The NALI Ride
- Thread starter YoungGSer
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YoungGSer
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I really loved the rear. It was better on and off road than the K60 I had before. The difference on wet roads is especially noticeable. The tyre did the 8500km with a fare bit of tread left, probably good got 10k kmIan in Great Brak River said:
The front was good on road but it seemed to float a bit off road. Gave them impression that it wasn’t really digging in. I tend to ride off-road at my road pressures so that might have something to do with it. I think I might fit something diff on the front for the next trip.
Overall, I like the quality of the tyre and did not get one puncture so can’t really complain.
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YoungGSer
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Day 29: Juliasdale to Lake Mteri
Distance: 400km Time: 6Hours
Heading out of Juliasdale the next morning, the temp was a refreshing -1C. I made my way down the mountain towards Mutare. Riding through town in the morning, it was great to see a hive of activity going on compared to when I was here a few years ago. New shops have sprung up and there seems to be a greater level of prosperity about the place.
I stopped off at the family friends place just south of town. Being farmers on a small holding, it always fascinated me how resilient these people are. There willingness to hang onto their way of life is pretty inspirational.
After many cups of coffee and the best banana bread, I decided it was time to hit the road again towards Chiredzi. The A9 south is generally in good condition was very quite. I saw the first police standing on the side of the road near the Birchenough bridge, happily they just waved me through.
Roughly 20km after the bridge I turned off to the Save conservancy. It’s a 100km dirt road that links the A9 to A10 near Chiredzi. It passes through Big5 area but is considered a national road so bikes are allowed on it. The dirt was badly corrugated in parts so you really had to open up to have a comfortable ride. Other than the corrugations, it is lovely ride through the bush and I highly recommend it to anyway heading that way.
I saw a good few Eland, Impala and zebra but none of them liked the sound of the bike and all ran away when I got close. I stopped for lunch in dry river bed, there was definite signs of large game passing through with a number of elephant tracks in the river.
Pic: lunch in the Save Conservancy
Pic:
Approaching the A10, there were a lot more villages and people around and the bush gave way to sugar cane plantations. I stopped in Chiredzi for fuel, 30 USD to fill my tank that was not even empty!!!! My word fuel is pricey in Zim, but at least it is now available. At just about every fuel stop on the trip, the attendants want to look at the speedo to see how fast it goes. BMW really did not take this into account when they designed the TFT screen, how will people see how fast it goes now!
My overnight stop was Nyara lodge on Lake Mteri. The lake is situated in a deep in the sugar plantations, but is surrounded by natural bush. They have large herds of buffalo roaming around the place. Apparently the bass fishing is here is top notch. I spent the afternoon sinking my last beers in Zim and trying to dry my boots out again after having to do a small water crossing in the conservancy. Alpinestar Tech7 boots leak like a colander.
Day 30: Lake Mteri to Tzaneen
Distance: 550km Time: 7 Hours
My original plan was to do the dirt roads down to Gonerazhou and then head to Beit bridge border via Rutenga, but I had a meet up planned with [member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] in Magoebaskloof so I wouldn’t want to leave the old man waiting. The tar road down to the border was uneventful but filled with lots of trucks. I was in out the Zim side of the border in 5min after paying the bridge toll and doing passports etc. All the staff I encountered on that side were friendly and wished me a safe journey. Getting to the SA side was a different story, what and absolute **** show it was. There is no direction or indication of what steps to take when you get there or how to get a gate pass.
Passport control is serviced out of a converted shipping container, with a line snaking all the way down the road. I was told join the back of this line which I did reluctantly. For the 20min I stood there, the line did not move. People were just sitting down either eating lunch or playing cards, this is clearly how it usually is. Eventually I lost my **** and went to the front and thrust my passport through the window, there was no semblance of order at the counter anyway, so I might still be waiting if I had stayed in the line. I find it completely unacceptable to have to wait hours to get back into your own country. And why for the love of god is the process not streamlined at the busiest entry point in Southern Africa!
