Nam4x4 and Richtersveld, ala Losper special

[Dwerg]

Stupid phone struggling to post pics. I need to resubmit all the time! Bloody agent

Ek het ook 'n foto onder daai boompie  :thumleft:

 

[Avontier]

On our way there this coming Saturday!

 

[m0lt3n]

Turns out that stretch to Kamgab wasnt easy, and it was hot!
Henk does not do the fall 'thing' but he did struggle here. I could not ride that slow, or struggle as much so overtook as soon as it got sandy, which also meant that I fall harder. But was doing okay here until we finally stopped, bikes and ourselves boiling. Both bikes actually had the red engine temp light on here... The problem with this particular stretch is not the deep sand, but the sand combined with the rock step ups. As soon as you get momentum you have to slow down for a step up again.

We stopped half way, realized we are not that eager to reach Kamgab and turned around. Not after I told Henk that he needs to go faster to make the sand riding easier and then proceeded to prove my statement with struggling my gat off to turn around and having my first fall of the trip. In the next 10min I would drop the bike 3 times, suddenly no mojo. 

Not a lot of pics was taken here.
Next we were back on the normal route and looking out for the turn off to Road to Hell.
Not to go down, I try to be stupid only once, but at least to go check it out for the nostalgia and the ride up to the sign is actually great fun. Tough but not stupid tough.
But this time we were hot, tired and running late. And then we saw the rain clouds ahead I was very keen to skip it, but Henk said no we should go.
And then just in front of the ascend to the top it rained nice and hard, this time Henk wanted to skip but I said no way we got this far to turn around now. I was the test dummy up to see if there is traction but all went well. And just being up there with the rain coming down was rather special in this hard and arid place.

We looked around a bit, got soaked and set off for Oewerbos. From overheating to feeling the chill in 30minutes..

In the pics is the Kamgab track where we turned around,a hill on the way to road to hell, slightly challenging but fortunately my rims were holding up well. With my 17t front sprocket I couldnt go up things very slow.
and then road to hell pics

 

[m0lt3n]

On the way to tar there was some more sand and nice scenery. A great conclusion to the day.

Dont be concerned though, in the first pic we are taking a break. Henk said he was super comfortable there on the ground
and there was this pit thing, anyone know more about it? why what when?

Oewerbos was nice, pizza was great and they could help us with petrol for the next day. The river was very high so they were actually standing ready to evacuate. We were very tired so apologies, I did not get any pics of the ladies in bikinis serving our pizza and whiskey.

 

[Herkules]

:sip: It will be very difficult to accept the apologies.  :bueller: :3some:

 

[Crankshaft]

On the way to tar there was some more sand and nice scenery. A great conclusion to the day.

Dont be concerned though, in the first pic we are taking a break. Henk said he was super comfortable there on the ground
and there was this pit thing, anyone know more about it? why what when?

Oewerbos was nice, pizza was great and they could help us with petrol for the next day. The river was very high so they were actually standing ready to evacuate. We were very tired so apologies, I did not get any pics of the ladies in bikinis serving our pizza and whiskey.

WHAT??? Ladies in bikinis at Oewerbos!!! I missed that one the last time I was there...  Pizza's and water buffel steak was awesome.  There was a lady with blond hair  there, working behind the bar.  Between her and the maltese poodle, I didn't know who's hair was the dirtiest  :imaposer: :imaposer:
All she kept saying was "really dude??"  :imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:

 

[Psycho Porra]

Turns out that stretch to Kamgab wasnt easy, and it was hot!
Henk does not do the fall 'thing' but he did struggle here. I could not ride that slow, or struggle as much so overtook as soon as it got sandy, which also meant that I fall harder. But was doing okay here until we finally stopped, bikes and ourselves boiling. Both bikes actually had the red engine temp light on here... The problem with this particular stretch is not the deep sand, but the sand combined with the rock step ups. As soon as you get momentum you have to slow down for a step up again.

We stopped half way, realized we are not that eager to reach Kamgab and turned around. Not after I told Henk that he needs to go faster to make the sand riding easier and then proceeded to prove my statement with struggling my gat off to turn around and having my first fall of the trip. In the next 10min I would drop the bike 3 times, suddenly no mojo. 

