Enty7
Guest
Hi All,
Glossary :
Mpumalanga ? An eastern South African province ? ?Where the sun rises?.
Gauteng ? A central South African province ? ?Gold? where a lot of the gold mines are.
Highveld ? Highlands ? The central South African plateau
Lowveld ? Lowlands ? Sub tropical region ? much warmer than the Highveld ? great bike country.
Weights and measures advisory: We use the metric system in South Africa.
I trust you guys are all well. My first long ride with the bike, so I thought I would share!
I recently joined NT-Owners.Org when I became the proud owner of a 2010 NT. In my introduction I said that ?here in sunny South Africa we ride all year round?. Well, two weeks ago I came pretty close to issuing a factory recall on that statement.
We get cold fronts that move in from the Antarctic but usually they dissipate by the time they reach Gauteng where I live, and we can ride, we take strain, but we can ride! But not this weekend!
And just the weekend when I was committed to ride to the escarpment in Mpumalanga with some club members to scatter the ashes of one of our members who passed away recently.
I arrived at the usual meeting point at 08H00, had a cup of coffee, and decided to bail out of the weekend ride. In all the years of riding, I have never bailed on any event! Ever! I even have photos of a bike with ice on the saddle at a rally near the Cape Province coast some years ago! But I know when I am beaten! This was bad! Clear blue skies (typical of our winters) and wind straight from the South Pole! Oh boy, someone left the freezer door open down there! Can?t trust anybody these days!
The ?tuff guys? went on their way and I dragged my frozen butt home! Camped in front of the TV for an hour or two and when my wife arrived home she informed me that it wasn?t ?too bad? out there!
That was all the inspiration I needed! Dressed up, gassed up and hit the road, Jack! It was tough going on the long haul over the Highveld! Had to trim the sails continuously just to hold a semi-decent line on the highway! The wind was running ?Yoshi? pipes and full revs! (Heard later that one of the guys who was riding on old Kwak ZZR1100C - big slab sided fairings - was all over the road and the others just stayed away from him in fear of getting taken out!)
Stopped at the first highway filling station and used the hot air hand dryer in the toilet to warm up my hands and gloves. Reminded me of the ?Mr. bean? movie when he wets his pants and tries to dry them using the hot air hand dryer. Hit the road again and was surprisingly more comfortable.
Turned off the highway and started winding up to the edge of the escarpment. Less wind, more twisty, and, unfortunately, a lot of potholes! Had to keep an eagle eye on the road and not on the scenery! Arrived at the end point ? motel in Lydenburg (?place of suffering?) - 310km from home.
The bike runs like a dream, and the fuel consumption and tank range are very good! Saddle is comfortable enough for me for the amount of saddle time I had put in, so I am more than happy with the bike and not ?suffering? at all. Am still experimenting with the different screen positions ? seem to always end up at the highest position!
The crew had obviously booked in way before me and had headed up to Pilgrims Rest ? an historic gold mining town from way back, to have tea and scones in honour of Ken ? the club member who had passed.
I re-fuelled after a quick lunch and headed up to the top of Long Tom Pass, so named after a type of cannon that was used in the Anglo-Boer war. Mauchsberg is the highest point on the pass at 1470mt a.s.l. (and the highest point in the province.). After a photo opportunity I headed west back down the pass to the motel. The sun was at a bad angle and had to tread carefully as some of the bends were already in shadow.
Had a great evening with the crew and even had a couple of shots of a South African favourite ?Old Brown Sherry? which is highly recommended for driving the cold out of your bones.
Sunday dawned crisp and clear and best of all, the wind had dropped! This put the whole crew in a good frame of mind and we headed back up Long Tom Pass to the viewpoint that had been chosen to scatter the Ken?s ashes. Ken had ridden bikes all his life and had particularly enjoyed this part of the country and was affectionately known as ?Twisty 1? after his affinity for high speed and the twisties (He passed away from a non-motorcycling illness.). After a brief, but moving ceremony, Ken?s ashes were scattered and we went our separate ways much heartened by the fact that Ken was where he always wanted to be.
I had a great ride all the way back to the highway, and during the ride my thoughts turned to ?the meaning of life? etc.etc., as i?m sure you have all ruminated over these deep subjects whilst riding. The wind started picking up again the closer I got to the highway and I then did battle with the elements across the Highveld all the way home.
Arrived safely, albeit weather beaten, at home. A good soak in a hot bath did wonders for the body and the mind.
All in all, a good ride (713km in total)! Cold, but good! We are all the better for having been there to say farewell to Ken.
Take care and ride safe.
