Goat meat, good friends and riverbeds

[DakarBlues]

Originally Posted by jantarek

For the luck of better expression all I can say is woooooooooooooooooooooooooooow
For everything about this report, wow for the trip, wow for the idea, wow for your friendship, and big thanks for sharing all with us

btw this is great




more pls, more pls, more, more, more !!!! please

MJ, Pegpacker should give you some royalties :)

[cgwt]

Originally Posted by metaljockey

Man, I gotta tell ya, it really feels good to read these replies. I am so happy to see that others understand and feel what I hope to convey.

I'd like to add some trivia for those who are interested.

ON THE BIKE
I've said what I wanted to say re the bashplate (add your own expletive here).
Seen on the whole the 1200 was'nt the tool for the job. It did the job, make no mistake, but if I had a choice, and with hind sight, I would've taken a Dakar, or even a DRZ if it could carry the fuel. Weight is weight, you can't change that. Twice I found myself in the position where I just could not pick the bike up one more time. I really hate to admit this but on these occasions we swopped bikes so I can rest on the Dakar and recover some strength.
That aside, I have great respect for the 1200. Except for the sump, the damage suffered by the 1200 during this whole trip was the little plastic connector between the handlebar and the hand protector. That's it. I must have dropped the bike anywhere between 20 and 50 times. Granted, most were in sand but I even now recall at least 5 times in rocky or rough terrain. As long as you protect your tappet covers, this bike is near indestructible. I had no body work damage at all.
And the rims!... bow down in worship. They defy the laws of nature. They seemingly cannot be bent by anyone or anything. I hit rocks at a rate of easily 5 - 10 a day, that would've severely deformed any other rim. Three times I hit rocks so hard that the bars were ripped out of my hands. No damage, no dent, only scoring of the metal where the rocks came into direct contact. I am of the opinion that 1200 rims cannot be bent. They will either be totally destroyed or will last forever. I have yet to hear of a single 1200 rim that got dented. I should actually start a thread about this to see if these things can really be this good.
As to the Pratley Steel repair job, I did another 20 000km before replacing the casings. Like I said, the best invention since the crank case.

A NOTE TO BALDY
Baldy, I need to get this off my chest, thank you . Thank you for this site, thank you for running it properly. I have received so much sustenance reading ride reports when I wasn't in the position to be riding myself. And I know I'm not alone in this. I'm pretty sure you're going to heaven man, you must have built up serious credits with the good that this site is doing.

WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT
You'll be surprised to hear that I have read this ride report several times. Every time it transports me right back to Kaokoland. I totally relive the whole thing, smells, heat, everything.
Some day I'll be old and frail; no let's not pussyfoot around, some day I'll be old and weak. But, lying in my bed, unable to ride, unable even to take a poop without assistence, I will only have to look at these pictures and I will relive it as if it is happening all over again.
It's my pension. Every trip is another deposit in my memory pension. I'm gonna have a wonderful old age. This trip report will be part of it.

Thank you for posting all your reports and pix. Currently in texas and reading about SWA again and all the images, beckons of me the question, to wait till I get through this drawn out green card application (nearly 7 years in the making) or go back to what I really love.
I'm truly nailed to the laptop screen reading the RR's and thoroughly enjoying it.
Once you have experienced SWA it is just in you.
Boet, u'r screwing with my mind!! ....

Also, y'all shows the whole darn world that u don't need the latest and greatest most expensive equipment to go to where there is tranquility for the soul!!

[Mad Milo]

Thank you for sharing your Adventure with us. After reading and viewing your pictures its all i've thought about all day.

[balloonman]

Yes I enjoyed your ride photos and report. The ride with your wife and peanut was even more fun. Thanks again for this African adventure. Tom

[carmima]

having just read your report 'the wife, the ex and the kid' and your mention of this ride, I went searching and was rewarded with having just enjoyed another great RR

thanks mate

PS - loved your Angola report as well...cheers

[Old Baldy]

As a South African motorcyclist myself, living in the USA for 11 years now, and having never taken advantage of riding those stunning parts of Southern Africa, I feel both disheartened that I'll likely never see these parts of my Motherland like this, but also incredibly lucky and enheartened by being able to enjoy the area though your fantastic Ride Reports.

You guys clearly KNOW what life is about. What is important to experience. Too many of us don't. Thank you for taking the time and effort to put all of this together and reminding us about the things we should NOT delay. It's easy for us to say, "Man, you're so LUCKY!" when reading these adventures. Well....you guys clearly know how to make your own "luck." It takes some significant effort and commitment. Too many of us tend to shy away from this effort....because it's hard.

You guys prove that it's all about making the conscious decision to ACT...and to DO IT...and this is what leads to these types of wonderful memories.

Thank you, Metaljockey, Nardus and Hennie for these reports. They are so much more than just great pics and writing. They are flirting with the much deeper aspect of the "meaning of life..." and they make we question myself whether I have the balls to take similar action and just DO IT!

You guys ROCK. Respek, manne!

OB

[Goldie05]

This site is such a time waister in a good way of course
I found this thread while looking for S African reports and couldn't stop reading it until the last page including all the comments from everyone else.
I too lived in SA but left before doing any adventure riding, did have an Yamaha XT250 and had lots of fun running around the Kempton Park area, east of Johannesburg
Now I'm into adventure riding and the bug is into me, will be stronger next year after I get my Super Tenere

But this line is the best and will stay with me, I'm also trying to add to my pension

It's my pension. Every trip is another deposit in my memory pension. I'm gonna have a wonderful old age. This trip report will be part of it.

[Albedo]

I really enjoyed reading all that. As we could say in french " Enorme, c'est du lourd, génial"

[roadcapDen]

Had to read this to get the "goat" meaning from the Angola RR, beaut' & F'n A!

[BDG]

Originally Posted by gaspipe

Excellent This place looks awesome.

Stayed there in 2008 on a trip and remember having lots of ice cold beer in that bar, great place and great trip.

Loving reading the ride report on a crappy cold night in England with a hangover from last nights works Christmas party. Wanna go back to Namibia, great place

[Sandino]

My mate, just amazing post. Thanks and cheers

[Kalahari Surfer]

The bug has well and truly bitten! And we're not talking tsetse fly...

Thanks Metal Jockey for this most insightful and enjoyable read. This has marked down on the todo list