Valentino does a Christmas Holiday ride to Malelane and Nelspruit

Merry Christmas and  a Happy New Year from Valentino Harley Bear.

December 2012 has been a very interesting time - Mommy and Daddy to this bear to the Kruger National Park, and it is not known for having bears. It does have Elephants, Lion, Rhino's, Hippo's, Crocodiles, lots of buck and many more wild animals.

Mommy n Me - Ready To Ride, Baby.

We left Durban on Saturday the 22nd of December 2012 at 6.00 a.m. (this is a picture of me in my riding position on all the comfy luggage). We had a very nice ride along the coast, passing through Ballito before going onto the freeway and going past Umtumzini, Eshowe, Richards Bay, Matubatuba (near St. Lucia), the beautiful Jozini Dam, before stopping at Pongola for lunch.

I wasn't hungry and guarded the Harley (some people found this very interesting and took pictures of me). As long as they smile when they see me (like the people in the cars we pass), I am happy to be photographed.

The next town was Piet Retief and we stopped here for a petrol fillup as the next stop was to be near Badplaas, another 250 kms up the road. An interesting part of this stretch of the trip happened when Daddy accidentally rode over a brown stick that turned out to be a snake (heard him say he thought it was a brown mole snake) that he saw writhing in pain when he looked in the rear-view mirror. He didn't stop to investigate.

Valentino by the Crocodile River

The ride over the mountain roads near Barberton was really scenic and the passes are just made for riding with a Harley. Most of the other road users seemed happy to allow the chrome bedecked Harley past, but there are always one or two drivers who feel the need to show their lack of maturity by trying to take the rolling thunder on. Their accellaration is no match when there is traffic around, but when they start doing stupid speeds over 140kmh on public roads, Daddy just backed off and let them do their thing. Usually went past them when there was traffic around a bit later on anyway.

We got to the Rio Vista Lodge where we were going to be staying in Malelane (right next to the Crocodile River that forms the Kruger National Park border) at 3.15 p.m., 9 and a quarter hours for a 840km trip with 5 stops for petrol and leg stretching (and a few hateful toll road booths).

This is me outside our bungalow with the Crocodile river and the Kruger National Park in the background.

This is my Mommy n me outside our bungalows front door (the door has a Lion carved in it).

We saw (and heard) some hippo's by the river, as well as some Waterbuck (rugged and robust animals with conspicuous white rings - Daddy said they look like they sat on a painted wet toilet seat - on their rear ends). There were also lots of noisy ducks, guinea fowl and many different, beautiful birds.

Our bungalow was very comfortable, with the biggest luxury being the air-conditioner, which gave us welcome relief from the dry heat outside.

Where's the food?

We also saw Kudu, Impala and Bush Buck from the lodges grounds. Meals are served on a deck with a thatched roof that has wonderful view of the river and park. This is a picture of me at breakfast.

We didn't go to Malelane only to see the animals - my Granny (on my Mothers side) lives around the corner from the lodge, and we visited her and met lots of the family. Daddy was allowed to make lunch for the family (Pasta Bolognaise - Yum) in Granny's kitchen, something that men in this family don't normally do. We learnt that food tastes a bit different at altitude and Daddy hoped that it was ok. While it wasn't as good as at home, it couldn't have been too bad.

Here is a pic of cousin Michelle, Granny and Danielle, one of Michelle's three lovely, charming daughters. Granny was very funny and unusually had some Champagne and some red wine with the Christmas Dinner. Surprisingly, she was able to read the Christmas cracker message easily without her glasses after this, but the next day needed her reading glasses to read anything. :-)

The next day we travelled to Nelspruit (60kms away), to visit some of Daddy's family - one of his favourite Aunts - Aunty Sally and two of her daughters, cousins Beau and Mandy - all wonderful people with good memories revisited or shared.

More on this trip tomorrow!!

Valentino See's American President Re-elected.

Valentino on Milwaukee Rolling Thunder

This bear knows that the homeland of Harley is going to go well for the next four years. Rolling thunder is safe in the hands of Barack Obama for another four years.


