Well, at long last I fitted my new chassis yesterday, bolted the body on and took her for a 50km spin on the dirt on the 7 Passes... all I can say is WOW! The additional 100 mm ground clearance makes this into a completely different machine to my previous rigs, she stands taller, (same height as a Toyota Fortuner I noticed) feels a lot more 'nimble' and just all around it gives you the feeling of a true off road adventure vehicle... no more worries about 'middle mannetjies', large rocks and I can't wait for some heavy rains for river crossings!

Every 'weakness' I saw in my previous rigs I've rectified, the ground clearance, a MUCH stronger swingarm attachment with brass bushings and a grease nipple to keep it all well lubricated, a longer swingarm in the rear with a pivot point near the shock to stop the wheel leaning like a beach buggy under load, a larger gap between the tyre and the shock to stop rocks getting wedged between, a much stronger wheel hub and bearing setup, a better engineered and more easily accessible telelever rod and lean in / lean out connector set up for easier removal of the rig for solo riding... etc etc
All in all, so far I'm extremely happy with the result... the body I am still working on, now that I can actually see it fitted on the rig I can now finalise the design idea I envisaged from the beginning. I really want to move away from the Ural look, I envisage a custom built body made for serious expedition riding combined with the ability to comfortably carry a passenger... and / or doggy.
