Sani over Easter – “The road gets better – I promise”...........

Sani over Easter – “The road gets better – I promise”...........

So, the time for the SANI pass trip finally arrived. Everyone got nervous a few days before the ride, but everyone was so excited to go, myself included. But fate intervened on Wednesday afternoon, in the shape of a BMW320d, and decided that I need not to ride this trip. As most of you may know, I got side-swiped and broke my collarbone, and had some bad roasties on my leg and ankle. No operation needed. But bike riding was out of the question. So against a hell of a lot of protest from the family at home I decided I will do the trip, but in the back-up vehicle, I am glad I did.....

I will work on the ride report during the day and tonight, I am typing a bit slow with one hand (the left one nogal) and someone, I think Bruno (Mr Bonotto) or Shangali might have my camera cable, so I cannot get the pictures from my camera to my laptop.

All I can say for now is that it was a WONDERFUL trip with a great bunch of people, and we had a blast!!!!
Everyone learned from this trip, here are a few things learned:
* Brian (Wingman) learned how to ride a 1200GS down Bezuidenhoudt’s Pass
* Bruno leaned that Africa is not for sissies and to NOT give up, no matter how much you are struggling
* Dani learned that she can ride up Normandien Pass with panniers, and not a single spill
* Drix learned that the 800GS is probably THE best dual sport bike to own
* I learned that I can pick up a 800GS with a broken collarbone, with some help of course
* Marnus learned that the clutch on a 1200GS is stronger than he thinks
* Marius learned that the back up vehicle can stay with the group, even on a GS ride
* Pieter learned that Maruis can tell some very funny jokes
* Shangali learned to ride within your limits
* And Sephton (Kawasefi) learned that the BMW guys can drink.


The report to follow, It will get better, I promise...........

building up the suspence... I'm sure it'll be worth it

Here is a sneak preview...

Behold! Sani pass going up the mighty mountain...

PS - the road in front is like a flat, 2-lane, tarred highway compared to the last bit

Part 1 – Pretoria to Sterkfontein Dam

We assembled at the usual spot at about 05:30 and Brian and his son Keegan was already waiting, ready to go. Very soon Marius and Dani arrived with their daughter, Daniela, on the back. Daniela was going along on the trip as a passenger. After a few minutes Bruno and Marnus arrived and then Drix, and Pieter arrived eventually.

And so we were off, heading on the R21 towards Pomona Rd to meet up with Shangali. Finally the group was complete and we were heading towards Gillooleys, then the N3 towards Heidelberg. Pieter was leading, with no knowledge of the intended route, only the GPS track that I gave to him the day before. A HUGE thank you to Pieter for this, his knowledge and experience in leading a trip was invaluable.

Just before Heidelberg we ran into the first little problem, Bruno’s 1200’s Tyre Pressure Sensor kept on showing that his rear tyre is at 0.9bar, he pumped it to 2.8bar at Atterbury. So we stopped and had a look, he said it did feel a bit flat, but we could not find a leak. At the Total 1-Stop we pumped it again, and it went flat again after a couple of km’s, well not flat flat, just to about 1bar. We decided to keep going and just keep an eye on it.

After Heidelberg, we took a little dirt-track to avoid the De-Hoek Toll Plaza, and then we ran into some very thick mist on the way to Villiers. Bruno’s tyre (Heidenhau – K60) was acting up again, so we stopped at a garage, determined to find the air-leak. We covered the entire wheel in soap water and pumped it to 4bar – nothing, no bubbles. We checked the bead and the valve – nothing. So we took out the valve, let all the air out, made sure the tyre sits on the rim perfectly, put the valve back and inflated to 4bar – nothing. Needles to say: this was very frustrating, and time consuming. So we decided to drop to 3bar and just see how it holds up. This is also where Pieter got a nice tattoo on the side of his head where his head touched the exhaust, it was quite funny.

