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

[Andre E]

:sip:

 

[EssBee]

Wow...what an adventure, guyz, awesome!

 

[grizz]

:sip:

Ja-nee.... jy kan gerus n koffie kry. 

 

[grizz]

Wow...what an adventure, guyz, awesome!

Hi EssBee, trust your head has recovered  :biggrin:


Thanks for taking the time to reply.

It deffo was a great ride and adventure.

Next year North America..... top to bottom ?

 

[Andre E]

Hou op kak praat en tik jou report, boet.... :biggrin:

 

[grizz]

Hou op kak praat en tik jou report, boet.... :biggrin:

FOKKITT HOE LAG EK NOU SOOS N DRONK MAN !!!!!


Ja Baas, gaan nounet begin, tensy my vrou saam met my "Searching For Sugar Man" gaan kom kyk, dan is vanaand se goeie intensies ook almal in hulle se moere in  :imaposer:

 

[Andre E]

Ek en my vrou is hier in die bar met die bra's...(jy onthou?)... sy drink vanaand Potency so my kak is geboek.(en dit gaan nie 'n dvd wees nie). :3some:

 

[grizz]

Right, Day 6 was planned as a late start with breakfast booked for 09.00 by Jupiter, thankfully (we would find out later) Christine needed to get off early to get her daughter to school, so we agreed to have brekkie earlier.

All of us were up by 06.00 and ready to eat by 07.00.

Before breakfast we all had a walkabout and took some random and not so random pics.

I walked up the valley and past the dam, finding Jupiter in great spirits, packing up his bike.

This was his challet, specially supplied as he had complained about my snoring, before actually experiencing it.





When the dogs and I came back from the valley, I just caught Jupiter leaving his lodgings.

Pic looks like a photoshop.



This was what the Whale's oil leak from the shock looked like before breakfast...... it had progressively gotten worse since leaving Cape Town.

Not to worry.... there was sure to be more oil in there.




I also took the opportunity to go look around in Nico's Workshop/Barn.....

Nice bike(s)



Did I mention Home engineering ??

Lawn mower with grass collector.
Hence the lovely lawns out there.





If you look at the truck behind it, you will get an idea of the size of this lathe..... best of all, look where it is standing, gives you an idea about the weather Nico has to work in.



Homestead and mountain again.

Now you can get an idea about the lawnmower and why it was built.





Breakfast is set out in a  buffet style with Christine cooking the hot orders fresh in the kitchen.

Deon must have been grinning madly at this point.









After breakfast we said our Goodbyes and Thank You's and then set off into the Baviaans Kloof

 

[spoedvark]

En toe begin die kak!!! :sip:

 

[grizz]

Leaving the farm, I noted that Nico had a collection of old car shells, farm implements etc parked along the fence and roadside.
That made me smile..... kindred spirit ?



We crossed many little streams like this, some a bit deeper a couple dried out already after the recent rains.



These roads carry reasonably little traffic, and most of it is of the 4x4 or pickup truck and bus type.

However, again I was reminded that we were not in the city....



After quite a distance, including a stop for Jupiter to show us where he had fallen himself stupid on a blind rise, combined with a bend where the road just disappeared (Not something you want to happen when you are in top gear, giving it some stick) we came to the entry gate to the Baviaans Nature reserve.

Entry was R60 for the three of us, translating to under £5 for all three together.

They have a system of clocking you in and out of the camp, so as to know when to go look for people who do not make it, or have breakdowns and accidents,








The game ranger told us the rivers were still quite high, and to be careful as some Non-Locals had the habit of spinning up the river crossings, thus dislodging rocks in the crossings, making motorbike crossings more tricky.

So we carried on riding, and eventually got to our first river crossing for the day.

Jupiter in the lead, went through.... no problems.

The Dozer went through..... SITTING FLAT ON HIS ARSE  :eek7:

Water over the pots of his 1150GS.... No problems

Then it was the turn of The Whale.

Onto the foot pegs and straight through..... I could feel the rocks play at the front wheel, and just prayed that I did not fall over, or more importantly, that the bike did not die on me.... No Problems , pheww!!

We then set off on the road again and a short while later Jupiter pulled over.... quick for a smoke break I thought.

OOOOPPS..... nope, Bike was dead. It had just died.

