Ring Ring.... Ring Ring... Ring Ring... "Hello?" - "Yes, hi Alex, this is Simon from Honda" - "Aaaa Simon! It's been a while! How have you been?" - "Well not to bad...blablablabla" - Simon:" Alex, I wanted to ask you and team Findingrichard if you would like to ride from Zurich to Corsica with the brand new Africa Twins CRF 1000, as we do need some bikes down there for promo. Would you be up to this task? " Alex:"aaaaaa *trying to breath* aaaa *spit dripping down from the corner of his mouth* aaaa *jumping up and down trying to find words* aaaa *smashing his forhead repeatedly against the wall*... YES!" Simon: "Cool, I send you the details. Peace!"

And so begun the short adventure on the new Africa Twins CRF 1000 in January 2016 with shivering - 2 C over mountain passes to comfortable 13 C degrees cruises at the beach on Corsica. Reunited, Team Findingrichard took off... Thank you Honda Moto Suisse and Enduristan for equiping us again and be blessed.

The national Swiss Radio SRF3 will broadcast a short interview about our trip in their Show "Mini Räder - Mis Läbe". Tune in on SATURDAY, 21.02.2015 between 10.00-10.30!

Link to the SRF3 Radio show

After the shocking accident of Alex and the certainty that he is in good hands and will be flown out to Switzerland soon, we discussed how to continue. Not an easy moment for all of us, but Alex made it clear: “Guys continue and finish that awesome project, and please enjoy the rest of it as much as you can!”

Rolf and Sandra were able to organize a transport for Alex’s motorbike by a local farmer on the back of his pick-up from the place where the accident happened to Mariental at the main road. It took two days until the bike arrived, enough time to organize the further transport of the Africa Twin to Cape Town. Econotrans and its owner Alex Schultz was a great help to us, as we agreed to leave the bike at the backyard of the Tahiti Lodge in Mariental, and as soon as Econotrans has time they will pick it up there. With a fully loaded bike we continued to Keetmanshoop and reunited with Dorian (coming from the hospital in Windhoek) around lunch time. From there we went straight towards the boarder to South Africa. With a total time of 15 minutes it was our fastest boarder crossing in Africa, so we had enough time to continue trough a rocky and a very windy landscape until the little town of Springbock. We found a perfect guesthouse with a magnificent view on the top of a hill and had brilliant steaks in the local’s favourite Steakhouse. The next day it was time to reach the Atlantic ocean. We arrived in Lamberts Bay in the afternoon, and as soon as we saw the ocean, all these emotions where back, that we didn’t only cross Africa from north to south, we also crossed it from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. After a gin tonic on our balcony with sea view, we had to jump into the water for a swim. A very short one, we have to admit, as it was freezing cold water. From now on we enjoyed seafood as much as possible. Fresh Oysters, Kingklip, Prawns, Crabs, Lobster, Tuna etc.. The road along the coast from Lamberts Bay to Cape Town is yet another highlight and around 50km before Cape Town we could see the Table Mountain and were starting to realize that we are going to make it. The feelings can’t be described, it is just overwhelming. After over 21’000km’s, 110 days, 21 countries, dozens of checkpoints, all sorts of different road conditions we finally reached Cape Town. We relaxed in the yard of our guesthouse, went for dinner and had a good sleep. The next day we drove down to the most south western point of Africa, known as Cape of Good Hope. The whole Eastern Cape area is beautiful and perfect for motorbike riding. On the way we also stopped in Simons Town to see the cute African penguins. On the second day we visited Table Mountain and the V&A Waterfront Shopping Mall where we met our friends from Holland, Nikkie and Stephane, once again. After two full days in this modern city we had to bring our bikes to Econotrans for crating and shipping. So a lot of packing and repacking was done. We let all the fuel out of our tanks and the battery and the windshield were been removed for transport. That’s it! Tighten everything and say good bye to the most brilliant bikes that brought us all the way down. Our beloved AFRICA TWINS.

With only 2.5 Mio inhabitants Namibia is one of the least populated countries in Africa. One realizes it, when riding for hours without village. Endless straight roads… with nothing. Hold on, no, there was something strange; in a town called Gobabis. There was a beer garden, where we ordered Bratwurst and potato salad for lunch. What a strange feeling. Because of the German colonial times in Namibia, there is still a German touch all over the country. There are towns like Mariental, Maltahöhe or street names like “Bahnhof Street”. We didn’t mind and enjoyed a solid Namibian Bratwurst with mustard. So thrilled about the bratwurst, we heard about a place called Joe’s Beerhouse in Windhoek, where we enjoyed other traditional German foods and the locally brewed Weissbeer (wheat beer). We felt like on a weekend trip in the Blackforest with the guys from the Club. Somehow it was wrong to eat proper German food in Africa, but after 3 months eating local foods, we just enjoyed the change for once. Windhoek seemed to us like a very quiet place and after two nights we were heading further to the world famous dunes of Sossusvlei. What a sight. In the morning at 5am, we drove towards the dunes to enjoy the sunrise and a moment of peace. What a magic place. After lunch we rode south to cover some mileage before reaching the fishriver canyon the next day. After the day has started with such a highlight, it ended in a disaster. All of a sudden a good gravel road turned into a 20 meter sand stretch. Alex in front was to fast to react and reduce speed. With almost 80km/h he hit the sand stretch, lost control of his front wheel and fell. Dorian running towards the dust cloud checking on Alex soon realized that he was still able to walk and talk. Heavy breathing and horrible pain in the back were his complains. He needed to see a doctor and a couple of hours later Alex was taken away by the ambulance to the next bigger town, where first x-rays where done. As the x-Rays didn’t show a clear picture Alex was sent to Windhoek for a CT. In the entrance hall of the state hospital of Windhoek, nobody seemed to be in a hurry and he waited around 4 hours to be examined. Some more x-rays later still no clear diagnose was spoken. The chef doctor should take a look into Alex’s case; with the words: “he will come by and take a look”, Alex was parked back in the entrance hall for another 8 hours. Slowly losing his mind and getting down from several morphine shots, Alex decided to move to a private hospital (the Roman Catholic Hospital) as soon as possible. Rosie, a nurse in the State Hospital, was taking care of Alex the entire time and even called him at 3 am at night to check up on him. She found out, that the 2nd examination by the chef doctor still didn’t happen, and most probably wouldn’t happen until the morning. All worried and Alex slowly panicking, she organized an ambulance, that brought him immediately to the private hospital. At 5am finally Alex arrived at the Roman Catholic Hospital, where they x-rayed and CTed him in the morning and diagnosed 6 broken rips, a scratched spleen and blood in the stomache –an immediate operation and removal of the spleen was announced. At 3pm the operation already took place and Alex was being fixed. While Alex was being moved with ambulances from hospital to hospital, Rolf and Dorian where fixing Alex’s bike, which was up and running in no time. The machine is definitely stronger then the man. Good old Africa Twin. Dorian went up to Windhoek again to check up on Alex, while Rolf and Sandra were organizing the transport of Alex’s bike down to Cape Town. After Alex’s surgery and him being flown home by REGA (Swiss Rescue Medics), Dorian drove south again and hooked up with Rolf and Sandra. As some days have gone by due to the accident, the standing crew where heading down south on the most direct roads towards South Africa. The last country on the list. With one rider down, the spirit was not the same anymore. But still; the project needed to be accomplished. Only 1300 km to go… let’s finish it!

