Ektoknbike
Race Dog
- Joined
- May 4, 2007
- Messages
- 899
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Oppie plaas Worcester
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure
brettp said:
Wat jaar? ???
The year long All Expenses Paid hooligan ride
- Thread starter Whethefakawe
- Start date
Wat jaar? ???
Great stuff, I can't wait. This thread is one of my favourites. Arguably one of the best documented and photographed stories of SA's bike squad. Well done WTFAW!!!!
H
H
P
Propeller
Guest
WTFAW
Do you remember a troep with the name Jacques Rossouw. Does the name rings a bell?
Do you remember a troep with the name Jacques Rossouw. Does the name rings a bell?
Piston Pete
Teach Peace
WOW....this stuff is coming out the grave bigtime. I was the one who had a mid-air crash with a guy called Craig Lindique from Durbs. We were practicing for a Demo in Ojiworongo. End of game. Gotta look him up!
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Messages
- 8,432
- Reaction score
- 304
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
Great rep man. Memories come flooding back.... after 7SAI, I ended up in Tiffies.... had a couple of those XR's that we had to put together again... always wondered who were the lucky okes destroying them.... ;D
YellowFever
Race Dog
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 1,145
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Cape Town City Bowl
- Bike
- Piaggio (all models)
I'm not old enough to have any remembrance of the war nor do I know anyone that was involved. I do however have a bit of an interest in this period of time that shape our country. Have read one or 2 books about it.
Don't know why this is the first time I see this, it just made my weekend!!
Don't know why this is the first time I see this, it just made my weekend!!
wayneh
Race Dog
...2 years of National Defense Force brings back such a mix of emotions. Even today, I have told my guys at work, "Ja it's kak now. But it's like the army - the tough times will define your character. And you'll look back on them with a gritty fondness."
I did my training at Artillary... Just down the road form the Breede, in Potch. We had more than one 'oop f@k' for having a stray shell land a little too close to you guys ;D
Great report. Awesome pics, man.
I did my training at Artillary... Just down the road form the Breede, in Potch. We had more than one 'oop f@k' for having a stray shell land a little too close to you guys ;D
Great report. Awesome pics, man.
Piston Pete
Teach Peace
Ja...you artillary types had us bikers running around like muppets putting out your fires not to mention one time when the brede ouks forgot about your practice & we had to herd horses off the veld....pronto! :BLACK2:
Got some crazy memories of that place but will post in future book....
Got some crazy memories of that place but will post in future book....
Mike B
Pack Dog
Loved this read, one of the best in a long time especially since it brings out the memories of great camaraderie and mates long since lost in time and travel. The military was one of my most cherished memories. I had a mate that was in the bike squad in '87 Barry Kruger aka Donkey Piel, anyone know him or his whereabouts?
Thanks for picken up this thread
Thanks for picken up this thread
Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Jeez - talk about "back to the future"
I posted this story about a year ago, in response to photos of a Malaysian (or somewhere in Asia) army soldier standing up on a bike, shooting over the handlebars. I laughed my arse off, cause he was on a tar road, for one thing. And believe me, we never even THOUGHT of tryng that in the ovambo sand :laughing4: :laughing4:
Like anybody who spent time in combat units back then, I have many stories and anecdotes, and because we rode the hottest (stock) 4-strokes money could buy in 1982, most of them are f@@king hilarious. Not all bike squad riders were national MX, road racing or trials champs ;D Those guys stayed in Potch and did their amazing displays at the Rand Show, Durban Tattoo and similar venues. The platoons had about 50-50 experienced dirtbikers and novices and it was a source of much hilarity in the beginning. Later, when everybody became very good, showing off and plain stupidity caused most of the laughs. The two best riders in my platoon were national-level MX racers, one was a top-ten guy.
But I digress. After posting the story, long-forgotten memories and huge amounts of minute detail came flooding back after 25 years, so I wrote it down. It was enough to literally fill a book, so after 6 months of editing it's at a publisher now, in fact at KilRoy's connection John Dovey in Durbs.
