hando
Race Dog
For a very long time I have wanted to do the old postal route , but I was never quite sure of I would make it with a big bike like the Super Ten.
When the new Kawasaki Versys 300x became available Kevin proposed that we tackle the old postal route with it. Sadly we did not have two demo models available and in the end I decided to tackle it with my Super Ten. A fact that I came to regret a little bit later on.
Plans were made and on Saturday morning we met up at the BP garage next to the Lord Charles hotel.
Kevin bought some extra water while I filled up my tank
We made our way through Wellington and stopped on the pass for a break and a photo.
I got the video camera working and then chased after Kevin who had gone halfway up the pass already.
I was quite happy to see that the little Versys ran up the pass happily and handled the twisties with ease.
We filled up in Ceres and stopped at the local steakhouse for a breakfast before hitting the road to Tankwa Padstal. We did not enjoy the road to padstal as there was a lot of traffic on the road that created dust. We also passed two graders that also added to the dust and the fact that the wind was not blowing did not help at all.
At Tankwa padstal we stopped for a quick chat and a drink.
And then it was off towards Elandsvlei where we hoped to pick up the old postal route.
Having never ridden this road before we were not sure how far the Elandsvlei turn off was and eventually stopped at the Halfway House to ask Directions .
And then , before we knew it we were on the old postal route.
And we did not have to go far before we got our first glimpse of what was in store.
I did not realise that Kevin was so close behind me and the poor man and his bike got a severe sand bath.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ar2mrNM-Kl0[/youtube]
The river was bone dry.
It was at the 2nd crossing that the big bike took its toll for the first time and I fell over after stalling on a big loose rock. I ended up in the bushes with my right foot trapped under the bike.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/9AWFjZzfBfU[/youtube]
Kevin came to my rescue and lifted the bloody heavy Super T off my leg.
Unlike its owner the Super T crashed very well. The rumbux crashbars took the knock and saved the bike from any serious damage.
We made our way through lot of sand and then over more dry river crossings and stopped for a break once the river crossings were over. I was hot , tired and sweaty and we had not even gone into the route by 10km.
Kevin was having a breeze on the Versys 300.
And then it was onwards and upwards.
We stopped at a small stone shepherd hut and had a snack. We discussed the route so far and Kevin mentioned how impressed and surprised he was that the Verys had not bottomed out once or knocked its belly or exhausts on the rocks. In fact , at the end of trip we inspected the bike and could find no marks on the bottom of the engine or exhausts.
As we reached the escarpment I thought that the worst was behind us. Man was I wrong.
I am not very good at riding sand and this came back to haunt me in the section over the top of the plateau. While the much lighter Versys was cruising over the sand I was having to fight the Super Ten all the way through the stuff. At some point I thought it may actually be easier to ride next to the road as I thought it would be firmer. I could not have been more wrong and ended up struggling for more than 15 mins to extricate the Yamaha from the deep sand tracks where my stupidity dug it into.
The rest of the plateau could only be described as sections of loose soft sand interspersed with sections of deeper , loooser softer sand. The poor Yamaha was having to work very hard and for the first time since I bought her I saw 113'C on the engine temp display. The highest before that was 105'C where the fan kicks in. For the section over the plateau the fan never ever stopped unless I turned the ignition off.
We came across a borehole with a small dam and I went for a drink from the fresh cold water.
Kevin set off down the road and I followed with the Super T fighting through the sand all the way. Only to bog down in an extremely loose section.
Kevin had gone on ahead and I tried to get the bike out by myself to no avail. I tipped the bike over - scooped sand in under the rear wheel and picked the bike up again a few times in order to get the rear wheel out of the hole I dug , but no joy. Luckily eventually Kevin arrived and with both of us pushing and running the bike under its own power we got her out of the hole and up the hill.
Now it was going a bit better with the sand replaced by loose stones .
I was riding along merrily when out of the blue
[youtube]https://youtu.be/_f37AKFhC5w[/youtube]
I did not even know what the hell hit me. It took me quite a while to figure out what went wrong and only when viewing the footage afterwards did it all make sense.
The big rock lying loose in the photo got pushed up by the front wheel and wedged itself under the bash plate - pole vaulting my front wheel into the air.