We made our way on the R26 to Reitz to fill up, and again to inflate Bruno’s tyre. Here we decided to spray some tyre-weld to see if it will seal the invisible hole. We met up again in Bethlehem for lunch and Bruno’s TPS were still showing 0.9bar, so we decided to just ignore it. The TPS was correct as we also checked with a manual gauge every time.

Now the fun roads started, Bethlehem, Clarens and Golden Gate. The guys on the bikes loved every minute of Golden Gate, but in the back-up vehicle it was very, very frustrating, sitting behind Oom Jan en Tannie Marie in their 80’s Benz and old Jurgens Caravan. Shangali had some choice words for the local Parks Board for putting those little speed bumps in the road!! But we made it through and re-grouped at the Sterkfontein Dam viewpoint.

Everyone very happy - the calm before the storm.................

great stuff guys and gals, thanks for sharing

awaiting episode 2 in suspense

...a trifle "technical" I take it...?

I hope it's still untarred (and that I am far more confident of my off-road skills) the next time a Sani Pass opportunity knocks !

Part 2 – Bezuidenhoudt’s Pass

Picture this: 7 happy bikers who just completed 445km of beautiful tar road riding, having a rest overlooking the beautiful Sterkfontein Dam in all her glory. Everyone happy, tired but relaxed – life is good.......

So we hit the first bit of dirt-road about 8km after the viewpoint, beautiful dirt, no surprises just GS heaven. We turn off the main dirt road onto some nice twin-track, still the going is good, everybody happy.

Then it gets a little interesting with a big mud-patch, no major hassle, everyone through, and a bit dirty. Then it gets a bit rocky, and a bit uphill...... So I hold my breath in the 4x4 hoping that everyone makes it up the hills, with a few stops and stalls here and there everyone makes it to the start of Bezuidenhoudt’s pass. I get out and tell everybody that this is where the pass starts, we are gonna ride down this now. I got some ugly looks, but nothing major.......


Then.............. all hell broke loose, loose rocks, big wash aways, some drop-offs, bloody steep and it was tough, very tough. I felt VERY bad sitting in the 4x4 and watching bikes tumble here and there. I felt guilty planning a route and watching people suffer on it, and then I don’t even ride it. Drix needs to be commended here. I think he worked the hardest out of everyone on that pass helping out where he could. In the really tough sections Drix would ride his bike down, walk back up and ride some of the bikes down. On a flatter stretch Drix made up some time to catch Pieter, Marnus and Shangali. So it was Dani, Marius, Bruno and the 4x4 left at the back. Dani went ahead down a rocky section and managed fine. Marius took the section and had a spill resulting in a pulled hamstring. He was in a lot of pain and struggled to walk. Bruno then rode Marius’s bike down, without incident, to a flat part and then took his bike down the same path, and then having a spill!! - This made for much laughter later !!!!

Now what to do???? Marius cannot ride, and we cannot load the bike, as all the tie-downs are with Pieter (lesson learned!). There is no cell phone reception on the pass, so we cannot call Pieter to come back up. So we decided that Brian would ride Marius’s bike down the rest of the pass, and that Keegan will drive the 4x4. Now, Brian did ride a bike some time ago.............in 1978..... to be exact. He put on Marius’s helmet and off he went on the big 1200. He made it all the way down without incident – WELL DONE!!!!! I reckon a new 800GS is on the cards.............

So all made it to the bottom where we loaded the bike onto the trailer and the patient into the car. It was after 5pm and the sun was setting, we still had 140km to go to Nottingham Road. We spent 4hours doing the 10odd km’s that is Bezuidenhoudt’s pass – Everyone was tired and gatvol, and I felt very bad............

We klapped tar, even some N3, to get to Notties as soon as possible. We got there in the freezing cold and misty dark evening after 7pm. We had a lekker dinner and lots of liquid refreshment till the wee hours of the morning. Tired, exhausted, sore, but very happy.............

Were were satisfied that the hardest part of the trip was over, Bezuidenhoudt's was beaten and we looked forward to tomorrow, the promise of nice open dirt roads, a nice ride up Sani for a cold one at the top and then some nice dirt roads back to Notties......................... little did we know.......................

