The Unforgiven Trail - and the legends that tamed it

[Chantal Burger]

Jean - Alan en Jaco lyk nie so nie. Jy moet jou kamera asb kalibreer

Jaco lyk soos die alien wat Justin gesien het in die canyon.

 

[JeanDV]

Jean - Alan en Jaco lyk nie so nie. Jy moet jou kamera asb kalibreer

Ek dink die shutter was n tydtjie oop vir hierdie foto so dinge lyk n bietjie anders.

Of daar was ‘n paar kameras op hul gerig.

 

[m0lt3n]

my day 8 was full of mixed emotions.
seeing the photos of the day's outing now for the first time, didnt think I missed out so much. aag wat

so my day started with me fairly keen to fetch my bike. We were to take some dessert bypass route which will be faster to my bike, but isnt exactly a highway. I think this road is on that fine line between corrugation and whoops. If I had any fillings before that, I didnt have much left after. At least the company was good riding with Allen and hearing his passion for the outdoors. I was trying not to be worried if my bike was still where we left it but need not have worried. We found it exactly where we left it and I again realized that while things were not all sunshine and roses for me, it could have been a lot worse and I had high hopes on making some kind of plan to get it going again.

I had really hoped though that it would have been a lot quicker to collect the bike and get to work on it, but the road just did not allow for that. After a quick lunch at the local pub consisting of tomato chips on bread we reached the camp site at around 14h as was mentioned earlier. At least I could take some pics with some local lonely men.

 

[m0lt3n]

right. at camp we started working on the bike.

There was a lot of willing hands with Conrad and Robert taking lead on it. Conrad with all the know how, Robert with plans and myself trying to be helpful.
First we stripped everything, the side panels and the headunit with lights and stuff. Side panels should be fine with new sticker kit but most else was fubar.
Handlebars still could not turn so next up was a mission to bend the aluminum front subframe. A hand strong wooden beam did the job here.
Next was the ignition, no use even trying to be roadworthy (irony irony I know) if the bike cant start.
Ignition was split, bottom part can be started with a screwdriver and top had to toutch the rubber of the key with the chip in.
bike started, we were in business!

So permanent plans were due, the wrong end of the key did duties as a key replacing screwdriver and cable tied in place. The rubber part was cable tied close to aerial for immobolizer. So from a cold start I had to be in neutral (not enough hands) turn my wannabe key the wrong way for on, touch and keep chip on aerial and hope for the sound of fuel pump priming.

So, going forward, this was my cockpit

 

[m0lt3n]

Next up was the brakes
So I have a twin front disc, but unlike the 950, the 990 brake lines split early on in the headunit and have two lines, one line per caliper going down. I was desperate and thought of just cutting the line and turning a bolt or screw into the pipe as a stopper but Conrad tempered me, thinking of the repair bill after and not breaking more stuff unnecessarily so a different plan was made.

Robert found a piece of square tubing which was placed inside caliper (remember I lost both pads) and this was wired and cabletied in place not to fall out. the brake disc was removed and caliper replaced. Voila, I had a semblance of front wheel stopping power!

We were sort off done. I tidied up, cabletied all loose things in place to prevent any more surprises and it was time for a test ride.
Which lasted only a few seconds and the bike died.
It was weird. Bike runs healthy and then dies, in the beginning the time to die was irregular. so we would wiggle the wires looking for a short and it will die...then you zoom in on a false issue. Found an open wire on my loom...false issue. thought of the hazards switch and put that back in place, seems like it is more than just hazards, false issue. Reconnected all lights...false issue. Disconnected battery for one hour and suddenly we were up to 10 seconds and then deadness.

We were at a loss.
Tried calling home to others for some assistance but there wasnt much signal or answer.

So close but no cigar. This went on for quite some time.
Later everyone set off for the sundowner outing. I was offered a bike (thanks ETS) but thought it better to skip and think it through. By now it was close to clockwork, start...2 seconds and dead. Clearly the bike thought something was wrong and cuts out. think think think Martin it must be something stupid think think.
I found the manual to the bike on my phone with half broken screen and send it with some effort to my work phone I carry with (idea was to fit Namibia sim which never happened). and studied that manual. Troubleshooting section, electrical section I read twice. no clue.

By now it was dark. it was time for dinner and I could see Hardy was conflicted. Two bikes out of action was an issue. He came to me and asked is it time...we need to load it. Flip that wasnt a nice discussion. so close.
Both bikes couldnt be loaded on the Cruizer as then there was no place for tools to assist the other bikes. So the decision was to load mine and Greg was willing to sacrifice the prestine status of his Unimog to load the DR650 on the back on some flimsy step. This will complicate things a lot going forward and put hardy in a difficult spot.
But it was time, no more was to be done. some guys helped me push the bike around to be loaded but the ever inquisitive Robert noticed a black box inbetween all my exposed wiring he did not recognise (he also owns/ed a SE) and took a pic of it. We continued to load the bike. It was around 9pm I think.
And we were just about to start tieing the bike down when Robert called out from below...'wait wait he has an idea, a long shot but an idea'






so everyone knows the bike did run, can anyone not there guess what was the cause? I will update tomorrow....