After the Victoria Falls we used the Kazungula boarder to enter Botswana. You need to pay a road tax in local currency, but neither credit card nor US Dollars are accepted for payment. A little strange but as always, someone pops up and is going to help you. A friendly local woman changed some US Dollars for local currency directly in the road tax office. So we felt welcome from the first moment. Botswana is 14 times the size of Switzerland and has only a population of around 2 million. Wide areas of the country are just pure nature. We drove south. The good streets are all flat and straight, not exactly a motor biker’s dream scenario. But the occasional elephants and other wild life just next to the main road, was compensation enough. It surely felt like a dream to see these giants up close - but we were always ready to hit the gas in case they got too near. We decided to sleep at the “Elephant Sands” for the night, a nice and affordable lodge north of Nata. The camp is beautifully situated around a waterhole, where in the dry season regularly elephants come to drink. We were unlucky as it was beginning of the rain season and many water holes are filled with the rain from the last couple of weeks. Our next stop was Maun, a little wide spread city, famous as an entry point to the world famous Okavango Delta. As New Year’s celebrations were close we went to a backpacker that sounded like party. But first things first: on the 31st of December we changed our means of transport from the road to the sky. We went for a one hour scenic flight over the amazing Okavango Delta. What an experience on the last day of the year. We watched big herds of elephants, buffalos, zebras, and a stunning, breath-taking landscape. Now we know why it is that famous. Maybe the hefty breakfast just before take-off was not the best idea, as our co-pilot and co-rider Dorian struggled with his full stomach shortly before the landing. But he felt better shortly after the landing and we could all celebrate New Year’s Eve and primarily the engagement of Sandra and Rolf! The bar closed at 1am so we were able to drive the next day and made it to Ghanzi. There was a nice camp in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, again a fascinating landscape but very hot. Game steaks became our daily food, standard improved and more and more we got the feeling that we entered a new part of Africa. Infrastructure was solid everywhere. Many white people travel around and normally there are fuel stations that actually have and sell fuel. Except during holiday season, so we had to drive with only 80km/h for 160 km to save fuel and make it to Ghanzi. Not the pace you like on the already very boring road. As we filled our bikes up, we realized how close it was: Rolf’s Africa Twin has a 24 liters tank and he filled up 23.77 liters. After a hot but peaceful night in the Kalahari Desert we planned a special stage of 525km all the way to Windhoek Namibia for the next day. Botswana was a surprise in development and in density of elephants, but with only 5 curves in 1500 km it’s not really a motor biker’s paradise.

Dr. David Livingstone heard about big waterfalls while he was sipping gin tonic on one of his African expeditions. Four years later in 1855 he discovered them and named the falls after Queen Victoria. The Victoria Falls are the biggest waterfalls in Africa and a major tourist attraction. During the rain season it is impossible to discover the upper parts of the falls, but again we where lucky and could go with a local guide to jump into pools and take a well needed bath on the edge of the 108 m high falls. Enough adrenaline for some, not for Dorian. Afterwards he just went straight to do a bungee jump from the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. 111 meters high, the third highest bungee jump in the world.

The next morning, we visited the local crocodile park. They have an albino crocodile among many other beasts. We crossed again to Zimbabwe, this time it was a little to organized for us, so we finally had to pay the insurance. We still don’t know what the insurance covers, but hey that are their rules, we respect them. On the Zimbabwe side you get the better overview of the falls. For us it was definitely worth to see the falls from both sides. 

Zimbabwe – We found Richard!!!

To enter Zimbabwe from Zambia at the Kariba boarder, you cross the impressive 128 m high Kariba dam. Our first night in Zimbabwe we stayed at the shore of lake Kariba, due to the dam, it is the second biggest artificial lake in Africa. The north was rainy. Just after the boarder crossing it started to drop whet from the sky.

Due to the hyperinflation in the late 1990s and the collapes of the Zimbabwe Dollar, we had the picture in our heads Zimbabweans trading goods to get food and there is not much to buy. A couple of years ago the Zimbabwian Dollar was replaced by USD, which was probably a smart move. We were surprised about the perfect roads, saw the highest density of Mercedes cars and everything was available in shops. Zimbabwe has the best educated people across Africa and the most natural resources. Actually everything is functional and well organized. Despite the difficult political situation, we had the feeling, that the common people are doing very well...

We still had to drive 700km to Richard. And we were tired from the last couple of days. We drove off to get as far as we can and like always on such days Alex had a puncture, off course in complete rain. But a friendly Shona gave us shelter to change the tube. He also gave us tasty mangos from his tree, so after 1.5 hours we were back on the road. Completely wet we arrived in KweKwe just before sunset. It was clear that we reach Richard and his hometown Zvishavane the next day. The sun was shining the next morning and the scenery was again beautiful and after 200km at about 11:00 am we finally reached his home. What an emotional moment, it has been over 16’000km and suddenly you see on your GPS that there are only 30km left. We made it, we found him and his family!!!

In the afternoon we went with Richard and his kids to Great Zimbabwe. The place where Rolf and Richard met 19 years ago. It is like a fort on top of a hill used by a former regional kingdom. Brilliant construction. Later the day we went shopping groceries and shaking a lot of hands of all the different friends Richards has in town. On 24th December we visited the Mimosa mine, where Richard works as a foreman for diesel plant fitter. Later in the evening we went out to drink a couple of beers, made a lot of jokes with Boniface a really good friend of Richard and played pool billiard with the locals. When we returned to Richards house, his mom was waiting for us, she came all the way from KweKwe just to see us. The next morning it was time to celebrate Christmas in the Anglican Church. Because sharing is a profound value in most (if not all) African cultures, the priest explained at the beginning of the service, that he will also share the service with us and spontaneously switched to English language instead of Shona. Wow what an honor for us. The service was very special for us. The celebrations are full of joy, the songs have beat and the sisters where dancing. The priest than asked out Rolf for a speech. He did a short greeting speech but was very nervous. After church it was time for Christmas gifts. After a late lunch we were all sad to split off, but we had to go. It was one of the highlights of our trip. Richard and his family will always be in our memories. Thank you Richard for being such a brilliant host. We arrived late in Bulawayo. The next day we drove up in full rain again to the Victoria Falls/Livingstone. We crossed the border to Zambia, to catch up with Sandra, the girlfriend of Rolf. She will now join us for the last three weeks. Team up with Sandra! Welcome to the findingrichard love train!

