A death-defying dog, a very classy restaurant in a 12-house village, and a famous international artist who doubles as a tour guide. Gavin Foster takes the new Triumph Tiger 800 XRx to Nottingham Road
Our trip to Nottingham Road was a short one, but as the new 2015 Triumph Tiger 800 XRx is a dual-purpose bike, we enlivened our journey by getting off the freeway and on to the numerous dirt roads that criss-cross the Midlands. The XRx version of the Tiger is lower than the taller XC models, which makes it easier for the short-of-leg to handle at low speeds – but detracts a little from the bike’s off-tar capabilities. The biggest advance in the new Tiger range has been in the electronic rider aids: the bikes now have cruise control to look after the boring freeway bits, while the latest multi-mode traction control and ABS are programmable to suit various conditions.
Once we left the highway the ride’s fun-factor escalated, with only one hairy moment near Lions River when curiosity led a large Airedale Terrier to disembark from the back of a bakkie at 100km/h in front Marc Prange on his 2014 Triumph Tiger. Marc was shaken and the dog was well stirred but unhurt. The bakkie driver came back after a few minutes, and all ended up a lot better than it could have. From there it was a short hop to our accommodation at Glensheiling Caravan Park just outside Nottingham Road.
On the second day of the weekend we set off in threatening weather along a spectacular narrow winding pass through Kamberg to Highmoor Nature Reserve, and thence back in the rain to the Nottingham Road Hotel for an excellent home-made pie for lunch. Notties is an old favourite where you’ll always find good food, affordable drinks and excellent company. From there it was back to the caravans for a braai and a couple of drinks to warm us up after a long, damp day.
We’d traversed some dirt roads and, where there was tar, it was largely poorly maintained and full of potholes, which is what adventure bikes are built for. The Triumph, with its programmable ABS brakes, traction control and variable engine mapping – allowing power delivery to be modulated to suit varying road and weather conditions – really comes into its own under these circumstances.
Sunday dawned even more cold and miserable than Saturday had been, so we jumped into the back-up vehicle that had accompanied us and headed off to Fort Nottingham, about 11km away from Nottingham Road. The hamlet has but 12 houses, a tiny town hall and an old stone building built for a detachment of the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot who Queen Victoria sent there in the 1850s to thwart the Bushmen who regularly descended from the Drakensberg to steal livestock from the English farmers.
At the museum we were met by the curator and tour guide, Alton Zuma, who gave us some insight into the history of the place. Alton – who has mixed Zulu and Bushman ancestry – is an internationally respected artist who has displayed and sold his carvings and paintings in the UK, Europe and the USA. “I’m busy with a panel of wood carvings of African life and scenes for an American buyer at the moment,” he told us after a very interesting tour of the museum, “but I also do rock paintings just like the Bushmen did.”
From there it was a short walk across the road for a coffee at El Amics restaurant on the verandah of Roy and Val Tabernor’s house – they owned a very popular restaurant of the same name in Pietermaritzburg for 42 years before retiring to Fort Nottingham in 2008. “Fort Nottingham is just divine,” says Val. “It’s so tranquil. There are just 12 houses and about 20 residents, and we have four seasons a year.” The restaurant is open only over weekends, but will accept weekday bookings for 10 or more people by arrangement. They have a small and constantly changing à la carte menu, and don’t accept credit cards – or children under 12.
Once we got back to Glensheiling all there was left to do was don our riding gear, including rainsuits, and head back down the wet N3 to Durban. The Triumph Tiger 800 is capable of cruising effortlessly at more than 180km/h all day if you have the inclination to brave the speeding fines, but I stuck the cruise control on 120km/h and things went, well, swimmingly, but I ended up enjoying the ride home anyway. Fuel consumption for the 95 horsepower (70kW) 800cc triple averaged 5,2 litres/100km for the weekend, the bike performed superbly, and the handling was flawless. At R127 500 it provides, in my view, one of the best all-round offerings in South African motorcycling. *