South Africa

Reidster · Jul 23, 2013

Dear All,

I notice that there's not an awful lot of threads concerning riding in the south of Africa?

I am a Pom who has been living in Johannesburg for the past three years. I work at Auto Alpina Motorrad in Boksburg, Johannesburg after having worked for five years at North Oxford BMW Motorrad in England.

I have never had such freedom of riding in my whole riding career in England, it's simply stunning. Ive covered over 75000kms in southern Africa so far. The roads outside of town are clear of traffic, there's hardly any speed limits and the off-road opportunities for adventure are everywhere. Plus the beer's super-cheap and the sun is always shining.

If any of you GSer's are down this side of the world in the future, please feel free to pop in for a coffee and I will happily let you know the lowdown this side in terms of bike hire, trips an routes to go. I sincerely recommend it, you will not be disappointed.

Ciao for now,

Alex :tarka

swissrob · Jul 23, 2013

do you have italian roots?

Reidster · Jul 23, 2013

swissrob said:
do you have italian roots?

I've worked for the boys in red too Swiss Rob

(RIP) Kaister · Jul 23, 2013

have you got a spare bike and spare gun ?

Reidster · Jul 23, 2013

Kaister said:
have you got a spare bike and spare gun ?

It's really not that bad Kaister, trust me. If it was, I wouldn't be here........ :rob

Pughy · Jul 23, 2013

South Africa -Great Country

I toured SA a couple of years ago with my wife. We hired a GS from Karoo biking in Cape Town - they were excellent!

We did the garden route, Karoo game parks, Karoo desert and up to the Namibian border and back through Stellenbosch, Scwartzberg pass and back to Cape Town.

We had the most incredible trip, great roads, stunning scenery and above all else wonderful people who really appreciated us visiting there country.

Yes we were cautious but no more so than you would be in cities in the UK. We rode through the Port Elizabeth township seeing young children taking the 3 km walk to school along the main road, would we let 6 yr old kids do that in the UK

A wonderful experience, if you fancy something different, give it a go, you won't regret it

Goose · Jul 23, 2013

Reidster said:
It's really not that bad Kaister, trust me. If it was, I wouldn't be here........

THAT's what my wife keeps saying.... :blast

UK & USA have lost approximately 3500 soldiers in the 10 years of war in Iraq & Afghan.......... SA lost over 16,000 people murdered last year alone.......?

It does however depend on where you live, where you ride and how safety conscious you are... stay safe mate!

By the way - Auto Alpina............ any deals on a 2011, 2012 or late, low mileage Full House GSA...?

Reidster · Jul 23, 2013

Goose said:
THAT's what my wife keeps saying....

UK & USA have lost approximately 3500 soldiers in the 10 years of war in Iraq & Afghan.......... SA lost over 16,000 people murdered last year alone.......?

It does however depend on where you live, where you ride and how safety conscious you are... stay safe mate!

By the way - Auto Alpina............ any deals on a 2011, 2012 or late, low mileage Full House GSA...?

Absolutely Pughy, it's an incredible place with lovely people, amazing roads, jaw-dropping vistas and GBP goes such a long way here it's the cheapest five-star holiday most people will ever have. :JB

Goose, always got deals on late GSA. However, they'll be cheaper in the UK if you convert ZAR to GBP. If you're down this side, do pop in and see what we have. :JB

(RIP) Kaister · Jul 23, 2013

was in joburg last month and had no probs...however..locals say is a bit scarey...many muggings and hijackings...

its a shit hole they want to get out of.

they mostly live in gated compounds and are worried to go out at night

Goose · Jul 23, 2013

Reidster said:
Absolutely Pughy, it's an incredible place with lovely people, amazing roads, jaw-dropping vistas and GBP goes such a long way here it's the cheapest five-star holiday most people will ever have.

Goose, always got deals on late GSA. However, they'll be cheaper in the UK if you convert ZAR to GBP. If you're down this side, do pop in and see what we have.

PM sent!

no .. not sent...... you cannot receive PM's.....

can you send me an email plz......... peter(at)compvest(dot)co(dot)za

djhep · Jul 24, 2013

Hi Reidster......
I'm a pom based up in Hoespruit close to the Kruger Park for a large part of the year. I also love it despite the problems with crime etc. (fortunately haven't experienced any myself).

Quick question....Have you done any touring in Namibia?.
Myself and a couple of mates are planning a 10 day tour in November, and are thinking it would be a great place to visit on the bikes.

