Is motorcycling allowed?

[Hairy]

Oh Darling 👄

 

[Spokey]

Took the old KLR for a 300 km jaunt around the Klein Karoo last week. First ride in ages on the old Stofdonkie! The steady duk duk duk of the old thumper put a smile on the dial! This week a swift short run down Seven Passes to Knysna showed the quality of the 690’s suspension and the near 60% power increase and over 100lb weight saving over the old KLR. Both bikes are fun………..for different moods!

[Hairy]

how long would a 300km dirt ride like that take you to complete?

[Spokey]

4 hours ago, Hairy said:

how long would a 300km dirt ride like that take you to complete?

That was a long day, 8 hours! However, this was due to me stopping often to wait for my Missus and Daughter to catch up in the bakkie. Then they needed to check out the wild flowers! Normally 5,5 to 6 hrs including stops if just me. Trip was actually closer to 330 kms, about 75% dirt, some very rough.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Spokey
Spelling

[sawystertrance]

Bugger. My landlord is selling so I need to move. Major upheaval so I am considering one option as leaving and going to the UK. I have a passport. So this is a question to Ice Cream Man and others who have made the move. Is it worth sending my GS over or would it be better to sell here and buy another?. And secondly, I have a UK driver's licence for a car but not bike. Can I swap my Saffer bike licence or do I need to go the whole rigmarole?

[Hairy]

I was looking at my potential loop for work on Thursday, and can not understand how Google Maps can show a car as 5hr21min and a motorbike at 8hr33min.

They always have the bikes running slower, are they assuming I am on a 125cc or even worse a BMW GS!

Google

[Hairy]

So I took the dive and picked up a sort of mid grade Cardo 4X yesterday from Bike Kings.

BUT

At the same time they sucker punched me showing some of their helmets on special.

NOW

I have a new helmet that on the first two rides shows to have far better ventilation and has far less wind noise, and then the coms fitted.

THAT means my eldest gets my old helmet now, and it fits him well

SO I am looking forward to my next few rides, and definitely to summer with the better ventilation.

IS the ventilation just a figment of my imagination ..... NO ... even just sitting at my desk with the helmet on and visor closed I can breath easily, not something I could do with the previous helmet.

[Hairy]

So I took the dive and picked up a sort of mid grade Cardo 4X yesterday from Bike Kings.

BUT

At the same time they sucker punched me showing some of their helmets on special.

NOW

I have a new helmet that on the first two rides shows to have far better ventilation and has far less wind noise, and then the coms fitted.

THAT means my eldest gets my old helmet now, and it fits him well

SO I am looking forward to my next few rides, and definitely to summer with the better ventilation.

IS the ventilation just a figment of my imagination ..... NO ... even just sitting at my desk with the helmet on and visor closed I can breath easily, not something I could do with the previous helmet.

[IceCreamMan]

On 8/15/2023 at 6:11 AM, sawystertrance said:

Bugger. My landlord is selling so I need to move. Major upheaval so I am considering one option as leaving and going to the UK. I have a passport. So this is a question to Ice Cream Man and others who have made the move. Is it worth sending my GS over or would it be better to sell here and buy another?. And secondly, I have a UK driver's licence for a car but not bike. Can I swap my Saffer bike licence or do I need to go the whole rigmarole?

It’s a question I faced as well. I sold my bikes and bought here. To ship a bike and go through the rigmarole is probably gonna cost you around 50 grand zar conservatively. Ride it up. 😂 it’s A GS after all. If the bike has some intrinsic value or sentimental value then ship it. In hindsight we should have brought our cars from ZA but not the bikes. We had nice newish paid for cars and we lost a lot on selling them and buying here. Live and learn. 
 

if you have a full ZA licence you can convert it here and it will be back dated to when you got it in ZA or at least back dated to around 1999. ( depending when you actually got it) my licence was dated 1983 in ZA and dated 1999 here. This is important for insurance purposes as it reduces premiums potentially. Learners licences are not recognised here much to the annoyance of my brother and middle son. To get a bike licence is a faff and going to cost around a grand GBP. 
 

happy to newer any and all questions fire away or send PMs. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Edited August 22, 2023 by IceCreamMan

[IceCreamMan]

On 8/20/2023 at 10:27 AM, Hairy said:

I was looking at my potential loop for work on Thursday, and can not understand how Google Maps can show a car as 5hr21min and a motorbike at 8hr33min.

They always have the bikes running slower, are they assuming I am on a 125cc or even worse a BMW GS!

Google

Google is a clever thing, it knows you on a Harley man. 

[Hairy]

22 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

Google is a clever thing, it knows you on a Harley man. 

I thought about that too, but it did not direct me via dive bars and sketchy neighbourhood's, so that theory is dead in the water.

[sawystertrance]

Thanks ICM. Not sure about my car. It's a 2005 Outback so emissions m ay be an issue but mechanically it's sound and in great condition but the inurance valuation is so bad it's mot worth my selling it. I may leave it here just in case I come back for a holiday or change my mind. Or if the "Moonshot Pact" takes off. Fat chance.

Good news about the licence though. I will PM you and perhaps get to talkin on the phone although I use Signal instead of Whatsapp. 

 

Thanks again

[IceCreamMan]

7 hours ago, Hairy said:

I thought about that too, but it did not direct me via dive bars and sketchy neighbourhood's, so that theory is dead in the water.

Blue oyster bar. 

[Hairy]

39 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

Blue oyster bar. 

Dude, sure they have a kick ass looking pink milkshake on their website, but that would be a real Google Maps glitch taking one there on the way from Stellies to Paternoster 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Hairy

[Hairy]

OK COME CLEAN ... WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THIS
 

 

[Hairy]

The JBL speakers are rather decent with the Cardo, and the ventilation is good enough to not feel hot either when not moving