Is motorcycling allowed?

[Spokey]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:18 AM, Hairy said:

So thought to do a quick ride out just past melkbos from home (sunningdale) and ended up going to Philadelphia, then old malmesbury road and eventually ender up in Riebeek Kasteel where I am currently ordering breakfast at Cafe Felix.....

Now riding the HD I figured this loop would have been great on this loop on a GS....but then started hoping that when I do take one for a proper ride, the GS will give the same feel when running thrive the gears and when decelerating on the HD....if not, then why even bother 😀 

After breakfast it will be the quickest road home unfortunately. 

Before you buy that GS, get yourself to Hoekwil and have a go on a small selection. I do need to be home of course! I would even welcome a Harley parked in the drive way………

seriously though I do not know your off road skills but I caution against a big old GS (as good as they are) in the dirt unless you have some dirt track knowledge!

 

[Spokey]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:19 AM, Hairy said:

Coffee arrived.... had better at most other places 😒 

Thats a bit sad…….the reason for the ADV bike, pack flask or better still, pack MSR cooker and Stanley drip filter coffee kit or even a small Stanley French Press and hit the trail! Coffee with an outlook of your choice!

Edited January 18 by Spokey
Content

[sawystertrance]

So good to see someone with taste like mine. I have an Aeropress Go and am making plans to ride up past you sometime in March to go up Swartberg pass and make myself a coffee up there.  So looking forward to it.

https://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za/product/aeropress-go

 

Edited January 19 by sawystertrance
Spelling

[IceCreamMan]

10 hours ago, Spokey said:

Thats a bit sad…….the reason for the ADV bike, pack flask or better still, pack MSR cooker and Stanley drip filter coffee kit or even a small Stanley French Press and hit the trail! Coffee with an outlook of your choice!

Indeed. I have an aeropress Go for the stops. Compact and works well enough. I use it when we go on holiday too. Have a little hikers manual grinder so becomes a little ritual. 
 

Last time I went through baviaans years ago we were a few guys. One guy had a great little set up and stopped at a few of the water crossings ,so we could drink in the beauty with a lovely fresh coffee. Nowt better. 

[IceCreamMan]

10 hours ago, Spokey said:

Before you buy that GS, get yourself to Hoekwil and have a go on a small selection. I do need to be home of course! I would even welcome a Harley parked in the drive way………

seriously though I do not know your off road skills but I caution against a big old GS (as good as they are) in the dirt unless you have some dirt track knowledge!

 

I agree. The big GS is just too big and lardy. They sell like hotcakes here. 99.9 percent never seen a dirt road. The other 0.1 percent only went off road at a laybye or something like that. 
 

if you going to go adventure biking which includes off-road get a middleweight. Far better adventure bike. Unless you have a Dakar entrant skillset that is. 

Edited January 19 by IceCreamMan

[Hairy]

10 hours ago, Spokey said:

Thats a bit sad…….the reason for the ADV bike, pack flask or better still, pack MSR cooker and Stanley drip filter coffee kit or even a small Stanley French Press and hit the trail! Coffee with an outlook of your choice!

like this hey
.

 

[IceCreamMan]

9 minutes ago, Hairy said:

like this hey
.

 

That’s not a stereotype by the way. 

[Hairy]

22 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

Indeed. I have an aeropress Go for the stops. Compact and works well enough. I use it when we go on holiday too. Have a little hikers manual grinder so becomes a little ritual. 
 

Last time I went through baviaans years ago we were a few guys. One guy had a great little set up and stopped at a few of the water crossings ,so we could drink in the beauty with a lovely fresh coffee. Nowt better. 

I see the GS as a more capable sports touring bike that will predominantly be used on the road.

The dirt road aspect would be tentatively be approached on the GS, but ideally I would want to first try a small CC trail ripper on trails.

Yesterday I had to head out to Kalkbay again, and arranged for a 2028 GS1200 from the BMW boys and girls. Took the loop from the CT CBD, along the coast to Houtbay, over the neck to Constantia and then along Boyes for a great coffee at Olympia Cafe, site and back to town via Boyes again, M3 and along the mountain on Philip Kgosana drive. Total loop 80km.

The bike is refreshingly light to maneuver and track standing is just a breeze. I had some thoughts before on how the hydraulic clutch would feel, but this was easily accustomed to and nice to use. 

Seated position feels natural and the bike responds well to input. For me, acceleration was great when you twist the throttle (And you still get a bit of vibes which I was hoping for, as this is a big feature to me on the Harley) yet slow speed riding is really civilised.

