man0war
Race Dog
OK, so I bought this DS bike, now it’s time to get off the black stuff and onto the dirt. I have not been on any dirt for in excess of 20 years, and never with such a big machine before, so first ride was going to be an easy ride from Fourways to Groot Marico, 350k’s or so one way. Of the 350k’s we planned to ride about 280k’s gravel.
Planned out the route, Fourways – Krugersdorp – Tarlton – Tar. From just before Tarlton we would hit the dirt, and basically stay on it all the way to Groot Marico. There we would find a camp spot, stay the night and trundle on back on the Sunday.
8 Of us going, 6 BM’s, 1 V-Strom and my Capo. Leaving our meeting point (BP Broadacres) at 6:30. Here’s my baby all packed and ready to go.
2 pulled out, leaving 6 of us, 5 BM’s and me on my Capo. Cliff (Inka) - 1200GS, Henry – 1200GS, Luke – 1200GS, Byron – 800GS, Mike – 800GS and me on the Capo. Met up at the BP, had the obligatory coffee and trundled on down the N14 to Krugersdorp. Passed Krugersdorp with no incidents and reached our tar departure point just short of Tarlton.
This was our first stop along the way, to regroup and consult the map.
Next stop, who knows. We have a pond to get to and lots of dust roads to get through, so a quick smoke and on we went.
Cliff (Inka) thinking “now why the hell do I ride a BM. I really want one of these. They’re just soooo sexy”. Well anyway that’s what I think he was thinking. He claims he was checking to see if the panniers are on securely after our first 80 odd k’s of dirt. We had some bumps and lumps, but essentially it was like a dirt highway.
At quick stop at the Broken Chain pub for some refreshments and to wet the dust in the throats. Man I like the look of so many dirty, dusty bikes all lined up.
And of course cliff chatting up the local wild life.
From here we went on our merry way again. Some tar for about 15k’s and then back on the good old dirty stuff again.
Just some pics of the ride and the ppl on the ride.
What a beautiful country we live in. to think this kind of open landscape is just on our doorstep. Man I should have done this DS thing a long time ago.
Luke on the yellow gs, henry on the grey gs and of course my trusty Italian beauty.
Along the way Luke’s top box decided to part ways with his bike. 3 of the 4 bolts holding the bracket on completely sheared off. Nothing that some cable ties, duct tape and tie downs can’t fix. This just gave some of us smokers a chance to have a smoke while Byron directs the troops to get it all tied down again and on our merry we go.
Byron directing from close up, while mike stands a bit off so no blame can be passed on to him. Luke just made a duck and left henry (aka harry) and I to do the hard graft. I kept calling him harry. No wonder he never answered and continuously looked at me like I was on something
Byron
Arrived safely in groot marico for lunch. From left to right, cliff, with his back to the camera, Byron looking for money as he was left to pay, henry / harry in the green t, mike enjoying a well earned smoke and luke looking for vegetarian chicken on the menu.
Getting late and weather looking ominous, Byron, henry and mike headed on back to jhb while cliff, luke and I were to hunt down a camp site and stay the night. We got directions from the waiter to die oog. “up the road, take a left onto dirt about 2k’s from here and then it’s about 25k’s to die oog”. Yeah right, more like 2 k’s, take a left onto dirt and travel 53k’s to die oog. Well belly’s full and darkness approaching we headed out. We found die oog. Looked for this ancient marvel, only to find what essentially looks like a koi pond. Crystal clear water yes. According to willie, the owner of the farm where die oog is situated, the cleanest water in south Africa.
Checking the weather and the swallows swarming overhead, it was clear that we should setup camp quickly as a storm was approaching. Not a bad thing, as this would give us all a chance to test the waterproof claims of our tents.
Some pics of our camp site.
Luke trying to figure out how to put up his tent
Camp done, now for some boerrie and coffee
This is what the inside of my tent looked like. Thank f*ck the wife was not there.
Dude I know superman is the shit for you, but really, the pink poncho just doesn’t look like superman.
The next morning. Luke looking rough as a badgers arse.
Cliff also looking a bit worse for wear the next morning.
Time to pack up and hit the tar back.
