Vat een van die katte se kos bakke dan maak jy n 12.5, best of both worlds (nie geweet hyt reeds n 13 nie)
My Kove 450 Rally February 2024
- Thread starter BuRP
- Start date
Bike_Buddies
Grey Hound
4.5 jaar oud, netnou sy 100K km diens gehad........ glo nie hy gaan gerubberize word nie, hy laai net tyres met n bike tusse-in
Hardcore
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2007
- Messages
- 90
- Reaction score
- 14
- Location
- Heidelberg, GP
- Bike
- KTM 790 Adventure R Rally
I went to have a look at it today, my name is on the list for the next batch.
Right, first ride done & over with, odo now on 186km.
Let's start with the Gearbox:
"Ooooooh dear, here we go, I knew it!!!"
The gearbox & you will become big buddies - for reason this bike needs to be kept on the boil if you want some performance.
Sure, I am running it in yeah, but there's no way I'll go on forever poerpoering with low revs in low gears!
I'll give it time to warm up properly, will not labour it or ride it in a too high gear, and also I will not give it 100% throttle yet - and sure, in the beginning (the first odd 60km's) I kept the revs below 6K.
In those first kilometers the bike felt stiff, or perhaps I needed to tune myself in to this new bike, dunno.
But when I hit the dirt past Harties, the canal road, I gave it more, rev-wise and throttle wise - I started limiting at 7K rpm but by the end that was 8krpm, and then this bike sings
As from ~6K there's somebody home, but at 4K there's hardly anyone home.
Sure, it'll trundle obediently along then, but, even when you whack the throttle fully open (of course I tried that...) this feels like abuse to me because there's mostly more intake-noise only.
But, give it beans and let it rev, and then you'll find an eager dance partner who can sing too!
However, this is about the gearbox - and I think a 5speed 'box is funny these days.
"5 speed? See, it's broken already!!!"
The first 5 gears are close-ratio, a hoot when pulling away - so much so that a quickshifter would actually be welcome on this thing!
The close spacing is also good for negating technical stuff, you can't ask for better. Oh, no false neutrals anywhere, this is a fine gearbox - and NO, for me there's space enough under the lever so I will not trim the carbon bellypan!
But, hook 6th and fall into an abyss, or a black hole or what, unless you're really on the boil - and that is at high speed already then!
You also need to really wide-open the throttle then, and conclude with me that...
- I did not do that today save for a few tries,
- this 6th gear acts as an Overdrive!
Now, this is a bit odd..... the gearing already is 4% shorter than standard (a 51 instead of 49 tooth rear sprocket), and it still feels like this... weird, because only those who will really hammer this bike at high speeds could use it!
I'm not that guy first of all - and secondly, I rather have a shorter gearing in the first gears in any case!
I will mount a 53 sprocket soon (plus a new chain yes, one has to!), which then is 8.2% shorter geared than standard.
I expect to achieve with that then...
- a noticeable shorter gearing (of all gears of course) at low to moderate speeds
This will help with everything, not only in technical stuff but literally everywhere - except when attempting top-speed records!
- a better/quicker response on the throttle so that it hopefully will hoist the front wheel off the throttle
During riding it is lekker to be able to just open it up to get the front wheel over a ditch or why, and currently it is very very reluctant to do this, plus you must be in the correct gear then also!
- plus a more-usable 6th gear, and perhaps do this even without having to hold the throttle wide-open
This will help with cruising on roads or even highways - and it is really comfortable there already!
Oh, I had between 10 & 11 liters of fuel in the two main tanks (with under 2 liters in the rear, petcock closed during the entire ride), so the unwillingness to hoist the front was not due to the fact that I had full tanks!
More to follow, I need coffee now but need to start my genny first, Eishkom....
Let's start with the Gearbox:
"Ooooooh dear, here we go, I knew it!!!"
The gearbox & you will become big buddies - for reason this bike needs to be kept on the boil if you want some performance.
Sure, I am running it in yeah, but there's no way I'll go on forever poerpoering with low revs in low gears!
I'll give it time to warm up properly, will not labour it or ride it in a too high gear, and also I will not give it 100% throttle yet - and sure, in the beginning (the first odd 60km's) I kept the revs below 6K.
In those first kilometers the bike felt stiff, or perhaps I needed to tune myself in to this new bike, dunno.
