5600km New Solid Rims for my Gomoto

I got my Gomoto back from its latest visit to the Bike Shop on Friday.

I would now describe it as a mixed breed Gomoto as it's rear wheel now sports a solid Rim. While the front wheel still reminds me that it is an older model with a spoked wheel.
With this I hope that we can hail in a new era with less worries and more enjoyment.

Some notes on the experience of changing the wheel:

Timeline:

Wed 14 February: I drive over a speed hump with a passenger and the spokes break.
I spend two days talking to Scooter World to establish that the wheel can in fact be changed and that parts are available.

Friday 16 February: I deliver my Gomoto at Scooter World and I am told that the parts would arrive during the next week. I leave for a work meeting at Hartenbos and only enquire about the progress on Friday 23 February. I am told that the parts are still on their way.

Wednesday 28 February: I am told that the parts had arrived and that the work would be done on Thursday, 1 March.

Friday 2 March: I had many work commitments on Thursday, so I only inquire about the Gomoto on Friday. It is done and I get to drive it home.

This break-down caused my Gomoto to be off the road for 16 days. This is much better than the previous breakdown of the exact same nature that took more than 6 weeks to resolve, and then only partially (Because the bike broke again 8 weeks later.)


Expense:

I have the invoice that glob Trading (Pty) Ltd issued to Scooter World for the parts that were replaced:

Wheel Rr Damper Rubber Mag Freedom Net Price: R144.74
Wheel Rr solid sprocket Freedom: R100.00
Wheel Rr Sprocket Hubb Solid Freedom R184.21
Wheel Rr Sprocket Nutsbolts solid Freedom R 60.00
Wheel Rr Rim solid complete Freedom R504.39
Wheel Rr Brake drum assy R111.00
Wheel Rr. Brake Shoe set Freedom R 30.70

Total (incl VAT) R1293.94

Scooter World added the following charges to the invoice:

Back 18" tyre R158.00
18" tube R61
Labour R120

Total Cost to myself (incl. Vat) R1680.00

Observations on Price:
Scooter world only charged R120 for the labour!
Scooter World did not add any mark-up to the parts!

I must say that it is still an expensive procedure, given the fact that I paid R7500.00 for the motorbike. I sometimes wonder if I should not have fixed the spokes and found somebody to buy the motorbike for R5000 and then have bought myself a new Gomoto for R7000.00.

Customer Service:

Scooter World in the Strand is under new management and it is noticeable. I felt that the service was very professional and friendly. My calls were always returned. Answers were factual and every time that a promise was made, it was kept.

When I took my motorbike in its headlight was pointing sky-ward after my attempts to get the new indicators installed. When I received the bike back, the headlamp was adjusted to its correct position.

The owner seemed very open and approachable. He allowed me to take the motorbike and to pay him by internet bank transfer.

They also tried their best to keep the costs as low as possible for me, which I greatly appreciate.

---
Anyway. I think one ordeal is over. I look forward to my next adventurous trip. I might be able to take a day off in a week or so. I look forward to experiencing my newly acquired Freedom :-).

Gomoto Headlight

Brady Kelly writes to me:

Hi Weiers,

I hope your Gomoto is still treating you well, if not costing some in fines.

My headlight bulb has blown both filaments, and all the shops I have tried getting a new one at are only capable of looking at me blankly. Have you replaced yours ever, and what bulb did you use if so?

Regards

Brady Kelly


I have absolutely no idea. Perhaps one of the readers know.
I'll also ask at the shop when I take my gomoto in to be fixed.

Customer Service Round 3

A careful look at this picture will reveal a few broken spokes. This happened on Wednesday. The job that I do is to look after students in a dormitory. And I am probably the only dormitory dean in the world who puts students on the back of a Gomoto (or any motorbike) when they need to see a doctor. This student was late for his appointment and I think I went over a speed bump too fast. When I came to the first turn in the road I felt my back wheel wobble.

This is quite a familiar feeling, as this has happened to me once before.

Now at the outset I want to state that I do not blame Gomoto for this. I think I was careless and had not taken heed of the contraints of the bike.

But, having said that, I think this is probably going to be a litmus test on whether I will continue my relationship with Gomoto for much longer or not. I have previously (and before that)had real trouble with their customer service.

