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

[Dozer]

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  !!!

Just to put Knucklehead at ease!!?? I did part-time job as barman in the Military in Durban for 3 years while not out on my regular earthmoving tasks!!

 

[grizz]

Day 9

This was really just a connecting section to get us to KZN (Kwa Zulu Natal) and Durban where we were staying in Westville at Dirty Boy's place with him and his family, dogs and cats.....

James (Dirty Boy) had also approached me shortly after this trip was announced to offer Deon and I "unrestricted" accommodation, which meant he would not interfere in our schedule, but would be happy to integrate in any rides we wanted to do.
This was a most generous offer which I accepted, even though we have two aunts and a bunch of cousins in and around Durban, as well as Deon's ex-wife, and kids, all of who he is still good friends with.
I chose to stay with James as the "unrestricted movement" appealed to me, and he is a great guy anyway.

We left Jupiter's early morning (well, not really early, everyone was up and on the go) and hit the N2 toward Grahamstown after running the gauntlet of Port Elizabeth morning traffic.
I was amazed at Dozer..... LAWBREAKER SUPREME..... Mounting the pavements on the left of cars to get past all the idiots (2 Policemen in different Police marked cars texting!! )mummies on their mobile phones, sandwiches, makeup and morning coffee's, business men reading documents while driving, sportsbikers darting left and right, all of who were making the whole thing quite dangerous to actually compete for road space. Also changing of lanes without warning by cars and Minibus Taxis was just beyond stupid.
So I happily followed him, using the unused portion of the road for our own safe movement..... next thing I had a maxi scooter behind me as well,  Made me snigger in my helmet.

We left the city limits of PE after sampling the joy of Swartkops sewerage plant and Carbon Blacks smells without any issue, bar the mad drivers everywhere.

Riding the N2, which I used to know so well was a bit DeJaVu like, some improvements that have been made over the last 10 years had me happy to see where my tax dollars had gone way back when.

We stopped for a couple of smoke breaks till we got to Grahamstown, proud of its heritage as a frontier town in the days of the Xhosa and Boer wars. I had done some of my Psychiatry training at Fort England Hospital which had the dubious honour of having had a staff member beaten to death by a patient with a bedpan years ago.

This sleepy hollow also is home to Rhodes University, where BigDom used to work as professor of Art when I met him a looooong time ago ( fact or fiction ?? ) In the days of Apartheid, Rhodes was known to be of a liberal disposition and I do not know enough to tell you more, so refer to Wikipedia or Google for more info and history.




We also took the opportunity to fill both the bikes as Queenstown was another 200+ km to go, and PE was 135km behind us.

I love these sorts of signs, usually, including this time, they make me start up the engine and drive off and find another station to fill up at. To this day I remember all the times I used to hitch hike across South Africa and this sort of sign pisses me off instantly, so no business for them.



After filling at a "Mobil"  Engen station we found the well hidden Wimpy.... Dozer can smell out a Wimpy at 5000 meters.

Breakfast ordered, he went out to check over the bikes, make a call to his Colonel to extend his leave and have a smoke (multitasking at its best) and when the brekkie landed, Joseph, the incredibly charismatic floor manager went to invite him back in.
That shop has a treasure in Joseph, originaly from Zimbabwe, he really makes a difference and manages the floor like few others I have seen.





After breakfast and a Mega Coffee we set out for Queenstown, our next stop.

In the carpark I saw this survivor.

Being in the market for a 1960-66 Chevy Pickup truck, I could not help myself, and had to stop and take a pic.



Leaving Grahamstown the decay into typical African village was obvious as you moved up the road away from town..... sad.

Just before we got to the T-Junction to go left to Queenstown, I saw another one of these..... again, I love them, but they are also a sign of people's financial status. The rich get richer, the poor still have nothing.



From here the road was interesting with passes, turns, bends and changing scenery.

Riding through the Echa Pass, which I once did in 6.5 minutes as a student from entry to exit, I was surprised I have managed to live as long as I have.

We rode till after Fort Beaufort with only one smoke break.



Then stopped again.... nice spot.



And onward, stepping up the pace a bit.



