XR650R Rebooted... In Kenya
- Thread starter Osadabwa
- Start date
MRK Miller
Pack Dog
Fantastic thanks for sharing
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2006
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Great pics and stories here guys, thanks for sharing :thumleft:
westfrogger
Race Dog
Excellent as always. Thank you. :thumleft:
Kortbroek
Race Dog
:drif: :drif: :drif:
This is awesome! :thumleft:
What you said early on about the XRR is exactly why I bought mine, "It is capable enough to do anything if you have the balls to try it".
Great read, hope to see some more :ricky:
This is awesome! :thumleft:
What you said early on about the XRR is exactly why I bought mine, "It is capable enough to do anything if you have the balls to try it".
Great read, hope to see some more :ricky:
Rooi Wolf
Race Dog
Excellent read! :3some:
Osadwaba, welcome to the wilddogs forum, bud! 
aw: :thumleft: I have been hoping you would start posting here for years. The dawgs have a massive appreciation for your type of trips.
Another brilliant report, and your videos are always fantastic! :hello2: :hello2:
What camera do you use on your helmet, and what camera are you using for the videos in these short RR's?
Guys - you should look up his other longer reports of riding in Tanzania on advrider.com :deal: Simply amazing stuff.
aw: :thumleft: I have been hoping you would start posting here for years. The dawgs have a massive appreciation for your type of trips.Another brilliant report, and your videos are always fantastic! :hello2: :hello2:
What camera do you use on your helmet, and what camera are you using for the videos in these short RR's?
Guys - you should look up his other longer reports of riding in Tanzania on advrider.com :deal: Simply amazing stuff.
Osadabwa
Race Dog
Hey BlueBull,
I'm not sure why I've been lazy to put up here, because it's true the guys at Wild Dogs seem eager to see more rough reports from Africa. It's amazing how quickly they get buried at ADV. Most guys there are cruising the tar in the States.
I have put up some posts here from TZ and KN, but not many and I put them in the "Global Reports" space (which technically is the right place to put them I guess) but I'm going to keep them here unless the Mods say otherwise. This forum gets more traffic.
I haven't used my helmet cam in awhile for one principle reason: I basically hate editing the hours of POV video that, while somewhat cool to me, never seems to capture the feeling of blasting a bike around Africa. Very few people watch them... I have many videos on my YouTube page but I can see how little they interest people by the click counts (and I rarely go back to them myself). Also, the damn camera always seems to be switched off when something cool happens, battery life is crap, etc. What I want is a "follow me" drone, but I'm not shelling out the bucks for one! The rest of the time I use my trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 waterproof/shockproof camera. The image quality is deteriorating and the zoom sucks, but I can clean it up in Photoshop a bit.
:thumleft: :snorting:
I'm not sure why I've been lazy to put up here, because it's true the guys at Wild Dogs seem eager to see more rough reports from Africa. It's amazing how quickly they get buried at ADV. Most guys there are cruising the tar in the States.
I have put up some posts here from TZ and KN, but not many and I put them in the "Global Reports" space (which technically is the right place to put them I guess) but I'm going to keep them here unless the Mods say otherwise. This forum gets more traffic.
I haven't used my helmet cam in awhile for one principle reason: I basically hate editing the hours of POV video that, while somewhat cool to me, never seems to capture the feeling of blasting a bike around Africa. Very few people watch them... I have many videos on my YouTube page but I can see how little they interest people by the click counts (and I rarely go back to them myself). Also, the damn camera always seems to be switched off when something cool happens, battery life is crap, etc. What I want is a "follow me" drone, but I'm not shelling out the bucks for one! The rest of the time I use my trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 waterproof/shockproof camera. The image quality is deteriorating and the zoom sucks, but I can clean it up in Photoshop a bit.
:thumleft: :snorting:
Thanks for your reply - looking forward to the next one! Keep the rubber side down, boet. :ricky:
Rokie
Race Dog
:drif: :drif:
'nuf said
'nuf said
adv
Grey Hound
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great pics!
Julle gaan maak dat ek weer iets stupid doen :deal:
Julle gaan maak dat ek weer iets stupid doen :deal:
Osadabwa
Race Dog
Hi folks,
More BRP action coming at you. Glad you're following along. :snorting:
We are spoiled. Kenya’s weather is sunny and beautiful for 80% of the year, so when the rains come and get serious for a week or two we bikers start getting really anxious. For three weeks now it’s been raining and the bikes have been stabled. Even though it was good to take a break to let my sprained wrist from the last ride heal a bit, to install new fork bushes, a new radiator and fan and a key switch for my Pig (thanks, Panic), we have been chomping at the bit to get out again. Finally, the forecast promised a reprieve so we snatched it.
Plan as usual: get to the Great Rift Valley, have tea and mandazi at Ewaso Kedong and then go see what we see. This time I had a couple of fresh tracks to explore and we were determined to try one. After tea, we did a bit of slow-motion video of each other riding a bumpy section to see if we need to play with clickers at all. Panic looks very planted (maybe a bit of a kick in the rear still) and I seem to be popping up a bit in the front or not rebounding fast enough. Might explain why I feel like the front is dipping in the loose tight turns.
