Buggs' Bikeless African Adventure

[buggsubique]

Well kinda outta forum I guess, but I figure this is probably the right audience to share an adventure with, albeit an adventure without a bike. Following the WAR the AT has basically been parked up lacking the TLC it badly needs. Christmas came around pretty quickly and it was a shit of a year so family time was the focus. Pulled out of the DB1K due to work commitments which was another downer but also helped take the pressure off needing to replace the Reg/Rect, repair a side panel and front cowl, a few other bits & bobs.

So I'm off to Africa with work in about 2 1/2 weeks. Unsure exactly where I'll end up in-country (http://paanluelwel2011.wordpress.com/) but suffice to say it's comparatively a whole different world with no shortage of challenges and hardships ahead (for both the country and this Kiwi!).

Packing has been going OK, have dispatched a fair bit of freight ahead of me. All the heavy crap, plus almost a month's worth of food reserves from the team at Back Country Cuisine (http://backcountrycuisine.co.nz/bcc/index.php/about). Being paid a food allowance is all good, but without knowing where I'll be ending up, food supply is not guaranteed at this point and the greenback ain't that nourishing... Hopefully the freight will be there around about when I arrive cos I'm travelling pretty light with standard baggage allowances etc. Still, taking enough to skimp by semi-comfortably in case of delays.

In terms of what I'm doing, can't say in too much detail (a. because I don't know exactly and b. because its easier that way) but there is some general glossy pages stuff available publicly here (http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmiss/). For the real stuff you'll need to Goggle it.

So why the thread? a few reasons I guess:

1. Its an adventure!
2. If I can get my grubby mitts on a motorbike I intend to ride it!
3. There are some deep dark places I'm sure to be going so where I can I'll take you with.
4. It'll open my eyes, might open yours too if you're willing.
5. I also plan to head to Egypt for a stint in the sand with these guys (http://www.bike-egypt.com/). I mean, you can't go to Africa and not Adventure Ride right!?

So yeah, pretty dull first post really but that's the nature of it I'm afraid. Hope to be able to get it a bit more "real" once I'm over there.

Buggs

[Disclaimer: The views, beliefs, opinions and expressions in each post of this thread are those of the author personally and in no way whatsoever should be taken to represent the views or opinions of the New Zealand Government or the New Zealand Defence Force].

[Eddieb]

Keep your head down while there and good call on the side trip. You gotta take a camera for that!

[Padmei]

Mate that will be a real eye opener. A family member may or may not have worked as media liasion with the UN & may or may not have spent time showing celebs in the camps in somewhere in dafur. Amazing stories.

Keep safe & have a great adventure

[JATZ]

Just because you don't have a bike doesn't mean it's not an ADV. :Punk:
I'll look forward to your posts :corn:

[Night Falcon]

Cool Buggs, bout time we had an African twin adventurer articulating adventures from Africa on the adventure thread, :Punk: As for bikes everyone knows Africa's full of Dakar bikes left lying around by lost riders so all ya need to do is find one...or two and you'll be sweat :corn: No need to worry about spilling any top secret stuff on this forum theres no spys in here :shifty: Will be looking forward to heaps of reports. Keep safe mate :niceone:

[Woodman]

Will be an adventure alright. Make the most of the quiet times.

[young1]

Awesome! Safe travels

[GPS MAN]

Looks interesting! I'll stay posted for updates:sweatdrop

[Shewolf]

Subscribed - safe travels, look forward to hearing of your adventures.

[pampa]

awesome, i didn't know what u meant before

good luck and stay in contact

[Aslan]

Go well Buggs - watching with interest :)

[buggsubique]

With 5 days to go I should be a little more organised than this but such is the nature of procrastination!

I have yet to pack my carry-on luggage although it's all there...spread thoughout the house :rolleyes:. Means of procrastination have included taking the kids to the local fair on Saturday which was good fun, although my youngest is still a bit miffed about being encouraged into the Haunted House. Also bought a Kindle Touch the other day and have been searching for quality reading material to keep the brain going and fill any gaps and evenings in the long days ahead.