Getting to Queenstown we filled up, bought more oil at Midas and then contacted AndreE for a cuppa coffee.
We had wanted to sleep over at his place originally, but the distance was too short to break the KZN destination in half.

Once again, for the international riders and readers, this is the norm in South Africa, getting fuel filled, winddscreens cleaned and oil, wheels checked.
In the total of 6200km plus that I rode, I only got one non-smiling pump attendant, and he was surrounded by smilers anyway, so maybe he was having a bad day in Bloemfontein.





Then it was off to AndreE's place just outside town where we were treated like premium guests by his wife and were fed cake and coffee, note..... two slices each. Heavenly man, heavenly.
Thanks a lot guys, that was really great.







I also loved the inside of their shop, reminding me of times growing up, going to the farm shop, just the numbers on the prices have changed, but the contents are the same. Nice to have some stuff stay the same.



Maybe my favourite bit of decor in the bar area.... every one donated on site by the wearers.
There was quite a range of sizes and styles.



Then it was time to leave again and make our way for Mountain Shadows above Elliot where we were booked in for the night. I think this was also a 600+ km day, which included a lot of old Transkei roads.

Before we left, I saw this guy, reminding me again of South Africa in summer time.



Before we left, I made Dozer come with me to get a pic of the old incinerator of the sawmill near Andre's place, I love old steel structures like this and old factories as they have many stories to tell.




After a really great rest, unwind and chat at Andre's place it was off toward Elliott via the "bottom road" which is slightly shorter, but more challenging and interesting to ride.

Just about to leave.

It did not take long before we hit the first of many roadworks stops.

Now here is an other interesting observation for the non South Africans.

Note all the Taxi's , roadworks and coned off lanes are reserved by heavenly decree by the god of dangerous drivers to be used as a passing lane. These roadworks were at the start of a mountain pass, so it was interesting watching minibus taxis duck into the "works lane" and overtake on the left, everything and then swerving back into the active lane.
IDIOTS.



We got to Elliott by about 16.30 and having stpped along the way to buy a bottle of brandy and 2 litres of Pepsi Max, and a large bag of Dorito's we were ready for our evening at Mountain Shadows Hotel.
Being in radio comms all day saw Deon and I fall into a really nice rhythm of ride, share, chat and we decided to pull over and see if we could get some food at the hotel.... No Problem said the new front desk guy, we have food.

While stopping  to make the call to the hotel,I noted this guy.....Enterprise at its best.

When people buy a couple of crates of beer, shopping etc, he is the transport, for a fee.



After this we left Elliott to do the last 20km to the hotel on the top of the mountains, again, a perfect time.... sunset.

One of the great thing about the routes we took, was that it included loads of interesting roads, passes etc.

Barkly Pass was a wide sweeping, but deceptive pass, so we hit it with all the enthusiasm is would allow, Deon commenting on the radio "I LOVE MY BIKE.... IT REALLY DOES HANDLE"  having owned and ridden an 1150GS for about 80 000km myself around mostly South Africa, where 1000km weekends were not unusual, or riding to Cape Town from Port Elizabeth on  a Saturday morning to test fly an airplane in Cape Town and coming back on Sunday morning with my good old friend, the late Warwick Sparg at whatever top speeds we could squeeze out of our boxer engines, I knew exactly how he felt.
BMW got it so right when they built the R1150GS range, and to this day, I still rate my 1150 GS above the 1200GS that I now have here in the UK.

We were just chatting about how nice the ride had been and how beautiful the mountains were when we decided to stop for a few pics again.







Then is was on to the hotel, with dusk just wanting to push the last suns rays away, we could feel it in the change of temperature.

Last few miles and then we were there.



There is a main hotel, and then these units, where we ended up in. Perfect.




The hotel is a family run affair and even the food in the kitchen is cooked by the granny and her small staff.

We switched our booking from Bed and Breakfast to Dinner and bed, with a sandwich pack to take out.

A real farm meal was served buffet style, with seafood starters, soup and also a stunning desert to follow.

During the day they had actually had two small snow flurries, so it was no wonder we were quite chilled when we booked in and even Dozer was cold, thick skin and all.

