- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
- Messages
- 4,929
- Reaction score
- 10
- Location
- Pretoria East - Home of Jameson
- Bike
- KTM 1090 Adventure R
As with our previous Adventures, this trip was shared by a group of good friends and credit to them all
Each adventure will be different and this was to be no exception. Although our trio planned this annual trip well in advance, some things were only decided days before we left, adding some interesting angles and changing the group dynamics.
With about only 2 or 3 weeks before our departure, my wife and I decided to do this together. I was not sure how to discuss this with my fellow adventurers but when I broached the subject they were adamant – as long as I came with. Suddenly all sorts of decisions had to be made – we need more packing space and an intercom had to be sourced, fitted and tested.
Due to this change we also, with 2 days before departure, decided to leave a day earlier. I wanted to see if my wife would be happy on the bike and we could test the intercom system – It ended up being a good idea and we stayed at Barberton the first night.
The trip would cover 5 countries - Our Route:
Tyre choices were interesting to say the least and this subject was discussed over many an ice-filled glass of Ireland’s famous tipple.
The iconic 1150GS ridden by Popipants, the stalwart, the ne’er go wrong ride favoured by adventurers of the past and many still today was first on the list. With the linear power delivery and excellent weight distribution his choice was almost obvious – The tried and tested TKC80 – front and back. Upon arriving back home, the tyres looked as if they had never left the workshop.
The two KTM’s were however a more difficult choice. We needed a tyre that would give us 6000km and still look good towards the end.
Funacide opted for Heidenau’s – front and back. A TKC80 just would not look good after 6000km – not on a KTM anyhow. These tyres performed flawlessly and are definitely a good choice for extended distance trips like this.
I’m a TKC man through and through and had sleepless nights over my decision and deciding to pillion added a new dimension altogether. Having read and studied all the controversy over the Heidi’s I came to the conclusion that the Heidi’s would do the job – save two important factors – being speed and loading. Speed was a lesser concern as we would not be riding exceptionally fast but loading was another issue and recent failures seemed to be indicated by heavily loaded bikes.
My choice was then a TKC80 upfront and a dualsport Scorpion 150 on the rear – also an excellent decision. The Scorpion sucks (literally) in mud, but we were unlikely to encounter any and so the tyre issue was put to bed.
Funacide and Popipants left in the dark (and rain) early the next morning and by all accounts (apart from freezing their gahoona’s off) had a pretty uneventful ride down to Kaapmuiden where we all met up.
Day 1 – 1st May 2009 : Pretoria (RSA) to Xai-Xai (Mocambique)
Route: RSA - Pretoria, (Barberton), Komatipoort (N4), MOCAMBIQUE – Moamba, Chinhanguanine, Xinavane, Macia, Chissano, Praia do Xai-Xai
Distance: 720km
Fuel: Generally available
Border costs: RSA – nil, Mocambique – Third party insurance per bike (R80.00) and about another R 100.00 for various other costs and visa’s per person
Accomodation costs: M 40.00 per person, Firewood extra, Limited power at campsite, Showers hot but below average in quality. Bar
Funacide, by far, packed the lightest. Popipants has the nefarious reputation of smuggling in everything bar the ice machine and blowup doll and once again his loading ability did not miss a beat.
We were however to take the prize this time and the KTM became the pack donkey of the trip. Each pannier had approx 18kg in and the soft bags approx 4kg. The Ortlieb bag on the back was filled with two mattresses, two sleeping bags, a tent and a groundsheet – I’m guessing about 10 – 12kg. My wife, mmm lets say for the sake of the marriage weighs about 65kg and I’m a healthy 104kg.
That makes a load of about 245kg with riding gear and over 450kg in total on the tyres.
We got to the Gold Nugget guest house in Barberton at exactly 18:45 the day before our two other companions left and within half an hour Ma-plotter and I were in the bar snacking on a cheese burger and chips and listening to the screwing and doings of the local Laevelders who also frequent the place. The guest house is owned by ChrissieB, also a forum member and the accommodation was just perfect.
Breakfast in Komatipoort
Already we had become an attraction were fielding questions from interested onlookers. One interested lady asked if we were on a day ride. Yes we said – 11days !!
The border crossing was going to be time consuming and we elected to employ a runner to do the dirty work. We agreed to pay him R 50.00 but because the boundries of his duties were not clearly defined, he in typical Africa style, managed to fleece us of another R 100.00 by the time we were done. Considering the hassle he and his cronies saved us – it was probably worth it.
Maputo was definitely NOT on our agenda and when the turn-off to Moamba presented itself – we swung left and also to our first beer stop of the trip
The bottle opener which Adventurer presented to me for my 40th birthday started to become almost indispensible.