But when I hit the dirt past Harties, the canal road, I gave it more, rev-wise and throttle wise - I started limiting at 7K rpm but by the end that was 8krpm, and then this bike sings
As from ~6K there's somebody home, but at 4K there's hardly anyone home.
Sure, it'll trundle obediently along then, but, even when you whack the throttle fully open (of course I tried that...) this feels like abuse to me because there's mostly more intake-noise only.
But, give it beans and let it rev, and then you'll find an eager dance partner who can sing too!
However, this is about the gearbox - and I think a 5speed 'box is funny these days.
"5 speed? See, it's broken already!!!"
The first 5 gears are close-ratio, a hoot when pulling away - so much so that a quickshifter would actually be welcome on this thing!
The close spacing is also good for negating technical stuff, you can't ask for better. Oh, no false neutrals anywhere, this is a fine gearbox - and NO, for me there's space enough under the lever so I will not trim the carbon bellypan!
But, hook 6th and fall into an abyss, or a black hole or what, unless you're really on the boil - and that is at high speed already then!
You also need to really wide-open the throttle then, and conclude with me that...
- I did not do that today save for a few tries,
- this 6th gear acts as an Overdrive!
Now, this is a bit odd..... the gearing already is 4% shorter than standard (a 51 instead of 49 tooth rear sprocket), and it still feels like this... weird, because only those who will really hammer this bike at high speeds could use it!
I'm not that guy first of all - and secondly, I rather have a shorter gearing in the first gears in any case!
I will mount a 53 sprocket soon (plus a new chain yes, one has to!), which then is 8.2% shorter geared than standard.
I expect to achieve with that then...
- a noticeable shorter gearing (of all gears of course) at low to moderate speeds
This will help with everything, not only in technical stuff but literally everywhere - except when attempting top-speed records!
- a better/quicker response on the throttle so that it hopefully will hoist the front wheel off the throttle
During riding it is lekker to be able to just open it up to get the front wheel over a ditch or why, and currently it is very very reluctant to do this, plus you must be in the correct gear then also!
- plus a more-usable 6th gear, and perhaps do this even without having to hold the throttle wide-open
This will help with cruising on roads or even highways - and it is really comfortable there already!
Oh, I had between 10 & 11 liters of fuel in the two main tanks (with under 2 liters in the rear, petcock closed during the entire ride), so the unwillingness to hoist the front was not due to the fact that I had full tanks!
More to follow, I need coffee now but need to start my genny first, Eishkom....
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Second, Suspension.
"What now ma China?"
I already knew that the front was 'too hard' for me, this I got from the testride.
So I wound back the clickers before I left this morning, -3 Rebound & -3 Compression .... and this was a lot better already
With 'too hard' I mean I use very little of the available stroke, and when one does this the fancy suspenders are wasted on you!
I'm certainly no racer, so "racing suspension" like this bike has will be wasted on me if I don't tune it to my taste, so that's why I dialed in "less" for today.
Tomorrow I will take the screwdriver with me so I can fiddle 'on the fly' so to speak, see what works best for me - but my initial 'hunch' was, and still is now, that I'll need a set of softer springs.
We will see.....
The shock at the rear is most of the time "fine" (that same "FINE!" your wife tells you lol) for me as I work around this, however not this time: it kicks me, and I will kick back!!
"Too hard/rough" also, it kicks my behind bejezus hard at times, so I'll have to let some off there - had a look, can't reach it too easily so I'll see tomorrow what can be done quick.
Third, Lights.
When I took the bike to my local Chinese Takeaway outlet (I thought this somehow appropriate) last night I found out that my setting for the Lights ('Manual') did not work, there was no way I could switch them on - so I rode pulling the High-Beam lever all the time
The aiming proved WAAYY too high also, so I did correct this all this morning - but beam-height only, I still have to check for sideways aiming.
And the setting I changed to "Always On" so I did have the lights on today
Fourth, Dashboard.
The dash is nice and a bit fancy, and I am old fashioned and thick...... can't find any tripmeters??
Also, the ABS confuses me, Rear-wheel On or Off.... I'm lost, will have to go to Offroad Cycles on Monday to ask for help to sort that out. Yeah, of course I tried a bit, but I can lock up the rear with any of the settings?
Call me a wuss but I won't try that with the front brake.....
The tank-gauge is funny, here's why.
I left with 10-11 liters total fuel, and a closed petcock for the rear tank.
After about 115km the warning (below) came on so I thought "that is quick???" but did fill up the front tanks - which took 10.3 liters, meaning there was still some 7+ liters in the front tanks...... really???