To be honest we did not have a lot of time to explore Zambia as we needed to be at Richards place by Christmas. But if you come from Malawi you instantly see a huge difference in development. People ride good cars, there are big shopping malls and busy fuel stations. The first day we rode to Pantauke a little town with only one lodge. To expensive for us, so we camped. The heavy rain in the night set Dorians tent under water. The next day we arrived around 17:00 in Lusaka, the capital and business center of Zambia. And as we first checked Tyre King if they might have a rear tyre for us it started to rain as heavy as never before on our trip. We hid under a roof of a ATM manufacturing company. They saw us and invited us to come inside. Later after the worst rain was over we went to Bungwe Bush Camp. That is kind of a open air bar and meeting point for the local white Zambians. We learned a lot from these guys that Zambia has just celebrated 50 years of independence and peace. The former president just past away a few weeks ago, so Zambia will held elections on 20th January. They have 7 candidates including a women. The guy from the green party is willing to legalize marihuana, as he says it will bring Zambia 15 billion USD. How this will happen is not explained on the posters. We also heard about the other side of racism. Now a days it is hard for a white Zambian to find a job. Despite all difficulties, everyone seems to be proud to be Zambian. Rolf went to the village “Township” near by to shorten his beard. Many locals start drinking on Friday in the afternoon, so it was quit a funny afternoon at the barber shop. Later the night we went out to enjoy Lusakas nightlife. Brilliant clubs, not so brilliant hangover the next day. Although we still managed to find rear tyres, two Bridgestone at one place, another Bridgestone at the local HONDA dealer. They had the 17 inch tires but only the 130 instead of 140 but they still fit our bikes. Well you take what you get. They look small but still better than nothing. After we recovered from our hangover we drove all south to Kariba the border to Zimbabwe.

Malawi is supposed to be the poorest of all countries we cross, at least according to the UN. With an average salary of less than one dollar a day and a fuel price of 2 dollars per liter it is clear that there are barely vehicles on the road. And there is basically only one road along the beautiful lake Malawi, also called lake Nyassa. We heard of a lodge, called the Sangilo Sanctuary, were Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor stayed on their Long Way Down trip back in 2003. We found it and indeed it is a beautiful place owned by Mark a Scotsman and also passionate motorbiker. It was hot in Malawi and the lake with a water temperature of 29 degrees did not really cool us down. But the scenery, the tasteful food and the cold beers were excellent. Mark could give some insights in the Long Way Down production and some funny stories about the two TV-heroes. But you should ask him yourself, we don’t tell them here. As Rolf was still riding with the stitched tyre, we asked Mark if he might know someone that can help. He then said: “I think I have an old tyre in my garage!” As he steps inside the garage you hear grumpl and after a few minutes he comes out with a tyre full of dust and spiderwebs, and guess what he had in his hand? A HEIDENAU K60 with a good profile left. Unbelievable, how big is the chance to find such exactly the same tyre we were using in Malawi? It is probably the only Heidenau tyre in the entire country. Some angels must have sent it to us, because it is dangerous to drive with a stitched tyre. It was a miracle, at least Rolfs personal miracle. The next magic moment just happened the next day. We drove up a steep road to Livingstonia and went to the Mushroom Camp. As it gets dark from that plateau you overlook the lake and the valley below and you see hundreds of paraffin lights on the lake. The local fisherman make that show, as they go with their “Einbaum” ships a logboat to fish on the lake during the night. It was brilliant to see it we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, as one could hear the drums that are used for entertainment in the villages below us. These people live without electricity, without phone connection in complete peace with nature. Just magical. Next morning we went back to Sangilo Sanctuary to pick up our luggage and drove all the way to Kande Beach. The sandy road there wasn’t easy especially as it was almost dark. We arrived there and where a little shocked as the place was full with 6 Overlander-Trucks. Not the company we really want as you remember. But the big sandy beach is brilliant and we went there for a fresh water dive the next day. It is a must do if you have a diving license. Completely different than in the oceans. Lots of tiny fishes called tilapia (Buntbarsche) but no corals. We saw a huge catfish, the biggest species in lake Malawi. After two nights in the Overland-Truck mecca we had enough and drove to the capital of Malawi, to Lilongwe. Another busy camp as we now realized we are back in touristic places. Our visit to the Shoprite store to buy some gifts for Richard’s family was shocking as well. If you see what’s on offer at which prices, you realize, that there are plenty of rich people in Malawi, just not in the villages. Malawians are friendly and we can definitely recommend a visit to this beautiful country for everyone. As they also call Malawi, Africa for beginners.

