A Fool, Friends and Eastern Cape Passes

[Jay]

Nice one JM..... :thumleft: keep it coming I'm enjoying the read very much 8)

 

[JourneyMan]

The descent was very steep as well. More a challenge to me than going up. Weight back, lotâ??s of front brake, engine braking and at times rear brake. At one stage the rear brake gave up due to overheating and boy, was it fun from there!  :mrgreen:

Had to try my hand at a few artistic shots as well. 

Arrived at the bottom at a nice place to have a rest, let the brakes cool down and sommer cool down ourselves as well with a Mini Zamalek.  :razz:

From there easy riding again to the farm with gentler turns and higher speeds clocked.

Some scenery and roads.

It really is dry. This river/waterfall has ceased to flow.

Some more.

Arrived at the farm, had a quick shower and started on the Dakar again. We have definitely isolated the fuel pump as the main culprit. Not good news.

The workshop again. The fuel filter out.

I have no frickenâ?? clue!  :scratch: :biggrin:

I think Iâ??ll rather start the braai!  :biggrin:

Luckily Piet had a voltage-tester-thingamajingie and with the fuel pump out, the majingie said the red wire providing power to the pump is moeg. Luckily he also had a soldering iron.

Repairs under way.

And success!!!  High fives all around!!  :hello2: :hello2:

My contribution was more moral and carrying refreshments but once again I have learned something about the bike. Not that it would have helped in field repairs but still. Not scared now to take out the fuel pump if need be.

Then the braai, some kuiering and early bed as we have a long day planned for Saturday. It was good to know the full complement of bikes will then be on the road.

Day 3 to follow.

 

[fixit]

A scoot parked on that old bridge would have made a really nice pic... :thumleft:

 

[wino]

lekker one jman!  :thumleft: some cool pics!

 

[ktmmer]

Nice to see its not only KTM's getting worked on during a ride. ot:

 

[Oppad]

Great stuff, JM. Would you be divulging secrets if you post a map/gps track of the area and rides? Love that area

 

[Stofstreep]

:drif:
I need to get to that place soon!!!!!
Its beautiful!!

 

[JourneyMan]

Great stuff, JM. Would you be divulging secrets if you post a map/gps track of the area and rides? Love that area

Only if you tell me how?  :biggrin:

Tried to laod the complete Mapsource track but it's too large.  :scratch:

 

[JourneyMan]

Nice to see its not only KTM's getting worked on during a ride. ot:

All the bikes except the XR had some niggling issues during the trip. :biggrin:

 

[Sprocketbek]

Lovely report, Journeyman.

You took on a lot covering that distance on the first day. I find my concentration gets dodgy after a long + extended day......till you get a wake-up like you had, and then I start getting the moer in with myself. Cudo's for carrying on taking pics....... I would have packed the camera away at that point.

I would guess that your bars are not bent but the forks moved in the tripleclamps. One tends to get used to that and if you jump on another bike then that feels skew  ;D

Good stuff, would love to travel there!

 

[Oetie]

Lekker report and nice photo's JM :thumleft:

Thx for sharing!!

 

[Plothond]

Goeie donner !!!!!  ot:

I thought the heading was a joke - should be in the comedy section 

Anyhow - Well done for that first day. Lundeans neck is beautiful but that section down to Wartrail is tricky and in the dark ............. - well very well done

Lovely area, great pics
Good to see you and the Dakkie out

 

[BlueBull2007]

Keep it coming, great photo´s.  :hello2: :hello2:

We truely have a beautiful country.

:imaposer: @ the guy scratching his ass!

 

[bmad]

Awesome RR so far  :thumleft:

I would be keen on the track if you willing to share. Looks like such a nice area to ride  :ricky:

Even saw Ryperdâ??s family.  And no, I have no idea whether Ryperd has the same attributes.  :mrgreen:

It is rather scary that this thought came to mind  > >

:3some:

 

[Plore]

Report en fotos lyk asof dit `n fantastiese trip was. :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[LeonDude]

Nice RR and pics Jman! Come on, post the rest already! This is really cool stuff.

 

[JourneyMan]

Day 3 â?? Bastervoetpad â?? Hamburger â?? Naudes Nek

With no bike that needs attention, we got away early 07H00 since we anticipated a long days riding. :ricky:

Jaen â?? XR500

Once again a different road to ride even though we are staying over night at the same place each night.  8)

Riaan and his fixed-up Dakar.  :thumleft:

Bennie & Piet

New scenery. Lekker rustig cruise mode with gentle curves encountered.  :rr:

P-Time

Then Barkley Pass (Tar) towards Elliot. Very enjoyable!

Main street in Elliot.

Also the only place where there was a pharmacy of sorts. Come to think off it, I have no Idea what we did in Elliot. Checked out the local setting and U-turned back up Barkley Pass to the Bastervoetpad .  :scratch:

Oh. Forgot. We did buy some Mini Zamaleks. Now it makes sense. No time wasted!  :biggrin:

The two Dakarâ??s finally together.  8)

Then we started on the Bastervoetpad. Very innocuous beginning and start to the ascent. Very enjoyable.

Even some splashes to be had after the rain two days ago.  :razz:

The track soon turned to rocky terrain but nothing too hectic. Enough lines to take that skirts the loose, bigger rocks.

Arrived at the top and had a Zamalek or two.  ccasion14:


Al dra â??n Aap â??n Goue ringâ?¦ :biggrin:

On top of the world. Scenery.

I R pozer and photo bombing! : :biggrin:

 

[JourneyMan]

The route down. Looks Ok. :razz:

Err. No.

A very challenging and benoude boude descent due to muddy conditions combined with rocky track. Survival was the name of the game and it was slow going.

Even so, Piet loosing it in the mud. Hurt his knee but continued on right to the end in Pretoria. 8)

Almost again! :biggrin:

The mud.

Once the mud disappeared, exposed bedrock was encountered with loose rocks to dodge along the way.
Choosing the right lines and then committing to it was the order of the day.

Eventually near the bottom conditions improved and the track changed into twee spoor going through the mountains. Very scenic!  8)

Arrived at this nice spot and decided to rest and have a Zamalek. It was Around 12H00. Slow going but I enjoyed the higher level concentration riding we did.

Also cooling off in the stream. A first for me as well.
Die klomp bleeksiele! :biggrin: :biggrin:

Way forward was again two track, rocky terrain.

Eventually changed to two track smooth riding through the pines forest towards Maclear. Felt like riding on clouds after the previous two-odd hours of straining we took! :biggrin:

Then Joubert (An ardent bakkie driver but scared-of-bikes oke), decided he want a ride as well.

We give him the XR500. The bike cannot be damaged any further. :imaposer:

Despite my insistence, he declines protective gear. He did go very slowly until near the end of the dirt, where he started picking up speed because of confidence, misjudged the curve, started drifting and nearly ended up on the wire fencing. Luckily he listened to our advice to look up, stand up and open up the throttle when heâ??s in the kak! I was riding behind him and it was frickin' funny to witness!  :imaposer: :biggrin:

Smooth!

Tomorrow the rest of day 3.

 

[Mark Hardy]

What a magic ride report, stunning riding area and good pics. Can't wait for the rest.
I need to go ride those roads/tracks/passes. Thanks for sharing.

:thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[blazes]

Verrrrrrrrry Nice J M. :thumleft:

Awesome scenery and a brilliant ride report.(Think i will have to hire you) to do my reports in future :


Cool :thumleft: