mazambaan

My 2c. Farmer Glen was a smart guy. The first Sanis had minimal cut trail just gravel roads, paths and tracks through the trees. Then came the second one I think; very wet and cold, much grumbling. From then on tracks were cut, paths were blown free of leaves, improving every year and the event opened up hugely to become a massive money spinner. The rougher events fell by the wayside attracting only an original or harder core. Trick is to know which is which.

I just knew that was fighting torque 🙃. I who wonder who Boring Man is terrorising these days; the wheel and chain expert.

900F you say, beautiful looking bike but wasn't that the one that could get a vicious headshake at around 120kph? Never with me (I never owned one, but a spin now and again) but rumour had it.....

There was a good turnout in Durban last week and it looked fun and well organised. I was riding a push bike on the beachfront unfortunately and sorry I missed it as it looked like fun despite my aversion to such events (fear of someone bumping you).

I think you would do well on a Super Duke; wallet and licence not so much. Check medical aid and income protection too. My knees are buggered - shorten Huskies or buy something else?

Trues, just saw the last round yesterday, not the overall.

and worth glancing at how SA's Cam Petersen & Matthew Scholtz are doing on superbikes; 2nd & 3rd in the c/ship. Good stuff.

Reminds of Mark Twain (was it?) storey of weighting the opponents frog with a bit of lead shot in a frog jumping compo.

Are they not all homologated so that they can be bought; even though the price may be silly? MotoGP uses a control electronics package to reduce cost but data collection and analysis is another storey. I suspect MotoGP bikes have another 2 000 odd rpm on WBSK.

Thanks; I think the 3ml oil removal is the next step - the disc is ok as I reverted back to the old pads; they were worn but not worn out. As you note with pictures, keep fingy away from disc (and chain).

Pretty much and I cleaned the pistons as best I could with brake cleaner before easing them back to fit the new pads.

While on brakes.................. Fitted new pads, tight fit, genuine Shimano but there is some friction and rubbing while the lever is now like wood, no travel and poor braking. Pistons were cleaned and, as far as I can see, retract fully. Do I need to release some oil or is there something else going on?

Somewhere I have an alarm lock - a cable lock with an alarm (loud I was told) that is triggered if anyone fiddles with it. Never used as I lost it in a heap of other kit. A thought though.

He he if the trail is steep (flat?) enough to allow walkers you are in the wrong place to complain.

Those flat pedals are the devil's work on shins. I had a shin scrape that refused to heal - eventually to a plastic surgeon, then got infected so antibiotic, still slow to heal so a very unpleasant few weeks visiting a wound clinic and it was touch and go that vacuum therapy would be needed. I am a ballie though but blood circulation to the minimal meat on the shin can be poor. A friend had a similar experience that ended up with him in hospital for quite a while. I have reverted to plastic flat pedals, I kid you not but I do concentrate on weighting the pedals, heel down. Recent note; do not let your weight be on your toes on the pedal when jumping; cost one Eli Tomac a ruptured Achilles and an SX championship, maybe career ending.

Excellent lights on that Harley, well, compared to my KTM type candles.

Drive around a bit by car first. Some tricky turns and not such great people around the area. You could always end up at Karkloof; helluva climb though.

100% and the Yam 700 is appealing but how does it end up so bloody heavy! Put same engine in a lighter, simpler frame with decent suspension, 18" & 21" rims, 6 gears (low first), good lights, ABS, minimum 15 litres of fuel, decent skid plate, hand guards, foot pegs, crash bars, luggage rack, tidy bum and GPS mount. Get it close to a 690 weight. I could sell my 701LR & 501 and buy it.

Very neat and I heard a podcast with Nino's mechanic (sorry if I am repeating) but they have a strong link to SA and training here. The other snippet I did not know is that they run almost no lube (definitely not grease) in the drive train to reduce friction. Would take me a week and half a dozen bugger ups to get that bike built and it would breakdown in training.

Time for private security with teeth (who, in many areas of KZN it would be say, Magma who are the de facto police) otherwise a Mike Bolhuis type 🤓 or high level connection in SAPS (they do exist).

Someone will note it - be careful with those buggers as they are hardened steel and quite brittle, snapping without much warning and then you have a real problem. If heat and spook piss doesn't do it - maybe spark erosion? But, as noted, check for hidden retainer pins or similar.

Well, as always ja/nee. As you note what Tech 10's cost try imagine kitting yourself out with an Arai helmut, Klim (or BMW, perish the thought) jacket and pants, knee braces, maybe a CO2 vest and the boots. Twil make Assos feel a bargain unless you look at ZAR/kg. My option is more affordable, just. Bell (maybe another Airoh) helmet, Tech 7's then secondhand BMW and Klim gear.

Yup and I thought I heard they had a 14 minute advantage before they hit the great stone. Query. With that advantage why not go for inserts / 1kg tyres or both; safety first? Maybe neither would have helped hitting that mother at speed. I heard a podcast with Yanick (all know Nino's mechanic) who said they had tried inserts but settled on wider rims (to limit sidewall punctures I guess).

Ok, something new to me. I have been riding in mud and long grass a lot recently and decided to clean out the Giant ebike belly pan; a flimsy bit of ill fitting plastic holding a rat nest of randomly coiled wires and held on with allen screws usually seen in a cheap watch. One of these toy screws is behind the chain ring so this has to come off to access the screw 👿. But all good, cleaned out and replaced with limited cussing although the countersunk little allen screws have cracked the paper thin retaining tabs (not me but some other ham fister). Holding though. Then replace the chain ring but find that it's easier to remove the chain guide upper and outer plastic cover to get the ring in place then Loctite on the retainers and torque to 10Nm. Proceeding, try and put the chain guide outer back only to find that there is a loose nut behind it and, luckily, this has only slipped down in the groove not departed to the cobwebs under the work bench. But getting it back proved a bastid as it had to be fished up with a pick then there isn't space to hold it in place, I ain't taking the chain ring off again so have to rely on serious cussing plus a small screwdriver and Presstick. Finally got done, breath sigh of relief and try to remember for next time. Bastid thing.

An oldie copied from elsewhere, apologies if done to death "Hi all, I need some advice. I've been suspecting for a long time now that my wife is having an affair, there are all the usual signs, if her phone rings and I answer it, it is cut off quickly, she deletes all her Whatsapp messages and goes out a lot until late with "girlfriends". Last night I decided to hide in the garage and see what was happening, she got in about 1am, got out of the car, took her panties from her handbag and put them on. Crouching behind my motorcycle like this, I saw a hairline crack on the rear swingarm, my question is, do you think I can weld it or will I have to replace it?"