Radioman Rides the World.......

Great stuff Mark! Lily's very cool pics are adding another dimension also. I can see myself referring back to this report in a few years to help plan a Southern Africa moto expedition

Cheers
Clint

Thanks Clint. Guess I will include some Coordinates for some of the places then

and

Feels like having my own professional photographer along on the ride Lily is great!

Hey Mark. A friend wanted to know what the manufacturers name was for your riding gear. I'm too lazy to go back and find the link. would you mind refreshing me on the name again?
Thanks for letting us live vicariously.....

KLIM http://www.klim.com/Motorcycle/

I am also a fan of Motoport gear as well. (my Colombia get off ended well because i had really good Kelvar Mesh riding gear. ATGATT
http://www.motoport.com

Wow Mark, your still out there! What an amazing ride. Probably end up being an ole time record for the books when ya get done. Glad i was able to spend time with you in Colombia. Happy Trails my good man!

As fate would have it, Radioman has hooked up with the best tour guides in South Africa, Jorg and Lily. In their honor for being such spectacularly gracious and knowledgeable hosts, this dedication goes to Mark’s amazing travel agents, their enduring love and friendship, as they head toward the heart of Africa. It’s three good vibe traveling music selections in a row, here on the Radioman Network.

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Big Fantastic People!!

We arrived in Port Alfred mid afternoon, and looked at a couple of places near the beach. I had my Lonely Planet Guide to give us a couple names. We ended up at Carnoustie. Great Place!!



Yvonne the manager was really fantastic!!

We rented the Self Catering unit with two bedrooms, Huge living room, and deck overlooking the Ocean!! Nice way to be Adventure riding! The Cost is $850 Rand per night for 3 of us! ($85.00USD).

Started our day with Breakfast on the deck!



Wonderful!!



The Kitchen and then Living room are huge!



The dining room table where I posted my Ride Report updates and video!. Great view of the Indian Ocean, and you can hear the waves crashing against the shoreline!!



could get used to this!



The bikes secured under covered parking spot!



Then we took a walk down to the beach after relaxing, posting and sorting a bit of gear. Yvonne was nice enough to sew a couple of my straps together for my new bag!!



The Indian Ocean from this side!!



Walking the beach !



Huge Sandbags shore up the beach in places.



Enjoying the sun, sand and water! (not Lily was out shooting photos as well!)



The patterns in Nature always draw my attention





on our way into town, we stopped for Lunch at the local beach restaurant!



Everything is all secure with big gate



and Electrically topped fences



Nice to have a day off the bike relaxing and enjoying the place!

Beyond awesome! Experience of a lifetime.

Cool stuff Mark, I must get back to Africa for a ride, keep it coming mate

Electric fence :eek1. Is that to keep the two legged or four legged animals out?

We had a great day in Port Alfred, South Africa. It was the 18th and the eve of Jorg's Birthday So Lily and I decided that we would make the Birthday dinner.





His "cake" with a candle burning!



Jorg enjoying his Meal, and then "cake" before opening a couple small gifts (since we have been together 24/7 it was hard to purchase gifts without him knowing But we did it!)



Thursday Morning Sunrise!



We packed up and were ready to go! Yvonne was fantastic and made our stay really special!! Yvonne!



Down the road we go ...... Meeting up with some other riders in Gonubie (east of East London)



As we started out riding East. Jorg was bitten by something in his helmet, so we pulled over to check it out. When we went to go, My bike almost did not start :eek1 Hummm TowPro has send me a message about the F800GS Stators (which I was aware of) When BMW swapped out my battery, checked the codes I would have thought that charging levels would have come up.....

Anyway, we were about 56 KM outside east London and decided to ride on and see how far we could get. Along the way, My ABS light came on and shortly after I lost all power in Gauges, headlight ect. :eek1 Bike still ran for another 30 KM to just into East London.

The bike died just as we entered town, at a light. We pushed it around a corner to a safe place to wait for a way to get it to a dealer to figure out the exact issue. It is always amazing how these things happen. On this corner of town, I GS rider sees us, and comes out to see if we needed help. His 1200GS was just inside the door near where I broke down. Stephen. So nice to meet you!



Stephan, called some friends and the BMW dealer... How amazing is it that I have such helpful people all around!



One of the riders we are meeting, named Dewald quickly arranged a mototrailer and showed up to load the bike with his Mechanic.



All loaded up, we were weighing the options and decided to stop at the local Kawasaki Moto Dealer, as the BMW dealer that was here closed down. Dewald called the owner, Roger Barnes, explained the situation and we were in the shop in just a few minutes.



After checking the battery, it was decided to check out the Regulators function. Walter and the Mechanic knew some other riders with F800's and one of them came down to let us pull his regulator and plug it into my bike WOW amazing! Thanks for the help!! Words do not convey the gratefulness that I feel as people go out of their way to help a stranger on the road!





But the regulator did not solve the issue, and after some more calls with BMW PE it looks like the Stator has died. It is an expensive new part from BMW as it only comes as "kit". But ..... I called Rhett at BMW in Port Elizabeth, and he was checking on availability of the new Stator..... When I called him back he told me he had a "used" stator off a wrecked bike that I could have (since it would be a couple days to get me a new one)!! PE is 3 hours drive away.


