2 CB500X's do The Old Grafton Road In The Mud!

Well this would be the most I've asked of the Shinko 705 tyres (Allen also has them on his bike) - a VERY slimy Old Grafton Road presented a challenge, but I reckon we both slithered through on our 17" front wheels with flying colours!!
About time I did the whole of the damned road....
Bike: 2013 Honda CB500Xa now over 128000Km of Adventures!
Stock wheels and suspension - a few, off-road suitable & protective mods:
Evotech Performance Radiator Guard
Honda Centre Stand
Honda Hand Guards
Palmer Products Adjustable Screen Mount
Hepco & Becker Engine Guard
MOTEA Bash-plate (modified to keep Honda Centre Stand and to Mount off Crash Bars instead of sump lugs)
RHK 20mm Bar Risers
SW Motech On Road/Off Road Footpegs
Rally Raid ABS Kill Switch
Staintune Pipe
Helmet Hook
Omni-Cruise Cruise Control
Dri Rider ZXS2 Soft Panniers
Shinko 705 tyres 170 60 R17* 120 70 R17
****October 2019 changed rear to 150 70 R17****
Gear:
Airoh Commander Helmet
EVS Epic Knee Guards
DriRider Adventure Series Jacket
Shark Kevlar Jeans
Shark Xplorer Adventure Boots (Mid)
5 Sport City Gloves
Dri Rider Superfabric Wet/Cold Weather Gloves
Cameras:
Sony FDR-X3000
Drift HDGhost
Drift Ghost S
Drift 4K (2 of)
CanonSX740HS
Drone: DJI Mavic Pro
Recording set up explained here:
kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZu2fnmXoc54gas
Music by Captain Cranky ©urgentmusic productions - all rights reserved

[@seanb1081]

Thanks' again Cap'n for taking the time to record, edit and post another of your adventures. I'm definitely looking forward to also checking out the Old Grafton Road on my 2020 CB500X (Running Mitas E07+ tires. 19" front wheel) in October this year. Hopefully I won't need to rely as much on my off-road skills as much as you both had to do in such "slimy" conditions. Looking forward to the next part of this video!

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Cheers Sean - yeah E07+ would fare much better even if it is wet. Apparently it will be wet for the rest of time now 🙄

[@seanb1081]

@@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger It’ll be ok sunshine 😄

[@alanwilkinson5152]

A hairy handling on occasion there.well done boys wee bikes performed great. I enjoy every adventure you take on very well done .Alan Northern Ireland 👍

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Cheers Alan - yeah after a while we got used to the bikes "sort of" going where we pointed them!!

[@anthonylimpus7189]

Enjoyed your vid Dave. Not the easiest of conditions for you and Allen however, you guys handled it with "aplomb". I really enjoy videos where you have a travelling companion and you can take in real time commentary...

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yeah know what you meaN, Tony, I like them too, for the banter and the story. Cheers mate!

[@gregorywayland2156]

A bit of mud always gets the heart pumping,love it👍

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Certainly does mate!

[@CalmBiker]

That definitely looked slippery. Cracking scenery!

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

It was! But yeah it is really beautiful all through those valleys.

[@toby7504]

Quite a work out in the mud 😲 you handle that nice. Great video buddy, ride safe

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Thanks buddy, it sure was a challenge - all the best mate.

[@ralph1252]

I have a Shinko 705 on the front of my current bike, an R1250GSA, I can't wait to change it out, terrible in those muddy conditions. Great vid, thanks for sharing.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yep - you're lucky to have a front tyre size that allows a 50/50 tyre or better, there's bugger all choice for the 17" front. Definitely not the best tyre for your bike - thanks for watching mate.

[@ralph1252]

@@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger I'll be going back to Motoz Tractionator Adventure.

[@BigBert]

Nice work on those slimy surfaces 😎👍

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Cheers Bert - it was well dodgy!!

[@HippoDrones]

Ooo, I'm a bit behind... I am sure I remember the ghost town from your previous video, and the tunnel with the puddle.... great to see them again, and you guys having a good ol' explore.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yeah - that was 7 years ago! Time flies - I had never done the full length of this bucket-list road though, was great to finally complete ie this time!

