The Bullet rolls again. And rattles. And smokes. I've become an unpaid bike mechanic and journalist and if I stay any longer I'll be applying for residency in Joburg. About to head up North to say Good Day to Bob in Zim.Quite frankly there's not been a great deal in the way of exciting travel stories since the last instalment. It almost feels as if I've become a Johannesburg resident. But we all want to be remembered so just as I'm about to hit the road again here are a few pictures and a what's been happening and what will hopefully happen in the near future.

Firstly, the Bullet is all ship shape and Bristol fashion once again. It's had a full rebuild of pretty much all moving parts, though still manages to look a right old heap. The work has probably taken a fortnight but the crank and cylinder head were farmed out to other guys to sort out and they weren't rushing... So five weeks and about twelve hundred quid later the Bullet is once again motoring. I did think about putting up a picture of the new shiny steel heavy duty conrod from Hitchcocks motorcycles. It's so shiny it's almost sexy. But perhaps that's a sign that the bike has pre-occupied me a little too much of late.

Whilst waiting I've been making a nuisance of myself at the Royal Enfield SA workshop and helpig out with the odd repair. The RE guys have been gnerous in their hospitality and I've had demonstrator bikes to trundle around Joburg on. Plus there was a weekend trip with the 'Joburg Bulleteers' to the preserved Gold Rush town of Pilgrims Rest. To add to the fun the guys at Top Bike invited me out on another road test.

A couple of views of Pilgrims Rest below...

And here's a chicken like bird that likes to nest in Rhino cakka.

A big hippo.

And baboons are always good for a laugh.

A 1940 Cord at 'Cars in the Park', Germiston

A more coherant entry should be along soon. I'm about to ride back to Malawi, where we broke down (though I shalln't be as anal as to go to the exact spot..) via Zimbabwe and the top of Mozambique. Then it'll be back down to Joburg again via Mozambique and Swaziland.