The year long All Expenses Paid hooligan ride

[fakawidan]

Howzit all
In 83 -84 demo team used xr 200 R,s 1 honda 3wheeler a suzuki 500 dr with no shocks for a 8 man piramid.
Any body out there got foto,s or video of there demo,s i saw some okes do frontwheel stoppies.

just became a proud owner of a xt 600 "93 model" boaght it over the internet as i am in kazakhstan
and have only tweeks in SA for riding
cheers All

 

[Just Blip It!]

2 friends I ride with were in Bike squad. Peter Silver and Darryl Cleaver, do you remember them? Actually I think they were much later on around '86 or '87.

 

[Tubeless]

Enjoyed thanks :mwink:

 

[Whethefakawe]

Hello Blipit,

No don't know them. But i'd like to get in contact with them if you could facilitate? I do know some people who i'm sure know them though.

sorry for tardy reply, I'm in Dar es salaam playing with vintage toys1

Cheers

 

[Schalk]

I went to Okatope from "faffaskool"(Oudshoorn) late 1986.
The BS as well as horses were stationed there.Just after we arived SWA SPES troops departed to Otavi  and with them most of the Bikes.Capt Jan Truter and his twin Brother Sergeant Major Truter were in command and tried to keep a BS going.We had about 15 bikes left.They started a small demo squad for Ovambo land.Most of the time we used the Bikes for Pleasure rides and to commute to Ondangwa and back.After long patrols of working in the Bush we would return back to Okatope for a few days.These days and nights were spend in the bar where we would try and waste our R120 "danger pay"
The XR"s usualy came to the bar too and many a night we trashed the bar with them,together with the local Koevoet guys.
We once got the order to escort a group of BMW travelers that traveled through Ovamboland from Oshivello to Oshakati,then on to Ruacana and back to Oshakati.Next day out at Oshivello again.
We did this with no Goggles,no gear,R4 around the shoulder and XR" flatout for 2 days.Me and several of my squat members also got bitten by a Tame Meerkat we had.This was just after a trooper died of Rabies that "klaared out" a month before.
All of us that was bitten had to wait an agonising 90 days of not knowing whether we got infected or not,and had several treatments during this time in Oshakati.
Okatope stayed active until middle 1987 when we moved to Ondangwa as Intellegence reaction force with our Ovambo troops.We stayed there until end of 1987.
I think when the original BS members left Okatope early 1987 it was the end of the BS"s active service in Ovamboland.
Thanks for this report,great to be part of it and the memories it stirrs!

 

[Whethefakawe]

Thanks boet, good info. I remember Jan Truter as Sersant ROOIMOER. There were 2 or them, twins, it got confusing at times -  :laughing4:
The one I knew went to Formative Course and became an officer and a doos. Whaaa-haaa.

I believe he is dead now.

Your post confirms the end of BS around 1987 - 10-12 years total time.

Please email of you feel like it

Cheers

 

[Wolf]

Do you remember the case of oom Dirk and the three cheetahs?

It rings a bell, but pray tell!! Dirk de Bott?

From what I see, it looks like your dad's farm may have been the site of one of my misadventures.

You didn't moer into the "inspeksie gat" with the bike did you? Oh wait a minute, that was my brother.

Wow so many memories come flooding back reading this report, I was based in Oshakati for a while and clearly remember our staff seargent moering int othe inspection hole at the main gate one evening

 

[Rbacknz]

The photo of the 2 guys that couldn't make it around the corner and ended up in the bush,  were Johnny Welsh (from Kimberly)  and Slang. Cant for the life of me remember his name but spent many a night paired up with him in TB's. He nearly broke his neck late one afternoon when he hit a low branch with his head. For some reason he had put his pisspot helmet on.(We weren't in the habit of wearing them then) . He carried on riding for 400m before falling off. He was unconscious for the 400m. His dad then his mum past away while he was in the army and I remember how cut up he was during this period . He didn't much help from the army then. How he stayed sane is beyond me.

 

[Whethefakawe]

Yip. Johnnie Welsh and Reeves - forget his first name - they were always together just like Myburgh and Blignaut, and Sutton and Heath! And Red Heart and Coke.!

Is that you, Patrick?

