A View From The North
by Gary Theron
The bikes:
A quick look at autotrader.co.uk this afternoon shows that there are currently 4351 Hondas for sale. With numbers like this it’s possible to find almost anything easily. There’s a huge variety of biking equipment on the roads, and when something spectacular gets released (like a Desmosedici or a S1000RR), you can bet you’ll see one on the roads pretty soon. Bike theft is more of a problem here (believe it or not), so they take bike security pretty seriously. Most new bikes have an alarm / immobiliser / tracker.
The condition of the
bikes:
This is a mixed bag. From a roadworthy perspective the UK beats SA hands down. Every bike over 3 years old has to have a roadworthy test every year. It’s a real pain doing it, but very comforting to know that just about every vehicle on the road is roadworthy. They go as far as checking the alignment of the headlights, so it’s something to be taken seriously. But from a corrosion point of view, SA’s just a much better place. In the winter most of the roads here have a permanent layer of salt on them to prevent ice, and this salt eats motorcycles faster than Americans get through junk food. Many of the motorcycle magazines recommend spraying down your bike after every single ride in winter to get rid of this salt. That’s not an easy task when it’s pitch dark, zero degrees, and you’ve just got home from work.
The riders:
The UK licensing
process is much more complex than the South African one, and for younger
riders it requires a provisional period where you can only ride restricted
bikes. The test is pretty
serious, so as a general rule the standard of riding is higher. Most insurance companies offer
serious discounts for advanced training, which provides an incentive for
riders to learn more. The
Brits are also happier than the South Africans to ride in poor
conditions. Comparatively
we’re fair weather bikers. I
suppose with their weather they have no
option.
While we’re on
weather, what’s it really like?
Well, that’s a tale of two seasons. The summer here is better than
South Africans give it credit for.
You rarely get that baking hot 35 degrees that makes it difficult
to put on leathers, and generally it’s pretty good. The long mid-summer days mean much
more daylight riding than in South Africa. But as for winter, that’s another
story. I ride to the station
and back every day, and from November to mid February this year I didn’t
ride on a dry road once. It’s
dark, wet and miserable. Some
riders just pack the bike away for the winter. And with good
reason.
Control:
This is also a
mixed bag, depending on your viewpoint. The UK’s policing is much more
effective, so your likelihood of pinning the throttle and doing 200+ for
an hour or so is just about zero.
140-150 kph doesn’t raise an eyebrow normally as long as you know
where the speed cameras are, but getting caught at anything over 160 kph
lands you in serious trouble.
This policing means you have a much smaller chance of an
unroadworthy bakkie pulling out in front of you, or an illegal taxi
dumping oil on the road, but it also means you can’t do what you
like. For touring it’s not a
big deal, but for quick riding it gets very oppressive. And Mr Plod takes a dim view of
illegal exhausts, darkened visors, and many other things considered
illegal. On a positive note
many of the charges that apply to motorists, like tolls, parking fees,
congestion charges etc, just don’t apply to bikes. There aren’t many toll roads, but
only one in the whole country charges
motorcycles.
So many of the elements of riding here are worse. But one of the things that is way better is the accessibility to Europe. The Nurburgring is basically a Joburg-Durban trip away. The Alps are 800km away, and what magnificent riding it is. And the Pyrenees are easily accessible too. And the fjords of Norway, and even the deserts of North Africa are not out of reach. And for the faster guys Germany with its unrestricted autobahns is just a few hundred km away. Another positive is track days. When I lived in Joburg I was lucky to have Zwartkops, Kyalami and Phakisa available to me. Capetonians aren’t that lucky, and Durbanites even less so. Within a Joburg-Phakisa distance from my house I have access to Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington Park. And extend that to 500km and you can throw in 5 or six smaller circuits, as well as Assen, Le Mans, ad Spa Francorchamps. And for tracks further away (Italy and Spain) there are companies specialising in taking your bike there for you overnight, and you can catch a low-cost airline in the next morning, for a full weekend’s track time at Valencia, Jerez or Monza.
So, in short, is
it better or worse riding on this side of the equator? I’d say the decision is a lot
closer than most South Africans would think, but probably the freedom you
get in SA tips the balance in favour of The South. The vast majority of the enjoyment
is identical, and the clever thing to do is to leverage the
opportunities.
But I’d be lying
if I said I didn’t miss Baviaanskloof or Lesotho just a
little…
