MirageF1AZ
Pack Dog
I took delivery of my new Tiger 800 XCx on 21 May, but due to bad weather and being sick for a few days I hadn't been able to do as many kms as I would like. By last Friday (5 June) the bike only had about 420km on the clock. Obviously this sad state of affairs needed to be remedied, and besides: I wanted to get that 1st service @ 800km under the belt so I can start venturing further afield. Also, the whole 5000 rpm running-in limit is obviously sommer nonsens and needed to be put behind me. (Yes yes, I know all about the opinions on just ignoring that limit and giving it gas from the beginning, but yeah I'm not gonna do that.)
So, on Saturday morning myself, Breinsel (XT660Z) and Stephen (R1200GS) set out on a nice and easy ride from Northern suberbs (Ctn) along some back roads toward Agter-Paarl for a beer (only one!) at Spice Route. We picked this route because Stephen is, just like me, a novice at the whole adventure biking thing, coming from many years of tar road-only experience. Also, I was quite skeptical over how the road-biased standard Battlewing tyres on the Tiger would perform, but luckily that turned out to be quite unfounded.
Here we are for a quick photo-stop on some road where we got (temporarily) lost. ...but then: isn't that the whole point of adventure biking?
I only noticed afterward how it looks like the Triumph doesn't want to be associated with the Yamaha & BMW. Not intentional, promise. ...or was it?
ot:
In the end I was totally satisfied that the Tiger is equally at home on gravel roads, even with the standard tyres, as the DR-Z 400 I've been practicing on the last few months, so I figured I'd take it a little further on Sunday morning. After some reading up on entertaining routes around the Western Cape that's still near enough not to overshoot my 1st service 800km limit, I decided on Sir Lowry's pass > Grabouw > Highlands road > Old Houwhoek pass > Botrivier > Van der Stel pass > Theewaterskloof dam > Franschhoek pass > N1 home.
Here's a link to the route on Google maps (I hope it works).
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zKAksheVoWqA.kgTSxmYiqwOc&usp=sharing
The route on top of Sir Lowry's pass (Highlands Road) is a mix of tar and gravel, quite easy and not very long, but quite scenic and well worth the detour. There are also the Peregrine and Houwhoek farm stalls on the N2 on top of the mountain, but I gave them a miss, having stopped there countless times before. So on I went to the Old Houwhoek pass turnoff, on the left just a few hundred meters past the Houwhoek Inn turnoff, before the N2 splits for the descent down the mountain. A word of warning: this turnoff isn't marked at all, and it's a narrow lane that joins at 90 degrees, so take it easy on the approach and make sure you signal to the cars behind.
Here's a pic taken right after turning off. The current N2 pass is visible in the background, and yes, that narrow semi-overgrown 2-lane road is the Old Houwhoek "pass".
The road runs close to a train track most of the way:
It's fairly eroded in places, but nothing an adventure bike can't easily handle, even with a novice taking it easy at the stick. There are also many proteas starting to bloom along the route. It should be absolutely spectacular when they're in full colour.
The road ends up at the "wrong" end of Botrivier, first passing a cemetery, and then next to an informal settlement. It is also very unfortunate to see the amount of rubbish littering the last km or so of the road. Aai, people...
Anyway, I then ventured onto the gravel Van der Stel pass, which winds its way through pretty farmland on the way to Villiersdorp. The road is in good condition and I can highly recommend it. Apparently there are also some nice coffee stops and accommodation along the way, but again I just pushed on.
I came across this photogenic old clay-walled house next to the road and couldn't resist stopping for a photo-op.
I even took the Trax box off, because let's face it: the bike is just prettier without it
Eventually, the road joins the R321 just before the bridge over the Theewaterskloof dam, where the gravel fun for the day ends, unfortunately. It was a beautifully crisp and calm winter's day and the dam's surface was mirror-smooth, so I once again couldn't resist stopping for the customary photo-op.
