2 hours well spent, went on with all the pics and story at one go and have bookmarked it to see the videos later when i get time !! You are one tough guy cheta, living the life of dreams and i wish you complete the whole world on the two wheels of various BMWs . The pic of road SA at 10 degree Celsius, the pic of the Indian ocean on one side of the road and skydivers and the pic of the ocean from the hotel dining table were the ones to die for...absolutely breath taking views.
You are living upto your signature: Growing old is compulsory - growing up is optional..
an inspiration to all young bikers like us !!

If you don't mind my asking, what does your wish list look like?

Thanks Varun and good wishes to you too. Dont miss the videos esp the Chapmans drive and Clarence Drive and some humor at 00:53 second on Day-4 Video..!

Dear Bluevolt- You will surely agree as a biker the wish list is always unlimited & thats why on my website it says "So many roads, So little time".....but frankly god-willing another 2-3 more dream rides in Americas, New Zealand etc will (hopefully) fulfill our initial hunger....or will I go back for more??? Lets see how the pocket, health & other supporting factors co-operate....When I think back, maybe when I am done with the initial list of 5-6 dream rides, the total money spent would have bought me a brand new high-end superbike in India, but then, the priceless experiences & enjoyment factor of these dream rides for me & wife will last for a lifetime....

Thanks - the Americas(South) always fascinates me, but lately I have been reading a lot of Icelandic and Yukon trip logs on advrider. Hope I can get it off MY wish list soon

Haroonbhai... Apologies for the late post!

Post after post, picture by picture, mile by mile and one scenic stunner after another, you have truly left ordinary behind and in that process made us leave ordinary behind as well!! Ah mann! simply fabulous ride, add to it two fab riders and the recipe is complete...I dont have words, I need to meet you for this

What makes the ride even more amazing is the amount of homework you both do, chip in when its required, yet make most of the moment! Please do convey a big hello to Farzanaji as she indeed is the perfect co-rider one could ever ask for! Truly, what matters is each mile you enjoy, not the destination. And you have been doing that and spoiling us ride after ride..be it the Alps, India etc.

And in this process, you have made the beemers a family member for us. It wont be a long time when many of us will hop on for long rides on 'em But seriously, eagerly looking forward to riding with you in the near future.

Many thanks Mehul from me & wife for the nice compliments.
Very well said, its about the journey and not the destination. Thats why on my website I have said, 'we are travelers on two-wheels, not tourists on two-wheels'...

Yes, the beemers are some of the ultimate riding machines!

My pleasure But seriously, looking forward to doing a ride with you guys.

Brilliant... It was as if I was on Bike in South Africa.
Had missed this thread because of loads of work... but better late than never. I had read a post of yours somewhere that you were out conquering another continent.

Haroon Bhai .. you have Conquered South Africa

You are an inspiration.

I must say that travelling with ur partner all the way in another country on 2 wheels has left me speechless. The pics were amazing & captured well. Wishing you & farzana all the best in your future touring rides.

Kudos to you and your Wife to have conquered South Africa. This shows the "RIDE FOR PASSION" spirit.. Well done

BTW, Your Trip logs are always very nice to read, together with magnificent pictures.

A small review of 1200RT ( comfort level,electronics, etc etc to name a few ) would be great. ( Just for know how )

Sure Mehul, it would be my pleasure. Hopefully sometime in the near future.

Thanks Asim. We have only explored a small part of SA. Hope I can go back later for a longer & wilder adventure on two-wheels and continue the passion...

Thanks daredemon from me & Farzana. Its indeed a special feeling esp travelling all alone on a motorbike with your wife in a remote part of another country purely for the passion & adventure.

Thanks mav1234. Its a pleasure sharing the stories & pics with like minded friends.

The RT we rode in South Africa was the earlier generation RT, whereas what we rode in the Alps was the present generation DOHC engined RT. The riding comforts are the same except the DOHC bikes have a little extra power. Otherwise they both have the ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) with which you can adjust the suspension by just pressing a button on the dashboard. The ASC (Traction Control) can be switched on or off depending on road conditions, but I left it ON all the time. Being the peak of summer, we did not have to use the heated seats or heated handlegrip. The ABS is fixed and the seats/footpegs are comfortable for rider & passenger for long distance touring. In the BMW range, while travelling with my wife I mainly prefer the R1200RT as its a sport tourer and handles twisty roads beautifully inspite of the weight of the bike, passenger, luggage etc. Its a relatively faster & nimble handling bike in twisty backroads etc as compared to a Goldwing or Harley Electra Glide or even the new K1600GTL which all have a longer wheelbase. For 7-8 days of travel abroad, the RT with sidecases/topcase takes care of all our luggage and since the hard saddlebags are locable & removable, its easy to carry the boxes to the hotel unlike a Goldwing or Harley, which have fixed saddlebags and you will have to use removable saddlebag liners to put your stuff. Also while sightseeing, we can safely lock up the boxes and leave them on the bike and go where we want. The 25 litre gas tank has a fairly long range to empty. The large electrically adjustable windshield blocks off most of the wind and even rain blasting your your chest/helmet. Infact, in the 2 deg C temperatures in Alps the windshield was a big boon keeping away some of the chill. Ofcourse, to ride the RT with passenger, luggage etc some bit of prior experience on big bikes is essential as it is very easy to drop the bike during parking lot manuevers on an incline or wet surface etc..Lastly being an air-oil cooled engine it only has a small oil cooler and there is a no large water radiator, hence no need to daily check for coolant level or radiator damage etc.

BTW, if I am touring solo, my preferred rental bikes would be the BMW F800 or the Suzuki DL650

Thanks for the briefing of the 1200RT.

When i started reading about your trip, the very first thing that came to my mind was,why did he not chose the Bike ( K1600 GTL) which is more technically advanced and awesome blend of touring machine..
But now i know why..

Been some time since I logged in and I see this one.

Haroon Sir, an absolute delight to see the kind of detail you put into each of your threads.

Riding across a foreign country is the dream of every motorcycle tourer and the way you it lay it out makes it simple. I can think of the kind of research that must have gone to do this ride and not to forget the monetary aspect of it.

I dont know if I would ever be able to ride in South Africa, physically , but your thread took me there

Thank you for making my day and inspiring so many others that 'It is possible" despite some many other commitments in life

PS: your website rocks

Disheartened that we couldnt meet the last time you were in Bangalore, but next time we shall