I was waiting for this trip report even before the trip started!!! Thank you for sharing, can't wait to see the pics! Sharkie very glad that you could have made the trip even if it was in the back-up vehicle!! Awaiting the rest...

Wow - what a trip! I enjoyed it immensely - a good challenge for my wonderful bike and its rider!
A big thank you to each and everyone: those heroes on their bikes and the unplaying captain and driver of the 4x4!
A most memorable and unforgettable trip!

Thanks for the first episodes Sharkie!
Here are few pics to support his first posts:
(taking liberty to post Sharkie's pics - as they were downloaded on my laptop after the first day)

Bruno and his tyre..


Drix taking Dani's 800 to safety


Bruno on another rocky section - "but it will get better"


Another muddy part


Brian taking Marius' monster down... (check his gear!!) Well done Wingman!

Part 3 – Sani Pass


We awoke the next morning to a beautiful, chilly and misty morning in Nottingham Road. At breakfast Marius indicated that he is up for riding today, and he will make a decision at the bottom of Sani as to go up or not. So the bike was unloaded and everybody kitted up. We then realised that Pieter had a broken windscreen??? Pieter, myself and Bruno were chatting to Captain Morgan the whole evening and we could not figure out who went and m@ered down with Pieter’s bike. It turned out that the bike’s side stand gave way during the night and toppled over onto Drix’s bike and the screen cracked, no biggie, fixed sommer on the spot.

We made our way on tar towards Rosetta, then onto Kamberg for some dirt. We took some of the most beautiful and scenic dirt roads our country has to offer. We went through the Kamberg nature conservation area, onto Lower Lotheni, then onto Himeville for the start of the Sani Pass.

From the turn-off at Himeville it is about 30km to the top of Sani Pass. The 30km can more or less be split into three sections, each one more difficult than the next.
Roughly like this:
i) +-10km to the Sani Pass Hotel – very easy (Level 1) – This section is in the process of being tarred
ii) +-10km to the SA Border post – getting a bit rougher (Level 3-4)
iii) +-10km to the top – This is tough (Level 4-5)

Everybody made it to the SA Border post without any hassle, we all did the passport thing and we were ready to tackle the pass. We unhooked the trailer and left it at the border post. Dani wisely decided not attempt the pass, Marius decided he will give it a go on Dani’s 800. After about 300m there was a rocky and rutted hill to ascend, Marius is not used to the 800 and very wisely decided not to risk it. We then turned back to the Border Post to drop off Dani’s bike. So now the Toyota Fortuner contained Brian, myself, Marius, Dani, Daniela and Keegan.

The pass is in very bad shape and we were bobbing up and down all the way to the top. We lost view of the riders as they needed to ride and keep their momentum, there were now 5 bikes on the pass, Pieter, Marnus, Drix, Bruno and Shangali. After every turn the road got worse and worse and I hoped and prayed that the 5 guys are managing.

About 5km up the pass, just after the switchbacks begins, we saw Shangali parked on one of the corners, he was tired, and I don’t mean tired like after a quick jog, I mean the man was close to fainting. Now for you that don’t know, Shangali is a right lower leg amputee. It is VERY difficult for him to stand, let alone standing on the pegs, fighting a 1200GS up a 12% gradient on extremely loose rocks. I could not believe that he made it so far up. But he had enough, he was dehydrated and had a lot of pain in his leg. He made the smart decision to rest until he recovered enough to tackle the road back down.

After we passed Shangali, we made our way round a couple more switchbacks and then saw Bruno and Marnus waiting for some oncoming traffic to pass. They too were very tired and both of them waving their fists at me...... again I felt very guilty..... But they were in good spirits and gave it a go. Marnus did a ninja move and came down, not hard, but the bike lying with both wheels in the air and higher than the seat – not the best position to lift up a 1200GS. But Marnus is a big guy, and with adrenalin pumping he lifted the bike like it was a 250, turned it around and gunned it.
Bruno got stuck a bit further on and just could not get any traction on the loose rocks. Marius helped him along and he finally got going. We also met Drix and Pieter on the way up and they too were working very hard.