The children of Africa, for a while - the innocent ones. My wife, as always took a deep interest in them and was facinated by their various ways and the interest they, in turn, had with these visitors to their land
This poor little one - was so interested in us and posed for some pics. The older one asked to look and when the baby saw itself in the screen, it burst into tears ...... : - shame :'(
An experience in a state-of-the-art filling station in rural Mocambique, one of the previous citadels of Portuguese supremacy :biggrin:
Convenience store >
Our first dirt and all three bikes took a while to settle down. Funacide was still on a high and in true KTM hooligan style dented his front rim quite badly and this was to worry him somewhat the rest of the trip. Popipants tyres were pumped exceptionally hard and he too had some interesting experiences in the sand. Luckily my back seat was fitted with a diff-lock and although I too had some underpants skidmark moments, overall I was quite happy.
Another friendly character - this trip was starting just dandy...
Sorting out our tyre pressures and adjusting from the higher speeds which preceeded our entrance into Moz
Our second beer stop was just as good as the first. I just felt just a little perturbed at spending R 20.00 on a small packet of crisps until I realized that I had screwed myself on the exchange rate by a decimal point. At R 2.00 the chips were worth it and we got a few more packets.
The Mocambicans have not heard of twist tops, so the attached opener was becoming more and more handy - thanks again Adventurer :thumleft:
The short-cut which skips Maputo and literally saves hours - some sandy spots caused a few moments
The third beerstop in 80km. This riding was thirsty work.
Time was however marching on and we made it a quick one
We did spend a bit of time debating which one of the following two "units" had more horsepower;
This:
or this:
Some villages and towns en-route to Xai-Xai (and the EN1)
Parts of the EN1 were in good nick - but there were more speed traps than there are spelling mistakes in the average issue of BikeSA :imaposer: .... so we took it easy.........
It was dusk by the time we entered Xai Xai and it became quite obvious that on our very first day into this trip we were to break that golden rule of travel in Africa – NEVER ride in the dark and something which we were to do later again and which possibly almost brought our trip to a nasty conclusion – but more about that later
The campsite was pleasant enough but that is about where it ended. The ablutions were nothing to write home about.
Relaxing after a long day
Obviously the local electrician did not concentrate nicely in class and he followed his own wiring techniques
The bar menu had quite a variety of choice but I suspect though that that was purely to make it look good. You could basically order ANYTHING as long as it was Chicken and Chips. We mulled it over for a while and ordered Chicken and Chips.
Each adventure will be different and this was to be no exception. Although our trio planned this annual trip well in advance, some things were only decided days before we left, adding some interesting angles and changing the group dynamics.
With about only 2 or 3 weeks before our departure, my wife and I decided to do this together. I was not sure how to discuss this with my fellow adventurers but when I broached the subject they were adamant – as long as I came with. Suddenly all sorts of decisions had to be made – we need more packing space and an intercom had to be sourced, fitted and tested.
Due to this change we also, with 2 days before departure, decided to leave a day earlier. I wanted to see if my wife would be happy on the bike and we could test the intercom system – It ended up being a good idea and we stayed at Barberton the first night.
The trip would cover 5 countries - Our Route:
Tyre choices were interesting to say the least and this subject was discussed over many an ice-filled glass of Ireland’s famous tipple.
The iconic 1150GS ridden by Popipants, the stalwart, the ne’er go wrong ride favoured by adventurers of the past and many still today was first on the list. With the linear power delivery and excellent weight distribution his choice was almost obvious – The tried and tested TKC80 – front and back. Upon arriving back home, the tyres looked as if they had never left the workshop.
The two KTM’s were however a more difficult choice. We needed a tyre that would give us 6000km and still look good towards the end.
Funacide opted for Heidenau’s – front and back. A TKC80 just would not look good after 6000km – not on a KTM anyhow. These tyres performed flawlessly and are definitely a good choice for extended distance trips like this.
I’m a TKC man through and through and had sleepless nights over my decision and deciding to pillion added a new dimension altogether. Having read and studied all the controversy over the Heidi’s I came to the conclusion that the Heidi’s would do the job – save two important factors – being speed and loading. Speed was a lesser concern as we would not be riding exceptionally fast but loading was another issue and recent failures seemed to be indicated by heavily loaded bikes.
My choice was then a TKC80 upfront and a dualsport Scorpion 150 on the rear – also an excellent decision. The Scorpion sucks (literally) in mud, but we were unlikely to encounter any and so the tyre issue was put to bed.
Funacide and Popipants left in the dark (and rain) early the next morning and by all accounts (apart from freezing their gahoona’s off) had a pretty uneventful ride down to Kaapmuiden where we all met up.
