As a general rule, average fuel consumption will double in the Simpson Desert. We pushed on and were making good time. Would it be more of a downfall having all that extra weight if you don't need it. Fuel consumption was also on the Freelander’s side. After a few mouthfuls of fuel for Mitch and Nick, we managed to siphon enough fuel into my bike to get me to Mt Dare. The trip started with the leg from Brisbane to Birdsville. The Simpson Desert is the common name given to the area between Birdsville in the South West Corner of Queensland to Dalhousie Springs in the far north of South Australia near the Northern Territory border and actually lies across the corners of 3 States - South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The next day we woke up before sunrise and did the Kings Canyon rim walk. The Finke track was very uninteresting, although the occasional surprise rock or sand patch stressed me out a bit. Additional fuel bladders carried. Anyway, we were crashing and being thrown between ruts and just completely exhausted, so we called it a day. You should be able to cross without ever ending up on dangerous angles. Had 3l Common Rail at that stage. All in one piece, all very happy and all very amazed. Unfortunately, the summit walk was closed as an Elder had passed away the week prior. Yesterday afternoon saw Steve help Jim out with an auxiliary battery problem, which was leaving his fridge out of power by each morning, a temporary … Stayed at Kings Canyon resort which was quite expensive but has good facilities (and a bar). It helped a bit. I couldn’t work out how to do it and was getting pretty sore and sick of crashing. This worked well apart from the few times that I came screaming up a steep dune and then slammed on the brakes as soon as I got to the top, which semi-often resulted in my bike on the ground. Lead and sweep riders with all safety/first aid and remote communication equipment. Depending on your bike you will need between 40 & 50L fuel. On the 2nd of August 2017, myself (Holly), my boyfriend who rules (Mitch) and his best mate (Nick) set off from Brisbane to head to the desert. It was eye opening to see just how much flat land there is in Australia – it just keeps coming and coming. We also had cans of soup and ravioli and other Chunky things. But who knows!? We flew through this part and got to the turn off for the WAA line. We’ve probably seen some of the best sunrises and sunsets. Then, all of a sudden we were out of the dunes and travelling around a huge salt flat. I noticed that Nick had something caught in his rear brake – turned out his thermals had gotten pulled in a completely melted and destroyed. The last 280km into Birdsville were very rough with large ruts and massive rocks all over the road. The morning of day 7 we walked to the base of Chambers Pillar for breakfast at sunrise. There were a few topless mountains in the distance (all the mountains are topless, the top is where ground-level used to be). By the time he reached Birdsville he estimated he used around 100L. However, there’s also ways to experience the Simpson Desert WITHOUT needing to weeks to see it or advanced 4WDing skills (we’ll show you how below). Exceptional skill and a powerful vehicle with lower tyre pressures are … Simpson Desert Jeep Adventure! Crossed The Simpson at the end of September last year and the temperature then was close to 40c,warm when playing in the sand. The scale of Uluru is also a hard thing to get your head around. The sand was fairly firm at this time so fuel consumption was not bad. For breakfasts we had Up&Gos, Weetbix breakfast biscuits and museli bars. Eventually it got to the point where we were all wrecked, and we pulled 20m off the track and camped between two dunes and watched the sunset. (Top photo credit: Phil Cowan – thanks, Phil!) Lunches were oat bars, beef jerky (100x recommend this), jelly cups, muesli bars and juices (also recommended). As these are the only fuel opportunities the track notes and Gps file start at Mt Dare and ends in Oodnadatta almost 550 km later, which highlights the remoteness of this region. A video of the GoPro footage from the trip is also being put together. These were the heaviest of all our gear, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for sales on aluminium versions for the future. The bike has also been fitted with a vacuum fuel tap on the tank and a new Dell'orto 28 mm VHST carburettor that features the vacuum pipe extension. It was a lot easier for a while and then we got to a ~50 km section of dunes that were strange. We got to the turn off for Chambers Pillar and while debating whether to go, Nick noticed that Mitch’s rear wheel bearing had completely gone. Not an easy ride even for the experienced This wont help with consumption but its one less jerry can you have to carry. Mitch cleaned my needle and seat again and resealed my float bowl for me and then we head off. The motorcycle fleet is maintained to the highest standards in the workshop. Fuel consumption: 40 mpg ‑US (5.9 L/100 km; 48 mpg ‑imp) The Aprilia RS125 is a GP derived replica sport production motorcycle. Thank you! The fully loaded TLC did on one occasion get itself caught on top of one of the many dunes requiring a gentle snatch backwards to have a … Definitely recommend it. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much , Your story has inspired us to complete the same journey Thanks for sharing the great story and pics. We packed up and head towards Uluru. I fill the thing to the brim out there and get an extra 15lt or so in. The bags themselves were great, but the plastic clips didn’t hold up. I dropped my main tank out and bent the breather up to the roof of the tank for these sorts of trips. This Thread has been Archived. On the way back, instead of emptying two of the soft drink bottles, we left them full, which was really nice to have a sugary, flavoursome drink in the evening. The rear axle wouldn’t come out of Mitch’s bike so the guys took it back to the motorcycle store and they let them use their 20-ton press. Mind blowing. We had lunch at Poepell Corner – the intersection of Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory. The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. Simpson Desert - how much fuel. Mitch was the only one with a decent headlight, but it pointed off to the right, so I had to try stick next to him to use that. The base walk was 10 kms long and took about 3 hours, however the entire track is on flat ground. Motorcycle information. While in the desert, self-sufficiency is essential. The camping gear was all light and small. The motorcycle used is Suzuki DRZ400E with custom modifications such