African diaries (or When we were young)

thomas. perhaps you could let us have your thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of riding and older bike (bmw airhead) as opposed to a newer one (ktm) in challenging conditions. i really enjoy your ride reports. keep 'em coming.

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richard

the gift that keeps on giving - this thread.

At the time I had a Nikon F3 and Sandra had some kind of point and shoot. I always had different kinds of film. I liked Fuji Velvia 50 for its fine grain, but also had 400 for the wildlife tours. Can't remember what make, but it was either Fuji or Kodak. And I always did slides.

See above quote and glad you like it.

In challenging conditions I would always take the KTM over the BMW. The lighter the better. We even bought EXC 500s for that reasons. BUT - of course on long distances and on the road they are not that comfy. My old BMW is highly modified ( it is almost a rally bike of the 80s) and is pretty good off-road. I had an 1150 (heavy as hell off road) and a 1200 (better but still too heavy) and they can not compare to my old BMW. That old bike is only 200 kg and light compared to the newer ones and it has loads of torque down to walking speed. It hardly ever dies on you. Just open the throttle and it will pull you through. (you can feel that I still love the bike) Maintenance is easy and quick, no tank removal needed. Working on it with "standard Tools" will get you pretty far. But it still is heavy and I am not the strongest guy (age doesn't help) so I don't take it off the black top much any more. The last things we did was just because we had to go 2up. (Jordan going down Wadi Rum, before the war there, and Iceland) We still do road trips with it around Europe 2up and I would never sell it (and even Sandra loves her), but doing something more extreme to remote places I would think about that twice (and would probably do it anyway). It is an old bike by now. Getting 37 years old this year (I bought it new) and with 260000 of hard km on her she still doing pretty good for her age.
I don't know if that helped you a lot , but it might give you an idea of how I think about bike choice. Of course everyone has to make up his (or her) mind and choose the bike for what they want to do and what they like. (Personal taste does matter.)

Danke, wann immer das sein wird

Thanks for the kind words and we still have to meet.

Your old BMW reminded me of this: https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/a-bmw-r80-built-for-a-cross-continental-journey-through-africa/

That is a very nice bike

A couple years ago I was at a big bike event, with one of the riders riding an old K 80 GS going missing. So I went back to have a looksie where he might've ended up, only to find him half-way up the side of a hill, and also half-out. He had severely overestimated the amount of speed required, severely underestimated the length of the hill-top, and hence went over the far side a bit more energetically than he'd have preferred. Inertia, a big enduro rider's greatest ally, and biggest enemy. He would've later turn out to have several broken rips.

The GS was at the bottom, a little bit worse for the wear. We picked it up, cleaned a couple of random plastic bits of the ground, righted the fork, and rode the bike out. It certainly felt like it'd need some love afterwards, but it definitely was rideable. Breaking it is a lot harder work than breaking many other big adv bikes, like the 990 Adventure that broke its master clutch cylinder (silly hydraulic clutch) about a hour later, and had to be towed out using a bike that is even easier to break: My Tiger 800. Hah, take that, Team Orange! Just kidding, no hard feelings.

I had to laugh recently heard this on a Best ADV bikes for 2021 video raving about the new upcoming 890 Adventure R however of Note "make sure you take your buddy on his jap adventure bike with you as KTM's are renowned for their reliability and you may need a ride home "

Well i Hope to see more memories very soon...

Here we go!

The rest of our trip actually went without any drama and so there is not much story to tell. We did the „normal“ sightseeing in Namibia and SouthAfrica and enjoyed our time.


Going south







My girl is coming



Saw some rock carvings







Arrived at the ocean to see some seals





Went to Sossusvlei to see some dunes





Dead Vlei

Mrs. B. again



Saw lots of quiver trees



look at young us



They call it Giants playground





And Fishriver canyon



The Namibian leg

This photo really stands out! Beautiful!

^^ just needs that droopy clock draped over a branch on that dead tree and you’ve got the ‘Sands of time’. Reminding me so much of that famous painting.

I liked it too and still have it as a framed poster on the wall in our flat.

You think Dali got the inspiration from my picture?

Ok, another question. Would an Africa Twin be the perfect for a trip to Africa?

Cheers my friend!

Neat seeing Africa’s version of Rock Art. Thanks Thomas.

Make sure if you have the new one, to have a full electronic diag, I think the Tenere 700 is the best ADV bike so far, because there is no menu in the new Africa twin that says fix electronic error

I suggest a KLR or DR/DRZ if you have mechanical skills, which so few seem to have these days. Cell or SAT phone seems to be the new toolkit now. I can’t believe the crying over tubed tires now. Thomas, this thread Is gold, and thank you for posting.

Hey Steve, for you maybe. Your a strong guy. For me nowadays - too heavy. I prefer lighter bikes. Always depending on the amount of dirt you want to ride.

But your not making plans in that direction or are you?

Stay safe!

Arrived in Cape Town









Cape Town with the Table Mountain





Went to some touristy places





Some Cave ( can't remember the name)



on a tour through South Africa



I had to jump off another bridge just because it was the highest in the world at the time (Bloukrans bridge)











Hiked up Table Mountain - view down on Cape Town



went to see some penguins





and the last thing to do in South Africa