Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

My good friend William came to visit me in South Africa with one thing in his mind, get a GS and hit the road/gravel.  He rented a F650 GS Twin from MotoBerlin and I took my trusty F800 GS.  Having been on rides with the BMW Club for almost a year now, I got the skills and confidence to lead this trip.  Many of you gave me advices on where to go and I thank you all for this, especially Geoff Russell who took the time to sit with me and plot a GPS route which we mostly followed, except for our small detour via the Baviaanskloof!  

That was my longest motorcycle trip ever, 7 days, I had only did 2-day trips before.  Usually I plan everything in advance, this time I didn't.  I trusted the advices I got that I could just easily get a B&B in the late afternoon no matter where we were: it worked perfectly for this time of year.  The only thing that was booked in advance was Friday night at the Addo Elephant Park so we could have a good game drive.  We left Cape Town on Monday morning and planned to be back on Sunday evening.


Day1: 300 km, Sea Point to Arniston.

We took it easy on the first day, following the coast, sticking to tar roads so William could get used to the bike.  He has extensive experience on motorcycles but mostly sport-touring types.  He adopted the GS riding style in no time and he noticed that my "curve skill" could use some improvement, to say the least (more on that later).  Strand, Rooi-els, Kleinmond, Hermanus, Napier and Bredasdorp.  We got to a B&B in Arniston and had a quiet evening drinking with the other guests and owner.


Day2: 357 km, Arniston to Mossel Bay.

It was not perfect weather, a bit like our first day, some light rain, wind and clouds.  We took our first dirt track in the early morning to get to L'Aghulas.  We then rode to Malgas to take the hand powered ferry.  We saw some nice, friendly ostriches in a field, a sheep road block and eventually got to Witsand, then Still Bay from a twisty bit of offroad that follows the river.  After that great day, we decided to hit the N2 to get to Mossel Bay for the night.  Great dinner + night out in a bar.

 

Friendly ostriches

Sheep road block

Malgas

Malgas water crossing:


Day3: 230 km, Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay

That morning was nicer, sunny and we started with tar till we reached Knysna.  Very beautiful but a bit too commercial for our liking, so we went north (Ysterhoek Forest) on the R339, then South-East on the R340 towards Plettenberg Bay.  Very nice gravel road in the forest/mountain, looks very different from all I had done so far in South Africa.  We went to Monkeyland (yes, we are both tourists) and called it a day in Plettenberg Bay.  We had the best dinner + wine we had at a Mozambique restaurant but the city was dead, no one was to be seen anywhere.  On that day, I learned to take curves gracefully (leaning with the bike), thanks to William's coaching. The trick for me is to put pressure on my foot pegs.  It just works!  

Ysterhoek Forest trail

Monkeyland

Day4: 300 km, Plettenberg Bay to P.E.

Via Keurboomstrand, Nature's Valley, saw the Bloukrans bungee jumping, TsiTsikamma National Park, stopped in Stormrivier for the Adventure Falls Ziplines.  So far, so good, we had a great day and we were about to get on our way to P.E. via Cape St-Francis and Jefferey's Bay.  That's when I got nailed!

Bloukrans Bridge

Out of our four tyres, two were tubeless.  Of the remaining two, only one was a back tyre and of course, it's the one that got nailed.  I was a bit annoyed and cursing loudly at the BMW engineers who thought that putting tubed tyres in the F800 GS was a better idea than putting tubeless on a side-spoked wheel.   Wondering why on earth did I go for that trip without the safety provided by the club members, skills, knowledge, spare parts and backup vehicle.  Then it started to rain!  The guy at the Adventure Falls was kind enough to help me with the bike, checking the tyre and noticing a giant nail sticking out of it and offered to re-inflate it to see how slow the leak was while I was on the phone with the BMW RoadSide Assistance.  It was the 1st time I ever called such a service and wasn't really sure what to expect.  Mobile phone reception wasn't great and my strange accent was difficult to understand for the lady on the phone and vice versa.  It took about 30 minutes to establish that I had in fact, a motorcycle, not a car and that I couldn't drive slowly to P.E. with a nail on my tyre.  

My date...

