Riding in Mist, Rain and Heat.

To finish the story of our bad ride from Malelane to Durban, Valentino is going to let Daddy tell the story of the ride. We take off from the Cradle of Life stop near Badplaas in Mpumulanga.

Ready to Ride

My hope that the rain would disappear while we had a warming cup of coffee was not to be. It wasn't raining heavily, but the dark clouds looked threatening. It was now 10.30 a.m. and we had only travelled 124 km's, with more than 600 still to go. We took the Barberton turnoff just before Badplaas and rode steadily and easily to Barberton. The next section of road required taking a couple of turnoffs before finally getting on the road to Piet Retief if we wanted to return on the same road we had travelled up on.

The mist became so thick that we had to ride in second gear riding on the yellow line on the side of the road to avoid faster traffic travelling in either direction. Visibility was down to about a cars length, and riding was very dangerous. A car came past us from behind doing at least three times our speed, and would have had no chance of avoiding us if we had been in the middle of the road. While riding on the yellow line, which disappeared from time-to-time due to road works repairing pot-holes covering where the lines were, we missed the turn-off to Piet Retief. Eventually emerging from the mist safely, I soon saw a signpost indicating that we were well on our way to Ermelo. This meant we were probably about 20 km's past our intended turn-off, but I wasn't going to ride into that dangerous situation again, and decided it would be safest to continue on to Ermelo, then go via Newcastle, Ladysmith and the National Johannesburg/ Durban freeway on home.

Croc on Rock in Crocodile River

Get a pic of the Croc - not ME!

With the clouds rapidly giving way to hot open blue skies, we stopped in Ermelo to ask which road went to Newcastle from a woman stopped outside a cafe' in the main road. "Just turn left at the next robot, then go straight on..... straight..... and watch out for the pot-holes." 20 km's down that road, I took note of the signs saying we were now 80kms to Piet Retief (the long way there). 20 km's back to Ermelo, swearing at that stupid woman, wasted time and petrol. I had been on the right road before I asked her.

We had lunch in Ladysmith at 3.30 p.m. and eventually got safely home to Durban at 7.15 p.m. An 11 hour trip. While there was a degree of skill involved in dealing with the dangerous road conditions (my sweet wife declared me the best Harley rider in the country - an exaggeration by a large way, but her sentiments are appreciated), it has to be acknowledged that a degree of luck always plays its part.

Monty Munstermann in HOG Office - Durban Chapter.

What positives can be taken out of the ride? My safety kit was fully stocked and on board. I had checked out three possible routes each way on the trip. The Milwaukee iron was in tip-top condition when we left on the trip. Concentrating on having a safe trip and using the experience gleaned from my good friend Monty Munstermann on previous trips in misty conditions, I believe made the difference between an unpleasant ride and a disastrous ride.

I got my precious wife home safely, and love my Harley even more. Never missed a beat, roared past slow traffic quickly and safely, and carried myself, my wife, Valentino and lotsa luggage safely, but making the trip a life experience that will not be forgotten.

Malelane to Durban - Long ride!

This is the story of the second half of our Christmas holiday ride from Durban to Malelane and back.

All ready to roll

We packed the shining Milwaukee Harley like this on the trip from Durban.
The ride back from Daddy's family in Nelspruit on Boxing Day was a short pleasant 60km's, made more enjoyable by the pleasant feeling of sharing time with family that has not been seen for a long time.

Maybe if I ignore it it will go away.

With a long ride back to Durban ahead of us the next day, we decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants near the Malelane entrance to the Kruger National Park. One was still cleaning up from Christmas Day, another was fully booked, so we found ourselves at the very nice restaurant called Hamiltons. The meal was really unexpectedly nice, in pleasant surroundings, and some unusual residents waling around freely. While chicken was on the menu, we were surprised to see them walking around our table and then jumping up onto one of the other tables and chairs. It must be a regular occurence as the waiters ignored them and carried on with their duties in a very relaxed and friendly manner. Fortunately, the monitor lizard in the garden stayed well away from the dining tables.

The rest  of the afternoon was lazed away around the bungalow, looking at the buck, hippo's and birds in front of us.

Mommy, me n Palmira.

Rio Vista Lodge only starts serving breakfast at 7 a.m. unless you specifically make different arrangements if you want to leave earlier. Not wanting to make a fuss, we decided to pack, have breakfast, go say goodbye to the family, and be on the road by about 7.45 This would get us home about 5.00 p.m. No such luck! Breakfast was late, and then we bumped into Palmira, the owner of Rio Vista and a good friend of Granny Maria when handing the keys in. With the pleasantries over we went to have a long farewell with Granny Maria.

Entrance to Rio Vista Lodge

We eventually got riding at about 9.00 a.m. and rode into overcast threatening weather. By the time we got to the mountain pass near Barberton we had to stop to put on raincoats because of the fine drizzle coming down in misty conditions. This just got steadily worse until we pulled in to fill up with petrol at Cradle Of Life tourist resort near Badplaas. The temptation of a soothing hot cup of coffee drew us in to the restaurant before we got back on the road.

The rest of this bad days ride tomorrow.

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.