Sure, this warning is nice indeed, but I will play around to see which indication refers to what amount of fuel I have left in my tanks!
Sure, this will be a bit different for all the bikes but I rather have an educated idea rather than a guess, I know this will save me 'calling a friend' or walking sooner or later
The gear-indicator is cute!!!!
Really it is, it "scrolls" the numbers when you shift gear - rather a nice touch, never seen this before
What else???
The tyres are fine, good on the road (without them being Kyalami rated of course) and good on the off bits.
I have mousses in them and some of the sillicone grease has come out now, purrrrrrfect!
For now I think this Kove 450 Rally is a lekker bike, and tomorrow I'll put the total to ~300km so I can go drop the oil on Monday, new filter then also.
Ooh yeah, the Brakes!
Quite frankly I had the idea that these were 'fine' only, they lacked the initial bite I like.
I even had degreased the disks with thinners already (another habit of mine) but they did not want to 'bite'.... oh well, they're fine and I'll live with that.
Not anymore now, of course they had to break-in first of all, and secondly some dust & heat did wonders for them: they are 'Fine' now, really, with enough bite also!
"What now ma China?"
I already knew that the front was 'too hard' for me, this I got from the testride.
So I wound back the clickers before I left this morning, -3 Rebound & -3 Compression .... and this was a lot better already
With 'too hard' I mean I use very little of the available stroke, and when one does this the fancy suspenders are wasted on you!
I'm certainly no racer, so "racing suspension" like this bike has will be wasted on me if I don't tune it to my taste, so that's why I dialed in "less" for today.
Tomorrow I will take the screwdriver with me so I can fiddle 'on the fly' so to speak, see what works best for me - but my initial 'hunch' was, and still is now, that I'll need a set of softer springs.
We will see.....
The shock at the rear is most of the time "fine" (that same "FINE!" your wife tells you lol) for me as I work around this, however not this time: it kicks me, and I will kick back!!
"Too hard/rough" also, it kicks my behind bejezus hard at times, so I'll have to let some off there - had a look, can't reach it too easily so I'll see tomorrow what can be done quick.
Third, Lights.
When I took the bike to my local Chinese Takeaway outlet (I thought this somehow appropriate) last night I found out that my setting for the Lights ('Manual') did not work, there was no way I could switch them on - so I rode pulling the High-Beam lever all the time
The aiming proved WAAYY too high also, so I did correct this all this morning - but beam-height only, I still have to check for sideways aiming.
And the setting I changed to "Always On" so I did have the lights on today
Fourth, Dashboard.
The dash is nice and a bit fancy, and I am old fashioned and thick...... can't find any tripmeters??
Also, the ABS confuses me, Rear-wheel On or Off.... I'm lost, will have to go to Offroad Cycles on Monday to ask for help to sort that out. Yeah, of course I tried a bit, but I can lock up the rear with any of the settings?
Call me a wuss but I won't try that with the front brake.....
The tank-gauge is funny, here's why.
I left with 10-11 liters total fuel, and a closed petcock for the rear tank.
After about 115km the warning (below) came on so I thought "that is quick???" but did fill up the front tanks - which took 10.3 liters, meaning there was still some 7+ liters in the front tanks...... really???
Sure, this warning is nice indeed, but I will play around to see which indication refers to what amount of fuel I have left in my tanks!
Sure, this will be a bit different for all the bikes but I rather have an educated idea rather than a guess, I know this will save me 'calling a friend' or walking sooner or later
The gear-indicator is cute!!!!
Really it is, it "scrolls" the numbers when you shift gear - rather a nice touch, never seen this before
What else???
The tyres are fine, good on the road (without them being Kyalami rated of course) and good on the off bits.
I have mousses in them and some of the sillicone grease has come out now, purrrrrrfect!
For now I think this Kove 450 Rally is a lekker bike, and tomorrow I'll put the total to ~300km so I can go drop the oil on Monday, new filter then also.
Ooh yeah, the Brakes!
Quite frankly I had the idea that these were 'fine' only, they lacked the initial bite I like.
I even had degreased the disks with thinners already (another habit of mine) but they did not want to 'bite'.... oh well, they're fine and I'll live with that.
Not anymore now, of course they had to break-in first of all, and secondly some dust & heat did wonders for them: they are 'Fine' now, really, with enough bite also!
