Flying Solo on an Enfield

[whitedelight]

Lekker trip and cool photos :thumleft:

 

[Kickstarter]

fantastic.

I wondered how the enfield would cope on gravel.
and those pannier racks - where did you get those?

This Enfield feels happiest when on solid dirt roads, as it is a tried and tested dual-sport bike designed to travel the geographically diverse country of India. It's low center of gravity and high mass make a smooth and comfortable ride on gravel. I was able to travel 120km/h no problems on good straight sections. Cornering was done carefully as I have road tires on the bike. I am definitey considering more aggresive tyres for future trips. Up Swartberg it was a champion, it has a large amount of low down torque to compensate for the relatively low engine power. On country roads it is king, cruising speed is 100-110km/h. National roads are a problem as the bike struggles to accelerate in the 100km/h+ region, and the engine vibration makes sustained speeds higher than this very uncomfortable.

It's a bike you buy because its makes you feel good, not one you buy based on specs in a catalog. It was a superb travelling partner. The lack of a windscreen was not as much of an issue as I thought it would be. The longest stretch I did was around 450km in about 8 hours, and I could still walk around afterwards.

The luggage was barely perceivable when riding. I bought the racks from Thruxton Motorcyles in Tygervalley, who also import the bikes - www.thruxtonmc.com. The racks perfectly fit a set of pannier bags I got from them as well.

 

[Kickstarter]

Solo riders unite!  8) 

Oh the irnoy of that 

Doing it solo meant that I met so many more friendly and interesting people along the way.

 

[Mr.T]

Yeh, you are right about the interesting people you meet. We were on the last legs of the 3800 Km Karoo trip when Ettien & myself met you at Prince Albert stop luch time.
Glade your trip ended so well.Where did you end up sleeping that evening.?
We ended up in Oudtshorn and then home via Angies the next day.

 

[katana]

:ricky:

 

[Funtana1962]

:thumleft:

 

[10Klr]

I love this kind of trip report, thanks for posting.

True Adventure  :thumleft:

 

[lj111]

Great pictures. :drif:
Thank you  :thumleft:

 

[10Klr]

Would you mind doing a short write up of the bike and how it performed?

 

[Divot]

great pic's and RR. I want to go on a ride>>

 

[COLES]

that's the way its done ride at your pace and take the beauty in              amazing photo,s  what was the bike like on the dirt

 

[Kawaki]

Nice man  :thumleft:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Cool Bananas !

Just Do It comes to mind.

8)

 

[arrowfeather]

Nice one Matt!!!!
now we must do one together !!

 

[mr green]

you da man, nice
solo is the way to go, glad to see you rode a lot of dirt