THE ROAD TO HELL ..... and back (part 8 THE FINAL CHAPTER now up)

[Dustdevil]

So whats the tally on the road ? RovRat ,DustDevil ,See Duiwel and Justin PF says yes it is doable ( with more prep and less weight ) and Heddles and Michiel says no the road is undoable ?

Must say if Michiel , having gone riding up and down those impossibly steep mountain tracks in Lesotho three times in three years says no , then I would trust his opinion .  :mwink:

Michiel was wounded so his opinion does not count  :

 

[JustBendIt]

Thanks Justin and others for a great ride report
It seems like you okes did the wise thing
If riders of your caliber could not, even with SE's contemplate the road it must be hell itself

I for one, at the risk of sounding a little windgat do not believe that there is a road which can not be ridden with a 2 wheel motorcycle
There is of course a couple of variables one has to take into consideration. Back-up, size, weight, rider ability etc etc...........
Yes - you may not be able to do the whole trip on a preferred bike as the smaller one cylinders are kak on the open road and the heavier twins kak in technical stuff.

Must say - since the Amageza i have completely changed my point of view on what can be done and what can't with the heavy DS bikes.
I for one believe that if you trailer to the nearest dorp on the N7 and ride from there, camp in the shcpot and do the road on 300's, 390's 400's 450's with proper back up and planning, the road may be doable
I for one definitely plan to go there, (maybe with you if i'm invited..................... and try to do it.)

I am planning to purchase a 450 and farkle it up for the Amageza for next year

This may be the correct tool for the Road to Hell

Lekke trip, Lekke RR
Well done guys!!
:thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

You will be invited to join - I promise

Check out my new Road To Hell / Amageza machine - a Husky TE450 - 'n baie lig maar lekker mal ding !

I got it last night and can't stop looking at it and playing with it - kinda like wanking - just more acceptable in public !

 

[Orangeswifty]

Thanks Justin and others for a great ride report
It seems like you okes did the wise thing
If riders of your caliber could not, even with SE's contemplate the road it must be hell itself

I for one, at the risk of sounding a little windgat do not believe that there is a road which can not be ridden with a 2 wheel motorcycle
There is of course a couple of variables one has to take into consideration. Back-up, size, weight, rider ability etc etc...........
Yes - you may not be able to do the whole trip on a preferred bike as the smaller one cylinders are kak on the open road and the heavier twins kak in technical stuff.

Must say - since the Amageza i have completely changed my point of view on what can be done and what can't with the heavy DS bikes.
I for one believe that if you trailer to the nearest dorp on the N7 and ride from there, camp in the shcpot and do the road on 300's, 390's 400's 450's with proper back up and planning, the road may be doable
I for one definitely plan to go there, (maybe with you if i'm invited..................... and try to do it.)

I am planning to purchase a 450 and farkle it up for the Amageza for next year

This may be the correct tool for the Road to Hell

Lekke trip, Lekke RR
Well done guys!!
:thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

You will be invited to join - I promise

Check out my new Road To Hell / Amageza machine - a Husky TE450 - 'n baie lig maar lekker mal ding !

I got it last night and can't stop looking at it and playing with it - kinda like wanking - just more acceptable in public !

Now That's the tool for the Job bro :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:
Enjoy!
Better get in shape
I too will have to shake off some excess dikgat
:imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:

 

[Roela]

Shweeeet bike Justin, just make sure the sidestand don't poke you in the hol :imaposer:

 

[AgentO]

I've been watching this post with A LOT of interest, thanks for the excellent ride report.

I hope to be a part of future attempts to conquer this highway to hell. I would probably choose the trailering option to a small town nearby and ride from there.

Does anyone know the state of the borehole and water tanks indicated on the T4A map?

 

[ChrisMann]

I've been watching this post with A LOT of interest, thanks for the excellent ride report.

I hope to be a part of future attempts to conquer this highway to hell. I would probably choose the trailering option to a small town nearby and ride from there.

Does anyone know the state of the borehole and water tanks indicated on the T4A map?

I think (not a good thing  ) that it is a permanent skaapwagterspost. There should be water all year round. We will be passing there in about 3 weeks time and can check it out. Just beware, the sheep is guarded by dogs that attack anything that come close to the sheep. Not a good place to get hondsdolheid. 

 

[BlueBull2007]

What an inspiring and just lekker RR. To all the contributors, and especially Justin THANK YOU! :hello2:

That is such an amazing part of the world.

IMO, your WR & TE are the right machines for the job; congrats on the new acquisitions. :thumleft:

Not that its my place to say anything but if I were to do this trip on a smaller bike, it should NOT be trailer'd. Perhaps its the purist masochist in me, but I strongly believe the essence of the challenge is lost when you bring a trailer into the picture. A good rider could trailer his lightweight, high-tech trials machine in and potentially thrash The Road to Hell in a day. To me its all about the long off-road/dirt road ride to get to the challenge, and then doing the crux (which looks damn hard, if not impossible for me), and back without in one piece any crutches or excuses.