Thankfully, grandpa had started a fire in the dining room to warm it all up.



So after dinner we went back to our room, showered, poured a drink and both of us were out cold before 10pm, with only half our respective drinks actually drunk.

Day 10 was going to be a long day down to KZN, with more crap roads and with breakfast sandwich packs which included canned fruit juice, boiled eggs and a sweety for afterwards, we were ready for a good early start.

If the bikes did not freeze over.

Hope you are still reading......

 

[ratrap]

:thumleft:

 

[Goose]

laat waai meraai!!  :thumleft:

 

[Mr Zog]

Oh yes, still reading  :thumleft:

 

[spoedvark]

Gooi Pappie!

 

[grizz]

Early on Day 10 we got up and packed our kit onto the bikes.

The Whale took a few stabs at the starter button to fire up, as her chokes had long since been removed, so Dozer and I would kneel next to her like suitors to ask her nicely to start up with our finger manually poking up the sides of her carbs, holding up the levers till she fired up.

We quietly left the hotel grounds and rode in the cold morning air,down the pass we had come up the night before, it did not take long before we hit a wet, cold mist on the Transkei roads we were on, still not fully light, I am not sure which was worse, the cold or fogged up visors..... the minute you opened the visor to see where you were headed, of course the cold made your eyes stream, and early morning bugs were a threat as well.

Again,  the mad driving and absolute lack of fear of death, maiming and dismemberment of cars, minibus taxis and trucks continued to surprise me.

We rode to Maclear where we stopped to fill the bikes, buy a machine coffee and eat our packed breakfasts.

The local girls in the shop insisted on coming out and posing around the bikes with the cheekier of the two crawling onto the Whale before I could object, doing the whole Nicholas Cage on a Harley from Hell thing for her mate to photograph on a mobile phone.

They had also asked us to come inside and eat our breakfast at their tables, but we declined, mainly because we had already set it out.



This had to be my pic of the day.....

No wonder the driving standards are what they are.

DRIVING SCHOOL...... ????




Memories of the village where we grew up.... septic tanks and the weekly "Suckit Suzy" sessions before mains sewerage was installed.





Another sample of Wildest South Africa.....

Spares delivery, but the rifle actually belongs to the delivery driver, here being played with by one of the locals...... The driver carries it with him, in case he sees something worth shooting along the way.




We carried on for a long time as this was going to be a loooong day.

Thankfully we got stopped at a Police checkpoint, and the ol guy who "inspected" my bike was happy to take a photo once he had asked about the tank size on the whale and our destination.



At the stop, Dozer had said to me it was time for a smoke break, and that he would wait for me at the top of the hill when he found a place to pull over.

So when I caught up, he was smoking and relaxing, inspecting some water pipes etc by the road side.

Next thing we heard a typical, traditional Xhosa herdsman singing at a distance and saw him come walking with his flock.

Where we stopped was actually a livestock crossing, and the evidence as on the road surface where something had very recently been hit and bled out.

Anyway, the pics should tell the story.



Zoooom lenses what to do without them?



Note the fresh blood on the tarmac,










More in a bit.....

Some homework to deal with.

 

[grizz]

After the sheep crossed the road we carried on for quite some distance, potholes in potholes, bendy roads and some nice sections too.

Loads of livestock including cows, horses, goats and sheep randomly walking on the motorway surfaces.

Fortunately for us, we grew up in the region and this was no surprise to us, so sensible riding was the key.

We had for some distance on the day and the day before noticed piles of scrap metal old vintage cars, cut up, bits of fencing wire, pipes, poles etc.....

Seems someone was buying up all the scrap that people could carry to the roadside.

I stopped at one of these piles, just to take a photo, and was amazed that there, looking at me was an emblem that read C/10
Could this be a divine sign ?  As I am in the market for an early 1960's Chevy C10 Fleetside pickup truck.

It took about 60 seconds before the owner of the pile of metal was there, and we started negotiating.
In the end I bought the badge for R6.00 which is about 65p or under a Dollar.



I also tried to get the Velox badges off, but they were rusted on and I could see myself just breaking them without any propper tools.



