Is motorcycling allowed?

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

https://www.rideapart.com/news/454354/suzuki-vstrom-650xt-launch-australia/

 

New Suzuki launched.

 

Now that looks tasty!!!!!

Love that motor. Only thing I would want is for it to more off-road biased.

[Stoffel76]

So a friend tells me the other day he has a little automatic 50cc kiddies bike gathering dust in a garage... Would I like to borrow it for my son? 

 

Needless to say I said YES!!    

 

Two questions now for the Hub:

 

1) Best place in Cape Town to get a kiddies helmet?

2) How do I deal with a not-so-happy wife?

[sawystertrance]

A very little of the Tarkastad to Adelaide portion of my Scottburgh to Bedford ride last Saturday. Whole trip was great, 2752kms in 4 days of riding, 2 days off, more a mission than a tour!DA413031-59CE-4EF2-9059-256D5650F268.jpeg683EEB1B-BDD9-4CE6-820C-DC3C7C71930E.jpegD821BFEF-03B8-4CA3-B03C-9EE6D62D565C.jpeg

Looks great but I have a question: I note that you packed all your luggage up high ontop. Any reason for that rather then pannier bags? Doens't it make the bike somewhat top-heavy?

[Gnarly]

 

 

Wrong post. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Gnarly

[BenReaper]

So a friend tells me the other day he has a little automatic 50cc kiddies bike gathering dust in a garage... Would I like to borrow it for my son?

 

Needless to say I said YES!!

 

Two questions now for the Hub:

 

1) Best place in Cape Town to get a kiddies helmet?

2) How do I deal with a not-so-happy wife?

Look for Ridersports on FB or Gumtree, Dominic is based in Blouberg and has a wide range of second hand kit.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

So a friend tells me the other day he has a little automatic 50cc kiddies bike gathering dust in a garage... Would I like to borrow it for my son? 

 

Needless to say I said YES!!    

 

Two questions now for the Hub:

 

1) Best place in Cape Town to get a kiddies helmet?

2) How do I deal with a not-so-happy wife?

Answer for q2... send it to me. No wife anymore.

[Spokey]

Looks great but I have a question: I note that you packed all your luggage up high ontop. Any reason for that rather then pannier bags? Doens't it make the bike somewhat top-heavy?

Valid question.

 

Lighter than it looked. I am getting racks put on the bike now (while in service) for soft bags. I will discontinue using the top box. In its place will be the ATG bag that is in the pic. It has excellent securing straps and is waterproof. I will use this together with soft bags (ATG again). I will carry the spares and tools low in the panniers split between them.

The get up in the pic was more necessity than ideal packing. I needed to get to Scottburgh for a Memorial service ( my Mum) and felt that a long bike ride would give me time to think.......mmmmm.

On return I was carrying new suspension for my ZRX (delivered from Josie by my brother) which made the ATG bag a bit high so I strapped my back pack on top. That only had iPad and work phone so did not make it too heavy.

[Spokey]

So a friend tells me the other day he has a little automatic 50cc kiddies bike gathering dust in a garage... Would I like to borrow it for my son? 

 

Needless to say I said YES!!    

 

Two questions now for the Hub:

 

1) Best place in Cape Town to get a kiddies helmet?

2) How do I deal with a not-so-happy wife?

Number one.......no idea

Number two.......she will get over it!

[Gnarly]

Here is my son and Billy Bolt about to spin a few laps at DMX. 

 

 

Not sure why picture is on its side. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Gnarly

[mazambaan]

Lekker Gnarly, Bolt seems like quite a character.

[sawystertrance]

Valid question.

 

Lighter than it looked. I am getting racks put on the bike now (while in service) for soft bags. I will discontinue using the top box. In its place will be the ATG bag that is in the pic. It has excellent securing straps and is waterproof. I will use this together with soft bags (ATG again). I will carry the spares and tools low in the panniers split between them.

The get up in the pic was more necessity than ideal packing. I needed to get to Scottburgh for a Memorial service ( my Mum) and felt that a long bike ride would give me time to think.......mmmmm.

On return I was carrying new suspension for my ZRX (delivered from Josie by my brother) which made the ATG bag a bit high so I strapped my back pack on top. That only had iPad and work phone so did not make it too heavy.

Gee, sorry to hear about Mum and condolences. Hope the ride cleared the head. Don't wish to meddle in your plans but thought I would give you an idea of another perspective.

