Serendipity is the happy phenomenon of receiving pleasant or valuable things by chance. It's my favourite kind of good fortune and I'm lucky because I'm often blessed with serendipitous happenings. I was planning to travel to Durban on business in early June and couldn't decide whether to go by bike or car. The phone rang. "Hello Howie this is Irene from Honda. We've just put a new Gold Wing into our demo fleet. Would you like to ride it?" That, my brethren, is serendipity!
The Wing was delivered to my house on Thursday morning and I spent a couple of days commuting on it. I work on Rivonia Road but I live in the suffering south. Before the M2 closure I used to take the M1 North or ride up Joe Slovo to join the M1 at Killarney. Neither of those routes work any more because they're just too congested. These days when I leave home I get on at Comaro, ride the N12W and then take the N1N to the Rivonia Road off ramp. It's a 50km commute but the traffic flows nicely and I soon got used to the dimensions and mass of the Wing. When the traffic slowed down I rode the suicide lane with headlights blazing and with full confidence in the Wing's ABS brakes and light handling characteristics.
I packed the bike on Saturday evening though "packed" is probably the wrong word. I was going to be away for two nights and all my clothes and kit only occupied one of the panniers and a third of the top box. On Sunday morning I left home at 11:30 which was a bit late but the weather was perfect, cloudless sky, 20°C, and no forecast of rain anywhere on my route. And, of course, I was riding the acme of touring machines and Durban was a mere 600km distant. Let's get it on!
Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av Bike SA.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av Bike SA.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Ladies Perspective What a Surprise Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX
I’m sure as everyone knows by now there is little that compares to my BMW K1200S and out of the 13 different bikes I’ve been lucky enough to ride over the 18 months I’ve been riding, I finally came across one that I’m almost certain I’d swap my bike for…
Goodwood's 79th Members Meeting - Hunting, Shooting and - Racing
For that’s what marked the 79th Goodwood Members Meeting aka 79MM, held this year on April 9-10, which this time included two thrilling motorcycle races, each with a blanket finish which in Race 1 saw less than a second covering the first four bikes home.
MIDWEIGHT PUNCH - TRIUMPH TIGER SPORT 660
The Triumph brand seems to be going from strength to strength worldwide. New models are seeing the light of day in various sectors, and here in South Africa there is a carefully planned dealer expansion program in action.
Isle of Man TT-winning ABUS NORTON NRS588 GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Exclusive track test of the last British bike to win the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1992, after what's widely considered to be the most exciting race ever held in the Island
NORTON ROTARY RACERS HISTORY - Rotary Race Record
For eight successive seasons the world’s first - and so far only - Rotary-engined racebikes swept to serial success on British racetracks. Here’s a timeline on their ebb and flow.
MOTO MORINI'S Alberto Monni - INTERVIEW
Exclusive interview with Moto Morini's CEO Alberto Monni, responsible for directing its ride along the comeback trail since its 2018 takeover by Zhongneng Vehicle Group/ZVG
KAWASAKI NINJA 1000SX - Surprise Package
I’ve recently written in my Editor’s note bemoaning the lack of available Sports-Touring motorcycles nowadays.
DRYSDALE HISTORY PART 4/5: 25 YEARS ON FROM CREATION OF FIRST 750-V8
2002 1000-V8 Bruiser mega-Monster was a Naked roadster with added muscle - the answer to the question of how to out-max a Yamaha V-Max!
GODIER & GENOUD KAWASAKI 1000 - Enquring Excellence
Exclusive track test at France's Carole circuit of what's arguably the first motorcycle of the modern era - the title-winning Kawasaki Endurance racer built in 1975 by Frenchmen Georges Godier and Alain Genoud
Unnecessarily Fast, or Unnecessarily Dangerous?
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” This truism comes from boxing, but applies to all walks of life. Innovative MotoGP superstar Marc Marquez, however, adds a new twist.