Kevin was quite a distance ahead and when I did not show he came rushing back to check if I was ok. Luckily all was ok and by the time he got there I had taken a photo or two and managed to pick the Super Ten up.
We went further up the road and stopped for some snacks and photos.
By now I was tired and gatvol and when we set off again I decided to try riding the sand by speeding up and shifting my weight back. This seemed to work and I was going at a fair pace when I encountered a deep patch of sand and it all went horribly wrong.
As I came down in the sand my left leg got trapped under the bike and I got thrown off the bike rolling over my left shoulder and twisting my left leg like a wet rag being dried. The pain was excruciating. With my foot still trapped I managed to clamber back over the bike with my body to at least get the twist out of my leg. I then managed to drag my foot out from under the bike and when Kevin arrived I was limping around in pain. All he saw was one massive dust cloud as I went down.
After assesing the damage to the bike ( gear lever bent, but fixed on the spot) and to me ( very sore ankle and knee ) we set of to finish thee route before sunset.
I was now riding very slowly and approaching every piece of sand with utter caution. Changing gears was also beginning to be a problem.
At least the scenery was nothing less than spectacular .
And then , just when I thought we were never going to get out before sunset we reached the pass and it was all downhill from there.
I enjoyed the pass thoroughly and I do think it is one of the most spectacular passes I have ever ridden.
We arrived at De Pakhuis where we managed to book a little camping hut with proper beds and mattresses for the night.
My leg was really hurting and I was just too glad to not sleep in a tent on a thin self inflating mattress.
My leg kept me awake for a large part of the night and I was really worried that I had torn the ligaments in my knee. Turns out that I just sprained the ankle and pulled some muscles into positions they did not want go.
On Sunday morning we decided to head straight home down the N7 as I could not sit and change gears. Every time I needed to change gears I had to stand up and then hook the lever with my foot, find the gear I wanted and then sit down again until it was time to change to the next gear.
This sure got me some very strange looks from other bikers - especially coming through the traffic in Stellenbosch.
The idea for the trip was to put the little Versys 300X through its paces and it did not disappoint.
I am sure that Kevin will also come and share his thoughts on the bike and the trip in this thread.
When the new Kawasaki Versys 300x became available Kevin proposed that we tackle the old postal route with it. Sadly we did not have two demo models available and in the end I decided to tackle it with my Super Ten. A fact that I came to regret a little bit later on.
Plans were made and on Saturday morning we met up at the BP garage next to the Lord Charles hotel.
Kevin bought some extra water while I filled up my tank
We made our way through Wellington and stopped on the pass for a break and a photo.
I got the video camera working and then chased after Kevin who had gone halfway up the pass already.
I was quite happy to see that the little Versys ran up the pass happily and handled the twisties with ease.
We filled up in Ceres and stopped at the local steakhouse for a breakfast before hitting the road to Tankwa Padstal. We did not enjoy the road to padstal as there was a lot of traffic on the road that created dust. We also passed two graders that also added to the dust and the fact that the wind was not blowing did not help at all.
At Tankwa padstal we stopped for a quick chat and a drink.
And then it was off towards Elandsvlei where we hoped to pick up the old postal route.
Having never ridden this road before we were not sure how far the Elandsvlei turn off was and eventually stopped at the Halfway House to ask Directions .
And then , before we knew it we were on the old postal route.
And we did not have to go far before we got our first glimpse of what was in store.
I did not realise that Kevin was so close behind me and the poor man and his bike got a severe sand bath.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ar2mrNM-Kl0[/youtube]
The river was bone dry.
It was at the 2nd crossing that the big bike took its toll for the first time and I fell over after stalling on a big loose rock. I ended up in the bushes with my right foot trapped under the bike.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/9AWFjZzfBfU[/youtube]
Kevin came to my rescue and lifted the bloody heavy Super T off my leg.
Unlike its owner the Super T crashed very well. The rumbux crashbars took the knock and saved the bike from any serious damage.
We made our way through lot of sand and then over more dry river crossings and stopped for a break once the river crossings were over. I was hot , tired and sweaty and we had not even gone into the route by 10km.
Kevin was having a breeze on the Versys 300.
And then it was onwards and upwards.