To cross from Rwanda to Malawi trough Tanzania, you can either do a 3000km lap over Dodoma on a main route full with heavy trucks, or you decide to go down the B5 to Mbeya via Kasulu and Mpanda. As you might remember we don’t like the main routes, so it will be the B5. But what happened the next four days was not really as expected. Out of 1’000 km the B5 is only tarmac for 150km. There it is - the rural area we where looking for, no internet, no ATM’s, barely any fuel station and a lot of adventure through the jungle. So the first day included the 150km of tarmac in the beginning, then there were only mud or dust roads. We managed to cover a 425km on our first day in Tanzania, found a lodge, but no money, except the USD we brought from home. But all fuel stations refused to accept US dollars. Off course it was Sunday and all banks were closed, so we could not fuel up. The next morning we were in the mood to leave early, but since the bank opens only after 8:30 we had to wait. Dollars were changed, our tanks were filled and it started to rain. It is one thing to ride off road, but it is a completely different thing to ride off road in the rain. Streets turn into rivers, sand turns into sticky mud. A 300km stage turns out to be impossible, on a 12 hour day of riding we were getting as far as a cyclist. The mud was stuck in in our front wheel so had to remove the front fenders to get it turning again. We struggled, we slipped and past only cars, trucks and buses that were stuck in the ditch. But in the end – completely covered in mud – we managed to do 200km, in 12 hours!!! It was one of the hardest days since we left Switzerland, not to mention the problems Alex had with his fuel pump as the rain pored down like in a shower. But the Africa Twin once again didn’t let us down. A simple cleaning of a part within the fuel pump with a sand paper got it running again. Not that it actually needed a fuel pump to run as long as you connect the tank directly to the carburetors and make sure there is enough fuel in the tank. Simple gravity does the trick. As it got slowly dark, we searched for a village, that should exist according to your GPS. But we could not find it. So as always we caried some food with us, and found the perfect spot for a bush-camp next to a river. In the evening the rain stopped and Rolf managed to light a fire despite the fact that the wood was wet. Alex’s Spaghetti, Dorian’s purified river water, and Rolf’s bonfire gave us a pleasant and cozy atmosphere. The program for the next day wasn’t less demanding. Another 225 kms to the Lake Shore Lodge at lake Tanganijka, where years ago Dr. David Livingstone also had problems with the conditions. We drove trough the beautiful Kitavi National Park and just at its entrance is a fantastic pool full of Hippos. The road though got very demanding again, with deep potholes filled with water, and we arrived at the lodge at the end of our strength. But as you sit down, drink a cold beer and see that outstanding view of Lake Tanganijka, you instantly know, it was worth the effort. It is just magic, sitting there, watching the sunlight sparkling on the water, hear the waves and enjoying the moment. We needed a day off, and the Lake Shore Lodge was the perfect place to read books, write blogs and swim. Only Alex had to work as his pannier rack was broken, but luckily the lodge has its own welding professional and everything could be fixed. After a relaxing day and evening with a lot of red wine (thx Mr. Bouncer) we drove another 150km off road, and then on perfect tarmac to Tunduma, a typical border town, with many drunk guys. Rolf found a cut in his front tyre, not really the way you want to drive long distances. The locals do stitch their tyres and they stitched his as well, the only other option would have been a Chinese tyre with a maximum allowed load of 165kg. Not really an option, since our maximum weight on the front tyre is way over 340kg, and the original tyre manages 465kg. The next day we drove with the stiched tyre via Mbeya towards the boarder of Malawi. Tanzanians are famous for street food such as “Chipsi” which are freshly made french fries. Off course we had to try them at a restaurant called Popo’s No 1. They are also famous for spirits as cheap as 30cent, filled in little plastic sachets. Probably the reason why you can see drunk people at 10am already. Shortly before the Malawian boarder a little travel meeting took part. First we met a guy from Germany on his polished 990 KTM, a few minutes later two cyclists came by. It is always nice to see other travelers on two wheels and we had a good chat and exchanged information about the route. A few minutes later we were at the boarder of Malawi. 

Rwanda is known for the genocide happened in the early 90ties. A little more than 20 years later we went to visit this very little piece of Africa also known as the land of thousand hills. The first impression of Rwanda was a boarder, clean, organized and relatively smooth. We then drove on perfect tarmac roads trough a green landscape and many little hills. After Uganda traffic, we where surprised that cars give correct signals when they turn left or right. Mario a good friend of us lives and works in Goma (DRC) for the UN. Goma is a boarder town of Gyseni. So we went there to visit him. At the shore of lake Kivu we arrived late just after it got dark and checked in a Hotel. Mario our friend came over and we had many stories to share and learned a lot about the UN operation in eastern Congo. The next morning it was again time to update our blog, do maintenance, specially to change the oil and fix the broken bearing of Dorian’s rear wheel. Mario came over from DRC again and we had great pizza, pasta, salad and tiramisu together with a bottle of delicious Italian Valpolicella. As Ruanda is a very small country we drove the next day to the capital city Kigali. We checked the rates at the “Mille Collins” the world famous hotel from the movie “Hotel Rwanda.” Now it is operated by Kempinski so obviously the rates don’t fit our budget and we decided to come back for evening drinks. It is impressive to see the hotel and to imagine what happened there, but beside that it’s not our world to hang out in a five star hotel, and the service level was one of the worst on our trip. So back to the real deal, we had a beer next door from our lodge and started to talk with local guys. As often good things happen spontaneously we went out with the guys and saw Kigali at night. Also we heard interesting stories about Rwanda. They have a community day once per month where everyone has to participate: they clean the roads, fix different infrastructure, plant trees etc.. Plastic bags are forbidden in Rwanda, they run a campaign that women and men get the same salary for same work. And the majority of the members of the parliament are women. Despite all these good news, there is a horrible past upon Rwanda. We went to the genocide memorial, a museum which explains what happened 20 years ago when Hutus slaughtered 1 million Tutsis, 2 million people fled out of the country and 500’000 women where raped. It is unbelievable how such things can happen, and it is even more unbelievable how they managed within 20 years to build up the country and live in peace. We have to admit that the president Mr. Kagame doesn’t accept opposition, that the media is controlled by the state, but on the other hand he does a lot of good things for his country. The people of Rwanda got the message that they have to forgive each other. From Kigali we planned to drive all the way to the boarder of Tanzania to cross it the next day. But 60km before the boarder Alex had his second puncture in the front tyre. This time he had a big cut in the tyre so it was clear that he can’t ride long distances with it. So we fixed it temporary to get to the next lodge which was only 5km away and had the idea to first call our friends from Holland Nikki and Stephane and ask them if they still have a spare tyre with them. And yes they still had two of them and promised to arrive the next day. So we where back together the five Africa Twins and went off to western Tanzania.

The route from Kisumu to Busia is not far, we spent our last Kenyan Shillingi for food, then faced our next boarder crossing. The Kenyan side was well organized, only a road tax led to some confusion but this tax has only to be paid if you stay longer than two weeks in Kenya. The Uganda side was more confusing and we faced a major scam. A guy trying to make friends with us and offered his help for free, showed us the custom office, a container with no signs, there everyone was talking about an insurance called COMESA which is valid in all Eastern African countries. They asked for 220 USD each, after long discussions and negotiations, they offered us the exact same insurance for 90 USD. So something had to be wrong. Instantly we found out, this is not even the custom office, it was the National Insurance Agency. Alex went off to the real custom office, while Rolf was searching for other insurances, the helpful police lady let him pass the boarder and there where plenty of other offices, that offer the same insurance for as less as 19 USD. In the end we drove off without any insurance. So be careful if you travel the same route.

