Dullstroom Overnight June 08

[Jules]

Its not an adventure until the poop hits the fan!

Our poop was in the way of Punctures. but Iâ??m getting ahead of myself.


Our Dullstroom trip started off at a civilized hour. Splash arrived at our house at around 7:15am on a beautiful Joburg winters day, Clear blue skies and a nice little nip in the air, but not enough to cause any unwanted shrinkage!
We headed for PTA too meet up with the rest of the dogs.
Arrived at the Engen Cnr Lynwood and Hanstrydom at 8:15.
Most of the dogs were already there and rearing to go!

(Unfortunately in my excitement I never took any pictures of the start of the day, I'm sure others will add some pics.
Roll call for the trip
Jules (KLR)
Li (KLR)
Splash (KTM 640)
Gryshond (V-Strom 1000)
Plothond en PlotWyfie (Pillion) (KTM 990)
Malgat (AfricaTwin)
Dazed (KTM 990)
and Hondsekierie (GS1200A)

Only Myself Li Splash Dazed and Hondsekierie were sleeping over in Dullstroom the rest were doing Dullstroom as a day trip.


We set off and all goes great until around 9:40 when Mallgat gets a puncture. A nasty nail right in the middle of the tire.

We try some tire weld but it goes everywhere other than in the tire!

So we decide to replace the tube. Mallgat has a 21" tube and we start removing the wheel.
Here Dazed comes into his own and makes VERY short work of removing and refitting the tire.
WD Super Tip #1. Take Dazed with you on all trips. itâ??s like having an F1 Pit crew in your backpack!
Once the wheel is back and pumped (Thanks again to Dazed and his ultra high speed pump) we head to the Wimpy in Bronkhorstspruit to clean up and have a quick brekkie.
The pace was rustig and we made a few stops along the way.

Around this time a discussion takes place regarding the most effective way of picking up a heavy DS bike. Plothond decides to settle the argument by dropping his KTM and demonstrating the procedure first hand.

Thanks Plottie it was very informative (Pic of a big black Middle finger to follow soon Iâ??m sure)


We head off and wont you know it before long Mallgat has another flat !

It seems the 21â? tube wasnâ??t working too well.

Super Dazed to the rescue once again and we were back on the road, for 10kmâ??s that is!

At around 140Km/h the patched 21â? tube says â??Ek Kannie meer nie Koperaalâ? and lest all its air go!

Mallgat does the snake wheel boogie and somehow manages to keep things together and slow the twin down without incident. ONCE AGAIN we remove the wheel and SUPER DUPER DAZED has another go. We get an 18� tube from Plothond and set about getting the twin going again. At this stage the day is taking a lot longer than expected so Plothond Plotwyfie and Gryshond decide to push on to Dullstroom as they still need to get back home before dark.

After the repair Malgat decides the Puncture Fairie has it in for him and takes the Tar back home.
(He makes it home without further problems as an SMS confirms)

We head on to Dullstroom. It was a nice surprise to find AdventureBoy on the route, he was heading home from White River. We meet and greet and continue to our destinations.

Arrival in Dullstroom.

Li, â??Were are we now?â?

We arrive at the Duck and Trout and are surprised to find the Plots and Gryshond still there!
It seems Gryshonds Strom decided to shed once of its Coweley Pipes on a tricky bit of mountain pass and that delayed them even more.

We set about having a few drinks and some food. As usual when a group of dogs get together its a raucous affair.

An Hour later and the Daytrippers get ready to go. But the adventure was not over yet!

Plothond discovers he has a puncture!!!!!

And you guessed it SUPER DUPER MEGA DAZED does it again! (With Plotties assistance)

Gryshond heads off and about 30mins later the Plots do too.

The overnighters head off to their accommodation and get ready for supper. Dullstroom had a water problem so we had a very measly shower and some quite time for an hour or so.


Supper was at the Duck and Trout and was very good! We had a few drinks and talked a lot of k@k and headed off to bet by 9pm.

Dazed and Kierrie wanted to explore dullstroom a little so headed off before sparrows fart to get it done.
Splash Li and myself had a leisurely breakfast and left Dullstroom at around 9:45am.

Iced Seat anyone!

Grazing Dual Sports!

Accommodation

Todays ride (Monday) was fantastic! There were zero problems. The weather was perfect, lots of sunshine and a nice chill in the air. We had such a variation of terrain for the day that I felt like riding it again when I got home.

First Pit Stop

We arrived home safely at 4pm.

What a great weekend.

Nice to meet some new Dogs and nice to see some familiar Dogs!



Will definitely do this trip again



Jules

 

[GundaGunda]

Thanx for the report Jules, loos like a goodie even with the punctures.  Would have loved to have been along but this w/e was out. Next time.

Must get the track some time as I would like to do a w/e to cuzzins in Hazyview via the back-roads.

What I cannot understand is that Splash was with you and he did not have a flat  ??? - He is the best puncture-magnet I know and if there are some about he'll get 'em.

Would be interesting to see DAZED in action - always takes a while when I am around.

And Malgat - put a few spares with the krummels in that top-box. !

