Advice needed

Ok my brother phoned me last night. He lives on a farm in Vaalwaater. The Mogoll river runs throagh his farm. Plenty mountains, plenty sand, more than enough rocks and water to keep any GS rider happy. Realy a beautifull place.

Now he wants to fix\prepare\convert it so Bikers -mostly GS- can come and ride there. He needs advice what to do and how to build what. He can make a very difficult or easy terrain, but needs info. He wants to prepare breackfast runs and sleepovers. Ladies and gentleman this is a beautifull place.

He is even thinking of letting quads ride there There used to be a trainstop on the farm called Omsingel, can be seen on the older maps. On the road from Nylstroom 10km before you reach Vaalwater on left.

If there is any advise or info we can help hin with he will appretiate it. His e-mail adress is muelac@gmail dot com and his name is Wimpie
Unfortunately phones is a problem as telkom is always stolen and the vadacom and other guys have bad reception due to all the mountains arround his place. For the fishermen there is some nice black-bass inthe river.

The road into the farm is not bad, but plenty sand. I dont know if this will affect road bikes. I am sure even Jamie can take his 1300 there as long as he doesn,t try to fly.

Otherwise PM me or put the info on the fred and I will send it to him. Going to run there Sunday to see what we need and what we gonna do---anybody want to join me??

Not quads!!!!!

Sounds good!
I'm sure Sharkie & Pieter can give inputs?
Will be good if there is something for every level
A complete track for the good riders and then slipways/bypasses of the category 4 and 5's so that the not-so-good riders can watch how it should be done?

want to give advice but don't know what to say........

wait.....how about landing strip like gravel area so that we can check the bike's top-end.....?

Hmmm... this sounds like a great idea. But I would also discourage him from inviting the quads. They are generally a bit harder on mother nature and can really stuff up a place quite quickly.

If he wants to do some sort of breakfast venue / sleepover place for all kinds of bikers, he should really consider at least fixing up the road leading from the main road to the restaurant / main buildings.

I agree with GSLady on the route - similar to a golf course, you should have easy stages and more technical / challenging areas, but with exit routes where you can bypass if you (or your bike) is not up to it. And obviously as much variety as possible from a terrain / scenery / difficulty / permissible speed perspective to appeal to a wide enough audience riding with anything from a 450X Country to a 12GSA I would also suggest that the path/trail should be clearly distinguishable so people don't get lost / make their own path / damage the terrain.

From a more pragmatic point of view, if you want to serve food / alcohol, there may be some laws/regulations governing that. It may be an option to consider the self-catering route, but bikers cannot usually pack too much, so they may end up bringing only drink, and no food! From an accommodation point of view, perhaps have accommodation and camping facilities available.

I have to agree, definitely need by pass routes around 4s and 5s, with still a view from 1s, 2s and 3s to observe the pros tackling 4s and 5s.

Quads are petrol to dust converters.

It will be fantastic if he can do something like this - will definitely go there!!
But please, no quads!! Or even motocross bikes, for that matter. Keep it for adventure bikers (yes, even the dreaded orange bikes!!).

Thangs guys and girls.. Will defenitly try and convince him no Quads.. As for the rpod to the venue is not bad.. dirt road and sand with here and there a small hill to slow the rain water in summer. He scrapes it a lot but that only makes more loose sand. To tar or pave is to expensive...
Ok all levels with nice views for the less expeienced. Where can I view some of these tracks. He can defenitly cater for all types of riders..
He will have to supply food, drink, lodging and camping as I dont carry much with me. I also think he must have a small workshop.
And a nice pub for relaxing at night Swiming pool Jacuzi and braai\fire area

Henk wrote:He will have to supply food, drink, lodging and camping as I dont carry much with me. I also think he must have a small workshop.
And a nice pub for relaxing at night Swiming pool Jacuzi and braai\fire area

I will be able to help with obtaining land use rights for all the uses proposed above!

This sounds like a great idea.

If I can add a few cents:

1. No Quads
They f** up pretty much everything.

2. No Plastic bikes (MX / Enduro)
Although I LOVE riding mine, and so does alot of other members, he must decide if he want to cater for Dual Sport bikes (GS / KTM / KLR etc) or Plastics. I would suggest to cater for D/S bikes because the people can ride their bikes to the venue and ride and stay over. Plastics will require transport there (bakkie / trailer), and the people would rather drive back to Gauteng than stay over.

3. One direction track
Make the track so that it can only go in one direction so that the rider does not have to worry about oncomming traffic.

4. Escape routes
I agree with having the whole track level 1,2,3 with short stretches or sections with level 4,5. For these level 4,5 sections there should be escape routes around so that less experienced riders can pass and watch and laugh at stupid guys sukkeling.