Above: We spent a bit of time doing mid-speed suspension testing on a bumpy lava flow
[flash=900,600]https://www.youtube.com/v/A1yH-ya_sDA[/flash]
Above: Slow-mo video link
The valley is rarely green, but this time it was a veritable rainbow of colors with flowers everywhere as well. The most stunning one I saw was a Fire Lily… so bright and fragrant in an otherwise hostile place. Dry places and deserts are the best place to be after a rain. They transform.
Above: Flame Tulip in bloom
Above: A long view and a close up of a cactus flower
Above: Panic’s luggage strap got sucked into the chain… but the repair place was stunning
Above: These plants only grow on this specific section of the valley among big boulders and scrub trees. I have tried in vain to determine what they are, so – as many do in the absence of a scientific explanation – I will simply make up some otherworldly hooey. I therefore declare that they are spawn of an alien race waiting for humans to further deplete the environment such that the CO2 levels are high enough for them to take over… the things are the size of yoga balls… all white, round and sinister… aliens for sure.
We took our usual Najile-Oltepesi road for a while before deviating at an unpronounceable Masai settlement on a much smaller and rockier little track that wound its way through rugged terrain south. The track was really nice. Not fast, challenging in places with sandy riverbeds overgrown with wait-a-bits and rolling stone descents. You could get the speeds up a bit on some hard pack, but the thorn trees on either side kept us in check.
Above: Offering to the sun god
Above: Do you come here often?
Like I said, it was challenging in places, so I wasn’t surprised when I fell on my ***. Still, the place I went down wasn’t really one of the challenging places… just my luck. I was just coming around a little corner after a long section of babyheads and was probably pleased to see dirt again when the front end vanished, I stupidly planted my right leg, flailed a bit, squirted the gas and did a nice two-wheel drift with a 180 degree twist in the trail. Like a good man, I sat there so Panic could see me in my disgrace, but not long enough for a pic because petrol was pisssing out the breather.
Above: One stupid little rock (red circle) was in my path (yellow circle) and knocked my *** hither and dither. Shameful.
The best part of this track was that, although it was small and knotted with Masai encampments, it was not clogged up with Masai fences. Often you are on a nice little double track that is crisscrossed with the thorny buggars, leaving you no choice but to go back (nope) or to wheelie over them which risks punctures and often ends in you collapsed in a heap with thorn bushes wrapped around your legs. Then, if you feel guilty (mmm…), you have to repair the fence which is sticky business. At least this road only had one fence, and it had a clear “gate” which we opened and shut like good farmers would. Civilized like.
Above: Shutting the “gate”
Since we had a late start, it was pushing 2 by the time we hit the Magadi tar. At that point, there’s no choice but to hit Olepolos for roast kuku. It is written. So, with no further ado, we blasted up the tar for a rate runch. The view from Olepolos was great and green, the kuku was succulent and the Pilsner Lager refreshing. Little yellow weaver birds fluttered all about, along with a dozen species of butterfly. It’s a great time of year in the Great Rift.
Above: Looking down on Olegorsaile from Olepolos
Above: Vittles
After lunch, it was all smiles back home. Ngong 1, the first road under the Ngong hills, is always a blast… it’s fast, but with enough turns and bumps to make it really exciting. After the rains, it was even more interesting with large washouts in unexpected places and small patches of still-wet black-cotton soil to catch you out. From there, it was a bit of cage harassment before the goat trail and the sprint up the escarpment. So fun on the Pigs. Damn. I want to ride again already!
Above: Dude, where’s my road?
Until next time... oink.
More BRP action coming at you. Glad you're following along. :snorting:
We are spoiled. Kenya’s weather is sunny and beautiful for 80% of the year, so when the rains come and get serious for a week or two we bikers start getting really anxious. For three weeks now it’s been raining and the bikes have been stabled. Even though it was good to take a break to let my sprained wrist from the last ride heal a bit, to install new fork bushes, a new radiator and fan and a key switch for my Pig (thanks, Panic), we have been chomping at the bit to get out again. Finally, the forecast promised a reprieve so we snatched it.
Plan as usual: get to the Great Rift Valley, have tea and mandazi at Ewaso Kedong and then go see what we see. This time I had a couple of fresh tracks to explore and we were determined to try one. After tea, we did a bit of slow-motion video of each other riding a bumpy section to see if we need to play with clickers at all. Panic looks very planted (maybe a bit of a kick in the rear still) and I seem to be popping up a bit in the front or not rebounding fast enough. Might explain why I feel like the front is dipping in the loose tight turns.
Above: We spent a bit of time doing mid-speed suspension testing on a bumpy lava flow
[flash=900,600]https://www.youtube.com/v/A1yH-ya_sDA[/flash]
Above: Slow-mo video link
The valley is rarely green, but this time it was a veritable rainbow of colors with flowers everywhere as well. The most stunning one I saw was a Fire Lily… so bright and fragrant in an otherwise hostile place. Dry places and deserts are the best place to be after a rain. They transform.
