Honda Adventure Roads 2019

[Mikie]

Its the first time I notice that cover on the rear plastics, whats under there?
The normal AT doesnt have that.

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

Its the first time I notice that cover on the rear plastics, whats under there?
The normal AT doesnt have that.

That’s just a little storage hatch Mikie, nothing inside there and needs an Allen key to open and close.

 

[ClimbingTurtle]

Its the first time I notice that cover on the rear plastics, whats under there?
The normal AT doesnt have that.

That’s just a little storage hatch Mikie, nothing inside there and needs an Allen key to open and close.

Mikie wants a new set of storage side-covers now.....  >

 

[Mikie]

Its the first time I notice that cover on the rear plastics, whats under there?
The normal AT doesnt have that.

That’s just a little storage hatch Mikie, nothing inside there and needs an Allen key to open and close.

Mikie wants a new set of storage side-covers now.....  >

:laughing4: :laughing4:

No I know the look of that bike pretty well, I have been bsy tracing and drawing up sticker templates for them and I never noticed that cover before, its a storage space on the adventure sports only it

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

Riders briefing currently taking place.  Still a couple of guests arriving during the course of the evening.

Tomorrow morning we ride.

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[Oubones]

Jealous, enjoy! :thumleft:

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

Jealous, enjoy! :thumleft:

Dankie Oubones.


Today was a slow day.  All our work was basically done last night so it was a matter of being on standby until lunch with the guests and riders briefing at 18h00.

We fitted some Ram mounts and Gps harnesses the afternoon for the marshall bikes.

We are ready to hit the road tomorrow.

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[Kobus Myburgh]

Back to the Tripy II they use for navigation:

This is what the device look like.

We also have a booklet with the printed roadbook.  Very much Rally style, with similar tulips, warnings, distance to next etc. 
Certainly a very nifty device and looking forward to putting it to the test.

We’ve just retired to our rooms after assisting some of the clients with setting up their bikes and fitting some farkles.  Things like bar raisers, tank bags etc.

We’re up tomorrow morning early and really looking forward to hitting the road.  We’ve been stationery for way too long!


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[Kobus Myburgh]

Were finally on the road.

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[Vis Arend]

Looks lekka, enjoy.  :thumleft: 

Smaak my daar is ook so paar dikgatte, net soos hier op die forum.  :lol8:  ot:

 

[Antonie]

Were finally on the road.

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See there is a few vlbikes on the trailer, I will come and ride them free of charge and pay my own petrol. Will also make coffee on demand and wash bikes :thumleft:

Enjoy the trip!

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[Kobus Myburgh]

First stop for the day.

First repairs done already patching up a pannier and replacing a foot brake lever after a stationary topple over.


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[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 1 - Durban to Clarens (406km)

We had an early start to the morning on day 1 of the official event.

Oom Bonnie assisted the guests with setting their clocks and making sure all technical issues were attended to while the rest of us were hooking up the trailer and ensuring our vehicles are ready for the day.

The excitement was tangible and it was great to finally leave Durban. 

There was shiny new ATGATT all around.  For some it was the first time on the AT and what is quite interesting is how few DCT’s there is.  I would’ve thought that more people would opt for the DCT, especially due to the route selection and being ideal for this kind of touring.  Anyway ..... we were off through the city of Durban to get to the N3.

Unfortunately it wasn’t long before we had our first incident.  One of the journalists fiddled with his equipment, didn’t see the Marshall in front of him stopping at the red traffic light and drove into him, toppling over.  Fortunately it happened at low speed and minimum damage.

The section of N3 was certainly good to get the riders accustomed to their bikes, but the traffic was no joke and cause for concern, especially when taking into account that all of the riders are used to driving on the opposite side of the road.

We were quite pleased when we took the off ramp to Howick and shortly after had our first stop at the historical capture site of Nelson Mandela.

It was our turn to get into action and assess the damage to the bike that had the earlier incident.  The rear brake pedal was badly bent and one of the panniers had a hole in it.  Not Honda’s best attempt at manufacturing panniers.

We quickly swopped out the damaged part with a new one and patched up the pannier as best we could.  All was good to hit the road again.


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[Kobus Myburgh]

After a cup of coffee we set off for our next stop.  Not long and we received the following message.

Just as you turn left on the R74 towards Winterton we found the rider with a flat rear wheel.

