Eisbein
Bachelor Dog
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2007
- Messages
- 12,510
- Reaction score
- 331
- Location
- Kraaifontein
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
Today a week ago a chapter in my life was finished.
I bought some piece of gravel and Sauerkraut is (probably) no more...
Last Tuesday I went out with some friends to go and play a little at the back of Tygerberg hills on a farm.
Nice 4x4 route and a looooong stretch of tweespoor sand. Let me interrupt myself here to say that the sand (thick and soft enough to make your foot dissapear if you put it down) was the thing I worried about, but ended up being the coolest thing of the day. I'm not good with it yet, but I am not afraid of it either - I felt how it feels to open the taps to let the bike run on top of the sand.
Ok - back to the story.
We were on a 4x4 track that was at some stage so steep that if you turn the bike sideways on it the 'pods' of the boxer engine would just about touch the soil while still being upright.
You think I would fall there ?
Nope...
About 2 kilometers of thick sand tweespoor - you would think that would be it ?
Still no.
A loooong steep uphill on loose rocks ?
Negative.
Nooooooo.
This idiot decides it seems like a good idea to put the bike down on the piece of straight road that leads from the sand and onto the tar road.
:
I was last, KLR ahead, 950SE and 950Adv in front.
So we get out of the sand and I hear the Adv open up, then the SE and then the KLR in front of me.
So I open up a little as well - blip 1st and 2nd.
As I'm about to hook 3rd the dust in front of me opens up to see this mother of a ditch right in front of the front wheel.
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Go into it at about 60 - no time to brake, get up or anything.
So naturally I almost go over the handle bars - no jokes - I was looking down directly on the clocks, my legs above the seat's hight.
I look forward to see what's coming - another (bigger) ditch.
Oh Shhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
In an amazing display of synchronised 'deck hitting' my back side hits the seat the same time that the front wheel come down on the opposite side of the ditch.
Massive bottoms (front and back) and there we go flying again. (Remember my legs were in the air up to the point of the 2nd impact, so (again) I couldn't do anything but bounce of the seat)
Go flying (again).
Look down on the clocks (again).
Look ahead (again).
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! (again)
Hit a rock the size of a soccer ball with the bike now starting to lean over sideways.
Lose it instantly on the landing, but don't detach from the bike.
So now me and the bike is sliding along at about 50 (didn't have any 'ground time' to actually scrape off some speed - from when I saw I was in shit 'till I went down the bike was more in the air than on the ground)
Slide for a couple of meters, roll from under the bike and try and breathe (weird when your 'wind' have been punched out and you are trying to talk) ;D
Apart from a bruised / hair fractured rib there isn't much else wrong with me (apart from the usual) ;D ;D
I got up (eventually) and was able to ride home and tell my wife about it (as apposed to arriving by trailer or even worse having someone else have to phone her...)
All I can say is thank goodness for ATGATT!
I was sliding on my right arm/sholder/ribcage and the jacket is scuffed and my arm had a scratch that was gone in a day. And that's it.
The Rallycross jacket has a scuff mark on it - I can without a doubt say that the R2000 odd I spent on it was more than worth it.
The bike however is another story...
I didn't want to say anything on here before it was official and in a sense it still isn't, but I have a strong feeling that Sauerkraut isn't coming home.
Got a quote from Shane at Atlantic this morning - R36 000 damage.
The bulk of this is front end and cosmetic stuff - telelever, front axle (but not the wheel!), screen and the bracket that holds it, the right hand switch cluster, the brake reservoir (mirror sheared out of the thing), handlebars, dent in tank (they can panelbeat it), the mirror and right hand indicator...
The book value of the bike is about R40 000, it is 10 years old and its got 155 000km on the clock, so even if it was possible, it's probably not worth saving it.
I'm hearing (officially) from the insurance later today (or tomorrow), but it might look like I'm going to be in the market for another bike shortly.
No, no 'what's next for Eisbein' threads - I know what I want and have one in the eye already, but nothing is 'official' untlil it is official...
;D ;D
I must just say again that I think I got off lightly - if 145kg's is diving towards the ground head first at 60, worse things could have happened.
A prang that you can walk away from is a good one. A prang that you can still ride your bike away from as well and go straight home without having to go to the ER is an excellent one...
ATGATT rules...
I would probably say that the stupid/bad luck ratio is about 30/70.
I should not have assumed that because I heard the other's 'gunning' it that it was safe to go.
But here I am, all is well - no major (permanent) pains.
The 1100 that has gone is very sad - there was so many things that I (and my wife) have exprienced for the 1st time on it and I will forever have a very soft spot for my 1st big DS bike, but life goes on and it was inevitable that it would be replaced at some time or another, but I just didn't think it would happen like this.
