Why would you take a 14 year old boy to Kubu on his own bike???

[Andre E]

My 18 jarige doe trips saam met my vandat hy 15 is, en my jongste wat nou 15 is het seker al 'n 1000km saam met my gedoen.
Ek kan hulle met 'n geruste hart die wereld instuur.
Respek.... 8)

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[MegaPix]

Awesome.  This trip will have made him a Wilddog for the rest of his life

Wish I could do it with my son

 

[Avontier]

With Neil kind of sorted, we stubbornly pushed on. We have a mission to complete. We only managed to leave Mokubilo at 16h20, with a good few hours' ride to Kubu still ahead, if we were to get there. Red on the map shows day 1, brown from morning to 16h20, and yellow from there to Kubu.

 

[Avontier]

He started riding the XL when he was still 12. He nagged me to ride it, and I cleverly thought that I could buy a few years by saying that he could ride it if he could start it, -which he managed way earlier than I bargained on! His method includes putting on the side stand, getting it to TDC, and then to jump on the kicker all the way down.

 

[Avontier]

Anyone who's been to Botswana will know about the veterinary control gates on all roads, which sometimes double as police points. My son was briefed to always stay between two adults, and not to take his helmet or goggles off at any of these stops.

From Mokubilo we had to do around 30km of tar before turning onto the dirt again. As luck would have it, there is a control point with police and all, right before the turn-off. I was at the front, and before the officer could say anything, I started asking for directions, and when he pointed the to dirt road, I promptly pulled off, with the other two in tow. Or so I wished. I only looked back a few hundred meters before looking back, but when I did, I was horrified to see my son's bike on its side right in front of the control gate, with the police officer next to him.

 

[Avontier]

He must've nervously stalled it when taking off, forgotten it in gear when kickstarting it, - which pushed it off the sidestand and down! I swung the bike around, picked the bike up, kicked it a few times until it started, handed the bike to my son, waved the friendly officer goodbye again, and off we went. Again. I almost shat my pants.

On the dirt road again, and all is great.

 

[Avontier]

We could now see the expanse of the Pans on the horizon.

 

[MegaPix]

Murphy werk in snaakse maniere.

Karma is duidelik sy suster...  :ricky:

 

[ROOI]

Nice going  :thumleft:

 

[Clint_G]

That 14 year old kid is going to grow up to be a kid with a learner's license on a 125 before you know it. This way, he'll have the experience to keep himself safe. Awesome job.

I know for a fact that getting my first bike at age 4, and being on two wheels my entire life has made a difference to my safety on the road. At a young age, you fall the snot out of yourself, and learn respect for bikes.

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[Avontier]

That 14 year old kid is going to grow up to be a kid with a learner's license on a 125 before you know it. This way, he'll have the experience to keep himself safe. Awesome job.

I know for a fact that getting my first bike at age 4, and being on two wheels my entire life has made a difference to my safety on the road. At a young age, you fall the snot out of yourself, and learn respect for bikes.

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His progression was no different, and I agree with you on the advantages. He started out on a JD Bug at 3, then a PW50, Oset, PW80, YZ85, and now his SX85. We try to do regular rides over weekends in the trust area, and specifically lean towards the technical enduro-type routes. You tend to learn so much easier when you're still young.

Strangely, I don't think I'd want him to commute on a bike in town. With Medupi, came a horde of trucks, buses, Polos and Golfs to Ellisras. Staying right next to the school, he doesn't really need a bike. [I'd rather let him ride a car illegally]

 

[Clint_G]

At the ripe old age of 16 I folded my MBX 50 in half under an old ladies car when she pulled out on front of me.

My mom sold it for scrap metal, bought me a car, and said she would pay any fines I got. Haha.

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[Morne 1200gs]

Father and son special times and memory's forever


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[Avontier]

We chose to ignore the reality that it was more or less impossible for us to reach Kubu before dark. By the time we reached Mmatshumo, South West of the Pans, the sun had almost set, and we still had to get to, -and ride across the Pans to Kubu. True to the nature of trip thus far, the tracks from Mmatshumo to the Pans seemed eager to deal us another round of kicks to the nuts. The hard clay soil tracks crisscrossed  through the veld, with ruts of unpredictable depth filled with powdery fesh-fesh, that also filled the air being kicked up by other vehicles. there was no wind whatsoever, and the clouds of dust remained suspended, seemingly indefinitely. Once your wheels locked onto any of these ruts, it was near impossible to get it out on the move, especially on the heavier 990, which Francois soon found out.

 

[Avontier]

We eventually got through the fesh fesh and onto the first real Pans. Just in time for a few pics at sunset. We've sort of made it!

 

[Dwerg]

Mense gaan maar verdeeld wees oor die onderwerp maar toe ek 14 was was my idee van van opwinding om met my linker hand draad te trek. Jou laaitie is gelukkig  :thumleft:

 

[zetman]

Ha ha Dwerg  :snorting:

Daai mannetjie is nou n Stofpad biker vir die res van sy lewe goeie werk  Avontier trots op jou  :ricky:

 

[m0lt3n]

Nice RR.
I also have an XL which I planned to sell. But it seems perfectly fine for a proper road trip. Did you have to do the roller bearing conversion?

 

[Slim Jim]

Awsome , tell you son he has the coolest bike in the group!

 

[Avontier]

Nice RR.
I also have an XL which I planned to sell. But it seems perfectly fine for a proper road trip. Did you have to do the roller bearing conversion?

I didn't, and I doubt that the previous owners did. I got the bike on 19 000km. I plan on doing the timing chain soon.