Mitt Romney has conceded defeat in the race for President of the United States of America to Barack Obama. It will be four more years for President Obama. This South African thinks the better choice won. Mitt Romney might have better credentials if Obama wasn't the incumbent with four years of experience in the job. That, for me, is the big deciding factor. Obama has had four years of doing this job, during one of the most difficult periods to do the job. The choices he has made in the last four years have not yet had a chance to play themselves out, and, I believe, he deserves the opportunity to see the results. Some of them are already starting to pay off - unemployment figures are coming down. The gaffes made by Romney were exploited well by Obama (who won't kill off "Big Bird"), and had Romney wasting time and effort on covering them. Voting was very close (less than 1% overall difference), but the state electoral votes gave Obama an easy victory from the dense population areas.

Congratulations President Obama - remember that your actions and decisions have world-wide repercussions. Osama Bin Ladin is dead, now pursue the rest of the Al Quada terrorists.

Valentino Visits St. Lucia

Valentino with Daddy on the Dyna Superglide we went to St. Lucia on.

The public holiday in August 2012 gave us a four day long week-end (if you took the working Friday off), which was a perfect opportunity for Valentino to visit St. Lucia, the sleepy seaside village on the KwaZulu-Natal North coast, with Mommy Daddy and my brothers Paul & Jason. Paul & Jason had to follow the Harley in their car (which meant we had somewhere to put the luggage, laptops, .....hairdrier...........hair straightener..................snacks, etc). The ride from Durban isn't that far, only about 240km's, but it is nice to be able to stop half way for coffee and a snack. The Hearty Meals restaurant in Umtunzini provides a beautiful view, and is run by a good, decent South African family who always provide a welcoming smile with homemade, generous portioned, tasty food. Paul & Jason loved their huge burgers, but I was waiting for the fish in St. Lucia.

Paul, Mommy & Jason with a view in the St. Lucia Reserve.

Arriving at St. Lucia, one has to cross a bridge over a river to get to the village. It is very tourist visitor orientated, with the main road flanked by many restaurants, hotels, Bed & Breakfasts and self-catering holiday flats. We had booked at The Boma Lodge, which has self catering flats overlooking the hippo and crocodile filled river.

After unpacking and having lunch, we went on a boat ride to see some of the wild animals in their natural habitat. The boats captain was very knowledgeable and knew the birds and animals and where to find them.

Hippo's in St. Lucia Estuary

We also went through the St. Lucia reserve, where we saw Warthog, Zebra, Monkeys (some of which just must have been Samango Monkeys according to the sign - see pic below), Rhino, and different buck.

Samango Monkey...no...Paul - Securing foodstuff by eating it!

We were amazed at how close we got to two Rhino's - they were right next to the road, and just ignored us.

Two Rhino's

Long Horned Rhino

We don't understand how anyone would want to kill these magnificent creatures for their horns. Shame on the hunters.

We managed to have lunch one day at the St. Lucia Ocean Basket restaurant, where they have the best Fish and Chips in KwaZulu-Natal. We have tried this meal at six different branches of the franchise, and this one wins hands down. Well worth the visit.

On the return trip on Sunday (it was Mommy's birthday - we all spoilt her a bit - she deserves it), we stopped again at Hearty Meals, where they had prepared a home made bread for us.

Huge Home-made Bread -Yum!

While we enjoy our visit to the reserves of our country, where we can see the animals in their natural habitat, one can't help but wonder at the cruelty and greed of some who call themselves "people", and kill these creatures. We have wars where people commit the most unthinkable attrocities, and then we have these inhuman savage killings of Rhino, for their horns. I blame the lack of education, which surely must elevate the human consciousness to a level where one has a conscience, realising what is wrong and choosing to go the way that is right. No one can believe that they need to kill these animals for food. It is purely financial greed, driven by the demands from the uncivilised Far East. Money & buildings don't make a civilisation. Is globalisation going to be the cause of the unnecessary extinction of these magnificent creatures? Support a Rhino saving organisation!

A wonderful week-end with a lovely family, in our beautiful KwaZulu-Natal. 

Harley Riders - War and Peace

"Public Image" is a significant part of what Harley riding is about. It has its pro's and con's.

