Southern Africa on a Honda CTX200 Bushlander

[Gerard]

Excellent so far. Are you now on your ride North or still just riding around ?

 

[gwild]

Nice  :thumleft: keep it coming

 

[Boersoeknbike]

You've got guts Jim, nice reading though. Change your oil every 1000km, and b carefull of trying to keep at full throttle in summer heat for long periods. good luck!

 

[TechnomadicJim]

I drove 388 km's from Fish River Canyon to Ludertiz yesterday and the bike was a bit sluggish and not giving me a very good fuel economy like I was getting before . I think the air filter needed a good clean. I had been doing mostly gravel since the last service when it was last cleaned so makes sense. Because of this I also managed to nearly run out of fuel on the way to Aus. I kept my speed at 80 km's an hour and my head down and fortunately made it.

these bikes normally go up and down on farms, with apple trees etc. not going allot faster than 20-30km/h. at times it stops and idles for minutes at end.
i wouldnt be too concerned. but a oil change is VERY cheap. personally i change oil on my smaller bikes every 1000km. sometimes drain and use the same oil again, but its a good indication of anything going wrong inside. metal flaking etc.

how far north will you be going?

I took your advice and changed the oil. It was black so certainly looked like it needed to be changed. The local mechanic here helped me and only charged me the 40 NAB$ for the oil. What a nice guy! I will be leaving 100 NAB$ behind his local bar (where I met him yesterday) for his beers. I also took a look at the air filter and blew it through with an air compressor. Not much dust came out but I didn't have the solvents required to clean it properly. I have heard petrol could be used... Not sure on this though and would like to see it done by a professional before I attempt it myself. I'm very much learning as I go here and the last few days have been great for bettering my understanding.

Nothing is 100% certain but I think I will be exploring the far north of Namibia before heading east into Botswana.

The bike is performing great again after the new oil and air filter cleaning so I went to visit Kolmanscop today.







Sitting in another bath of course! Couldn't help myself



This place is so photogenic!









Hello ? Hello ? Yes Jim here. I would like to order some more sand...

Excellent so far. Are you now on your ride North or still just riding around ?

Thanks Yes I'm heading north at the moment but also riding around as I go. I'm a very slow traveller and like to explore as much as I feel like before moving on.

You've got guts Jim, nice reading though. Change your oil every 1000km, and b carefull of trying to keep at full throttle in summer heat for long periods. good luck!

Thanks man! I'm going to do the next oil change myself after 1000 more km's and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice I've been avoiding driving too much in the mid day heat and I stay off the throttle when I do.

 

[Mzee]

Seems to me you are having a lot of fun.  That is the spirit.

 

[Flouw]

thats great news that the bike is running well again.

if you plan on changing oil yourself, take care on the sump plug, it will wear out after a few changes. so let them put a new one in on the next major service. it a cheap price for peace of mind

dont clean the filter with petrol (assuming its a sponge filter) it swells up the filter completely, and will never look the same. also, perhaps on your next Honda dealership, buy a extra one, and let them coat it etc. put it in a plastic bag in your luggage. when the time comes, just swop it. at the service after that let them treat both filters again. i DO hope you have a spare spark plug with you aswell. as these can fail whenever its running very rich (filter blocks up, it runs rich, plug fails)

 

[TechnomadicJim]

thats great news that the bike is running well again.

if you plan on changing oil yourself, take care on the sump plug, it will wear out after a few changes. so let them put a new one in on the next major service. it a cheap price for peace of mind

dont clean the filter with petrol (assuming its a sponge filter) it swells up the filter completely, and will never look the same. also, perhaps on your next Honda dealership, buy a extra one, and let them coat it etc. put it in a plastic bag in your luggage. when the time comes, just swop it. at the service after that let them treat both filters again. i DO hope you have a spare spark plug with you aswell. as these can fail whenever its running very rich (filter blocks up, it runs rich, plug fails)

Thanks! That's some good advice about the sump plug and air filter (yes it is a sponge one). I will do that for sure. I do carry an extra spark plug yes and I changed it when we did the oil but the old looked fine so I kept it just in case. Will pick up another new one in Windhoek.