We'll see how that goes, I have never told most of the stories before, and out of the 170 or so photos I took in 1982 maybe a dozen or so had been seen by a few bike-related friends before I posted them a year ago.
My bro Patrick in Uganda spent a total of almost 8 years in bike squad, starting as a rifleman in platoon 6 and ending up as a captain and OC. Combined with my 3 years it covers probably 2/3's of the unit's existence. Between us we knew most of the important personalities
and I have been in contact with several members here who were either in BS or knew people who were. Through other contacts I have made some amazing connections over the last 3 months. All I can say is, it's a small world.
I decided to take a (permanent) sabbatical from the corporation, they just don't know it yet ;D to research and write the history of bike squad. The plan is to be done by end of 2008. I am leaving here (Arizona) tomorrow, stopping in Brisbane to see my bro John, who was in my old Inf School platoon and went to bike squad with me in Jan 81. Arriving SA around Saturday, have several meetings set up and then on to Uganda. I expect to be in SA (and U) permanently after March. My 950 and XR 650 too :evil6:
SO - If anybody who reads this spent any time in the spes units (berede, SWASPES etc) please contact me, I will set up a hotmail address but for now through WD. Depending on how the bike project goes, I may end up researching the horse side of the equation as well, ie, the berede platoons, or "Ops Wing" as it was officially known. My ex-berede friend who works in Hong Kong suggested that yesterday.
The idea spawned around the fire in Uganda that night has gathered a lot of momentum, and I'm very excited about the project. Except for when I'm out riding, I've been bored lately so this will cure THAT condition ;D
I posted this story about a year ago, in response to photos of a Malaysian (or somewhere in Asia) army soldier standing up on a bike, shooting over the handlebars. I laughed my arse off, cause he was on a tar road, for one thing. And believe me, we never even THOUGHT of tryng that in the ovambo sand :laughing4: :laughing4:
Like anybody who spent time in combat units back then, I have many stories and anecdotes, and because we rode the hottest (stock) 4-strokes money could buy in 1982, most of them are f@@king hilarious. Not all bike squad riders were national MX, road racing or trials champs ;D Those guys stayed in Potch and did their amazing displays at the Rand Show, Durban Tattoo and similar venues. The platoons had about 50-50 experienced dirtbikers and novices and it was a source of much hilarity in the beginning. Later, when everybody became very good, showing off and plain stupidity caused most of the laughs. The two best riders in my platoon were national-level MX racers, one was a top-ten guy.
But I digress. After posting the story, long-forgotten memories and huge amounts of minute detail came flooding back after 25 years, so I wrote it down. It was enough to literally fill a book, so after 6 months of editing it's at a publisher now, in fact at KilRoy's connection John Dovey in Durbs.
We'll see how that goes, I have never told most of the stories before, and out of the 170 or so photos I took in 1982 maybe a dozen or so had been seen by a few bike-related friends before I posted them a year ago.
My bro Patrick in Uganda spent a total of almost 8 years in bike squad, starting as a rifleman in platoon 6 and ending up as a captain and OC. Combined with my 3 years it covers probably 2/3's of the unit's existence. Between us we knew most of the important personalities
and I have been in contact with several members here who were either in BS or knew people who were. Through other contacts I have made some amazing connections over the last 3 months. All I can say is, it's a small world.
I decided to take a (permanent) sabbatical from the corporation, they just don't know it yet ;D to research and write the history of bike squad. The plan is to be done by end of 2008. I am leaving here (Arizona) tomorrow, stopping in Brisbane to see my bro John, who was in my old Inf School platoon and went to bike squad with me in Jan 81. Arriving SA around Saturday, have several meetings set up and then on to Uganda. I expect to be in SA (and U) permanently after March. My 950 and XR 650 too :evil6:
SO - If anybody who reads this spent any time in the spes units (berede, SWASPES etc) please contact me, I will set up a hotmail address but for now through WD. Depending on how the bike project goes, I may end up researching the horse side of the equation as well, ie, the berede platoons, or "Ops Wing" as it was officially known. My ex-berede friend who works in Hong Kong suggested that yesterday.
