NIPPLES 3
Page 1 of 1
NIPPLES 3
Stan L Mon 05 Jul 2021, 11:24 pm
ME: Is it just me or is it bloody freezing?
THEM: It’s just you. Shut up and ride.
Melton Wold Guest Farm is somewhere behind us. Sutherland lies somewhere ahead. Loxton and Fraserburg, not major tourist attractions, will serve as pit stops. So on paper, the day’s ride looks unspectacular.
On paper? Throw that paper away. The ride to Sutherland will turn out to be a highlight.
I didn’t take note exactly where the passes were; there were too many to recall each one. What I did note is that in a lifetime of riding, I don’t recall one Karoo ride that compares with this one.
It starts with a perceptible drop in altitude. Sutherland is known to be cold, and the Karoo is preparing us as the temp drops degree by degree. The increasingly-rugged mountains shrug off the cold and drought, as they have done for eons. I feel almost guilty about the vocality of the Yoshimura exhaust in this ancient, unspoilt world.
Bruce leads, I follow, Paul brings up the rear. KTM 1290, Bandit, BMW 1200. I’m pleasantly spoilt, allowing the tech customers to pathfind while I lazily follow.
And then the bends start.
The twisting-arrow road sign, still stored as “reversed curves ahead” in my mind, sounds the dinner bell. The winding tarmac curves to the right, tucking into the far side of the mountainside ahead, and the feast of twisties begins.
Locked onto Bruce’s back tyre, I heel the Bandit into the sweeping right hander. Oh dear, I’m way too tense. Admonishing myself to stay off the brakes, which put you totally off your stroke, I use the Bandit’s gearbox to get the entry speed down for the approaching left. Down to third, still too fast, all the way to second, and rev her through the bend.
High-revving engines have a case (pun? – Ed) for six-speed gearboxes. The Bandit’s big, detuned engine doesn’t need a six speed box; it’s pure marketing. Where the six cogs are useful, though, is as a tool to lower your speed in stages. By using the box, I can stay off the brakes.
I am out of practice, and it takes a good couple of kilometres of bends to start scraping off the rust. No matter how we deny it, we’ve all entered a bend, frozen, and shut off the power, and just that is what happens now. The first bends are wobbly. But because of the wealth of bends here I will get the chance to scrape the rust off and get into shape.
With each hundred metres I get better at using the gearbox to manage my entry speed, untensing, and powering the Bandit through the bends. The steel-framed Bandit may not be the lightweight her GSX-R forbears are, but like any bike, she comes to life under positive power. By Kilometre Two things are looking better.
A straight wickedly tempts me to gas it. Resisting the urge, I keep the Bandit’s pace at mid-rev 4th gear speed, click down to third, and tell myself not to apex the right-hander prematurely. Under power, the Bandit eases herself into the bend and allows me a slingshot-blast of power as the exit appears. A left, then a very tight right requiring second. It takes faith to open her and lean. Upshift as the exit appears, then into the next left. With the gas open half her weight disappears, but in third the speed climbs frighteningly. The bend opens into a short straight before the next sharpish right hander. I’ve just got time to downshift to second to scrub speed, before upshifting to third to enter the bend. I should have left her in second; speed climbs too fast for comfort in this tight bend.
The bend opens. Once the exit becomes visible I can open her fully and launch out of the bend and into the straight. That was fun, if a little jerky – let’s work on the smoothness, shall we?
The opportunity arrives soon enough. A couple of kilometres of straight, and bingo, the next twisted-arrow road sign appears. Battle stations!
Getting a quarter ton of bike and luggage to change direction is becoming easier with practice. The bends seem to approach at a frightening speed. I keep warning myself to power the bike through the bend, and ignore the brain at the other end that’s trying to get me to slow things down.
An old trap is the protruding mirrors giving the illusion of a bigger bike than the Bandit actually is. Beginning to untense more easily, I look at the rim of the screen, not the mirrors – aha, the Bandit is suddenly way smaller – and transfer my weight to the outboard footpeg while dialling on the power. The Yoshimura barks hoarsely into the mountains under power, and pops mischievously on the overrun.
Right hander coming up. Shifting my weight to the left peg, I press the knee to the left side of the tank, untense, and gas her. With the outboard foot & knee doing the hanging on, the untensed Bandit responds. The exit presents itself, the Bandit slings through the remainder of the bend, and catapults into the straight.