Finally all four made it to the top – very tired – very happy.

We had a beer at the top and time was running out, so we needed to get a move on. We made our way down the pass and only Bruno had a fall or two on the way down, again nothing major. That is the nice thing about GS riding, 99% of your falls are at very slow speed.

At the border post we met up with Shangali. Dani and Marius got back on the bikes, we hooked the trailer, and headed to Himeville for some fuel.

From there we did tar all the way back to Notties, again arriving after dark. Again I felt very bad letting this go on for two days in a row now. Everybody was VERY tired after two EXTREMELY hard and long days on the bike. We had a wonderful braai dinner and everybody went to bed, spent....





I had to do something about tomorrow, I could not let them have another long tough day, they would kill me...................

GSlady wrote:
Here are few pics to support his first posts:
(taking liberty to post Sharkie's pics - as they were downloaded on my laptop after the first day)

Thanks Dani,

Feel free to post as many pics as you want!!! The only pics that are still on my camera is the ones of the tunnel and Normandien Pass.

The heroes of Sani.

Conquering virtually the impossible. Hats off!

Wow, wow and one more wow.......respect all.........still deciding whether it's stupidity or braveness/skill.......respect nonetheless

Sharkie wrote:......It turned out that the bike’s side stand gave way during the night and toppled over.............

was it parked at the staff house under the carport with the bended roof?

If so, we also had a bike toppled over as a result of the soft soil giving way under the stand

MadnohB wrote:Wow, wow and one more wow.......respect all.........still deciding whether it's stupidity or braveness/skill.......respect nonetheless

Sharkie wrote:......It turned out that the bike’s side stand gave way during the night and toppled over.............

was it parked at the staff house under the carport with the bended roof?

If so, we also had a bike toppled over as a result of the soft soil giving way under the stand

Deja Vu ????

Yup, the same.....

Thanks you guys. It was a great trip. Pity that I missed the first part of yesterday's route in spirit...

I learned that having too much Captain in you is not neccessarily a good thing.

Thanks for all your arrangements and motivational promises Sharkie. Without you we would not have had an amazing trip. Well done!!!1

MadnohB wrote:was it parked at the staff house under the carport with the bended roof?

Yep... that exact spot. The next evening we decided to ignore the friendly bloke with his flashlight luring us into the same trap, so we just parked in front of the hotel entrance

pdekoker wrote:I learned that having too much Captain in you is not neccessarily a good thing.

Neeeeee man PIETER!!!! Dit laat my dink aan die eensame krokodil!!!!!!

Part 4 – Die Tonnel Pad


My plans for the day had to change, I knew that the distances that I had worked out was a bit long and that we will be pushing it to much to try and get it done. This is the first overnight trip that I planned, and I will learn from my mistakes and the good advice from Pieter.

Luckily I know the area very well, and me and a long time buddy of mine (Sephton – Kawasefi) have done all the roads in this area a few times before. I had asked Sephton a while back to join this Sani Trip, but he could not due to other Easter arrangements. But he did say that he could join for a part of the 3rd day. This was a very welcome relief, as I had to change the planned route and therefore I had no tracks to give Pieter. We met Sephton in Geluksburg and I just told him: “ry die pad, dan daai een, draai by daardie een, en stop by die een”, he knew exactly where to go!!

So we left Notties and hit the tar to Rosetta, Mooiriver, Escourt, Winterton, Bergville and then some dirt to Geluksburg. From here Sephton lead the BMW club on his Kawa KLR650!!!

We went up Middledale Pass, also called Tintwa pass, it is a beautiful tar pass, but at the top the tar is in terrible shape. From Tintwa we took some more dirt all the way to Montrose, then we hit a short stretch on the N3 to Van Reenen where we had something to chow.

After Van Reenen we took the road less travelled and decended Van Reenens Pass on the railway service road, also referred to as “the tunnel road”. This was a stunning piece of GS riding, nothing difficult, but you needed to be awake. A bit rocky here and there, and bit muddy here and there, but all in all brilliant!! This road was a favourite amongst the riders.