 

[BMWPE]

Great pics and report
Thanks

 

[iep_kruger]

some days are diamonds and some days are stone !!!!

this wasnt my finest day,,,ever?

after travelling through lesotho, swaziland, moz, magadigadi pans and tuli block without punctures i have my more than fair share on sunday

ok its start , one nail, change to my extra tube, ride about 100 kms to find its flat, fix first tube and replace to only have it blow out at 130 km/h, 30 kms further which left me with some scary riding to not fall as the bike  swings from side to side,,,,we (dazed and myself) getting quite nifty at changing tubes,,,,we try and patch the 2nd tube but it has 2 cuts unrepairable,,,so in with plotties tube and i feeling quite the cursed man with the dead albatros around my neck decide to limp back home no longer holding up the rest of the team

about 30 kms further it starts getting flat as well,,,its stil 30 kms to mburg so i kinda limp back with spurts of tube snot and by riding with me sitting on the tank, i progress another 15 kms and at some stage donder down a incline. there i lie feeling totally desponant and wishing i could cry to make it feel better,,,i phone some people hoping i can find someone to fetch me, but only to find out i have no more friends,,,

so i try picking up the AT and keeping slipping down on the wet grass,,,thinking i'll cover it with branches, find a lift home and return the next day with help,,,then i remember someone owes me huge favour and i make contact with the last of my cellphone battery,,,,,help is on the way, thank goodness,,,with renewed strength, i eventually manage to get the AT up standing and ride it up the embankment and next to the road,,,there i wait till dark in the freezing cold when the bakkie arrives, we load the bike and i get home at 22h30 that nite,,,what a day,,i eat my first meal because all through the day i kept on holding everybody back and when i catch up they have eaten and ready to move along,,,,what a shit day,,,

but what a lekker ride and great routes ,,,i still havent seen dullstroom yet

thanx for dazed with the pump and labour help,,,rumour has it that he had it all that morning which explains his energy,,,,to jules and the crowd that we're staying over at dullstroom,,, thanks for the patience and staying with me,,,,sorrie about being a schlepp,,,

thanx to plottie for the tude and in the process doing yourself inconvenience...i owe you

so ja,,,hope to see dullstroom again one day,this time hopefully a diamond day!!!!!!

 

[AdventureBoy]

Hi Malgat
Where did you put the At down? As mentioned I met Jules and Co on my way back from White River and did not see you on the road. I returned to JHB, so our paths may not have crossed.
AdventureBoy

 

[LeonDude]

Lekker ride Jules. Glad everybody got home safe (eventually!).

How is that Vapor dash of yours keeping up with the thumper and offroad conditions?

Malgat, it looks like every dog has its day, ne? As we've said, punctures have got absolutely no class and will hit any bike and tyre it can get to. Just sorry to hear there was no boer to bring you some cold ones this time. Glad you got back safe eventually though!

 

[iep_kruger]

Hi Malgat
Where did you put the At down? As mentioned I met Jules and Co on my way back from White River and did not see you on the road. I returned to JHB, so our paths may not have crossed.
AdventureBoy

i dondered down at 12.8 kms from middelburg on the stoffberg (r55) road,,,at some stage i tried to flag every empty bakkie down for help,,,of 2 hours of begging one bakkie actually stopped,,,but it was a double cab and no space on the bakkie part,,,a lot of people just waved and hooted probably thinking i was cheerfully waving at them ,,,but ja,,,i do frighten some people with my looks,,,hahahahaha

 

[Ama ride ride]

Looks like everybody had a good time out. :ricky:

 

[GIDEON]

Nice ride you lot.
Malgat that just sucks remember they happen in three so yours is done.

Jules did you have any problems installing that vapop thingy was thingking of maybe one day replacing the Twins one with one off those little once.

 

[Jules]

How is that Vapor dash of yours keeping up with the thumper and offroad conditions?

Hi, the Vapor hasn't missed a beat, It has taken a real beating as have all my farkels with no problems other than my heated grip controller coming loose from the double sided tape. It seems the controller also builds up a little heat, a quick cable tie and it was all fine again.

Jules did you have any problems installing that vapop thingy was thingking of maybe one day replacing the Twins one with one off those little once.

Its very easy to install if you have basic mechanical skills and tools. The trickiest part was cutting the radiator hose and mounting the speed pickup sensor.
With all the tools it should not take more than 2 hours to install.


Jules

 

[GIDEON]

Thanks another Project ITS ALL YOUR FAULT  ;D

 

[Frog]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had an eventful weekend!

 

[Splash]

Thanks Jules
What a wonderful weekend and the routes were great. This ride was interesting - unfortunately at the expense of Malgat. Really sorry about the puncture. It was not my turn this weekend at least. Blazes did a good job last week.
Splash

 

[Li]

Well as Jules has explained it was a fabulous weekend for those of us who did not have a puncture. Even though the puncture fairy had a sick sense of humour this weekend, it was great to see the Wilddog comaraderie, without any hesitation everyone mucked in and got the job done.  Dazed you are the man of the hour!!!
Glad you did eventually make it home Malgat, so sorry the day ended up being your worst nightmare.

Other than that, the riding was spectacular, the roads a dream.  I even managed to keep up with Jules for a lot of the time.  The various terrains we experienced from a little mud, sand, rocks and gravel and an abundance of potholes kept us alert and the adrenalin pumping.
The sceneray fantastic and with that good company.

It is great to meet new dogs and ride with familiar old dogs.  I would love to do this trip again, perhaps stay for 2 nights and explore more of Dullstrooms back yard without time constraints.
I look forward to the next one. Thanks to everyone for making a memorable trip.