Uganda is full of Boda Bodas that are motorbike taxis which reach barely 50km/h, beside that they have crazy Minibus Taxis, Trucks and big coaches. And the highest speed bumps in whole Africa. So driving on a main road is a big challenge and probably the most dangerous we had to ride so far. As we later found out, it is common to pay for your driving license without getting any test done, so even half blind people can be on the road. We made it to Jinja, the source of the White Nile and famous for river rafting. We booked a raft the next day. It was a fun day on the river, however we have to admit it is fucking dangerous. At a 2.5m waterfall, Rolf almost lost a thooth, at an other rapid our boat fell over and Alex was hit by waves, almost couldn’t breath. Anyway we had adrenalin pumped in our bodies and a sunburn. The Overland Camp we stayed was spoiled by a group of Texans, they drive with big Trucks for 3-4 weeks through Eastern Africa and cover huge distances each day. Normally they get drunk in the evening and yes they are very loud. Not our kind of traveling. We try to stay away from these kind of camps. From Jinja to Kampala it is not far. At a road construction we had to wait for 45min. Dorian let his lights on and once we could drive, his Africa Twin was not starting. So Alex and Rolf where already on the other side of the construction site, enjoyed a “Chicken in your face”, fresh grilled chicken on sticks and Fanta, while Dorian was push starting his bike. Once in Kampala’s suburbs, the traffic gets immense. For motorbikers there are no rules at all, so every centimeter is used to pass the traffic jams, but we are fast in adapting and managed to reach the city center. There suddenly a GS1200 rider started to talk with Dorian while driving through the traffic. We stopped and it turned out that he is “Mark Milage” a local guy and president of the Pearl Riders Uganda a local motorcycle club. He showed us their outdoor garage and came with us to Red Chillies Hideaway where we stayed for the next three nights. With another friendly guy, Ronnie, we met at the “Chicken in your face” place we went out for a concert of local artist Bobi Wine to celebrate Dorians birthday. What a brilliant night with a lot of dancing, conversations and good music. In the end he said “you guys must be Africans” what a compliment! White people are called “Muzungus” which means people on the move so the term was adapted to address white travelers. We hear it every day and it is quit funny. The locals don’t hide their emotions so they often are impressed about our bikes, or trip, or whatever so they use some kind of expressions that sound like “eh”, or “ah” or “hmmm”. It is funny and we started to use these terms as well. From Kampala we drove to Fort Portal, again a brilliant ride and our first heavy rain. It is very green. Most houses have nice little gardens and the people are shy. Most of the time they just look at us, as were from another planet. In the evenings you either watch football games or you play a billiard pool game.

National parks are expensive but Uganda is the only country that allows motorbikes in parks. So we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a safari ride. The way to Mweya was all off road trough a stunning landscape with crater lakes, jungle and beautiful little villages. In the park we where overwhelmed by the first elephant. We saw Buffalos, Kudus, Springbocks, Impalas and a landscape like in National Geographic. It is definitely more intense to see all these creatures on a bike than in a car.

Uganda is also famous for Gorillas, so we went the next day to Biwindi National Park. Again a day with unpaved roads only, constantly keeping the concentration up for 200 km, can even make the strongest tired. And the price for Gorilla trekking went up from 300 USD off season till end of November to 600 USD from 1st December. Stupid it was exatly the 1st December when we arrived. Well the jungle was good enough and we left Biwindi the next morning, after a typical local breakfast with a ton of cooking bananas and a sauce made of beans and chestnuts. To be honest 8 Days are not enough for the beauty of Uganda.

We went to Oweni market in Kampala, one of the largest in East Africa. A chaotic but real African experience. To get there quickly you better jump on a Boda Boda Mototaxi. These drivers know how to use every little space they can find between the cars to bring you across the city.

Most of the clothes we donate in Europe and Northern America are going to be sold on markets like Oweni. You will find everything from Michael Jordan caps to NRA Jackets, Adidas Superstars, football shirts, jeans etc..

Another section of the market sells vegetables and fruits, fish and meat. The meat hangs in the shops without cooling and already smells a bit to much.

Also sunglasses can be found and everything has to be haggled down. Starting prices are usual 4 times of a price you can agree with. We found sunglasses for Dorian and a new petrol can for Alex, that was formerly used for cooking oil. The alleys between the shops are tiny and the ground can be muddy, so watch your steps. You can get tattoos but you better won’t if you see how they do them. You find faked Rolex, Gucci bags and belts. Spices and Honey, SIM cards and phones, DVD’s and Music CD’s, Toys, just everything you can imagine. And the people are great, just to see a “Muzungu” at this market makes them happy. If you don’t have your own phone you can call from a little shack which is the African way of public phone. It was a perfect way to get in touch with bustling Kampala.

Another boarder into new land, Kenya a former colonial country of Great Britain. For the first time we are supposed to keep on the left side of the road and most locals speak English. From Moyale (boarder town) a road once called “Hell Road” leads for 250 km trough a hot desert like landscape. The road is called “Hell Road” because of it’s conditions and bandits that were active in the region some years ago. And most overlanders that cross the eastern side of Africa were here for the first time forced to drive off road and challenged in their driving skills. As the development across Africa improved, nowadays the road is not really challenging anymore. Only some 85km off-road tracks are left, of which the first 20km after the boarder are the worst and another 10km of terrible washboard which gives your back and your bike a hard time. The rest has been perfectly paved by Chinese. We rode together with Nikki and Stephan the Dutch couple we met in Addis Abeba. In Marsabit we stayed at Henry’s Camp, a Swiss guy who lives in Kenya for 38 years. We decided to do a chicken BBQ and met a retired couple from Zurich with their Land Rover. They seem to enjoy their retirement as they have a year for the same route as we do and Hanni prepared a tasty salad for us. Until Marsabit it was all good. The next day Alex had a puncture in his front tire, than Rolf had a front wheel blower as well. Stephan likes this kind of challenges, he managed to repair it in a record time of only 13min. Rolf’s blower happened in the village of Isiolo and attracted a big crowd. One little boy stole Stephan’s phone but we managed to catch the thief and got the phone back. On the way we passed many Masai shepards in their beautiful traditional clothes, but photos they don’t like, except you pay money, which we will never do. Our next stop was Nanyuki, again a beautiful ride trough the mountains with curvy roads, We could catch a glimpse of the second highest mountain in Africa Mt. Kenya and it’s snow covered top. The region is over 2000 meters above sea level and is famous for farming and British soldiers, that train their skills in an army base. We drove further south to Lake Naivasha which is famous for Hippos and all sorts of birds. We have to admit that since we’re in Africa we kind of become bird spotters. The diversity of birds is so immense that in certain areas you will find more different kind of birds, than in entire Great Britain. So we planned an early morning boat ride on Lake Naivasha and did not get disappointed. Hippos, waterbocks, flamingos, pelicans, cormorans, eagles, African stork, king fisher and many more animals we saw. On the rest of the day Dorian could fix his broken pannier rack, again some local welding action did the trick. As we saw the crazy traffic on the main road the day before, we decided to go off the beaten. We figured that only if you go off the beaten, you’ll meet the rural locals and see how people really live. So it happened that on Rolf’s 33rd birthday we went for a mud bath. The scenic drive trough little villages was just a fabulous experience. The only transport on this roads are little Chinese 125cc motorbikes which cost around 800 USD and it is really impressive what these guys load on their bikes and how they manage to go trough the mud. It took us 5 hours for 75km so we got once more stuck in a town we don’t even know the name of. But good things happen always in such situations. We couldn’t find a place to stay, but suddenly a car stopped and the driver asked us what we are looking for. “Accommodation.” “Ok, no problem follow the vehicle.” So we did and ended up in a Catholic Mission, with brilliant warm showers, clean rooms, wireless internet and a fantastic meal. What else to ask for. The next day we drove trough tea plantations to Kisumu at the shore of lake Victoria. In the beautiful Dunga Hill Camp we pitched our tents. It seemed to be the hotspot for locals. On weekends, a DJ is playing music, the beer was cold and the sun downer out of this world. We where in the mood to go out and found a crazy party city with a modern Kenyan crowd. Basically wherever Africans hear music, they dance. Our friends from Holland left early the next morning to Kampala, we needed to rest another day. After a week in Kenya (you could easily spent a month here) it was time for Uganda.