Above: Flame Tulip in bloom
Above: A long view and a close up of a cactus flower
Above: Panic’s luggage strap got sucked into the chain… but the repair place was stunning
Above: These plants only grow on this specific section of the valley among big boulders and scrub trees. I have tried in vain to determine what they are, so – as many do in the absence of a scientific explanation – I will simply make up some otherworldly hooey. I therefore declare that they are spawn of an alien race waiting for humans to further deplete the environment such that the CO2 levels are high enough for them to take over… the things are the size of yoga balls… all white, round and sinister… aliens for sure.
We took our usual Najile-Oltepesi road for a while before deviating at an unpronounceable Masai settlement on a much smaller and rockier little track that wound its way through rugged terrain south. The track was really nice. Not fast, challenging in places with sandy riverbeds overgrown with wait-a-bits and rolling stone descents. You could get the speeds up a bit on some hard pack, but the thorn trees on either side kept us in check.
Above: Offering to the sun god
Above: Do you come here often?
Like I said, it was challenging in places, so I wasn’t surprised when I fell on my ***. Still, the place I went down wasn’t really one of the challenging places… just my luck. I was just coming around a little corner after a long section of babyheads and was probably pleased to see dirt again when the front end vanished, I stupidly planted my right leg, flailed a bit, squirted the gas and did a nice two-wheel drift with a 180 degree twist in the trail. Like a good man, I sat there so Panic could see me in my disgrace, but not long enough for a pic because petrol was pisssing out the breather.
Above: One stupid little rock (red circle) was in my path (yellow circle) and knocked my *** hither and dither. Shameful.
The best part of this track was that, although it was small and knotted with Masai encampments, it was not clogged up with Masai fences. Often you are on a nice little double track that is crisscrossed with the thorny buggars, leaving you no choice but to go back (nope) or to wheelie over them which risks punctures and often ends in you collapsed in a heap with thorn bushes wrapped around your legs. Then, if you feel guilty (mmm…), you have to repair the fence which is sticky business. At least this road only had one fence, and it had a clear “gate” which we opened and shut like good farmers would. Civilized like.
Above: Shutting the “gate”
Since we had a late start, it was pushing 2 by the time we hit the Magadi tar. At that point, there’s no choice but to hit Olepolos for roast kuku. It is written. So, with no further ado, we blasted up the tar for a rate runch. The view from Olepolos was great and green, the kuku was succulent and the Pilsner Lager refreshing. Little yellow weaver birds fluttered all about, along with a dozen species of butterfly. It’s a great time of year in the Great Rift.
Above: Looking down on Olegorsaile from Olepolos
Above: Vittles
After lunch, it was all smiles back home. Ngong 1, the first road under the Ngong hills, is always a blast… it’s fast, but with enough turns and bumps to make it really exciting. After the rains, it was even more interesting with large washouts in unexpected places and small patches of still-wet black-cotton soil to catch you out. From there, it was a bit of cage harassment before the goat trail and the sprint up the escarpment. So fun on the Pigs. Damn. I want to ride again already!
Above: Dude, where’s my road?
Until next time... oink.
adv
Grey Hound
- Joined
- May 23, 2011
- Messages
- 6,770
- Reaction score
- 35
- Location
- Riebeek west
- Bike
- Triumph 900 Scrambler
Sick pic's you baaastids
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Absolutely brilliant! Its the kind of terrain pigs were made for.
You still taking chinks out of your tyres? I'm running Maxxis Cross IT and am super impressed with their durability. After roughly 4000 km on mixed ground (not as rocky as what you are doing though) they are still going.
Whaap whaap :ricky:
You still taking chinks out of your tyres? I'm running Maxxis Cross IT and am super impressed with their durability. After roughly 4000 km on mixed ground (not as rocky as what you are doing though) they are still going.
Whaap whaap :ricky:
Crossed-up
Pangaman
Great stuff! Thanks.
Osadabwa
Race Dog
Hi all, thanks for following along. I can't get enough of this country and the Pig.
Prototype, you read my mind. I asked a FB forum which tyre to use and once I sifted through the crappy ideas, settled on the Maxxis Desert IT. I rode with it yesterday so she has 200 km and no broken knobs. The MT21 was flinging chunks after 150 km. The front of the knobs are worn, but not broken, so I consider it the best I've tried so far. Next one I will try before I quit my experiments is the Mitas Rock King. I hear they're durable and gnarly too.
Cheers :snorting:
Prototype, you read my mind. I asked a FB forum which tyre to use and once I sifted through the crappy ideas, settled on the Maxxis Desert IT. I rode with it yesterday so she has 200 km and no broken knobs. The MT21 was flinging chunks after 150 km. The front of the knobs are worn, but not broken, so I consider it the best I've tried so far. Next one I will try before I quit my experiments is the Mitas Rock King. I hear they're durable and gnarly too.
Cheers :snorting:
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