TRANS MOZMBIQUE RALLY 2018

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DREWMARX

Race Dog
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Messages
590
Reaction score
2
Location
Pretoria South Africa
Bike
Honda XR650R
Ja ja, okay it wasn’t really a RALLY but it felt like it, and it has brought about the idea of possibly doing a staged multi-day event through Mozambique, but I won’t elaborate on that now. So where and how do I begin this ride report?

I suppose it begins with the drowning of my XR650R in Lake Rukwa, Tanzania in late 2016. A friend of mine and I decided to do a day ride from Mbeya to Lake Rukwa, maybe a 300km return trip. I was riding my Christini 450X and he was riding my XRR. We made it to Rukwa in good time, having left Mbeya around 10am, we got there just after 12 but there isn’t really a road that takes you straight to the lake shore and we found these “hippo lanes” and decided to follow them. The further we go the higher the reeds got and the more imminent the threat of actually encountering hippos, yes the water also got a bit deeper, and we had a few touch and go moments, but then all of a sudden we were on the lake shore and on dry land. We had an energy Bar, took a few pictures and decided to start travelling back to Mbeya. The return journey through the “hippo lanes” was not as successful, and while riding behind Deon he suddenly stalled the bike in one of the deeper sections. I rode through and parked my bike on dry land returning by “boot” to the scene of the stall. I tried to start the bike with only a gurgling sound and immediately knew there was “groot kak”.

Loooong story short, I ended up towing Deon about 50km before abandoning him to go and fetch the bakkie. Got back to Mbeya, stripped the bike completely and took the barrel and head and valves to SA for some love. Returned, put the bike back together “fucked-up” the timing and bent the valves again when I tried to skop it. Stripped my moer and left the bike standing. I took the bike back to SA in October of last year to have it fixed by some people with the right skills and experience. So this is where the Adventure Begins. My XRR is stuck in SA and ready for a ride/adventure and while talking to a friend we decide that this is a good excuse to fly down to SA and ride up my 650 and 400 “QUICKLY” over a self made “LONG WEEKEND” through Moz to Tanzania. We both had work commitments and couldn’t take more time for the trip, but to be honest the time pressure only made the journey/trip more of an advenXure.
So, I guess I can now finally begin with the “ride report”……

I hope that you enjoy the read, if not…..well then it just proves I am a poor writer as it truly turned out to be an epic advenXure for us anyway.
 

Attachments

  • Drowned XRR.PNG
    Drowned XRR.PNG
    562.6 KB · Views: 534
  • Trying to fix the drowned XRR.jpg
    Trying to fix the drowned XRR.jpg
    136.1 KB · Views: 542
  • Bliksemed myself with a spanner trying to Fix the XRR.jpg
    Bliksemed myself with a spanner trying to Fix the XRR.jpg
    128.3 KB · Views: 522
  • Departing Mbeya for Lake Rukwa.jpg
    Departing Mbeya for Lake Rukwa.jpg
    146.9 KB · Views: 525
Top