My goal is to get my spoke wheel replaced with a mag-wheel within a reasonable period of time and I will document my efforts here:

Wed 14 Feb at 14:15: I called Scooter World to ask them to please help me find a Mag Wheel along with the extra parts that is needed to make it fit onto the back of my bike. (The mag-wheels come standard with all new Gomotos, but they are smaller than the spoked wheels). I did this within minutes after my bike broke. In fact I was making the phone call as I was waiting for the student at the doctor's rooms. I was surprised to find that Scooter World seems to be under new management.

Wed 14 Feb at 15:15: I called Gomoto's customer service line 0860 GOMOTO and asked if they had stock of the rimmed wheels. I was informed that they did and that the dealer can order it from them.

Wed 14 Feb at 15:20: I made a pain of myself and called Scooter World again informing them that the Gomoto is expecting their call. They said they had left a message at Gomoto and that they are waiting for a response.

Thursday: 15 Feb: In the morning sometime. I spoke to scooter world. They were waiting for a fax quote from Gomoto for the parts. I asked them to go ahead and order the part if it would cost under R1200.00. I also arranged that I would take the Motorbike in to their workshop on Friday, 16 February as I have to be in Mosselbay/Hartenbos for work related meetings from Sunday - Thursday. (The sad part is that I was planning to take a drive to Mosselbay with my Gomoto.)

I will update the blog as the situation develops.

UPDATE 1: Friday 16 February, 10:15

I just received a call from Scooter World.
They received a faxed quote from Gomoto. The cost of the components to replace the rear wheel comes to R1293.94. This includes about 5 components - the rim, the break drum, breaks, rubbers, sprockets etc.

Along with that there will be a fee of approximately R240 to install (and given my experience with the indicators in front, it is probably not an option to do it myself :-).)

So far I feel quite good. I will deliver my bike at the workshop this afternoon and see how the situation develops.

The Encyclopedia of Motorcycles

I was in the Somerset Mall today and went into the Paperweight bookshop.

There I discovered a thick volume called, "The Encyclopedia of Motorcycles". It costs over R400, so I do not see myself buying one soon. I saw one interesting article in there on the history of Motorcycles in China.

I scanned the article quickly.

The history of the manufacture of motorcycles is quite different in China than in the West. In the times of the world wars the communist government responded to the needs of the Military to provide them with effective transport. They set up a large factory to build a very limited number of motorcycle models - the most well known one was a copy of a BMW-500cc engine.

In the 1950's the postal service also demanded motorcycles and the factories expanded.

There was no great drive to produce large numbers of motorcycles in this time. The government policy did not really encourage large scale mobility. If I recall, motorcycle production reached approximate 250 000 units per year in the 1950's/1960's.

In the late 1970's and 1980's government began to change their policy. They encouraged the corporations to mass produce motorcycles for the populace. The corporations were still run by government and were managed by means of 5 year plans, but the populace were free to buy the motorcycles as they needed and the corporations became profit driven.

The corporations produced large numbers of motorcycles. Most of the models were imitations of Japanese or European makes, made out of inferior parts in order to keep them affordable. Most of these motorcycles fall in the 50cc - 150cc range.

I cannot remember the exact figures, but today several million motorycles are produced each year.

The article mentions that a very small proportion of these motorcycles make their way out of China. (That is obviously where we come in). The article also believes that these motorcycles will never be a threat to the motorcycle industry in the west. This industry is historically driven by different values (not affordable mass transit but speed, precision, power, and luxury.)

I wish I had time to study the article in more depth. I'll be returning to the shop soon :-). I am quite happy to be associated with a movement (can a person call it that in South Africa) that attempts to popularise the use of affordable and sustainable means of transit over and above the more exclusive and elitist luxury transport industry.

Sexy Chick in Gomoto Outfit

Hehe, I wonder if this title will draw a lot of readers.

My wife teaches at the local high school. They have a yearly interhouse gala. This year her team's cheerleaders chose the theme of Motorbikes and Biking Culture. They did quite a good job and the whole permiter of the pool was surrounded with Quad bikes and motorbikes.

