Great African GS Challenge

I don't know how many of you hear of the GACSC. It is an event organized by BMW South Africa. Last year I went along for the 1ste time.
It is an event for any GS owner. About 400 riders took part.
We all went to the Northern Karro in South Africa and we rode some of the most beautifull dirt and offroad in the Karro.
Each day consisted of +- 300 km of off road riding. There were 3 courses to choose from ranging from easy to insane.
All the courses had special stages in them. A special stage is off the dirt roads into some-ones farm. The special stages ranged from rocky mountin climbs to sandy dry river beds.
Each night we returned to the same camping spot. BMW went all out. The food was good and the bar even better.

This is me leaving my house on the Tuesday (about 1000km) from the venue.

My plan was to ride down in two days.


One of the okes I met along the way


This is Kimberly se "gat" (hole). It use to be a diamond mine. Now is sits in the middle of town.

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Some interesting facts about the big hole.



This is my halfway stop..About 500 km from the Venue (luxton).



As we got closer to Luxton we met with lots of BM riders on their way down.



The camping site on some guys farm in the Northern Karroo.


At the filling station. Only one unleaded pump in a 100 km radius. +-400 bikes had to fill up there twice a day!!! Not fun..


Ready set GO!!!


Taking some pictures and having a wee!



After one of the special stages.


Very tricky uphill with a 250 kg Adventure!





One of the many falls for the weekend. (not me)


BMW used the event to launch the HP2. We saw a guy riding it around a obsticale course. What a cool bike. Much better suited for the conditions we were riding in. Maybe next year I can have one of those!


A brand new 1200 gs gets dumped halfway down the mountain.

On the final day...on top of the WORLD. Don't ask how we got those bigass machines up there.



Thats me!

What a view for a semi-desert! (The ownder of the farm told be they use this lake for waterskiing)


Charley Boorman from behind (Ewan's friend from the long way round) He was invited to attend by BMW. He was one of the judges on the obsticale course.

One of the dry river beds we had to negatiate.

Thought day at the office!




On my way home...1000km to go back to Johannesburg.

I have some more pics I will upload them later.

Every time I see a report on the GAGSC it makes me cry cos I was not there! I was nursing the Black Beauty back to health at the time due to a blown back shock and paralever bearings.

Great report, good to see someone posting it here.

Welshie

nice pics, i did the green route on my adv.
it was an awesome trip, hopefully i'll have my bike fixed before the next one. (bmw and insurance and stupid people everywhere)

Thanks, I enjoyed this report.

Now I know why I abuse you, you were there.

Welshie

geez, charley boorman sure is getting a lot of mileage out of this LWR thing... maybe his acting career came to a screeching halt.

but that's besides the point. great report, man. looks like a great time.

The GAGSC is so Cool!!!
But then not for all!
View attachment 67537

View attachment 67538
not sure what happend but it must have hurt!!

The adventure is a write-off, But there is life after death for some
And this is the same bike after some TLC
View attachment 67539

So any body know what happend?
as far as i can figure the adventure went over the 1200Gs and fliped on its side.

Die een se dood is die ander se brood. (as far as i know no one died.)

Want nou ry ek 'n Adventure!!!

that looks fun and very difficult! thanks for sharing!

WTF:eek1

What happened there then?

The scenery makes me homesick and I have never been there. Looks like Nevada! Is that sagebrush I saw in a couple of the pics?

Mike

The 1200 went down after the guy crossed the sand path in the middle of the road. The 2nd guy was following to close and went into the downed bike.

I don't know about sagebrush in South Africa we call them "Karroo bossie"
which roughly translates to Karro bush!?!

Nice one!

You SA boys should come join us on SA's Adventure Riders Network:
http://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/index.php

Why can't BMW do something like that in the US?
Southeast Utah would be an awesome location.
Looks like you guys had a blast!!!

Cool report... lekker man, lekker (nice man, nice )!!

Some background:

The first GS Challenge was held in 2004 on a farm close to Amersfoort (farm name - Country Trax, HQ for BMW Off-road academy). Last year was the 2nd GSC, held in the Karoo. This year's GSC will be end of September, location unknown (the location is revealed close to the start date).

It is not a race, but a get together for GS riders to enjoy their bikes for what it was build for. After every day's stage a skills challenge is held over a obstacle course, were points are deducted if you make a mistake. last year's winner won a Touratech kitted Dakar!!!

International riders are welcome to participate. Visit http://www.bmw-motorrad.co.za/default.html and http://www.gagsc.com/ for more detail.

And come say hello on http://wilddogtours.co.za/forum/index.php a South African based adventure forum, with the BEST ride reports!!!

That definitely looks like a cool event + more fun than the honda hoot. Obviously that one bike got ditched good, but how do GS's handle getting dropped at low speeds? Do small parts like levers break off or do they hold up OK?