CAPE-HOPE 2
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CAPE-HOPE 2
Stan L Sat 02 Sep 2023, 9:36 pm
The Bandit feels petite once stripped of her luggage. The morning is rosy. Time for business, namely, Twisties Inc. Before we continue, a rule: where a place name is capitalised, that’s its real name. I don’t do the new PC ethnic “names.”
Engines fire up and wheels roll. I’m pleased to say mine is among the loudest. Louder still, though, is Mark’s. Mark, who spanners motorcycles for a living, turned an at-death’s-door 955 Tiger to a 1050 street fighter. According to Mark it’s a bit of a beast. If the volume of the exhaust is anything to go by, it probably is.
The Eastern Transvaal, or ET, is mountain pass country. Unfortunately, South Africa isn’t very well governed. Money set aside for trivialities – hospitals, schools, security, road maintenance – tends to be redirected to more worthy causes; specifically, luxury lifestyles for deserving ministers (comrades, as they prefer to call themselves.) Consequently, there are stories of the state of the roads here.
In pre-bankruptcy years (mine, not the state’s,) I used to ride these roads quite often, and there are sections you can actually ride flat out. That was some years ago. I’m apprehensive about them now. Thankfully, route captain Clive, who sometimes surprises by being brighter than he looks, selects routes that combine super surfaces with mega twists and turns.
First, we’ve got to take the road to Carolina, this time from the east. Here, there’s a trap. Good thing the tech customers know about it. There’s a collapsed section that, if you don’t know about it, could see you whizzing along one moment, and a heap of meat and metal the next. A section of road has collapsed and broken up. The shoulder was supposed to be shored up on a retaining wall to elevate the road above the sheer drop to the side. This requires regular inspection and maintenance. But inspection and maintenance cost money, and our “ministers” have sticky fingers. Hence, yet another opportunity for cynical South Africans to whip out their aerosol cans and decorate failed infrastructure with the ruling party’s brand, a practice becoming increasingly widespread.
Look up KAKISTOCRACY and INEPTOCRACY (these are actual words,) and you'll see you get the "government" you vote for. This once-perfect road is just one example. The Republic of South Africa...
We roll on. The temp rises. We cruise into a valley and halt at a roadside stall offering, among other attractions, export-quality fruit we don’t get in the city. Zipping out linings and opening vent panels, we remount and, in rising temps, set course for the town of Sabie (approximately rhyming with Barbie.)
Taking a water (if that's what's in your hip flask) break in between servings of twists and turns.
Engines fire up and wheels roll. I’m pleased to say mine is among the loudest. Louder still, though, is Mark’s. Mark, who spanners motorcycles for a living, turned an at-death’s-door 955 Tiger to a 1050 street fighter. According to Mark it’s a bit of a beast. If the volume of the exhaust is anything to go by, it probably is.
The Eastern Transvaal, or ET, is mountain pass country. Unfortunately, South Africa isn’t very well governed. Money set aside for trivialities – hospitals, schools, security, road maintenance – tends to be redirected to more worthy causes; specifically, luxury lifestyles for deserving ministers (comrades, as they prefer to call themselves.) Consequently, there are stories of the state of the roads here.
In pre-bankruptcy years (mine, not the state’s,) I used to ride these roads quite often, and there are sections you can actually ride flat out. That was some years ago. I’m apprehensive about them now. Thankfully, route captain Clive, who sometimes surprises by being brighter than he looks, selects routes that combine super surfaces with mega twists and turns.
First, we’ve got to take the road to Carolina, this time from the east. Here, there’s a trap. Good thing the tech customers know about it. There’s a collapsed section that, if you don’t know about it, could see you whizzing along one moment, and a heap of meat and metal the next. A section of road has collapsed and broken up. The shoulder was supposed to be shored up on a retaining wall to elevate the road above the sheer drop to the side. This requires regular inspection and maintenance. But inspection and maintenance cost money, and our “ministers” have sticky fingers. Hence, yet another opportunity for cynical South Africans to whip out their aerosol cans and decorate failed infrastructure with the ruling party’s brand, a practice becoming increasingly widespread.
Look up KAKISTOCRACY and INEPTOCRACY (these are actual words,) and you'll see you get the "government" you vote for. This once-perfect road is just one example. The Republic of South Africa...
We roll on. The temp rises. We cruise into a valley and halt at a roadside stall offering, among other attractions, export-quality fruit we don’t get in the city. Zipping out linings and opening vent panels, we remount and, in rising temps, set course for the town of Sabie (approximately rhyming with Barbie.)
Getting to Sabie is a ball. The ET soaks up the sun, and the road temp makes the tyres lekker (“lacquer”; nice/nicely) sticky. The bends snake between the mountains. Turns are sharp and oftentimes long, conjuring the impression of a corkscrew. The Bandit is in her element, her Japanese-perfect gearbox keeping her Japanese-perfect engine revving high in the tight twists, making her buoyant and responsive. Tourey suspension that rides plushly on bumpy sections doesn’t unduly hinder her in tight turns. For a simple suspension set, they’ve done a creditable, perhaps even remarkable, job of hitting a sweet spot. I used to be a Europhile, but the Bandit never fails to justify my transfer to the Japanese camp.