The average person see's a Harley and thinks of all the "Hells Angels" stories he or she has heard. The first instinctive reaction is to avoid the Harley because it represents "danger". The riders are all painted with the same brush - leather clad, weapon wielding, foul mouthed, drug dealing low-lifes. BUT - they love the sound of the bike. So, this means that when riding, other traffic can hear you, looks for the noise, and probably gets out of your way. That's good, especially if you ride with safety in mind. When they see you are riding a good looking, chrome covered, shiny bit of rolling thunder, they will then remember when they saw a group of the official Harley Clubs riders (HOG - short for Harley Owners Group) doing a breakfast run or a rally where the group did a charitable donation; or arriving en-masse at a shopping centre to support a Christmas Carol evening (yes, the singing is loud and horribly out of tune, but unarguably loudly enthusiastic).

Every HOG rally in South Africa will donate to a local charity wherever the rally is held. I was part of the committee that donated a jet-ski to a life-savers group in Margate.

Not all the bike riders clubs are this charitable, but it is possible to get positive reactions from the public if you behave in a decent way. Is it worth it? I see more people smiling after they see my Harley, than otherwise, so yes, it is very much worth it.

Get a Harley if you don't have one yet - the life-style is awesome.

Broken Throttle Cable

I've seen it happen to my friends bikes, but this is a first for me. My mommy, daddy and I had got a little more than a block away from home on another brilliant sunny Saturday Spring morning in Durban, when turning the throttle suddenly had no effect. The motor just idled. According to daddy, there was no warning, no slackness or difficulty in turning the throttle, no nothing. Just working fine one minute, then nothing.

A couple of 'phone calls (first to the Harley dealership, then to our good friend Monty), determined how we were going to get this fixed. Monty fetched mommy 'n me and daddy idled the blue Harley along the roads to Monty's home. The Harley dealership were their normal helpful selves, offering to fetch the bike on a trailer and then order new throttle cables as they had none in stock (as usual). Our other Harley (a Black Sporty called Joli) was standing at the Harley dealership, so Monty offered to take us there to fetch it. We decided to stop on the way at The Biker Store to see if they had cables in stock, and, just like the tyre story, they did. Good ones too, the wire braided type. So with our new cables in hand we fetched Joli and went back to Monty's to fit them. After rubbing a bit of salt in the wounds of our friends at Harley (Jason, Chris & Mike) about their not having stock again, we found that they had done a great free cleaning of Joli before we collected it. A classy set-up.

Monty went to a lot of trouble to help fit the new cables. We had to dismantle the throttle grip mount on the handle bars, take off the air filter, the seat and lift the petrol tank. Doing a great job of fitting them, meant oiling the cable inside first (to avoid fraying) and checking that the correct opening and closing fittings were used, then making sure they were adjusted correctly with no play in the cable so the throttle could open and close fully. This took about three hours, but the bike is going better than before, with more feel in the throttle.

Finished just in time to watch the Bokke thrashing the Aussies on the Rugby field - YAY, go Beast.

Bye for now.

Valentino Harley Swanepoel - Harley Bear

This is the official announcement of the birth of Valentino Harley. This Harley Bear was born on 14th of February 2012 (hence the name Valentino). This picture below is of Valentino Harley Bear next to his birth certificate.

 His mommy is Marilia Swanepoel, known to all as Lila.

Mommy loves to see all the animals in nature, and daddy takes her travelling often.

This is when they got married on 18th February 2012 & that is one of the Harleys they travel on.

We all live in Durban, where we have a beautiful view of the sea, Greyville race-course & golf course, & Moses Mabhida Stadium. Greyville race course has some naked people running on it at night in July. The golf course has had a few more water holes after all the rain the last couple of weeks. Moses Mabhida Stadium was built for the TopGear show with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, & James May. Mommy & daddy & my two brothers saw the show in June this year. The stadium was ready last year already, and they tested its readiness for the TopGear Show by hosting some soccer matches last year. It was part of the FIFA World Cup.

Anyway, I am going to be sharing some of our adventures when we go out on Harley rides with you. They have lots of pictures of good people having lots of fun. Here is just one of them that I am going to be telling you about.

Insurance Claim

Most Harley riders in South Africa have no experience of dealing with insurance claims on repairing damaged bikes (they don't drop their precious investments). However, occasionally riders like me, who use their Harleys as their basic transport, will end up claiming for damage.

