Northern Namibia with my brother......and a few other clowns

[Fransw]

Hoeveel kos n bier by die 'Manchester United tavern'? O0

 

[Noneking]

DAY 1 - USAKOS TO SPITZKOPPE

Bikes were offloaded and we started kitting up. Excitement was building. Everybody started their bikes and rode off on the track which would take us towards Spitzkoppe via 25km of tar, our last till we return to Usakos.

I was rearing to go, got on my bike and pressed the starter button. Nothing..... check kill switch and try again..... NOTHING. Quick check of everything else ......NOTHING.

I was beside myself! Pushed the bike up a hill and tried to run start, but to no avail. The brand new battery was dead.  Most of the others had left already.

The Specialised Adv team stepped in and we removed the seat to start it with a power pack. Removed fuse from my gps cable which was connected directly to battery and only thing I could think of that might be draining the battery.

Reassembled the bike and charged out of the gate, completely flustered. I came up to quickly behind Dwerg at the turn onto main road and grabbed a hand full of front brake, lost the front and had to dab with my right foot a few times to save it. “Pull yourself together idiot!” I slowed down, took a few deep breaths and made an effort to re familiarise myself with the Husky, which I’ve not ridden for close to 2 months.

 

[Noneking]

Hoeveel kos n bier by die 'Manchester United tavern'? O0

R23 as ek reg onthou.....

 

[Fransw]

Hoeveel kos n bier by die 'Manchester United tavern'? O0

R23 as ek reg onthou.....

Ja hulle dubbel seker die prys vir die toeriste! Dit bly a bargain!..

 

[Chrisl]

:drif: :thumleft:

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[onderbroek]

Subscribe

 

[Noneking]

At the turnoff to Spitzkoppe, the group was waiting in the shade for Hennie, who's XR wouldn't start at the turnoff onto dirt.

 

[Minxy]

Really looking forward to the rest of this report :ricky: :thumleft:

 

[Noneking]

Looking at this photo, I realise that I completely forgot about Barry...... :-[
Barry is Gene De Kock's dad and joined us on certain parts of the route on his Suzuki DR650

Ri, Trevo, Barry, Shane and Hannes taking advantage of the shade.

 

[Noneking]

I was already enjoying the scenery and Dwerg was getting an idea of how often he would have to stop to allow me to take photos

 

[Noneking]

We arrived at Spitzkoppe fairly early and it was boiling hot.

 

[Noneking]

[member=9149]Dwerg[/member]  's 450 made a few stuttering noises on the short ride from Usakos, but we thought nothing of it........

 

[Noneking]

We rode to our campsite, which ended up being the same site used for the Quest. [member=19649]Hardy de Kock[/member] 's Specialized Adventures machine sprung into action and before long we each had a camping spot with stretcher and luggage.

........but not before [member=9149]Dwerg[/member] toppled over when parking his bike. Picking it up it toppled over to the other side and we noticed that the side stand bolt had snapped.

 

[Noneking]

 

[Hardy de Kock]

This was a very diverse group of riders with different abilities and skill. We wondered prior to the trip how all the guys and girl will get along.
The two brothers were mostly leading the pack and it was good to see the brotherly affection on display throughout the trip, even though they have very different personalities. Both are avid riders though, and it showed.

Ri unfortunately sprained her ankle on the third day, on our way to Van Zyl's Camp. Offering her very reliable and as Dwerg found out, very capable DR to Dwerg when his BMW decided to call it quits, was a very unselfish act that no one will forget in a hurry.

The three stooges - PK, Hennie and their mate Shane were all riding thumpers, a KLR, a DR and a XR650l. These three guys rode in a way that I would want to, when I get to their age. (Sorry Peter, I had to). They frequently stopped somewhere in a beautiful spot to sit down, relax and share a cup of tea, or a glass of red wine. Nothing hurried them - Ever.

Trevor and Hannes became good friends on the trip and for most of the time rode together. Both good riders and both blessed with mechanical aptitude.
Very different personalities but both true adventure riders in my opinion.

I decided to do this trip with two of my employees whom I have not spent enough time with recently.
Janco is my righthand and the Quest guys will know him well.
Steff runs my other business, and this was going to be his first time on a dual sport bike and his first time on gravel. All three of us mounted XR650l's
Gene's dad Barry also joined with the understanding that he would be riding certain days, and when not, his bike could be used as a spare (It came in handy later)

 

[Noneking]

This was a very diverse group of riders with different abilities and skill. We wondered prior to the trip how all the guys and girl will get along.
The two brothers were mostly leading the pack and it was good to see the brotherly affection on display throughout the trip, even though they have very different personalities. Both are avid riders though, and it showed.

Ri unfortunately sprained her ankle on the third day, on our way to Van Zyl's Camp. Offering her very reliable and as Dwerg found out, very capable DR to Dwerg when his BMW decided to call it quits, was a very unselfish act that no one will forget in a hurry.

The three stooges - PK, Hennie and their mate Shane were all riding thumpers, a KLR, a DR and a XR650l. These three guys rode in a way that I would want to, when I get to their age. (Sorry Peter, I had to). They frequently stopped somewhere in a beautiful spot to sit down, relax and share a cup of tea, or a glass of red wine. Nothing hurried them - Ever.

Trevor and Hannes became good friends on the trip and for most of the time rode together. Both good riders and both blessed with mechanical aptitude.
Very different personalities but both true adventure riders in my opinion.

I decided to do this trip with two of my employees whom I have not spent enough time with recently.
Janco is my righthand and the Quest guys will know him well.
Steff runs my other business, and this was going to be his first time on a dual sport bike and his first time on gravel.

Hardy, Janco and Steff rode at the rear of the group, sweeping the route and making sure that no one was left behind or in need of help. Although I only got a high five from Steff as he passed me when I ran out of fuel on day 3..... :imaposer: :imaposer:

The group was spread out on most days, which meant that we only regrouped at the end of the day's ride or at specific pre arranged meeting spots.

 

[Noneking]

Early arrival at Spitzkoppe meant that we had some recreational time on our hands. [member=9149]Dwerg[/member] and I went to the rock pool and shortly after succumbed to the call of beer........

 

[armpump]

Lekker bring it

 

[Noneking]

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the vast area around Spitzkoppe