I wasn't able to contribute my bike to the fray due to the spoke problem, but my wife decided to put on my Gomoto Jacket. I must say she looks quite good in it.

Indicator Improvisation

I followed Francois' advice and ordered myself a new pair of indicators for my Gomoto from Motoward. So yesterday I started the project of actually installing them.

Now is the time to tell people that I am a little bit technically challenged. When I was a student somebody tried to teach me how to work on the valves of a motorcar and I ended up dropping the same bolt down the timing chain section into the sump two times. (Then I left the sump off until I got the valves sorted out.)



The process of installing these indicators can be described in a similar way. It is really easy to remove the old indicators and then to put the new indicators into the same place and stick the wires into the headlight area.

Then to figure out where the positive wire should go, and then the negative wire (and in the process discover that it actually makes no difference).

And after doing all of that I discover that I never put the bolts in place for the new indicators and I had to undo all the wiring.

The second time went much faster and I fastened the new indicators and even taped the small wires up with insulation tape. And then when I tried to put the head-light back in its place I discovered that the ministalk indicators obstruct the headlamp in such a way that I cannot get it positioned correctly.

Hehe.. I'm still working on that problem, but it is going to require some courage from me because I will have to drill a hole in the plate which originally held the Gomoto indicators. If I do that I will not be able to ever install Gomoto indicators again. Mnnn. I am still working up the courage to do that.

It does not really matter. In a short while I will be so good at replacing indicators and headlamps that Gomoto dealerships will be able to employ me to do just that. :-)

Who would have thought

I got the fine in October when I decided to drive down to the Beach early in the morning for a jog. I paid it in January.

R300
Speed: 81km in a 60km zone

And yes, I was driving my Gomoto. I should actually have asked for a printout of the photo taken by the traffic officer.

A Friend's Warning

I received an email from a friend, Brady Kelly, early in January. I have not experienced this as yet. The worst that has happened to me is that the lock-nut that keeps the starter in place vibrated loose. I do think it is worth taking note.

Hi Weiers,

I just thought I’d warn you, although your Gomoto is much older than mine, about a little problem I had yesterday.

In the morning on the way to work, the bike was vibrating quite a bit harsher than before. I asked advice on the BikeSA web site technical forum, and I was advised to check engine and exhaust mountings. When I left work I had a brief look, and found the swing-arm axle bolt had lost its nut and started pulling out!

I bought insulation tape and taped up the end of the bolt to keep it from pulling too fast, and rode home very slowly, stopping to check and tap it in every 100m or so.

I have just found out that this has also happened to another Gomoto owner as well and thought I’d let you know.

Cheers

Brady Kelly

Update:

Brady has subsequently sent me some more information:

I used insulation tape on the thread end of the bolt, to stop it vibrating out, and believe me it moves a lot from vibration. Then I took the main street route home instead of the freeway, so I had the opportunity to stop often and give it a reassuring kick to keep it all the way in. I took it back to the shop the next day where they replaced the nut and checked all the other bolts etc.

I hope your Gomoto is still alright. Mine is still a pleasure now that the little issue is over.

5200 km: Birthday Party in the Bike Shop

My bike has had its first birthday and all in all it has been a positive experience, except for the fact that I could not have a birthday party for the bike because it was in the repair shop.

The most frustrating part of owning a Gomoto has been that I could not get reliable and quick service from the Gomoto dealer that sold the bike to me.

I just received my Gomoto back from this dealer, yesterday (27 December 2006) after they had it for a full month. Somebody had borrowed my motorbike in the second last week of November and when I got it back about 8 or 9 wheel spokes in the rear wheel was broken. The wheel was wobbling all over the place.

I asked the bike dealer to replace the spoke rim with a new solid rim, as I had found out that this is indeed possible. I phoned the dealer every day for a week to find out what the progress was with the replacement. From what I could piece together from his answers is that Gomoto did not have any solid wheel rims available and that the next shipment would only arrive in a month's time. (I was told this in November, but apparently they still have not arrived.) The dealer said that Gomoto would let him know the next day if they could provide me with a wheel from one of their new bikes, but nothing came from that. I then asked the dealer to please fix the spokes.

