zacapa
Race Dog
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
- Messages
- 2,110
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- East Coast of Africa in the Hills
- Bike
- Honda XR650L
Have Airhead, will travel ...
- Thread starter DirtyHarry
- Start date
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
business class, what is this?Welsh said:
zacapa
Race Dog
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
- Messages
- 2,110
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- East Coast of Africa in the Hills
- Bike
- Honda XR650L
24 - 28 Homeward bound. The day started off a little wet but things got better after a bout 2 hours and the rest of my trip home went great.
Some guys were going 2-3 days home via the scenic route but I had to get back to Durbs in one day.
Note DH's ingenious rebound limiter contraption
Some guys were going 2-3 days home via the scenic route but I had to get back to Durbs in one day.
Note DH's ingenious rebound limiter contraption
Attachments
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
Great pics Zacapa :thumleft:
With your ride to the GKG you became a legend :ricky:
Let me just say, you have earned your sticker.
With your ride to the GKG you became a legend :ricky:
Let me just say, you have earned your sticker.
Chairman Meow
Race Dog
Ok Ok.....will drag myself to add some pics. Splendid work so far on the RR , Harry...started
to feel guilty so will post some pics.
Ironically I only have about 10 pics of the whole trip, knowing that Riaan & Willie was filming & snapping away.
Those thats been to the previous gatherings will know that although we are a bit slow on the pics, we actually go full blast and
just edit a whole movie out of it.......so watch the space :ricky:
Just a big thanks to all that attended, we have become quite a close circle of Airhead owners and once again its been fun to shoot the breeze with everyone, catch up with the usuals and meet some new owners.......makes organizing all future gatherings a pleasure knowing the enthusiasm is always there by the drop of a hat. :thumleft:
Zacapa.........Respect, that sticker should be permenantly inked onto that fuel tank.
So , here is a couple of pics from my side.......
Some tinned Airhead Sardines happily being couried to PMZ by Milly's . (Top notch company, will highly recommend!)
The most prescious garage in PMZ on the night of the 20th March..... :biggrin:
Group Accomodation at Hole in the Wall self Catering.....
Airheads grazing in pasture.....a EC still life.. 8)
Coffee Bay Vista...
Making mom proud.....
Saturday night revelary........some serious gutt splitting funny moments followed by a rainy sunday morning leaving that campsite with hang overs on uphill slippery slopes & the some more fun ahead.
Saturday afternoon outing to the Bushpig pub in Kei mouth.......good fun.
2013 Kei Gathering.....
.............till next year..ccasion14:
to feel guilty so will post some pics.
Ironically I only have about 10 pics of the whole trip, knowing that Riaan & Willie was filming & snapping away.
Those thats been to the previous gatherings will know that although we are a bit slow on the pics, we actually go full blast and
just edit a whole movie out of it.......so watch the space :ricky:
Just a big thanks to all that attended, we have become quite a close circle of Airhead owners and once again its been fun to shoot the breeze with everyone, catch up with the usuals and meet some new owners.......makes organizing all future gatherings a pleasure knowing the enthusiasm is always there by the drop of a hat. :thumleft:
Zacapa.........Respect, that sticker should be permenantly inked onto that fuel tank.
So , here is a couple of pics from my side.......
Some tinned Airhead Sardines happily being couried to PMZ by Milly's . (Top notch company, will highly recommend!)
The most prescious garage in PMZ on the night of the 20th March..... :biggrin:
Group Accomodation at Hole in the Wall self Catering.....
Airheads grazing in pasture.....a EC still life.. 8)
Coffee Bay Vista...
Making mom proud.....
Saturday night revelary........some serious gutt splitting funny moments followed by a rainy sunday morning leaving that campsite with hang overs on uphill slippery slopes & the some more fun ahead.
Saturday afternoon outing to the Bushpig pub in Kei mouth.......good fun.
2013 Kei Gathering.....
.............till next year..
ccasion14:
spoedvark
Grey Hound
Great read.
Abu
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2008
- Messages
- 308
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Deep South - Western Cape
- Bike
- BMW G650 X-challenge
Thanks Harry and Chairman, I want to go back!. I have posted a separate report so as not to hi jack and left out photos I thought would be duplicated.
Thanks to our Chairman we had a epic trip,it was great to meet old friends.Willie has been sent a disc with pics,to post.
Brakenjan
Race Dog
Nice one gents!! :thumleft:
Chuck U Farley
Race Dog
Chairman Meow & fellow Airheads, I must apologise for missing this awesome event. Certainly looks like I missed out on a blast!