Anyway, rant over, It was good to be back in the motherland but I now had the sinking feeling that the trip was nearly over. Just one more night and I would be home. I turned off the N1 onto the R36 towards Tzaneen. The highway miles were boring, but the scenery improved closer to Tzaneen. A quick stop at shop for dop and chop before heading up to Magoebaskloof mountain lodge.
[member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] was still en-route so I set up my tent for the final time and waited for him to arrive.
Pic: Camp
We spent the evening by the braai catching up on stories and news.
Day 31: Magoebaskloof to Benoni
Distance: 400km Time: 6 Hours
The final morning of the trip had arrived, it was a crisp winters morning, but the day ahead looked like it was going to be a good one. We packed up camp and hit the road towards Haenertburg.
Pic: Waiting for [member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] to finish doing his makeup so we can leave
We did not want to do the N1 home so decided to take the back roads towards Loskop dam. Unfortunately, the dirt roads that we wanted to take have now been tarred, but it was still nice to see areas I haven’t been to before.
We stopped at the dam wall for lunch then made our way on the dirt towards Brokhorstspruit. We have both ridden this route many times, so it was good to be on familiar roads. Hitting the tar R25 it was a quick run back to my mom’s home in Benoni. Turning into her road it was hard to believe that the journey was over, the last month just flew by. If I had the opportunity I would turn around and do it all over again. Travel frees your mind and opens your eyes to the world.
Thanks for following my journey, if anyway wants to know specifics about the trip like what I took etc. just send me a message, I will be happy to share.
Until next time, enjoy your adventure.
Cheers.
Distance: 400km Time: 6Hours
Heading out of Juliasdale the next morning, the temp was a refreshing -1C. I made my way down the mountain towards Mutare. Riding through town in the morning, it was great to see a hive of activity going on compared to when I was here a few years ago. New shops have sprung up and there seems to be a greater level of prosperity about the place.
I stopped off at the family friends place just south of town. Being farmers on a small holding, it always fascinated me how resilient these people are. There willingness to hang onto their way of life is pretty inspirational.
After many cups of coffee and the best banana bread, I decided it was time to hit the road again towards Chiredzi. The A9 south is generally in good condition was very quite. I saw the first police standing on the side of the road near the Birchenough bridge, happily they just waved me through.
Roughly 20km after the bridge I turned off to the Save conservancy. It’s a 100km dirt road that links the A9 to A10 near Chiredzi. It passes through Big5 area but is considered a national road so bikes are allowed on it. The dirt was badly corrugated in parts so you really had to open up to have a comfortable ride. Other than the corrugations, it is lovely ride through the bush and I highly recommend it to anyway heading that way.
I saw a good few Eland, Impala and zebra but none of them liked the sound of the bike and all ran away when I got close. I stopped for lunch in dry river bed, there was definite signs of large game passing through with a number of elephant tracks in the river.
Pic: lunch in the Save Conservancy
Pic:
Approaching the A10, there were a lot more villages and people around and the bush gave way to sugar cane plantations. I stopped in Chiredzi for fuel, 30 USD to fill my tank that was not even empty!!!! My word fuel is pricey in Zim, but at least it is now available. At just about every fuel stop on the trip, the attendants want to look at the speedo to see how fast it goes. BMW really did not take this into account when they designed the TFT screen, how will people see how fast it goes now!
My overnight stop was Nyara lodge on Lake Mteri. The lake is situated in a deep in the sugar plantations, but is surrounded by natural bush. They have large herds of buffalo roaming around the place. Apparently the bass fishing is here is top notch. I spent the afternoon sinking my last beers in Zim and trying to dry my boots out again after having to do a small water crossing in the conservancy. Alpinestar Tech7 boots leak like a colander.