After being without a bike for one week I was beginning to become very agitated. They finally offered to give me one of their Gomotos on loan, and I really appreciated that. In fact, I just stopped calling them.

Then, yesterday, as I was climbing up Table Mountain with some family members I received a call from the Gomoto dealer to inform me that my bike is fixed. The cost was R150 and he asked if I could please urgently bring their motorbike back because they need it. I was in Cape Town until late in the afternoon, and I thought that I waited so long for them to fix my bike, that they would not mind to receive their bike the next day. At 17:05 I received a very agitated call from the dealer asking where his bike was. I decided not to argue and took the bike back and paid for mine.

When I had received the bike, it did not have a drop of petrol in it. I had to push it to the petrol station next door to fill it up. I returned it to them with a near full tank.

I immediately became even more frustrated when I could not start my bike. It's battery was flat. I had to kick-start it. And as I was driving home the second of my front indicators fell off.

It is probably too much to wish for, but in my dreams I imagine a Gomoto dealer who would actually have noticed that my indicators were broken while they were fixing the spokes and given me a call suggesting that they replace them or put something more durable on and provide me with a quote. I really get the impression that this dealer really don't care.

I asked him why it took so long to fix my bike. He explained that their mechanic had become sick and actually passed away. They needed to appoint a new mechanic. In the mean time his son was working for them and they could only get to the most important tasks.

I reckon that those are very special circumstances and probably requires me to be more sympathetic. And I really feel bad for them. But I still feel un-cared for as their customer, especially since this is not the first time that I've had long delays in having my bike fixed.

I asked the dealer if he would call me when new stock of the solid rimmed wheels arrive. He said that it would not happen before the middle and end of January and that I should rather call them closer to the time. Again his response makes me feel as though he is not really interested in giving me the service that I would like.

I know that this is my experience with a specific dealer. I am currently debating with myself if I should not find another dealer in a town nearby. It would be more inconvenient, but what can be worse than to be without one's bike for a month at a time (twice in one year!.)

In the mean time, I am trying to find a solution to my broken indicators. Francois suggested that I look at indicators on offer by motorward.

I have also e-mailed a few bike-shops in Cape Town to get quotes and solutions from them.

Yet another Gomoto Experience

Yesterday I received yet another e-mail from a computer friend, Brady Kelly

He writes about his recently acquired Gomoto. I attach his experiences to this post:

Hi Weiers

I’ve just seen your recent blog updates, and I was quite impressed by the Ceres trip. I’m curious as to how the little engine handles long stretches.

I’m also curious as to my indicators. The bulbs seem to blow for nothing. Both my front units broke, one from vibration and one from catching the bike from falling over, and since I repaired them they seem to be like candle flames.

Regards

Brady Kelly

PS, I’m glad to see you also enjoyed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Would you believe it was recommended reading on a first year computer science course?

It is interesting that he also experienced problems with broken indicators. One of my rear indicators broke relatively early in the life of my Gomoto, but that was my own stupidity due to over eagerness to demonstrate the effectiveness of a remote starter from 50 meters away. Little did I realise that my bike was in gear. (See a similar experience by Brady just further on)

Recently on my trip to Ceres, my right front indicator also just fell off. It cracked all by itself for no reason. It is now stuck on with some glue, but I think that I would like to put new indicators on when I get the opportunity.

Here is a follow up e-mail from Brady.

Hi Weiers

I’ve had mine for about two months now, and use it daily for my 15km commute to work. It really takes a lot of pain out of a freeway stretch that would normally take nearly an hour by car, and makes it 15 minutes!

I’m also sure your indicator just fell off. My front left did that, but I noticed it wobbling quite a lot so I pulled off and as I touched it it broke off. They really are cheap and nasty, and while bit of Pratley Steel is holding them together now, I am going to look for new ones. In my school years I went through a couple of indicators and there are lots out there.

Talking about electrics, I provided some entertainment in town yesterday when I accidentally nudged the start button. The bike leapt forward off the side stand, and like a stupid I grabbed it by the handle-bars to pick it up. Of course the engine was still running, so my grabbing action wheelied it up for lots of laughs from bystanders. No damage though.

Cheers

Hehe, Brady, I hope you continue enjoying your Gomoto. Thanks for the contribution.