Deon had carried on riding when I radio'd him to say I was stopping at the scrap, and while I was walking about, my mobile started to ring, answering it, it was Deon, warning me that about a kilometer further there was a copper with a radar device on an open piece of road trapping..... than goodness for mobile phones, as I would have been hitting the throttle hard to catch up once done with the photos.

The rest of the day went rather uneventfully and we stopped at Camperdown to take a look at house where our mum had died, where they had retired when dad took early retirement so that he could look after her.
The house was unchanged, except for much increased security.
The extra plot next door that my dad had turned into a very large garden was subdivided and now acted as a plant nursery.
A bit disappointing, but then we know now that everything changes and the rose tinted spectacles of youth do help.



We ended up getting to James "Dirty Boy's" place just after the main traffic rush, fortunately our route ran against the homeward bound Friday evening rush.

When we got to his place, he was just cleaning up his baby to go off to transport some youngsters in style.



Of course the dogs also came out to greet us, and who can resist such a welcome?



I managed to get the mattress in the lounge again.... Thanks to Dozers plea's and Goose's pre=emptive strike on my credibility as a silent sleeper.

After showering, and while James was out, I sat on Dozers bed and read, having one of the cats (the friendly one) make itself at home at my feet.

We ended up in bed by 23.00 as we were both knackered from the roads and long day riding.

At about 03.30 I woke with a big lump right behind my butt.... at first I thought I may have shat myself or had a prolapse, then gingerly peeling back my blanket, I discovered the Nasty cat who attacks for no reason, had actually crawled in under my blanket and made herself comfortable in my bed.



I tried some gentle stroking and was met by a neat, loud purrrrr....

Followed by a stretch that would be perfectly at home on LOLCATS and I can haz cheeseburger.



And another.



After this the two of us went back to sleep, as Deon and I had planned to do a 400+ km daytrip on the Saturday, back to our old school, and our parents homes.

More of the next day tomorrow.

 

[grizz]

Went to my local, well it is 10 miles away, council tip to get rid of all the rotten paint and loads of empty paint buckets yesterday.....

A guy was unloading this shield.... it never even hit the ground, just went straight into my car.

I will make a new backing plate for it to replace the broken one, and modify it slightly. Then it will go up on the wall behind the new garage fire place.

Still need to fit the chimney etc once I figure that out.


Treasure.




Esse Dragon was a freebie from a mate in Malmesbury, if I could get it home...... of course I got it home.

Needs a bit of work, the chimney made up and hopefully I have a wood burner in the garage by winter.

Any advice on chimney/flue fitting appreciated.







Also finished fitting the shelves, strip light and a HUGE HiFi in the garage yesterday.... Party anyone ??

Really pleased with the new layout and tool boards.

 

[Maak Hom Dronk]

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Wa-Hey!!! :spitcoffee: First Post!! //Back Pat Mode// <enable>

Most excellent read Grizz... like a good book it's got me hanging for the next chapter... btw, your 'Girrhage' is looking good... almost like a self contained flat... just needs a bed... and bada-boom.... or am I reading too much into it?    I did hear that sleeping through the deforestation of the Amazon with 100 000 chainsaws with no baffles and blunt blades is easier to do than catch 40 winks next to you...  

BTW...Did you spot this dude on your ride through TKei? He's taken the scrap collection to a whole new level...

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[grizz]

Mrs Grizz here,

Yes there is a bed in the garage it is inside the teardrop caravan!

The snoring? oh yes chainsaw central indeed!!

 

[Goose]

Mrs Grizz here,

Yes there is a bed in the garage it is inside the teardrop caravan!

The snoring? oh yes chainsaw central indeed!!

Hehe - I can vouch for that ............  :biggrin:  Nicola must be the bravest wife ever......  eepwall:

 

[spoedvark]

I'm enjoying this RR!! i can only imagine how you and Dozer must have enjoyed the real thing!!!

 

[grizz]

Mrs Grizz here,

Yes there is a bed in the garage it is inside the teardrop caravan!

The snoring? oh yes chainsaw central indeed!!

