Dirt & Trail Aug2020

In fact, the entire off-road
excursion was somewhat pleasant.
The 390 has only a 19-inch front
wheel, not class-leading brakes and
suspension that might be called
“simple” in some circles. But all
that means toss because it is small
enough for even the daintiest of
riders to overcome. This little
feature holds more significance
than even the top-class WP
suspension and most aggressive
21-inch front wheel. The 158kg dry
weight helps hugely too.
The road was slippery, loose
gravel, and grew narrower and
tighter as it wound its way up the
range, offering spectacular views
of Clarens nestling below. The 390
has traction control, but it was
never needed as the light-throttled
373cc revved its way through
the low bottom gears. Also, even
over the bigger bumps, there was
very little of the dreaded “klunk”
associated with suspension out of
its depth.
After some haphazard and
fruitless dirt exploration, I
decided to scrap the man-logic
and asked a local for directions,
who happily told me there was a
tar road that rose to the peaks.
Feeling slightly annoyed that my
quest could probably have been
achieved using a family hatchback,
I followed his instructions into
the Golden Gate Reserve and
then delved ever deeper into the
Drakensberg.
The road through Golden Gate
is smooth, luxurious and twistier
than a piece of dropped thread.
Naturally, the light nature of the
390 came into its own again as
it ducked and dived through the
passes as the eroded sandstone
cliffs loomed ominously above,
shadowing the freezing road.
What did become a problem
was the altitude – Johannesburg
sits a pretty 1,600m above sealevel,
a full mile in empirical
terms. The thinner air causes a
The majesty of the Drakensberg
Through the dirt – the joker in the 390’s hand is the fact that
it is comparatively tiny. It will go everywhere other adventure
bikes will go without being three storeys tall and weighing
slightly more than Jupiter.
mounted the 390. After five minutes,
I went back inside, held my fingers
under hot water until they thawed
and then waited for global warming.
Luckily, Greta’s predictions
struck at around 11am, and the
390 left Clarens with its occupant
thankfully unfrozen.
Using man-logic, I decided that the
best way to reach one of the peaks
is via a dirt road. So I found one of
those and ascended to glory… well,
ascended until the road ended at
a lodge somewhere some distance
from the closest peak.
With that, I made a U-turn.
Typically, a sentence such as
the above would be satisfactory,
however, for me, it is more of
an achievement than Zoolander
turning left. On TV, I look like a
towering hulk. In real life, I’m a
little more than a gnome. I’m 5ft 9,
already a short-arse in the world of
butch manly-men, but this figure
is even more diminishing with
my strange boy proportions – my
actual body is unusually long, and
my legs are like little tree stumps.
This means I have a great time
during long-haul air travel but
struggle like hell to touch the floor
on any motorcycle.
Usually, when filming an
adventure bike, I need assistance
at least three times to pick the
bloody thing up after an inevitable
capsize.
And yet, on a narrow dirt road
somewhere outside of Clarens, I
managed a U-turn. Successfully. By
myself.
I fist-punched the air in
celebration, but most of the
accolades for this glorious
achievement must go to the
390. Where most adventure
motorcycles tower awkwardly
above their tippy-toed riders,
the 390 is somewhat “normal”
height, making life far easier for its
occupant.
76 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 77