Long Tom Pass offers a delightfully aptly-named set of bends called the Devil’s Knuckles. Some of these are so tight you actually click down to first gear. I get nervous about giving her a lot of gas while leaning in first, or even second, but you need power to keep her buoyant. Gas her, tap off, click down, open her, heel in left, open up, upshift (optional.). Gas her, tap off, click down, open her, heel in right, open up, upshift (optional.). Blast out, gun her into the straight, gear down, heel in, gas her as much as you dare, and the instant the bend opens, WHAM – full blast, before scrubbing speed to set up for the next turn. Gas her, tap off, click down, open her, heel in, open up, upshift (optional.) Rinse and repeat, again and again. Beneath you as you climb down the mountain, Sabie appears in the haze. A last burst of speed along a gloriously long left sweeper, tap off, and the Bandit pop-pop-pops on the overrun as she sheds speed on the bridge entering the town of Sabie. Make our way up to the famous Woodsman restaurant.
On a wooden deck overlooking the launch to the 22, you’ll dine as you gaze down upon the entry point onto the 22.
What’s the 22?
The neighbouring town is called Hazyview. Sabie is connected to Hazyview by a road that looks, on a map, like a piece of string that’s been scrunched up and rubbed between your palms, that’s how twisty it is. The nothing-short-of-legendary 22 kilometres of hairpins and switchbacks that take you halfway to Hazyview are the favourite of every teenage boy racer, this 70-year-old teenager included. Understand, this is 22 kilometres of riding, not 22 kilometres of crow flight. Riders depart in pairs or groups to challenge one another on the 22. They’re racing, whether or not they admit it.
The 22 is closed at present, following heavy rains. (No doubt, ditto the repair budget also got washed away.) That means we’ll exit Sabie, not towards Hazyview but towards Whit River. Sabie-White River is another popular ride, but there’s a difference.
Sabie-Hazyview is a feast of a low-gear twisties. Sabie-White River is more high-gear, high-speed sweepers. It’s not my favourite, because of the sun-and-shade zebra shadows the pine plantations cast across the road. Zebra appear to be the most bizarrely-camouflaged of all creatures. Fun fact: zebra are white on black, not black on white. Try picking out an individual in a herd and you’ll see how effective zebra stripes are. Sabie-White River has sections, hundreds of metres at a time, of sun-and-shadow zebra stripes. Some sections are fast, but with poor visibility. Given the choice, I’d ride Graskop (I won’t even try to teach you to pronounce it!) to Hazyview. Glass smooth, with sweepers you can see right through, it’s possible to actually pin it for fully 30 seconds at a time on Graskop-Hazyview. Sabie-White River? Hmm… I ease back and let the lads past.
The end of Sabie-White River is a T-junction, where a left turn takes you into the town, while a right heads toward Cape Hope. The lads have other ideas. We turn about and head back onto Sabie-White River, take a left, stop, and send a scout forward. The road appears broken up. A minute later the scout returns and waves us on. The broken section is but a hundred metres long, but it puts people off, meaning there’s little traffic along this road, meaning we’ve chanced upon a lucky discovery. It goes to a farm whose name translates to Source Valley, and a town called Panorama. Low traffic, fair surface and delightfully twisty, this is a find.
Eventually the road ends in a T junction, offering the choice to turning towards either NELSPRUIT or LYDENBURG (this post is free of ethnic names.) We turn toward the latter and blast along a glass-smooth road bringing us back to the malodorous Ngodwana paper mill. 12 kilometres of pleasantly curvaceous tarmac bring us back to Kaapsehoop for another night of drunken debauchery (except Paul, who doesn’t drink, presumably because the rest of us are so good looking he doesn’t need beer goggles.)
Next: How to get through toll gates without taking forever.
Regards
Stan L
South Africa
Last edited by Stan L on Sat 02 Sep 2023, 10:45 pm; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : Typo)
Stan L- Posts : 104
Join date : 2020-01-06
Age : 66
GSX1100G and Growler like this post
Re: CAPE-HOPE 2
GSX1100G Mon 04 Sep 2023, 7:04 pm
Hi Stan, another SA road/ track trip 
.
Good to hear from you & your riding buddies adventures
️️
.Good to hear from you & your riding buddies adventures
️️_________________
Suzuki 1250 Bandit - LOVING IT ! !
GSX1100G- Posts : 792
Join date : 2019-11-08
Age : 61
Stan L likes this post
Re: CAPE-HOPE 2
GSX1100G Fri 15 Sep 2023, 4:46 pm
Hey Stan,
Don't forget about us, or are you off on another adventure?️️
Don't forget about us, or are you off on another adventure?
️️_________________
Suzuki 1250 Bandit - LOVING IT ! !
GSX1100G- Posts : 792
Join date : 2019-11-08
Age : 61
Re: CAPE-HOPE 2
Stan L Fri 15 Sep 2023, 9:32 pm
N-o-o-o, I'm suffering from DWS... Depleted Wallet Syndrome!GSX1100G wrote:Hey Stan,
Don't forget about us, or are you off on another adventure?
Sorry about the gaps between posts, the missus expects me to -hmph - work (ugh), not spend time on forums. But (grin,) she's out shopping, so I'll quickly post the next one! It's all drafted, just gotta copy-paste.
Stan L- Posts : 104
Join date : 2020-01-06
Age : 66
GSX1100G likes this post
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