So far on my reading list I have some bike specific stuff:

-Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-ebook/dp/B0063HC7EQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=IA4TMHQXPC2P&colid=33W3SHPQ5FE8V)
-Adventures of a Motorcycle Despatch Rider During the First World War (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016P3Y0Q/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title)
-Motorcycles, Life, and . . . (http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycles-Life-ebook/dp/B004MMES78/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1QIC7Y79HV6FX&colid=33W3SHPQ5FE8V)
-Riding on the Edge: A Motorcycle Outlaw's Tale (http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Edge-Motorcycle-Outlaws-ebook/dp/B004GJVXUM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I30QMDCU5FOGK5&colid=33W3SHPQ5FE8V)
-Shop Class as Soulcraft (http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Class-Soulcraft-Inquiry-Value/dp/0143117467/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1330234174&sr=1-1-catcorr)

and some general (loosely termed) adventure books:

-Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West
-South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition
-The Rough Riders
-AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES
-Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival

Tell you what, I have never read so readily now that I have the kindle - great bit of kit and highly recommended.

Apart form that, 4 days off now to sort final stuff out and get the bike prepped for storage. Oh yeah, procrastination today included bringing the AT out of the garage and running her up. Got a good sound file of her running to take with me. The .wav file gives it a great range of freqs including the deep bass rumble of the twin. Yeah OK, that might sound weird, but hey I'm sure I'm not the only one who suffers withdrawal from riding!... right?...guys?

Anyhoo, gotta go, just ticked off KB on my procrastination list. hmmm, what else can I do...

[Night Falcon]

....... but hey I'm sure I'm not the only one who suffers withdrawal from riding!... right?...guys?

Anyhoo, gotta go, just ticked off KB on my procrastination list. hmmm, what else can I do...

I was reduced to doing the 15min idle reset a few times during my enforced layoff from riding...still not convinced it did anything for the bike but I enjoyed listening to the motor. :cool:

[buggsubique]

Hi everyone. Well it's been a month and a half since leaving NZ and finally I have a bike (well sort of!). After asking the locals, it turns out their chinese 125s are around $US800-1000, which seems really odd as there is not a lot of money in this economy yet every mofo has one of these bikes. There are a few Jappas around, and yesterday's treasure hunt landed me a Honda XL200. It has been laying around parked up in the UN compound for what looks like a very long time. There were bird nests in behind the headlight, spider eggs under the seat...the tyres were flat, fuel gone, low on oil, no key... and so begins the project!

We are doing a lot of airborne patrols and getting around various parts of the country. But after hours there is not a lot to do but drink beer, watch the odd movie, check emails and that sort of stuff. So now I have this project to crack on with...

The real killer so far is a combination of the electrics being in a real bad way, and no ignition key. I dropped the barrel out of the ignition (the steering lock had not been used) so I can turn the connector rotor at the bottom now with no need for a key. The battery is fully dead so that is on the solar charger now to see if it will hold anything...not expecting it to! No kick start which is a bugger. Spent yesterday trying to jump it off one of the Nissan Patrols but there is nothing in the electrics at all... replaced the 15A main fuse (it had been bypassed with wire). So this last fact is probably my biggest concern - if the fuse was burnt out and they then bypassed it there's a good chance the same thing that cooked the fuse has now caused electrical damage somewhere else. I'll see what else I can find but for now, slowly slowly. Might get the wife to send a multimeter from home for a bit of testing. I'll now go through all the connections one by one.

Aside from that, its just really hot (high 40's - we did reach 51 one day). The roads are like rainbow station on a bad day, with some the Kaimai Ranges' Thompsons Track thrown in for good measure...

[Underground]

Its a Honda mate! you'll get her going.

[Woodman]

Well if you can't get the Honda going, have a go at the jet.

[Monstaman]

Groovy mate .. she will go again as long as it has not been toasted in the stator / voltage reg, follow it through methodically and you will win.

Look forward to the updates

[Night Falcon]

my old XR 2fiddy had problems with the carb after sitting for a few years, the old fuel bunged up the jets. Good luck on the project :Punk:

[buggsubique]

So yesterday I frigged around with the electrics from the starter solenoid right through to ignition barrel. And we have power throughout! Guess there was just a lot of oxidisation stopping the show.

Managed to get almost a litre of gas into the tank by blowing it up through the fuel tap. Drained the carb of the remaining old shit and gave her a few good goes at turning over. She's real low on oil so I will pick some up down the road today - they have these motorbike shacks "downtown" that sell fuel in coke bottles and seem to have a few bikes in pieces out the front.

I managed to get the plug out with the gerber (the only tool I have aside from a screwdriver!) and it's not as wet as it should be and is in mediocre shape. Infact, the whole head of the plug lead came away from the lead so I had to screw that back into the lead. We have spark, so it is good to know the electrics are not cooked as initially feared. Have replaced the 15A mainfuse now so its protected.