Hehe - I can vouch for that ............   :biggrin:  Nicola must be the bravest wife ever......  eepwall:

Of dalk net die domste een.... Ten spyte van hoe lief ek vir haar is.

She is so incredibly tollerant of all my shit. I am a lucky/licky guy.

She also commented Goose must be a very sensitive chap and that I really must have traumatized him terribly in France.

 

[grizz]

I'm enjoying this RR!! i can only imagine how you and Dozer must have enjoyed the real thing!!!

Thanks Spoedvark, glad you are enjoying the trip.

We definitely did. I am fortunate that I really like my brother, so it made the ride that much more of an epic adventure.

If guys enjoy reading the report with all of its inaccuracies and confabulation, my work is done.

Will try do the next day report later tonight.

 

[spoedvark]

Looking forward to it.

I have 2 boets who love bikes and the ones son also.

One is here in SA and the other one is with you on MUDD ISLAND (SCOTLAND)!!

One day we will get him back to SA to join us on a ride like this!!

 

[grizz]

Day 11 started at an easy pace, after which we went off to Eshowe and Melmoth in Zululand where we had both finished our schooling and grown up.

We decided to bite the bullet and run the gauntlet of all the toll roads.

And there are quite a few of them..

I am not sure if we saw much evidence of the moneys being re-invested into roads and infrastructure, but it was a nice ride, once again some of the pleasure taken away by young dickheads in pocket rockets, overtaking at high speed on both sides of the motorway.
One idiot in a Toyota nearly planted himself under a slow moving truck after his stupid left handed overtaking maneuver..... pity he did not.



Our ride to Eshowe was uneventful.... well, until Dozer's belly started to complain..... So we popped into a shopping centre where typically, we were invited by security to ride our bikes into the centre under shade and park on an area possibly reserved for other purposes.
But hey..... this is Africa, who were we to complain.



We decided (well, Dozer decided)  a breakfast burger eaten out on the bikes back seat in the "bike parking area" would be perfect.

So I went into the Spur to order these and some coffees.

Anti-Smoking legislation managed South African style.

Smoking section in the Spur.





While we were having our Moerse big breakfasts, which was way too much food for me, we heard the roll of thunder, at first I thought Harleys, then realized the drone was different, only to be joined (well, I did invite them) on out spot by two guys on KTM's.
Dozer had a long chat with them while I kept myself busy differently.



After this we went to our old school, first the main entrance, then off to the boarding school and sports fields.

Well, things again have changed a lot..... scruffy buildings, untidy spaces etc were a good start.

As white South Africans it was interesting seeing almost no white pupils at the rugby matches that were being played.

We chatted to one of the new teachers and it seems only one of the teachers we remembered was still there, Mr Simpson. We did not get to see him, but that was fine too.

I did have a silly smile when I took this pic.

When I was in my last two years at school, a few of us used to climb out through a window in the "box room" where the suitcases stayed during term, onto the flat roof on the right of this pic above the pickup truck, I had smashed out a vent under the eaves and this is where I would store my booze for consumption over weekends.



We rode around to the sports fields, and interestingly, the pavilion which used to so large t us as kids, had shrunk over the interceding years.
Deon used to take girls in under the pavilion for "sessions" on the high jump mattresses...... not sure what all transpired there.



All along on this ride, ever since having to give the Whale a load of attention in Cape Town, I neurotically kept an eye on the bike's vital signs.........

When we were done chatting at the school and wanted to leave...... oooooppppssss..... Semi-Flat wheel. BUGGGERRRR !!
It was midday on a Saturday in South Africa, businesses close down for the weekend.

So we sourced a Supa-Quick tyre place and whipped off the rear wheel.....

Visual inspection showed nothing, no holes, cuts, nails or a leaking valve.

Into the water bath next.... then the problem became apparent.

All along the bead of the rim there were micro bubbles, the sot you would normally discount as not important.... but as we watched, they  slowly got bigger.

So it was off with the tyre, fine sand paper around the rims, and re-fit the tyre.

When we tried to pump it up, being a tubeless tyre, it just would not pop and seat..... that is until the technician realized he had not tightened the valve to the rim.... POP !! She went. Thankfully.

