Outback Riding: Fuel, Water and Range

Work out a real riding range

The range that matters is the distance you can cover into a headwind, on a loaded bike, on a hot day, with the throttle held at highway speed. None of those conditions resemble the figure a manufacturer quotes. Before an outback trip, fill the tank, ride a representative stretch at your actual travelling speed with the luggage you intend to carry, refill, and calculate litres used against distance covered. Then subtract a margin you are willing to walk in. The rest of the long-distance preparation sits in planning a motorcycle trip in Australia.

South Australia's arid lands region publishes the same warning in plain terms: fuel economy varies greatly on the tracks, soft sand, mud and slow hilly terrain all increase consumption, and you should plan to carry enough fuel between every stop. On a motorcycle the margin has to be bigger than in a vehicle, because a headwind costs a bike proportionally more than it costs a diesel ute.

What roadhouse spacing actually looks like

Roadhouse spacing is not uniform, and averages hide the problem. Across the Nullarbor the Eyre Highway runs about 1,206 kilometres between Norseman and Ceduna with no towns in between, only thirteen fuel stops, most of them roadhouses. Some of those stops sit a few minutes apart; others are close to 200 kilometres apart. Three legs are well over 150 kilometres, and they are the ones that decide your tank size.

In Western Australia, Main Roads notes that the distance between some remote towns can be considerable, and that roughly 40 roadhouses across the state provide a safe stopping place — privately owned, with fuel availability worth confirming before you rely on it. On the Stuart Highway the Northern Territory's own rest-stop list makes the same point in distances: the King rest area, 46 kilometres south of Katherine, lists Tennant Creek as its nearest town to the south, 624 kilometres away. If your route starts in the Centre rather than the west, rides out of Alice Springs has the local fuel geography.

Carrying fuel legally and safely

Spare fuel is a sensible answer to a long leg, but it is a dangerous good, not a picnic item. WorkSafe Western Australia sets out the rules clearly: petrol should be carried in UN-approved jerry cans complying with AS 2906, and the capacity of containers filled at service stations is limited to 25 litres. Petrol vapour venting inside a vehicle can form an explosive mixture, and ignition sources include something as ordinary as a remote locking fob or a cigarette.

The practical rules that follow are about restraint and ventilation. Containers should be upright, sealed, restrained so they cannot move, and carried where air flows past them — a trailer or a ute tray if you have one, otherwise with the vehicle ventilated. Keep them away from fertilisers and oxidising agents, and do not smoke or vape anywhere near them.

• UN-approved containers to AS 2906, filled to the marked capacity
• Upright and restrained, never loose in a pannier
• Ventilation through the vehicle, not a sealed compartment
• Refuel away from hot exhausts and never beside a campfire
• Check the container and cap for perishing before every trip

Water: the number to plan around

Water is the one supply where underestimating is unrecoverable. South Australia's arid lands guidance gives figures you can plan with: during mild weather, estimate six litres per person per day; during warmer weather, estimate ten litres per person per day; and carry a three to four day reserve on top of what you expect to drink. That reserve is not for the trip going well.

Two things make the arithmetic harder on a bike. You cannot carry as much as a vehicle can, and the wind hides how much you are losing: at speed you do not notice the sweat, and a helmet and jacket raise the effort of simply sitting in the sun. Carry water in more than one container so a single leak does not cost you the whole supply, and keep a bottle where you can drink from it without stopping to unpack.

• Six litres per person per day in mild weather, ten in warm weather, plus a three to four day reserve
• Split the supply across at least two containers
• Drink before you feel thirsty, and drink at every stop rather than in one long break
• Carry electrolyte tablets for days when sweat losses are high
• Never ration water to make it last — turn around instead

Heat, and knowing when to stop

Heat illness on a motorcycle builds quietly. The wind hides sweat, so you dehydrate without noticing, and a full-face helmet raises the effort of simply existing in the sun. The early signs — headache, clumsiness, irritability, a sudden loss of pace — are easy to blame on the road or the bike.

The sensible rule in the Centre and the north-west is to ride the cool hours and stop through the hottest part of the day, which is also when the light is worst and the wildlife least visible. If you are riding into a headwind on a hot afternoon to keep a schedule, the schedule is the problem.

UHF, beacons and the plan you leave behind

Mobile coverage in the outback is the exception, not the rule. South Australia's arid lands guidance estimates that only about five per cent of the outback has mobile phone range, mostly in townships on the main sealed roads, with sporadic coverage on unsealed roads. Plan for a trip with no phone signal rather than hoping for one.

UHF radio is the working tool for the bush. Channel 40 is the road or truckies channel, channels 5 and 35 are for emergency use only, and the repeater channels broadcast over a longer distance — the arid lands guidance notes repeaters can reach up to 100 kilometres. Main Roads Western Australia also notes that oversize load pilots and traffic escort wardens can be contacted on channel 40. Above that sits the personal locator beacon: a registered digital beacon is the device that works when nothing else does.

• Tell a named person your route, the towns you expect to pass and your expected arrival dates
• Agree a check-in time and what they should do if you miss it
• Carry a personal locator beacon registered with AMSA
• Set the UHF to channel 40 for road trains and oversize movements
• Carry a paper map of the region, not only a phone

Wildlife and livestock at dawn and dusk

Animals are the most predictable hazard in the outback and the one riders most often meet at the worst time of day. Main Roads Western Australia reports that analysis on the Great Northern Highway found approximately 83 per cent of cattle-related crashes occur at dawn, dusk or night-time, and makes the point that you cannot hear animals on the road and usually cannot see them until it is too late.

The response is not complicated: slow down in the last hour of daylight and the first hour after sunrise, scan the shoulders rather than the centre line, and treat a warning sign as a statement about the next few kilometres rather than a decoration. If you see one animal, assume there are more — livestock move in mobs and a single beast on the verge usually has company behind it.

Sharing the road with road trains

A road train is not a big truck. Main Roads Western Australia notes that some road trains run up to 60 metres long, which it describes as roughly 12 car lengths, and that overtaking one takes far longer than overtaking a conventional truck. The rules that follow are about patience and sight lines rather than bravery.

Wait for a long, straight stretch with nothing coming, never overtake on a curve or a crest where visibility is reduced, and stay out of the blind spots along the trailer. After you pass, do not pull back in until you can see the vehicle's headlights in your mirror. If a rear pilot vehicle waves you past or calls you on UHF channel 40, the driver is telling you it looks clear — you are still the one responsible for checking.

• Never overtake on a curve, crest or anywhere the road ahead is hidden
• Wait for an overtaking lane if one is coming
• Give way and pull over completely if an oversize convoy needs the width
• Expect a road train to move across the centre line to avoid roadside hazards
• Use UHF channel 40 to confirm intentions before committing

Stopping for the night outside a town

Sleeping rough is legal in some places and firmly not in others, and the difference is signposted. The Northern Territory publishes a list of rest stops on the Stuart Highway and states which allow 24 hour overnight camping and which do not; Bridge Creek, King, Warloch and several others permit it, while Manton Dam and Coomalie Creek do not. Read the list before dark rather than arriving and guessing.

On South Australian pastoral country the rules are tighter again: along public access routes you must camp within 100 metres of the track, at least one kilometre from homesteads and other buildings, and not within 500 metres of stock watering points. Carry out everything you bring in, and do not light a fire without checking the current restrictions. If a night in a bed and a proper kitchen would reset the trip, campervan hire in Alice Springs is an alternative to another night in a swag, and it keeps the bike free for the day rides that made the trip worth doing.