woody1
Bachelor Dog
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
- Messages
- 13,230
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Location
- Riversdal Weskaap
- Bike
- Yamaha Super Tenere
In my New Member Introduction I told you oke how my son (23) and I (53) got involved with buying our ST's. We really tried hard to buy them in Gauteng, but after requesting the dealers BEST price old Mark at Perry in Umhlanga could not be beaten....and why buy a new bike in JHB and ride it to Brakpan.....boring. Durb to JHB sounded much better.
So we jumped on the plane on Friday morning down to Durbs. Were picked up by Mark and went to the shop to sign some paperwork.
By 10:30 we were on the road.....helmet cam (Drift HD720) on helmet and GPS on the tank (for now)
First stop was Howic Falls....you have to teach you kids all you know, show them the places that you know and enjoy life together.
After a nice brekkie at the RED TAP in Howick we headed for Underberg and Himeville (just to have a look where Sani Pass is)
Well that was the idea.
We turned off after Himeville towards Sani Pass and were so amazed by the handling of these bikes that we kept on going.
We are really novices when it comes to riding off-road at this time, but these bikes made us look like pro's.
Coming down Sani some dosser with a Toyota Condor decided to make a sudden stop in a river crossing because some of his passangers wanted to take a picture back there. Well I managed to stop with all my electronics on board but then it happened....he put his car in reverse...and by the time I realised what was happening he crushed by front mudguard and pushed me back about 2 meters. If it was not for the Rumbux I think the damages would have been a lot more. He claimed the late afternoon sun was in his mirror and he did not see me. Well 375 km on the clock and the first mishap. Luckily this was minor on my side (R1041.00) but his back boot and bumper had a nice "V" in it.
After spending time at the local SAPS to get our claim number we left Himeville towards Nottingham Road (the dirt road).
Again the electronics on the bikes made it easy to cruise at a good speed.
After more de-touring we rode into Notties at about 19h00.
Went straight to the Notties Hotel to find a room, but everything was full. During some refreshment to get rid of some of the dust and eating a very good pizza at the bar we were offered some place to sleep, but they were 40 km out of town and as we have ridden a few miles already we decided to have a look in and around town.
Eventually around 21h00 we rocked up at the WINDMILL just off the N3. For R375 per person we got a nice clean room and a huge breakfast the next morning.
From there we followed the R103, bought some cheese at the Marakesh Cheese farm. From Mooi Rivier we headed towards Greytown. After a while we saw a board indicating the Mooi Waterfall. We turned off becaues it was a dirt road and road and road but never again saw a board indicating where this waterfall was...maybe we were going too fast and did not see it, or it was sold for scrap...who knows.
After some more riding I fired up the old Garmin to take us back to Greytown and we road some amazing tracks up and down mountains... PRAGTIG man...
From Greytown to Dundee the roads are lekker.. .some Kwa-Zulu roadblocks (cattle goats, taxis) but not too bad. Some nice winding roads where the ST rides like a superbike in the corners. Amazing handling on this machine.
After Dundee we turned off onto dirt again towards the Bloedriver Monument and eventually ended up in Vryheid where we dossed with an old biker friend.
Sunday we rode from Vryheid to JHB via Majuba Pass...what a treat...just check that those okes with the radar is not there because they demand a contribution for their kids school funds. :imaposer:
Well we got home at 12h30 just in time to have a lekker Sunday meal with the rest of the family.
Will I buy another bike far from my home town...Sekerlik !!!!!
So we jumped on the plane on Friday morning down to Durbs. Were picked up by Mark and went to the shop to sign some paperwork.
By 10:30 we were on the road.....helmet cam (Drift HD720) on helmet and GPS on the tank (for now)
First stop was Howic Falls....you have to teach you kids all you know, show them the places that you know and enjoy life together.
After a nice brekkie at the RED TAP in Howick we headed for Underberg and Himeville (just to have a look where Sani Pass is)
Well that was the idea.
We turned off after Himeville towards Sani Pass and were so amazed by the handling of these bikes that we kept on going.
We are really novices when it comes to riding off-road at this time, but these bikes made us look like pro's.
Coming down Sani some dosser with a Toyota Condor decided to make a sudden stop in a river crossing because some of his passangers wanted to take a picture back there. Well I managed to stop with all my electronics on board but then it happened....he put his car in reverse...and by the time I realised what was happening he crushed by front mudguard and pushed me back about 2 meters. If it was not for the Rumbux I think the damages would have been a lot more. He claimed the late afternoon sun was in his mirror and he did not see me. Well 375 km on the clock and the first mishap. Luckily this was minor on my side (R1041.00) but his back boot and bumper had a nice "V" in it.
After spending time at the local SAPS to get our claim number we left Himeville towards Nottingham Road (the dirt road).
Again the electronics on the bikes made it easy to cruise at a good speed.
After more de-touring we rode into Notties at about 19h00.
Went straight to the Notties Hotel to find a room, but everything was full. During some refreshment to get rid of some of the dust and eating a very good pizza at the bar we were offered some place to sleep, but they were 40 km out of town and as we have ridden a few miles already we decided to have a look in and around town.
Eventually around 21h00 we rocked up at the WINDMILL just off the N3. For R375 per person we got a nice clean room and a huge breakfast the next morning.
From there we followed the R103, bought some cheese at the Marakesh Cheese farm. From Mooi Rivier we headed towards Greytown. After a while we saw a board indicating the Mooi Waterfall. We turned off becaues it was a dirt road and road and road but never again saw a board indicating where this waterfall was...maybe we were going too fast and did not see it, or it was sold for scrap...who knows.
After some more riding I fired up the old Garmin to take us back to Greytown and we road some amazing tracks up and down mountains... PRAGTIG man...
From Greytown to Dundee the roads are lekker.. .some Kwa-Zulu roadblocks (cattle goats, taxis) but not too bad. Some nice winding roads where the ST rides like a superbike in the corners. Amazing handling on this machine.
After Dundee we turned off onto dirt again towards the Bloedriver Monument and eventually ended up in Vryheid where we dossed with an old biker friend.
Sunday we rode from Vryheid to JHB via Majuba Pass...what a treat...just check that those okes with the radar is not there because they demand a contribution for their kids school funds. :imaposer:
Well we got home at 12h30 just in time to have a lekker Sunday meal with the rest of the family.
Will I buy another bike far from my home town...Sekerlik !!!!!