In the mean time I had had time to rethink our route and where I may have hit a big pothole etc, then I realized, when we filled the bikes up at one of the fuel pumps along the way, I had the Whale on its centre stand, and in order to get it off the centre stand, I had rocked, reved and tried to ride it off the stand....this action must have been enough to loosen the tyres lock on the rim and allow a slow puncture to develop.

The whole process cost me R35.00 in the end, which is about £2.05 in English money.



With the rear shock being totally buggered, the reason for some of the noise on the road became apparent once the wheel came off.




Crisis managed/averted, we stepped it up as we had lost about 100 minutes between Breakfast and breakdown.

There were more bendy bits and Nkwaleni Pass to deal with before we got to Melmoth, where our parents had lived and where we had spent many a summer and other holidays, disappearing all day on horseback, motorbike, or just walking.

The Melmoth Inn, where most of us local boys popped our cherries as far as alcohol was concerned.

Of course, like so many other places, it was closed up and did not really resemble the hotel we had known as kids...... still, we have our memories. I remember getting my final school results an getting a pass and going into the bar to have a lemonade, the barman was shocked as I refused the Brandy and Coke he offered, that he knew I used to drink in the "ladies bar"



We then rode a short loop through town and went to see the house we had grown up in (we grew up in many houses over our childhood) and got to speak to the current guy who lives there.
He remembered my dad as he was a junior clerk when our dad worked and lived there.
Dad used to make a lot of furniture and turned  load of table lamps that he sold at work, this money ultimately paid for his retirement home that he bought.

She house was unchanged, the garden a bit rough, and some of the trees had grown big over the last 25 years since I had last been there.

The place was fenced in as well, seems crime was colourblind in this town.



After that we made a bee line back to Durban and Westville as we had a Braai planned with James and some other Wilddogs and their families.

Which of course was just perfect.



After a good evenings merriment, we eventually made it to bed, having agreed that James would be taking us on a short breakfast run the next day.

Day 12 coming to a theatre near you, soon.

 

[grizz]

Mickey, Mickey, Mickey.... what can I say, other than that he is a really good guy.
I told him a few weeks ago that I wanted some steel filing cabinets for the garage, to replace the wooden wardrobes I have about.

Today he delivered.....

Three units from an office clearance. FREE, though I did give him £30.00 for his effort.

Delivered.



Moved about and in place, though I may move them again.

The narrow drawer unit is upside down, but the drawers are the right way up. I suspect I will make a different plan for it.

 

[grizz]

Day 12 came in the shape of a perfect morning.  Dirty Boy was taking us out with his Airhead for a breakfast run up past Pietermaritzburg and hopefully we would collect EssBee along the way.  :ricky:

Got the bikes out and started up, his boxer sounding and looking like a boxer should. Jupiter probably still misses this bike.

Then on our way.... up the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=106063.0;attach=269085;image

Awesome photo from James' GoPro camera. He had taken a whole load through the day, but I will just copy and past the ones he had chosen to post up here.

One of my favourite photos he took.

Then we stopped at the Kranskloof Nature Reserve for a short break.



Same photo, taken by two different cameras.

Then some more secondary roads, we also failed to raise EssBee from the slumber he had fallen into after the night before.

Carpark had quite a few bikes, actually, thinking about it, there were loads of bikes about on the day.

Of course the Dozer special came next.....



After a relaxed breakfast and a long chat, we hit the return road with James in the lead, alternating it with Deon and I.

Again, the GoPro proved its worth.

Not sure if my dutt was getting numb, or if I was just stretching a bit..... at this point the rear shock was still a thing of concern.

After a thoroughly enjoyable day out, we got back to Villa Dirty Boy around 13.00 and decided to have a coffee, and then Dozer and I would be off to "The Bluff, where guys are Tuff" to see Deon's son and possibly his daughter.

Whale parked up next to James' baby again.






After coffee and rusks, we were off again.

This was Dozers back yard, as he had been stationed in Durban for many years before he moved to 1 Engineers Regiment in Dunnottar.
So he SatNag was left behind and we took on Durban's worst drivers.
Strange how you become aware of your mortality when on a motorbike in a strange city.