The valve of the tube was ripped off completely and we couldn’t help thinking that the nut wasn’t properly locked.  Anyway, 15 minutes later the rider was back on track.

From there it was incident free, apart from tightening a mirror, to Little Switzerland, our lunch stop for the day. 

The road we followed was quite familiar and brought back some good memories of the +- 2 years we lived in Drakensville.  We of course had to stop at the little padstal to get some of the best biltong in the country.

Our lunch stop, with the Amphitheater in the background.

Riders briefing after lunch and Eric warns the guys of possible strong winds as you pass Sterkfontein dam.

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[Oubones]

Nice ride. :thumleft:
I came down that way from Clarens last weekend.
You guys passed right in front of my place at the bottom off Key Ridge.

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 1 - Continued

We left little Switzerland and followed the road into the Freestate, past the Sterkfontein dam.  We were fortunate that the wind wasn’t as bad as expected.

Passing through Golden Gate was simply beautiful.  This is certainly a place you have to experience both in winter and summer, as the change in color provides for two kinds of beautiful.

Everyone arrived in Clarence in one piece and in high spirit.  The guests certainly was in awe of the days scenery.

Before our day could end, there was some minor things to address, the majority being lifting the gear selector slightly higher.


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[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 2 - Clarens to Premier Resort Sani Pass (280km)

It was early start to the day as we loaded one of the marshalls bike onto the trailer.  The mishap of the journalist the previous day actually caused more damaged to Eric, the lead marshall, and partner in Ride & Drive.

His leg was badly swollen and the team medical specialist advised him to take a rest.

Jean-Michelle Bayle, who acts as roaming marshall and mentor, assumed the leading marshall roll for the day.

Our first stop for the day was at Caledonspoort where we entered Lesotho.  We were early and it was quite, which made for a painless border crossing, especially with such a large group.

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[Kobus Myburgh]

Another 40 odd km later we stopped to refuel in Butha-Buthe.

I worked in Lesotho for two years but never had the time to explore and see the beauty of the country.  I was in awe of the scenery as we made our way to Sani Pass.

Some pictures of our journey.

Crossing the Senqu river.

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[Kobus Myburgh]

The group of riders were spread quite wide and, since we were sweeping, we arrived at the top of Sani pass as the first riders were just about ready to leave.

Jean- Michel Bayle first gave a quick briefing of riding position and the various settings on the Africa Twin.

This was the first gravel section of the trip and daunting for some.  I quickly adjusted tyre pressures on the bikes prior to the descent, while Oom Bonnie assisted a GS rider who hit a rock on the ascent and broke off his RHS brake caliper.

Just as the last rider took off, another returned with a rear flat.  We found a little piece of steel stuck in the rear tyre and quickly replaced the tube.

A quick stop at the border control office and we were back in our sweeping position.

I have been fortunate to do the pass a couple of times before and couldn’t believe the condition it was in.  I’ve never seen it this bad.

It wasn’t long before we came to a stop with one of the riders down.  Fortunately he wasn’t seriously injured and apart from some scratches, no serious damage to his bike either.  The rider was however hurting enough to call it quits for the day.

This caused a bit of a challenge however.  With four bikes on the big trailer that Hardy was towing, we made the call the morning to not risk that vehicle coming down Sani pass.

This meant that we had nothing to load the bike on, apart from the small fold up emergency trailers that Ride & Drive has.  While these little trailers are very handy, they are unsprung (if there’s such a word for a trailer with no springs).  With the condition of the pass, this would be too much of a risk.

I was asked to ride the bike down to our overnight accommodation, which was fortunately not too far away, while Oom Bonnie had to nurse the Cruiser down the rest of the pass.

Unfortunately there was no time for pics, but everyone eventually made it to the hotel in one piece, despite about 10 other falls.

After assessing the bikes, no noteworthy damage was found apart from a couple panniers. 

There was a sense of achievement amongst the group tonight at dinner, which was great to see.

And now it’s time to rest.  Tomorrow is another challenging route and we’re holding thumbs that the weather holds up.


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[Kobus Myburgh]

Nice ride. :thumleft:
I came down that way from Clarens last weekend.
You guys passed right in front of my place at the bottom off Key Ridge.

Jammer dat ons nou nie daar by jou kon stop en blad skud nie Oubones.