So now that we have it turning over but not biting (not even a pop) I will rip the carb out carefully (rubber likely to be perished) and strip that puppy and give it a good blow through. No fuel filter fitted so if I come across one it will be a solid investment against the low fuel quality here...

So far it still holds promise! I hate troubleshooting electrics on a bike - Logic tells me it's a science but so often it seems like an art!

Buggs.

[buggsubique]

Fuck, so after all that, someone has flogged it (flogged it back I guess!). Fair enough. Possession is only 9/10ths of the law and I guess I just got hit with that 1/10th bit. :bye:

[JATZ]

Bugger :angry: But I'm surprised they didn't wait till you had it running properly first :blink:

Nevermind.... with a bit of luck you'll find a nice DR or summat :yes:

[buggsubique]

Bugger :angry: But I'm surprised they didn't wait till you had it running properly first :blink:

Nevermind.... with a bit of luck you'll find a nice DR or summat :yes:

Nothing like that surprises me here! Logic does not prevail in many nationalities here. If they want the bottom of the ignition barrel they can come find it...

A few DRz around actually but for parts supply I'm prolly best with Chinese. :cry:

[Night Falcon]

Fuck, so after all that, someone has flogged it (flogged it back I guess!). Fair enough. Possession is only 9/10ths of the law and I guess I just got hit with that 1/10th bit. :bye:

stinky :violin:

[buggsubique]

Wishing NZ a peaceful ANZAC day. Please make the effort to support your servicemen and women and attend either a dawn service or mid-morning civic service. It means a lot to those in uniform to have their fellow countrymen come together in the memory of our forefathers, many of whom gave their life and many more who carried the scars for years after. If you can't make a service then a whiskey or rum & coffee in the morning followed by enjoying the company of your friends and family will do just fine too!

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5251/719/400/soldier_cross.jpg

We Will Remember Them

[CrazyFrog]

Good turnout at the ANZAC services in Nelson today:yes: Kia Kaha boys.

You look after yourself over there too Matt, I dunno how far you are from the trouble spots, but I see on the news today the unrest is building again over in the Sudan. They (locals) are talking of wiping out "parasites" again, sounds like that Rwanda bullshit all over.

Sheesh, I guess TIA after all. :wacko:

[buggsubique]

Hi all. Well I don’t have a huge amount to write about in terms of massive motorbike adventures, but I did go out the other day with a Finnish guy by the name of Kimmo from Bike-Egypt, on one of his KTM 530 EXCs. When I knew I was coming to Africa I thought “no motorcyclist goes to Africa and doesn’t ride!” so first thing on my list was to find a place that I could get a taste of the African Experience on two wheels. So I found Bike-Egypt online (amongst a few other places – mostly Madagascar and South Africa). Doing a bit of a cost assessment I decided against flying to SA and hiring a BMW for a two week adventure ride. I guess as I saw it, $5-6k goes a long way in NZ to parking another steed in the shed.

So my leave break took me to Egypt where I bunked down at a place called Magawish Swiss Inn. Basically it’s an all inclusive resort on the Red Sea and houses the local kite surfing outfit Colona Watersports. Kitesurfing was something I wanted to try out back in 2004 when I got back from Afghanistan but for various reasons it never happened. So here was my chance to try my hand at something new, and here begins the monologue on adventure philosophy…

I was out in the desert behind Hurghada on this KTM and after an hour of getting used to the bike (ie its power, light weight and small size…awesome suspension…the list goes on!) the art of riding started to come back to me. I hadn’t ridden since the Waiouru Adventure Ride in November – it all got a bit busy after than with the pre-deployment stuff and Christmas etc. So after an hour into the ride I got real comfortable with Katie. The muscle memory came back…the handling and weight / CoG of body vs bike in the sand came back, and I really started to have a good time. The bike was magically levitating over ditches and holes and down banks, pulling up some big dunes…shit it was awesome. The fun and enjoyment of motorcycling was returning to me. As I got towards the 2 hour mark, the deeper side of motorcycling revealed itself once again. I find for some reason, the 2 hour mark is the magic point in any ride. It takes that long to come down from the stress of current issues in life, but when you do, suddenly you’re up and planing along in this crazy euphoric state. Doing weird shit like laughing to yourself as the scenery passes by, or just hiding a big sh*t eating grin under your helmet. Well, that’s how it is for me anyway…leaving daily life behind in the rear view mirror. Then you get to the point where your eyes read the trail ahead, your brain computes it all almost subliminally and the muscles react accordingly. Autopilot to a certain extent. It frees up the mind to think about other stuff – to start solving some of those problems in the rear view mirror…well anyway, getting a bit D&M there…

The ride was amazing. I can’t say that enough. It was truly magical to be out back in the sand lands, looking across at Bedouin camps and imposing mountains that break up an otherwise completely barren land. It was merely a taste of what the legendary Dakar riders contend with, and certainly was a lot slower paced! But still, there I was, a kiwi riding in the deserts of Africa, and it felt f*cken great.

