Dogboxelectric
Race Dog
OK so it took a year to post, I am that slow. Alli will prob add some more shots.
Getting ready to leave PTA. I wanted to leave at 7am but Alli had other plans, once we got going he was fast i was slow.
LOOOOOOONG painful trip to Swartruggens breakfast at Wimpy, off again, took dirt roads mostly as the tolls were hectic, I knew the XR at that stage with Clarke tank had a range of about 330km's before reserve. SO we start hunting for petrol stations around i think it was called Nietverdient or some such, found this truck-stop straight out of an American movie(Alli has a photo), NO PETROL, but we can share what we have in the Golf at R20 a litre, what choice do we have, so cough up and have a lekker chat anyway, then right up to the border post near Madikwe, turn right along the Border and then.
If you look carefully you'll see an Elly between the bikes, nice find.
Not long after this shot I almost hit a black snake of some description did not hang around to find out what kind of snake.
All along I was fighting the bike alot quite tired by now, up to this point I think we had done about 400km's with few breaks in between, we had left PTA at about 8am I think cant remember that far back, it was getting late about 4pm already(I ride very slow) Fuel is running low again, plus i think we only bought about 10l each, so now we hope that they will have a fuel station at Derdepoort. Yes!!! the Garmin confirms it there is a depot, problem is its the BOSVELD on a Saturday at 4pm, we get to the gates and theyre closed, PANIC NOW!!!!!. Luckily the owner of the shop and petrol station is there to collect something from the shop and spots us at the gate. SO we begged(but not too much) for some petrol and Dawie lets us in we fill up the bikes, Alli asked if we could buy some food also, Dawie reckons sure. Two braai packs, ready to head off.
Alli asked Dawie if there was somewhere in the area where we could camp for the night and Dawie replies "Nee Boetman jammer, but if you guys want you can camp here on the property, ill take you up river where the Hippo wont get out to bug you while you're sleeping", cool sleeping spot secured we go about setting up camp, pitching tents 2-3 sips wine, collect fire wood, and then Dawie arrives with his Quad loaded with firewood and a grid(SWEET). quick chat with Dawie and we find out that the poachers took a Rhino 50m from the fence in the Madikwe reserve that morning, apparently they came over the border from Bots hacked the horn and ducked back. Very upsetting. I proceed with more Libation as this was the furtherest I had ever ridden almost non stop, so the ASS is in severe pain ARMS PUMPED bigger than popeye from wrestling the bike all day. Alli took charge of braaiing so Steak, Skaapchoppie en Boerie BEST MEAT I HAD EVER, all of it. Out for the night.
Campsite at Dawie's, Derdepoort.
Next day Dogbox, did not realise that Drinking the whole 1L Papsak was not going to be a great Idea as wrestling an XR650L on badly ruttulated roads does not help a Barbie at all. Felt super K@K the whole day, left Dawie's at about 8am again, set off along the border again, about 2 hours in and we break for Trailmix(a thing of beauty on a bike trip) Alli reckons he wants to try my scooter so i relent and give in (XR had only about 1800km's on) he returns and says the following(Alli was riding his KLR) your suspension is K@K dude, out comes the other porra(manual) and we start at the forks, one pipe is on 3 clicks and the other had 2 clicks from std(from the dealer and they knew i was leaving on a trip) so we adjust according to load , road condition etc. as far as our limited knowledge of suspension would allow. Back shock too and off we go. By now I realise I have not contacted SWAMBO who has by now probably phoned all and Sundry ( SWAMBO is Portuguese and has extra built in panic). I stop again and check Cell coverage and NOTHING not even a bar, carry on at some point we will find coverage( I am not doing well) we get to an intersection(3 way split) as we sit there waiting for Garmin to catch up a guy appears out his house and introduces himself "Chris Welgemoed aangenaam" we introduce ourselves, and ask Chris if he knows where we would get reception he says if you stand in the middle of the intersection we should get 2 bars at least but