Urban worriers ? part one

[HHHusky]

Hi, a serial lurker finally trying my hand at a ride report, so be nice. This was Dieter?s first off-road ride with his Grand Sofa (1150GS), which has replaced his trusty KLR650. The sexy beast in the back is my Husky TE610. The plan was to take it nice and slow around the back- roads towards Dronkwordspruit, and back to Riverside for breakfast, so he could get a feel for the off-road capability of Sofa. Nice and slow he said . . .

Here we are tootling out the back roads east of Pretoria, and the rain last night made this bit of road nice and dust free

Then some tracks through the mielie-fields near Bapsfontein, this bit being very dry and dusty

And finally some water puddles. Here?s Dieter taking it nice and slow through his first puddle :twisted: . . .

Then onto the technical stuff. Some of you might recognize this bit of scenery . . .

and will know that there are two ways to get through - the Grand Sofa way (keep to the main track, and no danger of breaking a sweat, or anything else for that matter), and the other way. Here?s me, going the other way

And proving again that he is braver than he is bright :shock: . . .

At the top of the hill the bikes needed a well deserved rest

And then down a treacherous rocky downhill

Must admit that the Grand Sofa impressed the hell out of me at this point, and it is clearly capable of great things in the hand of a competent rider. Or and idiot with no sense of self preservation. Then on to Riverside along the well-known Rayton railway line . . .

for a large plate of chips with two soft fried eggs on top, and those �½ gallon cups of coffee. And considering our age, probably the most dangerous thing we did all day.

 

[Kaboef]

Funniest ride report I've ever read!
HAHAHA!!!

Nice one! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Like your Husky a lot, ek se..

 

[Stephan]

The start of great and dirty things seems like! Some nice pics there.

 

[Trailrider]

What a nice bike!!! (The BM looks OK 2 )

 

[D7]

welcome
nice report
nicer husky - damn fine looking machine!!!!

 

[Red]

Sofa nogal.

Really enjoyd the report. Tell us about yourselves, though. We like to know about the people on the bikes as well.

 

[Kev]

Nice one! :thumbleft: You 2nd pick is a good one. Stick it in the monthly competion. 8)

 

[macduff]

hmm, seems i am the only one who cant see the pics....

 

[funacide]

Welcome dude

Nice report, keep em coming
8) 8)

 

[bmad]

Nice report :wink:

Must admit that the Sofa impressed the hell out of me at this point, and it is clearly capable of great things in the hand of a competent rider. Or and idiot with no sense of self preservations.

These beemers have the tendancy for creating the latter! :twisted:

 

[GIDEON]

O very very NICE

 

[JourneyMan]

Lekker report!

Good all-round skills were tested. 8)

 

[Welsh]

Nice report :wink:

Must admit that the Sofa impressed the hell out of me at this point, and it is clearly capable of great things in the hand of a competent rider. Or and idiot with no sense of self preservations.

These beemers have the tendancy for creating the latter! :twisted:

They require the maintenance of momentum, which results in the "Or and idiot with no sense of self preservations" phenomenom.

Welsh 8) 8)

A lack of self preservation is worth about 30 horsepower.

 

[Maverick (R.I.P.)]

Cool report and big raspek for going offroad with the 1150 on road rubber

 

[Lito]

Urban Worriers.... classic... :lol:

 

[HHHusky]

Tell us about yourselves, though. We like to know about the people on the bikes as well.

Some background as requested. Spent most of my school and varsity days on my Yamaha DT50, and later an old XR200, and always dreamt of one day having a "real" off-road bike. I used to have a KTM poster stuck above my desk at varsity as motivation when studying. But then life happened - got a job, bought a car, bought a house, got married, had kids . . . As Zorba the Greek said - the full catastrophe! :shock: Late last year Dieter (the fearless Sofa pilot) bought himself a KLR650 as a commuting tool, and invited me for a ride. Within ten minutes of getting on the bike I was hooked, and my mid-life crisis kicked in big time. Of course this is where things became a bit tricky, so a cunning plan was hatched :twisted: Fortunately my wife and daughters have the horsey thing going big time. Initially I did try and get involved, but after a few lessons I was politely asked to not come back ? something about the strain on the poor creatures back. This opened some free time on Sunday mornings. Secondly, the delightfully frisky horses were shedding riders (including my dear wife) with gay abandon, and broken bones and big purple bruises were of the order of the day. So the ?Its too dangerous? part of it was also covered. And the little hobby wasn?t cheap, what with all the horse rentals and helmets and boots and whips . . . Err, come to think of it, the whip wasn?t for the horses, but that?s another story. So I did a little sum, and figure that I could buy either a . . . Yamaha DT50, or an old XR200 :evil: My dear wife however redeemed my faith in womankind by insisting I spoil myself as a reward for working so hard. Yeah right, I?m waiting to find out what it?s really going to cost me. Fortunately for me the bike was purely recreational, and I wanted a roadworthy dual-sport bike with a strong off-road focus. I far more prefer the technical stuff over faster wide open roads. I initially considered the KTM 640 Enduro, but one snotty salesman later I was back on the market. Then I saw the Husky TE610, and it was lust at first sight. I was very surprised to learn that the Husky was now being built by the Italians (now part of MV Augusta), and that explains the good looks and cutting edge technology. Also explains the few reliability issues I have had, but on the whole the bike has been brilliant. And so, every Sunday morning at the crack of dawn, I am off exploring the dirt roads around Pretoria. And there are plenty good bits of bad road if you are willing to explore. But this only the start, and will hopefully be writing more adventurous ride reports soon.

 

[Geoff]

hmm, seems i am the only one who cant see the pics....

+1

 

[Red]

"The full catastrophe" - very funny but so appropriate. It is the story of a lot of forum member's lives.


Enjoy your bike and thanks for introducing yourself.

 

[HHHusky]

Hmm, now I can't see the images either. Suspect the hosting site is on the fritz, will look at moving the images to a different site tonight.

 

[shark_za]

hmm, seems i am the only one who cant see the pics....

+1

Haha
You just contradicted the statement...