Page 50 - March Edition 2025

irrepressible Kurt Johnson in the wheel locked and didn't give
Honda Wing George shop and we
had started out by doing some tar
a n d m o u n t a i n p a s s w o r k
comparing the old Honda Varedero
with the new face-lifted one for the
year. We had spent a pleasant day
in the mountains around George
area, more of which in another story
another time, but had then put
proper off-road tyres (continental
TKCs) onto the big dual-sporter to
see just how capable it actually is
off-road against a range of other
machines, including the class
leading (for this type of riding)
BMW1200GS. And the task was
one day going through the
Baviaans Kloof and the second day
returning on a series of other lesser
traveled roads on the other side of
the mountains. The Baviaans Kloof
is, as everyone already knows, just
spectacular. It is however, more
than simple dirt roads. There are
some tricky parts to it, especially
areas where the road runs along
mountain-sides but doesn't have
any type of verge or edge or barrier,
the edge of the road is just the drop-
off into the gorge below. Also there
are a few passes where it would not
be advisable for someone who
hasn't got few years of off-road
riding experience to take them on.
Going up might be all right, but
coming down, uh-uh. Not for
beginners. On one occasion I was
riding one Transalp that was with us
that was still on pure trailie tyres,
and I did end up locking and slip-
sliding the front wheel into a turn
trying to get it all to stop in time and
only didn't have a big off because
luck placed a large rock at the edge
of the road and I was able to let the
wheel bounce off of that and knock
me round the corner. And on
another occasion, when we were
making our way over the mountains
to the other roads on the second
day, we ended up going down a
downhill that required such careful
footing and slow speed work that
big V-Twin of the Varedero could
not idle down that low and it stalled.
With it stalled however the back
LHR Motorcycle Magazine Issue 11
of punctures we had on both days,
enough traction to stop the descent
and so it all started picking up
speed. Clutching it and letting it
freewheel had it going too fast and
letting the engine bump-start ran it
too fast as well. It was only judicious
use of the front brake in the minimal
traction locking and slipping the
TKC tyre that checked the speed
enough to save a nasty. Big weight,
steep slopes, no grip, we were
asking for trouble with the Varedero
out here. If it had been on its
standard road tyres I dread to think
of the consequences. That it came
out of it all still okay eventually says
wonders for its handling.
On the other side of the coin
though, Johan's lightweight and
prepared XR650 was just the
perfect bike for this nonsense. I had
a bit of a go on it and immediately
fell into a mode of drifting the back
effortlessly round turns and hoiking
the front wheel up and over any and
every dip, ditch, rock, river, tree
branch, meerkat, otter, antelope,
ostrich, and obstacle in sight. It's
wonderful to ride a bike that is so
aimed at exactly this environment
and deals with it so well.
Unfortunately there is precious little
riding terrain like this in the greater
Jo'berg area and with something
like 84% of all motorcycle sales
being in the jo'berg area, it still not
justifiable for Honda to bring the
XR650 in officially. But, and here's
the good news, if you are one of
those few who know that this is
exactly what you want in a bike and
are tired of doing the desert run
every year on a dog slow KLR and
can't afford a KTM SuperEnduro,
then Johan is able to supply you
with new XR650s as a matter of
course out of his Mossel Bay shop.
And he can get you all the
n e c e s s a r y e x t r a s l i k e
aftermarket 33 liter fuel tanks and
things. Call them on 044 874 5435 if
that sort of thing floats your boat.
The Baviaans Kloof area can bite
back as evidenced by the number
50
so don't go there without a few tyre
levers and repair kits. And the
ability to fix a puncture yourself. Or
a backup vehicle and trailer for
when the big “go wrongs” do
happen. You wouldn't want to be
stuck out there hurt by yourself. But
having said that, do definitely make
a plan to go there sometime. It is a
really beautiful 200kms to travel
down, winding its way through
some deep mountain cuttings that
can only be appreciated from the
openness of a motorcycle, and
some very pleasant river crossings.
Car drivers just miss the whole “in
nature” experience of the trip. But
one of the funniest things that
happened to my Varedero, (before
the big flight situation), was that
after 2 days of diligently keeping it
upright, making sure that as a
borrowed bike it never got one
scratch on it, after stopping and
helping at least 3 guys repair their
punctures and making sure that I
didn't get one myself, then at the
overnight campsite, one of the
Honda instructors who shall remain
nameless to preserve his dignity,
borrowed my bike and rode less
than 100 meters to the front gate
and came back with a flat front tyre
and then put the bike on its side
stand but with the flat tyre the stand
was too long and as he let go we all
watched it topple over in the
parking lot and ding the fairing.
Some company's employees, you
just can't take them anywhere.
Thanks have to go of course to
Race Nation Honda Wing George
(044 874 5435 ) and Honda Wing
Mossel Bay for the use of the bikes
and for seeing the funny side of
having only a broken Varedero and
not having to deal with helicopter
med-rescue people, and for the ride
t h e on XR650 which was definitely a
highlight and made me feel 10
years younger again, and of course
to the Honda Adventure Academy
guys for the backup vehicles and
support on this ride. LHR
March 2025