Ok so we survived our little trip and here’s Gill’s version from the pillion seat. I think it just about says it all except that in some places it sounds like I just drink beer and sleep - not true at all. As far as the bike goes I think that the rear cylinder runs much hotter than the front one even with the little oil cooler in front as the one pipe is already discolouring. Not having the cross over pipe connecting the two makes it far more obvious. The bike seems to run better with these pipes although it needs to have the mixture adjusted as it is running a bit lean. The route we travelled was nice with tar roads all the way, gentle curves and a few passes thrown in and no traffic even though it was school holidays. Maybe all the trucks were at Killarney, but it was an absolute pleasure. When we did come across traffic on the N1 the 1400 motor made overtaking an absolute pleasure. My next purchase for the bike is definitely large saddlebags with a softer seat following closely. At the moment I couldn’t travel long enough to need a bigger tank 
A most enjoyable trip and I’m ready for the next one.
Axel
Our “long weekend” was long overdue. We’d been planning to go away for about a year and as things started getting too much for Simon at work (with ± 2 weeks to go before year-end!), he decided that the time had come for a much needed break. After much deliberation, we decided we’d take a trip to Oudtshoorn (± 425km from Cape Town) since I’d never been to the Cango Caves. We would leave on Friday, 03 December and return on Monday, 06 December. As this was the first long-distance trip we’d be taking on the Intruder, we spent the greater part of the week discussing the route and when we’d fill up, etc.
After handing over the keys of the house to my brother-in-law (he and my sister were house-sitting), we left Milnerton at about 09h30 and after picking up a can of Tyreweld, got onto the N1 and were on our way. We had packed all our things for the weekend (everything but the kitchen sink!) in our hiking bag and although I couldn’t stand with it on my back without falling over, I found that by leaning it on the backrest a lot of the weight was off my back, so to speak 
Yay for backrests!
We got to Du Toit’s Kloof Tollgate at about 10h00, reaching the Breede River One-stop in Worcester by just before 11h00. We stopped at the Whistlestop Café for some coffee and already, at just over 100 km, my butt was starting to ache abominably. Over our coffee we decided that we wouldn’t stop in Robertson (which was about 55 km away), but would go on to Montagu (another 29 km) where’d we’d stop for lunch.
We arrived in Montagu at about 12h20 and stopped at a pleasant little restaurant called Preston’s Restaurant for a light lunch. After noticing Simon’s Toy Run ‘99 t-shirt, our host, Barry, asked if we’d been to this year’s one. He asked if Simon’s bike had been okay there. It seems that he had a friend who had taken the trip from Montagu to attend and had his bike stolen out of the Maynardville parking lot! We heard that a total of 5 bikes had been stolen at the Toy Run this year.
We left Montagu at about 13h30 and made our way to Barrydale, which was 76 km away. We were riding for about 20 minutes when Simon stopped the bike on what appeared to be a desert road. I had been listening to the portable cd player and started panicking when he stopped. I had visions of the bike breaking down and having to spend the night right there when Simon said “Hmmmm….I think we’re on the right road, but I haven’t seen any roadsigns. Maybe we should have turned right somewhere.” My heart sank. If we were on the wrong road, what if we ran out of petrol before we got to a petrol station or the right road? Luckily, Simon kept on the road anyway and after a while we came across a sign saying we were on the R62 to Barrydale.
Once we’d reached Barrydale, we stopped at the petrol station to fill up again and to take a serious butt break. We stopped at a little café and had something to drink and admired these homemade wooden doll’s houses and trains they were selling. Pity we didn’t have any more space on the bike…
The next stop was Ladismith, which was 82 km from Barrydale. After once again stopping to fill up and rest our weary butts, we were on our way to Calitzdorp for a quick stop and, not knowing if the bike would make it to Oudtshoorn, decided to fill up there again. Another 38 km and we were in Oudtshoorn. We had started out in Cape Town in the cool of a day which was going to 25º C which steadily soared to 35º as our trip progressed. We arrived at the Best Little Guesthouse (where we were staying) at about 16h35 hot, tired and sweaty.
I started packing our things away while Simon went to have a beer on the verandah in a deck chair overlooking the pool. After a supper of roasted lamb with garlic and rosemary, homemade mustard and all sorts of wonderful salads, I sat on the verandah in the deck chair till about 21h00 and on returning to the room, found Simon fast asleep, fully clothed! He woke at 04h30 the next day and couldn’t sleep so he kept himself busy until 07h00 when he decided I’d slept long enough and that he needed some company
After breakfast (full English) Simon decided that we would take a trip to the Cango Caves and then to the Crocodile Park. It was 30 minutes out of town along a winding road and my butt had still not recuperated from the previous day’s travelling! When we got to the Cango Caves we stopped for some coffee and then went to find the rest of the tour just before 11h00. I found the caves very beautiful and incredibly big, after the tiny tunnels I’d been in when I went caving at Kalk Bay. These weren’t in the least claustrophobic! The guide led us through 5 chambers and we discovered that a round trip was 1.2 km! When we found the bike in the parking lot, we discovered that the shade we had parked under had moved, with the bike cooking in the noonday sun! And here we were in just shorts, t-shirts and slipslops! Ouch!