You You You You You!!!!!

Border crossings are always an unknown, so we got up early, the early birds catch the worm. The crossing went smooth on the Sudanese side. Once in Ethiopia we first got tested on Ebola by a head temperature measure thing. While they test us, hundreds of locals just walk between the boarders. Well, we might look more dangerous. In the immigration office was a picture of the president on the wall, next to an advertisement for beer. Oh yeah, after Sudan we were looking forward for a cold brew. But first we had to ride to Gorgora and the famous overlander camp of Tim and Kim on the shore of lake Tana. As soon as you enter Ethiopia it starts to get green and suddenly there are curves and hills and motorbike riding is fun again. Less fun is a lack of fuel, after searching for two hours in Gonder to fill our tanks, one guy jumped on Dorians bike to direct us to the so called “black market”. Such operations attract a lot of attention and while we filled up our tanks a big crowd gathered around us. To Gorgora it was another 50 km, all offroad, including a small river crossing. It was great fun and we arrived late and thirsty, but still at daylight. We decided to stay a while at the beautiful Tim and Kim Village, a bird spotters paradise. We visited a monastery with canoes, had many conversations with fellow travelers and got inspired by Kevin, a Belgian guy who works for an NGO in Mekele. He suggested to visit the north of Ethiopia, especially Era Ale, a volcano with a lava lake. So we changed our plans and headed north to Debark the entrance of the Simien Mountains. From there an unpaved road brought us 200 km further north to Shire. What a stunning scenery, green hills, steep passes, monkeys and roads that must have been built by motorbikers. Next attraction on our route was Debre Damo, a monastery near the boarder of Eritrea, which you can only reach by climbing up a rope. We found the monastery after a perfect gravel road ride. The prices they asked where typically for Ethiopia as there is always a “farengi” (foreigner) and a Habesha (local) price. So only Rolf went up the rope which was around 18 meters high. He shit his pants, but made it to the top only secured by a cow leader string.

Ethiopia is basically full of people, cattle, goats, donkeys, chickens, camels etc. and all these creatures hang out or walk on the street, this does not make riding a motorbike any easier. Food wise Ethiopians love their sour bread called “Injera” and eat a lot of meat or at least in restaurants where we ate usually. The coffee is brilliant, tasty and a whole ceremony is held to roast the beans, boil the water and brew the coffee, absolutely fantastic! Also everybody waves at you while passing with the bikes and many guys wear the Ethiopian national football shirt. To watch football we also went to a self build kind of cinema twice, but to be honest the national football team sucks.

Once we reached Mekele we signed in for an organized two day trip to Erta Ale, you drive in Land Cruisers six hours into the Danakil region to a so called military base (check the pics, yes the one with the guy wearing an army uniform), which consists a dozen huts made of lava stones. These guys are supposed to protect the tourists from terrorists, with rifles that are over 40 years old. Well we felt save and walked up the volcano for three hours in a very Ethiopian pace, it was demanding, but the full-moon was shining and what we experienced on top of the crater is cannot be put in words. You see a lava lake blubbering and spying, you smell the sulfur and feel the heat. It looks incredible and was worth more than we ever expected. Thank you Kevin for this one. We slept on the crater and went back the next day, totally exhausted but with impressions we will keep forever.

We had to do some mileage the upcoming days, all southwards to Addis Ababa. Most parts of Ethiopia are over 2000 meters above sea level, we rode over passes as high as 3’200 meters and it sometimes got really cold.

In Addis we stayed at Wim’s Holland House another famous spot for overlanders. There we met Nikki and Stephan, two Dutch with two Africa Twins also on the way to Cape Town. We talked a lot about our bikes, travel stories and experiences and decided to team up till somewhere in Kenya. We drove south to Awassa, a terrible 200km road brought us from there to Agere Mayram, where we spent a great night with the locals, chewing Chat (Khat), grilling sausages and drinking beer. The next day we made it to Moyale (the boarder town) through a jungle landscape, and like in entire Ethiopia we enjoyed the ride, while thousands of children scream “you you you you you” at us (besides pen and money the only English words they know). Despite all the power blackouts and rooms without running water, we fell in love with Ethiopia. 

Sudan “tamam!”

Again we needed a fixer for the Egypt / Sudan boarder crossing. Kamal is the man for such issues, since 15 years he helps overlanders to get through the process. We are the first foreign motorbikers that can use the newly opened boarder at Qustul. Former travelers needed to go on a passenger ferry for a 17 hour cruise along lake Nasser, having their vehicle shipped by a barge for 3 days. That ferry leaves Assuan only once a week. The new way goes to Abu Simbel via a former military road you can only drive if you join a convoi with an Egyptian. So we met Kamal in Assuan at 1:30 am. That means go to bed early try to sleep as much as you can, which is actually hard considering the constant noise made by car horns. Anyway we then drove behind Kamal a 230km stage to Abu Simbel where we arrived at around 5:30 in the morning. You then cross the Lake Nasser with a ferry operated by the army, drive another 60km to the new boarder. There Kamal organized all the needed stamps, our luggage got checked and after 2 hours we were free to leave Egypt. In Sudan you do need a fixer as well, Maghdi already awaits us, instantly he starts his work while we realize that Sudanese people are very different from Egyptians, they smile a lot, everyone was friendly. Still it took us 5 hours for the endless papers and forms that had to be filled, and off course it costs a good amount of US-Dollars. As the day passed by Maghdi invited us to sleep at his place, called his wife and told her about the three hungry Swiss Motorbikers. She did a fantastic job, serving us really tasty food and even brought us Whisky with mango juice. What Whisky? Isn’t alcohol supposed to be illegal in Sudan. Yes it is.

Sudan is mostly desert, a huge land awaiting to be crossed, temperatures go as high as 55°C in Summer and still reach 37°C in Winter at least. As long as you are not a desert fox, Sudan’s offers little to see, nubian pyramids in Karima and Meroe and the oldest temple made out of mud in Kerma from the Qush Kingdom. We visited all these places and especially Meroe Pyramids are absolutely terrific. But what really blows your mind away is the unbelievable generosity, hospitality and friendliness of the people of Sudan. Despite everything you ever heard about Sudan, we felt absolutely save and welcomed at any time during our stay in Sudan. You basically can’t stop somewhere without getting invited for Chai (Tea), cold drinks, or something to eat. We all traveled allot in the world and agreed in the end that we’ve never experienced something like that. Despite that Sudan gave us a hard time, the local guest houses called “lukandas” are lower than basic, either dusty or full of insects, for food they mostly eat “ful medames” beans with egg and goat cheese, eaten by hand using flat bread. It is hot very hot at all time and did we mention there is no beer available?