Regards,
Enty7 (South Africa)
Glossary :
Mpumalanga ? An eastern South African province ? ?Where the sun rises?.
Gauteng ? A central South African province ? ?Gold? where a lot of the gold mines are.
Highveld ? Highlands ? The central South African plateau
Lowveld ? Lowlands ? Sub tropical region ? much warmer than the Highveld ? great bike country.
Weights and measures advisory: We use the metric system in South Africa.
I trust you guys are all well. My first long ride with the bike, so I thought I would share!
I recently joined NT-Owners.Org when I became the proud owner of a 2010 NT. In my introduction I said that ?here in sunny South Africa we ride all year round?. Well, two weeks ago I came pretty close to issuing a factory recall on that statement.
We get cold fronts that move in from the Antarctic but usually they dissipate by the time they reach Gauteng where I live, and we can ride, we take strain, but we can ride! But not this weekend!
And just the weekend when I was committed to ride to the escarpment in Mpumalanga with some club members to scatter the ashes of one of our members who passed away recently.
I arrived at the usual meeting point at 08H00, had a cup of coffee, and decided to bail out of the weekend ride. In all the years of riding, I have never bailed on any event! Ever! I even have photos of a bike with ice on the saddle at a rally near the Cape Province coast some years ago! But I know when I am beaten! This was bad! Clear blue skies (typical of our winters) and wind straight from the South Pole! Oh boy, someone left the freezer door open down there! Can?t trust anybody these days!
The ?tuff guys? went on their way and I dragged my frozen butt home! Camped in front of the TV for an hour or two and when my wife arrived home she informed me that it wasn?t ?too bad? out there!
That was all the inspiration I needed! Dressed up, gassed up and hit the road, Jack! It was tough going on the long haul over the Highveld! Had to trim the sails continuously just to hold a semi-decent line on the highway! The wind was running ?Yoshi? pipes and full revs! (Heard later that one of the guys who was riding on old Kwak ZZR1100C - big slab sided fairings - was all over the road and the others just stayed away from him in fear of getting taken out!)
Stopped at the first highway filling station and used the hot air hand dryer in the toilet to warm up my hands and gloves. Reminded me of the ?Mr. bean? movie when he wets his pants and tries to dry them using the hot air hand dryer. Hit the road again and was surprisingly more comfortable.
Turned off the highway and started winding up to the edge of the escarpment. Less wind, more twisty, and, unfortunately, a lot of potholes! Had to keep an eagle eye on the road and not on the scenery! Arrived at the end point ? motel in Lydenburg (?place of suffering?) - 310km from home.
The bike runs like a dream, and the fuel consumption and tank range are very good! Saddle is comfortable enough for me for the amount of saddle time I had put in, so I am more than happy with the bike and not ?suffering? at all. Am still experimenting with the different screen positions ? seem to always end up at the highest position!
The crew had obviously booked in way before me and had headed up to Pilgrims Rest ? an historic gold mining town from way back, to have tea and scones in honour of Ken ? the club member who had passed.
I re-fuelled after a quick lunch and headed up to the top of Long Tom Pass, so named after a type of cannon that was used in the Anglo-Boer war. Mauchsberg is the highest point on the pass at 1470mt a.s.l. (and the highest point in the province.). After a photo opportunity I headed west back down the pass to the motel. The sun was at a bad angle and had to tread carefully as some of the bends were already in shadow.
Had a great evening with the crew and even had a couple of shots of a South African favourite ?Old Brown Sherry? which is highly recommended for driving the cold out of your bones.
Sunday dawned crisp and clear and best of all, the wind had dropped! This put the whole crew in a good frame of mind and we headed back up Long Tom Pass to the viewpoint that had been chosen to scatter the Ken?s ashes. Ken had ridden bikes all his life and had particularly enjoyed this part of the country and was affectionately known as ?Twisty 1? after his affinity for high speed and the twisties (He passed away from a non-motorcycling illness.). After a brief, but moving ceremony, Ken?s ashes were scattered and we went our separate ways much heartened by the fact that Ken was where he always wanted to be.
I had a great ride all the way back to the highway, and during the ride my thoughts turned to ?the meaning of life? etc.etc., as i?m sure you have all ruminated over these deep subjects whilst riding. The wind started picking up again the closer I got to the highway and I then did battle with the elements across the Highveld all the way home.
Arrived safely, albeit weather beaten, at home. A good soak in a hot bath did wonders for the body and the mind.
All in all, a good ride (713km in total)! Cold, but good! We are all the better for having been there to say farewell to Ken.
Take care and ride safe.
Regards,
Enty7 (South Africa)