That to me would match trying to do it on a heavy bike, and it would be double Metaljockey hardcore.  :thumbsup:

You would need big tanks, but you will need those anyway for the next Amageza.

Whatever you decide, all the best with it; please let us know how your prep for it goes and how your next attempt goes.

It's practically a challenge like this that started the whole Dakar thing, and this challenge is worthy of being treated as such.

PS: Don't leave this virgin for too long, this thing would be very high on my agenda if I were within 3000km and I am sure others have the same thing in mind. :mwink:  atch:

 

[2StrokeDan]

Neil, I fully agree on the ride there/do the challenge/ride back thing, in fact I would go as far as to say that a plastic doing this route would not count at all. It would simply be too easy.
So what is the final verdict? Is this route not possible on a proper dualsport? Let us hear your opinions.

 

[GJ]

eepwall: :mwink:

 

[2StrokeDan]

The quietgeit is overdeafening.

 

[AgentO]

Is this route not possible on a proper dualsport?

This begs the question, what is a proper duallie? A road legal WR450 would make it a lot easier than if you were on say a Geen Sand. But the actual getting there would be waaaay easier on the BM. Maybe this balances things out a bit.

For me personally, trailering the 690 up would give a good base to ride from and to explore the rest of that area for a few days. The challenge for me would be getting down the actual Hell Road road and back.
This would also offer the biggest 'fun' factor.  ;D

Now days the line between DS and plastic is a little blurry.

 

[Michiel]

Oi! I'm starting to forget what it was that I felt standing there having the opportunity to ride it and
deciding to give up even before trying. Dusty is right, I was injured, still can't sleep on my left side.
This though can't fully disqualify me from making a judgement call.

The problem with this road is that, from the R2H rock sign, it immediately drops down its worst section
and this is about 100 - 150m long. If one had to ride up this section and go down when you give up,
like on Kreef's Road, it would be a completely different ball game. Everyone can have a go. The problem
is that I stood there and I saw very vividly and terrifyingly a TRAP! I, for one, will ride down there only to
completely kak off without much result in trying to return. I will have to abandon my expensive piece of
heavy metal there and I will stand by my word that this will be the fate of most average riders out there.
Unless of course you have 4 buddies that can drag you out.

Anybody up for the challenge? We will need four fit pushers/pullers for every rider.   :deal:

 

[AgentO]

Michiel that new green 2-stroke mountain goat of yours is the perfect weapon.  ot:

I do believe like you say, that you can't picture the road until you're actually standing at the top, then nuts will shrivel. 

We will be passing there in about 3 weeks time and can check it out.

Uil will you be making an attempt on the Devil's garden path?  >

 

[Michiel]

Michiel that new green 2-stroke mountain goat of yours is the perfect weapon.  ot:

Mountain Goat? I like the sound of that!  :mwink:

On a KDX? Any time! But like 2SD said, it will be cheating  >

 

[Beserker]

Is this route not possible on a proper dualsport?

This begs the question, what is a proper duallie?

You ride it there, you ride it down, you ride it up, you ride it home  ==  D/S

Somewhere you will be doing afk@k, your choice where: 700km N7 or 14 km RtH...

My 2c

 

[JustBendIt]

Seems like the Dogs are throwing down a challenge here - someone is gonna break this road's cherry on a bike

Let's set up a few rules / conditions while we are about it for your Road To Hell conquest to count in the DS community

1. The bike you do it on must be registered and licensed and street legal - lights, flickers, hooter, etc - THAT RULES OUT ANY FULL TIME ENDURO / MX PLASTICS OR TRIAL BIKES - this will just be too easy
2. You need to ride the bike there and back - no towing allowed - no trailers or bakkies
3. You need to produce a photo of yourself and your bike taken next to the Orange River at the bottom of the road.

Feel free to add some more rules

 

[AgentO]

Ha ha dammit, rule 2 foiled my cunning plan.

But those are good, so it's not just the ride  down and up, it's the challenge of planning the whole trip.

Rule 4: Video footage of at least part of the decent / ascent is necessary.

 

[DirtyHarry]

1. The bike you do it on must be registered and licensed and street legal - lights, flickers, hooter, etc - THAT RULES OUT ANY FULL TIME ENDURO / MX PLASTICS OR TRIAL BIKES - this will just be too easy
2. You need to ride the bike there and back - no towing allowed - no trailers or bakkies
3. You need to produce a photo of yourself and your bike taken next to the Orange River at the bottom of the road.
4. Video footage of at least part of the decent / ascent is necessary.
5. You should ride your bike on your own in and out. No pushing, pulling or lifting assistance is allowed.

 

[2StrokeDan]

These 5 rules are so spot-on.
IMO a D/S is ANY bike that you can take legally on and off road anywhere. If you can roadworthy a 2012 2stroke YZ250, and you are OK travelling long distances on road to do a small tech section, then your YZ is a D/S.
A GS1200 is not a D/S, it cannot do technical rides. eepwall: eepwall: eepwall: eepwall: eepwall: eepwall:

 

[subie]

Dink miskien moet die ouens wat daar was die reels maak  :mwink: