The Bike

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It's beautiful, sleek & sexy. Long, lean and mean, stretching nearly six feet from axle to axle, it's unmistakably chopper. It's got that stretched-out, spidery look where the only really solid part of the bike is the engine. A style of bike from the farthest fringes of the two-wheeled world.



When you have a look at the impressive list of features on this bike you realize that this is an engineering work of art. A lot of work have gone into making this bike look like an "Old School" chopper without sacrificing any of the technology we've come to expect in today's bikes. The Fury is a shaft driven bike sporting a liquid cooled 1312cc engine, yet the cooling system is discreet, blending in with the frame behind the front wheel preserving the "air cooled" look. The V-twin also boasts a new programmable EFI system and produces 42.5kW and more importantly on a bike like this 107Nm of torque. Further features include a combined ABS system specially tailored to fit the minimalistic styling.

As far as instrumentation go you only seem to have a speedometer in front of you until you find that here too the old school look has been preserved, but you're still provided with the necessary you've come to expect on a modern bike when various lights and indicators light up from behind black paneling below the speedometer.



Choppers give credence to the old saying, “form over function.” Foremost, choppers are about style and being (and looking) cool. That is difficult to achieve in a motorcycle that's actually meant to be ridden, but Honda nailed it. When I rode it last year I just wanted to keep on riding. I desperately wanted to hit the Route 62 and just keep going. This year I had my chance.



Even for a Honda fan like me it's difficult to believe that one of the world's most conservative motorcycle companies built a production bike like this. I have never considered a chopper styled bike before, but that short ride at the launch last year opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me. I was blown away. Once you’ve experienced the Fury you’ll know you’ve experienced a Honda like none other. Ever. The look, the ride, the sound, the way this bike makes you feel.

It's like I said last year: "People notice when you ride past. Men stare and women swoon! Is that really true? Does it matter? That is what this bike makes you feel like. Be honest, when last have you ridden a bike that made you feel like that?"

The Honda Fury - Art you can Ride...

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The Poser

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According to the definition a Poser / Poseur is someone who pretends to be something they aren't. Conformists to an image. Posing is not just about looking the part, it's also important to be seen looking the part. With a poseur the look and experiences they relate are fake. They just do it to make themselves look and feel better. Insecurity (and money) plays a part in being a Poseur.

I felt like a "Poseur" riding this bike. I don't belong to a bike club. I don't usually wear leathers. I was dressing into an image I'm not. But I liked it!

I looked like a biker. The scruffy kind that ride their bikes from bar to bar, only shave once every so often and hit the road in any direction on a whim. A rider that's free. A guy that's happy as long as there's petrol in the tank.

I think the way a bike makes you feel is a big part of our love for these two wheeled machines. It's like the guy on a brand new and shiny Dual Sport bike riding to work on a Monday morning with his panniers and everything fitted. It makes him feel like he can hit the road and ride to Cairo if he wanted. He never will of course, but he "could". The sad part is, they never do.

I never commute with my duallie, when I get on it I usually go on a trip. So on that bike I don't feel like I "could". I do!

This Fury is different though. I liked it so much I started riding it everywhere - to work, to the shops, wherever - usually wearing the "leathers". You don't get used to the looks you get. Smiles, nods, admiration? This bike is the ultimate poser's bike. Every poor sod sitting in traffic in his dreary middle management car wishes he was you, riding free. And all the while it felt like I "could" hit Route 62 at any time and just keep going. But until I did I would remain a "poseur".

Imagine riding to work on a Monday morning and really doing it. Not caring, just going. Nothing but a credit card and maybe a toothbrush and a change of underwear.

Riding free.

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The Run

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Each year Honda has a roadshow showcasing their new models at each of their dealers. This year they had 10 new models to ride and photograph, a good boost of material to write about. It was at the same roadshow last year when I first met the Fury.



Honda George organized a breakfast run with the new bikes and Kermit and I decided to join.



There are some very nice bikes in the new line-up. I especially liked riding the CB1000F. It's a real hooligan bike. Today I'd be taking it easy though, joining the ride on "my" Fury.

While getting ready to ride a guy at the filling station saw the Fury and came over to have a look. There was an extra space on the ride so he promptly got on the road-show Fury and joined the run.



As soon as we hit the highway the crotch-rockets were gone, but the Fury's enjoyed a nice ride together.

