Rokie
Race Dog
I was never much of a biker. At school I had a friend with a “fifty” (Honda MB-5) and we used to ride some farm roads that have since been paved and now runs among neighbourhoods, a golf course and some apartment complexes. Subsequently, during my student days, another friend and I bought a couple of XR200R’s, which we rode for a while and restored a bit to sell and make some money.
Then, at some point, I decided to buy a ten-year-old Suzuki DR600 to take me onto some roads less travelled. My first ever adventure bike trip was inspired by a local bike mechanic. He told me how he used to go into the Karoo and the Cederberg with a friend and his Landy – armed with some maps from the Surveyor General’s office. One day he pulled out a piece of A4 paper and drew a few lines of where they once found an old shepherd’s cottage in the middle of nowhere.
I promptly started building a luggage system for my DR. I McGyver’ed quite a nifty click-on system for a plastic milk crate, which served as my top box. I also recruited a mate whose brother had an old XT500. He was simply going to use a back-pack to make up for the bike’s lack of luggage solutions.
So, off we went on a Friday afternoon in May 1995 – just over 20 years ago now – in search of that old shepherd’s cottage and a weekend of two-wheeled fun. The photographs were few and far between because, remember, this was before cell phones and digital cameras. Our first aim was to reach a farm in the Koue Bokkeveld where a mutual friend had recently found his first job. We had to make many unscheduled stops on the way there, since the XT kept cutting out when it got wet. I guess the weather was another reason for the lack of photographs . . .
(Just testing the size of the picture - more to follow soon . . .)
Then, at some point, I decided to buy a ten-year-old Suzuki DR600 to take me onto some roads less travelled. My first ever adventure bike trip was inspired by a local bike mechanic. He told me how he used to go into the Karoo and the Cederberg with a friend and his Landy – armed with some maps from the Surveyor General’s office. One day he pulled out a piece of A4 paper and drew a few lines of where they once found an old shepherd’s cottage in the middle of nowhere.
I promptly started building a luggage system for my DR. I McGyver’ed quite a nifty click-on system for a plastic milk crate, which served as my top box. I also recruited a mate whose brother had an old XT500. He was simply going to use a back-pack to make up for the bike’s lack of luggage solutions.
So, off we went on a Friday afternoon in May 1995 – just over 20 years ago now – in search of that old shepherd’s cottage and a weekend of two-wheeled fun. The photographs were few and far between because, remember, this was before cell phones and digital cameras. Our first aim was to reach a farm in the Koue Bokkeveld where a mutual friend had recently found his first job. We had to make many unscheduled stops on the way there, since the XT kept cutting out when it got wet. I guess the weather was another reason for the lack of photographs . . .
(Just testing the size of the picture - more to follow soon . . .)
