KTM Adventure Rally - There and Back Again

[Dux]

Magic Jono , enjoy  :thumleft:  :thumleft:

 

[GraZer]

Thanks Dux.

 

[GraZer]

Day 3 - Queenstown to Matatiele

Today started out nice and easy with a few km on tar to the next town. It was however very cold and had to stop to put some extra layers on. As I climbed through 1700m there was a stiff crosswind that kept things interesting. Just after filling up I was having a quick snack and once again I bumped into Mahnac72. After a quick chat were decided to ride together most of the way to Barkley East. Eventually we parted ways and I pushed on to Rhodes. From Rhodes it was on to Naudes neck. The road going up was fine but the way down was covered with loose marbles with many tight corners. When I finally hit the tar near Mount Fletcher I felt quite relived as the warm weather and loose road surface had worn me out. As I write this I have to admit to feeling quite buggered and thoughts of skipping one of the two planned days in Lesotho are going through my mind.

I took quite few pictures today but have been struggling to get them all uploaded.
This is what I have so far...

Mahnac72

Some sheep

Parting ways

On the way up Naudes Neck

The obligatory top of pass picture

Selfie

Some snow on the way down Naudes Neck

Quick off route stop next to the river

 

[Ri]

Sounds hectic! Hope tomorrow is better. How far did you travel?

Nice pics too. Is that shepherd holding a dog?

 

[GraZer]

Yes, the Shepard had a young collie dog with him.

 

[GraZer]

Day 4 - Matatiele to Sani Bottom

Today was some day. I'm proper broken. The morning started a bit later than I had planned and was presented with burning tyres and rocks blocking the road most of the way to the Lesotho border. Even had some rocks thrown at me. Not sure why I did not just turn around after the first few but I eventually made it to the border unscathed. Just made the border in time as they were about to close due to the unrest. Entering Lesotho I felt far more welcome and could relax a bit. The rest of the day turned out to be anything but relaxing. The information I had indicated that the border would close at 16h00. So the goal was to make Sani by then to get back into SA. As time went on I realised that I had grossly underestimated how long the route would take and that I would have to pick up the pace if I was going to make it. I had also assumed that once I was on the A3 the road would be better and I would be able to make up time. Wrong! The A3 had some very serious passes on it that made for slower riding than what I had already done. I was able to get fuel on the side of the road from a store run by a Chinese fellow, but was not thinking properly and only took 5 liters. As I continued to push for the border I realised that I would either just make it or run out of fuel trying. At this point all I kept thinking was TDSPP and decided to risk it. Hitting the tar to Sani was a welcome change and my fuel light came on about 30km before the border. I stuck with it and made the border by 16h20. Was delighted to find the border post still open and quickly had my passport stamped and headed down the pass (got down in 13 minutes). To my relief the SA border post was also still open. Still had 15 km to go and felt some comfort knowing that I could now call someone if I run out of fuel. After making it to my destination I was informed that the border post is open till 18h00, so the rush was unnecessary. Lesotho has been and interesting experience and is far from easy riding.

Since I was pushing for the border I did not take many photos and have been unable to upload them due to poor internet.
Will try and upload them tomorrow, as I plan to take it easy and skip out on my second day in Lesotho.

 

[GraZer]

Sounds hectic! Hope tomorrow is better. How far did you travel?

Yesterday was just over 400km

 

[Ri]

Good grief!! Glad you made it through Lesotho but GOOD GRIEF!!

Hope you don't mind me asking but what has happened to your prepped and organised self, that you hit the border on reserve? That was bit of a brain fart :eek7:

But you made it! :biggrin: :thumleft:

 

[GraZer]

Good grief!! Glad you made it through Lesotho but GOOD GRIEF!!

Hope you don't mind me asking but what has happened to your prepped and organised self, that you hit the border on reserve? That was bit of a brain fart :eek7:

But you made it! :biggrin: :thumleft:

You are welcome to ask. A few things contributed to all my mistakes.
1. I entered Lesotho an hour later than I had planned. This was partly my fault and partly due to the people running the place I stayed at wanting to chat a bit before I go.
2. Getting petrol was slow and they brought it out in a 5 litre container. Being a bit impatient, I did not want to wait for them to bring out more and just went with the first 5 liters.
3. All the information I could find on the border posts stated they close at 16h00. I even asked the officials at my point of entry and they seemed to think the same.
4. The night before I was going over the route with my GPS and a paper map and somehow left the GPS on. This resulted in the GPS battery being so low that despite being mounted in a cradle with external power, it was too low to run the unit and charge. So it eventually shutdown. I was carrying AA batteries which worked for a while but they too eventually went flat. At this point I only had my backup GPS, which I turned at junctions and to confirm I was on route. All these stops to deal with the GPS issues contributed to me taking longer. Need to go and try find a mini USB cable today so I can charge the GPS again as I don't want to rely on AA batteries for the rest of the trip.

