RobbieH
Pack Dog
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 141
- Reaction score
- 14
- Bike
- KTM 1190 Adventure
so Just come back from a great 5 days ride and thought id share some info about the trip.
1x KTM 1190R
1x GS800 Adventure
Day 1 Midrand through to Hoedspruit all tar and then a small dirt sections from Klaserie to Blyde river camping site.
not the most eventful day but hey if you pushed for time tar does the trick and you get to where you want to be and that was Blyderiver camp site which is half way up the Mariepskop mountain.
As far a get aways go the is where you can shut it down for a night and not have to worry about cell phones or the out side world for a few hours. Amazing place.
Day 2 Blyderiver camp site- Kruger fence ride- Macaneta Island resort.
The Kruger ride was great but so dry. No water at all and sadly no river crossings to keep up entertained. At the moment its a easy easy ride.
Once we hit the N4 we headed for Komatiepoort border and 30kms out we had a front puncture on the GS800 This was rather entertaining as neither myself or my riding partner had ever changed a tube before. Lucky enough the little bit of bicycle tire experience we had got us though the process but not till we lost an hour in the process. I will say that Good old you tube was called upon just to make sure we didn't get stuff wrong or lose anything unnecessary. We had a moment when the guy in the you tube club used some tool that neither of us had ever seen or had. we thought that was us done and dusted. I said to Neil my mate must be in the tool kit under the seat as all bike come with the fittings you need, (Apparently). We lift the seat and find a screwdriver so now we really screwed. Luckily enough we amateurs are rather adventurous and play around to find the tool the idiot on the you tube clip was not even needed and all he dd was confuse matters.
Once sorted we hit the road and Komatiepoort border that as a breeze.
Riding into Maputo at sundown was a risk i must say but hey we managed and the car dodging and all the rest makes for good memories.
We were really worried to make Mancaneta island and the ferry as i had been there last 3 years ago and knew the ferry only ran certain times. As we hit the road leading to the ferry we sadly came across a Massive two lane bride that has been newly made by our Chinese brothers. Turned out in our favor as the ferry would have been done for the day and now its done for good. Sad.
We hit the 7kms of sand to the Macaneta resort and as simple as the resort is i stand very firmly with what i say right now. It has the best see food i have ever eaten in where in the world. Had it first 3 years ago. and again the other day. Second time around was just as good. Well worth the stop if you are ever close to there. you wont be disappointed.( Tell you what if you are ill pay of the dinner
Day 3 Macaneta Isalnd to Ponte Mamoli near Ponte De Ouro.
Started early with the idea of a lot of sand ahead and was probably not ready but hey we thought we have to earn our sand miles some how. Stopped along the way at the local bicycle mechanics to fix our punctured tube got stung way to much for a patch and glue but hey desperate times you can't say much.
Once we got close to where we thought the sand should be all we found was Trucks and wide sand roads built by the Chinese again. The road to Ponta is basically a sand road highway which can be ridden at 120kms/h if you want.
We arrived with in 10kms from Ponte Mamoli and hit sand the usual thick beach sand that well known in the area. Was not easy going and after a few scares and falls we managed to get the groove. But this was only after Neil dropping his bike in front of a big Bakkie of aAfrikaans chaps who climbed out to help him pick up the GS 800 and the comments started. "Wat di F*k make jy her met ad bike and tyre nee man jy gain kaak." i was literally 500 meters away listening to al this on the coms we have and pissing in my pants with Laughter. Neil gets going after pleading that the bakkie drive past but they refused and want to drive behind to see the Rooi nek show of dropping the bike again. They didn't wait long casue he was now rattled and nervous at having spectators behind him and down he went again. Anyways being helped up again the second time but the gentle giant we stopped for a break and assessed the sorry state of affairs. Once we got our shit together we managed the next 4 kms to the resort. buckled but not beaten.
We camped the night and slept like legends.
Day 4 Short ride planned as we had a comp night in White pearl resort. So was literally 10kms back up the same road we came down.
We decided to got for a longer ride and hit the dirt road back towards Maputo for a while. We got to the Hotel at 1pm and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the most incredible hotels I've ever been to. Luckily we had a comp night cause they charge $1000 a night apparently. We abused the free drink and food like all good free things should be.
Day 5 was White pearl Beach resort to KosiBay border and then JHB home. long day in the saddle.
Started out brilliant with 5kms of sand done like the pros and not issues at all. Then we went direction " Frontiera" or border and things went pear shaped.
We battled for 20kms in the sand, took he wrong road which doubled the distance, the effort, the times we fell and just made plain and simple life- hard.
We fell numerous times and eventually by the time we hit the border we were luckily on schedule still. ok 15 mins late.
The Guards at the border were laughing at how we traveled by bike and could see out morning was not the best stat to the day.
Got through with no issues and we were on the road back to JHB.Obviously a long tar section but was a welcome ride compared to the this sand fight we had.
The GS800 adventure has a great range not he bike and out performed the bike on that matter cause I was needing to fill up after 370kms and he had almost half a tank. As far as cruising on the highways i take my 1190R hands down.
In the sand i only rode my 1190R so difficult to explain how the GS 800 fared but they were equally to us. Only thing i can say being 178cms tall is that the bike is slightly high for me and would have been more maneuverable if i was taller. But again I'm super happy with my bike wouldn't change it for the world.
Thats its for now photos coming.
