Somebody decided that Halloween weekend 2015 would be a great time to go camping.
Somebody else decided that it would be a great idea to join in. Also that it would be a wonderful idea if that same person (that is, self…) could go camping on a shoestring budget. Including using his favourite mode of transport to get there and back!
Planning was done, packing list created, and tent dropped with the instigator for conveyance – instigator didn’t like the schlep of packing everything onto two wheels, but that worked out well for me!
Friday afternoon everything was packed and prepared; Saturday morning the Dakar was loaded like it’s probably never been loaded before! Note the classy top-box…
I thought: “oh well, I’ll just cruise at 100 like I used to on my Honda Wink ”. Reality kicked in – on the R33, in the heat, the beautiful Rotax was overtaking slower traffic all the way. Obviously never doing more than 119 km/h, you understand! icon_biggrin
60km of tar later, the big test really came: a few km of off-road, fully laden. SANDY off-road. On a GS! The first bit was (as all dirt roads in this area) just full of corrugations! Uncertain of my skills on the bigger bike, I was never so happy to see corrugations in my life! I was certain I wouldn’t fall on corrugations. Very certain. I was right! Cheesy
Then came the inevitable: soft, floury, powdery, yucky, killer-sand. I thought back to all the things I had been taught.
Gear down
Stand up
Hold the bars
Don’t hold them too tight
Bit of throttle going in
Not too much
Balance the bike
All I was thinking was ‘be ready to bail when you go down’, and wondering whether my securing of the cooler box would be good enough to ensure the eggs didn’t break and the beer didn’t spill!
Well…I am glad to announce that I need not have worried. Although I could have probably done with some form of diaper, my beloved GS made it through the sandy patches with great aplomb!
It seems the tent was unnecessary. The beautiful weather, the lovely location…and a beer or three. I decide to sleep outdoors. (OK – I did use the tent as a pillow).
Next morning…
Sleeping outside was so so worthwhile!
Then I made the mistake of taking a bike ride. No engine involved. In the sand. With an uphill return leg. What a mistake that was! I shall NOT be buying one of these almost-finished-being-built motorcycles anytime soon. But I did enjoy the ride:
After smashing some MORE food in my face (I didn’t do it alone, everybody was allowed to…ok – we ALL had breakfast) we packed up and I did send the top-box-cooler-box back with the instigator, so it was far more comfy on the way back…but I think if you’re willing to go ‘light’, camping on a GS is possible.
EVEN over the sand!
Somebody else decided that it would be a great idea to join in. Also that it would be a wonderful idea if that same person (that is, self…) could go camping on a shoestring budget. Including using his favourite mode of transport to get there and back!
Planning was done, packing list created, and tent dropped with the instigator for conveyance – instigator didn’t like the schlep of packing everything onto two wheels, but that worked out well for me!
Friday afternoon everything was packed and prepared; Saturday morning the Dakar was loaded like it’s probably never been loaded before! Note the classy top-box…
I thought: “oh well, I’ll just cruise at 100 like I used to on my Honda Wink ”. Reality kicked in – on the R33, in the heat, the beautiful Rotax was overtaking slower traffic all the way. Obviously never doing more than 119 km/h, you understand! icon_biggrin
60km of tar later, the big test really came: a few km of off-road, fully laden. SANDY off-road. On a GS! The first bit was (as all dirt roads in this area) just full of corrugations! Uncertain of my skills on the bigger bike, I was never so happy to see corrugations in my life! I was certain I wouldn’t fall on corrugations. Very certain. I was right! Cheesy
Then came the inevitable: soft, floury, powdery, yucky, killer-sand. I thought back to all the things I had been taught.
Gear down
Stand up
Hold the bars
Don’t hold them too tight
Bit of throttle going in
Not too much
Balance the bike
All I was thinking was ‘be ready to bail when you go down’, and wondering whether my securing of the cooler box would be good enough to ensure the eggs didn’t break and the beer didn’t spill!
Well…I am glad to announce that I need not have worried. Although I could have probably done with some form of diaper, my beloved GS made it through the sandy patches with great aplomb!
It seems the tent was unnecessary. The beautiful weather, the lovely location…and a beer or three. I decide to sleep outdoors. (OK – I did use the tent as a pillow).
Next morning…
Sleeping outside was so so worthwhile!
Then I made the mistake of taking a bike ride. No engine involved. In the sand. With an uphill return leg. What a mistake that was! I shall NOT be buying one of these almost-finished-being-built motorcycles anytime soon. But I did enjoy the ride:
After smashing some MORE food in my face (I didn’t do it alone, everybody was allowed to…ok – we ALL had breakfast) we packed up and I did send the top-box-cooler-box back with the instigator, so it was far more comfy on the way back…but I think if you’re willing to go ‘light’, camping on a GS is possible.
EVEN over the sand!
