DEON 1190
Race Dog
In order to understand the scale of it you must go ride it , But let me turn back time a bit first , Over the long weekend of 21 March we towed the bikes down to Mossel bay , and on returning my friend left his bike in my garage so I could take it to FAST for tyres . this all went very well .... until Wednesday when we collected the bike again , My plan was to take it home on my bakkie , return to work on Thursday with bakkie and go home with my Suzuki , needed space for his car as we were leaving from my house Friday morning, He works for BMW head office and had to do month end , so our departure on Thursday was moved to Friday morning . All went well until the fuel pump on the bakkie died , so a change of plans , ride his bike home , come to work with my 1190 , leave Suzuki in shop , Go home with 1190.
Friday morning
Up and fit top boxes to bikes and head out , r 59 to M1 and then at Venterburg we turn of to Senekal . just as we get to the Vaal river we hit mist , and it gets progressively worse and wet . this last up to about 30 kilos before Kroonstad , Not only is it wety but also cold , my jacket & pant is waterproof so I am ok , but with no liners its a bit chilly , but we soldier on .
Fill up in Kroonstad , and up the pace a bit to try pull back time , we push on the Senekal , have breakfast at Waterval padstal , slow and food arrives cold , I find a microwave and heat mine up , hate cold food .
After breakfast its on to the Marquard road , is not bad , and 40 kilos later we turn towards Clocolan , and here it not driving on the left , you drive on whats left of the road , bikes can navigate the narrow patches of tar between the potholes , but we also MX it over some bad spots , bikes handle it super well .
roll into Maseru bridge border , goes pretty past and we stamped and on the road in 20 min , take the COFFI ANAN side rode to bypass the Hussle and bustle of Maseru only to encounter lots of little Honda taxis goind nowhere vert slowly . but again we on bikes and take advantage of passing them in the middle of the road .
We need to fill up ,but I know there is a garage at the A5 to Roma turnoff , get there and the cars are queuing up to get fuel . so we ride on , stop at next one , no petrol , we have about 100 ks to empty , so we worry a bit , attenend says there is anothe garage about 10 ks down the road , but not sure if they have petrol , we ride on , stop and fill up . ( NOTE TO SELF ) fill up whenever there is a chance , dont chance it .
With full tanks we head out on the A5 , pas ROMA , the road is really good and we make good time , pass Semonkong and we head into the unknown , never been futher than Semonkong, Head higher and lower into the mountains,
One minute you are clibing to the top of the mountain , next you descending down . and you going around corners , it never stops , left, right , left , left , U turn , need all the skills and concentration . Just after 3 we roll into the parking lot of THE NEW CENTRAL HOTEL in Quachasnek . 690 kilos of riding in 8 hrs with some stopping . awesome first day .
Saturday we wake up to no hot water in the shower , it was Luke warm on Friday afternoon , but ice-cold in the morning , after a chat with reception , we miraculously had hot water , showered , dressed , breakfast , again asked it to be nukes as it was cold ,
Fire up the bikes and go fill up , next 240 kilos to Mohales hoek . It sounds close but take time to ride , many many more corners to navigate , and police stops to question where we going . another days great ride .
We arrive at lunch time , change head to the bar for some nice burgers , a drink . and then back to the room for a snooze . Dinner was not to bad .
Sunday out last day , have breakfast , fill up , and onto the A2 to Maseru . the road is not bad , but badly sign posted , in one village i take the wrong turn at a traffic circle , but stop and ask the police if we going in the correct direction , he say no turn back , we do and head back , and onto the A2 again , we average 110kph . but see signs of 80 , maybe we were speeding , pass a speed trap but did not get stopped , one thing one has to keep your eyes wide open for is speed bumps ,they are plenty common in LESHOTO , and many a hard brake was require to stop/slow down in time .
It was recommended to travel the A1 and not use th COFFIANAN bypass for safety reasons , Maseru drivers is just craze , the stop anywhere anytime , drive slow . but we made it . did the border thing and back into SA heading for Clarence .
we let the big dogs run and ride the 165 ks in just over a hour . the road between Ficksburg and Fouriesburg has been repaired , so in overall good condition .
