Grizz & Dozer's Ride South Africa, Ride Report Complete. YouTube Videos.....

[Slainte Mhaith]

Lekker lees-stof



Kom die 1150 dalk UK toe ??

Jy raak lekker warm.

Maar dis nie korrek nie.

Vir wie is die vliegtuig kaartjie?  Jou broer?
Bike trip?

 

[grizz]

Lekker lees-stof



Kom die 1150 dalk UK toe ??

Jy raak lekker warm.

Maar dis nie korrek nie.

Vir wie is die vliegtuig kaartjie?  Jou broer?
Bike trip?

[size=40pt]YUUUUPP !![size=10pt]


I guess you get to win the virtual beer.  (Nicola said to give you a cigar with it)

Vliegtuig kaartjiie is vir my  :ricky: :ricky: :ricky: :ricky: :ricky:



It is my 50th Birthday in January.

Every year Nicola does something special for my birthday.

One year it was a weekend away to a a motor museum, this year it was an awesome long weekend away in the Cotswolds.

Next year I will be 50, so she had been pushing me for the last 6 months to go back to SA as I have not been there for about 5 years.

Because my mum and dad also rode bikes, we will be going on a tour for two weeks starting in Cape Town where I land in April next year, up via Eastern Cape, through Umtata to Durban, then up to Eshowe and Melmoth where we grew up, up to Rustenburg and back down to Dunnottar where Deon lives. I will then do the JoBurg to Cape Town leg on my own to get the bike I will be riding back to Paarl where it lives.

Now for the logistics.

My good mate Maverick (Dirk) who many on here know well was chatting to me a while ago about ways to tour SA and I was looking at buying something like a 650 GS or similar to export to SA, or buy something there and then sell it again.

Anyway, Dirk suddenly said to me..... "Ek wil nie kak in jou lewe maak nie maar jy kan my GS gebruik"  This was a massive surprise and then there followed a discussion on some of the logistics.

Mileage would not be a problem. What I would have to do was put two new tyres on his bike and get a carburetor kit fitted.
Ohh, and of course insure myself and the bike.

Sounds like a no brainer to me.

One cost concern less, I could not hire a bike in SA or import one for the same money as the maintenance i was about to pay for.

Last weekend Nicola and I went to a Ruby (40th) wedding anniversary of a couple that she was the bridesmaid for when she was 8 years old.....

Her two brothers were both there and the older bother and I were outside speaking about cars etc when he asked me when last I had been home...... I said about 5 years ago and that Nicola was just in the process of getting me to go and tour with my brother.

He asked if I had bought my ticket yet, to which I replied no, as I had a job interview booked for yesterday (It was cancelled by the agency when I was 50km from home already) and would first see where that would take me.

He then said to me that he would buy me a business class ticket to SA with his air miles as long as I paid the taxes and extras.
I agreed to look into it.

This turned into quite a shocker for all of us, as we had not realised just what a rip off this all is.

We have since bought the ticket, and the business class ticket would normally cost £2700.00  YES, REALLY
A regular ticket would be around £610.00

If you look at the pic below you will see the various mad taxes levied on a ticket, but we decided to go that route as I could never fly Business Class to SA for effectively £40-ish.

Back to the bike.

Thanks to Dirks offer to use his bike, we now have two bikes and plan to do quite an extensive trip, hopefully doing all those passes between Oudtshoorn, Knysna and George and also various other trips accross the rest of SA.

If we get lucky we will connect with some Wild dogs on our way.

This is The Whale.

And with Dirk on board.

Now you know why I bought the new crash hat.

Plans included using it for two weeks then selling it or passing it to my brother.

I also have to get some kit this side and if he can Deon will get me some Size 11's to use, rather than dragging boots over from here.


The reason for starting this thread was to learn from you guys where to go, and what we should look out for.

I do plan on spending at least a night here........

And deffo want to do some of this....

Thanks Maverick.  JY IS N BOER DUISEND  !!!

A lot of what I plan on doing is aimed at making the whole trip mind blowing for my brother who is one of my best friends who will do anything for other people without ever expecting anything in return.

I also want to have an awesome ride because my amazing wife, Nicola is the one who insisted and kept on pushing that i should go do this ride.  I have been speaking about it for the last 5 years.

Lastly I want us to do it as a fitting tribute to our parents and what they made of us.


When we go past you on the road, you will see my mum and dads ashes strapped to the back of our bikes.



So let me know what you think, and do drop all the advice you have into this thread.

It will be the preamble to a ride report in the new year. I will ask the moderators to move it to Ride Reports then.

 

[Buzzlightyear]

Nice!

 

[Adventurer]

Eish....1st bike an RD 350....respect dude....they were awesome in their day. I used to ride a Suzuki 750 GS back in the day, the only bike I would not take on was an RD 350.....
Memel, know the town, used to service the lift in Goedetrou Dam, went through Memel en rout to the dam, some good riding out that way....
Enjoy you trip, going to be a good one.... :thumleft:

 

[Adventurer]

Oh, and congrats on your choice of helmet.... :thumleft:

 

[grizz]

Eish....1st bike an RD 350....respect dude....they were awesome in their day. I used to ride a Suzuki 750 GS back in the day, the only bike I would not take on was an RD 350.....
Memel, know the town, used to service the lift in Goedetrou Dam, went through Memel en rout to the dam, some good riding out that way....
Enjoy you trip, going to be a good one.... :thumleft:

Neeeeee boet ....