Day 1 – 1st May 2009 : Pretoria (RSA) to Xai-Xai (Mocambique)
Route: RSA - Pretoria, (Barberton), Komatipoort (N4), MOCAMBIQUE – Moamba, Chinhanguanine, Xinavane, Macia, Chissano, Praia do Xai-Xai
Distance: 720km
Fuel: Generally available
Border costs: RSA – nil, Mocambique – Third party insurance per bike (R80.00) and about another R 100.00 for various other costs and visa’s per person
Accomodation costs: M 40.00 per person, Firewood extra, Limited power at campsite, Showers hot but below average in quality. Bar
Funacide, by far, packed the lightest. Popipants has the nefarious reputation of smuggling in everything bar the ice machine and blowup doll and once again his loading ability did not miss a beat.
We were however to take the prize this time and the KTM became the pack donkey of the trip. Each pannier had approx 18kg in and the soft bags approx 4kg. The Ortlieb bag on the back was filled with two mattresses, two sleeping bags, a tent and a groundsheet – I’m guessing about 10 – 12kg. My wife, mmm lets say for the sake of the marriage weighs about 65kg and I’m a healthy 104kg.
That makes a load of about 245kg with riding gear and over 450kg in total on the tyres.
We got to the Gold Nugget guest house in Barberton at exactly 18:45 the day before our two other companions left and within half an hour Ma-plotter and I were in the bar snacking on a cheese burger and chips and listening to the screwing and doings of the local Laevelders who also frequent the place. The guest house is owned by ChrissieB, also a forum member and the accommodation was just perfect.
Breakfast in Komatipoort
Already we had become an attraction were fielding questions from interested onlookers. One interested lady asked if we were on a day ride. Yes we said – 11days !!
The border crossing was going to be time consuming and we elected to employ a runner to do the dirty work. We agreed to pay him R 50.00 but because the boundries of his duties were not clearly defined, he in typical Africa style, managed to fleece us of another R 100.00 by the time we were done. Considering the hassle he and his cronies saved us – it was probably worth it.
Maputo was definitely NOT on our agenda and when the turn-off to Moamba presented itself – we swung left and also to our first beer stop of the trip
The bottle opener which Adventurer presented to me for my 40th birthday started to become almost indispensible.
The children of Africa, for a while - the innocent ones. My wife, as always took a deep interest in them and was facinated by their various ways and the interest they, in turn, had with these visitors to their land
This poor little one - was so interested in us and posed for some pics. The older one asked to look and when the baby saw itself in the screen, it burst into tears ...... :
- shame :'(
An experience in a state-of-the-art filling station in rural Mocambique, one of the previous citadels of Portuguese supremacy :biggrin:
Convenience store >
Our first dirt and all three bikes took a while to settle down. Funacide was still on a high and in true KTM hooligan style dented his front rim quite badly and this was to worry him somewhat the rest of the trip. Popipants tyres were pumped exceptionally hard and he too had some interesting experiences in the sand. Luckily my back seat was fitted with a diff-lock and although I too had some underpants skidmark moments, overall I was quite happy.
Another friendly character - this trip was starting just dandy...
Sorting out our tyre pressures and adjusting from the higher speeds which preceeded our entrance into Moz
Our second beer stop was just as good as the first. I just felt just a little perturbed at spending R 20.00 on a small packet of crisps until I realized that I had screwed myself on the exchange rate by a decimal point. At R 2.00 the chips were worth it and we got a few more packets.
The Mocambicans have not heard of twist tops, so the attached opener was becoming more and more handy - thanks again Adventurer :thumleft:
The short-cut which skips Maputo and literally saves hours - some sandy spots caused a few moments
The third beerstop in 80km. This riding was thirsty work.
Time was however marching on and we made it a quick one
We did spend a bit of time debating which one of the following two "units" had more horsepower;
This:
or this:
Some villages and towns en-route to Xai-Xai (and the EN1)
Parts of the EN1 were in good nick - but there were more speed traps than there are spelling mistakes in the average issue of BikeSA :imaposer: .... so we took it easy.........
It was dusk by the time we entered Xai Xai and it became quite obvious that on our very first day into this trip we were to break that golden rule of travel in Africa – NEVER ride in the dark and something which we were to do later again and which possibly almost brought our trip to a nasty conclusion – but more about that later
The campsite was pleasant enough but that is about where it ended. The ablutions were nothing to write home about.
Relaxing after a long day
Obviously the local electrician did not concentrate nicely in class and he followed his own wiring techniques
The bar menu had quite a variety of choice but I suspect though that that was purely to make it look good. You could basically order ANYTHING as long as it was Chicken and Chips. We mulled it over for a while and ordered Chicken and Chips.
