Long Weekend trip to the lowveld

We left home on Friday morning shortly after 08:00 in the rain. We then met up with the rest of the group at a garage and set off to Dulstroom hoping that the weather will clear.

Still raining we stopped in Dulstroom to fill up and have some lunch. After lunch we rode to Mac Mac where we booked in for the morning. The house we stayed in had a built-in fireplace and was welcomed by all. After some boerewors rolls and a lot of laughter it was time to go to bed.

Saturday morning greeted us with a lot of mist and light rain. Once again we suited up in our rain suits and went to The Woodman in Sabie for an awesome breakfast. After breakfast we took the wet road to Hazyview, Graskop and stopped for lunch in Pilgrimsrest. Still wet and getting cold we decided to head home to Mac Mac to spend some time in the pub and watch some Currie Cup rugby.

After dinner it was time to have a few drinks at “our” fireplace and then called it a night.

We were greeted with a sunny Sunday morning which promised some awesome riding. We filled up in Sabie and then took the road to Nelspruit to have some brunch. We then left Nelspruit and headed home.

We had some lovely riding even though the first two days where wet and slippery.

Below are some pictures from our trip:

1000 Bikes Show hosted by the Classic Motorcycle Club

We went to the 1000 Bikes Show hosted by the Classic Motorcycle Club today. On the way there I had a nice ride behind a Ferrari F430 for a few kilometers and at last the driver put the pedal to the metal and i was able to catch that epic Ferrari sound on my GoPro. Problem is I did not check the camera’s viewing angle and missed the whole experience.

With that highlight come and gone I paid my entrance fee and received a nice cloth badge to boot.

As always it was good to see such a huge number of bikers and motorcyclists (you decide what the difference is 😉 ) at the show hosted at the Germiston high school.

The motorcycles where grouped by manufacturer which made it easy to appreciate the different eras of machines per manufacturer.
Here’s some pictures I took at the show.
(Click on a thumbnail to open the original sized picture in a new window)

                              

Fork seal replacement

My GS’ left fork seal started leaking a bit more than a week ago. I then contacted Motorrad Tech in Benoni who always looks after the wellbeing of my bike and made an appointment.

To my surprise the job to replace both left and right seals took only an hour today and cost under R900.

The bike has done just over 83000km’s and this is the 2nd time I’m replacing seals. Note that the first time was related to really bad dirt roads that basically also loosened moat of the parts on the bike.

Happy again as the GS is ready for a good road trip.

Dealesville trip – on the way back home

After a good visit and way too much to eat it was time to head home.

We filled our tanks in Dealesville and then took the dirt road out towards Bultfontein. The ride was a lot of fun till we hit the tar which became, very boring, very quickly. We decided to pass through Odendaalsrus towards Kroonstad.

Lunch was had at Kroonstad and we got back onto the highway towards Johannesburg just after the rain stopped pouring. The rain cooled the air which was welcomed. After a brief visit at my dad’s I headed home but about 5 km into my trip I hit the rain and hailstones. Luckily that was a short stint and managed to get out of the small storm.

Below is a link to some footage I took with the GoPro.

Total distance for the weekend was 979 km.

Friday’s ride to Dealesville

The day started with packing clothes and gear. Then sort out a few things around the house. Almost ready to go but need to setup my GoPro Hero 3.

All charged up and mounted to the helmet. The camera switched on, said good bye to my wife an went off to meet my dad at his house. After some holiday shopping and lunch we got onto the GS’ and pointed the wheels towards Koppies. After Poppies we climbed on the busy highway towards Kroonstad. We then took a right to Welkom and once we got to Welkom it was time to fill up and drink an ice cold coke. By this time I realised that the GoPro’s battery was spent.

I honestly thought it will last the 4+ hours that the camera’s LCD advised it would. Anyway, I’m still new to GoPro and will figure it out.

From Welkom we rode to Bultfontein. We went through a small rain storm that was both welcome because of the heat and painful as the drops hit my face in exposed areas because of the .MX helmet I’m using.

Then atlast after missing the turn off we took the 60 km dirt road. Now I was upset that the camera’s batterybattery was flat. The sun was busy setting and the dirt road ahead just looked awesome. After some great riding we made it to our destination.

Here’s some pics of the GoPro.

We did a total of 511 km of which 60 km where dirt road.