 

[Rbacknz]

It is Patrick. Ridgeback is my nick name here in New Zealand given to me by my sponsor when I was roadracing. Got taken out on the track oneday, when I got going again all I wanted to do was catch the arsehole that took me out. My sponsor said I was like a ridgeback. The name has stuck. Reeves. Thanks I have been trying to remember that name for ages. Was it him or Welsh that crashed after both sights of the shotgun and his R4 came up and hit him in the temple after doing a jump. Was freeking funny when it happened. After that they stopped carrying the shotty. Have you been able to contact anymore of the guys. AND when are we going to see the book??

 

[krister]

Wow!  What a read and what nice pics!  I grew up in Potch and can still remember the brown XRs and DRs that came later... My schoolboy fantasy was exchanging my TS50ER for one of those  :thumleft:

I only just missed national service, and sometimes I think I'm worse off for it.  Will definitely invest in your book!  Let us know when it's done... 

 

[Whethefakawe]

It is Patrick. Ridgeback is my nick name here in New Zealand given to me by my sponsor when I was roadracing. Got taken out on the track oneday, when I got going again all I wanted to do was catch the arsehole that took me out. My sponsor said I was like a ridgeback. The name has stuck. Reeves. Thanks I have been trying to remember that name for ages. Was it him or Welsh that crashed after both sights of the shotgun and his R4 came up and hit him in the temple after doing a jump. Was freeking funny when it happened. After that they stopped carrying the shotty. Have you been able to contact anymore of the guys. AND when are we going to see the book??

It was Johnny Welsh who got bliksemed by his R4 on one side of the head and the Snotneus 40 mil on the other. Here's the proof!



I remember that day very clearly, as usual I was at the very back end of the line. We hit an old mahangu field at 90 degrees, remember? It was like a f**king MX whoop section and we hit it at 70 or so. As I recall nobody crashed but that was just pure luck. Old Johnny was the only casualty. He bled like stuck pig, from deep cuts to the scalp. It was friggin hilarious.

The only other pl 12 oke I'm in touch with is Fritz, in fact saw him in Cape Town last weekend. I'll send you his email.

Book at the publisher, hopefully soon!

Cheers

 

[fakawidan]

Yes Juri
Any photo,s of Demo team

 

[Stones]

Somone just sent this link to me and instead of doing the work thing I am on memory lane. I only have a few pics but slowly, as I read and cast my mind back to the bike squad days, the memories and faces come back.

After infantry school in 1979 I joined the bike squad around October of the same year until December 1980. Did the Potch thing and Swaspes thing. Remember Cpt Stroebel, Lt Wannenburg, Lt Greg Cochran, Beets, Lt Burger ( chatted to him before he crashed ) Sgt Francois Strauss, Mark (in contact with) etc. etc.

One of the worst and lasting incidents I recall was the mine that one of the guys hit. We were about to fly back to the States and one evening he still said he cannot wait to see "Appel" his girlfriend again. A few days later he hit the mine, have a pic of his bike or what was left in a trailer somewhere.

Stoffel the baboon that raided the kitchen in Swaspes every so often...!

 

[2 Stroke Dan]

Stones, we must have been in BS together then. Danie Winterbach, Wayne Hitge, Charlie Holden, Rob Spence, "Shorty" Holland, Robin Gwynne,
"Porky" Hepburn, Leon van Jaarsveld, JP Groenewald, Wit + Swart Gouws, Lemmer Visser, Steyn, Terence Paterson, Kevin Atkins,
Colin "Bobs" Botha, Martin Postma. Kan nie nou almal onthou nie.
Kpl Heard, kpl little,[Des], en korporaal Reed.
Wie ken nog enigiemand uit daardie April 1979-Des 1980 BS groep uit? Ek dink al hoe ernstiger aan die reel van n re-unie.

 

[Stones]

Hi 2 Stroke Dan,

Since I saw this link it is just amazing how the guys faces start popping up in ones mind. We still started off with the Honda 350's and Suzuki Sp370's. The XR500's came a little later on and I recall Stroebel got the first one of course.

