Groenie
Grey Hound
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2006
- Messages
- 5,941
- Reaction score
- 1
- Bike
- Honda CRF-1000L Africa Twin
So I've been riding around with the trailer for 2 weeks now and the time came for a real world test. I got a few friends together to join me for a one-nighter near Loskop dam.
GSJeri and Armand work with me and Zonkel knows the area around Loskop quite well. The plan was to leave my house around 11 on Saturday, but I still had to get someone else's bike out my garage and make some urgent repairs on my bike before I could leave.
I fitted new front rubber, new brake pads, a new rear disc and fixed my powerpoint for the gps.
GSJeri was called to the office and wouldn't be joining us for the ride there, but will come through early the next morning. A few biker dudes rocked up during the morning for a few cold ones,so we only started our trip from Arrie's at 2:30!
Bikes packed and ready to go.
I tried a bit of speed through some twisties (tar) and the trialer didn't feel very stable at all.As with all trips, the first beer stop came just after we hit our first dirt. When we stopped, my initial thoughts was that I had found the top speed for the trailer - 80 km/h. At that speed it was starting to sway behind the bike. But it was not so bad actually.
We hit the road again and as my confidence increased, the speed went up a bit. I soon saw over 100 km/h on the speedo and everything felt fine. The 2 guys behind me also commented on the stability of the loadbox, seems just the tyre is bouncing up and down and the rest of the trailer stays fairy still.
Soon I had some extra baggage on the back...
We had to stop at the farm where Arrie grew up.
And soon after, went over the hill and down the rocks. I had to stop and take a pic first
Why do we always stop on bridges? Dunno, but it's a good place for a cold one.
The road opens up quite nicely once you get close to the Nature reserve and I saw my top speed for the trip - 118 km/h on dirt. But then sh1t happened. Arrie thought it was a good idea to bring some extra oil with (we ride KLR's after all) and strapped a 2 liter bottle of the stuff on top of my box, but the ratchet on the strap chewed throut the bottle and at our next stop everything was coated in oil.
And then darkness descended upon us and seeing my fairing project had ground to a halt years ago and left me stuck with 2 excuses for headlights, I was in kark. After a huge scare (the brake marks was visible on the following day) I had to slow down and just get to the other 2 so they could light the way for me. We only made it to Ruby River Resort after 8.
Fire was started
And tents pitched. Now that I have plenty space, I can bring my mattress.
A very good night was had by all and I'll post the rest later.
GSJeri and Armand work with me and Zonkel knows the area around Loskop quite well. The plan was to leave my house around 11 on Saturday, but I still had to get someone else's bike out my garage and make some urgent repairs on my bike before I could leave.
I fitted new front rubber, new brake pads, a new rear disc and fixed my powerpoint for the gps.
GSJeri was called to the office and wouldn't be joining us for the ride there, but will come through early the next morning. A few biker dudes rocked up during the morning for a few cold ones,so we only started our trip from Arrie's at 2:30!
Bikes packed and ready to go.
I tried a bit of speed through some twisties (tar) and the trialer didn't feel very stable at all.As with all trips, the first beer stop came just after we hit our first dirt. When we stopped, my initial thoughts was that I had found the top speed for the trailer - 80 km/h. At that speed it was starting to sway behind the bike. But it was not so bad actually.
We hit the road again and as my confidence increased, the speed went up a bit. I soon saw over 100 km/h on the speedo and everything felt fine. The 2 guys behind me also commented on the stability of the loadbox, seems just the tyre is bouncing up and down and the rest of the trailer stays fairy still.
Soon I had some extra baggage on the back...
We had to stop at the farm where Arrie grew up.
And soon after, went over the hill and down the rocks. I had to stop and take a pic first
Why do we always stop on bridges? Dunno, but it's a good place for a cold one.
The road opens up quite nicely once you get close to the Nature reserve and I saw my top speed for the trip - 118 km/h on dirt. But then sh1t happened. Arrie thought it was a good idea to bring some extra oil with (we ride KLR's after all) and strapped a 2 liter bottle of the stuff on top of my box, but the ratchet on the strap chewed throut the bottle and at our next stop everything was coated in oil.
And then darkness descended upon us and seeing my fairing project had ground to a halt years ago and left me stuck with 2 excuses for headlights, I was in kark. After a huge scare (the brake marks was visible on the following day) I had to slow down and just get to the other 2 so they could light the way for me. We only made it to Ruby River Resort after 8.
Fire was started
And tents pitched. Now that I have plenty space, I can bring my mattress.
A very good night was had by all and I'll post the rest later.