The idea spawned around the fire in Uganda that night has gathered a lot of momentum, and I'm very excited about the project. Except for when I'm out riding, I've been bored lately so this will cure THAT condition ;D
SuperJuice
Race Dog
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2006
- Messages
- 1,337
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Johannesburg
- Bike
- New Hudson (all models)
Whethefakawe,
Some useless but coincidental information for you.
My old man worked at Midmacor in the early 80's, the then Honda agents for SA.
One of the reps there, Fred Pretorius, was the guy that sold those XR's to the Army. He was in with the Generals of the time and the stories he used to tell us of the 'entertainment' these guys demanded was incredible, lots and lots of 'schmoozing'.
Interestingly, the orders were by the hundreds and continued for many years. They (Fred and my old man) even flew over to Japan to find out from Honda whether the bikes could be painted in the army green shown in your pics. The Honda execs refused and the bikes had to painted here in SA before being delivered to the Army.
I used to go to Midmacor and marvel at the HUNDREDS of XR's sitting there waiting to be painted and delivered.
I showed my old man your post and it's great to see where those bikes went and how and by who they were used.
Thanks for this it brought back many memories for me and for my old man.
Some useless but coincidental information for you.
My old man worked at Midmacor in the early 80's, the then Honda agents for SA.
One of the reps there, Fred Pretorius, was the guy that sold those XR's to the Army. He was in with the Generals of the time and the stories he used to tell us of the 'entertainment' these guys demanded was incredible, lots and lots of 'schmoozing'.
Interestingly, the orders were by the hundreds and continued for many years. They (Fred and my old man) even flew over to Japan to find out from Honda whether the bikes could be painted in the army green shown in your pics. The Honda execs refused and the bikes had to painted here in SA before being delivered to the Army.
I used to go to Midmacor and marvel at the HUNDREDS of XR's sitting there waiting to be painted and delivered.
I showed my old man your post and it's great to see where those bikes went and how and by who they were used.
Thanks for this it brought back many memories for me and for my old man.
Piston Pete
Teach Peace
Anybody remember the training bikes at Potch. We had those Honda pig-of-a-bike XL350's. If by itself not heavy enough they had skid plates & heavy duty crash bars & handle bar protectors. Eish. Also the Susuki SP370.....now that bony could wheelie!!
After that course one could throw those thing around no problem!
After that course one could throw those thing around no problem!
I took about 1000 slides of the '83-'84 Bike Squad, including training and over a year on the border. We trained on XRs and Suzuki DR350s, and rode XR500RCs (first model with ProLink suspension). My platoon was split up into three sections posted at Ruacana, Ogongo and Okatope (also known as PoesPlaas).
Every time I read this story the idea crosses my mind to write the story up, but I'm still grappling with what angle to tackle it from. In hindsight, the whole concept of National Service is so screwed up that I wouldn't want to glorify the stupid free trip to lie under the palm trees.
What do you guys think?
Every time I read this story the idea crosses my mind to write the story up, but I'm still grappling with what angle to tackle it from. In hindsight, the whole concept of National Service is so screwed up that I wouldn't want to glorify the stupid free trip to lie under the palm trees.
What do you guys think?
Piston Pete
Teach Peace
Maybe we should all get it down on paper then send off to Yuri & he can make recommendations. Maybe slide the angle before the writeup?
Mungo Park 2
Puppy
I think your positive and engaging posting may give some consolation to those who suffered losses. Great documentary stuff - please shout the title of your book loudly once it's available!
Thanks for making the time to scan and to share!
Thanks for making the time to scan and to share!
Mike B
Pack Dog
I had a little to do with the biker boys, worked in SWA for a long time, give us that hotmail addy, maybe a hookup is in order, then we can really talk shit and stumble down amnesia lane with intent, also with a dop in the hand ;D > ;D
;D
B
BigEd
Guest
Whethefakawe, I'll buy your book. Put me down somma now...