Fortunately we had our break down right at the most randomly placed caravan shop ever......

While stationary, there were a couple of these roadworks tractors... and I have to say, their road manners were exemplary, slowing right down when passing us, so as not to cover us in road dust. Thanks Guys.



Between the three of us we tried to get Gerard's bike to fire up again, multiple false starts followed over the next few hours.

Remember my comment about having breakfast early vs a lazy start ??

Dozer Magic on the CDI



Not much protection under there then ehhhh ?

What went through the mind of the modifier when he decided to remove all the weather protection from under the seat??



In and out went the components.

And here is the other weird coincidence......

Eventually we all needed the toilet, too much eating the night before and a big breakfast 6hrs before would help.

So what are the chances of finding an open air toilet, with running water flushing system ??

Pretty slim I would say, till you break down in the middle of nowhere.




So after a few hours, Dozer opened his one side pannier... remember the one with the story books and tools ?
And he pulled a moerse long piece of nylon rope from the pannier.

Jupiter looped it around his left hand footpeg, and they were of........ until they hit the same river as before.

Just as we got there, a couple in a 4x4 from KZN got thre, they actualy told us we should not go through the river..... hmmmm ?

Been there, did it, now towing bike.

Anyway, before you could say AbraCadabra, I had the Whale into the river, and of course the coule in the bakkie took some photos.

Dozer was next into the shallow end.

Followed by a dejected Jupiter, pushing his bike through.

I dropped my jacket and electrical goodies and walked in to help him push it through.

I then walked back again to pass our email details to the couple in the bakkie to send me the pics.

By the  time I was back on my bike Deon and Jupiter were long gone, stopping at Sandvlakte where the farmer agreed to store his bike till he could recover it, or till he, the farmer went to the coast again, in which case he would take the stricken bike along for Gerard to collect.

Interestingly, with my number plate collecting, I was surprised to see this lot on the farm.



Once Gerard had transferred  his stuff to Deon's 1150GS, Deon suggested that he ride pillion and Jupiter ride his bike, as he was used to riding with his wife on these roads.

Loaded and ready to go......



From here it was all the way back the way we had come the previous day, riding to Willowmore on this dirt road...... Jupiter did nit spare the horses and I had to maintain 120km/h just to  keep up with them.

Port Elizabeth and Jupiters home was our destination, a looong way to go.



Willowmore offered many quaint looks into rural living in the Karoo.

Note the signs.



Next after filling fuel and oil, we went to a local coffee shop to use the toilets and drink a quick coffee.



After coffee it was onto the weirdest road ever.

A single concrete strip, where both parties yielded when meeting, and dropping one side onto the dirt and keeping on side on the concrete.






The road was incredibly straight and boring.

About 70km from Port Elizabeth, my back gave in for the first time in my life of riding, forcing me to stop and take a cocktail of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen..... Deon told me he would be buying me a kidney belt the next day.

Eventually, and hour after dark, we made it to Jupiters place.

Coffee, chat, and then off to bed......

Guess where I ended up sleeping ????


Day 7 to follow tomorrow or the next day.

 

[Brink]

:sip:

Great Trip

 

[Goose]

lekker Rian........... would love to here Dozer's comments on being pillion with Jup....  :thumleft:

 

[EssBee]

Once again...NICE!!!!!!!!!

 

[grizz]

Built an "Electrics" work bench yesterday.

650mm deep worktop and 550mm shelf,  and 920mm high, (which is just right for me) both heavy duty but in front of the window to have maximum light on small intricate jobs.

I am now happy with the whole layout of the garage's work spaces, welding table, "woodwork" table and this one.

Today I will be mixing some cement/mortar to build a plynth about 3 courses high for the wood burning stove to stand on.

I bought a 900 x 600 paving slab yesterday that will go on top of it.






And the garage got its name formally.....

I saw a sign along the roadside last year, but never had the chance to stop and pick it up, M25 has 3 lanes and it was the fast lane.

Anyway, it struck me as the perfect name.

I think Nicola, my wife will agree, it's called "THE END"






I will come and do the next day or two's RR through the day when I get time.