You may (or likely may not) have noticed my signature block before. Take a read of it again if you need to. Today that slogan got me through when I was at the point of failure. Let me explain. I forked out a not insignificant sum of money to get some kitesurfing lessons here – 5 hours in total. So I did the lessons and got to the point where I could safely handle a kite and could get up on the board in the water. Cool. Problem I was finding was I had all these lessons and still couldn’t kitesurf for sh*t! I’m not a board rider (although I am well experienced with power kites and can wakeboard). Today was my first crack alone on this board under 9m2 of wind power…I had high expectations that I would get out there in the water and be up and surfing in no time. The first take off was literally that…I cocked up the power stroke and the kite ripped me from the water and launched me 10m downwind. Wish I coulda seen that from the beach, haha. By the way, the Red Sea is really salty – you shouldn’t drink it! Chin up, I thought; crack on. So after multiple failures and half starts I was getting pretty low about the whole thing and thought I should take my wife’s advice and stick to riding and going out bush with firearms… Seriously, I was at the point where I thought “f*ck this, I’ve had a guts full. Time to pack up”. Then I tried again..and bugger me if I didn’t surf 40-50m! That baby step was my sliver of hope that told me I might actually be able to do this. So again, I spent another hour face planting and ingesting some of the saltiest water I’ve known…and again took myself close to that point of feeling like a failure and that I should give up. But as cheesy as it sounds, those words of Adventure kept ringing in my ears. “To give up is to fail yourself”, I thought. It fits with the philosophy I ride with – what experience am I going to have today?…how will I learn from it, and will I actually seek out true adventure, true challenges, or will I just “go for a ride” and call it an adventure?… for three hours I stuck at it and although I still suck pretty bad, I suck a whole lot less than when I got in the water three hours before! In the end I was sailing upwind in both directions, not consistently, but hey tomorrow’s another day and another adventure lies in wait… One wicked crash at a time I improved today, and no doubt it will be the same tomorrow. But yeah, man hugs aside, my adv riding philosophy got me through today as I seek to diversify the adventure portfolio.

Talking about bikes again, one of the reasons I got the Africa Twin was because of the challenge it presented in trying to ride it the same places the DR’s, XR’s, DR-Z’s and KLR’s go. After riding the KTM I’m pretty sure I’m going to look at either a DR-Z again or a 650R to park alongside the AT. After that ride in the desert I can recall how much fun a smaller bike is off road. The AT is definitely a very capable offroad bike, despite its age (as MarkS would say, I’m living in a time warp! Haha), but it ain’t no trail bike and at just under a quarter tonne with fuel and adv kit it is a lot to handle alone. I don’t class the DR or KLR as trail bikes my book either, and I’m sure some would see the XR as borderline too; not to mention the fact it’s now getting long in the tooth as well...but I still think it’s a contender – and I think either of those two bikes farts all over a KTM for up front cost, engine longevity and maintenance costs; probably the key factors we all look at in a bike as Kiwi Adv Riders right!

I have another three days here in Hurghada before I head to Cairo for a squiz at these big stoney pyramidy looking things. Looking forward to that. Looking a little less forward to catching a plane back to South Sudan I must admit! The wet season is upon us there and even 4wd with front and rear difflock doesn’t always work… hence the Ukranian Mi8s are the vehicle of choice for getting around outside of town… problem is we tend to keep bumping into angry dudes with AK’s who think we’re re-arming the criminals and rebel groups…so my main adventure awaits my return! Till next time, here's a couple of vids from South Sudan and photos from the desert ride.

Regards to all, Buggs


http://youtu.be/flkNTBao9sA


http://youtu.be/olKV_73E04o

[buggsubique]

for some reason the photos dropped from the post above...

[Woodman]

Thanks fot that Buggs.

Keep up the good work over there, and btw riding that 530 in the desert didn't look like fun at all, no not even remotely cool whatsoever.

[Padmei]

What he said.

[Night Falcon]

great report buggs and glad you had the oppertunity to taste the "orange cool aide"....every adventure rider deserves at least one drink of the orange necter at some point :devil2:

[young1]

Great write up. Did you notice how clear the water is in the Red Sea?