And then we head our first breakdowns, first Dorian felt with his bike on a sandy passage back to the main road and his right pannier got ripped off. We fixed it with zip ties and could fix it later in the evening by local mechanics. A few days later Rolf’s cooling system was leaking after a refill at a tank stop. Because of a broken screw the water cooler vibrated against the oil cooler. That one we tried to fix with liquid metal, the problem is it gets only dry below 30°C. That’s a real problem in Sudan, so we tried it again during the night and it worked out thanks to Dorian our bush doctor. The broken screw then had to be pulled out of the frame by some fantastic Sudanese bush mechanic the next morning. After almost 1’900km and 7 days in Sudan we reached the border of Ethiopia.

Sudan was “tamam”; what means “all good” in Arabic! 

From Port Said we headed to Gizeh a part of Cairo, the 25 million capital of Egypt. Easier said then done, especially if you arrive exactly at rush hour after sunset. After two hours in Cairo's traffic jam, having our lungs filled with dust and smog and empty starving stomachs we arrived in Gizeh's Arab quarter. Not enough suffering for us, we searched another hour for a place to sleep and found the perfect hotel with two rooms available, the others under construction. The next day we needed to organize yet another paper from the traffic police, so we took a taxi to the city center and distributed some more bakshish to some more officials (just to find out later in Assuan, that we don't need this paper at all). Anyway we had enough smog and decided to give the pyramids a short visit in the morning with our bikes before heading to a coptic monastery in the Araba desert. But at the pyramids entrance we were refused to enter with our Africa Twins by some mafia like "officials", wearing Lacoste shirts and sunglasses. So we drove directly towards St. Antwan Monastery (the oldest coptic monastery worldwide). We all were in the mood for some offroad-action and luckily found a shortcut to the monastery. After asking a couple of locals we were sure that we would find the right track. Riding over solid gravel was fun and the 25 km seamed to be doable, but the track soon disappeared and so begun the operation "Wadistorm". The track ended up in a camel path (singletrack), the camel path ended up in a stone field with stones as big as footballs, yes we we got lost. Shortly before sundown and only 7,5 km away from the monastery, we knew that we can not reach the free food, the worldwide known coptic monk hospitality and their wine we were dreaming of. Instead we ended up in a Wadi (dry riverbed), opening up a can of pellati and cooking a pack of spaghetti. 1 million stars where our entertainment, what a fantastic sight. We found the track the next morning, visited the Monastery, got free food, went to the red sea, had a relaxing time at the beach and even went diving. After the temples of Luxor we already went off to Assuan to spend our last nights in Egypt. There we got our Sudan visa sorted out, visited a charming nubian village together with the villages oldest and got drunk with Sakara beer (10%) to prepare us for further challenges, such as the border crossing between Egypt and Sudan on a recently opened former military road.  

Out now! Episode 9 - "T-0". Time has come to hit the road! Finally! Check out the first 3000 km from Zurich to Iskenderun/Turkey.

After a day at the port in Iskenderun and the uncertainty weather they would let us on the boat or not, we managed to load our bikes on the CENK Y vessel (built 1979) transporting 68 Trucks and drivers to Port Said. The friendly truck drivers invited us to drink Chai with them and the communication was quite amusing because they mostly spoke just a few words in English. The 33 hour crossing of the Mediterranean Sea was calm, we had our own 4 person cabin, the food was very tasty, and we enjoyed the filthy but charming cargo ship crew hospitality.

We were all a bit nervous when we entered Port Said because we heard stories of people who spent five days there struggling with the Egyptian bureaucracy to get their vehicle out of the port. One unlucky guy is still trying to get his Landrover out of the port after several months.

But everything went smooth for us, we hired Eslam to help us with the paperwork and the Bakshish-Distribution and he did a great job including dropping us off and picking us up from the hotel. After two days we had our Egyptian number plates, stamped carnets, insurance documents and our bikes out of the port. And all at a cost that was considerable less than expected and experienced by other travelers. As a foreigner without Arabic language skills and especially the know-how what you need from whom you would be helplessly lost in the endless battle of documents, authorities and bakshish.

šukran Eslam!

Istanbul-Cappadocia-Iskenderun. Bike maintenance before crossing the big pond to Egypt! Let's hope the ferry is leaving tomorrow. So far the Africa Twins are in great shape and ready for Africa!

Thank you turkish people for this warm and very open welcome. Definitly not the last time we will visit your beautiful country - teşekkür ederim!

After a 600 kms special stage, we reached Tuz Gölü, a huge salt lake in the middle of nowhere. We had a beautiful overnight at the One Oil Petrol Station with barking dogs and running generators. AND every 30 minutes announcements over loudspeakers for departing buses. But the salt lake was great and we loved the truck stop hospitality. 

let's quickly sum up the first 2000 km. 

- Autoput (=Highway)

- Camping with friends in the Schluderns with African beer tasting.

- Autoput

- Keeping our sponsors happy by sending pix and stories from a camping toilet in Bled/Slo.

- Autoput

- To much meat in Croatia

- Autoput

- Serbian hospitality by Vladi, an Africa Twin fan like we are. Thank you Vladi and Fred for your generosity!

- Autoput

- Helping a Bulgarian truck driver to change the tire

- Autoput

- Alex run out of gas 2 km before the fuel station... jesus, is he really ready for Africa? hahaha...

The day arrived. On the 28.9. we took off from the HUB. Many friends and family gathered to say farewell. After more than one year of preparation the day arrived. For the riders it was a pure relief that finally the day has come to start the engines and dive into the adventure.

We are leaving on 28.09.2014 at 10.00 in the morning from our HUB (Weststrasse 77, Zurich). Be part of the trip and escort us the first KMs or even the full day! Check out the route of day one!!

This episode will show you how we prepared ourselves for the trip with necessary stuff like vaccinations, doctors meeting, packing and the final bike check through Honda Zürich-West Garage. Thank you for your support Roger!

on monday we hold a presentation for our beloved families at the HUB. The route and each of the countries we are planning to visit where introduced. the audience was stunned by the breathtaking pictures of some of the highlights we plan to visit. Also some questions could be answered, but we are sure there still many more to come.

Pasta, Wine and some sweet deserts where served... To sum up everybody seems to got the message, we are well prepared and got huge support by family and friends as well as from our sponsors HONDA and Enduristan.