Short trip this weekend….

Have a short trip this weekend to the Free State which will give me a chance to test a new piece of equipment I acquired. More on that tomorrow.

Also need to sort out my GPS mount including the power feed from the GS. Busy setting up and packing. I’m quite excited to get going as I’ll be joining my dad in the morning and leaving in the afternoon.

Well till tomorrow.

Day 5 and 6

Day 5 we left Oudtshoorn and drove through Seweweeks Poort to Ceres. In the mountains we camped at The Oasis and had the best steak that I’ve ever tasted in South Africa.

Day 6 we had breakfast and made our way to Clanwilliam then to Lambertsbaai. We are currently 1300km from home that we need to cover in 2 days.

The next 2 days will be hard riding and finishing off the trip.

We got to Clanwilliam and heard that the Crayfish Festival is happeninh in Lambertsbaai. We will probably check that out and can’t wait for dinner at Muisbosskerm tonight!

We rode 158 km of which 85 was dirt road on day 6. I will do a proper write up of day 5 at home.

Day 4

Day 4 was a no ride day.

We stayed in Oudtshoorn with my Uncle and went to visit his work place. He took me for a “flip” in an Icarus two seater aircraft over Oudtshoorn which was an awesome experience!

I even got the chance to fly the plane myself (stick only ofcourse).

After that we had some lunch got back to my uncle’s house and later went out for dinner where I had ostrich steak.

It was a great “off” day and now I need to save money for my Private Pilots License 😉

Kilometers ridden 0 kilometers flow quite a few 😛

Day 3

We left the BnB after a good breakfast and made our way to Noupoort.

From Noupoort we took a dirt road to Meriman. On the way there my dad almost had a spill as loose rocks pushed the bike’s back wheel violently to the right then jumped back to the left. Luckily he corrected it and did not come off of his bike.

From Meriman we headed still on dirt road to Beaufort West. In Beafort West a truck snagged a car at the robot and pulled it about 5 meters forward. They car managed to turn left to get away but the truck carried on driving. It just shows the mentality of truck drivers in South Africa! They just could not be bothered.

Between Beaufort West and Meirings Poort we had to dodge 3 tortoises. And where they big! 2 where crossing the road and 1 was just walking next to the road.

Unfortunately we had a cross wind the whole day that spoiled the biking a bit but it got even worse as soon as we entered Meirings Poort. The wind hit you left then right all in a 90 degree turn. I have to say though, Meirings Poort is one of the most beautiful roads that I’ve ever had the pleasure to ride with a bike. Sweeping turns almost all the way and mountain walls on both sides of the road just makes your jaw drop. Epicness is not a good enough word to describe it.

We met up with my uncle in Meirings Poort and proceded towards his house in Oudtshoorn. On the way there though my dad hit a speed bump too fast and the one panier fell off. We still need to check that out tomorrow.

We rode 629km today of which 126 was dirt road.

Day 2

Last night my gran dad went all out with cooking for us and even provided pudding. We had an awesome visit with him but sadly had to leave just after 9 towards Bloemfontein.

We got to Bloemfontein and decided to visit the Boer War Museum. There we saw one of the block houses that my dad wants to visit on the trip.

After Bloemfontein we pushed fot Aliwal North. We passed Riddersburg and Rouxville and then entered Aliwal Noord. We dived into the pub next to the Orange river, just after the bridge. There we had an ice cold beer. I ate the mince and cheese sub that I just could not finish and my dad chicken livers and rice. Top notch place for some lunch!

We then set off towards Burgersdorp to find the next 2 block houses on the trip.

What an awesome town Burgersdorp is! They also have the best looked after blockhouses that I’ve ever seen. The people where friendly and I even had a good chat with a lady who’s son is also a big biker.

Decision time again and we decided to push for Middelburg. It was another 160 odd kms to go and it was getting late. On the way to Middelburg we had some rain which was welcomed as it cooled us off. We then asked our trusty sometimes idiotic gps to take us to a caravan park.

Got to the caravan park and unfortunately it was a s«÷£ hole as you could expect with a municipal run park.

Just around the corner was a BnB that we booked in.

I’m currently sitting on the stoep watching the lightning and light rain that’s cooling me off. Till tomorrow! Its a Oudtshoorn Time.

Total distance for the day 527km