You guys are doing an awesome job

Mike

[buggsubique]

Great write up. Did you notice how clear the water is in the Red Sea?

You guys are doing an awesome job

Mike

yeh its real nice and clear. Havent been diving yet though. Might do that in july if i can dodge ramadan and get my leave cleared...

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[Underground]

Good to see you're managing to scratch the adventure itch in you're time off ........as if you dont get enough of it at work!

[thepom]

Allo mate....I,ve dived the red sea abit and promise you awesome diving....my favourite place in the world for diving.....Hurgada is a great place...full of russians on holiday,its the costa del sol of russia...terrific diving too at dahab too,hope thay have toilets in dahab as they didnt when I was there with my jelly botty... good luck and stay safe....and enjoy...

[Underground]

Allo mate....I,ve dived the red sea abit and promise you awesome diving....my favourite place in the world for diving.

mmm... diving.... I've got some moorings I need to check and a couple of other jobs, but my tank is out of date and my wetsuit seems to have shrunk :shit:

[buggsubique]

yeah im not sure what my next break will entail. Ive almost had enough of egypt now and i have heard there is a self drive motorbike safari place outside of kampala in uganda. Might ask after that one and see if i can ride me a bike in amongst the animals or something.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[pete-blen]

mmm... diving.... I've got some moorings I need to check and a couple of other jobs, but my tank is out of date and my wetsuit seems to have shrunk :shit:

Must be a common design falt with wet suits... mine done the same..
Don't take yer tank to the blen dive shop for a hydro... they drill holes
in them..then tell yer it had cracks around the valve thread :(..

[buggsubique]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vjpl0itcd3f99k8/p7DzF5hJZH#f:Manabol%201.wmv

Hey fellas,

Well not too much to write about to be honest. We managed to get a couple of 4WD patrols in recently as we did a route recce out east from here and then again to track some dudes with guns. This one is from the first trip where we took a couple of sections of Indian infantry in their trucks. We were in 2 x Nissan Patrols (good, capable wagons). Here's a video of the trip. Would be an amazing adv ride. You could actually do a pretty cool circuit through this state, maybe around 1000km. You'd need a trail-biased adv bike and probably one with low fuel consumption. Most bikes here are 125cc because of the limited gas availability and the cost. That said, I'd love to have a brute like the AT here with knobs on. :devil2:

The area we drove in this video is basically a swamp with a road through it. And yes, I know the winch angle was f*cked, but it was the only firm footing for the Nissan. We had to turn around after 7 hours and 80km as both the big trucks were getting bogged and it was only getting worse. 14 hours was a longtime getting thrown around in a tin can!


<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=bor,+south+su dan&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=54.928982,79.013672&amp;t=h&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq= &amp;hnear=Bor,+Jonglei,+South+Sudan&amp;ll=6.22,31.55&amp;spn =0.068175,0.077162&amp;z=14&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=bor,+south+ sudan&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=54.928982,79.013672&amp;t=h&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq= &amp;hnear=Bor,+Jonglei,+South+Sudan&amp;ll=6.22,31.55&amp;spn =0.068175,0.077162&amp;z=14" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Enjoy, Buggs

[JATZ]

WOT !!! only 16 Indians ?... there musta been more than that :D

Nice work Buggs

[Waihou Thumper]

I saw your photo album on Facebook Matt. Great work, must be frustrating at times with the Beaurocracy, red tape thingy...:)
Keep up the good work, you will be back soon enough to re-acquaint yourself with the AT, not to mention the family of course and the lawns and the fence and the chores :) Bet you cannot wait!

[buggsubique]

Cheers Mark. Certainly looking forward to getting home. There's only so much 4th world one can take when you're not passing through it on two wheels.

The AT needs a fair bit of love (I haven't ridden it since the WAR ride!) so I am considering (ie the wife is considering) getting either another DRZ 400 or 650R. That'll give me something to flog instead of hte Africa and I'll put some money back into her and dress her up nice again over a bit of time. Certainly can't part with the AT though!!

Even denying myself a week's Adv riding in Ethiopia to put towards the bike!

[Waihou Thumper]

DRZ 400 or 650R. That'll give me something to flog

Even denying myself a week's Adv riding in Ethiopia to put towards the bike!

Let's see if the next WAR ride can be a fist full of DR's :) The way things are going, it could be achievable :msn-wink: Dirt cheap DR600 thumper on trade me Matt, $1900, great start...