Cheers.

Dave.

Lord Snooty · Jul 24, 2013

Did a tour of SA in 2006 with some friends. We also organised it with Karoo and used rented 1200GSes. Had a fabulous time, amazing scenery and wildlife, great food and never experienced any problems. Also, given the exchange rate, it was cheap. Recommended.

Reidster · Jul 24, 2013

djhep said:
Hi Reidster......
I'm a pom based up in Hoespruit close to the Kruger Park for a large part of the year. I also love it despite the problems with crime etc. (fortunately haven't experienced any myself).

Quick question....Have you done any touring in Namibia?.
Myself and a couple of mates are planning a 10 day tour in November, and are thinking it would be a great place to visit on the bikes.

Cheers.

Dave.

Hi Dave,

I haven't been up into Namibia yet unfortunately, however, I have been into Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho. Awesome. I am planning to go through to Namibia in December on a bike if I can wangle it with work.

I have a good friend who grew up in Namibia and regularly goes back there on bikes, he says it's the most incredible place to go. It's almost the same size as South Africa yet has a tiny population. This means that everywhere you go it feels like you're the only person left on the planet.

From what I hear, Windhoek, Swartkopmund and Walvis Bay are definitely worth a visit too!

We're also going to be going the GS Eco challenge in the Eastern Cape in October, hundreds of kms of dirt followed by lots of beers in the sun. Are you going to be joining? Let me know, it would be god to meet up.

Alex :beer:

djhep · Jul 24, 2013

Hi Alex.....
Yes i heard that Namibia is an awesome place to visit on a bike.
We are still in the planning stages of the trip at the moment, but November is looking likely.

That GS Eco challenge sounds like it will be alot of fun.
Bikes, beer and sun what could be better.....
Unfortunately i'm going to be stuck out here in Nigeria at that time :tears

Cheers.

Dave.

BlueBird · Oct 1, 2013

Ive been offered a job in St jefferys bay on the wind farm.

Whats a decent large bore trial bike going to cost me out there?

bladerunner · Oct 2, 2013

djhep said:
Hi Alex.....
Yes i heard that Namibia is an awesome place to visit on a bike.
.

Have a look at:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269437

We did 8000 km through SA, Namib and Botswana.

Namib is awesome and fantastic for biking - some tricky gravel roads a long way from help, but well worth it.

I'd go back tomorrow.

Botswana is not designed for bikers apart from the pans which we knee deep in water when we were there.

cheers

flatdog · Oct 3, 2013

BlueBird said:
Ive been offered a job in St jefferys bay on the wind farm.

Whats a decent large bore trial bike going to cost me out there?

No idea on bike prices but..

Is that Jefferys Bay or St Francis Bay.

The right place for wind.

Lived there for 10 years, Boviaans Kloof, Patensie, Tztitzikama, Storms river....in fact the whole area is an absolute bikers paradise. Still miss it after being away for 20 years.

Gis a job mate :drool

BlueBird · Oct 3, 2013

flatdog said:
No idea on bike prices but..

Is that Jefferys Bay or St Francis Bay.

The right place for wind.

Lived there for 10 years, Boviaans Kloof, Patensie, Tztitzikama, Storms river....in fact the whole area is an absolute bikers paradise. Still miss it after being away for 20 years.

Gis a job mate

Its here,

http://jeffreysbaywindfarm.co.za/

Apparently the beach house accommodation is 5 mins walk from the beach :Motomartin

Will I have any security problems ? :nenau

Reidster · Oct 5, 2013

BlueBird said:
Its here,

http://jeffreysbaywindfarm.co.za/

Apparently the beach house accommodation is 5 mins walk from the beach

Will I have any security problems ?

Hi Bluebird,

What sort of big bore trail bike are you looking for?

Most things in SA are cheap as chips, however motorcycles and cars aren't.

In my experience vehicles can be as much as 30% more expensive here than back in the UK.

The good news though, is that there are so many off-road bikes to choose from! You're kind of spoiled for choice.

Let me know what you're looking for and I'll see if I can source something for you when you get here.

Ciao for now,

Alex

:tarka

AA388 · Oct 5, 2013

I'm a pom based up in Hoespruit

Not a bad area, my cousins have an interest in the Selati Game Reserve. Most of them live in Mataffin near Nelspruit and in White River.

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