as bark busters, bash plate, … Spezifischer Kraftstoffverbrauch als Vergleichsmaßstab. The desert is easier from west to east due to the prevailing winds anyway, and there was another turn off in 20 kms. This included several runs to the top of BigRed and running around Birdsville. West to east high range, wind blows this way so dunes not as steep. It’s a hard, arid land with very little in the way of vegetation other than scrub. Left Mt Dare with full main and sub tanks and with 70 liters extra in jerry cans. The nights were also quite cold, it usually got down to ~0 degrees. Sometimes it is a challenge to find a good flat, clear campsite, especially with the amount of growth around, so here are three that were excellent, especially with a larger group: On Rig Road about 15km east of Mokari airstrip – 26 19′ 14.9S 136 36′ 02.4E. Went to a place called Bojangles for dinner, which was an American cowboy bar style restaurant. We bought the parts to fix Mitch’s rear wheel from Desert Edge Motorcycles in Alice Springs and then went to a caravan park. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Sometimes it is a challenge to find a good flat, clear campsite, especially with the amount of growth around, so here are three that were excellent, especially with a larger group: On Rig Road about 15km east of Mokari airstrip – 26 19′ 14.9S 136 36′ 02.4E. Got to the tourist town (Yulara) after lunch and waited for Mitch’s tour guide friend to finish work. We got up and head to Mt Dare for fuel. JavaScript is disabled. After seeing Uluru we headed back to Alice Springs via the 130 km/hr highway – woo! Check out which adventure motorcycles made the grade. Would recommend. He was packed pretty light, with the exception of the roof rack full of fuel. Some years, no rain falls at all, whilst in other years (like 2010 -2011), … We finished the 6 km walk in about 2 hours and then got to watch the sun set and the moon rise over Kata Tjuta. Typically I average 13.5 L/100k for a mix of highway and track driving - fully loaded, roof-rack (no trailer). On day 2 of the desert crossing we got up early with positive attitudes. For beds, Mitch and I both had Sea to Summit insulated Comfort Light inflatable mattresses. There were two things to see on the way: Engoordina and a big water tank. This is the best thing I’ve ever read! We set off, and to our delight, the French line was a bazillion times more hard packed! the show Your 4x4 recently did a trip across .... diesel used 110 ltrs for the trip to birdsville and the 4.8 was bout 240 i think, but that was the camera vehicle and was running back and forward so used more .... those figgures are JUST for the crossing .... they also ran with extra fuel up top to .... i guess in the end its better to have too much than not enough ... something also to think about is the price it will be alot higher .. also of note there is NO LPG anywhere near there ... so better replacing LPG tank with a petrol tank if ur taking a petrol vehicle. Just do it, grab some friends and go. Day 12 was the day we headed back across the desert. Cheers mate this is just the kind of information I'm looking for. Price: $2550.00 Per Vehicle. It is not good practice to carry petrol inside a vehicle and having that much on … – Simpson Desert crossed unsupported west to east via French Line, Rig Rd, WAA Line and Warburton Track. The Composite Desert Devil Off-Road Helmet System includes our popular Devil Ray Snell SA 2015 rated helmet, equipped with an offset top ... We get it, because it's who we are too. Stayed tuned to see it posted here. We went down to the hot springs (a glorious 38 degrees) and had the best soak ever. For people thinking about doing the trip, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Carry at least seven litres of water per person per day, and emergency food and water for another 7 days. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. For dinners we took packets of Continental pasta & sauce packets which just needs boiling water. It was gorgeous. 2021 Kawasaki KX450 TESTED! I filled up at Oodnadatta with 150L. I would definitely recommend either having thermals or a really warm sleeping bag. The tracks weren’t straight over the top, they curved and went up the side of the dune. I might just mention now that the fuel consumption for all vehicles was around 140 litres with the trailer towing Cruiser TD using the least fuel. I was always behind before! There are hundreds of kilometres between fuel, food and water stops on most of the crossings. You need to carry extra fuel and plenty of water.A 4wd camper would need good clearance and not be to heavy for a Simpson crossing. The Simpson desert is the fourth biggest desert in Australia and the largest sand dune desert in the world. It has the original standard fuel tanks 90L + 45L. Therefore, the Simpson Desert climate relies on the tail-end of tropical rainfall events. Nick would stop at the top of every couple of dunes to check that we were still coming. General Discussion Only, Not for Technical, VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 901, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Having finished the desert, we all woke up and felt pretty amazing the next day. Used 18 L/100. but it was an easy fix. Bus weighed 3600kgs. Mitch was on a Suzuki DRZ250 with a 35L tank (Safari) and Nick on a Suzuki DR650, also with a 35L tank (also Safari). The Finke Desert Race had finished days earlier. Stand up and keep accelerating, which is a strange thing to do when you’re going down a steep hill, but it works! CMI Toyota & LCOOL's 2004 Double Simpson Desert Crossing Fuel Consumption With the diverse number of vehicles on this trip it was a good opportunity to gather valuable fuel consumption statistics. The dunes were wonderful, a small layer of soft sand on top and hard packed underneath. The fact that it is just a big chunk of sideways Earth is pretty amazing. We then continued on. It was completely different place to when we came across – Nick was actually worried we had taken a wrong turn at one point. Thanks Carla! The last issue I would like to mention is the way you intend to carry 200l of extra fuel. Each motorcycle is replaced at 20,000 kilometers. Checked in to the Birdsville campground which was a huge dust bowl made extra terrible because a sand storm was blowing through. We bought a Nelson Rigg dry bag and two side panniers for each of the bikes which were ~$200 each for the set. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. My mates in a GQ TD42 and another in a series 80 diesel both used about 95 litres and a petrol Prado was in between my Mav and the diesels. All food and non-alcoholic drinks.