 

[Gerard]

Thanks for all the effort in keeping us posted. I know how much work a good RR takes and this one is right up there  :thumleft:

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Thanks for all the effort in keeping us posted. I know how much work a good RR takes and this one is right up there  :thumleft:

Thanks I enjoy doing it.

---

On the way into Ludertiz I came across a road block just outside Kolmanscop. It turns out that a veichle transporting a boat had bought down the 22,000 volt power lines that were now just lying in the road. I saw a Honda Transalp 700 so pulled up along side and met Stefan who had also bought his bike in South Africa. We drove round a few poles down in sand to get by. I dread to think how long the non 4x4 cars were waiting.



Stefan follwed me to the hostel and the day after Kolmanscop we drove a loop round to Diaz point :



This place is so desolate. The wind was also incredible.

 

[evansv]

Sub :thumleft:

 

[mox]

Wow

 

[Trailrider]

Excellent!

Good guy in Aus. We used to have a farm there just 40km South on the Rosh Pinah road.

BTW - I'm in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund next Monday - Wednesday.

 

[SlowMo]

Looks like a pretty special trip... should have drank less, and travelled more when I was younger...

I also have amongst others a CTX  which I love and have toured on rather extensively. I'm sure you are used to its "feel" by now but I did a sprocket change on mine with great success. I can now do 100 - 110 odd km/h all day without stressing the motor yet there is very little effect on the torque (or lack thereof) on the bike.

I'm sure all advise is meant well, but by the way, I have  around 28000km on mine and never needed to change the sump plug. Since the bike works in the upper range of its capabilities, I change oil every 3000km or so. Very easy to do since there is no oil filter and it doesn't take much oil...

Anyway, mine has literally rolled down hills/mountains and I have ridden it from Cape Town to Gauteng basically at full taps al the way, yet it has never missed a beat and it has never failed me in any way whatsoever.

An amazing machine.

Wish you all the best on your trip and enjoy!

P.S.
When/ If you eventually get closer to Gauteng please feel free to contact me for (at least) a night of free bed, beer and breakfeast....

 

[oldmannorman]

Awesome RR. Nice foto's of Kolmanskop. Looking forward to more.

 

[Crossed-up]

I'm enjoying your report very much. I like the lack of deadlines.  Thanks and safe travels!

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Excellent!

Good guy in Aus. We used to have a farm there just 40km South on the Rosh Pinah road.

BTW - I'm in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund next Monday - Wednesday.

Hey man! Sorry I haven't quite made it to Swakopmund yet. I'm planning to spend Christmas and the new year there if you happen to be about then ?

Looks like a pretty special trip... should have drank less, and travelled more when I was younger...

I also have amongst others a CTX  which I love and have toured on rather extensively. I'm sure you are used to its "feel" by now but I did a sprocket change on mine with great success. I can now do 100 - 110 odd km/h all day without stressing the motor yet there is very little effect on the torque (or lack thereof) on the bike.

I'm sure all advise is meant well, but by the way, I have  around 28000km on mine and never needed to change the sump plug. Since the bike works in the upper range of its capabilities, I change oil every 3000km or so. Very easy to do since there is no oil filter and it doesn't take much oil...

Anyway, mine has literally rolled down hills/mountains and I have ridden it from Cape Town to Gauteng basically at full taps al the way, yet it has never missed a beat and it has never failed me in any way whatsoever.

An amazing machine.

Wish you all the best on your trip and enjoy!

P.S.
When/ If you eventually get closer to Gauteng please feel free to contact me for (at least) a night of free bed, beer and breakfeast....

It's never too late Its always nice to hear from a fellow CTX rider! It really is an amazing machine. I'm seriously considering the sprocket change. You're the second person who's mentioned it now. When I get to Swakopmund or Windhoek I will see what I can find. What should I be looking for exactly ?

I'm changing my oil more regularly now too, about every 1-3000 km's depending on the temperatures I'm riding in and my regular oil checks. Its cheap (40 rand) and easy for me to do now I'm more clued up about it all. I'm currently running on SAE 40.

I also have to regularly clean out the air filter as this Namibian dust is relentless. I'm going to buy some spares to swap in and have them all cleaned at the next service.

Thanks very much for your message and I hope to take you up on that offer Very kind indeed. Probably won't be until May time though, heh!