Next stop: the crocodile park, which surprisingly didn’t only have crocodiles. I had lots of fun with the video camera filming crocs, cheetahs, miniature ponies and goats and some interesting snakes. We had lunch at Zindago’s, seated on a verandah overlooking a dam filled with flamingos, swans, ducks and some cute, furry mammals, which are supposed to be the world’s biggest rodents. They looked a bit like huge coconuts with their brown fur sticking up all over the place…:)
We had a wonderful cruise back into town with a brisk breeze cooling us down. In the main road in town, we slowed down at the traffic lights next to an old guy (could have been in his sixties) on a 1300 Kwaka. He glanced at us, nodded gravely when he saw what we were riding, said “Mooorge” which we worked out to mean “Morning” and when the lights turned green, must have really wanted to impress us, because he went screaming down the road between two cars, comb flying out of his socks, safari suit flapping in the wind! Simon and I burst into laughter. You should have seen the surprised look on some of the car driver’s faces.
We found a café in town and bought some books to read by the poolside. Luckily for us, when we got back to the guesthouse, we were the only ones about and could quickly change into our cozis for a splash in the pool. I think the sun and chlorine in the water quickly got rid of my tattoo, so I think Henesia and I need to do some serious thinking about the temporary ones we’d like to get…
We went to have a shower at about 17h00 and got ready to have some supper at “Die Taphuis” which is a German bistro in the centre of town. It was actually a tea garden and Simon and I enjoyed a peaceful meal while a few people stopped to admire the Intruder. There were actually two Intruders parked across the road with nice saddlebags that we admired (the owners had gone into a shop). The one couple actually looked a bit like Chris and Henesia with their potty helmets and Henesia’s short blonde hair!
After supper (a ghastly price for a ghastly meal) we were about to get on the bike when a guy approached us. He was from Cape Town away on business and had an Intruder 800 back home, which he never got a chance to ride. We invited him along on one of our rides, but I think the mean look in our eyes intimidated him. We asked him for his email address, cell phone number, address, but to no avail. I think he mistook us for seriously baaaaad bikers (not!) and probably thought we would be too harsh on him first time out!
That night we had a good night’s rest and again woke at about 07h00 the Sunday morning. After breakfast we asked our hosts, Nic and Helen, which places would be open on a Sunday. They gave us some ideas and once again, we were off. We decided on going to George, which after 425 km from Cape Town, was a mere 59 km away. The day was overcast, but humid in Oudtshoorn and wearing just jeans and t-shirts we hadn’t reckoned on the Outeniqua Pass which was covered in mist and freezing. By the time we got to George, we were almost frozen and stopped at a craft market to thaw. We then made our way through to Wilderness and from there took an impromptu trip to Brenton-on-Sea for lunch.
The Intruder had been wonderful all the way from Cape Town, but as we made our way to Brenton I checked the tripmeter and saw that it was at 124 km! We had never let it get pass 110 km and I started worrying (okay, so I’m a little paranoid!) that we would run outta petrol. After lunch Simon said we would go to Knysna to fill up. We made it to Knysna (much to my relief) with 140 km on the tripmeter and hadn’t even hit reserve yet! We filled up with 9.38l of petrol, which means that with a 13l tank, we were getting almost 15 km per litre (which certainly beats the usual 9-10 km per litre)!
On our way back the weather started getting steadily worse. We were going blue with cold, so we stopped at a fleamarket in Knysna and bought some warm tops to wear over the Pass. My butt was aching so fiercely I just wanted to get home and soak in a bath. We had just made it over the Outeniqua pass when it started raining - talk about perfect timing! Luckily it was just light rain and soon let up. We made it back to the guest house by 16h30.
After a light supper of pizza and cold drink and a quick game of 11-card rummy, we retired to our room. Simon was up at the crack of dawn (as always) and at about 08h00 we went to have breakfast before packing our bags for the long trip home. Our hosts came out to wave goodbye and Nic couldn’t stop raving about the bike. We left Oudtshoorn just before 09h00 and drove straight to Ladismith (±100 km) before filling up.
We made our way to Barrydale before stopping for some coffee and pastries at a place called the Coffee Shoppe. The owner of the café was very charming and also couldn’t stop talking to Simon about the bike. The café’s really nice and we could choose to sit inside or outside on the terrace beneath the shade of some trees (the only trees in the Karoo, mind you!). I definitely recommend anybody stopping there for a butt break.
We left there just before 12h00 and got to Montagu by 12h25 and stopped for a light lunch. Once again, we found the bike evoked lots of interest among the locals, with comments like “Jislaaik! Smaak vir my soos ‘n Harley!” and some people even squatting next to…erm…kneeling down beside the bike to check it out from close up. We decided to stop in Robertson to fill up and made it there with 91.7 km on the tripmeter.
Our next and final stop would be Worcester, which we made by 14h45. We filled up again and rested our butts to prepare for the final 103 km to Cape Town, arriving home at about 16h20, tired, but happy to be home.
We were happy that the Intruder had handled the trip so well. I’d had visions of tyre bursts and all sorts of horrible things happening, but thankfully we were spared any mishaps. Besides the fact that the bike was running a bit lean and the new exhausts were discolouring, everything else went well. The only thing I really had a problem with was the hard saddle. My butt still aches! I think us unfortunate Intruder/ Marauder pillions need to have a word with Mr Suzuki…Pillions of the Cape unite!
Ladyhawk
PS Simon’s perspective was “LEKKERRRRRRRR!!! WHERE TO NEXT WEEK!!”
Tags: Trip reports
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