Curiouser and curiouser

What I didn't tell you about last weekend was that our friend Janet had come up for the weekend to visit with wife Janet, so I was now stuck with the two women! Saturday's weather eventually cleared up, I was still very worried about my bike but when I went into the garage later she started without any problem, curiouser and curiouser!

Sunday we decided to have a braai and I had been saving this lovely big slab of lamb rib for just such an occasion.

Soon it was sizzling and browning over the coals, I then cut it into individual ribs, seasoned them with Aromat and lemon pepper and put them back on the grid to crisp up;

One of our favourite braai "starters"; crispy lamb ribs - delicious! For our lunch course I braaied some A grade lamb loin chops and some lovely "Spek" boerewors from my mate Steve's butchery, he has unfortunately since closed his business so it doesn't look like we're going to get any more of his wonderful meat!

Here's friend Janet helping herself to the salad and creamy Aromat potatoes, it was a good lunch.

This weekend we had occasion to attend a wedding in Capetown so it was with a certain amount of trepidation that we set out on the big red machine yesterday morning. We were feeling pretty relaxed because we started our day in the spa bath with a bottle of bubbly but I still wasn't sure how the bike was going to behave. It started at the first touch of the button and the new "Scorch" pipe blatted loudly as I turned the throttle, it was just around 10h00 as we accelerated happily out of Saldanha and took the all too familiar R27 headed south.

It was a warm and calm mid-summer's day, the temperature in the mid 20's already and not a breath of wind, actually perfect weather for riding and the bike was performing beautifully. I took it up to 140kmh, a very easy cruise for the 1200cc mill which at that speed was only running at about 4500rpm. Cages moved aside for me all the way down and within an easy and enjoyable hour we were cruising into the outskirts of Capetown.

Sunday morning, not feeling too bad at all after the wedding we took Dave out for breakfast at the Viper lounge,

The place was buzzing with bikers coming and going all the time, we wandered around looking at the bikes while we waited for our breakfast.

This rolling work of art is priced at R195,000, not my cup-of-tea but if you like this sort of thing go and have a look.

Dave and I both liked this rather understated Victory cruiser, matt black with white detail and very cool white-wall tyres - nice!

The R49 breakfast was perfectly adequate; two eggs, two bacon, boerewors, baked beans with toast and coffee (and cold Castle!) after which we said our goodbyes and headed home. Another enjoyable hour on the R27 where some guy in a Jag thought he could stay with me - Hah! 

The big red machine performed flawlessly, started up without hesitation every time and was smooth and powerful, as I said earlier; curiouser and curiouser!

There's a couple of things coming up soon, like the 2nd annual Capetown bike show on the 4th March which I will talk about next, also Africa Bike week in Margate which I am sorely tempted to attend this year, I have heard something disturbing about this though which I have to confirm first and that is that the organisers don't allow "other makes" into the town, that there is a designated parking area for those of us who don't ride Harleys - can this be true? I can't believe that, can I have comments from locals who have been there please? Cheers for now my brothers and sisters, stay safe!