Day 30: Lake Mteri to Tzaneen
Distance: 550km Time: 7 Hours
My original plan was to do the dirt roads down to Gonerazhou and then head to Beit bridge border via Rutenga, but I had a meet up planned with [member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] in Magoebaskloof so I wouldn’t want to leave the old man waiting. The tar road down to the border was uneventful but filled with lots of trucks. I was in out the Zim side of the border in 5min after paying the bridge toll and doing passports etc. All the staff I encountered on that side were friendly and wished me a safe journey. Getting to the SA side was a different story, what and absolute **** show it was. There is no direction or indication of what steps to take when you get there or how to get a gate pass.
Passport control is serviced out of a converted shipping container, with a line snaking all the way down the road. I was told join the back of this line which I did reluctantly. For the 20min I stood there, the line did not move. People were just sitting down either eating lunch or playing cards, this is clearly how it usually is. Eventually I lost my **** and went to the front and thrust my passport through the window, there was no semblance of order at the counter anyway, so I might still be waiting if I had stayed in the line. I find it completely unacceptable to have to wait hours to get back into your own country. And why for the love of god is the process not streamlined at the busiest entry point in Southern Africa!
Anyway, rant over, It was good to be back in the motherland but I now had the sinking feeling that the trip was nearly over. Just one more night and I would be home. I turned off the N1 onto the R36 towards Tzaneen. The highway miles were boring, but the scenery improved closer to Tzaneen. A quick stop at shop for dop and chop before heading up to Magoebaskloof mountain lodge.
[member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] was still en-route so I set up my tent for the final time and waited for him to arrive.
Pic: Camp
We spent the evening by the braai catching up on stories and news.
Day 31: Magoebaskloof to Benoni
Distance: 400km Time: 6 Hours
The final morning of the trip had arrived, it was a crisp winters morning, but the day ahead looked like it was going to be a good one. We packed up camp and hit the road towards Haenertburg.
Pic: Waiting for [member=10050]ClimbingTurtle[/member] to finish doing his makeup so we can leave
We did not want to do the N1 home so decided to take the back roads towards Loskop dam. Unfortunately, the dirt roads that we wanted to take have now been tarred, but it was still nice to see areas I haven’t been to before.
We stopped at the dam wall for lunch then made our way on the dirt towards Brokhorstspruit. We have both ridden this route many times, so it was good to be on familiar roads. Hitting the tar R25 it was a quick run back to my mom’s home in Benoni. Turning into her road it was hard to believe that the journey was over, the last month just flew by. If I had the opportunity I would turn around and do it all over again. Travel frees your mind and opens your eyes to the world.
Thanks for following my journey, if anyway wants to know specifics about the trip like what I took etc. just send me a message, I will be happy to share.
Until next time, enjoy your adventure.
Cheers.
ClimbingTurtle
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Old with Makeup.... :eek7:
Fokkoff.....
That will come back to bite you.....
>
Fokkoff.....
That will come back to bite you.....
>
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Thanks, really enjoyed your report :thumleft:
windswept
Race Dog
:thumleft:
0012
Race Dog
Man, what a lekker RR, thanks very much for taking the time to write and share this :thumleft:
Having grown up in Triangle (near Chiredzi) I've done the Beit Bridge border a few ( :lol8: ) times, and must say that SA side is a massive faarken shambles, and one gets a very strong "don't give a ****" feeling from the officials.
Glad you made it through Mwanza/Zobue easy, that "system down" thing has kept us there for 8 hours before!!
Thanks again for sharing, had a great ride-along :ricky:
YoungGSer said:
Having grown up in Triangle (near Chiredzi) I've done the Beit Bridge border a few ( :lol8: ) times, and must say that SA side is a massive faarken shambles, and one gets a very strong "don't give a ****" feeling from the officials.
Glad you made it through Mwanza/Zobue easy, that "system down" thing has kept us there for 8 hours before!!
Thanks again for sharing, had a great ride-along :ricky:
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