 

[TechnomadicJim]

I spent a few more days in Lüderitz‎ staying at Element Riders hostel. Its run by an all round sound guy called Rainer. Its actually the premises of the old Lüderitz‎ Backpackers.

I took a drive down to Agate beach and tried to find some Agate's. I didn't find any, probably because I have no idea what to do apart from picking up random stones. I later found out you should hunt at sunset / rise and low tide. The low tide exposes fresh Agate's and the sunset / rise makes them appear reddish and more easy to spot.

There's loads of flamingo's in the area too so I snapped a couple of nice pics :





I also came across this dead shark on the beach. He doesn't look too happy :



Next I drove to Betta and stayed at the camp site there. Its really good value at only 250 Nab$ per person for a chalet. I met Werner who is managing the farm and had a few beers with him in the evening. Nice chap! Hopefully will meet him in Swakopmund for Christmas.

I stayed 3 nights in Betta and did some day trips. On the first day I went to Duswib castle which to be honest was a bit crap. It isn't that well looked after and unfortunately they saw me as I was about to leave without paying so I had to pony up 65 N$ (i think). Not worth it really.



Fortunately on my way back round I drove through the Zarishoogte Pass which was awesome and made even more spectacular when it started raining!





On the second day I backtracked down the D707 until I hit some sand and got a bit stuck. My sand skills are still a bit rough so I headed back after about 85 km's down the road. I got to see the dunes on the side which was the main thing. Werner said that the sand only lasted a couple of km's so I would have been fine to push on through.



After Betta I headed the 150 or so km's to Sesriem. Came across this burned out car on the way. Had to grab a picture. Hope nobody was hurt!



In Sesreim I camped at the national park camp site which is cheaper than the other two and you can get entrance to the dunes 1 hour before everyone else (5am instead of 6am). It costs 140 N$ per person to camp plus 80 N$ dune permit.

Unfortunately no bikes allowed . Fortunately my neighbours were a friendly South African family from Knysna who offered to let me join them. We had a great morning hanging out and visiting the dunes.

Here's the famous dune right next to Sossusvlei. (vlei = Swamp)



Here's a picture from the top taken with the GoPro's wide angle lens. I was pretty knackered after I got to the top. The two boys must have run up and down it at least 4 times!



Next we walked over to Dead Vlei which was my favourite :





Had to get in the picture for one at least. (photo taken by Brian, 8 years old) :



On the way back some oryx took shelter under one of the few still ive tree's :



At about 11 it was too hot to do any more so we drove back and chilled by the pool. At about 6 pm I went to check out the Sesriem canyon which was pretty cool as you can walk down in to it. Worth an hours exploring.





This morning I packed up and drove to Solitaire where I'm currently camped for 2 or 3 nights. Going to explore the local area tomorrow and if it's worth it stay a 3rd night and do some more.

Currently KM's : 6269.

 

[Chrisl]

Jim the joke about the Land Rovers goes like this.

When the last prisoners of the Boer war were rowing accross Cape Town harbour back
to their ship one of them stood up in the little dingy and shouted " your **** will come"!!!!!

Fourty years later they offloaded the first Land Rovers in that same harbour.

They were not known to be very reliable.

 

[Chrisl]

Jim while in Solitaire go towards Maltahohe for 13 kms and turn left to Remhoogtepass
and go to Nauchas. Couple of houses and not really a town.
Turn west there down Spreedtshoogtepass and then back to Solitaire.
Total I think is 162 kms. Stunning route.

 

[TechnomadicJim]

Jim the joke about the Land Rovers goes like this.

When the last prisoners of the Boer war were rowing accross Cape Town harbour back
to their ship one of them stood up in the little dingy and shouted " your **** will come"!!!!!

Fourty years later they offloaded the first Land Rovers in that same harbour.

They were not known to be very reliable.

Thats it! hehe.

Jim while in Solitaire go towards Maltahohe for 13 kms and turn left to Remhoogtepass
and go to Nauchas. Couple of houses and not really a town.
Turn west there down Spreedtshoogtepass and then back to Solitaire.
Total I think is 162 kms. Stunning route.

Nice one! That's my day trip for tomorrow sorted Thanks.