It is almost weekend.... time to relax and hopefully make a fire and Braai/BBQ

 

[Dirty Boy]

I think Nicola, my wife will agree, it's called "THE END"

I would have thought the best place for that sign would be in the garage on the back wall.  ;D

 

[grizz]

I think Nicola, my wife will agree, it's called "THE END"

I would have thought the best place for that sign would be in the garage on the back wall.   ;D

Keep wanting to tell you, now that I know the significance of your avatar photo, that I absolutely love it.

You are right regarding placement of the sign, but when I am down at the garage, we leave a sign on the front door to say we are out back for post and parcels that are too big for the letter slot.

Now I can change it to read...... "Come on down to the End"

 

[grizz]

Day 7, 8 spent in PE had minimal content, excluding commuting into and out of PE business areas.

Tuesday The Whale spent all day at Martin Walkers place, getting fettled.

At 17.00 exactly (He is very serious abut time keeping) we were there at his gate, and got the bike back, he then fitted a small rubber grommet to the side of the engine casing which I gave him R50 for, so the bill below for work done actually totalled up to R300.00 which in English £'s will be just a spot over £31.00

The bike felt smoother and the front brake was vastly improved from before.

In typical Martin style, the bill was scribbled on some random paper..... Perfect from a genius.



I have copied the entry I made at the time......

MINI, no really mini update.

Yesterday I spent half the day at Old Mutual and Standard Bank as well as signing documents for Sanlam ( there are all financial institutions for our foreign readers) as some of them are at times not very efficient.

Then we visited some of our aunts, did some grocery (well meat and booze) shopping for last nights awesome BBQ/Braai here at Jupiters place.

On Monday evening for the first time in my 36 years of riding, my back or kidneys forced me to pull over and take Turbo charged Paracetamol and some Ibuprofen about 70km from home.
So yesterday my brother who wears a kidney belt, insisted on buying me one as well, as we are only about 18% into this ride.

I hope that the guys who were here last night and took some pics, will post them up on here in this thread.

Last nights get together was awesome. Seeing old friends and meeting new.


Thanks to everybody who came around last night.

Deon and I really enjoyed meeting some of you guys face to face vs forum faces.

If any of you took pics, PLEASE DO POST IN MY RIDE REPORT THREAD  as I cannot upload or post yet.

I also want to make a special mention to two guys who maxed out on feeding my mad habit of number plate collecting.

Schaun "Tiger8" and Craig "Knucklehead" both had me personalized WD GRIZZ and GRIZZ EC plates made up. I was again blown away by the generous nature of guys on this forum, but also South Africans in general.

Thank you also to BigDom for sending me his original GSPOT EC plate that he replaced with a smaller more sensibly sized one.

Thanks to Jupiters network, my bike spent about 4.5 hours under the hands of Airhead Guru Martin Walker yesterdayand now feels tighter and actually idles below 1000rpm.

Today is Wednesday 10th, raining nicely.
Got a few things to do and visits to slot in as well as more deliveries of bits n bobs for UK people sending stuff here. My panniers are getting emptier as I deliver stuff but filling as fast with trinkets, number plates and other touristy treasures I buy along the way for my wife, kids and others.

Tomorrow is an early start up to Elliot, via Queenstown on some less than perfect roads.


As well as the phots taken and posted on here by various members who came to Braai at Jupiters.

ONCE AGAIN.... A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO JUPITERS WHOLE FAMILY FOR PUTTING DEON AND I UP WHILE WE WERE IN PORT ELIZABETH. (We had no option, since he had sent me a PM in August 2012 to state that SA was NOT a Democracy, and that we would be staying with them)

Knucklhead's Entry

thanks to the host (Jupiter) for the venue and the lekka braai, was lekka to meet some new dogs and chat to some old. Attached a few pictures taken, some kay , some a little blurry..sorry...Grizz when u back in the UK i want a pic of the GRIZZ EC plate above the bar!!

Pictures:
1 - some short oke that came along  with dozer and grizz in the background 
2 - Jason, my laaitjie chilling with the ol man 
3 - Grizz tuning the manne about the times he fell off his bike, i think the figure was five 
4 -  Watch out for the ceiling my china 
5 -  Crab havin a dop .. aggh i mean a coffee 
6 - some of the talent at the pozzie 
7 - Jason taking lessons on coals from Jup...4 second rule i believe 
8 - Youngster chowing again 

have a mooi ride lads..

