ballies
Race Dog
I recently purchased my 950 and decided to take the wifie on a trip for our anniversary so that she can become more involved in my love for adventure biking.
I decided not to go to extremes and stuck to a fixed pre-planned route. Most of the planned route was unfortunately tarred road. Our first destination was Stockpoort (border post to Botswana) on a farm.
We left Pretoria on Saturday morning and headed for Nylstroom. It was very windy but at least there were no speedcops doing duty. I averaged 135km/h. My gat was lekker sore in Nylstroom because of my (front) seating on the 950. I suspect it would be more comfortable if I did not carry a passenger. It was also bloody warm. We left Nylstroom for Vaalwater.
The road became easier and our ride more comfortable. It wasn?t long before we arrived in Vaalwater and left for Ellisras. In Ellis we purchased food and decided to buy the alkies closer to the farm. 13km from the farm we stopped at a farm stall. It was actually amazing. In the middle of nowhere this store had everything, a complete liquor store, food and a bar for the local farmers. We enjoyed a pleasantly cold beer and Archers (for my wife). We left the stall and headed for the farm. On arrival I unpacked my panniers and went back to the stall to get ice and alkies. The plastic panniers second for a very good cooler. Back again we went to the Limpopo river and enjoyed an awesome sundowner. The river bed was dry but the trees and vegetation was in good shape .
The next morning we headed back to Vaalwater using the alternative Thabazimbi route. It was a 40km detour but very nice. An Eagle almost took my head off at one point on the road, but at least the bird was as shaken as I was. No joke when a 2kg bird hits you doing 130km/h.
We entered Vaalwater and took the Melkrivier route on our way to Madikela Lodge https://www.madikela.co.za/. On the gravel I hit very soft sand at low speed and me and my miesies went down. No one got hurt except my ego. On reviewing what went wrong I found that I didn?t enable the steering damper. It is however still work to ride a fully loaded bike trough sand (for me).
We just got the best at the lodge and the owners/managers were very helpful and friendly considered we were bikers. Understandable we were not allowed to go on a game drive with the 950. I don?t think the giraffes and rooibokke will enjoy a free flow system.
The accommodation was perfect. We had our own little pool under a Mopani tree and a private lapa. No other units can be seen from our spot ( as intended by the planner). It was very affordable and I would recommend it to anyone. The owner later brought us wood for the night.
The next morning (on Monday) we headed back to Pretoria. The stretch on the N1 was aaklik. I frikken hate highways. We arrived 2 hours later in Pretoria and was very satisfied with our first excursion. My wife loved it.
Our next trip is on paper and we will be going to Lothair ( near Swaziland) very soon. Here is some pictures we took on the trip.
I decided not to go to extremes and stuck to a fixed pre-planned route. Most of the planned route was unfortunately tarred road. Our first destination was Stockpoort (border post to Botswana) on a farm.
We left Pretoria on Saturday morning and headed for Nylstroom. It was very windy but at least there were no speedcops doing duty. I averaged 135km/h. My gat was lekker sore in Nylstroom because of my (front) seating on the 950. I suspect it would be more comfortable if I did not carry a passenger. It was also bloody warm. We left Nylstroom for Vaalwater.
The road became easier and our ride more comfortable. It wasn?t long before we arrived in Vaalwater and left for Ellisras. In Ellis we purchased food and decided to buy the alkies closer to the farm. 13km from the farm we stopped at a farm stall. It was actually amazing. In the middle of nowhere this store had everything, a complete liquor store, food and a bar for the local farmers. We enjoyed a pleasantly cold beer and Archers (for my wife). We left the stall and headed for the farm. On arrival I unpacked my panniers and went back to the stall to get ice and alkies. The plastic panniers second for a very good cooler. Back again we went to the Limpopo river and enjoyed an awesome sundowner. The river bed was dry but the trees and vegetation was in good shape .
The next morning we headed back to Vaalwater using the alternative Thabazimbi route. It was a 40km detour but very nice. An Eagle almost took my head off at one point on the road, but at least the bird was as shaken as I was. No joke when a 2kg bird hits you doing 130km/h.
We entered Vaalwater and took the Melkrivier route on our way to Madikela Lodge https://www.madikela.co.za/. On the gravel I hit very soft sand at low speed and me and my miesies went down. No one got hurt except my ego. On reviewing what went wrong I found that I didn?t enable the steering damper. It is however still work to ride a fully loaded bike trough sand (for me).
We just got the best at the lodge and the owners/managers were very helpful and friendly considered we were bikers. Understandable we were not allowed to go on a game drive with the 950. I don?t think the giraffes and rooibokke will enjoy a free flow system.
The accommodation was perfect. We had our own little pool under a Mopani tree and a private lapa. No other units can be seen from our spot ( as intended by the planner). It was very affordable and I would recommend it to anyone. The owner later brought us wood for the night.
The next morning (on Monday) we headed back to Pretoria. The stretch on the N1 was aaklik. I frikken hate highways. We arrived 2 hours later in Pretoria and was very satisfied with our first excursion. My wife loved it.
Our next trip is on paper and we will be going to Lothair ( near Swaziland) very soon. Here is some pictures we took on the trip.
