Wham Bam Thank You Nam! - Namibia 30 Aug to 9 Sep 2006

[morfasie]

greeeaaatt report!!!

thanks for all the gps coordinates!!

 

[Kaboef]

Here's a few of my pics of the trip.
They will just subtract from the brilliance of LS's trip report, but here goes anyway.


The feral horses of the Namib. Quite impressive. Now I'm convinced that size DOES matter...


On the drive to Luderitz from Aus, we were quite bored, so much so that we rode like CHiPs most of the way, ducking birds, making jokes, and doing Easy Rider impressions.


The most fun and adventure are often on the roads you want to avoid. AmaRR convinced us to take the D707, a narrow raod that touches the sand of the Namib desert. We were all a bit scared of sand, but hey, we did it anyhow, and it turned out to be the most fun of all the roads we have ridden. Afterwards, with a cold Tafel in hand, we decided that before one can call oneself a true Adventure Rider, one must ride the D707. Just not with roller skates....


Camping at Dwusib Castle. Best camping of the whole trip.


On our way to Sesriem the next day, we saw springbokkies running next to the road, across the road, and all over the place. Made me think of : Why did the springbok cross the road?....


Make peace with the fact that sooner or later youre gonna encounter some sand. I was hoping for later, but it turned out to be sooner. Much sooner. Upside is: when we got to Dune 7 later on, I wasn't scared of the stuff any more.


What is it with DS riders and taking pictures? Out of any 5 pics, at least 4 would include the bike. Now that I look back at the pics I've taken, I see that I've focused more on my trusty ol' AT than on the landscapes. But I just had to take of LS as well, at the Kuiseb Canyon, on his new boney.


Wide open spaces. A Jedi craves these things...
You sit back, relax, hum a song in your helmet, and let the miles fly past. No thinking, just dreaming.



Dune 7 was a blast! When you get over the initial trepidation of tackling so much sand on a bike weighing 210k's, you start to enjoy it, and before you know it, you're blasting up and down the dunes at 100kph.
Ama RR showing us how its done.


Me showing AmaRR how it's done (hardly )


Riding kwats can be fun. But you still go to sleep with a guilty conscience.



When you see a sign like this, you know you are really living the good life.


When we left Windhoek, it looked rainy, and we encountered some light drizzles now and then. But the smell of damp earth was the best of it all.


5 people , 4 bikes, lost of fun.
Lekker.

 

[wino]

after fluffing around with us, you've truly made it worth the while! this is one heck of a report - make sure you get copyright on it! tx guys, and gal! :wink:

 

[CrazyPorra]

Well done Boyz and girl, excellent report.

 

[krazy-eyes]

Someone must have screwed it up for the rest of us bikers - thanks.

D.E.S.E.R.T R.U.N.


why on earth did you bypass spitzkoppe as a campsite to stay in windhoek instead?!?!?!?
that place is magical at sunset, the rocks turn a fiery red, and the stars at night are bright enough to read by.

anyway

nice report. awesome pics

 

[LuckyStriker]

Wow Kaboef
your pics came out lekker!

please remember to burn a copy for us

 

[briv]

Flippen goeie triprap. Ekke dink ons sal maar weer Kriges toe gaan die Vrydag om die storie te hoor....!!! Jol Jol jou nikerbol tot al die kleure in gesluk is !!!

 

[LuckyStriker]

why on earth did you bypass spitzkoppe as a campsite to stay in windhoek instead?!?!?!?
that place is magical at sunset, the rocks turn a fiery red, and the stars at night are bright enough to read by.

Time and distance was a factor
Actually we toyed with the idea to do Kaoko and Etosha (perhaps Angola as well) in the future, and on that trip we'll definately stay over at spitzkoppe

 

[SGB]

What can I say.... Thank you for an inspiring story, you guys had great fun and adventure and that is what it's all about. The pics are pro and the captions hilarious! :lol:

 

[BlouVark]

Welcome back guys & thank you for an awesome report.

 

[accton]

What a report Dudes and Dudet, and welcome back. Glad to see all the bikes held up. MMMM there will always be one.

 

[GIDEON]

Moet net weer se BEVANGE
Sal graag van my LEGEND vriende wil weet oor Tyres, Pro's ,Con's and TIPS. WAT die LEGEND die meeste gelaaik het en wat nie jy weet oor die algemeen net BRAG BRAG

 

[masehare]

Uitstekend! Vat my volgende keer saaaaammm!!!!! :drunken:

 

[shark_za]

Hahahaha!

I loved this breath of fresh air in the place, fantastic trip and I'm envious of you lot.

Thanks for the report again!!!

 

[Kaboef]

Moet net weer se BEVANGE
Sal graag van my LEGEND vriende wil weet oor Tyres, Pro's ,Con's and TIPS. WAT die LEGEND die meeste gelaaik het en wat nie jy weet oor die algemeen net BRAG BRAG

The AT is a brilliant bike for solo overlanding. When you need to carry a pillion, be prepared to sacrifice some speed and agility, also some comfort, as the seat is not "stepped" like the bigger bikes, and the pillion sit very close to you.
That being said - its only a 750 after all, so dont compare it to the big beemers and katooms.
Where you CAN compare it to the big pigs, is the dirt road capabilities. 21inc front wheel just glides over potholes and ruts. I have not had one serious tank slapper on the whole trip. I got so confident later on, that I started playing ON the ruts at crazy speeds. Criss-crossing over and back, and letting the bike fishtail while I rode on top of the loose gravel separating the ruts from each other. Im my opinion, a 21inch front makes a big difference on dirt.
Engine - a pleasure. Very reliable, very smooth, lots of oomph low down.
Suspension - good, not great. Needs a better rear shock.
Seat - not great, but you get used to it.
Tough, very tough. And looks the part. :twisted:
Headlights - excellent.
Front brakes - Nice feel. Never used more than one finger on it.
Highway cruising - does 140 with ease for hours on end. Bit jittery in corners at very high speeds - drawback of that lekker big front wheel.
Weight - well, not a KDX (9ks' more than the 1200GS), but you get used to it. Lot of weight on the front wheel for traction in dirt corners. Nice.
An AT is a lot like that trusty old Hilux your dad owned when you were a kid. There were nicer bakkies, but when it comes down to getting the job done, there were nothing better.
The AT is rugged, big, with a world-wide reputation for unrivalled reliability.
I really enjoyed my Africa Twin on the Nam trip. Would do it again on the same bike in a heartbeat.

- Hijack off-

 

[Maverick (R.I.P.)]

Have only managed to read through page one now, need to do some work but so far excellent guys and well done!! 8)

 

[KiLRoy]

Welcome back guys, thanx for a great trip report LS and kie. Its such a lekker country to d/s tour - southern parts much like the Moab region the Yanks are raving about - ONLY BETTER...

Drinks on me coming Friday @ Kriges - wanna hear all the stories.

Cheers and well done - how many kms in total?

H

 

[Kaboef]

Drinks on me coming Friday @ Kriges - wanna hear all the stories.

H

Then you'd better not have anything planned for Saturday. And deep pockets. Cause there are a sh!t load of stories.

 

[Welsh]

Welcome back guys, thanx for a great trip report LS and kie. Its such a lekker country to d/s tour - southern parts much like the Moab region the Yanks are raving about - ONLY BETTER...

Drinks on me coming Friday @ Kriges - wanna hear all the stories.

Cheers and well done - how many kms in total?

H

Kak, I wont be able to make it!!

Welsh

 

[JourneyMan]

I'm going to need time to go through this in more detail. Frickin' amazing!

What a awesome report! Thanks guys.