Good guys and blessings

A while ago I contemplated having the wheels of my bike made tubeless. Spoked wheels, apart from the rim designs of KTM, are generally fitted with tubes.

While this is great, it becomes far less than great when one is in a remote area somewhere outside cell phone reception, (and worst of all) completely by oneself and, as in my case, not too experienced regarding fixing punctures. As I was visualising this, images of myself having a puncture, somewhere on the road between nothing and nowhere with no centre stand, frantically trying to break the bead on the rim so that I could fix the puncture before it got dark, kept creeping into my head.

A very good friend of mine, Lodie de Jager (www.naboom2germany.co.za) shared his experience of having his KLR converted to tubeless and then travelling 19 000km through Siberia without any loss of pressure in the tyres. That convinced me! I contacted Donovan Muller at Cytech in Johannesburg (www.toursforafrica.co.za) and arranged to have the rims of my Triumph Tiger 800XC converted to tubeless. I also spoke to Mike Hopkins from the Triumph dealer in Cape Town. He agreed to have the wheels taken off by his workshop (thanks, Gareth!) and couriered to Cytech in Johannesburg (thank you, Wafieka!). Then (and listen to this!) Mike lent me a new (demo!) KLR for the week with which I could travel back up the West Coast. Wow! Mike, I'm a client for life!

My wheels arrived back in Cape Town yesterday afternoon. I took the KLR back to Cape Town, picked up my Tiger and rode back up the Coast. Alas! As soon as I got onto the freeway, I realised that something was amiss! The wheel balance on the front wheel was out, ever so slightly, but still. By this time it was way past business hours, so I had no other option than to continue my ride home.

Thinking about it, I surmised that the only thing that could have happened to the front wheel was that a small piece of a stick - on balancing weight must have come off somewhere along the line.

And now? Well, today being a Public Holiday in South Africa, it was impossible sorting the wheel out. Tomorrow would be even more difficult (impossible, actually), which leaves Monday. Yes, I know. I should have been on the road for two days already by then. However, Monday will be the day when I'll ride down to Cape Town, get the balancing sorted out and then proceed with the ride.

How well was the conversion process handled? Extremely well! Thank you, Donovan! Realising I was pressed for time (in starting my trip), you ensured that the conversion was done fast enough in order for me to start my trip, yet no corners were cut. I was provided with a qualitative product and for that I thank you.

What is this post all about? I needed help and those mentioned in this post spared no effort in ensuring that I, with a dream of riding my wonderful motorcycle around South Africa, would not have to give up the dream.

Tomorrow then I'll start packing my (soft) panniers. Expect some photographs! I've have the items to fill the bags laid out on the table in my study for the past few weeks already. It helped me being able to check what is there already and what not.