Dirt-tracking through the Western Cape Karoo
Nicholas Yell trades SUV for saddle and makes his way from Bot River to Merweville and on to Kruisrivier
When I started riding road legal scramblers in the early 1980s — on/off road motorcycles, now called adventure motorbikes — you didn’t have to be wealthy to get out into the countryside and enjoy the dirt roads. Besides the obligatory helmet, goggles and gloves, one’s luggage and riding outfit were whatever you had in the cupboard: a tog bag or backpack, a pair of old army boots, jeans and a windproof jacket; leather if you were lucky.
Today, expensive purpose-made motorcycles (upwards of R300,000 is not unusual) with on-the-fly suspension settings, ABS, heated grips and seats, traction control, tubeless knobbly tyres and TFT screens with GPS are the norm. And though many of these machines don’t ever see much gravel, there’s no stopping the go-anywhere appeal these motorcycles offer...
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