Spam

Due to a sudden rush of Spam-comments on my blog, I've enabled word verification. I hope it solves the problem.

I also hope that it does not detract readers from leaving their comments.

A Friend's Gomoto

Francois and I have become friends as a result of my blog. A few weeks ago he sent me some pictures of his his Gomoto. He keeps it in tip-top shape. I still plan to make time to go and visit Francois in Riebeek Valley - on the back of my Gomoto, of course.

He writes:

Hello Weiers,

Included are more descriptive pics and one of the Riebeeck Valley that
might be used as a wallpaper. Customizations include: Changed the
indicators, Moved the Ignition switch to between the dials, Changed the tail
light to an LED version.

For more info on Riebeeck Valley please visit the following website:
http://www.riebeekvalleyhandbook.co.za/
Riebeek Valley Handbook : The guide which tells you everything about the
Riebeek Valley

Please feel free to ask for more info if needed for your Website.

Greetings
Francois

Look at where Francois' ignition switch is situated. This seems like a very good idea to me.


(Did I mention that my one indicator just fell off during my trip to Ceres? This seems to be a common problem with our gomotos and Francois solved it by fitting some custom indicators.)

I like the box on the back of his motorbike.

Gomutcho

My work held their year-end function at the Houw Hoek Inn in the Elgin Valley past Grabouw.

My wife was teaching, so I drove to this brunch with my motorbike. I over-estimated how long it would take me to get there and I found myself there 40 minutes before the function was scheduled to start.

So I stopped at the Houw Hoek Farm Stall and discovered this. It somehow made me think of my Gomoto. The writing on the edges of the wrapper seems to indicate that the product comes from Russia. But a search of the Internet seems to point to its origins in Brazil.


I bought this packet of sweets for about R2.75.

Klara Majola

As soon as a person drives over the crest of the Gydo pass, just outside Ceres, there is an unobtrusive turnoff to the left with the sign, Agter-Witzenberg. It is a narrow road that leads through the mountains and opens up inside a completely new valley filled with vinyards and fruit-trees.

Klara Majola lived in this remote farm community with her father who was blind and the rest of the family.

On the 31'st of July 1950, the Cape newspaper Die Burger ran the following news item which I loosely translate here.

Frozen in the Veld
Went searching for her blind father

Ceres. -- An 8 year old black girl froze to death one night in the last week after she went looking for her blind father and got lost. She is Klara Majola. She lived on Mr. Ernst van Dyk's far, Die Eike, in Agter-Witzenberg.
Klara made it a habit to lead her blind dad around the farm and to take him to places where he could gather wood. Later she would then go fetch him.
Her mother went to a nearby farm during the day. She came back at dusk and wanted to go fetch her husband, but Klara offered to do it.
It appears that she could not find her father and got lost. The workers and other occupants of the farm went to look for her. Her father answered their call, but Klara could not be found. Shortly after finding her father, it started to Rain.
Mr. Van Dyk only heard about the events the next day. He immediately gathered a search party. Klara was found dead in a road.
It appears that she slipped over some rocks in a stream and fell into the water. She was to cold and frozen to get up. Her one arm was under her body and the other hand was in her mouth.
It was particularly cold that night and a thick layer of snow had fallen.

This story has been taken up in various ways in Afrikaans literature.

D.J. Opperman was so affected by the story that he wrote a poem about it in Engel uit die klip, Tafelberg, 1951.

Klara Majola

Klara Majola wou haar vader
toe die skemer sak, gaan haal
waar hy, die blinde, hout vergader;
maar Klara Majola het verdwaal.

Klein Klara Majola lê verkluim
in die Bokkeveld se bros kapok,
haar arms en bene bruin
en kromgetrek soos wingerdstok.

Klara Majola, die koue geweld
sif stadiger oor my uit die ruim.
maar nooit sal ek in die Bokkeveld
so warm, Klara Majola, soos jy verkluim.

D.J. Opperman

The story was also transformed into a story by Boerneef in a compilation, Teen die Helling. The title of this story was "Klara Mentoor".


Anyway. The point is that I had the privilege of driving into that very same valley with my Gomoto over the week-end. At that stage I did not know the significant link that it had to the literature that I grew up with. But still, I am happy to have been there.

