DEON 1190
Race Dog
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2018
- Messages
- 845
- Reaction score
- 565
- Bike
- KTM 1190 Adventure
I am a tar road rider , and in most cases would consider turning back when the tar ends and the dirt road starts 
. But this past weekend we planned a route to Clarence the long way down , 630 kilos from Kempton .
the route took us to Delmas , Standerton , Memel , Harrismith , Bergville , Clarence .
Now I new there was roadworks on the entrance to Delmas , but as we crossed over the R12 the road was all new , and just outside of Delmas the first detour , no problem I thought , but it basically goes all the way around Delmas , fine black dust , not a happy Chappy , the detour was not to bad so we ride and move on . the rest of the route goes well and we make good time , enjoying the autumn chill , Closer to Standerton one can feel winter is on its way . fill up and head down to Vrede , make a detour into town just to see what it looks like , and lack of maintenance evident .
Back onto the R34 heading to Memel , just past the Memel turn off we have to turn onto the R722 .This road connects Memel and Harrismith , Our breakfast destination is Verkykerskop . Now some 10 years ago I road this road on my quad bike and sort of remember that the dirt part was maybe 10 kilos , and my riding buddy was preped for the 10ks . The dirt is packed hard and it is smooth , as i look down at my speedo I find myself doing over 100kph , big smile of happiness with my 1190 , KTM is made to go offroad.
We cover the 10 odd kilos and the tar starts , I will admit that I was relieved . but this did not last long as when we crested the hill the tar stopped and more dirt , then some tar and dirt and then just dirt , but the going was good and had to check myself for not going to fast , about 75 seemed good . At one spot ther was plenty marbles and the bike did what felt like a dance , but after a bit of essive hart beat we were going in a straight line again . The cause was purely my fault as I was trying to change the riding mode mid flight , Wanted to go from full power sport to offroad , and that meant taking my eyes of the road , but the going was great so taking a chance did not seem bad . Quickly pressed the back button and lefty it in sport for the rest of the ride . The distance from Memel to Verkykerskop is 40km and 38.5 of that is dirt and of that 38.5 maybe 5 is nice . The rest for a dirt virgins like us was pretty gnarly . We did not fall off , we made it , the dust covered the bikes and this was not liked by both of us , and I can see why lighter coloured clothing is a better option . black shows all the dust on it , But in all it was a great experience , and I know I have the ability to concur a dirt road , Swartberg pass has been a bucket list road to go ride , next time I am in the area i will go ride it .
. But this past weekend we planned a route to Clarence the long way down , 630 kilos from Kempton .the route took us to Delmas , Standerton , Memel , Harrismith , Bergville , Clarence .
Now I new there was roadworks on the entrance to Delmas , but as we crossed over the R12 the road was all new , and just outside of Delmas the first detour , no problem I thought , but it basically goes all the way around Delmas , fine black dust , not a happy Chappy , the detour was not to bad so we ride and move on . the rest of the route goes well and we make good time , enjoying the autumn chill , Closer to Standerton one can feel winter is on its way . fill up and head down to Vrede , make a detour into town just to see what it looks like , and lack of maintenance evident .
Back onto the R34 heading to Memel , just past the Memel turn off we have to turn onto the R722 .This road connects Memel and Harrismith , Our breakfast destination is Verkykerskop . Now some 10 years ago I road this road on my quad bike and sort of remember that the dirt part was maybe 10 kilos , and my riding buddy was preped for the 10ks . The dirt is packed hard and it is smooth , as i look down at my speedo I find myself doing over 100kph , big smile of happiness with my 1190 , KTM is made to go offroad
.We cover the 10 odd kilos and the tar starts , I will admit that I was relieved . but this did not last long as when we crested the hill the tar stopped and more dirt , then some tar and dirt and then just dirt , but the going was good and had to check myself for not going to fast , about 75 seemed good . At one spot ther was plenty marbles and the bike did what felt like a dance , but after a bit of essive hart beat we were going in a straight line again . The cause was purely my fault as I was trying to change the riding mode mid flight , Wanted to go from full power sport to offroad , and that meant taking my eyes of the road , but the going was great so taking a chance did not seem bad . Quickly pressed the back button and lefty it in sport for the rest of the ride . The distance from Memel to Verkykerskop is 40km and 38.5 of that is dirt and of that 38.5 maybe 5 is nice . The rest for a dirt virgins like us was pretty gnarly . We did not fall off , we made it , the dust covered the bikes and this was not liked by both of us , and I can see why lighter coloured clothing is a better option . black shows all the dust on it , But in all it was a great experience , and I know I have the ability to concur a dirt road , Swartberg pass has been a bucket list road to go ride , next time I am in the area i will go ride it .
