letsgofishing
Grey Hound
I spent the weekend in 'Maritzburg with my wife's extended family. Knowing I was coming up, one of my brothers in law sons said to pack some riding gear as well! He runs a timber plantation near Eston and said we would go riding around the farm. I thought cool - sounds like a pleasant ride. Up at 6:00, have a cup of tea and load the bike on the bakkie - a Suzuki RMZ 450. We arrive at the farm at 7:45 (he had meeting with a tribal chief at 11:00). His bike is a KLX 450R. Please bear in mind that this is the first time I have ever ridden a proper off-road bike (the RMZ is a Motorcrosser) and that both bikes are only a few month's old!
The beast.
The beast's cousin.
This is a whole new ball game - where's the key I ask - oh, I see, you don't need one :-[. Switch on the fuel tap (my XLR250 had one), hold in the clutch and the decompression lever and KICK! Thank goodness it started first time! Now this is NOT aquiet bike - their 8 month old Rottweiler pup jumps up at starts bouncing and snapping at the exhasust - one of the funniest things I have ever seen (sorry, didn't think of taking a movie).
Off we go and within 5 minutes, the tendons in my hands are hurting and I'm experiencing "arm pump " for the first time in my life. This thing is a beast - open the throttle and the front end wants to say howzit to the sky! OK, a bit more gentle - now the engines screaming - where's 5th gear? - oh, it's an MX bike, it only has four. Turn off the farm roads and onto some tracks, heart thumping, trying to keep up with the KLX which seems to spend most of its time on the rear wheel only. Turn off the track onto another narrower track - tree roots diagonally across the path, rocks and small drop-offs! Holy cr*p, this is a new experience! Then up a grass and rock-covered hill to the top where the electronic fire-monitoring tower and equipment is.
View from the top
The beast.
The beast's cousin.
This is a whole new ball game - where's the key I ask - oh, I see, you don't need one :-[. Switch on the fuel tap (my XLR250 had one), hold in the clutch and the decompression lever and KICK! Thank goodness it started first time! Now this is NOT aquiet bike - their 8 month old Rottweiler pup jumps up at starts bouncing and snapping at the exhasust - one of the funniest things I have ever seen (sorry, didn't think of taking a movie).
Off we go and within 5 minutes, the tendons in my hands are hurting and I'm experiencing "arm pump " for the first time in my life. This thing is a beast - open the throttle and the front end wants to say howzit to the sky! OK, a bit more gentle - now the engines screaming - where's 5th gear? - oh, it's an MX bike, it only has four. Turn off the farm roads and onto some tracks, heart thumping, trying to keep up with the KLX which seems to spend most of its time on the rear wheel only. Turn off the track onto another narrower track - tree roots diagonally across the path, rocks and small drop-offs! Holy cr*p, this is a new experience! Then up a grass and rock-covered hill to the top where the electronic fire-monitoring tower and equipment is.
View from the top