Other people's Gomoto Experiences

I have not been very active on this blog for about a month. This has mainly been due to the fact that I sometimes struggle to balance work-life, family-life, and the life required by my dreams. The Gomoto-blog fits into my dream life, and it took a back-seat for a while.

An interesting phenomenon that has been happening though, is that people e-mail me with their experiences of their Gomotos and some even ask me for advice because they are considering investing in a Gomoto. I am really enjoying this. I also get quite a number of hits every week from people who searched Google for "Gomoto" or "Gomoto Motorcycles".

Up until now my advice has been very positive. Yes! By all means, go ahead and buy it! You will really enjoy it. I say this because I am enjoying my Gomoto, not because anybody has asked me to say this.

A week or so ago I received this e-mail from Daniel Dobinson. Daniel has commented on my blog before. He is also a proud owner of a Gomoto. He gave me permission to publish his e-mail on my blog as long as I take responsibility for the spelling mistakes (Fortunately Firefox 2 has a built-in spell checker).

Hey Weiers

Well, remember I told you that i bought a Gomoto-just like yours! Well, its also red but has the mags on the wheels. Thought I'd update you about my thoughts on it(I've run out of work!)

Well, firstly, it's just as fun as any other bike I've had! I was really surprised to find that a tiny engine and old school bike could be so much fun. I've owned a 250cc motocross bike and a CBR400 before and I think it's really just the freedom (from traffic jams?) a bike gives you thats so wonderful.

I've fitted it with a bike box so now the only inconvenience of motorcycling has been
removed. I can now go for runs after work, do some limited shopping and go to the beach with all my paraphernalia stuffed in the back.

I've done 1000km on it so its first free service is due. I have reservations about the type of service that I'll get from 2 wheel mecca, because so far its been a bit on the slack side. My complaints are thus: the front fender came with a weird stain on it that can't be removed. The sales guy assured me it will be replaced on the first service but I'll wait and see if that occurs.

The alarm (which is endlessly entertaining) has already packed in so I've disconnected it- I hope its under some warranty of sorts cos it's a handy thing to have.  The last thing is that my carburetor hasn't been adjusted properly and so I've fiddled with it a bit but have to have the choke on the middle setting for it to run without bogging down after 7000 revs. I have tried to get they guys at 2 wheel mecca to look at it but they've never really fixed it so hopefully the mechanic will be able to to a proper job when i finally get it in for its service.

Well thats it. I'm really happy with it and soon my girlfriend will be riding it to work, in which case I might have to buy one for myself! Just wanted to let you know. I think the Gomoto sales must be booming because I see at least a couple every day on the roads and give them a good toot-tooting as we pass each other. I haven't taken it off road yet but plan on doing so soon!

Regards
Daniel

PS: I a friend recently took part in a rally on a Gomoto... to Oudtshoorn! took him 9
hours apparently.

De Hellenwagen

There is an Afrikaans folk tale of Jan Ellis who worked as a postal driver in the mid-nineteenth century in the Western cape. He worked on the route between Ceres and Wellington. One night he was riding his postal cart, drawn by 4 horses. He had six passengers with him. It was the beginning of winter and there was a chill in the air. His passengers were wrapped in blankets to keep the cold out.


I took this picture at the Posryers museum in Ceres

Jan Ellis reached the deepest and narrowest section of Bain's Kloof at midnight. The rider, the horses, and the passengers were all very tense. At one stage they came to a sharp turn and the horses came to a standstill. They began to snort and push themselves backward. Jan Ellis had to do everything in his power to control the horses (or they would have gone over the precipice).

It was then that they heard the sound of an oncoming wagon. They could clearly hear it rattle over the rocks. Then the wagon appeared in the dim moonlight and they could see that it was going at an incredibly high and uncontrollable speed.

In the darkness this wagon was chasing over rocks, stones and bushes, where, even at day a person could only move at walking speed!

As the wagon came closer, its tent came into view. There was a driver in front. And it was clear that there was no way to avoid a collision. It seemed as though the wagon was going to ride right through Jan's postal cart. With a devilish noise the wagon came closer. The passengers saw six mules pulling the wagon: their bodies glistening with sweat and their mouthes wide open and foaming.