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I did Pretoria - Harties - Canal Road - Brits - lunch - Rosslyn - Home again.
Was hot today, and the off bits were mostly dry.
Because I rode alone no dust, I won't even check the airfilter lol!
Tomorrow I'll do some other bits
Was hot today, and the off bits were mostly dry.
Because I rode alone no dust, I won't even check the airfilter lol!
Tomorrow I'll do some other bits
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I completely forget Comfort .... and this bike has spades of that!!!
In fact, those looking for a nippy commuter could do worse than getting this bike, maybe slap some road-biased tyres on and go hoon in the traffic!
Sure, I like off better, and it's great there also.
It goes where you point it, the suspension soaks up even big undulations, and no doubt the cush-drive helps to add to the comfort level. Again, on open roads keeping up with traffic my 500 can't hold even a candle here, this bike is in its own class - it does it so easy, gemaklik!
Almost forgot, the SEAT!!!!!
May I recommend Dion's comfy-seat conversion?
Almost forgot about it, never noticed it - that's a fine seat indeed then!
Add it to your list of options when you get your bike, R2600.- later you'll thank yourself
In fact, those looking for a nippy commuter could do worse than getting this bike, maybe slap some road-biased tyres on and go hoon in the traffic!
Sure, I like off better, and it's great there also.
It goes where you point it, the suspension soaks up even big undulations, and no doubt the cush-drive helps to add to the comfort level. Again, on open roads keeping up with traffic my 500 can't hold even a candle here, this bike is in its own class - it does it so easy, gemaklik!
Almost forgot, the SEAT!!!!!
May I recommend Dion's comfy-seat conversion?
Almost forgot about it, never noticed it - that's a fine seat indeed then!
Add it to your list of options when you get your bike, R2600.- later you'll thank yourself
Canals are fun unless there is a lot of rain then it becomes a clay nightmare. Bike looks good !I did Pretoria - Harties - Canal Road - Brits - lunch - Rosslyn - Home again.
Was hot today, and the off bits were mostly dry.
Because I rode alone no dust, I won't even check the airfilter lol!
View attachment 879666
View attachment 879667
View attachment 879668
View attachment 879669
View attachment 879670
View attachment 879671
View attachment 879672
Tomorrow I'll do some other bits
That bike looks too clean, seems like you purposefully avoided all the water puddles and pools
Sandban(g)k
Race Dog
He is lying. I saw him on the tar road on my way to Brits this afternoon.
I almost hit the car behind him head on while drooling and checking my rear view mirrors
I almost hit the car behind him head on while drooling and checking my rear view mirrors
I looked out for him but only saw, KLR's Gs's and one guy having a jol on his T7 on the western canals
Tomorrow is service time - which I wanted to do after 300km but hey, who's counting eh?
Well, the dash is apparently, after 500km I saw this kind reminder pop up.
No idea how to reset it but Offroad Cycles should know, and that's where I'll be going tomorrow!
I learned quite a bit today, so let's give you that here in summary:
- if you run the dual side tanks dry first (I did today, twice - on purpose), then, after opening the rear tank's petrol-tap (this tank was full on both occasions!), the bike may not always start immediately!
Today was really hot, high-30's at least, and a petrol tank builds up quite a bit of pressure then, especially so when (almost) empty - which will, or can, prevent petrol flowing like you expect it to do!
No problem though: just open all 3 fuel-caps (really open them, you'll hear them "woosh"-ing), wait a few secs, and then hit the starter button
- top speed in this hot weather at Jericho's altitude is 153 km/h indicated.
It cruises around 130 easy, runs to top easy too (all this of course in 6th gear), but under 7K rpm (which is on my bike now around 118) it is not too willing to do this, so it tends to slow down then gradually ..... the 'overdrive' feeling I've mentioned above.
I now know that a 53-tooth rear sprocket will cure this - and perhaps those at the coast will be a bit more lucky here.
- I'm not sure that the ABS-settings are kept ('remembered') when you switch off the bike.
I actually felt the rear-ABS kicking in on some sandy bits so I set the rear-wheel to Off - and this seems to work.
But, a bit later it did so again, so my hunch is I'll need to set either 'ABS off' or get some dongle.
Will ask about this tomorrow!
Oh, have not felt the front's ABS kicking in yet...
- I've remarked that the tyres are quite fine, and they are!