I have a GS Avd and while i like the idea of the pannier racks acting as crashbars, they are a bit unsightly.

 

I watch a Bulgarian guy on Youtube who does adventure riding. He used and recommended this product (maybe he's sponsored by them although he says not ) by an outfit called 21Brothers. Seems pretty good and similar to GiantLoop product. Only possible issue would be protection from melting on the exhaust. I thought if you are over in Dubai you could order them. Just an idea. Perhaps after all that, you prefer pannier racks.

 

Here's the one I mean:

 

http://www.21brothers.eu/21brothers.eu/Rogal_30L.html

 

 

and here's the link to his video on it:

 

 

 

or

 

 

https://rtw-adventures.com/motorcycle-saddlebag-1.html

Here are some opinions:

 

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/equipment-reviews/21brothers-sawky-30l-soft-bags-83685

 

Edit: Multiple spelling mistakes

Edited November 19, 2020 by sawystertrance

[BenReaper]

Valid question.

 

Lighter than it looked. I am getting racks put on the bike now (while in service) for soft bags. I will discontinue using the top box. In its place will be the ATG bag that is in the pic. It has excellent securing straps and is waterproof. I will use this together with soft bags (ATG again). I will carry the spares and tools low in the panniers split between them.

The get up in the pic was more necessity than ideal packing. I needed to get to Scottburgh for a Memorial service ( my Mum) and felt that a long bike ride would give me time to think.......mmmmm.

On return I was carrying new suspension for my ZRX (delivered from Josie by my brother) which made the ATG bag a bit high so I strapped my back pack on top. That only had iPad and work phone so did not make it too heavy.

If I'm reading correctly, sorry to hear about the reason for your trip.

[Spokey]

Gee, sorry to hear about Mum and condolences. Hope the ride cleared the head. Don't wish to meddle in your plans but thought I would give you an idea of another perspective.

I have a GS Avd and while i like the idea of the pannier racks acting as crashbars, they are a bit unsightly.

 

I watch a Bulgarian guy on Youtube who does adventure riding. He used and recommended this product (maybe he's sponsored by them although he says not ) by an outfit called 21Brothers. Seems pretty good and similar to GiantLoop product. Only possible issue would be protection from melting on the exhaust. I thought if you are over in Dubai you could order them. Just an idea. Perhaps after all that, you prefer pannier racks.

 

Here's the one I mean:

 

http://www.21brothers.eu/21brothers.eu/Rogal_30L.html

 

 

and here's the link to his video on it:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKHWEuMGmcU

 

 

or

 

 

https://rtw-adventures.com/motorcycle-saddlebag-1.html

Here are some opinions:

 

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/equipment-reviews/21brothers-sawky-30l-soft-bags-83685

 

Edit: Multiple spelling mistakes

Yeah, thanks, a tough trip, but life goes on. It was good to travel on the bike although I am rapidly becoming a wet weather specialist. I seem to get rained on a lot when I ride long distance.........nevermind, I prefer it to the heat.

The Giant Loop bags are great. I have a small throwover set on my KLR. Just 12 litres but enough space for my tools and spares for a a day or two.

On the Katoom I am not fussed about the look of the racks, gonna stick with my plan. I like the look of that bag but seems it will be harder for the pillion to be comfortable. Definitely lekker if on my own. I think the soft panniers will suite riding with the Missus a little better.

Edited November 19, 2020 by Spokey

[Spokey]

If I'm reading correctly, sorry to hear about the reason for your trip.

Indeed, thank you!

[BSG]

Indeed, thank you!

Sorry to hear about your mom. Condolences, a mom is one's best friend.

 

Just my 2 cents as I've had Gs 1150, 650, Kawasaki's, Honda's etc and I still want one, any adventure bike again. Because of this reason I've read up quite a bit lately and many adventure riders says that hard panniers not only protect the bike when falling over, it also helps quite a lot to lift the bike again as it won't be that low to the ground which kind of makes sense to me?

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Sorry to hear about your mom. Condolences, a mom is one's best friend.

 

Just my 2 cents as I've had Gs 1150, 650, Kawasaki's, Honda's etc and I still want one, any adventure bike again. Because of this reason I've read up quite a bit lately and many adventure riders says that hard panniers not only protect the bike when falling over, it also helps quite a lot to lift the bike again as it won't be that low to the ground which kind of makes sense to me?

 

A rider training course might help them to stop falling.......