Fearfully Jan shouted at them, "Where the Devil are you going!"

"We're going to Heellll!" came a long drawn out shout from the ghost wagon, followed by a satanic laughter that made all the passenger's blood curdle.

As this apparition came closer and closer, the passengers on Jan's postal cart jumped off and fled into the dark fynbos. With just a few steps left before the collision the ghost wagon swerved . Right across them the driver of this wagon looked around and pushed his cape back revealing his face: white as that of a dead person, with brightly glowing orange eyes. Then that blood-curdling laughter came again and the wagon disappeared into the night.

A week later the news came to Wellington that Jan Ellis drove his post-cart into a ravine in Bain's Kloof. It seems as though he had to swerve for an oncoming vehicle.

Apparently the story still does the rounds in the Ceres Wellington area, that a fiery wagon drives through these passes at a high speed, forcing other vehicles to turn out and fall down the steep cliffs.

---------------
Yesterday I found a rational explanation for this story.

It was a GOMOTO!


My Gomoto at the highest section of Bain's Kloof Pass. (More photos of the kloof in the slide show account of my latest expedition posted just two blogs ago.)

---------------
References:

"Die Vuurwa". An Afrikaans short story published in Afrika Vertel 2, a composition of short stories for South African high school learners. Editors: Annah Siteyini, Sidney Miller. Publishers: Nasou Via Afrika: Capetown. 2006. The story is an adaptation of a similar story recorded by Abel Coetzee.

This kind of story can be traced back to early Germanic folklore of over 2400 years ago. It then spread across Europe in different forms. Sometimes it made mention of a wild chase of a group of wild spirits under leadership of Wodan, the chief of the Teutonic deities. In the Netherlands the story became known as "The Fiery Wagon", or hellewagen.

Who knows, perhaps this blog will cause some people in future generations to talk about the Fiery Gomoto, a fiery motorbike and its driver from Hell :-).

Admirers

My Gomoto seems to draw admirers everywhere I go :-)

Or perhaps it is just the fact that a stranger with a helmet rips out a camera from beneath his Gomoto Suit and starts clicking at name boards in a a busy downtown Ceres.


When these guys saw the camera they rushed to pose for a shot.

4703 km: Trip to Ceres

The Language of my Dreams

One of the way in which I reward myself from time to time when the business of day to day life make way for a short break is by buying a travel magazine. These magazines provide me with dreams and ideas for leisure trips and hard core adventures on my Gomoto.

My favorite magazine by far is Weg, an Afrikaans travel magazine. I enjoy the informative articles, the creative use of language, and the inspiration found in the magazine.

Last week my wife decided to spoil me with this magazine. EXCEPT! She bought the English version of the magazine, called Go!.

The articles are exactly the same. The pictures are the same. The layout has not changed. The translation is excellent.

BUT. It is just not the same. Somehow it just does not feel right. I'm not even sure if the camp fire food (made according to an English recipe), would taste exactly as the food made according to the same recipe in Afrikaans.

I live and work in English. My family speaks English exclusively at home. But it would seem that my dreams, of travel in particular is in Afrikaans.

If I wanted English, I'd buy the Getaway magazine. But who wants to Getaway if you can go with Weg!

Helderberg Farm

I finally got to take my Gomoto on a pleasure trip over the week-end. It was only about 10 km's, but that is about as much as I can manage without my daughter falling asleep at the back.



The farm is on the R44 between Somerset West and Stellenbosh, and practically borders the College where I live. I think they are incredibly successful in capitalising on the tourist market in the area. (They have 4x4 trails, playgrounds, animals for kids to feed, hiking trails, view-sites, exclusive picnic and braai areas - you pay for most of this of course.)




I visit them for the strawberries that they sell. They sell punnets of strawberries at the same price for which you get them in the shops (about R20 for 800g or so). But then they sell 3kg boxes of Jam Strawberries. These strawberries are either small or a little bit to ripe for the punnets. A 3kg box only costs R30, and who needs the fancy packed stuff anyway.




I'm not sure if the farmer was too impressed with me parking my gomoto practically in his straberries to get this photo :-)