YamaV said:
Hey Jim!
What route are you going to take from Knysna towards Cape Town?
Lots of options of course
Hey man! I took mostly the R62 route.
Warren Ellwood said:
I was out with some friends this past weekend for an overnighter on the bikes. We stopped at a restaurant in Montague for a quick coffee, and as we were leaving, Jim pulled in to the car park. We unfortunately didn't have too much time to chat, but it was a privilege to be able to shake your hand.
All the best.
Nice to meet you all
It was a bit weird having people recognise me in the wild! I hope you lot had a great weekend ?
Crab said:
Montague! Then the journey is done. Well done Jim.
Now he,s just got to sell his bike and fly away.
Yes! All done. Great to meet ya at jupiter's. Shame I wasn't a week earlier and could have come shooting with you all.
zebra said:
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Well, 8 odd months later, and Technomadic Jim walks back in the Store. and he has a tan..... :biggrin:
He visited us 9 months ago, before he bought his Honda, and then several times before/after his 'shakedown' trip to Knysna and back.
He reckons the Honda Bushlander worked brilliantly, I think two punctures, on broken chain (today, back in CT!), and one chain replaced on his journey, as well as 1 sprocket.
Bike did 29,000-odd kilometers, and the bike never skipped a beat!
He has bought a new mudguard, and is taking the existing one back with him - with all his stickers on it - purely as a keepsake! :thumleft:
Great seeing you again, Gentleman Jim - thanks for popping in, and a safe journey back home!
Best regards
Chris & Team :thumleft:
Yep only 2 punctures, 2 chains and one front sprocket. Great seeing you too Chris. All the best!
---
I left Hogsback and headed to Addo after an invitation from John to stay at his
backpackers. I left a bit late after so ended up riding the main road through the park in the dark which wasn't the best idea. I also ended up riding straight past
addo backpackers and managed to see my error with only 2% battery left on my gps! John welcomed me and sorted me out with a nice room for the night despite me turning up late and unannounced. Thanks again John!
The next days ride was an easy one down to Jefrey's Bay. I popped in to Game in PE on the way to get some oil. I met an 82 year old ex-biker on his scooter and had a good chat. The more flag stickers on my bike the more I get approached by people curious about my trip. At lunch time I met up with jupiter for some tea near his work. We had a good chat and agreed to meet up with a few others over the next days. I checked in to a dorm at
Ubuntu Backpackers in Jefrey's Bay and had some good food at Nina's Real Food. Recommended!
I arranged with jupiter to come visit the next evening and he kindly offered me a room for the night so I didn't have to drive back. It was a really cool hanging out with Tiger8, Crab and jupiter. Thanks for the pizza too
After a good nights sleep I headed back to Jefrey's Bay. It was freezing and I should have taken up Tiger8's offer of a coffee in the morning. Doh!
Jupiter gave me a map and suggestions for riding Baviaanskloof. Along with Die Hell I had Baviaanskloof recommended to me right at the beginning of my trip and was looking forward to riding it. I set off the next morning through Patensie and paid my entrance fee.
This was the main deeper water crossing of the route. I heard later that one side is much deeper than the other and I think I went down the deep side as the bike was just over half submerged for a small part of it. Nothing compared to my
Botswana crossing of the pans so I wasn't too phased.
I passed a fair few bikers on the way and stopped for lunch with 3 German bikers who worked for Mercedes in East London. They made me some bacon and noodles, nice!
Jaywalking :
I see
Radioman has been here too!
I exited Baviaanskloof quite late and ended up staying at a B&B in Uniondale. The next morning I rode Price Alfreds pass to natures valley and checked in to
Wild Spirit Backpackers. They even accepted
Bitcoin and I was their first customer. Pretty cool! Its a nice chilled eco backpackes with some nice walks in the area. Here's the view from their dining area :
I popped down to Natures Valley for lunch and walked on the beach :
As I was riding back up the hill I noticed my front sprocket was slipping and upon closer inspection it was completely worn! oops! I had to be really gentle on the throttle. I booked myself in for my 28,000 km service at Honda George where I had my original 1k service. The next morning I packed up and headed off (gently) to George. Luckily they fit me in and remembered me from before.
With a new sprocket and a fresh service the bike was back to normal again. I met up with oldmanorman who kindly invited me to visit. I ended up staying the night and having a great dinner and chat that evening and following morning. Thanks again oldmanorman! It was a pleasure to meet you and your wife
I headed back to Knysna for a couple of nights and ate some great sea food and watched a few world cup games before heading back into George for one quick cup of tea with oldmanorman and then on to
Ladismith Backpackers where I stayed a night.
The next morning I headed to Cape Town. It was a weird feeling seeing the roads and places I saw nearly 9 months before. It began to really sink in that my trip was nearly over. I passed Ronnies *** Shop but only stopped for a photo as I wanted to get into Cape Town.
I arrived in good time and checked into my favorite backpackers there, the
B.I.G Backpackers in green point. Th next day I rode
Chapmans Peak one last time and had some lunch at
Olympia Cafe in Kalk Bay. Good food if you get a chance! As I drove back the chain felt as if something wasn't right but on inspection I couldn't see anything wrong. It was only when I got back to the backpackers I noticed the problem :
Eeek! The following morning I picked up my replacement front mud guard from Honda and asked if they could sort the chain but they gave me the address of Craig's motorcycle repair. On my way along the N1 just before the woodstock junction the inevitable happened. My chain snapped and I was stuck :
I called everyone I knew and eventually got hold of a guy called Steve who picked me up and took me to Trac Mac where I had a new chain fitted for 250 rand. Phew!
Next I stopped off to see Chris at
FlyingBrick and then I picked up my original tires from
PistonPete at Outriders.
The following day I took the bike to
the viper lounge for a good clean. It only cost 125 rand and they did a great job! An hour was spent by two guys giving it a proper clean. All shiny and new with the front mud guard replaced.
Thanks to the
advert on the forum I sold the bike to a fellow wild dog on the Saturday (I left on the Monday). I've asked for a photo of the new lady rider when she's out on her first ride. I know she will look after my companion for 9 months.
I hiked Lions Head on the Sunday and got a nice picture taken on a decent camera :
And another on one of the bench's near company gardens.
Monday evening I took the MyCiti bus to the airport and flew with British Airways direct for 10 hours arriving in the UK 6:00 am. Two more buses and I was back with my family. I have the front mud guard, worn sprocket and a cracked sump plug as keep sake's from the bike.
Thanks to everyone who I met on the trip and everyone who followed me online with my ride reports. It was great to have you all along for the ride!
I plan on posting a few stats like my budget and all my GPS traces. I also want to edit together a video of the trip and will obviously post that here too although that may take a little while to edit together so bear with me
I'll let you all know when my next adventure takes place but in meantime I have a hell of a lot of work to do!
Total KM's 29,000. 9 Countries, 9 Months.