Because we had done some fast motorway miles on the way back from our breakfast run, I guess the Whale had sucked through the juice with more vigor than usual, because the 41 litre tank ran out about 3km from his sons home....... which meant he went off to find some petrol, did I mention this was his back yard??
Not long and he was back with 2 two liter Coke bottles of petrol, unceremoniously dumped into the tank, allowing the boxer to fire up, and me to follow him to a local fuel station......

The prices are a lot higher than USA prices per litre (Use Google to get a Currency converter) and a bit lower than UK prices, roughly converted to  85p/liter for fuel.......



The filling team were all congregated around the Whale, which tended to draw crowds and interested parties everywhere we went.... gasping in shock at the fact that I managed to squeeze 38 litres of fuel into the tank, and telling them it actually took 41 litres.

When one of them spotted the Satnag, quietly stashed in Dozers tankbag.... well, that was too good not to get him to start it up and demonstrate.

Funny how stuff we take for granted can still amaze and impress.



Then it was a short trip up to Where Deon's son, Jean lives, renting a room from his mum and step dad.
Deon is one of these guys who sees life for what it is and he still has a good relationship with his ex-wife and her new husband, as well as his kids who are both independent.

Take note the bare feet..... seems to be an ongoing theme in both Africa, but also in our family.



Once again, I was cut down in size by a small animal.....

The family dog, with a great personality that belies his stature.



Once settled and coffee'd, everyone except me were lighting cigarettes and smoking away, Dozer was clearly happy......

Then his granddaughter woke up, she was being looked after by Jean and her step grandpa as Michelle, Deon's daughter and his ex-wife were at the hospital, as she is expecting again.

She initially did not want to sit on the grandpa she does not know well's lap, having a typical post sleep cry, then she crawled up and sat with him.

Happy Grandpa..... He has another 8 year old grandson with Jean, who was not there.



And I ended up with a dog..... just perfect.



Another of those shopping centre armed response vehicles.



We had a quickly decided Pizza dinner with Deon's son, who is a chef, and should really have cooked us dinner.....

Then back to James' place just after dark for an evening of relaxing and chatting.

Day 13 shortly.

 

[grizz]

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Wa-Hey!!! :spitcoffee: First Post!! //Back Pat Mode// <enable>

Most excellent read Grizz... like a good book it's got me hanging for the next chapter... btw, your 'Girrhage' is looking good... almost like a self contained flat... just needs a bed... and bada-boom.... or am I reading too much into it?    I did hear that sleeping through the deforestation of the Amazon with 100 000 chainsaws with no baffles and blunt blades is easier to do than catch 40 winks next to you...  

BTW...Did you spot this dude on your ride through TKei? He's taken the scrap collection to a whole new level...

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Morning Maak Hom Dronk I was wondering if I should try to explain your user name on here, but I guess most people will make their own (Wrong) deductions about it.

Good to see you posting, and that you have not lost any of your keen sense of observation and humour.

I am about to post a pic of you in a public forum, so hope it will encourage you to switch off the cloak more regularly.

Well, as you can see the tidal wave of disinformation against me, based on Goose's report and also my sweet wife, colluding with him, is growing.
Soon I will have to turn in my passport as I will not be able to cross any borders for fear of me waking up entire neigbourhoods.

I already have a freezer, fridge, kettle etc in the Ghirrage, add to that some decent sounds and a small stainless steel hand wash basin that Nicola immediately identified as a urinal  :lol8: :lol8: :lol8: and the Teardrop caravan..... which has a double bed fitted, it would seem that I am OK for pretty much everything.
MORE HERE: https://www.retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=othrmod&action=display&thread=67389

Nicola trying it out for size the first time..... it can sleep a guy of 6 foot 8 inches

Bed made up....and curtains in.

And of course it has a fully functioning kitchen in the rear.... so if banished from the house.....

Right now it is time to write up Day 13 and then out to the garage, seems like I may have a start date of Friday 17th for a contract job if my security clearance checks out.. Fingers crossed.