But, every tyre is a compromise, and these (an On/Off mix) do not want to grip in coarse sandy bits, let alone that pebble-**** around Jericho... I felt lucky to make a few turns, and yeah, I also took a few shortcuts: going straight
No problem at all, I'll keep them on as is, and will use them for the upcoming Transkei/Lesotho/Drakenberg trip also (I only hope the Transkei will be dry-ish then lol).
For the two Kaokoland trips I planned on mounting new tyres anyway, and I now have decided on a Motoz Tractionator Desert rear, and a Mitas E13 (or whatever its new name now is) front, for 2 reasons:
- @Xpat has these on his 690. Trust me I tried, but could not keep up with him in the bush on cattle tracks or old jeep tracks, causing the aforementioned shortcuts
- and, the Motoz lasts well, I reckon it'll do these two trips lekker (the E13 front will do that too but I knew that already).
Xpat is our resident Russian, many know him here.
For a few good reasons but let me tell you them anyway:
- he's fluent in Balkan as well as Slavic, but weirdly enough his Russian is limited to Da, Net & "KUUUUUUUURRRRVA!!!" ..... which I found out when he pinched his own fingers inbetween the rear tyre and the rim. When asked he (later duh) explained that that last bit refers to some female in some ways, so I could not help thinking about our local analogies like Ma & Sussie - but let's stick with the subject rather!
- he rides a lot, no, wait, a LOT, and prefers to do this alone - and go remote - and far - and long - and he is still alive!!!!
He's written a few sterling RideReports here so go check what/when/where/how he does this, you'll be rewarded by a lot of stunning pics at the bare minimum!
- he does something vague workwise, if you believe he actually works that is. But he seems to get it, and IT too, so no need to feel bad for the oke.
- he prefers to ride there where others don't or won't, or do not go there too often, but "if at all ever ridden" he likes best.
He has many, no, wait, MANY routes he's done or has done a few times, and I'm sure he also has a few which he will do.... anyway, today he took us to Jericho's greater environment, offrroad of course, no GPS needed, and we started by veering off in De Wildt at the 'rubbish dump'.
I should have stopped there for a few pics - it's bad, really bad, it almost IS a rubbish dump!!!
Further below I'll post some pics of today, but let's start with the beginning.
We met at 8 at a petrol station just off the N4, West of Pretoria - here...
... where I filled up my rear tank only (petrol tap closed) as I had still quite a bit in the front tanks.
It took....
... so, that's a bit odd?
It proves definitely bigger than '12 Liters' as I was told - and, I didn't really fill it to the brim, just a notch under it!
It wasn't completely empty either - so I now reckon that the rear will hold 15 Liters (or a little more even...) and the remainder of the 30 Liter Total is made up by the side tanks, which look 'same' to me so around 7.5 Liters (or a little less) each.
Oh well, good to know
I had a wors roll which was quite a bit nicer than I expected, and during chewing Martin arrived.
During my short wait I noticed my front fender looking a bit odd...
.... that's Rottweiler puppy teeth-marks for you!
At least I think it's the little *****, but could be the big dog's also - anyway, I love them both!
I had a peek under the rear fender/tank also...
... and my rear wheel flinging its excess mousse lubricant is clearly visible, dust-covered of course.
Anyway, soon the scenery we were in changed to this - yeah, just a liiiitle lost but it was early, a Sunday so holiday, and who's in a hurry hmm?
Yeah, I lost the numberplate rather soon - maybe it's at the rubbish dump now?
Anyway....
.... this area is beautiful!
Very warm so it was dry - and dusty as I was following Martin. Haven't checked my airfilter yet but I already know what it looks like - but I'll keep that as is for now, this was only 1 day of dust, and I know it can do quite a bit more before it needs a clean or swap!
Chow-time now for me...
Well, the dash is apparently, after 500km I saw this kind reminder pop up.
No idea how to reset it but Offroad Cycles should know, and that's where I'll be going tomorrow!
I learned quite a bit today, so let's give you that here in summary:
- if you run the dual side tanks dry first (I did today, twice - on purpose), then, after opening the rear tank's petrol-tap (this tank was full on both occasions!), the bike may not always start immediately!
Today was really hot, high-30's at least, and a petrol tank builds up quite a bit of pressure then, especially so when (almost) empty - which will, or can, prevent petrol flowing like you expect it to do!
No problem though: just open all 3 fuel-caps (really open them, you'll hear them "woosh"-ing), wait a few secs, and then hit the starter button
- top speed in this hot weather at Jericho's altitude is 153 km/h indicated.