Those of you wanting sand riding better get to Ponta asap because soon there is no more sand left!
Robbie H
1x KTM 1190R
1x GS800 Adventure
Day 1 Midrand through to Hoedspruit all tar and then a small dirt sections from Klaserie to Blyde river camping site.
not the most eventful day but hey if you pushed for time tar does the trick and you get to where you want to be and that was Blyderiver camp site which is half way up the Mariepskop mountain.
As far a get aways go the is where you can shut it down for a night and not have to worry about cell phones or the out side world for a few hours. Amazing place.
Day 2 Blyderiver camp site- Kruger fence ride- Macaneta Island resort.
The Kruger ride was great but so dry. No water at all and sadly no river crossings to keep up entertained. At the moment its a easy easy ride.
Once we hit the N4 we headed for Komatiepoort border and 30kms out we had a front puncture on the GS800 This was rather entertaining as neither myself or my riding partner had ever changed a tube before. Lucky enough the little bit of bicycle tire experience we had got us though the process but not till we lost an hour in the process. I will say that Good old you tube was called upon just to make sure we didn't get stuff wrong or lose anything unnecessary. We had a moment when the guy in the you tube club used some tool that neither of us had ever seen or had. we thought that was us done and dusted. I said to Neil my mate must be in the tool kit under the seat as all bike come with the fittings you need, (Apparently). We lift the seat and find a screwdriver so now we really screwed. Luckily enough we amateurs are rather adventurous and play around to find the tool the idiot on the you tube clip was not even needed and all he dd was confuse matters.
Once sorted we hit the road and Komatiepoort border that as a breeze.
Riding into Maputo at sundown was a risk i must say but hey we managed and the car dodging and all the rest makes for good memories.
We were really worried to make Mancaneta island and the ferry as i had been there last 3 years ago and knew the ferry only ran certain times. As we hit the road leading to the ferry we sadly came across a Massive two lane bride that has been newly made by our Chinese brothers. Turned out in our favor as the ferry would have been done for the day and now its done for good. Sad.
We hit the 7kms of sand to the Macaneta resort and as simple as the resort is i stand very firmly with what i say right now. It has the best see food i have ever eaten in where in the world. Had it first 3 years ago. and again the other day. Second time around was just as good. Well worth the stop if you are ever close to there. you wont be disappointed.( Tell you what if you are ill pay of the dinner
Day 3 Macaneta Isalnd to Ponte Mamoli near Ponte De Ouro.
Started early with the idea of a lot of sand ahead and was probably not ready but hey we thought we have to earn our sand miles some how. Stopped along the way at the local bicycle mechanics to fix our punctured tube got stung way to much for a patch and glue but hey desperate times you can't say much.
Once we got close to where we thought the sand should be all we found was Trucks and wide sand roads built by the Chinese again. The road to Ponta is basically a sand road highway which can be ridden at 120kms/h if you want.
We arrived with in 10kms from Ponte Mamoli and hit sand the usual thick beach sand that well known in the area. Was not easy going and after a few scares and falls we managed to get the groove. But this was only after Neil dropping his bike in front of a big Bakkie of aAfrikaans chaps who climbed out to help him pick up the GS 800 and the comments started. "Wat di F*k make jy her met ad bike and tyre nee man jy gain kaak." i was literally 500 meters away listening to al this on the coms we have and pissing in my pants with Laughter. Neil gets going after pleading that the bakkie drive past but they refused and want to drive behind to see the Rooi nek show of dropping the bike again. They didn't wait long casue he was now rattled and nervous at having spectators behind him and down he went again.
Anyways being helped up again the second time but the gentle giant we stopped for a break and assessed the sorry state of affairs. Once we got our shit together we managed the next 4 kms to the resort. buckled but not beaten.We camped the night and slept like legends.
Day 4 Short ride planned as we had a comp night in White pearl resort. So was literally 10kms back up the same road we came down.
We decided to got for a longer ride and hit the dirt road back towards Maputo for a while. We got to the Hotel at 1pm and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the most incredible hotels I've ever been to. Luckily we had a comp night cause they charge $1000 a night apparently. We abused the free drink and food like all good free things should be.
Day 5 was White pearl Beach resort to KosiBay border and then JHB home. long day in the saddle.
Started out brilliant with 5kms of sand done like the pros and not issues at all. Then we went direction " Frontiera" or border and things went pear shaped.
We battled for 20kms in the sand, took he wrong road which doubled the distance, the effort, the times we fell and just made plain and simple life- hard.
We fell numerous times and eventually by the time we hit the border we were luckily on schedule still. ok 15 mins late.
The Guards at the border were laughing at how we traveled by bike and could see out morning was not the best stat to the day.
Got through with no issues and we were on the road back to JHB.Obviously a long tar section but was a welcome ride compared to the this sand fight we had.
The GS800 adventure has a great range not he bike and out performed the bike on that matter cause I was needing to fill up after 370kms and he had almost half a tank. As far as cruising on the highways i take my 1190R hands down.
In the sand i only rode my 1190R so difficult to explain how the GS 800 fared but they were equally to us. Only thing i can say being 178cms tall is that the bike is slightly high for me and would have been more maneuverable if i was taller. But again I'm super happy with my bike wouldn't change it for the world.
Thats its for now photos coming.
Those of you wanting sand riding better get to Ponta asap because soon there is no more sand left!
Robbie H