I rode 8 km to the Stormsrivier Total Garage on the N2 to check if the workshop guy could help me.  Once there, I called Geoff Russell and everything went smoothly since that moment.  He called BMW Roadside for me, making sure that they had the story/location right, advised me on my options, etc.  Dave Higgs form Atlantic Motorrad called me too, making sure that everything was all right.  We were in-between P.E. and George, about equal distance (150+ km) from each BMW dealers.  The bike would have to be serviced (tube changed) first thing in the morning in P.E. even if we succeeded at patching it and putting everything back in place.  We were in the late afternoon, the decision was made that we would put my bike on a trailer and be driven to Continental BMW in P.E.  Gavin Cooper drove 100 km from Knysna to pick me and my bike up and drove me to P.E. (170 km) while William had to do the same on his bike with the wind, rain and darkness settling in.  Paul Nel from Continental BMW was waiting for us after hours 19h+ to let the bike in the garage.  He promised me that the bike would be taken care of 1st thing in the morning, that a new tube would be purchased for it and that I would be able to pick the fixed bike at 10h00 the latest.  I got dropped off at the Road Lodge in P.E. where Geoff was kind enough to do the booking for me.  For that, I had to "pay" by promising Geoff that I would have a Jaegermeister + Fanta Orange in his honour once we got to Barney's Tavern.  The waitress tried to reason me out of that while the surrounding tables looked at me in awe as I drank my full glass.  Several other types of drinks were downed and we had a great evening.


Day5: 70 km, P.E. to Addo Elephant Park.

The next morning, we rode 2 up to the BMW dealer but we didn't manage to see Paul.  My bike was ready, tyre fixed and it was all shiny from having just been cleaned and the chain waxed.  I only had to pay R180 for a tube, it was unbelievable!  I did purchase some tyre levers + a tube repair kit and off we went, to Addo, where we manage to get just in time for our 12h game drive.  I've learned a few things with that little incident.  The BMW roadside assistance rocks, they not only want you to have a working bike, but they understand the journey you're on.  Biker solidarity is even better than I knew it was.  Geoff, Dave, thank you for your support, it was really appreciated, I felt like you guys were next to me and helping me to the best of your abilities.  Paul, (and the other guys at BMW Continental) you did a great job to fix my bike in time, I wish I would have been able to thank you in person when I left.  But did you really have to clean my bike?  I lost all my offroad cred and you made me look like a roadie for a full day!

Elephant road block

So that was our day of rest, taking 2 game drives and staying at the Addo Rest Camp, chilling out and planing our next days.  We saw some elephants, kudus, zebras, buffalos and other furry animals.

Addo Rondawels

Day6: 357 km, The Baviaanskloof: Addo Elephant Park to Uniondale.

Back a few days while waiting for my flat-tyre bike to be picked up, we met some other bikers at the petrol station.  One of them mentioned for about 37 times that it would be criminal not to go back to Cape Town via the Baviaanskloof.  The roads were supposed to be in very good conditions generally dry.  We obliged: best decision ever!  We took about 5h to clear it, we did 7-8 water crossings and we had a lot of fun, it was our most exciting day so far. 

Nothing can stop me, not even that lake!

after a nasty watercrossing

Even to the best of us... Sidestand incident, no damage.

Bruno at water crossing number 5:

William at the same water crossing:

We got out of there and arrived in Uniondale, where we were expecting a quite boring evening, lost in the middle of nowhere.  William asked a nice lady walking down the road for assistance in hotel or B&B recommendation.  It turned out that she owned a very nice B&B and she was more than happy to host us and even cook for us.  Bon Accord guest house, if you are ever in need of accommodation in Uniondale, ask Charlene, tell her that you know Bruno and William.  Wine, cheese, snacks, more wine, steaks on the braai and toasted sandwich.  Good food, good wine, good company, perfect day.  We went to sleep at around 2h00 as we finished the 5th bottle of wine.

Day7: 550 km, Uniondale to Sea Point.

Tough to get up in the morning but by 11h00, we are on the road, via the Route 62 for most of the day.  Got home at 20h00.  Truly memorable trip, more than 2100 km done in 7 days.  Thank you BMW Motorcycle Club Cape, you made it possible for me.

Almost home, tired but happy, overlooking Barrydale.

Bonus video: Ostriches!