I promised myself to go digging a bit and see what pics I still have, I might still have a full Berede photo of 1980. Some of the guys bought their own private XR500's, all walked in at a Honda dealer at the same time, got time off from Stroebs for the sole purpose. We had a black t-shirt with a bike wheel and wings as a logo/avatar.

A re-union, even in terms of contact numbers and names to share stories and pics will be awesome. Sure I will be able to get hold of some of the okes.

I see u are in the Western Cape as well

 

[2 Stroke Dan]

There was at SWA Spes Oshivello a very short, but hardegat Sgt. Scheepers. Big moustache. He once made the chef run to the gate carrying one of his big cooking pots :imaposer:

 

[MOGGIE]

I was on the border from 1978 periodically until 1987. Had a lot to do with the Berede guys. I always envied them I had a MT 250 Hoda Elsinor scrambler. Can someone still remember it. It was one of the first 2 stroke Honda's built. My MX bike was a CR 400 red rocket. On the border I used to borrow the bikes from guys at Ondangwa and Ruacana to play with. Cant remember names but slowly remembering it again. I was with DMI at the time.

 

[Animaal]

Hi Guys,

I managed to scan some of the pics, not all...

Time: July 1984 to July 1985
Places: based at SWAPES / Otavi,
Trips into: Oshakati, Enhana, Ondangwa, Kovangoland, Owamboland, Bushmanland
People: Kapt Wim van Niekerk, myself as Lt, Sgt Heinrich ..., Corp ..., ~60 local Namibian "black" permanent force members

Quick Story:
I was drafted into SWATF's initiative to start a SWATF Bike Squad. I did first 12 months of JL's at Okahanja. After becoming Sub-Lt was allocated to SWATF Bike squad as I had been racing some Enduros while living in Swakopmund prior to Army.
We were allocated ~80 or so brand new XR500RE's. 1984 model. Brand spanking new and spray painted army  brown. 
I was responsible for training roughly ~80 or so permanent force local Namibian black staff (mostly Owmabo's, Kavango's, Nama's, etc..) to ride bikes and participate in motorised infantry. All of the 80 never ever rode a bicycle. Onl yone coloured chap had ridden a bicycle before. So you can imagine the daunting task ahead.  There were quite a few that did not make it. And more bikes that did not survive. But we ended up with about ~50 or so well qualified black bike squad members.

I remember the guys being the envy of many a RSA bike quad  member as many of them were still on old XR500's.... and not on the new XR500RE's.

We did some demo's at Oshivelo.... and few others.. mostly we tripped into border zone, and probably were the only ones to actually do patrols into the border areas. I know many of the RSA bike guys at that time (1984/1985) were only doing road patrols.

We did some really nice patrols through Kavangoland, Owamboland, a neat trip was into Bushmanland (south of Kavangoland)... and we also had to provide security patrols to a guy that was awarded contract to remove indigenous forests from the border areas as the good old RS of A decided to install a 100m no-go zone between Namibia and Angola....

We did not see contact during my 12 month stint. But, we did on a few occasions pick up terr spoor's and reported for further follow-up. Detected some mines in Owamboland. And did a few surprise trips into villages to smoke out terr's.

All in all I can say it was a magic time in the Bike Squad. Meeting many challenges and achieving a great success of training locals for the bike squad. I would love to know how many of these guys did something with their skills way afterwards ?

See:
Pic #2 : Line-up of ~30 bikes and bike squad members of local SWATF. Probably the first BEE initiative in the world.
Pic #3: Picture or how a rider was kitted out. R4 rifle, with extended magazine (50 rounds), and battle jackets.
Pic #4: Front end wheelie, at base, Eenhana
Pic #5: Wheeling at brick works outside SWAPES base in Otavi (Imagine 12 months on a bike, sleeping next to it every night)
Pic #6: Standing on seat wheeling, outside one of the bases on Owamboland

 

[Animaal]

more:
Pic #7: One foot wheeling on back seat
Pic #8: mucking around again wheeling on one of border control lines
Pic #9: Lots of one handed wheelies, victory, somewhere in Bushmandland (in Namibia south of Kavangoland), this was probably one of the best places to ride an offroad bike EVER, give it a try one day !!!!
Pic #10: local motocross practice track outside SWASPES base in Otavi at Brick Works.
Pic #11: How we transported the bikes into border patrols