From the bottom we took mostly dirt roads all the way to Newcastle, these dirt roads made of some excellent riding, just a bit dusty, but all good.

We arrived in Newcastle at about 4pm after 330km. Today was a good day in the saddle for the guys and I was happy. And on top of that we were one extra rider, on a Kawasaki nogal!!!

I will remember our evening at the Hilldrop B&B in Newcastle for a long long time, the same cannot be said for another rider, who for some reason cannot remember much at all. He complained about someone spiking his coke with rum???

But as they say, what happens on a trip, stays on a trip.........

What happens on tour, stays on tour... is it a piranha or a crocodile?



Judging by the smile.. We should ask Bruno?

Is this a question of sleep walking or looking for the safety of a cage?

Part 5 – Normandien Pass



After a very groggy start to the morning.....wonder why....... we settled in for breakfast at the Hilldrop Bed and Breakfast. Everyone feeling very fragile and a bit nervous to face the inn-keepers after last night’s antics. But we were greeted by the friendly owners and served a nice breakfast. After breakfast we tried to figure out the drinks bill, we gave up. It was decided to just pay the whole amount via EFT next week, and sort it out in our own time. You see, Hilldrop does not have a bar, they went and bought us a lot of beers, and placed them in a fridge for us, they would then count how many was gone the next morning. The first thing we noticed, even before we noticed that the fridge did not work, is that the Captain was missing in action, and that was fixed, twice.......

We then said good bye to Kawasefi, who was now on his way back to Vryheid, and we made our way to the bottom of Normandien Pass. Normandien Pass is truly beautiful, even more so than Bezuidenhoudt’s or Sani. We stopped close to the top, where Pieter took a quick “power nap” in the grasses. We then made our way further up the pass to the viewpoint, where Pieter took another little “power nap”. We only had one little spill on the pass resulting in a pannier bracket breaking, but no major damage to rider or bike. Then we took some beautiful dirt roads on top of the escarpment all the way to Memel, then onto Vrede (probably the crappiest town in SA), then Villiers, Heidelberg back to P-Town.

I want to thank all the riders and Brian for a truly memorable trip, where we had great laughs, great pain, great rides, and above all great company.

Right guys, it is now up to you lot.

Post your pics, write your story, go crazy !!!

At this point I want to say THANK YOU:

To Sharkie for arranging a stunning, fabulous, amazing trip I will never, ever forget, and for coming along despite his injuries.
To Pieter our ride lead for most of the trip, also known as the "Buffle"
To Marius with his steady supply of 50ml single whiskeys and telling us "F-All" jokes
To Dani for boldly going where no woman went before
To Shangali that left me in awe going halfway up the Sani and over most obstacles that left me shaken
To Bruno for making me happy I fit the Tourance tires instead and going up the mountain by my side. Do you still have your glass?
To Drix for always giving a helping hand when necessary and letting me test drive his 800
To Sephton for taking us through the tunnel and beyond
To Brian for always being in the rear view mirror

This was truly amazing. I cannot imagine that we can possibly have a better trip with better friends in a better place...

but we'll see...

Marnus wrote:
To Pieter our ride lead for most of the trip, also known as the "Buffle"

To Marius with his steady supply of 50ml single whiskeys and telling us "F-All" jokes

To Bruno .... Do you still have your glass?

Nee man Marnus,

Reading this I cannot stop laughing..... and I am still soooo sore !!!



And don't forget to sing along to the "Mr Robotto" song.........

Let's try...

Dear GSlady...some problem on post the pics....rs
Probably "BIOS"....

But the important thing is that it was a great Trip and chalenge!!!!!!!
Etienne: We were just play with you....nobody complained....You made us VERY HAPPY !!!!!!

A 100% of the Brazilians Sissy guys got the top and stayed awake till the last breaf of the CAPTAIN PETER....soooore....Morgan....rsrs

More pics to share...if I learn how to do!