All in all, a great time was had by all. Great to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and into the rough and ready parts of SA. Next ride Botswana, Namibia, Kimberly, Johannesburg. Already set a date for early April. The bug has bitten, and it’s not letting go.
Planned out the route, Fourways – Krugersdorp – Tarlton – Tar. From just before Tarlton we would hit the dirt, and basically stay on it all the way to Groot Marico. There we would find a camp spot, stay the night and trundle on back on the Sunday.
8 Of us going, 6 BM’s, 1 V-Strom and my Capo. Leaving our meeting point (BP Broadacres) at 6:30. Here’s my baby all packed and ready to go.
2 pulled out, leaving 6 of us, 5 BM’s and me on my Capo. Cliff (Inka) - 1200GS, Henry – 1200GS, Luke – 1200GS, Byron – 800GS, Mike – 800GS and me on the Capo. Met up at the BP, had the obligatory coffee and trundled on down the N14 to Krugersdorp. Passed Krugersdorp with no incidents and reached our tar departure point just short of Tarlton.
This was our first stop along the way, to regroup and consult the map.
Next stop, who knows. We have a pond to get to and lots of dust roads to get through, so a quick smoke and on we went.
Cliff (Inka) thinking “now why the hell do I ride a BM. I really want one of these. They’re just soooo sexy”. Well anyway that’s what I think he was thinking. He claims he was checking to see if the panniers are on securely after our first 80 odd k’s of dirt. We had some bumps and lumps, but essentially it was like a dirt highway.
At quick stop at the Broken Chain pub for some refreshments and to wet the dust in the throats. Man I like the look of so many dirty, dusty bikes all lined up.
And of course cliff chatting up the local wild life.
From here we went on our merry way again. Some tar for about 15k’s and then back on the good old dirty stuff again.
Just some pics of the ride and the ppl on the ride.
What a beautiful country we live in. to think this kind of open landscape is just on our doorstep. Man I should have done this DS thing a long time ago.
Luke on the yellow gs, henry on the grey gs and of course my trusty Italian beauty.
Along the way Luke’s top box decided to part ways with his bike. 3 of the 4 bolts holding the bracket on completely sheared off. Nothing that some cable ties, duct tape and tie downs can’t fix. This just gave some of us smokers a chance to have a smoke while Byron directs the troops to get it all tied down again and on our merry we go.
Byron directing from close up, while mike stands a bit off so no blame can be passed on to him. Luke just made a duck and left henry (aka harry) and I to do the hard graft. I kept calling him harry. No wonder he never answered and continuously looked at me like I was on something
Byron
Arrived safely in groot marico for lunch. From left to right, cliff, with his back to the camera, Byron looking for money as he was left to pay, henry / harry in the green t, mike enjoying a well earned smoke and luke looking for vegetarian chicken on the menu.
Getting late and weather looking ominous, Byron, henry and mike headed on back to jhb while cliff, luke and I were to hunt down a camp site and stay the night. We got directions from the waiter to die oog. “up the road, take a left onto dirt about 2k’s from here and then it’s about 25k’s to die oog”. Yeah right, more like 2 k’s, take a left onto dirt and travel 53k’s to die oog. Well belly’s full and darkness approaching we headed out. We found die oog. Looked for this ancient marvel, only to find what essentially looks like a koi pond. Crystal clear water yes. According to willie, the owner of the farm where die oog is situated, the cleanest water in south Africa.
Checking the weather and the swallows swarming overhead, it was clear that we should setup camp quickly as a storm was approaching. Not a bad thing, as this would give us all a chance to test the waterproof claims of our tents.
Some pics of our camp site.
Luke trying to figure out how to put up his tent
Camp done, now for some boerrie and coffee
This is what the inside of my tent looked like. Thank f*ck the wife was not there.
Dude I know superman is the shit for you, but really, the pink poncho just doesn’t look like superman.
The next morning. Luke looking rough as a badgers arse.
Cliff also looking a bit worse for wear the next morning.
Time to pack up and hit the tar back.
All in all, a great time was had by all. Great to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and into the rough and ready parts of SA. Next ride Botswana, Namibia, Kimberly, Johannesburg. Already set a date for early April. The bug has bitten, and it’s not letting go.