Everybody who doesn't know where to throw their money; you are welcome to support us! Think about your health and invest in findingrichard instead of drugs and alcohol! Don't buy goods you throw in a couple of months! Invest in love and your inner peace by supporting us and our trip! Be part of the adventure and donate a us some kilometers fuel! :-) Convinced? Buy the K here!

We are extremely happy that Honda Switzerland is supporting our trip to find Richard. That such a multinational company supports tree normal dudes from Zurich who got the idea of riding down south, shows us how down to earth and rooted this company must be. We are looking forward to a great collaboration and many more Honda motorbikes to be built. 

And by the way... there might also be a marketing strategy behind our lucky support. Will there be a NEW Africa Twin coming out at EICMA this year? We are so excited... 

PS: Happy 40th anniversary Honda and thank you for engineering our beloved bike! 

This episode will show you how we practice our roadbook reading skills in the french Vosges (Alsace). Pushing it hard on forest tracks, single trails and steep climbs at devils creek aka hells gate!

Our take off is comming closer. So we decided to give a party and smash the night with our friends. Party is from 18.00 on 26th july. there will be a grill and off course beer to buy, but bring your own special booze and meat for the grill. 

We look forward to see you all. 

If you wonder where the hell THE HUB is, plz. send us a mail or post us a whatts app message. 

SEE YOU AT THE HUB SOON

This episode will show you how we practice our motocross skills on the track in Schlatt/Switzerland. Pushing us to the limit! Crash guarantee! Yeeeaaaaaa enjoy it!

This episode will show you how we train our offroad riding skills in Hechlingen at the Enduropark. We show you how we spent a weekend with friends on the road and in the park! Have a good laugh! :-) Cheers guys

We are happy to welcome ENDURISTAN on our trip to find Richard! We thank you for your support and your fantastic motorbike bags! Check it out: www.enduristan.com

findingrichard episode two - follow us on our trip to Africa. 3 guys on their old school Motorbikes (Honda Africa Twins) are travelling from Zurich to Cape Town. With several episodes we are documenting the preparation and of course the trip itself! This episode will show you the route we want to take and a quick introduction to Richard, the guy we wana meet on the way! Subscribe to my youtube account, like our facebook page or follow our blog and have a good laugh about our idioty and amateurism when travelling 20000km down south! :-) Cheers guys

in 6 month we departure from zurich to ride 18'000 km to cape town. We already can feel the african dust and are really excited. Still a lot of things in progress, study maps, organize visas, test our equipmment, vaccinations and much more...

We also can proudly announce that we have our first sponsor, the swiss company for high quality motorbike luggage ENDURISTAN. More on that and other stories on the site and in one of our next episodes.

findingrichard episode one - follow us on our trip to Africa. 3 guys on their old school Motorbikes (Honda Africa Twins) are travelling from Zurich to Cape Town. With several episodes we are documenting the preparation and of course the trip itself! Subscribe to our youtube account, like our facebook page or follow our blog on findingrichard.com and have a good laugh about our idioty and amateurism while travelling 20000km down south! :-) Cheers guys

Check out our TRAILER to the findingrichard episodes! First episode coming out next week.

Our new t-shirt collection. Soon available in our webshop! 

Not only you support a very awesome cause. You also cool-boost yourself and you will get all the girls or the boys in the club! Carry the message and ride on!

After hours of hitting our forheads to the wall, we finally created our LOGO. Soon you can buy merchandising through our shop! Hoodies, t-shirts, stickers and much more! Spread the word and you will be spoiled with gold, diamonds and oil!

To get more offroad experience and skills, Stefano and Alex attended the legendary navigation Rally The Vince in the Spanish pyrenees. Check out the video and start dreaming! 

A brilliant week in the Pyrenees with Stefano, rocking dirttracks and finding checkpoints! Brilliant sceneries and offroad riding! We have to defend our second-to-last place next year! See you there!

From 1.9. we take over the entire HUB and for that reason we needed more people. With the guys from Dead End Motorcycle Club we found the perfect match for a glorious and fruitfull future. On 15.8. was the day THE HUB as an official institution has been founded. We look forward to have a brilliant time with the guys from Dead End Motorcycle Club. Let's get this done and rock that joint! 

Check out the season opening bike ride clip on my reassembled Africa Twin! All the way from Emmenthal/CH to Algäu/D through Bregenzerwald/OE... great ride on- and offroad action! Enjoy!

After 3 weeks of military repetition course, I finally found the source of our modern warefare at the ancient swiss army mmotor mueseum. The motorbike sectino was great! check it out!

It finally arrived! My easter present! I found my egg! My nightmares of not having a Wilbers suspension are finally over!... My Wilbers 641! Awesome blue! And u believe it or not, but I managed to install it! First testride over easter, chasing the easter rabbit!

BTW: Findingrichard wishes Rolf and Sandra an awesome trip in South America!

In Mai 2012 Rolf and Alex went down the Balkans with their Africa Twins! Check the trailer and go nuts! 

It's a great day at the HUB! Rolf's stuff from Africa Queens arrived and we continue our mechanical journey in maintenance. Many more screws to unscrew, tubes to check, things to understand and look at; in general to be fascinated about motorbike technics. Imagin, that once some guys had an idea about engine. they started doing things which might work, and already in the nineties they reached the top while building the XRV 750 Africa Twin. Ok, finish blathering around. Also we have a new item in the hub... check the pic. now we are able to watch down the balcans every time on big screen. what an amazing feeling it is.

ok back to the technics. We just arrived at following step. sorry only in german available: Drehen Sie die Kurbelwelle mithilfe einer auf den Lichtmaschinen-Rotorbolzen gesteckten Nuss gegen den Uhrzeigersinn, bis die LInie nahe der "FT"-Markierung an der Schwungscheibe mit der Nut des Zündzeitpunkt-Inspektionsdeckels fluchtet (siehe Abbildung).... aaaaam.... ok, let's do it :-)

Yesterday in the HUB something crazy happend... we worked on our bikes and we disgovered amazing stuff! Check it out... I'm still shaking!

Getting down the Balkan was the greatest i'ver ever ever ever done! beside finding out that beer is replacing meals easily. 

Down the Balkans in future also known as DtB, was a refreshing unplaned trip to greece. Greece still exists, don't believe politicians. The Balkan is a awesome place to travel and we all recommend you to go there. People are great and very welcoming. Food, beers and enduro riding is great! 

Get a quick insight in what we experienced... check the movie above, it will change your live permanently....

This is the blog about a hub. A hub is a place where mankind feels comfortable. It might stink, it might has no decoration, it might be just about clean, but not to much, as we need some sweet smel of old beer to feel comfortable. Mixed with some nice oil smell and a great view over the perfectly shaped body of our motorbikes - we feel in our world. With a hub comes a project. It can be drinking delicious beers from all over the world, spending time with your dudes or whatever you like. For us it's Africa and finding Richard...  tell me about your hub and project!