I bought some piece of gravel and Sauerkraut is (probably) no more...
Last Tuesday I went out with some friends to go and play a little at the back of Tygerberg hills on a farm.
Nice 4x4 route and a looooong stretch of tweespoor sand. Let me interrupt myself here to say that the sand (thick and soft enough to make your foot dissapear if you put it down) was the thing I worried about, but ended up being the coolest thing of the day. I'm not good with it yet, but I am not afraid of it either - I felt how it feels to open the taps to let the bike run on top of the sand.
Ok - back to the story.
We were on a 4x4 track that was at some stage so steep that if you turn the bike sideways on it the 'pods' of the boxer engine would just about touch the soil while still being upright.
You think I would fall there ?
Nope...
About 2 kilometers of thick sand tweespoor - you would think that would be it ?
Still no.
A loooong steep uphill on loose rocks ?
Negative.
Nooooooo.
This idiot decides it seems like a good idea to put the bike down on the piece of straight road that leads from the sand and onto the tar road.
:
I was last, KLR ahead, 950SE and 950Adv in front.
So we get out of the sand and I hear the Adv open up, then the SE and then the KLR in front of me.
So I open up a little as well - blip 1st and 2nd.
As I'm about to hook 3rd the dust in front of me opens up to see this mother of a ditch right in front of the front wheel.
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
Go into it at about 60 - no time to brake, get up or anything.
So naturally I almost go over the handle bars - no jokes - I was looking down directly on the clocks, my legs above the seat's hight.
I look forward to see what's coming - another (bigger) ditch.
Oh Shhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
In an amazing display of synchronised 'deck hitting' my back side hits the seat the same time that the front wheel come down on the opposite side of the ditch.
Massive bottoms (front and back) and there we go flying again. (Remember my legs were in the air up to the point of the 2nd impact, so (again) I couldn't do anything but bounce of the seat)
Go flying (again).
Look down on the clocks (again).
Look ahead (again).
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! (again)
Hit a rock the size of a soccer ball with the bike now starting to lean over sideways.
Lose it instantly on the landing, but don't detach from the bike.
So now me and the bike is sliding along at about 50 (didn't have any 'ground time' to actually scrape off some speed - from when I saw I was in shit 'till I went down the bike was more in the air than on the ground)
Slide for a couple of meters, roll from under the bike and try and breathe (weird when your 'wind' have been punched out and you are trying to talk) ;D
Apart from a bruised / hair fractured rib there isn't much else wrong with me (apart from the usual) ;D ;D
I got up (eventually) and was able to ride home and tell my wife about it (as apposed to arriving by trailer or even worse having someone else have to phone her...)
All I can say is thank goodness for ATGATT!
I was sliding on my right arm/sholder/ribcage and the jacket is scuffed and my arm had a scratch that was gone in a day. And that's it.
The Rallycross jacket has a scuff mark on it - I can without a doubt say that the R2000 odd I spent on it was more than worth it.
The bike however is another story...
I didn't want to say anything on here before it was official and in a sense it still isn't, but I have a strong feeling that Sauerkraut isn't coming home.
Got a quote from Shane at Atlantic this morning - R36 000 damage.
The bulk of this is front end and cosmetic stuff - telelever, front axle (but not the wheel!), screen and the bracket that holds it, the right hand switch cluster, the brake reservoir (mirror sheared out of the thing), handlebars, dent in tank (they can panelbeat it), the mirror and right hand indicator...
The book value of the bike is about R40 000, it is 10 years old and its got 155 000km on the clock, so even if it was possible, it's probably not worth saving it.
I'm hearing (officially) from the insurance later today (or tomorrow), but it might look like I'm going to be in the market for another bike shortly.
No, no 'what's next for Eisbein' threads - I know what I want and have one in the eye already, but nothing is 'official' untlil it is official...
;D ;D
I must just say again that I think I got off lightly - if 145kg's is diving towards the ground head first at 60, worse things could have happened.
A prang that you can walk away from is a good one. A prang that you can still ride your bike away from as well and go straight home without having to go to the ER is an excellent one...
ATGATT rules...
I would probably say that the stupid/bad luck ratio is about 30/70.
I should not have assumed that because I heard the other's 'gunning' it that it was safe to go.
But here I am, all is well - no major (permanent) pains.
The 1100 that has gone is very sad - there was so many things that I (and my wife) have exprienced for the 1st time on it and I will forever have a very soft spot for my 1st big DS bike, but life goes on and it was inevitable that it would be replaced at some time or another, but I just didn't think it would happen like this.
