kuranda, up the Gillies, down the Palmerston and then back up the Gillies and finally down Kuranda again and home. After that 400km ride I reckon that if there is anything else worth knowing about the RE, I will know it.....

PS. This is the ride I was going to take the XR on until I buggered my ankle.

[Kookaburra]

Great posts Tony, its whetted my appetite for the Gillies; Just have to get up there from Sydney (after purchasing a Zefal HPX)

[Tony Smith]

Great posts Tony, its whetted my appetite for the Gillies; Just have to get up there from Sydney (after purchasing a Zefal HPX)

Much as I like the Zefal pumps, there are now better ones available - A dual range pump designed for mountain bikes would be close to ideal - they have two settings, high volume for low pressure and high pressure to finish off pumping up bicycle tyres - one of those in high volume mode would inflate a motorcycle tyre faster than a HPX.

[Burt]

Tony,

In February I will heading from Brisbane to Jindabyne where a number of K100/75 owners will be gathering.  One of my good mates who has ridden just about everything may just happen to be in the area. His brother lives locally and if all works out well he suggested he might borrow a diesel engined RE  to potter along with.  Top speed of 80km/hr apparently.  Should be good for a laugh if nothing else.  

[Tony Smith]

Tony,

In February I will heading from Brisbane to Jindabyne where a number of K100/75 owners will be gathering.  One of my good mates who has ridden just about everything may just happen to be in the area. His brother lives locally and if all works out well he suggested he might borrow a diesel engined RE  to potter along with.  Top speed of 80km/hr apparently.  Should be good for a laugh if nothing else.  

Burt

In all seriousness, there are a number of different versions of the RE Bullet diesel, there were some made by the factory and they tend to not be the absolute worst, but they are not good.  A number of "street" conversions were done, the best of these, featuring Lombardini or Ducati diesels (yes Virginia Ducati has from time to time made industrial engines, I once spent my Christmas University holidays on the idiot end of a ducati diesel powered "wacker-packer" building pathways for the local council). But to return to RE diesels.

If you can find one actually capable of 80 kph that would be an achievement, if you can then find a rider who can endure the vibration at anything near 80kph be polite to them, you have just met superman. My recollection is that by around 65~70kph the handlebar grips were 6" in diameter and the "tingles" from the footpegs would have sent my feet to sleep were it not for the effort of keeping them on the pegs.


There may somewhere be a worse motorcycle than an RE diesel, but I seriously doubt it. If someone were to be tricked into riding one from Brisbane to Cairns, and if they made it, I am prepared to bet money that they would refuse point blank to ride it back.

However, if you make it this far North, let me know and I will take you all to see some of the less well known things around the place and I will also show you one of the best riding days you will ever have involving the Gillies, Palmerston, Kuranda and Rex ranges all in one day - will even throw in the Cook Highway to Pt Douglas (for those who do not know this road, think 20km of highway mostly cut into the rock face of mountains rearing up out of the sea - the "where the reef meets the rainforest thingy).