Because it was a long weekend, I had plans to go with the family to Plett. The day before the weekend, my kids told me that they were rather going to stay with their mates in PE! Moral of the story: You can rely on an Airhead, but you can't rely on your kids! >
Because it was a long weekend, I had plans to go with the family to Plett. The day before the weekend, my kids told me that they were rather going to stay with their mates in PE! Moral of the story: You can rely on an Airhead, but you can't rely on your kids! >
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
Thanks for the added pictures guys.
Alright, I will carry on from my side and you guys can jump in at any time.
The first night at GKG was a bit slower than what I expected. Most guys have probably been tired from the ride through the Transkei. We are not getting any younger :
The next day I had time to set up my rear shock sans oil. It was behaving so terribly on the way in to the camp that I had real worries how I could ride my bike out of there, never mind the 1.200km to Cape Town.
After some deep thinking, I could only come up with a drastic increase of the pre-load. James helped me to compress the spring as far as possible. I went for a quick ride through the camp and the bike still felt unrideable.
With more help from willing airhead hands I was able to get more pre load on the shock. It must have been very close to stripping the thread of the adjusting nut and so I stopped. I was not able to compress the shock with my weight any more. That’s a good starting point. Rather no rear suspension at all than the butt kicking behavior before. The bike was a bit easier to control but once compressed, the spring hit the shock back into the end stop with a sharp metal click after every bump.
So I rigged a webbing strap to the shock and tightened it as far as possible, to take a bit of load off the spring. That seemed to work.
Chilling time. Jaque & Rikus.
Some nice airhead examples.
How Ian can keep his bike almost dust free after the Transkei dirt roads, I :dontknow:
Thorsten, with his RS pretending to be a GS. He easily kept up with all the other bikes on the dirt roads, no worries. Bikes are overrated - the rider does make the difference!
For the gathering with all the bikes it started to rain, just perfect.
That night we had quite some fun with plenty of good jokes and laughter around the table and the free flowing Brandy from Willie's leather bag >
Alright, I will carry on from my side and you guys can jump in at any time.
The first night at GKG was a bit slower than what I expected. Most guys have probably been tired from the ride through the Transkei. We are not getting any younger :
The next day I had time to set up my rear shock sans oil. It was behaving so terribly on the way in to the camp that I had real worries how I could ride my bike out of there, never mind the 1.200km to Cape Town.
After some deep thinking, I could only come up with a drastic increase of the pre-load. James helped me to compress the spring as far as possible. I went for a quick ride through the camp and the bike still felt unrideable.
With more help from willing airhead hands I was able to get more pre load on the shock. It must have been very close to stripping the thread of the adjusting nut and so I stopped. I was not able to compress the shock with my weight any more. That’s a good starting point. Rather no rear suspension at all than the butt kicking behavior before. The bike was a bit easier to control but once compressed, the spring hit the shock back into the end stop with a sharp metal click after every bump.
So I rigged a webbing strap to the shock and tightened it as far as possible, to take a bit of load off the spring. That seemed to work.
Chilling time. Jaque & Rikus.
Some nice airhead examples.
How Ian can keep his bike almost dust free after the Transkei dirt roads, I :dontknow:
Thorsten, with his RS pretending to be a GS. He easily kept up with all the other bikes on the dirt roads, no worries. Bikes are overrated - the rider does make the difference!
For the gathering with all the bikes it started to rain, just perfect.
That night we had quite some fun with plenty of good jokes and laughter around the table and the free flowing Brandy from Willie's leather bag >
willieee
Race Dog
jes!we had a good time...i think because we where rebelling against the generator being switched off so early... :lol8: :lol8: :lol8:
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
The next morning it was still raining. The ride out of the camp could become interesting.
In the end it wasn’t too bad and I made it on my donkey ride without any scary moments.
There were a couple of riding groups forming and I joined the Cape Town guys. Some of the guys are lining up - Jaque, Lorenzo, Riaan, James and Rikus. Volker also joined us on the way to PE.
It was raining all the way and having proper off road tyres on my bike did not make it easier for me on the wet tar roads.
One of the few stops on route to PE.
Aprox 50km before PE Jaque’s bike quit on him and went up in smoke. Luckily Volker’s wife came to the rescue with the bakkie.
A quick visit at Volker’s place revealed a lot of beautiful airheads. He’s got close to 40 bikes in different stages of restoration.
These bikes are in the waiting room to be next for restoration.
Volker’s race bike with an airhead engine of over 105hp. A work of art.
Volker clearly knows something about beautiful things, his wife and daughter are no exception.
And the workshop is something even grown up man could dream about. The lathe and milling machine are waiting for some action.
In the end it wasn’t too bad and I made it on my donkey ride without any scary moments.