Next round – a right that’s wider than it looks, a left, a tight left (first gear), then focus on the apex as the winding right leads to a dropping straight. Can’t speed up, there are more twists ahead. Heel into the right, a straight, a right, a fast left and emerge onto a plain, with mountains in the distance, and a cold Karoo draft penetrating my leathers from the collar and waist.
Actually the next day, but maybe the body language tells how cold I am.
Kilometres of tarmac whizz past under the bike, and the temp keeps slipping now that the passes have opened into long straights leading to the notoriously-cold Sutherland. I follow KTM-mounted Bruce, with his GPS doing the work for me.
We enter the town, book into our hotel and go off to find the eatery. The Adventure boys got there ahead of us and are tucking in. The eatery is just a couple of days old. The owner has the tourist market firmly in his sights. The menu is great, the service is great, the décor is great, he’s going to do well, and kudos to him.
War stories are exchanged.
I rode adventure bikes previously, and I am suspicious of dirt roads. On a 100 km road it takes just 10 bad metres to pull the rug from under you.
That is just about what happened to them.
They were breezing along the dirt highway quite nonchalantly when, just a hundred metres before coming in to land on the tar, Mandy ran into an anti-aircraft barrage. Her Ducati took a beating that leaves bits of rear end (Mandy’s or the Ducati’s? – Ed) on the dirt. Mildly shaken, Mandy wasn’t hurt but it’s an experience she visibly wouldn’t want to repeat.
In the am we make inquiries. Despite the telescopes, Sutherland missed the tourism memo. You’d think they would, for a small fee, be all too eager to take us to see them. In true SA tradition, service seems to be interpreted less an opportunity than as a request for a favour. The Aussies I’ve met would be handing you a bicycle hire contract and a tour itinerary, followed, of course, by a stop at his mate’s coffee shop. Saffers? Not always the brightest…
With a shrug, we elect to roll. Exiting a chilly Sutherland, we set course southwards.
We are headed for the southernmost tip of Africa, where two mighty oceans meet.
Next: TEA & SCONES, THE SEX SHOP, AND THE TWO OCEANS
Regards
Stan L
South Africa
THEM: It’s just you. Shut up and ride.
Melton Wold Guest Farm is somewhere behind us. Sutherland lies somewhere ahead. Loxton and Fraserburg, not major tourist attractions, will serve as pit stops. So on paper, the day’s ride looks unspectacular.
On paper? Throw that paper away. The ride to Sutherland will turn out to be a highlight.
I didn’t take note exactly where the passes were; there were too many to recall each one. What I did note is that in a lifetime of riding, I don’t recall one Karoo ride that compares with this one.
It starts with a perceptible drop in altitude. Sutherland is known to be cold, and the Karoo is preparing us as the temp drops degree by degree. The increasingly-rugged mountains shrug off the cold and drought, as they have done for eons. I feel almost guilty about the vocality of the Yoshimura exhaust in this ancient, unspoilt world.
Bruce leads, I follow, Paul brings up the rear. KTM 1290, Bandit, BMW 1200. I’m pleasantly spoilt, allowing the tech customers to pathfind while I lazily follow.
And then the bends start.
The twisting-arrow road sign, still stored as “reversed curves ahead” in my mind, sounds the dinner bell. The winding tarmac curves to the right, tucking into the far side of the mountainside ahead, and the feast of twisties begins.
Locked onto Bruce’s back tyre, I heel the Bandit into the sweeping right hander. Oh dear, I’m way too tense. Admonishing myself to stay off the brakes, which put you totally off your stroke, I use the Bandit’s gearbox to get the entry speed down for the approaching left. Down to third, still too fast, all the way to second, and rev her through the bend.
High-revving engines have a case (pun? – Ed) for six-speed gearboxes. The Bandit’s big, detuned engine doesn’t need a six speed box; it’s pure marketing. Where the six cogs are useful, though, is as a tool to lower your speed in stages. By using the box, I can stay off the brakes.
I am out of practice, and it takes a good couple of kilometres of bends to start scraping off the rust. No matter how we deny it, we’ve all entered a bend, frozen, and shut off the power, and just that is what happens now. The first bends are wobbly. But because of the wealth of bends here I will get the chance to scrape the rust off and get into shape.
