TRAVERSE 161
TRAVERSE 161
An unlikely adventure across one of the world ’ s most inhospitable environments , Australia ’ s Simpson Desert , a terrain of more than eleven hundred sand dunes that all must be crossed .
It seemed a ‘ no brainer ’ that when friends and Royal Enfield enthusiasts , Kevin Kelly and Geoff Pickard decided their next adventure would be tackling Australia ’ s most celebrated desert that the Indian branded motorcycles would have to come with them . In fact , it came from a passing comment a few years earlier when the pair had driven separate four wheeled vehicles across the dunes and decided a bike would be a fun way to tackle it , providing that they were Royal Enfield ’ s .
“ We had other friends wanting to come along ,” Geoff laughed . “ But believe it , we had a rule , ‘ no Royal Enfield , no entry .”
That was enough for a fellow rider , Steve Gluyas , a friend of Geoff , to decide he would do it too , on a bike a little better suited , a first-generation Himalayan . Kevin and Geoff would be riding the less suited Classic 500 machines .
“[ The requirements ] kept it to a pretty small group prepared to try that ,” added Kevin with a mischievous grin .
In fact , despite the requirements of the bikes being Royal Enfield ’ s everything else came down to planning and preparation to make sure the bikes were up to the task . “ It took us a while to develop them ,” explained Kevin . “ We thought we had it done fairly early on ,” he continued to explain that everything was completed on one bike and then replicated on the other , including a raised exhaust , knobby tyres , and some minor weight reduction . “ We took it down to the beach , and promptly got it bogged .
“ We were quietly confident that we were very close , and we were a long way off still ,” a shrug suggesting it was