 

[dirtWarp]

Hold my beer.

 

[Hardy de Kock]

By now it was dark. it was time for dinner and I could see Hardy was conflicted. Two bikes out of action was an issue. He came to me and asked is it time...we need to load it. Flip that wasnt a nice discussion. so close.

Second worst decision and subsequent discussion I ever had to have on a tour.

 

[JeanDV]

Nog een van bo af, Jan Joubert Koppie.
Maak oop en zoom in!

 

[Rooies]

Nog een van bo af, Jan Joubert Koppie.
Maak oop en zoom in!

Daardie plek is baie spesiaal. Met ons toer het ek alleen soontoe gery die volgende namiddag na ons die vorige dag daar was en weereens die sonsondergang bewonder. In 'n amper-hipnotiese toestand het ek daar gesit en toekomsbesluite gemaak/bevestig wat reeds gebeur en vir lank gaan bly.

Julle toer lyk bevange! Harde klippe gekou, beste herinneringe!

 

[Hardy de Kock]

Day 09 - Background

The Crowter Trail has been one of my favorite trails in the past. Our crew has ridden it a few times and we have been very fortunate in terms of animal sightings.
The big tour operators in Namibia markets their lodges in the Crowter Trail as very exclusive and they unfortunately hate seeing anybody else in there.
In the past Wilderness Safaris made sure bike riders could not access the Trail as it would possibly raise questions with their guests about the 12k a night price tag they charge their customers, if one of their customers were to come in contact with a rider who only paid R300 to ride through the trail. Unlike the fee we pay to Palmwag Conservancy, none of the money Wilderness Safaris make goes to the community in charge of this beautiful but baron desert landscape.
The other issue with the trail is the fact that it has a substantial amount of lions and elephant. Obviously it poses a huge risk but I was confident that our group were good enough riders.

With Martin's bike in riding condition I was looking forward to this day, and briefed the riders on the toll such a long ride through the Crowter Trail will take.
We were looking at +- 250km in terrain that were going to change a multitude of times, and the fatigue factor will definitely come into play today.

I will latch onto the report @hartebees will do later with some videos and other info

 

[m0lt3n]

Second worst decision and subsequent discussion I ever had to have on a tour.

I saw you were not in the best of spaces, but did not expect anything else. It was necessary and I would have done exact same if I was in your shoes.

 

[hartebees]

Day 9 – Purros to Palmwag

After Robert emerged as the hero that saved the 990 from defeat, we only had the DR650 to load on the bakkie.

We planned for another early start, and this time it worked out perfectly. We left Purros as the sun was still behind the mountains on our left. The early morning air was smooth and the light soft – it felt like riding in a dream. We made our way to the open desert as the sun was rising.

I find it hard to describe the ride this morning. It will probably sound like I’m just grabbing at flowery adjectives but for me it had a very surreal feeling. Hopefully the pictures can help you form an idea.

After about 70km we started nearing the Geinas mountains and making our way down to the Hoanib river. We all met up underneath a tree at the 80km mark. Ahead we could see the fog rolling in from the coast.

The Hoanib riverbed is a hotspot for lion and elephant activity. Other wildlife as well, of course. But we had received specific information that the lions were at the entrance to the river – where we were about to go – a few days prior.

Hardy drove ahead to give us the all clear or alternatively warn us of animals. As he went forward he said on the radio: “Here is some giraffe… here’s one with a calf… here is some gemsbokke… ah, here is an elephant. Let the riders approach slowly, keep to the left of the track and stop behind the bakkie.”

Everyone approach slowly. The Hoanib riverbed is definitely not a place where you want to go fast – it is almost overflowing with wildlife, and with the big Ana trees and mountain cliffs on all sides, it is also a visually stunning place.

After everyone got some photos of the elephant, we continued in the same fashion through the 10km of riverbed that we would pass through. We saw another herd of elephant, springbokke, giraffe and gemsbokke.

Where we exit the Hoanib is the start of the track known as the Crowther trail. As Hardy said previously this track was closed for motorcycles for a long time and we were glad that the riders could experience this journey through the ever changing landscape back to Palmwag – going back on the main road via Sesfontein would have been a severe anti-climax after what they had been exposed to so far.

To be continued.

 

[Lars]

So what was wrong with the 990?

 

[hartebees]

 

[hartebees]

@JeanDV and Steve in the early morning light leaving Purros.

 

[Hardy de Kock]

Jaco on his 500
Hoanib - stressful drive

 

[Aprilian]

So what was wrong with the 990?

KTM unreliability….

 

[Lars]

KTM unreliability….

Yeah but besides this?

 

[JeanDV]

Day 9, had the chance to try out the WR450 while JacoN took a rest day.

 

[Hardy de Kock]

Yeah but besides this?

Nothing wrong with the 990’s reliability Lars - The 990’s “tip over” or fall sensor activated and automatically cuts the engine after three seconds.
It usually sits under the seat but Martin’s was hidden in the cockpit inside the wiring.
Robert pulled a hail mary and figured it out as we were tying up the bike on the back of the Cruiser.
The look on Martin’s face when the bike’s idling passed the three second mark will stay with me forever.