5. Recovery
I suggest having a bakkie or trailer on site to go and collect any bikes crashed, stuck or broken down on the trail. In other words the whole track should be accessable by 4x4 (level 1,2,3)

6. Well stocked pub
Enough said

With regards to the levels, here is my veiw of it, please correct me if I am wrong.

Level 1
Normal dirt roads that can be done by any sedan

Level 2
Normal dirt roads but with some rocky/sany/muddy patches, can still be done with a sedan

Level 3
More rocky/sany/muddy than L2, can be done in a bakkie or 4x4 includes some good single and twin track

Level 4
4x4 required, rougher single and twin track. Can include thick sand, deep and slippery mud and rocky terrain. Not for inexperienced riders.

Level 5
Serious 4x4, sometimes might be to tough for a 4x4 (like Schurweberg). VERY thick sand for long stretches. Snot-like modder that just don't end. Big rocks that makes your bashplate cry.



Hope all this helps.

Sharkie - I agree with you & steyngert on the MX scenario. There are many places in the Gauteng area where we can go play.

I enjoyed your classifications So what would you recon this one would rate (the front puddle is knee deep)?


(Taken this morning on a breakfast crawl to Cullinan - I'll write something about it a bit later!)

Marnus wrote:.......So what would you recon this one would rate (the front puddle is knee deep)?......

you (understandably) have not asked for my opinion but here goes anyway

‘n k@k spul !

and one that will cut my new GS "career" (that just sarted) short.

not 'n m@er vat ek my bike daardeur nie

weer eens.......mag ek nooit so honger word nie

Jamie, deep deep down you know you are going to do it sometime!!! I'll try to publish my report tomorrow and just perhaps you'll come along on the next one when you see the other pictures!!! Baby steps

Eish Marnus,

Ja, daai pad is 'n mooi f*k-op!!!

Ek reken seker tussen 'n 4 en 5. Modder is die moeilikste met die boxer engin. Omdat die ding nie lekker "gebalance" is nie, as jy die boxer revs gee dan trek hy bietjie kant toe dan verloor jy sommer balans, veral in gladde modder.

Die 800 en 650 is die beste vir modder, maar ek het amper my gat gesien op die Rooiberg trip met die 800 in modder!!!!!

Van die "three evils", sand, modder en klippe is modder die heel ergste.

Maar daai lyk na 'n lekker trippie, ons wag in angs vir die RR !!!

Sharkie wrote:......Maar daai lyk na 'n lekker trippie.........

met sulke modder "damme" innie pad???

ek sien nie die lekker nie, ek sien net nag.........swart donker nag

Ek veronderstel teerpad ryers moenie n opinie he nie ... maar wyl jy nou gaan paaie bou, en daar is berge, dan is daar mos n mooi roete met twisties daar erens gebere Hoef nie eers lank te wees nie, n mooi sirkel om di eplaas, dan is dit sommer n track ook

Ok went to my boet Sunday.. Was a fantastic ride there. Breakfast in Bela-bad and then the last 90 od km to the farm. 900meter dirt to his gate. Game farm piece approx 1100 metres and then the k-k starts. Plenty sand soft and .......soft. And that was my first down. To the house and then he showed me what to do.
Enough "easy" roads and more than enough "sukkel" roads. River crossings more than enough .. In rain season I am sure you will also need submarines. There is one or two places that I think we might have a problem with escape routes, but ja we will still sort that.

In the beginning he will only cater for camping. But will supply all the rest eg. food drinks and ablution. I think he can make his route approx 30\50 km without really trying.
About 4 km we ride on an old rail track... alles wat nie vas was nie is nou weg en afgeskud
But it was a very interesting day (even if I fell twice) and I think we will enjoy it. Now to start organizing

Great stuff - skree asb as julle proefkonyne soek Ek het 'n tent...

This thread (and others) shows a very healthy attitude!
Thank you!
Admin.

Great Henk,

This sounds AWESOME !!!

If you and your boet ever need someone to come and help to set out the track and to "test-ride" some of the sections, just shout. This sounds like a nice week-end away one-nighter !!!

Ooooooo yes!!!! We will be needing guineepigs. I am trying to organize a sponsor or 2 And want to let you guys know well in advance. Will be needing as many GS riders there as possible.Will use my bakkie as backup. Got a Venter trailor so I can carry most luguage.

I want to organize this perfect..like all BMW runs....

Watch this thread and mill speak to Admin as soon as we are ready

put my name on the list as well please!

I will be more than willing to do test runs as well!! Also have a tent, and if it is only a weekend, who needs showers anyway...? As long as there is a bar...

steyngert wrote:I will be more than willing to do test runs as well!! Also have a tent, and if it is only a weekend, who needs showers anyway...? As long as there is a bar...

Could not have said it better myself !!!!!