My main brief is to promote the Can-Am Spyders and to support the dealers, so as part of this, I organise dealer demo days (some of you had bought your bikes as a result of those days). I’ve been concentrating on the inland dealers so it was time that I paid attention to our coastal guys. The original plan was to visit Waterbuoys in Durban, Bayview Boating in St Francis Bay, GV Motorcycle Rentals in Stanford and ending up with Waterworld in Cape Town. However, due to the inclement weather further down the coast, I cut my trip short after St Francis Bay. I’m planning on visiting the Western Cape in October though.
Packing for four seasons for ten days took a bit of planning, but the type of garments I use for biking (moisture wicking and thermals) take up very little space. Tops and bottoms can be rolled into sausages thereby minimising the space needed. I also had to make space for my laptop with its charger and cables, a cell phone charger, camera, hairdryer, business documentation and extra protective clothing. I could fit all of that into the panniers of the RT-S but discovered that the bags had to be soft and squishy so that it would mould to the shape of the panniers.
On Thursday 9 June I set off on the RT-S to Durban. The temperature gauge didn’t register more than 11o C until about 100 kilometers after Harrismith – I was very impressed with the heated grips! I arrived in Durban at about 15h00 and found Waterbuoys at the bottom end of Mahatma Gandhi Road (old Point Road). There were two big conferences in Durban so all accommodation had been booked out – I had to be happy with a Backpackers for the first night. I was pleasantly surprised at the general cleanliness and the size of the showers – if they are all like that, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay in one again.
Due to the location of Waterbuoys (very quiet on a Saturday) we decided against having the normal dealer demo day and instead rode around Durban and surrounds, introducing the town and the Spyders to each other. Sunday another owner joined us for a breakfast run to the Pot & Kettle in Pinetown and then we headed down the coast to Scottburgh.
On Monday 13 June I headed down the coast to East London. Not having installed a GPS on the bike, I found out which highway I had to take to avoid the Transkei. However, I pulled off into Margate to have breakfast and fill up with fuel but because of the road works, there weren’t any signs indicating the directions to the highway. I recognised the next town name and headed in that direction on the R620 which eventually became the R61, straight through the Transkei! All the people I spoke to told me to avoid the Transkei because of the poor road conditions, however I found the roads to be passable and in no worse condition than any other rural roads. I would not venture there at night due to the animals having right of way, but as long as we could see each other, all was fine. The people were friendly and of course the Spyder got a lot of attention! It’s a beautiful countryside and should not be avoided because there “might” be a few potholes.
I was sorry that I had to chase daylight because the Kei River Pass begged me to turn around and ride it again. I arrived in East London with about ten minutes of daylight left and found a cosy B&B to stay for the night. I had a hearty home-cooked meal and fell into bed well before 20H30!
I had another 400 kilometers to go to St Francis Bay so I took it easy the next day, enjoying the ride. I arrived there around 14h30, found Bayview Boating and booked into my B&B – Sandriver Lodge, right on the main road and opposite the main shopping centre. On Wednesday myself, the salesman and a customer rode to Humansdorp, through the Gamtoos valley, onto Jeffreys Bay and back to St Francis Bay.
My introduction to St Francis Bay
Bayview Boating managed to get permission to set up the gazebo and bike display at the harbour on 16 June. There was a lot of interest and a few regular Bayview Boating customers rode the bikes around town.
Our ride around the Gamtoos through J-Bay
I left St Francis Bay on Saturday at 06h30 back to Bloemfontein. I checked the map in the back of a Country Life (only time I checked a map) and memorised “10, 9, 1” – N10 past Port Elizabeth, left on the N9 then N1 to Bloemfontein. There were a lot of road works in the passes between Port Elizabeth and the Karoo, but if you view it as it being a good thing because the roads are being maintained, then it really isn’t a problem sitting at the stop-and-go listening to music.
I arrived at my brother’s place in Bloemfontein at about 16h30 to his great relief. I left on Sunday at 10h30 and made good time back to Johannesburg, arriving at home at 14h00.
A few things became very clear to me on this trip:
- Our bikes are made for travel. The RT-S was like a ship on the sea and didn’t flinch once, no matter the road condition. I would love to take an RS on the various passes because if the RT-S was that much fun, I can well imagine what an RS would be like.
- We have a great country with wonderful people. As a woman travelling on my own, I never once had a problem from anybody, either on the road or at stops. As it is, the Spyder draws a lot of attention but add a lone woman rider to that and I couldn’t get away from fuel stops under 20 minutes.
- I had bought an MP4 player for R600 for the trip as I refused to pay R2,000 for an iPod. A friend of mine lent me his iPod so I could compare devices. I recommend the MP4 player because the volume could be adjusted on the handlebar; the iPod’s volume had to be set on the device itself. The sound quality was far better on the MP4 player as well. So in this case, it’s not always the more expensive device that will serve you better.
- If you’re travelling out of season, you don’t need to pre-book accommodation. There is always a B&B, Guesthouse or Lodge where you can sleep the night.
- Just because the age of adventure is supposedly over, it shouldn’t prevent us from packing a bag and heading into the unknown. Our roads are not as bad as we are made to believe and we should explore our wonderful country more …… on a bike. In a car the windows are closed and the air-conditioner is full blast so you never smell the wonderful aromas from the forests. Long before Alexandria, I could smell the chicory; the fresh pine smell all the way down the Kei River Pass was not from Glade; the citrus fragrance all through the Gamtoos made me want to buy a pocket of oranges there and then.
A few numbers:
- Average fuel consumption was 9L/100km
- Cruising speed between 125 and 135 km/h
- Average time at fuel stops 20 minutes
- Average accommodation cost R400 pppn
The entire trip was 3,660 hassle-free kilometres. Next trip, Western Cape!
