West Coast Visit

It is January again and last year on my extreme ride I enjoyed it going through the West Coast so always wanted to come back. The Idea was to go to Port Nolloth and from there where possible follow the coast down to Augullas, then track back to Pretoria through the Karoo spending a night in Sutherland.

Anyway wanted to leave on Monday but work commitments kept me back and only left this morning, so the Port Nolloth part will go by the way side and I will join the coast at Lamberts Bay.

I started preparing in December for this trip by fitting new Tourance Tyres and had the bike in for it's 80 000 km service on the 5th. My BMW roadside assist expired on the 13th of Deccember but I used it once to have my bike taken to Bavarian for a flat battery - nothing will go wrong ....

So, I set off half an hour later than what I wanted to this morning and had a uneventfull trip to Ventersdorp where I had Breakfast.

I think on my last trip report (Still on the old forum) I ended my report with a field of sunflowers so I thought I would start this one with a Sunflower



Breakfast in Ventersdorp



After I left Ventersdorp I hooked up with this Chap on a 650 and discovered that he also left Pretoria this morning with the 650 he just bought and is on his way to Lamberts Bay where he lives

Pieter at Vryburg



Got a bit bored on the Way to Vryburg and tried to take photo's of my GPS and Speedo (The speed indicator one) on the go





Then Disaster Struck - 10 km before kuruman Pieter noticed that his bike is spraying oil all over. When her stopped and took the cover off it was pouring out around the oil tank. He said that the bike was serviced yesterday at Nelspruit and they replaced the oil tank. When the oil stream subsided a bit and after phoning Bavarian for some advice we tried to start it again. The oil pressure pushed out the inspection glass and all the oil leaked out



Fortunately we were at a small settlement and Pieter went to a local man and asked him to use his bakkie to take the bike to Kuruman. After loading the bike we were off

Then Disaster struck again....

I was around 160 km from Uppington when I felt that my bike (Please Note My recently Serviced Bike) was stuttering - as if there is dirt in the fuel line or one of the spark plugs are not firing but it was just losing power. The next moment it was all ok again so I carried on - losing power but coming back all the time. About 60 km fom Uppington I seriously needed a break - BIG mistake as I pulled off the road and pulled in the clutch the bike died and is still dead....



Two hours later with the help of BMW road side assistance (that expired on the 13 December and today is the 15 January) a tow truck arrived. I had to pay him cash before he took my bike to the Local BMW Dealer (which by then was closed) and dropped me off at a guest house



At least the Guest house is very nice - on the banks of the Orange river



My Room



Well - that is it for the first day. I don't know if this is the first and last report of my trip no idea how long it will take to fix the bike or how expensive. Depending on that I might just turn around and come home.

The way I feel now I would much rather join the guys for Breakfast tomorrow morning - hope you enjoy it....

Awww Wahl..
You started your report so nicely with the sunflower; let's hope that will carry you through!
We hope for the best!!

I was so excited when I saw your post as I truly enjoy your reports on the go………..and now bike trouble is threatening to interfere with my reading pleasure

serious…..sorry to hear. I really hope you get sorted quickly and are able to continue with your journey.

If there is anything we can do to assist from this side, please do not hesitate to press on our button and I mean anything…………collect you and your bike with a trailer, deliver a Bavarian loan bike to you and bringing your bike back or whatever

ps. stay away from Pieter…….me thinks he brings bad luck

Wahl,
Always enjoy your trip reports.
One day I'd love to join you.
Sorry to hear about your bike.
How sad to see it on the back of the truck.
Hope it is not too serious and not too costly.
Also hope that you can continue with your trip as we are waiting in anticipation for your next trip report.
GOOD LUCK !
Best Regards
Deon P

Thank's for all your replies and support will go (Walk !!!) to the dealership shortly and see what they say

Hi Wahl,

Sorry to hear about the bike, hopefully they can get it sorted chop-chop, and on your way you go !!!

Keep us posted!!!

Horrible bad luck. Bit concerning when bikes break down soon after servicing. Hope you get it sorted out and on your trip again.

Day 2

It is apparently the electronic fuel pump controller (Hats off to Simon who diagnosed that over the phone)

Bad news is that there is apparently none available in the country.
Good news is that BMW authorised the removal of one from a new bike for me to carry on. The bike should be ready at 12h00

Wahl wrote:Day 2

It is apparently the electronic fuel pump controller (Hats off to Simon who diagnosed that over the phone)

Bad news is that there is apparently none available in the country.
Good news is that BMW authorised the removal of one from a new bike for me to carry on. The bike should be ready at 12h00

Great news !!!

Now you can klap those Namaqua Highways !!!!

great news indeed kudus to all involved.

Guess sh*t happens....any time on any bike in any condition therefore if you are getting stuck on the road with a defective bike (especially when you are solo), make sure its a BMW

safe riding and enjoy

ps. send me a sms to let us know if/when you are mobile again

See.. those bright yellow sunflowers did the trick!!
Great news Wahl.. Go well! and we wait in anticipation for your On-the-go-report!

Yep - he set the standard himself!

I Got happy too quickly - After the unit got replaced the bike has no compression, I'l be on my way home

So sad. Sorry to hear. There will be a next time.

Wahl wrote:


At least the Guest house is very nice - on the banks of the Orange river



My Room

Hey - that's the same on that me and Dorothy stayed at Dec 2007!!







Hope u get the bike sorted soon and it does not impact further on your trip.

Oops - the last post under MikeW was mine - helped Mike to set up his name etc on the forum on my computer last night and only noticed after posting that I was still logged in under his name!!

He was not there with Dorothy - at least not that I know of!!

This is getting confusing………let’s see if we can make any sense…….



Mike and Dorothy stayed in Wahl’s room while you were logged onto a computer under an alias. What happened to Wahl…….did he operate the spy camera from the back of a truck?

But if Dorothy is there, why dont you use her bike ?!

Where is Dave ?

Note to self - do not stoke the fire!!

Oh boy(s)!!! It's me you're talking about and now even I'm confused?!?!? Doesn't take much.

DotP wrote:Oh boy(s)!!! It's me you're talking about and now even I'm confused?!?!? Doesn't take much.

That's nothing - wait till Dilla sees this!

Dilla saw this and is also confused! Maybe Dilla and Dave were together - logged onto the computer under a different alias?! Just to make sure I retraced my steps back to Dec 07 and realised Dilla and I were at our son's wedding in Cape Town. Who is still confused now?

MichaelW wrote:.......were at our son's wedding in Cape Town.........

who's son was that again?


serious......spare a thought for Wahl. He had to abandon his trip and is on his way back.

Not nice to have to turn back! Hope the bike is sorted out soon Wahl.

With all this confusion - hope Wahl got back the right bike and did not get lost on his way home. Sounds like virtual groeps woeps that has gone sideways as did Wahls trip.

Normally not a good idee to go on a trip very shortly after your bike has been serviced. Should i have to service the bike close to a trip, i normally do it so that i can still do at least 500kms between the service and leaving on the trip.

LeRoy Olivier wrote:
Normally not a good idee to go on a trip very shortly after your bike has been serviced. Should i have to service the bike close to a trip, i normally do it so that i can still do at least 500kms between the service and leaving on the trip.

Doubt this would have helped Wahl - he had covered about 800km by the time he had his problems - similarly the guy on the Dakar had done probably a bit more at the time he had his problems.

Strange co-incidenc - two bikes serviced at different dealers picking up different problems on the same trip.