There were a couple of riding groups forming and I joined the Cape Town guys. Some of the guys are lining up - Jaque, Lorenzo, Riaan, James and Rikus. Volker also joined us on the way to PE.
It was raining all the way and having proper off road tyres on my bike did not make it easier for me on the wet tar roads.
One of the few stops on route to PE.
Aprox 50km before PE Jaque’s bike quit on him and went up in smoke. Luckily Volker’s wife came to the rescue with the bakkie.
A quick visit at Volker’s place revealed a lot of beautiful airheads. He’s got close to 40 bikes in different stages of restoration.
These bikes are in the waiting room to be next for restoration.
Volker’s race bike with an airhead engine of over 105hp. A work of art.
Volker clearly knows something about beautiful things, his wife and daughter are no exception.
And the workshop is something even grown up man could dream about. The lathe and milling machine are waiting for some action.
Howard
Pack Dog
Nice Ride Report so far Guys.
Regret missing this one, but next time!
:ricky:
Regret missing this one, but next time!
:ricky:
Wow!That Volker is one lucky guy!
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
Lorenzo decided for a quick run along the N2 the next morning to get home for a business meeting and the rest of the group went at a more leisurely pace towards the Cape.
More rain the next day. Due to the strong wind it was not even dry under this bridge.
It cleared a little for the posing in Jeffreys Bay and a heartily lunch was had afterwards in town. Traditional poikie kos – lekker.
Then we ride some back roads towards Mossel Bay.
The night we spend in Rikus’s family beach house. Thanks for being such a great host Rikus. The drinks and especially the Jaegermeister went down quite well that evening.
More rain the next day. Due to the strong wind it was not even dry under this bridge.
It cleared a little for the posing in Jeffreys Bay and a heartily lunch was had afterwards in town. Traditional poikie kos – lekker.
Then we ride some back roads towards Mossel Bay.
The night we spend in Rikus’s family beach house. Thanks for being such a great host Rikus. The drinks and especially the Jaegermeister went down quite well that evening.
DirtyHarry
Race Dog
The next morning we took it slow and Willie decided to get a new battery in town. Easier said than done, the whole operation did take almost the whole morning. In the end he hit the jackpot and scored a nice sealed Panasonic battery.
A few more back roads leading us to Riversdale and this is the last I have seen from my travel companions.
After the re-fueling I thought they were carrying on the N2 and gave it horns to catch up with them. At Heidelberg I realized that we must have missed each other. I didn’t feel like riding the N2 and so I went further on the dirt road towards Barrydale. Tradows pass was a special treat, the twisty road and the scenery is breathtaking.
I should have carried on to Barrydale but instead I went down the pass again to try to hook up with the other guys in Swellendam. There I got hold of Willie and was informed that they are having a break at the Wimpy in Heidelberg. He told me that they are planning to stay on the N2 to get home.
So I decided that I will do the home run on my own on back roads rather. I went through Greyton and noticed the beauty of the landscape so close to home.
Over Franshoek Pass I reached Cape Town, just in time for a beautiful sunset.
I made it safely home and could not believe it when I checked the total mileage of the trip. I covered more than 3.500km on my old lady in 7 days of riding. The last 1.200km I did with a rather scary rear suspension and in a strange way I did enjoy the “off “behavior of my bike. It made for a very interesting ride and kept me focused and concentrated all the way. This has saved my butt a couple of times when the bike got out of shape
Airheads are full of surprises …
A few more back roads leading us to Riversdale and this is the last I have seen from my travel companions.
After the re-fueling I thought they were carrying on the N2 and gave it horns to catch up with them. At Heidelberg I realized that we must have missed each other. I didn’t feel like riding the N2 and so I went further on the dirt road towards Barrydale. Tradows pass was a special treat, the twisty road and the scenery is breathtaking.
I should have carried on to Barrydale but instead I went down the pass again to try to hook up with the other guys in Swellendam. There I got hold of Willie and was informed that they are having a break at the Wimpy in Heidelberg. He told me that they are planning to stay on the N2 to get home.
So I decided that I will do the home run on my own on back roads rather. I went through Greyton and noticed the beauty of the landscape so close to home.
Over Franshoek Pass I reached Cape Town, just in time for a beautiful sunset.
I made it safely home and could not believe it when I checked the total mileage of the trip. I covered more than 3.500km on my old lady in 7 days of riding. The last 1.200km I did with a rather scary rear suspension and in a strange way I did enjoy the “off “behavior of my bike. It made for a very interesting ride and kept me focused and concentrated all the way. This has saved my butt a couple of times when the bike got out of shape
Airheads are full of surprises …
Nice RR Harry.