[@HippoDrones]

@@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger WOWZERS... ace you got to finish it after all this time 🙂

[@SeanC1959]

Another great video Captain Cranky. That was a pretty hairy bit of road you blokes were travelling on. Those slippery stretches of road brought back some memories of past runs. You sure do cover all camera angles. Is that orange device fixed to your chest an EPERB, GPS or Satellite phone? Cheers, Sean.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Hi Sean, yeah that was really sketchy! There was about 40Km of the slimy stuff. It's a Garmin In-Reach 2 - had it a few years now, has SOS, and also connects to the phone to send texts via satellite when out of phone service, plus mapping and all sorts. Great piece of kit - 2 mates of mine had to hit the SOS on one recently - the results were brilliant - check it out on BigBike Adventures Channel.

[@SeanC1959]

@@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger Thanks for the heads up CC.

[@azdesertdog]

Well at least the rain kept the dust down. Getting caught in the rain here is a rarety. I got soaked the last two weekends 😂. 115F 68C here. I'm looking forward to winter on this side of the marble.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yeah, nice not to have the dust mate. 68C - that's just deadly... the weather is hay-wire everywhere, we had 26C here yesterday, apparently headed for 1C tomorrow - my poor garden and the native plants have been confused for a year or 2 - not they just flower, bloom, leave, go to seed and drop leaves, all at once!!

[@allengraydon7822]

Great ride and beautiful scenery when I wasn't doing the old 50c, 5c butt clench and was able to take it in . Great riding experience though and good to experience where the Shinko 705s limits are 🤙

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yeah agreed mate, was great to both be on the exact same "platform" - this is the most mud I've tried, and I was proud of how well we both managed - I think slightly beyond the limitations of the tyres, so was must have some skills!!

[@allengraydon7822]

@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger Definitely got some experience, skills could be a stretch !!! But great fun 😁

[@BooyongDave]

It's a great ride. But some of the locals have a , shall we say, relaxed attitude about which side of the road they use.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

It is, and yes they do, but sadly that's something I have found on any dirt road with a bend... usually the culprit is in a Ute...

[@quentinjackson6015]

A few sketchy mud sections there! When I married my vegetarian/animal loving wife many moons ago, I rented a cheap flat above a butchers shop as our first home together.....In the early mornings (5 am onwards) there were loud scraping/chopping noises coming from below our bedroom floor.... and.when our landlord asked her whether she might like to earn some extra dosh for Christmas plucking Turkeys, she suddenly had the desire to move! Her first months of married life weren't quite as romantic as she had hoped.......Not my wisest choice of accommodation at the time, but been together over 40 years - forgiven then! 🪝🪝 🦃🦃 🦃

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

OMG Mate! She must really like you :)

[@02bigkev]

Good to see you finely done the road....lol. Sketchy surface but handled well.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Thanks mate - about bloody time eh?? 😆

[@SeanC1959]

Just scoped out that the unit on your chest appears to be a Garmin Satellite communicator.

[@SteveMuir]

Last time I rode that it was two up on a Suzuki SV 650s on road tyres. No mud though.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Yeah, when dry it's pretty much an easy gravel road - although I've done it in drought and there was still a couple of muddy bits, nowhere near this slimy though!

[@AfricaTwin-Stuff]

Not looking like fun. Potential death at every bend. And all I can think about is “that’s going to take hours to clean the bike”.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

Ha ha - Wifey said the same... "and there's f...ing cliff and a river to the left!!" I was pleasantly surprised how we managed it and sort of settled into it after the initial shock. Yep - didn't clean it for a month... hosed down, truck washed, hosed down, heavy duty car washed, hosed down, attacked with scrubbing brush.... still isn't clean!!

[@AfricaTwin-Stuff]

@@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger - I’ve just returned from my Birdsville trip. Took all day today to clean the bike and replace a fork seal. Not fun.

[@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger]

@@AfricaTwin-Stuff Looking forward to seeing some videos....

[@allengraydon7822]

Still finding dried mud in my nooks and crannies too 😮😅😂​@CaptainCrankyMotovlogger