We stopped at a small stone shepherd hut and had a snack. We discussed the route so far and Kevin mentioned how impressed and surprised he was that the Verys had not bottomed out once or knocked its belly or exhausts on the rocks. In fact , at the end of trip we inspected the bike and could find no marks on the bottom of the engine or exhausts.
As we reached the escarpment I thought that the worst was behind us. Man was I wrong.
I am not very good at riding sand and this came back to haunt me in the section over the top of the plateau. While the much lighter Versys was cruising over the sand I was having to fight the Super Ten all the way through the stuff. At some point I thought it may actually be easier to ride next to the road as I thought it would be firmer. I could not have been more wrong and ended up struggling for more than 15 mins to extricate the Yamaha from the deep sand tracks where my stupidity dug it into.
The rest of the plateau could only be described as sections of loose soft sand interspersed with sections of deeper , loooser softer sand. The poor Yamaha was having to work very hard and for the first time since I bought her I saw 113'C on the engine temp display. The highest before that was 105'C where the fan kicks in. For the section over the plateau the fan never ever stopped unless I turned the ignition off.
We came across a borehole with a small dam and I went for a drink from the fresh cold water.
Kevin set off down the road and I followed with the Super T fighting through the sand all the way. Only to bog down in an extremely loose section.
Kevin had gone on ahead and I tried to get the bike out by myself to no avail. I tipped the bike over - scooped sand in under the rear wheel and picked the bike up again a few times in order to get the rear wheel out of the hole I dug , but no joy. Luckily eventually Kevin arrived and with both of us pushing and running the bike under its own power we got her out of the hole and up the hill.
Now it was going a bit better with the sand replaced by loose stones .
I was riding along merrily when out of the blue
[youtube]https://youtu.be/_f37AKFhC5w[/youtube]
I did not even know what the hell hit me. It took me quite a while to figure out what went wrong and only when viewing the footage afterwards did it all make sense.
The big rock lying loose in the photo got pushed up by the front wheel and wedged itself under the bash plate - pole vaulting my front wheel into the air.
Kevin was quite a distance ahead and when I did not show he came rushing back to check if I was ok. Luckily all was ok and by the time he got there I had taken a photo or two and managed to pick the Super Ten up.
We went further up the road and stopped for some snacks and photos.
By now I was tired and gatvol and when we set off again I decided to try riding the sand by speeding up and shifting my weight back. This seemed to work and I was going at a fair pace when I encountered a deep patch of sand and it all went horribly wrong.
As I came down in the sand my left leg got trapped under the bike and I got thrown off the bike rolling over my left shoulder and twisting my left leg like a wet rag being dried. The pain was excruciating. With my foot still trapped I managed to clamber back over the bike with my body to at least get the twist out of my leg. I then managed to drag my foot out from under the bike and when Kevin arrived I was limping around in pain. All he saw was one massive dust cloud as I went down.
After assesing the damage to the bike ( gear lever bent, but fixed on the spot) and to me ( very sore ankle and knee ) we set of to finish thee route before sunset.
I was now riding very slowly and approaching every piece of sand with utter caution. Changing gears was also beginning to be a problem.
At least the scenery was nothing less than spectacular .
And then , just when I thought we were never going to get out before sunset we reached the pass and it was all downhill from there.
I enjoyed the pass thoroughly and I do think it is one of the most spectacular passes I have ever ridden.
We arrived at De Pakhuis where we managed to book a little camping hut with proper beds and mattresses for the night.
My leg was really hurting and I was just too glad to not sleep in a tent on a thin self inflating mattress.
My leg kept me awake for a large part of the night and I was really worried that I had torn the ligaments in my knee. Turns out that I just sprained the ankle and pulled some muscles into positions they did not want go.
On Sunday morning we decided to head straight home down the N7 as I could not sit and change gears. Every time I needed to change gears I had to stand up and then hook the lever with my foot, find the gear I wanted and then sit down again until it was time to change to the next gear.
This sure got me some very strange looks from other bikers - especially coming through the traffic in Stellenbosch.
The idea for the trip was to put the little Versys 300X through its paces and it did not disappoint.
I am sure that Kevin will also come and share his thoughts on the bike and the trip in this thread.
