Suzuki SV1000

Swaar's cage got some hail damage the other day and his trusty SV 650 broke 11 teeth on the ring gear.  Things were not looking good for my Swaar at all.  Three weeks he had to wait for the new ring gear all the way from Japan and this meant that the we could not go on a mind clearing trip in the passes surrounding Lydenburg… 

Now Swaar is one of those quite type guys that really can keep a secret.  So he never told me when he stripped the SV and took the cosmetics to this painter guy in Gauteng to change the colour of the bike while he was waiting for the ring gear from the land with the red dot flag.  

Time passed and while enjoying the MotoGP one Sunday afternoon he mentioned that the two of us had not had the pleasure of any motorcycling for a few weeks now. Then he changed track and enquired how the relationship between me and my new boss was. I didn't see the trap so I fell  straight in when I told him that we have the most awesome relationship. 

Swaar

I immediately phoned Swaar to give him the good news that we had an ALL SYSTEMS GO! 

Long Tom Pass 

On Tuesday morning I had to go underground to do my mining engineer bit.  When I go underground I sommer switch my cell phone off because Vodacom has yet to install towers a few thousand metres underground and besides this is my way of not wasting Eskom's power. At 11h30 I came to surface and had messages that made me phone Swaar before I even phoned my wife.  He told me that his boss had scheduled a meeting for him to attend on Thursday afternoon and that when this guy gets going he doesn’t stop, so our trip had to move…..if possible… and as coincidence would have it, the ring gear had also arrived ahead of schedule! 

Pilgrim's Rest - top of Long Tom Pass

I phoned the boss to explain the situation and he had no problem letting me go straight away.  So, I phoned Swaar who came to pick me up with his cage and we drove to Lydenburg.  He dropped me off, I got into my biking gear and headed to his house. Clouds were building up and I wondered why Swaar - who is usually the more safety conscious of the two of us  - still wanted to go pillion to Nelspruit.  Anyway, I figured that if the spare part was there and we only had to pick it up, we could miss the weather.

Swaar got on the back of the Bandit with a backpack and we set of to Nelspruit.  Now, I don’t know if it is just me but other bikers don’t make good pillions. I struggled up the Long Tom pass and after a while got used to the fact that I had a backseat driver.  The other thing I observed was that we did not talk, so I got a chance to clear my mind while negotiating those log sweeping turns I dream about all day long.  So I had a chance to evaluate the conversations me and Swaar had had over the previous two weeks -and then it struck me! Swaar has bought a new bike! e was making more than enough money to afford a new bike and of lately he's been showing a tremendous amount of  interest in the bike specs.  I slowed down to 30 km/h and opened my visor, shouting to enquire what bike he bought.  Was it a Bandit or a SV1000? He screamed back that he did not know what I was talking about.  

But I knew I was right.

I was tempted to keep my speed down and ride all the way to Nelspruit at 30km/h or until the slow pace frustrated him enough to out with the truth.  But then I reckoned that it was me he had chosen to be there when he collected his new bike - and not his wife - and that counted more than enough points in my book to not torture him in such a brutal manner.  A straight came up and I fell victim to lead wrist syndrome and 205km/h came up before I had to bleed off speed for a corner that would otherwise ditch us.

When we arrived at the dealership I scanned the floor and did not see anything Swaar would purchase. A Hayabusa and a GSXR 750 stood there together with other bikes and quads - but no Bandit nor SV.

A salesman looked at me strangely and I saw Swaar pick up a new black AGV lid like he was buying, which made no sense to me at all.  for a smoke and spied on the bikes on sale and in for repair. Marlboro stompie I went back inside just in time to catch the salesman coming out the office with a thick pack of papers. I approached like I was invisible while scanning the top page in passing and read the words “SV1000S K7". 

I was right! Chuffed for Swaar I congratulated him and wished him and his new babe lots of safe clicks. And after signing where he had to sign we were lead to the workshop area where the Black Beauty waited. 

We got on the road as soon as possible, Swaar having to take it real slow on new tyres and complying with the instruction to caress the new engine for the first 1000 clicks, so I had tons of time to appreciate the gesture of my friend who honored me with the greatest sign of friendship. 

Back at the Long Tom we pulled over and enjoyed the moment together. and that's when the heavens opened...

It got worse and worse. With 10 clicks to go the mist closed in. I cruised the rest of the way tucked in behind a bakkie because visibility was down to about 30 meters.

What a day I had. Thanks, Swaar.