watchout for the grain trucks as they drive like Steve McQueen. we should rather come in he has some sort of repeater thing that you stick on the back of the phone and it boosts signal and all that, so while i Chat to SWAMBO Chris and Alli have a beer and get chatting, Turns out this Farm has been in the family for many years and the original farmhouse(now a toolshed) is still standing, a very small 2 roomed place but still amazing in its own way. I finish up on the tele and look around while Alli and Chris chat I notice that There is 8ft fence with razor wire all around and Chris tells me its the remnants of the Bad old days. I still feel crap and its getting worse, we ask if its ok if we chill awhile under his tree he says no worries why dont we relax on the Stoep, cool. after about an hour I still feel like Shite, Chris reckons he has commitments and will see us if were still there when he gets back, no worries we carry everything outside to pack under the tree and Chris reckons " nee k@k man bly in die huis daars water en bier" about an hour later he comes to check on us All good I still feel like shite, he disappears again and is back at about 4, he went to braai with his family and left two guys from JHB to an open house and stuff, Alli and say our thank you's etc. and ask if there is anywhere where we can buy food Chris reminds us its Sunday in the Bosveld very little chance of that and disappears into the Kitchen only to return with about 1kilo of wors and a tin of baked beans, awesome guy.
Now we start looking for a camp site for the night rain behind us and now rain infront of us so at somepoint we stop pull off the road and VIOLA.
Next morning
The whole night and only 1 single bakkie came past.
Just before Rooibokkraal we crossed the Limpopo.
What a building1 love it Petrol NO 93UNL NO 95UNL NO LRP only Duel Fuel.
Some played with pics at Rooibokkraal.
What an amazing little shop they have almost everything, so we Bought an OKAPI knife each(Really almost flatbar with wooden handle)
Fill up and off we go. HOT DAY.
At about 1pm i said to Alli at one of the many SMOKE BREAKS we should chill till 3 and then ride on so we start looking for a place and ZILCH No shade anywhere except at the Gate of some LARNEY UPMARKET GAME GUEST FARMHOUSE THINGY,
This is their gate.
At 3 we set off again. along the way I spotted some flowers. Very interesting ones.
More playing.
At this point I am more comfy with the Bike and going along nicely and thats the point at which the "SANDMONSTER" lunged and grabbed a hold of my nuts and my progress almost grinded to halt the first lot i had the rhyme going "Stand up, look up, open up" but at some point during the second or third my mind just overrid all logic switched off and the legs came out and acted like training wheels for about 30km's of sand riding. Very slow progress indeed. Eventually we arrive in Tom Burke, ask around a bit and the townsfolk tell us there is a truckstop not far that has a campsite, off we go arrive and RAIN, so the lovely people said we could crash in the ablution blocks for the evening, sorted dry beds happy bikers.
Alli Bin Somewhere.
We stayed at the campsite for about 2 days as I was no geheelenal SAT,poegaai, doodmoeg. Rode around in the area alot though and this is where we decided to see exactly how far the XR would go on one full clarke tank until she is EMPTY completely. 330km's reserve, 356km's tilt over and 376km's BONEDRY.
On the way to Swartwater Big ass Baobab.
In Swartwater I get to chatting with a oom in his Eskom bakkie and he tells us about 2km's out of town there is a mother of a Baobab, off we go(Sandmonster still has my Nuts though) so I ride the KLR(Alli has that suspension SO sorted she sits like a Rolls Royce on the dirt roads)
And VIOLA!!! The Biggest freaking tree I have ever seen in my life. The yellow spot in the frame is Alli.
So we leave Tom Burke and Swartwater behind down to Vaalwater to overnight,
Luggage has changed position quite a bit since we set off cos I kinda like the plastics on my bike unburnt, thank you.
Vaalwater Riverside camp grounds. And the Priorities are all in this shot?
I am hoping Alli will add his pics and words too as I am sure i left out quite a bit.
But for me as a newbie this was teh reason I bought this bike for. Cant wait for the next Long one.