It cruises around 130 easy, runs to top easy too (all this of course in 6th gear), but under 7K rpm (which is on my bike now around 118) it is not too willing to do this, so it tends to slow down then gradually ..... the 'overdrive' feeling I've mentioned above.
I now know that a 53-tooth rear sprocket will cure this - and perhaps those at the coast will be a bit more lucky here.
- I'm not sure that the ABS-settings are kept ('remembered') when you switch off the bike.
I actually felt the rear-ABS kicking in on some sandy bits so I set the rear-wheel to Off - and this seems to work.
But, a bit later it did so again, so my hunch is I'll need to set either 'ABS off' or get some dongle.
Will ask about this tomorrow!
Oh, have not felt the front's ABS kicking in yet...
- I've remarked that the tyres are quite fine, and they are!
But, every tyre is a compromise, and these (an On/Off mix) do not want to grip in coarse sandy bits, let alone that pebble-**** around Jericho... I felt lucky to make a few turns, and yeah, I also took a few shortcuts: going straight
No problem at all, I'll keep them on as is, and will use them for the upcoming Transkei/Lesotho/Drakenberg trip also (I only hope the Transkei will be dry-ish then lol).
For the two Kaokoland trips I planned on mounting new tyres anyway, and I now have decided on a Motoz Tractionator Desert rear, and a Mitas E13 (or whatever its new name now is) front, for 2 reasons:
- @Xpat has these on his 690. Trust me I tried, but could not keep up with him in the bush on cattle tracks or old jeep tracks, causing the aforementioned shortcuts
- and, the Motoz lasts well, I reckon it'll do these two trips lekker (the E13 front will do that too but I knew that already).
Xpat is our resident Russian, many know him here.
For a few good reasons but let me tell you them anyway:
- he's fluent in Balkan as well as Slavic, but weirdly enough his Russian is limited to Da, Net & "KUUUUUUUURRRRVA!!!" ..... which I found out when he pinched his own fingers inbetween the rear tyre and the rim. When asked he (later duh) explained that that last bit refers to some female in some ways, so I could not help thinking about our local analogies like Ma & Sussie - but let's stick with the subject rather!
- he rides a lot, no, wait, a LOT, and prefers to do this alone - and go remote - and far - and long - and he is still alive!!!!
He's written a few sterling RideReports here so go check what/when/where/how he does this, you'll be rewarded by a lot of stunning pics at the bare minimum!
- he does something vague workwise, if you believe he actually works that is. But he seems to get it, and IT too, so no need to feel bad for the oke.
- he prefers to ride there where others don't or won't, or do not go there too often, but "if at all ever ridden" he likes best.
He has many, no, wait, MANY routes he's done or has done a few times, and I'm sure he also has a few which he will do.... anyway, today he took us to Jericho's greater environment, offrroad of course, no GPS needed, and we started by veering off in De Wildt at the 'rubbish dump'.
I should have stopped there for a few pics - it's bad, really bad, it almost IS a rubbish dump!!!
Further below I'll post some pics of today, but let's start with the beginning.
We met at 8 at a petrol station just off the N4, West of Pretoria - here...
... where I filled up my rear tank only (petrol tap closed) as I had still quite a bit in the front tanks.
It took....
... so, that's a bit odd?
It proves definitely bigger than '12 Liters' as I was told - and, I didn't really fill it to the brim, just a notch under it!
It wasn't completely empty either - so I now reckon that the rear will hold 15 Liters (or a little more even...) and the remainder of the 30 Liter Total is made up by the side tanks, which look 'same' to me so around 7.5 Liters (or a little less) each.
Oh well, good to know
I had a wors roll which was quite a bit nicer than I expected, and during chewing Martin arrived.
During my short wait I noticed my front fender looking a bit odd...
.... that's Rottweiler puppy teeth-marks for you!
At least I think it's the little *****, but could be the big dog's also - anyway, I love them both!
I had a peek under the rear fender/tank also...
... and my rear wheel flinging its excess mousse lubricant is clearly visible, dust-covered of course.
Anyway, soon the scenery we were in changed to this - yeah, just a liiiitle lost but it was early, a Sunday so holiday, and who's in a hurry hmm?
Yeah, I lost the numberplate rather soon - maybe it's at the rubbish dump now?
Anyway....
.... this area is beautiful!