Not a lot of pics was taken here.
Next we were back on the normal route and looking out for the turn off to Road to Hell.
Not to go down, I try to be stupid only once, but at least to go check it out for the nostalgia and the ride up to the sign is actually great fun. Tough but not stupid tough.
But this time we were hot, tired and running late. And then we saw the rain clouds ahead I was very keen to skip it, but Henk said no we should go.
And then just in front of the ascend to the top it rained nice and hard, this time Henk wanted to skip but I said no way we got this far to turn around now. I was the test dummy up to see if there is traction but all went well. And just being up there with the rain coming down was rather special in this hard and arid place.

We looked around a bit, got soaked and set off for Oewerbos. From overheating to feeling the chill in 30minutes..

In the pics is the Kamgab track where we turned around,a hill on the way to road to hell, slightly challenging but fortunately my rims were holding up well. With my 17t front sprocket I couldnt go up things very slow.
and then road to hell pics

Yoh[emoji15]Respect to you guys, the 1st picture says it all about the sand

 

[m0lt3n]

If you perhaps got a track file gpx or something. Please post it as I would like to follow with mapsource on the map

Sorry I am slow. Managed to attach it  :thumleft:

 

[m0lt3n]

Stupid phone struggling to post pics. I need to resubmit all the time! Bloody agent

Ek het ook 'n foto onder daai boompie  :thumleft:

Ja ek het selfde gedoen op ons vorige bike trip en vorige keer met die kar. Sekere goed staan nogal uit hier.

On our way there this coming Saturday!

vertel bietjie meer? met 690?

:sip: It will be very difficult to accept the apologies.  :bueller: :3some:

True story.
At first we couldnt understand why some local young guys are hanging around in the pool and and having their little private party. But then realized what the purpose behind it all was.

 

[m0lt3n]

So the next day is where all went pear shaped.

We had leftover pizza for breakfast and managed to set of nice and early. Rode the nice gravel next to the river and were shocked to see that the orange river was already at a few places over that road. See first pic. 
We got of at a random 2 spoor track typical Losper fashion and had a great scenic ride. Not overly technical, just epic.
And then went over a hill and saw the road again ending against the water. Not good.
Upon closer inspection we saw that going through the water wasnt a good idea, it was simply to deep. We had a quick chat and after failing the Kamgab stretch yesterday and it still being early, decided to soldier on.
We went up the side of the mountain again next to the road. But this time it was worse, with the sand being thicker and bigger sharper boulders strewn about.

pic 4 another favourite!

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

A beautiful country that.

 

[Crankshaft]

ek was laas in 2015 daar deur gewees oppad na die Koes rally toe in Nam.  Toe was daar nie 'n teken van water nie :ricky:

 

[m0lt3n]

So we came upon a spot where we couldn't go around the water but had to go through. So far every time Henk walked the water and then I followed, generally I didnt have a issue with water crossings, but this time, walking it myself, I knew exactly how deep it was and this must have got me rattled.
We had to go on the edge of the water because it had a sharp bank/beach and would get deep quick. But there was also a big rock to get around. I stood in the water ready to catch Henk while he went first. But he made it look easy.

Then it was my turn, and proper brain fart later we had issues. I took the right line, to carefully, dabbed and wanted to dab again on the other side but off course there was nothing so I fell very unceremoniously, very amateurishly plomps into the water, bike completely submerged as well as myself, helmet and all.
I jumped up and just tried to get the top half of bike up out of the water while waiting for Henk to rush over and help me pick it up.

Wait a minute, tried to start it but just heard a click.

picked up the front end moewiese gesukkel and had a lot of water flow out of the exhaust like we always see these hardcore okes do in their ride reports. and just click.

now what.

so something else I have seen these hardcore okes do is take out their sparkplugs, have engine swing over and expel water. so we set about doing that.
first got the bike out of the water with a lot of sweating, underessed our wet clothes and then started stripping the bike.

