Looking for New Bikes

During our last trip Ali & Hussain felt that our current bikes (R 1200 GS Adv. ) was bit too high and heavy especially after we installed the Ohlins on them. So we decided to look into smaller and lighter bikes for our next trip.

The search covered BMW, KTM, and Kawazaki . However on paper the BMW was better since the F 650  GS was really a detuned 800 with two cylinders which meant that there would be less vibration. Also the horse power and weight carrying capacity were huge.



The only thing that bothered me was that the F650 has cast wheels which would give you a rougher ride on tough terrain while the F800 has spoked wheels and was geared more towards off road, so we decided to test ride both.

The dealer here managed to get us both to try out and we all liked the F800GS for it's power and it's immediate throttle response. Now we need to look into what we need to modify, the first three are the wind screen ,suspension , and fuel tank.

Bye Bye Bike

It started raining heavy this morning, especially when we left for the shipping company (Pioneer Freight) to deliver our bikes. We managed to get there quit easily and met Neil and Dean who took over the bikes and the carnet and got us a ride to the airport to get a taxi to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave Cape Town and expect to arrive in Kuwait the day after.

Meeting the BMW Motorcycle Club

We have been in contact with the BMW Motorcycle Club here in Cape Town all the way down Africa and today they picked us up from the hotel and took us first to the dealer, then to a ride around the peninsula. 

We ended up in Hout Bay for lunch and then went back to the hotel, thanks to Peter and Tony for the ride.

The dirt road to Cape Town

While in Pretoria we found out from the Ambassador that the only Kuwaiti citizen living in South Africa Mr.Tala Al-Shuaish is in Hermanus so we got in contact with him and decided to visit him and his family then take the coastal road to Cape Town. 

There are two ways to get to Hermanus, the easy way which means backtracking 30 Km of Tarmac on a road we have already been on  , or take a dirt road across Agulhas National Park for 45 Km. We took the dirt road it was more interesting and in the spirit of the adventure.

We managed to see Ostrich on the road and the Blue Crane as well as some type of dear. The road was great and we really managed to practice our off road skills. When we reached a tarmac road I turned to the guys and realize that their bikes were full of dust from the ride.

We continued to Hermanus had some tea and coffee with Bu-Aziz, then continued on to Cape Town reaching there around 3:45 pm.

The southern most point in Africa

We had breakfast on a seafront view restaurant, then continued heading to Port Agulhas the southernmost point of the African continent, and the contact point of the Indian ocean and Atlantic Ocean.

The day started with heavy fog on the roads for the first hour and a half, then it got wormer and we started to enjoy the lovely scenery with all the farms and mountains. We stopped for some coffee and muffins then continued on to the Port Agulhas.

To reach the southernmost point we had to ride for a kilometer in gravel, and then there was a trail to walk to the plaque erected to mark the place. I managed to squeeze my bike through the wooden poles and ride the rough trail to the plaque while Ali and Hussain thought there bikes were too heavy to manage the trail.

After taking a few pictures we went to the Agulhas Country Lodge and got our rooms, then we went into town for some lunch at a great restaurant "Angelo's" with the freshest and tastiest fish we had ever tasted. 

hen when we left Hussain mentioned that he would not be able to sleep tonight if he didn’t attempt to go to the plaque especially since the bike is lighter after putting the bags in the hotel.

So we rode back and both Ali and Hussain managed to get their bikes to the plaque and took really nice pictures.

To Mossel Bay

Today we start the fun part of the trip and go down the garden route to Cape Town.  We left PE and headed down N2 highway , it was still cold outside especially in the mornings. 

When we reached Storm River Bridge we started looking for the entrance to the Tsitsikamma national park so that we get close to the mouth of the river. 

The park entrance was 50 Rand per person (2 KD) and the view was spectacular. We rode down until the restaurant and had something hot to drink before riding on to Mossel Bay.

We passed many bays and seafront towns that were very nice and roads along the coast that reminded us of Pacific Route 1 in California. 

We arrived in Mossel bay around 3 pm and stayed at the Point Village Hotel which was right by the seafront, we had lunch at a restaurant that overlooked the ocean where we could see surfers trying to catch waves.

To Port Elizabeth

We leave early since we know it will be 680 km to Port Elizabeth and it is still cold. We left at 8:30 in the morning and it was around 7.5 Deg. C. we rode for 410 km none-stop except for the road construction stops that were frequent.

We had lunch in Cradock and then continued on reaching Port Elizabeth at 4:20 pm.