Very warm so it was dry - and dusty as I was following Martin. Haven't checked my airfilter yet but I already know what it looks like - but I'll keep that as is for now, this was only 1 day of dust, and I know it can do quite a bit more before it needs a clean or swap!
Chow-time now for me...
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Continued...
"Rice Burner" was thought & uttered
Can't remember what he's fiddling with here.
@Noneking , looks a bit familiar, not so? Jericho this is...
We did go through a number of gates also...
I did tell I have mousses in?
I do yeah, Martin has tubes in....
Luckily - as I only had my genuine original toolkit with me - and oh yeah, a Leatherman also - Martin's well versed in fixing punctures, and has all that's needed, more even!
A Russian riding in stunning bushveld in Suid Afrika, gespyker deur n spyker!
He fixed it pronto I must admit, this of course whilst I did my best to do absolutely zero, in the shade of course
Hey, **** happens.... so, after packing up we stopped at a shebeen - no wait, we stopped again at a shebeen, but this time (the previous two stops had no electricity for more than a day already (the poor sods, it's bad for them also!!!) hence nothing cold, so we bought warm cooldrinks there) we made sure there was power this time, and the beer was cold!!!
It was cold, iicceecold, lekker!
This was quite past lunchtime already, so we headed on ..... and almost ran out of petrol!
(By this time I had already switched ON my fueltap of the rear tank, this after running the two front tanks dry...)
I found Martin ahead on a dustroad with his bike lying on his side - HUH? He does not have a habit of falling over, and if he does then that has a reason... and there was none here!?
Nope, false alarm, he just needed the petrol to flow to the right side!
After having to repeat this again somewhere we ended up at Beestekraal (Martin's tank showed 'Completely Dry'!!) just before they close at 15h00 - and had a sterling lunch there, with plenty of cold drinks (met baie eish!!) and to spoil ourselves we had a milkshake too!
From here a fuelstation is only a few clicks away, and we both put some petrol in there.
Martin would take some offroad bits to his home, and I ventured on tar (I'll say it again, it does this very well!) via Brits, Rosslyn & Pretoria Central to home, where I arrived at five.
Thank you Martin, that was a lekker day!
"Rice Burner" was thought & uttered
Can't remember what he's fiddling with here.
@Noneking , looks a bit familiar, not so? Jericho this is...
We did go through a number of gates also...
I did tell I have mousses in?
I do yeah, Martin has tubes in....
Luckily - as I only had my genuine original toolkit with me - and oh yeah, a Leatherman also - Martin's well versed in fixing punctures, and has all that's needed, more even!
A Russian riding in stunning bushveld in Suid Afrika, gespyker deur n spyker!
He fixed it pronto I must admit, this of course whilst I did my best to do absolutely zero, in the shade of course
Hey, **** happens.... so, after packing up we stopped at a shebeen - no wait, we stopped again at a shebeen, but this time (the previous two stops had no electricity for more than a day already (the poor sods, it's bad for them also!!!) hence nothing cold, so we bought warm cooldrinks there) we made sure there was power this time, and the beer was cold!!!
It was cold, iicceecold, lekker!
This was quite past lunchtime already, so we headed on ..... and almost ran out of petrol!
(By this time I had already switched ON my fueltap of the rear tank, this after running the two front tanks dry...)
I found Martin ahead on a dustroad with his bike lying on his side - HUH? He does not have a habit of falling over, and if he does then that has a reason... and there was none here!?
Nope, false alarm, he just needed the petrol to flow to the right side!
After having to repeat this again somewhere we ended up at Beestekraal (Martin's tank showed 'Completely Dry'!!) just before they close at 15h00 - and had a sterling lunch there, with plenty of cold drinks (met baie eish!!) and to spoil ourselves we had a milkshake too!
From here a fuelstation is only a few clicks away, and we both put some petrol in there.
Martin would take some offroad bits to his home, and I ventured on tar (I'll say it again, it does this very well!) via Brits, Rosslyn & Pretoria Central to home, where I arrived at five.
Thank you Martin, that was a lekker day!
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Like die bike se "cockpit view" (pic "we did go through a couple gates")
It's a lekker bike Petri, en ek like hom ook
.... verander vinnig as dit donker word!
Vanoggend deur Daspoort tonnel gaan hy na 'night-mode' toe, en as jy uitkom dan 'tjoeps, weer terug' - nogals oulik moet ek se, dis fancy - en pas glad nie by my nie
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