Greetings All!
An old school friend introduced me to this forum some weeks ago... after surfing the site for a while I've decided to join. My profile claims I've got a GSA, unfortunately that's not quite true... although that's very much a short-term plan (the "plan to buy a bike" option is not listed as a bike choice
).
I've been out of the saddle for some years ... last owning a Gold Wing GL1100 Interstate in '91, and last riding an XR500 in '94. The past few months my wife and I gave the matter some serious thought, there's more to life than driving in a car on the N1 between Cape Town and various holiday destinations. There's an entire world of gravel out there! Here's where the GSA comes into the picture. I'll be honest, I've never done any off-road riding ... tried some sand dunes above Sandy Bay in '94 but after weaving from side to side I ended up walking next to the bike. The plan is to get an XR250, learn the necessary skills (and practice, practice, practice!), build confidence and then step up to a GSA. At this point I'm still intimidated by the sheer size of the beast (for riding off-road), even though my Gold Wing weighed almost 60kg more. If I think back to how I used to throw the Gold Wing around ... I must've been extremely reckless or simply just young at heart. With age one realizes what can happen when body meets tarmac.
Anyway, the next step will be to get the required gear, find a good used XR250 (or similar), do some courses and lose those inhibitions and fears that have built up over the years. Once I've got the GSA I hope to do some riding with you guys (Swartberg Pass, Die Hel, Anysberg etc.).
Thanks for the platform.
Cheers,
Ralf
An old school friend introduced me to this forum some weeks ago... after surfing the site for a while I've decided to join. My profile claims I've got a GSA, unfortunately that's not quite true... although that's very much a short-term plan (the "plan to buy a bike" option is not listed as a bike choice
). I've been out of the saddle for some years ... last owning a Gold Wing GL1100 Interstate in '91, and last riding an XR500 in '94. The past few months my wife and I gave the matter some serious thought, there's more to life than driving in a car on the N1 between Cape Town and various holiday destinations. There's an entire world of gravel out there! Here's where the GSA comes into the picture. I'll be honest, I've never done any off-road riding ... tried some sand dunes above Sandy Bay in '94 but after weaving from side to side I ended up walking next to the bike. The plan is to get an XR250, learn the necessary skills (and practice, practice, practice!), build confidence and then step up to a GSA. At this point I'm still intimidated by the sheer size of the beast (for riding off-road), even though my Gold Wing weighed almost 60kg more. If I think back to how I used to throw the Gold Wing around ... I must've been extremely reckless or simply just young at heart. With age one realizes what can happen when body meets tarmac.
Anyway, the next step will be to get the required gear, find a good used XR250 (or similar), do some courses and lose those inhibitions and fears that have built up over the years. Once I've got the GSA I hope to do some riding with you guys (Swartberg Pass, Die Hel, Anysberg etc.).
Thanks for the platform.
Cheers,
Ralf