Alli and I have been mates for 21 years and are planning a 21st ride. Should be awesome if this one was anything to go by.
Getting ready to leave PTA. I wanted to leave at 7am but Alli had other plans, once we got going he was fast i was slow.
LOOOOOOONG painful trip to Swartruggens breakfast at Wimpy, off again, took dirt roads mostly as the tolls were hectic, I knew the XR at that stage with Clarke tank had a range of about 330km's before reserve. SO we start hunting for petrol stations around i think it was called Nietverdient or some such, found this truck-stop straight out of an American movie(Alli has a photo), NO PETROL, but we can share what we have in the Golf at R20 a litre, what choice do we have, so cough up and have a lekker chat anyway, then right up to the border post near Madikwe, turn right along the Border and then.
If you look carefully you'll see an Elly between the bikes, nice find.
Not long after this shot I almost hit a black snake of some description did not hang around to find out what kind of snake.
All along I was fighting the bike alot quite tired by now, up to this point I think we had done about 400km's with few breaks in between, we had left PTA at about 8am I think cant remember that far back, it was getting late about 4pm already(I ride very slow) Fuel is running low again, plus i think we only bought about 10l each, so now we hope that they will have a fuel station at Derdepoort. Yes!!! the Garmin confirms it there is a depot, problem is its the BOSVELD on a Saturday at 4pm, we get to the gates and theyre closed, PANIC NOW!!!!!. Luckily the owner of the shop and petrol station is there to collect something from the shop and spots us at the gate. SO we begged(but not too much) for some petrol and Dawie lets us in we fill up the bikes, Alli asked if we could buy some food also, Dawie reckons sure. Two braai packs, ready to head off.
Alli asked Dawie if there was somewhere in the area where we could camp for the night and Dawie replies "Nee Boetman jammer, but if you guys want you can camp here on the property, ill take you up river where the Hippo wont get out to bug you while you're sleeping", cool sleeping spot secured we go about setting up camp, pitching tents 2-3 sips wine, collect fire wood, and then Dawie arrives with his Quad loaded with firewood and a grid(SWEET). quick chat with Dawie and we find out that the poachers took a Rhino 50m from the fence in the Madikwe reserve that morning, apparently they came over the border from Bots hacked the horn and ducked back. Very upsetting. I proceed with more Libation as this was the furtherest I had ever ridden almost non stop, so the ASS is in severe pain ARMS PUMPED bigger than popeye from wrestling the bike all day. Alli took charge of braaiing so Steak, Skaapchoppie en Boerie BEST MEAT I HAD EVER, all of it. Out for the night.
Campsite at Dawie's, Derdepoort.
Next day Dogbox, did not realise that Drinking the whole 1L Papsak was not going to be a great Idea as wrestling an XR650L on badly ruttulated roads does not help a Barbie at all. Felt super K@K the whole day, left Dawie's at about 8am again, set off along the border again, about 2 hours in and we break for Trailmix(a thing of beauty on a bike trip) Alli reckons he wants to try my scooter so i relent and give in (XR had only about 1800km's on) he returns and says the following(Alli was riding his KLR) your suspension is K@K dude, out comes the other porra(manual) and we start at the forks, one pipe is on 3 clicks and the other had 2 clicks from std(from the dealer and they knew i was leaving on a trip) so we adjust according to load , road condition etc. as far as our limited knowledge of suspension would allow. Back shock too and off we go. By now I realise I have not contacted SWAMBO who has by now probably phoned all and Sundry ( SWAMBO is Portuguese and has extra built in panic). I stop again and check Cell coverage and NOTHING not even a bar, carry on at some point we will find coverage( I am not doing well) we get to an intersection(3 way split) as we sit there waiting for Garmin to catch up a guy appears out his house and introduces himself "Chris Welgemoed aangenaam" we introduce ourselves, and ask Chris if he knows where we would get reception he says if you stand in the middle of the intersection we should get 2 bars at least but watchout for the grain trucks as they drive like Steve McQueen. we should rather come in he has some sort of repeater thing that you stick on the back of the phone and it boosts signal and all that, so while i Chat to SWAMBO Chris and Alli have a beer and get chatting, Turns out this Farm has been in the family for many years and the original farmhouse(now a toolshed) is still standing, a very small 2 roomed place but still amazing in its own way. I finish up on the tele and look around while Alli and Chris chat I notice that There is 8ft fence with razor wire all around and Chris tells me its the remnants of the Bad old days. I still feel crap and its getting worse, we ask if its ok if we chill awhile under his tree he says no worries why dont we relax on the Stoep, cool. after about an hour I still feel like Shite, Chris reckons he has commitments and will see us if were still there when he gets back, no worries we carry everything outside to pack under the tree and Chris reckons " nee k@k man bly in die huis daars water en bier" about an hour later he comes to check on us All good I still feel like shite, he disappears again and is back at about 4, he went to braai with his family and left two guys from JHB to an open house and stuff, Alli and say our thank you's etc. and ask if there is anywhere where we can buy food Chris reminds us its Sunday in the Bosveld very little chance of that and disappears into the Kitchen only to return with about 1kilo of wors and a tin of baked beans, awesome guy.