Once again.... Dewald arranged for one of his Courier drivers to pick it up and bring it to East London that night, so we could install it first thing in the morning! WOW.

The group of riders is here in town to start riding tomorrow toward Sani Pass. Might get my bike repaired and still be able to catch up with them.

What can I say. THANK YOU for all the help and support in sorting out my broken bike. It is one of the things that I have seen so many times along this ride. Wonderful people helping out other riders in so many amazing ways!! Lesson learned from the road is that generosity and Kindness from strangers is amazing. It has made me want to give more, look for others to help. Pay it forward !!! And there are just more good and decent people than bad people in the world. I have seen it around the world. Never want the bad deeds of a few to ruin the reality that there are so many good people who share love and kindness everywhere. I want to be doing the same!

Instant Karma

The loving kindness spirit and energy you have can’t help but bring in wonderful people when you need them the most! Been enjoying your journey all along and continue to look forward to more of your travels. Thank you!!!

I was asked many times before I left, "what if you break down?" My answer. "you get it fixed" Here's How! The help of so many others!!

To carry on the story a bit. Here is a photo Lily took after Stephan (GS owner) come out to see what help we needed. He called BMW PE on his phone, and handed it to me as I explained the symptoms and was trying to figure my options as they were 180 miles back. What a great guy Stephan is!! Thanks!





Dewald arrange the trailer from Kawaski and came to pick me and the bike up and take me the 4 Km to Kawaski!

Warren at Kawaski even loaned my a scooter to ride out to Gonubie (15 KM or so away).

My new adventure bike



The guys filling up there bike. Dewald on his KLR and me on the Suzuki 125 adventure scooter



Cornering machine



Out on the open road.... 80KM was about max.



After a hectic afternoon yesterday getting the bike diagnosed and all the decisions about how to resolve the issue..... Had a good nights sleep, up early to get to Kawasaki Dealer at 7am to meet up with the parts and see how it is going. Original plan was I would wait for my bike and the rest of the group would ride ahead, I would catch up .......

Was ready for the new day, But Lily came to my room early to tell me that the Bite or sting that Jorg had gotten yesterday AM, had him all swollen up :eek1
He really could not open his eyes when he woke up. Poor Guy.



We are not sure what got him, but the swelling was severe. OK.... New plans. Jorg and Lily go to Doctor in the Am, as I go check in on my bike. We will stay an extra night here to see if Jorg's swelling goes down.

I arrive 7:10 Am at Kawaski Dealer, package arrived a few minutes later.





Liked the way the package was addressed!!



Raymond also switched out my Chain and Sprockets as they were worn enough ... As we head north there will be little or no service available.... So it makes sense to have things in prime order! Of course if I was home I would ride it a bit longer!





And the old stator looks like the other photos I have seen of the darkened and toasted Stators.



The "used" one that BMW gave me with less than 6,000KM on it!!



This would have been the price if it was new from BMW Basically ($1,000 USD).



BMW did not have the gasket either.... So Raymond made one !



Raymond putting it all back together!



Bike was all put back together by 9:30 or so. Charging well now and ready to ride. Big Thanks to Warren (owner on my left) and Raymond the Mechanic for getting my bike right in, and sorted out so quickly. Amazing friendly and skilled guys! Would highly recommend them in East London! Thanks Guys! Was a great experience! And all the others I met and spoke with in the dealer were great also!!




Kawasaki/Suzuki East London !
Coordinates S32 57 51.25 E27 56 00.01





While Jorg rests up. I take a little walk down the way. Beautiful Coastline!






The Adventure continues. Cannot say enough how great it has been to see how kind, generous and helpful normal people are as you travel. It raises the bar for me, as to how I need to live my life!!

Wow, fantastic! You and those you meet continue to inspire.

Jorge, wow :huh. Get well soon.

How many miles on your bike now, Mark? (so I can plan accordingly)

Well done there to the Eastern Cape guys Makes you really feel swell to be part of this RSA. Just dont have a drink with them Mark, they're mainly derived from the "when we's" (ex Rhodesians that moved down south) and then some serious "Boere" lets not even go to where they came from

Enjoy safely and look forward to more good riding reports.

50,500 miles (81,800 KM)

Wow Mark , words don't do your ride justice ! I have been following along all the way , thanks for the "ride" . Tell Jorg that I feel his pain , I was way worse than him last time I was stung . Did the Doc give him an epi pen ? Makes any ride an adventure for me . I have a bad heart valve , so it is a real crap shoot if I get stung . The sting will KILL me and the epinephrine may kill me . Really try my best to be completely covered while riding . Amazing to have a major failure and get it fixed in a day or so . The stars were aligned for you my friend ! I think you are roughing it well in your overnight stays so far . You look pretty bad to the bone on that monster 125 . Have a continued great ride .

Thanks iDave, I will be better soon.
Was only painful the moment of the bite/sting. Pulled over and took off my helmet, could not find anything inside the helmet. Visor was also closed We suspect it was a small spider. The swelling is a result of an allergic reaction. Only started swelling about 8 hours after the bite/sting.
Thanks for all the well wishes.
The adventure will continue despite some small setbacks.