Brakes .... so this is what brakes are meant to feel like

The bike feels small to me compared to how the HD feels.

What I did find was that two cars shifted lanes while I was next to them, on the HD they would have heard me and not done so ... this bike needs a slip on with a bit of a growl.

Going to test ride a 2011 Air Head Adventure spec on this weekend to see how that feels vs the liquid cooled one I took out.

This is what she looks like

[Hairy]

5 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

That’s not a stereotype by the way. 

Replace the GS with an Enduro E-Bike and you have the same result

[IceCreamMan]

6 minutes ago, Hairy said:

I see the GS as a more capable sports touring bike that will predominantly be used on the road.

The dirt road aspect would be tentatively be approached on the GS, but ideally I would want to first try a small CC trail ripper on trails.

Yesterday I had to head out to Kalkbay again, and arranged for a 2028 GS1200 from the BMW boys and girls. Took the loop from the CT CBD, along the coast to Houtbay, over the neck to Constantia and then along Boyes for a great coffee at Olympia Cafe, site and back to town via Boyes again, M3 and along the mountain on Philip Kgosana drive. Total loop 80km.

The bike is refreshingly light to maneuver and track standing is just a breeze. I had some thoughts before on how the hydraulic clutch would feel, but this was easily accustomed to and nice to use. 

Seated position feels natural and the bike responds well to input. For me, acceleration was great when you twist the throttle (And you still get a bit of vibes which I was hoping for, as this is a big feature to me on the Harley) yet slow speed riding is really civilised.

Brakes .... so this is what brakes are meant to feel like

The bike feels small to me compared to how the HD feels.

What I did find was that two cars shifted lanes while I was next to them, on the HD they would have heard me and not done so ... this bike needs a slip on with a bit of a growl.

Going to test ride a 2011 Air Head Adventure spec on this weekend to see how that feels vs the liquid cooled one I took out.

This is what she looks like

Smaak my you ready to sign. 😂
 

my F800Gt is the first BMW I have ever owned in 42 years of motorcycles. I thoroughly enjoy it and that ownership experience. BMW just build good things and the after sales service is great. Really happy with the bike and the support of it. Services are not more expensive and not needed parts but I would think they on par. Far better ownership experience than my KTM to be honest. 
 

the big GS is a wonderful bike.  You can’t go wrong. But it is a bulky and heavy for adventure riding off road. We used to go all over sub Saharan africa and 2 guys had the gs , it got where we needed to go but it was a handful in the moz sand. 

Edited January 19 by IceCreamMan

[Hairy]

There is a 2012 GS1200 on WD that is well priced, with some higher mileage that I could prob still get to a lower price point.

This makes a little more sense for me as I then do some dirt roads on it and get a feel for this adventure thing without breaking the bank or worrying too much about the bike, and when I am ready I should be able to sell the bike without making a loss.

It would be a private purchase though, so not sure RE the admin involved in getting it registered into my name, etc.

[Hairy]

10 hours ago, Spokey said:

Before you buy that GS, get yourself to Hoekwil and have a go on a small selection. I do need to be home of course! I would even welcome a Harley parked in the drive way………

seriously though I do not know your off road skills but I caution against a big old GS (as good as they are) in the dirt unless you have some dirt track knowledge!

 

I am / was reasonably proficient on a hardtail to a big travel enduro MTB on rather very tech trails with many a years under my chamois if this helps in any way.

It would be a slow progression into dirt on a motorbike though

[Hairy]

I recon this could still come down to 80K
https://wilddog.net.za/threads/2012-bmw-r1200gs-abs-esa-h-grips-price-drop-to-r88k.278603/#post-5146423

Edited January 19 by Hairy

[Hairy]

What I do know I do not want is a bike with a chain that need to cleaned and maintained ... to much PTSD from cycle commuting for many years in any weather in CT

[Stoffel76]

https://www.mcnews.com.au/see-the-moment-that-a-dakar-rally-e-bike-snaps-in-two/

 

Bliksem! 🫣

 

[sawystertrance]

Just my 2c. Yes the GS is big but that has advantages in wind and in visibility. Surprised to hear cars cut in on you but as you say, a loud exhaust and a couple spots should sort that. As mentioned by others it's not an enduro bike but then I wouldn't want to ride an enduro bike long distance. Swings, roundabouts etc. What others do on their GSs is irrelevant to you. If they want to buy one and never go off-road, so what? It's a great all-round bike and despite the pisstaking from riders of other bikes, will serve you well. The most important thing is to decide exactly what you want to do with it.