A picture en-route:



A quick stop in Mossel Bay:





The other Fury rider could not stop talking about what a nice ride this bike is. We chatted about everything, the minimalistic styling, the clever ways technology got incorporated and of course the looks the bike gets when you're riding through town.





Kermit enjoying a cold one:



Next stop - Great Brak:



More bike stories and comparisons.



The riders changed bikes at every stop but the guy on the Fury refused. He rode it the whole way.



And finally the last stretch back to George.



So how does this little story end? Well, the guy who rode the Fury - he bought it the next day.

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The Ride

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From the moment I saw her I knew...

What I have is comfortable, dependable and reliable, but this one, she stirred something in me. Slender with long legs, an arched back, raven-black hair. It promised something different, forbidden, exciting! Different emotions wrapped in one. Passionate bikes elicit passionate responses I guess.

We had a hell of a time, the Dark Lady and I, but she never was going to stay. She's a gypsy. She needs to ride free. So one Monday morning I grabbed a toothbrush and a change of underwear and as we rode into town we just kept going... we were on the run!

We crossed the Outeniqua Mountains and headed inland...



The first signs... Notice the "R62".



For a full year I have dreamt of this. Riding this route on this bike. Riding solo through the hamlets and towns as we meander back to Cape Town.



In Calitzdorp I stop at Neverbetter, a well known biker bar on the Route 62.



This is we're Kermit's ride to Hell started.



This is a bar by bikers for bikers and with the leathers I fitted right in.



In my camera bag I had a pair of clean socks, a change of underwear and a toothbrush:



This arrangement did not work well though because every time I took the camera out the toothbrush wanted to go on a walkabout. There was only one solution - I had to travel even lighter. So I did what needed to be done:



Now I'm travelling light!

Huisrivier Pass:



A quick stop at the Lutheran Church in Amalienstein:



When I was here last I visited Maans Fourie in my search for the Watermeid. I really need to bring that project to conclusion.

The church was built in 1853 and has been restored to former glory a couple of years back, but unfortunately the paint is peeling again and sadly little maintenance seem to be happening here.

My next stop was at the one place you can not pass by when you travel on Route 62:



The famous Ronnie's Sex Shop has become a world famous biker stop, but unfortunately the prices at this establishment also experienced a meteoric rise.  Paying more than double for the same thing I bought at Neverbetter is a bit rich for a biker meandering about on a Monday and soon I was on my way again.



At the Country Pumpkin in Barrydale I received a warm welcome.



Anybody stopping here on a bike gets a Muscadel on the house. This sure drives away the cold!



The Country Pumpkin is the real deal as far as bike friendly establishments go. The owner is an avid biker himself and they take special care of bikers. All bikers get 10% off their bills in addition to the free muscadel and they even have a Bikestop B&B just behind the Restaurant that offer extremely affordable accommodation to bikers wanting to overnight. The restaurant prices are very good and the portions are huge. When here you have to try one of their home made pies!

With a full tummy I hit the road again, riding straight into an approaching storm. I could see the rain up ahead and hoped I could reach the Karoo Saloon before the rain does. I'll just have to wait it out.

And as it turns out, today, the day I needed them to be open the most, they were closed!



I continued but soon realized that I was going to get very very wet and I don't have a change of clothes.



The road back to Barrydale looked like the better option:



I was going to call it a day and spent my time at the Bikestop B&B with some more Muscadel.

But it was not to be. I couldn't outrun the rain and got well and truly drenched! A mere 2 km from Barrydale I decided that since I am wet now anyway I might as well continue on my ride, so I turned around again and hit the road to Montagu in pouring rain.

A short respite in the rain gave me a chance to take this picture at Cogmanskloof:



Cogmanskloof, sometimes also spelt Kogmanskloof, is the pass through which one drives between the towns of Montagu and Ashton in the Western Cape. It is the same pass of the famous tunnel, of the same name. Actually it is more like a hole through the mountain just as one passes over the river outside Montagu.

The famous tunnel was 'dug' using a little dynamite. It is 16 metres long and has a 5 metre high roof.

If you glance up at the top of the tunnel before entering and you see an old fort balanced on the top, constructed from the very same rocks as its surrounds. Not many people notice it. It was built in 1899 by the English, during the Anglo Boer War.

The sun was setting now and with the thick clouds, dark visor, pounding rain and near freezing temperatures I remember thinking to myself: "These are the rides you remember!"

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