From here it was onto the Franschhoek pass for a final blast. I've done this pass countless times on sportbikes before and I have to say here the Tiger also did not disappoint. Look, I'm not going to pretend it will stick with the sportbikes through the pass, but it was a lot better than I was expecting and, frankly, than what an adventure bike has any right to be!
After Franschhoek it was just straight home via the boring N1 stretch for a very enjoyable 230km round trip. I'll definitely be doing this one again.
So, on Saturday morning myself, Breinsel (XT660Z) and Stephen (R1200GS) set out on a nice and easy ride from Northern suberbs (Ctn) along some back roads toward Agter-Paarl for a beer (only one!) at Spice Route. We picked this route because Stephen is, just like me, a novice at the whole adventure biking thing, coming from many years of tar road-only experience. Also, I was quite skeptical over how the road-biased standard Battlewing tyres on the Tiger would perform, but luckily that turned out to be quite unfounded.
Here we are for a quick photo-stop on some road where we got (temporarily) lost. ...but then: isn't that the whole point of adventure biking?
I only noticed afterward how it looks like the Triumph doesn't want to be associated with the Yamaha & BMW. Not intentional, promise. ...or was it?
ot:
In the end I was totally satisfied that the Tiger is equally at home on gravel roads, even with the standard tyres, as the DR-Z 400 I've been practicing on the last few months, so I figured I'd take it a little further on Sunday morning. After some reading up on entertaining routes around the Western Cape that's still near enough not to overshoot my 1st service 800km limit, I decided on Sir Lowry's pass > Grabouw > Highlands road > Old Houwhoek pass > Botrivier > Van der Stel pass > Theewaterskloof dam > Franschhoek pass > N1 home.
Here's a link to the route on Google maps (I hope it works).
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zKAksheVoWqA.kgTSxmYiqwOc&usp=sharing
The route on top of Sir Lowry's pass (Highlands Road) is a mix of tar and gravel, quite easy and not very long, but quite scenic and well worth the detour. There are also the Peregrine and Houwhoek farm stalls on the N2 on top of the mountain, but I gave them a miss, having stopped there countless times before. So on I went to the Old Houwhoek pass turnoff, on the left just a few hundred meters past the Houwhoek Inn turnoff, before the N2 splits for the descent down the mountain. A word of warning: this turnoff isn't marked at all, and it's a narrow lane that joins at 90 degrees, so take it easy on the approach and make sure you signal to the cars behind.
Here's a pic taken right after turning off. The current N2 pass is visible in the background, and yes, that narrow semi-overgrown 2-lane road is the Old Houwhoek "pass".
The road runs close to a train track most of the way:
It's fairly eroded in places, but nothing an adventure bike can't easily handle, even with a novice taking it easy at the stick. There are also many proteas starting to bloom along the route. It should be absolutely spectacular when they're in full colour.
The road ends up at the "wrong" end of Botrivier, first passing a cemetery, and then next to an informal settlement. It is also very unfortunate to see the amount of rubbish littering the last km or so of the road. Aai, people...
Anyway, I then ventured onto the gravel Van der Stel pass, which winds its way through pretty farmland on the way to Villiersdorp. The road is in good condition and I can highly recommend it. Apparently there are also some nice coffee stops and accommodation along the way, but again I just pushed on.
I came across this photogenic old clay-walled house next to the road and couldn't resist stopping for a photo-op.
I even took the Trax box off, because let's face it: the bike is just prettier without it
Eventually, the road joins the R321 just before the bridge over the Theewaterskloof dam, where the gravel fun for the day ends, unfortunately. It was a beautifully crisp and calm winter's day and the dam's surface was mirror-smooth, so I once again couldn't resist stopping for the customary photo-op.
From here it was onto the Franschhoek pass for a final blast. I've done this pass countless times on sportbikes before and I have to say here the Tiger also did not disappoint. Look, I'm not going to pretend it will stick with the sportbikes through the pass, but it was a lot better than I was expecting and, frankly, than what an adventure bike has any right to be!
After Franschhoek it was just straight home via the boring N1 stretch for a very enjoyable 230km round trip. I'll definitely be doing this one again.