No, I didn't fall, or even drop my bike. It was parked in the car park of a factory I was doing accounts consultancy work for. I was called out of the office to the car park, and found that their Hyster driver had ridden into the back of my Chrome & Blue Beauty, buckling the back mudguard into the tyre & knocking it over on the right-hand side. No biggie, you say. Hunh!!

I had to go to the local police station and fill in an accident report (to get a case number for the insurance). notify my insurance company, fill in their claim form, and show their claims inspector the damage for confirmation. Who are my insurers. They were a broker firm that was bought out by the international AON Insurance group. (Yes, the same one you see on Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in Formula 1, and the Manchester United Football Team. Apparently Hamilton needs insurance more than Alonso at Ferrari).

Also included was a visit to my local Harley dealership to get a quote for repairing the damage. 

Note the date - 1st June 2012

All the replacement parts required were available..........except the blue mudguard. This had to be ordered from Milwaukee, to match the original colour. After many visits, and phone calls, the mudguard arrived on the 7th of September 2012. SHEESH!!!! 

The bike went into the dealership on Tuesday 11th September, and I fetched it on Monday 17th September. I had to pay my excess (5% - R1198.00) & my delightful Dyna is back - rides & sounds great!! Insurance people all very pleasant & competent, as were all my friends at the Harley-Davidson dealership.

The only issue was riding a damaged bike for more than 3 months!!

Love my wife and my Harley!!

What Tyre?

We all need tyres replaced on our gleaming dream machines from time-to-time. It is one of the aspects of bike riding safety that we shouldn't compromise on. The advice we are given that a tyre needs to be replaced when there is only 1mm of tread left anywhere on the tyre, is good advice (unless you have dome kind of death wish). With only 2 wheels on the ground (unless you ride a woosie 'trike) & brakes that can never match those of a car, you need to make sure the rubber you have on the ground is good.

I have done about 130 000 km's of riding on my Harleys in the last 8 years, and have had tyres last as little as 9 000 km's and as much as 17 000 km's, but have had to replace quite a few.

Now most of us will just 'phone up our local dealership & arrange for a new tyre to be fitted when it can be done by the workshop. I did this myself for many years. We also see some of our friends at the breakfast runs with different looking tyres and invariably hear that they are much cheaper. I was always sceptical of fitting anything other than the official "Harley-Davidson Dunlop" to my bikes & coughed up between R2 000.00 & R3 000.00 for getting this done. Yes R3 000.00 for a standard back tyre on my Dyna Superglide Custom - because the dealer insists on replacing the tube and the tyre for safety reasons. Harleys aren't cheap!

In 2011, a few friends, my then fiance', Lila & I decided to do the 2 Passes Rally in Plettenburg Bay, which meant a 3 500 km round trip from Durban. Yes, I needed a new tyre on the back of the Dyna. The dealership had no stock, so a Michelin was obtained from another bike garage to keep me on the road. This tyre just didn't work for me. I was never comfortable with it (it felt like the back end was squirelly and lacking grip on the corners) & it only did a bit under 9 000 km's before being replaced.

This year, 2012, after a honeymoon trip to Knysna on the Harley, I needed a new tyre on the back again. I got a fright when I noticed how worn it was & contacted our dealership. I was told that they had no stock, & the official Dunlop suppliers had no stock in the country either, but I would be 'phoned when some stock arrived!! That don't work for me!!! The casual "lump it" attitude by the dealership staff turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I contacted the bike shop that sells second-hand Harleys at lunch-time & by 3 p.m. had a new Goodyear fitted for R2 145.00!! Great service, great price & what a good tyre. I was surprised at how good the grip felt, how solid it cornered and thus improved the ride. Probably won't last long, I thought. It is still on, & has done about 5 000 km's. The wear on it seems to be quite good. Whether it gets the 12 000 km's I like to get on a back tyre remains to be seen, but I think I will stick to Goodyear in future, even if it only gets 10 000 km's.

The attitude from the Harley dealership this time, it must be noted, is not the normal treatment I get there. On the contrary, many of the staff members have often gone out of their way to make my riding experience the best possible. Harley-Davidson tattoo's are commonplace, and while I don't believe I will ever see fit to deface my body with any kind of tattoo, I am pretty sure that logo is on my heart!