Dirt & Trail SEPTEMBER 2022

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SUZUKI DL650 IN THE CAPE Time to park the bike, and sit on a rock a little and think about what Robert M. Pirsig wrote in his book, Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: “Once there, they become more aware than any of the others that there’s no single or fixed number of routes. There are as many routes as there are individual souls”. It is a clear winter’s morning, the air is crisp and clean and there is very little traffic, especially on this gravel road. I continue along with it as it dips down through some Eucalyptus plantations before it opens up again with some fynbos on each side. It is not a long stretch and before you know it you’ve reached the end where it meets the R44 tarmac road, close to the Arabella Golf Estate. I can head along this stretch and enjoy the gorgeous stretch of tarmac that snakes along the False Bay coast line. But, I opt to turn around and enjoy the mostly smooth gravel piece once more. The bike is fitted with road biased tyres, but they still offer, from my experience, reasonable gravel road grip. Obviously there is nothing more fun than twisting the throttle a little and allowing the torque to spin the rear wheel! The ride quality, both on and off road I find to be quite good. The suspension is absorbent while the seat assists with the final absorption of the road irregularities. I pass some of Tokara’s vineyards as well as Iona wine farm, the latter offering a wonderful tasting experience if you have a designated driver on hand. As was the case on the tarmac, the DL650 feels light and nimble. Soon, the tarmac road starts and this time I pick up the pace and enjoy tipping the bike into corners and using more of the rev range. Even after enthusiastic riding I was impressed by the average of 5.3 litres per 100 km the trip computer indicated. If you are planning on loading your bike with three panniers for very long trips with a pillion, I can understand why you would opt for a larger capacity motorcycle. However, I also understand the lure of picking a smaller capacity unit like this DL650. I know that I personally feel more comfortable piloting this bike than larger capacity units on tricky sections. My thoughts on the DL650: Overall, on power there is always enough on offer, its comfortable to ride on- and off-road and you can outpace basically all the traffic all the time. It is not intimdating in any kind of way and there is honestly almost nothing to find fault with. The clincher is when the DL650 throws its valuefor-money Joker card your way. At R144 500 you can simply not argue against it, it offers what several other manufacturers can only give buyers higher up the price range. It remains the case that this bike does exactly what it says on the tin. This one came from Mad Macs Motorcycles in Somerset West. Somerset West Tel: 021 852 4851 Website: www.madmacs.co.za
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Dirt & Trail SEPTEMBER 2022

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