Putty Road - Australia

[Beach]

This is very short notice I know. Its funny how things come about sometimes.

If its a nice day tomorrow, Saturday 8th July, I'm going for a much needed ride.

I've never done the Putty Road, so I'm heading up there from the Mt White Cafe.

Is there any knowledge/experience anyone can share with me, such as road condition etc?

Of course if anyone is free and cares to join me the more the merrier.

Cheers,
Brett. :chug:

[detjan]

Brett

Would love to join you in the ride but I am working

Have a good day riding mate :-D


:chug: Det

[BazzaST]

Hi, Brett I did that ride last weekend, I went the other way ie Colo vale, half house, Broke, Wollombi, Peat Ridge up the old Pacific Hwy. There was heaps of bikes on the road, it was also a bit cool weather wise.

I call that a ride around the block about 350ks all up.

Be careful on the Old Pacific from Mooney Bridge on is 60ks, be on the lookout for Mr. Plod.
Maybe I might meet up with you.

Regards barry
:-D

[ruscook]

Hi Beach
would love to get out on a decent ride, but have to be at the airport tomorrow.

Some buddies of mine are doing
"Meet Mt White for 10am departure, lunch East Gresford and back via Putty or Broke, with a few new backroads we haven't been on before thrown in between Branxton and Paterson, and out to Lostock Dam."

I'm jealous of the lot of ya!!

They should be on a new black R1 and a 916SpS Duc (or GS1200) so say g'day if you see them.

The road is good (except for plods as mentioned) in most places. Rarely, but about 4 times over the last 5 years the Putty can have loose gravel on some of the tight corners so keep an eye out. Also Broke to Wollombi has a couple of very bumpy sections that are just plain *****.

Other than that it's a great ride. Singleton has a couple of pubs for lunch. East Gresford pub is also quite good although the rd from Singelton to Gresford has deteriorated in the last 3 years. It used to be good for 180-200kph blats, but it's too bumpy now so mostly 120-160kph.

Enjoy the ride guys, I'll have a look for ya's at lunch time as I fly over :-)

Hope to catch up in a couple of weeks.
Russ

[stevecro]

Thanks for the invitation Brett, although I've been told mid week is the go for this road.

Be careful of would-be racers running wide from the other direction ( and of Mr PLod whom they attract) according to my Hayabusa riding mate who lives at Upper Colo

[DragonDan]

We expect pictures when you get back!

[DaveM]

Hi Beach,
I would if you were a little tiny bit closer! :-D

Have a great ride and why not write a little report for us and post it when your all home again?

Thank you for asking though.

Dave

[Rammstein]

Doing the Oxley on 12th -13th August Overnight Prt Macquarie
Now thats a ROAD
Meeeting near Newcastle
Welcome to come
PM me for details

[harrya13]

Hey Brett..
Hope u had fun - First part ( Singelton end up thru the mountains ) of the Putty Rd is one of my favorite roads. We should catch up soon for a chat - hope yr lady is doing well on her bike ?? Mary Ann is still the best pillion in the world - but has not gone back to get her bike licence.

Cheers / Harry..

[Beach]

So I didnt end up doing The Putty Road. My well intentioned idea of getting up at a reasonable hour, having a good breakfast and hitting the road just didnt happen. So its just as well no one took me up on my offer as I hate stuffing people around.

Due to my day being cut short, I decided to just go for a relaxing ride. McCarrs Creek Road, Freeway to Berowra, Mt White, Wollombi Pub and return. I didn’t cover many miles, but it was good to just get out on the bike with open road ahead. I finally had a chance to scrub the Shinko tyres in properly and I am quite happy with them. They are very neutral and the bike goes where I point it, with plenty of feedback. The front brakes performed as they should. I’m not wanting to start the brake thread again, but cleaning the pistons has worked well. The road to Wollombi did show up deficiencies in the suspension. The back wheel chattered under hard acceleration at times on bumpy sections, the front dived under medium to hard braking and it just wont handle sharp bumps. A real shame on an otherwise great bike. I’m saving my pennies to get it sorted.

I’ve had a lot of close calls on The Old Pacific Highway over the years. I reckon I’ve used up all my luck on that road, so now I ride it with respect. It would seem I’m in the minority. I came across what is a typical weekly incident, with a bent bike being dragged onto a tow truck and the ambulance just leaving. It looked to me that the rider had simply not allowed for the fact that some of these corners are always damp, especially in winter. The number of 600cc and litre class missiles that overtook and passed me, the riders knee on the deck, surprised me. One twitch and its game over. At the wrong instant they would easily take another rider with them.

Maybe its because my 20’s are well behind me or I’ve been reminded of my own mortality to many times or I just don’t want to see my shiny ST disassemble itself down the tarmac. Or maybe all of the above.

Cheers,

Brett.