Air box off, try to remove the sparkplug, the one exposed sparkplug, and find we do not have a tool do it. screw up.
so took a moment to think what next, our options was getting little. No 4x4 can get there, and no way to tow that bike out, we already did quite a distance of bloed sweet difficult terrain just to there and looking at the map there was a few hundred metres left next to the river.
we then turned the throttle and you could see half the intake chamber to piston also still filled with water.
so we pushed the bike over to the ground and opened the throttle for it to flow out.
then sommer while on its side into 5th gear and tried to manually spin the wheel, but it was solid. any gear, myself and Henk taking a hold on that wheel but it went nowhere.

it wasnt looking good.
Nothing left to do, we started reassembling the bike again, realizing we really have issues now. Its going to be a laaaate night.
Reassembled Henk said lets first pray before going on.

prayed for the situation, Henk realized we never turned the wheel in reverse.
With some effort it turned, and then the bike started.
I was close to tears. We set off again

 

[m0lt3n]

First pic was another of my favorites, taken of Henk's bike while struggling with the water in mine.

Soon after setting off we could put the river behind us and mission on with the 2 spoor tracks. Great riding with the occasional dry river bed crossing thrown in the mix.
I took some great scenery shots and the bike seemed to be fine.

 

[m0lt3n]

Unfortunately it seemed like our issues were not all sorted yet.
Driving off in the last picture suddenly the bike died. Managed to start again and died again.
So Henk gave me a quick push and it started again, 5m further dead again.
The speedo was giving some flickering, so it had to be a short somewhere.
We dropped the bash plate and found a Ctek charger attachment  loose, and then with some wiggling to see if there is a reaction on the dash found that the negative pole on the battery was also dead.
Making a plan we got it attached again, lights were back on on the speedo but bike would not start. not even attempt to start.

So I assumed the battery was to flat, Henk had to push. But nothing.
TOwed my bike with his and tried in 2nd gear, nothing. Tried in all the gears, up and down. Nothing.
Had the back wheels against each other to try and start like that, nothing.

okay, maybe the battery was to flat that the bike does not even want to try, so we tried jumping it, by connecting wires between the two bikes.
waited a while, tried starting and still nothing.
almost two hours later and we were again starting to think how it will work if Henk were to tow me out of there.

so we prayed again, and thought maybe its not the battery, so swopped the batteries, his bike started instantly with my battery, my bike did nothing...and then I realized there is no fuel pump noise.
disconnected the white fuel pump plug, connected again and started on the first swing. We set off probably 3 minutes after that quick prayer.

 

[m0lt3n]

Something I really enjoyed on the trip is the plant life. There is some very nice succulents in the Richtersveld!
I took a few pictures, but I should have put in some more effort, I missed plenty

 

[m0lt3n]

It has turned out into a long morning and water was starting to run low. Henk stopped at some windpomp but the water was very brackish, seems like a struggle in this area. Eventually we did come right at some plaas dam and filled up all the bottles.

The rest of the morning was still epic, but less eventful. There was plenty tough climbs and red sandy patches, but I think both of us were getting tired and ready to get home. So we didnt stop much for pictures. This post is not going to do that part of the trip justice which is a pity.

We got to steinkopf but went to the OK foods in town and found it rather good. Had a meal and hit the road home.

For the last few km's i was feeling that my clutch was not as stiff as it should be but thought it may be my imagination. First time we stopped to turn right, heading Klein Pella, the bike died.
Yap, no clutch.
I have fitted an Oberon recently but knew that my clutch master was also not to be trusted. I told Henk that the clutch was done I wont be stopping unnecessarily. Fortunately he was also having fun with all the mini-wheelies and in a rush to get home so we gunned it.
Refilled at 3 in Steinkopf we stopped at Klein Pella for the last pic at 6pm, gravel all the way.
We snacked some, drank some, chatted some. Then blasted to Pofadder and the bakkie/trailer. Loaded up and stopped in Kathu at around 12pm Saturday night. The end of a brilliant weekend.

 

[2StrokeDan]

Sand requires momentum, and in the Kamgab this is tricky, as different to Westcoast sand roads, it is strewn with boulders.  Sway off course, and you are bound to hit a rock. :eek7:

 

[BlueBull2007]

That was a brilliant report. Amazing photos, your story also had me smiling a few times, really epic!

Thanks very much! :thumleft:

I just got a 990 in Peru (pity I am in Honduras right now : ) so will have lots of questions for you. :deal:

 

[LanC]

Great RR and glad both bikes made it to the end.
Definitely adding that area to my bucket list.