Aaaaa, Mr Crab, whose sense of humour I loved.

One pic I took, Dozer getting on with what he does very well......




JUPITERS PICS

Seems to be a theme here....

And a pic that had me objecting.... From the left, my very long time great friend and buddy, Antoinette, always happy to sort out my shit in SA. Then Paulina, used to be Antoinettes "sister in law" being married to brothers, been a great friend for years, and one of my dad's fans. And lastly, Sonja, another long term friend, met her because of a F650 Funduro many years ago.

While in PE, I noticed, that like in many parts of the country, due to the rampant, indiscriminate crime, even the shopping malls have their own armed response and security companies active.

For the UK readers, the retro cars are/were all available long after European, American builds were discontinued, allowing more South Africans to become and stay mobile.



Again, for the UK readers, and our American brothers.....

Chevrolet Pickup truck..... Half ton (maybe payload is a bit more)

Not pretty, but one of many small pickups used in SA by small business and private people.

It would be the one I would buy if in SA.



We went to see my dad's second youngest sister, who has her own self contained home in the back of her daughters propperty.

She also has a family of about 7 Meerkarts that used to come onto the deck and eat her old Labrador's food, but since a newer stray dog had moved in, they had cleared off to the outside of the fence where the dog cannot get to them.
She still feeds them threats, including raw eggs that they love, and they know her voice. When we went onto the deck to see them, she called twice in her typically high pitched "Aunty voice" to her kids and they were all there expectantly, waiting for chunks of cheese and an egg.



It was interesting watching the group dynamics, one always on watch duty, while the others eat, and they do rotate the eating and watch duties.

Being as fast, nervous and spread out as they are, one cannot get a decent photo of the whole gang at once, note the gueards tail on the bottom right corner of the pic.




While we were out on Deon's bike we also popped around to my old house which is about a kilometer from Jupiters place.

Spoke to the new owner after he came to check up why I was taking a photo and promptly invited us in to take a look.

The house has been modified and updated. Some work is currently being done to create a huge Braai area, which I had planned a long time ago.

I had forgotten how huge my garage had been, and interestingly , the shelves, storage and steel cabinets I had fitted were all unchanged, and even had the stickers I had stuck on them before 2002 still on them.

The garden has gone through two major changes since I had it, and all the trees, except one Yellow wood tree were removed by a previous owner.




The next day we left early-ish for the next part of our trip.

Report of Day 9 later.

Almost weekend..... BRAAAAAAAIIII TIME  !!!

 

[grizz]

I thought it would fit in with the timing of the RR to add in some of the plates I was given as presents by Knucklhead, Tiger8 and BigDom for my garage.

Thanks a million guys, I was really blown away at the time by all the generosity of everyone, and still sit here grinning madly.

The plates have found their way, as many do, for various reasons to various places about my shged and garage.

The WD GRIZZ plate is on the Woodwork shed door......  Woodwork Department as well as WildDog Grizz

The GRIZZ EC plate is next to the new shelf with all the screw drivers, but specifically where I can enjoy it, and where it covers some of the knife blades hanging there.

And of course the GSPOT EC plate found its way to where people will note it.....

I have also received a load of traded and gifted plates from the USA while away,, and typically guys put a return address and possibly a real name, but never a note of forum name.

Anyway, I am sure they will ask at some point if I received their plates..... then I can say a formal thank you.

Right now is is 12.30 and I need to go lay some bricks.#


Later Dudes.

 

[Dozer]

lekker Rian........... would love to here Dozer's comments on being pillion with Jup....   :thumleft:

Well Goose, actually Jupiter's piloting was good enough that I might have taken a snooze if I had velcro on my jacket and top-box!!! Didn't mind riding "Bitsh?" with him.

 

[grizz]

lekker Rian........... would love to here Dozer's comments on being pillion with Jup....   :thumleft:

Well Goose, actually Jupiter's piloting was good enough that I might have taken a snooze if I had velcro on my jacket and top-box!!! Didn't mind riding "Bitsh?" with him.

Good to see you on here Deon.

Hey Boet, trust you had a good birthday, did you check out your birthday wished in the "Jou Ma" section ?
Probably on page 2.