With each hundred metres I get better at using the gearbox to manage my entry speed, untensing, and powering the Bandit through the bends. The steel-framed Bandit may not be the lightweight her GSX-R forbears are, but like any bike, she comes to life under positive power. By Kilometre Two things are looking better.
A straight wickedly tempts me to gas it. Resisting the urge, I keep the Bandit’s pace at mid-rev 4th gear speed, click down to third, and tell myself not to apex the right-hander prematurely. Under power, the Bandit eases herself into the bend and allows me a slingshot-blast of power as the exit appears. A left, then a very tight right requiring second. It takes faith to open her and lean. Upshift as the exit appears, then into the next left. With the gas open half her weight disappears, but in third the speed climbs frighteningly. The bend opens into a short straight before the next sharpish right hander. I’ve just got time to downshift to second to scrub speed, before upshifting to third to enter the bend. I should have left her in second; speed climbs too fast for comfort in this tight bend.
The bend opens. Once the exit becomes visible I can open her fully and launch out of the bend and into the straight. That was fun, if a little jerky – let’s work on the smoothness, shall we?
The opportunity arrives soon enough. A couple of kilometres of straight, and bingo, the next twisted-arrow road sign appears. Battle stations!
Getting a quarter ton of bike and luggage to change direction is becoming easier with practice. The bends seem to approach at a frightening speed. I keep warning myself to power the bike through the bend, and ignore the brain at the other end that’s trying to get me to slow things down.
An old trap is the protruding mirrors giving the illusion of a bigger bike than the Bandit actually is. Beginning to untense more easily, I look at the rim of the screen, not the mirrors – aha, the Bandit is suddenly way smaller – and transfer my weight to the outboard footpeg while dialling on the power. The Yoshimura barks hoarsely into the mountains under power, and pops mischievously on the overrun.
Right hander coming up. Shifting my weight to the left peg, I press the knee to the left side of the tank, untense, and gas her. With the outboard foot & knee doing the hanging on, the untensed Bandit responds. The exit presents itself, the Bandit slings through the remainder of the bend, and catapults into the straight.
Next round – a right that’s wider than it looks, a left, a tight left (first gear), then focus on the apex as the winding right leads to a dropping straight. Can’t speed up, there are more twists ahead. Heel into the right, a straight, a right, a fast left and emerge onto a plain, with mountains in the distance, and a cold Karoo draft penetrating my leathers from the collar and waist.
Actually the next day, but maybe the body language tells how cold I am.
Kilometres of tarmac whizz past under the bike, and the temp keeps slipping now that the passes have opened into long straights leading to the notoriously-cold Sutherland. I follow KTM-mounted Bruce, with his GPS doing the work for me.
We enter the town, book into our hotel and go off to find the eatery. The Adventure boys got there ahead of us and are tucking in. The eatery is just a couple of days old. The owner has the tourist market firmly in his sights. The menu is great, the service is great, the décor is great, he’s going to do well, and kudos to him.
War stories are exchanged.
I rode adventure bikes previously, and I am suspicious of dirt roads. On a 100 km road it takes just 10 bad metres to pull the rug from under you.
That is just about what happened to them.
They were breezing along the dirt highway quite nonchalantly when, just a hundred metres before coming in to land on the tar, Mandy ran into an anti-aircraft barrage. Her Ducati took a beating that leaves bits of rear end (Mandy’s or the Ducati’s? – Ed) on the dirt. Mildly shaken, Mandy wasn’t hurt but it’s an experience she visibly wouldn’t want to repeat.
In the am we make inquiries. Despite the telescopes, Sutherland missed the tourism memo. You’d think they would, for a small fee, be all too eager to take us to see them. In true SA tradition, service seems to be interpreted less an opportunity than as a request for a favour. The Aussies I’ve met would be handing you a bicycle hire contract and a tour itinerary, followed, of course, by a stop at his mate’s coffee shop. Saffers? Not always the brightest…
With a shrug, we elect to roll. Exiting a chilly Sutherland, we set course southwards.
We are headed for the southernmost tip of Africa, where two mighty oceans meet.
Next: TEA & SCONES, THE SEX SHOP, AND THE TWO OCEANS
Regards
Stan L
South Africa
Stan L- Posts : 107
Join date : 2020-01-06
Age : 66
paul and GSX1100G like this post
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum