Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Now that I am riding a dirtbike also, I have MX protective under-shorts, and MX pants.  The R200 knee and shin guards that I got from Country Trax before the Sand Course goes underneath the pants and is comfortable enough.

Yesterday morning I was playing around on Mr.Badger without the knee pads and had a little sidestand incident.  The bruise on my knee has convinced me never to leave the pads off ever again.

In the early days of my dual sport adventure I wore MX stuff and full FOX knee guards (I would take the bike onto MX tracks and learn invaluable lessons. I discovered it doesn't fly that well, and no matter what I did my crash landing techniques never got better. Still I learnt that it doesn't enjoy sand and that knowledge has saved me once or twice.)

Since I've had the suit, I've always just relied on what the suit has had to offer. However the other day when I fell on the ice, wearing the suit, my knee got an invisible but tender bruise on the side, which I heroically wrote off. However the lump has grown, and is now at nuisance-might-have-to-visit-doctor stage.

This has also turned my thoughts back to knee guards.

The FOX guards worked very well. Two pieces of elastic above and two below the knee held them on, with the elastic loose enough not to pinch or throttle. They were great for short days out, playing in heavy sand, or trying to see if I could jump the river (I couldn't. Trying to get the bike out the reeds added such a whole new dimension to motorbiking that the jumping soon faded out of impossible! I just never tried it again).

Cooler weather was great, but long days in Northern Cape soon got me to drop the idea - whatever could sweat did, and elastic + skin + sweat wasn't good.

So now I'm thinking I take the knee guards, and if there's a suspicion that the ride might involve more than an easy day out, I'll use them.The bummer there is putting them on when fully kitted out.. it's not is if one wants to look like a locust.

Having said that, I didn't think that Gesluit at the bottom of the pass might mean ice on the top of it.. (ha ha)

stripes n me

I use a set of CAN protectors, much the same as the description by mr Stripes. Just did a short stint through the south of Nam and had them on up to 9 hours a day and no discomfort. On a solo trip I take no chances.