My Swazi shakedown worked very well.
Rather than head off into Mozambique I have returned to SA to fix yet more things:
- The right fork leg leaks oil from the damping adjuster knob.
- The DAM exhaust melted the left indicator.
- One of my litres of fully synthetic fell off the back of my bike and disappeared within minutes.
Whilst waiting for more bits to arrive I went on a four day walking safari in the Kruger NP with www.transfrontiers.com. This was my best vfm safari yet.
If you have never done one you must do so when you get into southern Africa. There is nothing quite like getting close to a huge animal. It's just not the same in a vehicle. Would you rather have sex or just watch?
'Don't take any photos once he's spotted us' whispered Andy my guide.
'That doesn't look right'.
Mark glanced at my rear wheel and spotted one of the bearing seals was fitted badly.
I took the wheel off and he removed the seal. It was completely the wrong size and I had never realised. It had been fitted quite a while ago.
More worringly he then discovered one of the bearings was completely knackered. I had asked Clayton Enslin to replace all the wheel bearings 1,000km ago as part of my big preventative maintenance plan before heading north through Africa.
30% of my mechanical problems have been caused by dealers making mistakes.
On the way through Mozambique towards Tete the clutch was dragging and it was getting harder and harder to find neutral.
It got a lot worse once the engine was hot. I hoped it was the seals on the hydraulic clutch failing again as that would be easy to fix.
When I measured the clutch movement it was a lot less than it should have been so could have caused the problem. However, since I had the clutch cover off I was advised to check the clutch plates anyway.
What a bit of luck I did.
The Blue Ridge Parkway really does get better as you go south.
It was a glorious autumnal afternoon in October and I was going faster and faster as the adrenaline started to flow. The leaves were spectacular shades of orange, yellow and gold in the softening light.
I could see a left hand corner coming and moved slightly to the right.
Even though I had left Connecticut a week ago and I was still feeling a bit weird.
I had felt very unsettled when I got home from my last trip and had only worked for six months before starting this trip.
There's only 1.4% difference in our DNA.
(Reassuringly we also apparently share 40% of our DNA with mushrooms).
One young male came and lay down about five feet away and stayed there for ten minutes.
In spite of thier small size in comparison to gorillas they are a lot more violent. They kill other animals - monkeys and also thier own kind like we do.
Wow.
At 220 Kilos, the silverback is not some one to argue with. He is huge.
Especially when he starts running towards you thumping his chest and roaring.
I've just learnt something new and relearnt something I already knew:
- Don't ride on collapsed suspension
- Don't let anyone work on my bike - Parts 1 and 2
Collapsed Suspension - A very slow 20km on a dirt road bent the shock shaft -> $700 for a 'reconditioned' rear shock. I nearly cried.
Others working on my bike:
Part 1 - The 'mechanic' broke a rear wheel bearing hammering it out with a punch. Removing the broken bit damaged the hub -> $200 for a new hub (to avoid further butchery to remove the new bearing and spacer I needed.
Here's one I took a few days ago of St Georges church:
They really are extraordinary and are carved out of the solid rock.
First dig a big trench straight down like a huge, deep moat. The big chunk left in the middle is the 'church'.
Next start tunelling in at the base to carve out the rooms. They are all therefore one solid piece of roack which is still attached to the ground.