It is Melmoth a small town in KZN

 

[Adventurer]

Eish....1st bike an RD 350....respect dude....they were awesome in their day. I used to ride a Suzuki 750 GS back in the day, the only bike I would not take on was an RD 350.....
Memel, know the town, used to service the lift in Goedetrou Dam, went through Memel en rout to the dam, some good riding out that way....
Enjoy you trip, going to be a good one.... :thumleft:

Neeeeee boet ....

It is Melmoth a small town in KZN

Sorry, I meant to type Melmoth, go through there onn the way to Eshowe, after an awesome mountain pass....last time I filled up there, they first wanted to check if my garage card could handle the amount.... :biggrin:

 

[Tiger8]

Hi Bud, watching this like I do most of your threads, yet to be dissappointed.
I had a Suzuki GS550E like yours only a black one with blue trim, was my daily ride to Varsity and back, rain or shine, first bike my wife ever road on, she was 15 at the time(girlfriend then) and my mom-IN-LAW didn't like it much  :biggrin:

When passing throuh the Eastern Cape, (PE) give me a call, would like to meet you, besides there is always room at "the inne" for road weary bikers and a friendly fire with food and drink.  :ricky:

 

[ratrap]

:sip:

 

[Smidty]

:thumleft:  Very nice, remember us George dawgs like to do baviaans  ot: ot:

You should try and tie in with the EC Bash

 

[grizz]

Hi Bud, watching this like I do most of your threads, yet to be dissappointed.
I had a Suzuki GS550E like yours only a black one with blue trim, was my daily ride to Varsity and back, rain or shine, first bike my wife ever road on, she was 15 at the time(girlfriend then) and my mom-IN-LAW didn't like it much   :biggrin:

When passing throuh the Eastern Cape, (PE) give me a call, would like to meet you, besides there is always room at "the inne" for road weary bikers and a friendly fire with food and drink.  :ricky:

Thanks boet

PE is my former home town. But interestingly things change over 10 years. A few of my old friends are always happy to see me or have me stay in contact but make little effort to visit or stay in touch so we may end up looking elsewhere just coz I am hardegat like that. My places have always been open to travelers as long as they respected it and my family including the 3 cats.  :lol8:


I may end up looking for a crash pad in PE or nearby for my brother and I as well as the bikes closer to the time. Its 6 months from today.

 

[grizz]

:thumleft:  Very nice, remember us George dawgs like to do baviaans   ot: ot:

You should try and tie in with the EC Bash

Thanks Smidty, I used to work the Garden route and Oudtshoorn for 11 years from both Cape Town as well as PE but I do NOT know the back roads, passes and places like Baviaans so guidance and company will be most welcome when we come up there.

 

[grizz]

Just one of many questions to come......

How many people use Satnav on trips like Baviaans ant to get to some of the other hidden gems around the country ??

Maverick texted me the following this morning. I know parts of SA really well but some parts not at all.

Jy moet redelik rigting befok wees as jy verdwaal in SA.

 

[iamgigglz]

Sub.

That's awesome! It's going to be a great trip on a great boney, and the tribute to your folks is really nice.

I can pretty much guarantee you'll be meeting up with Dogs along the way, whether it be on the road, off it, or at many of your destinations.

"various other trips across the rest of SA" - Looking forward to checking out the planned rides  :ricky:

I can see it now; this thread is going to burn office time  :thumleft:

 

[Tiger8]

I may end up looking for a crash pad in PE or nearby for my brother and I as well as the bikes closer to the time. Its 6 months from today.

Have Room for you chaps and a Garage for the bikes, btw Bikes take precedence, think they'll need more TLC, afterall they are the "beasts of Burden"  :biggrin:

 

[grizz]

Thanks for all the replies and PMs

My brother and I will work out logistics later but two weeks wont be that long.

It will be awesome to meet up with guys for a coffee, ride along or braai etc along the way.

We will be traveling with a restricted budget as Deon is in the Army and I need to watch the pennies too.

 

[Goose]

Well as the "Grizz" is so famous and one of the most amazing charaters I've ever met.......... it only seems fitting that the bidding for their esteemed presence should start at say.... 1 x case of beers....  :mwink: :mwink:

 

[Gerard]

Some nice bikes there and great story.
We grew up a bit differently to today's kids, we worked for our pocket money. I also had to save up for my first bike, then my dad made a small contribution to it.

Its quite amazing when I read on the forum how many of our generation had parallel lives. I could almost have written this story my self.

Mooi man.

 

[Gerard]

Right, ek het die week van 8 April 2013 gekanselleer. Ek wag om te hoor hoelaat en wanneer ek julle op Uniondale/Willowmore moet kry  :biggrin: vir die oorslaap en deur Baviaans ry.

 

[Gensetter]

We stayed in that cave in Feb 2012 and it was awsome fun.
Not so much fun in winter, I think.
There is a 4x4 trail that runs past it, to the top of the hill and then down the other side ( proper 4x4 only )
That photo of your dad with the hobie, where was that taken ?