Clarence is always a good stop , booked in at HIGHLAND QUATERS , VERY VERY NICE . and yesterday after breakfast we headed for home ,
All in all a great ride .
All those corners up one skill level big time , Our next trip is in June , when we do the annual Polar bear run , this time the plan is to visit MOHALE DAM .So Maseru to Roma will have to be navigated again .
Friday morning
Up and fit top boxes to bikes and head out , r 59 to M1 and then at Venterburg we turn of to Senekal . just as we get to the Vaal river we hit mist , and it gets progressively worse and wet . this last up to about 30 kilos before Kroonstad , Not only is it wety but also cold , my jacket & pant is waterproof so I am ok , but with no liners its a bit chilly , but we soldier on .
Fill up in Kroonstad , and up the pace a bit to try pull back time , we push on the Senekal , have breakfast at Waterval padstal , slow and food arrives cold , I find a microwave and heat mine up , hate cold food .
After breakfast its on to the Marquard road , is not bad , and 40 kilos later we turn towards Clocolan , and here it not driving on the left , you drive on whats left of the road , bikes can navigate the narrow patches of tar between the potholes , but we also MX it over some bad spots , bikes handle it super well .
roll into Maseru bridge border , goes pretty past and we stamped and on the road in 20 min , take the COFFI ANAN side rode to bypass the Hussle and bustle of Maseru only to encounter lots of little Honda taxis goind nowhere vert slowly . but again we on bikes and take advantage of passing them in the middle of the road .
We need to fill up ,but I know there is a garage at the A5 to Roma turnoff , get there and the cars are queuing up to get fuel . so we ride on , stop at next one , no petrol , we have about 100 ks to empty , so we worry a bit , attenend says there is anothe garage about 10 ks down the road , but not sure if they have petrol , we ride on , stop and fill up . ( NOTE TO SELF ) fill up whenever there is a chance , dont chance it .
With full tanks we head out on the A5 , pas ROMA , the road is really good and we make good time , pass Semonkong and we head into the unknown , never been futher than Semonkong, Head higher and lower into the mountains,
One minute you are clibing to the top of the mountain , next you descending down . and you going around corners , it never stops , left, right , left , left , U turn , need all the skills and concentration . Just after 3 we roll into the parking lot of THE NEW CENTRAL HOTEL in Quachasnek . 690 kilos of riding in 8 hrs with some stopping . awesome first day .
Saturday we wake up to no hot water in the shower , it was Luke warm on Friday afternoon , but ice-cold in the morning , after a chat with reception , we miraculously had hot water , showered , dressed , breakfast , again asked it to be nukes as it was cold ,
Fire up the bikes and go fill up , next 240 kilos to Mohales hoek . It sounds close but take time to ride , many many more corners to navigate , and police stops to question where we going . another days great ride .
We arrive at lunch time , change head to the bar for some nice burgers , a drink . and then back to the room for a snooze . Dinner was not to bad .
Sunday out last day , have breakfast , fill up , and onto the A2 to Maseru . the road is not bad , but badly sign posted , in one village i take the wrong turn at a traffic circle , but stop and ask the police if we going in the correct direction , he say no turn back , we do and head back , and onto the A2 again , we average 110kph . but see signs of 80 , maybe we were speeding , pass a speed trap but did not get stopped , one thing one has to keep your eyes wide open for is speed bumps ,they are plenty common in LESHOTO , and many a hard brake was require to stop/slow down in time .
It was recommended to travel the A1 and not use th COFFIANAN bypass for safety reasons , Maseru drivers is just craze , the stop anywhere anytime , drive slow . but we made it . did the border thing and back into SA heading for Clarence .
we let the big dogs run and ride the 165 ks in just over a hour . the road between Ficksburg and Fouriesburg has been repaired , so in overall good condition .
Clarence is always a good stop , booked in at HIGHLAND QUATERS , VERY VERY NICE . and yesterday after breakfast we headed for home ,
All in all a great ride .
All those corners up one skill level big time , Our next trip is in June , when we do the annual Polar bear run , this time the plan is to visit MOHALE DAM .So Maseru to Roma will have to be navigated again .