Now we start looking for a camp site for the night rain behind us and now rain infront of us so at somepoint we stop pull off the road and VIOLA.
Next morning
The whole night and only 1 single bakkie came past.
Just before Rooibokkraal we crossed the Limpopo.
What a building1 love it Petrol NO 93UNL NO 95UNL NO LRP only Duel Fuel.
Some played with pics at Rooibokkraal.
What an amazing little shop they have almost everything, so we Bought an OKAPI knife each(Really almost flatbar with wooden handle)
Fill up and off we go. HOT DAY.
At about 1pm i said to Alli at one of the many SMOKE BREAKS we should chill till 3 and then ride on so we start looking for a place and ZILCH No shade anywhere except at the Gate of some LARNEY UPMARKET GAME GUEST FARMHOUSE THINGY,
This is their gate.
At 3 we set off again. along the way I spotted some flowers. Very interesting ones.
More playing.
At this point I am more comfy with the Bike and going along nicely and thats the point at which the "SANDMONSTER" lunged and grabbed a hold of my nuts and my progress almost grinded to halt the first lot i had the rhyme going "Stand up, look up, open up" but at some point during the second or third my mind just overrid all logic switched off and the legs came out and acted like training wheels for about 30km's of sand riding. Very slow progress indeed. Eventually we arrive in Tom Burke, ask around a bit and the townsfolk tell us there is a truckstop not far that has a campsite, off we go arrive and RAIN, so the lovely people said we could crash in the ablution blocks for the evening, sorted dry beds happy bikers.
Alli Bin Somewhere.
We stayed at the campsite for about 2 days as I was no geheelenal SAT,poegaai, doodmoeg. Rode around in the area alot though and this is where we decided to see exactly how far the XR would go on one full clarke tank until she is EMPTY completely. 330km's reserve, 356km's tilt over and 376km's BONEDRY.
On the way to Swartwater Big ass Baobab.
In Swartwater I get to chatting with a oom in his Eskom bakkie and he tells us about 2km's out of town there is a mother of a Baobab, off we go(Sandmonster still has my Nuts though) so I ride the KLR(Alli has that suspension SO sorted she sits like a Rolls Royce on the dirt roads)
And VIOLA!!! The Biggest freaking tree I have ever seen in my life. The yellow spot in the frame is Alli.
So we leave Tom Burke and Swartwater behind down to Vaalwater to overnight,
Luggage has changed position quite a bit since we set off cos I kinda like the plastics on my bike unburnt, thank you.
Vaalwater Riverside camp grounds. And the Priorities are all in this shot?
I am hoping Alli will add his pics and words too as I am sure i left out quite a bit.
But for me as a newbie this was teh reason I bought this bike for. Cant wait for the next Long one.
Alli and I have been mates for 21 years and are planning a 21st ride. Should be awesome if this one was anything to go by.
