Farewell to Andy: Andy660's Last (SA) Ride (7 - 8 Dec 2019)

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Ri

Grey Hound
WD Supporter
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
5,477
Reaction score
984
Location
Somerset West
Bike
Suzuki DR650
The second Wild Dog I ever met is [member=1348]Andy660[/member] , an institution in the Western Cape adventure riding scene on his pimped out Yamaha XT660Z, racing towards the horizon as fast as the bike can carry him. Despite him arranging rides almost every other weekend, somehow we seldom ended up riding together, mostly because Andy doesn't ride slower than 100kph, and I don't ride faster than that, and I didn't want to slow them down.

But I did manage to go on a few rides with him, and I learnt a lot. He was the first person to help me set up my first DR650, and he taught me a lot about motorbikes as well. Andy is a fount of knowledge and what he doesn't know, he knows where to find out. He is also quite the party animal and just an all-round nice, helpful guy, especially where flat tyres are concerned. Andy is a good friend, and it is always great to run into him at one of the Bashes which he religiously attends.

When he said he is emigrating to the UK, I was shocked. Andy giving up Karoo gravel for the soggy soil of Ole England...?! You lie... :eek7: But it was true. And there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to hang out with him before he left our dusty shores, when he posted an invitation to join his last ride on the forum.

I couldn't join for the whole weekend, as I'm saving leave for when the family visits from foreign shores, and I decide to ride through on the Saturday morning. Andy won't give me the route but the next moment [member=4614]Robin Brown[/member] contacts me and invites me to ride along with him. I enjoy riding with Robin, and I'm happy to fall in with his plans. We arrange to meet up at the Winelands Engen on the Saturday and I feel my heart bump in excitement.

Saturday morning I find Robin and [member=]Chris Heunis[/member] waiting for me at the Winelands Engen, and notice with a little envy that Robin now rides a lovely Husqvarna 701. Chris has a big KTM and he likes to "gooi", so I'm a little hesitant whether I can keep up, but Chris roundly admits that although he is super impatient, he has the the sense of direction of a house fly. He sometimes sticks behind me until he becomes impatient, then races off to wait for us at the next turn.

We head over Du Toitskloof Pass and through Slanghoek Valley, and stop at Ceres to fill up on fuel and coffee. I'd just filled up at Winelands, but top up again at Ceres. A friend of Robin's has just opened a coffee shop opposite the Engen garage, and the coffee is lovely.

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This is a good looking bike, to be sure... :drif:

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After our caffeine refuel, we find more people waiting for us at the Engen: Albie and Rory Young, a Scotsman with a proper burr, are joining us for the rest of the ride. I love accents, so sexy, and the Scotsman himself is not hard on the eye either. Albie is riding the new KTM790 and Rory has a Honda XR650.

As Albie is the same height as Robin, he decided to add a lowered seat, and tells me how he battled to get the suspension set up just right for him. He experienced bad head shake until he installed a proper steering damper, but now he can't praise the bike enough, and he looks really comfortable on it. I am interested to test ride a 790 some day because it sounds like it handles more like the DR650 with its lower down weight and slender profile, but is more modern and comfortable, especially for touring. The weight scares me a little; will I be able to lift it? With a low centre of gravity, I just need to lift it past the tipping point. But also I don't want to pay that much for a bike and then worry about dropping it. Guess I'll wait for all the hooligans to pull put their 790s through their bums paces and keep an eye on the "pre-loved" 2nd hand market :patch:

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Chris heads off to buy us a roadside lunch of rolls, cold meats, cheese and tomatoes, and Robin briefs the rest of the crowd on our ride. He tells everyone that I ride slowly, and I'll follow at my own pace, and not to worry. I appreciate that, it relieves the pressure of having to keep up and I can relax. When we get going again, sometimes Albie sweeps after me but generally when the roads become rougher, they zoom off to go have their fun and I follow at my speed.

We head up my favourite tarred pass, Gydo Pass, and turn right onto the Baviaanshoek road.

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From there, we make our circuitous route to the Oppi-berg to Cederberg road.

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