2019 BMW TS Safari

[IanA]

It's on! The 2019 TS Safari starts on 29th Sept from Windsor, near Sydney at the foot of the Blue Mountains, and finishing at the Kingscliff just south of the Gold Coast. The whole trip should be around 4500-5000 km for me as I am not shipping my bike to the start this time. Some of the hardcore Safaristas are riding all the way from Western Aus and back -( about the same as from Oregon to Florida,) plus about 2000Km around the NSW Highlands for the event! A set of tires at least.
Not sure if there will be many, or any, ST's and GT's this year but probably a raft of GS's including some who have just finished the GS and GS Enduro Safaris. No stopping some of these guys!
The only glitch at the moment is the outbreak of around 60 unseasonal bushfires in southern Queensland and northern NSW. Guess where we are going!
There may be some places left if anyone's interested. PM me if I can help.
Cheers, Ian A.


https://bmwsafari.com/events/2019-ts-safari/

[IanA]

The 2019 TS Safari went very, very well. No major problems, accidents, bad weather, hunger, thirst, etc., and an abundance of curvy roads, a few potholey sections, roadkill galore ( wildlife coming onto the road edges to pick up whatever green they can in the current horrific drought conditions in northern NSW) We saw lots of evidence of how hard rural existence is in the area these days - dead vineyards, emaciated stock, no Spring pasture growth.
I am now on my 2000 Km ride home and taking a day's break at a coastal resort after 10 days of frenetic twisty touring. It was starting to tell on my 76YO endurance!
Past contributors to this forum, Donny(Discflight) and Paul (Middlo) were on the ride and have put together some pretty impressive vids and pix. I will eventually get them onto this site....
Next years TS Safari will be around the Victorian Alps area. Now you're talking! Almost as good as Tasmania...

[notacop]

I guess this was a posh event. One can normally tell by the lack of prominent posting of a price. Don't want to scare the kids?
The ADV events put on by the American BMW training camp are also wallet draining.
Further evidence of the haves and have not's. But I can imagine it was a pip of a ride.
BMW NoCal puts on a Range of Light Gypsy Tour each year that is a rolling camp out event. Not a a 5 star event but provides a lot of miles of the best roads they can find and a new campsite each night.
Looking forward to posting of pics of the ride

[308bever]

didn`t happen until the pictures are posted!!! (((-:

[IanA]

You are right, Nota. The Safari has become pretty expensive to participate in. The base price this year was A$2000 for shared accommodation A$3000 for Solo. (US$1400 and US$2100) However, this did include 6 nights 4&5 star accommodation, 3 Dinners, several breakfasts, medical and technical support, Tshirts, awards, route mapping, and all the organisation it takes to get an event like this off the ground and running smoothly. The GS Safaris are even more expensive, but there is a lot more involved. They are tough events to manage. Value for money? Maybe not, if looked at cold and objectively. Would I miss out on doing it? No bloody way!

[notacop]

Value for the money...You bet your Bippy. As you indicate 4-5 star accommodations and food etc, etc. I've helped to put on rallies and the wife and I did the food for the event a few times. It's a lot of under appreciated effort. Folks pay their fee to attend and want something for their coin. Even camp out rallies are more expensive due to the expense the parks and venues charge to allow the event.
When RawHyde, the US BMW training group, puts on the Ritz you get food and beverage and plush camping in remote areas. Too bad they don't provide Cuban cigars with the night cap. Stupid embargo's!

[AliceNicho]

Even though the other half thinks these events are shit and a waste of money it's something I'm keen to do, hopefully in 2020. I'm also planning on joining the ECFR girls for their Tasmania ride in December 2020. Both of which I plan on riding Betsy to and from.

On my to do list are also the MP Ladies Day (track day) but I won't abuse Betsy on the race track and the Simpson Desert Crossing (also the ladies group for it), though it will be on my purple people eater (KTM 525EXC).

Sent from my CPH1701 using Tapatalk

[notacop]

Alice, you go girl! You don't have to flog the bike to have fun at a track day.
There's a lot of female bonding goes on with the womens only groups so have fun. My daughters have had a good time on such endeavors.
Same with the guys. We used to hunt big hairy animals, now we can do it on motorcycles.

[IanA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-fg...ature=youtu.be

This is the first "official" video of the 2019 TS Safari. Even get my uglymug on it a couple of times! It gives you something of a feel for the atmosphere of the event, although it seems to have missed some of the great socialising at various parties/dinners etc - not my choice of backing music either Despite appearances, it's also not a Geriatric's Convention either! (well, not quite)

My Safari buddy Paul Middleton has put together a bunch of great vids on the whole trip including his epic solo ride home to Western Aus. I will ask if he would post some links to them, meanwhile when I figure out how to download them, I will see if I can get some of my own GoPro efforts into the public domain.

Next years TS Safari has been confirmed for the Victorian Alps region, around late October. My backyard - can't wait!