 

[Dux]

Good grief!! Glad you made it through Lesotho but GOOD GRIEF!!

Hope you don't mind me asking but what has happened to your prepped and organised self, that you hit the border on reserve? That was bit of a brain fart :eek7:

But you made it! :biggrin: :thumleft:

You are welcome to ask. A few things contributed to all my mistakes.
1. I entered Lesotho an hour later than I had planned. This was partly my fault and partly due to the people running the place I stayed at wanting to chat a bit before I go.
2. Getting petrol was slow and they brought it out in a 5 litre container. Being a bit impatient, I did not want to wait for them to bring out more and just went with the first 5 liters.
3. All the information I could find on the border posts stated they close at 16h00. I even asked the officials at my point of entry and they seemed to think the same.
4. The night before I was going over the route with my GPS and a paper map and somehow left the GPS on. This resulted in the GPS battery being so low that despite being mounted in a cradle with external power, it was too low to run the unit and charge. So it eventually shutdown. I was carrying AA batteries which worked for a while but they too eventually went flat. At this point I only had my backup GPS, which I turned at junctions and to confirm I was on route. All these stops to deal with the GPS issues contributed to me taking longer. Need to go and try find a mini USB cable today so I can charge the GPS again as I don't want to rely on AA batteries for the rest of the trip.

Call it school fees , I am sure you will be much better prepared and informed next time .
Have a wonderful ride today  :thumleft:

 

[171steve]

Nice grazer.
A few guys should get tips from you on how to pack.
I gave seen guys pacing tripple that of your duffle bag for one weekend.

 

[GraZer]

Thanks 171steve  :thumleft:
I actually feel like I could be carrying less.

 

[GraZer]

Pictures from yesterday. Day 4 - Lesotho

Entering Lesotho

The point where my GPS decided to have issues

Still some snow on the peaks

Getting fuel
I have been carrying a fuel filter / strainer for a little while now and the amount of random black stuff it has collected over the past few days is rather shocking. Will take a picture soon and post it.

There was plenty of ice around while climbing one of the 3000m passes.
I should have stopped to take more pictures as this pass was particularly rough.

 

[GraZer]

Day 5 - Sani to Kestell

The original plan was to go back up Sani and head north to exit Lesotho near the Golden Gate National Park. After yesterday's ride I have been feeling rather run down and opted for an easy day and slabbed it all the way to Kestell. It was nice to have a slow start and first stopped at the Yamaha dealer in Heimville to wash and lube my bike. They found it odd that I wanted to do the work myself. After that I was able to find a mini USB cable at a small computer store. Next up were some lithium batteries, but I lucked out and had to settle for some vanilla Energisers. After fitting the GPS to the bike, it started with the same shit I had a few months back were it constantly looses external power. Trying to resolve the issue in the car park was not something I wanted to do so I just pulled the ACC2 fuse and moved on. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I did see some bikes being trailered to the KTM Adventure Rally venue. Upon arriving at my destination I spent some time checking the external power for the GPS. And now it works. I would love to know where the fault is, but as it is so intermittent it has been vet difficult to diagnose. It is either the AMPS rugged mount or the GPS itself. I hope it stays this was for at least the next 3 days.

The morning was cold with very low cloud

Bike wash 

Sterkfontien Dam

 

[Dux]

Nice , Lesotho is motorcycle paradise , enjoy bud  :thumleft:

 

[Ri]

Considering that you were pushed for time and riding some pretty rough terrain, you took some beautiful photos - thanks!

Yes, clearly you overpacked for a, what, 7-day trip?  :  :biggrin:

 

[GraZer]

11 days

 

[armpump]

Looks so good man

Question:

I have never used soft luggage.

Is it not better to strap bag on in this direction covering a little of the back seat so it gets less wind grab ?

 

[GraZer]

I've strapped bags both ways over time. Either way works, but if your bag is a bit long and you strap it length ways it can get in the way if you move around on the bike a lot. Personally I would prefer to strap bags length ways, but being off road a lot it does get in the way. The Kriega bag you have is short enough to not be a problem so I would go with the way you have it.

 

[GraZer]

Day 6 Kestell to KTM Adventure Rally

Not mush to report about my ride today. A short ~150km to the event. Will try to post many photos each day.
Here are a few to start with.