While motorbikes provide much pleasure, adventure, and relaxation to two-wheel enthusiasts, they also serve as a practical, fuel-efficient way of monitoring tough farm terrain, writes Jedrie Harmse.
– ADVERTISEMENT –
This new column is aimed at readers who appreciate life on two wheels.
Whether you use a motorbike purely as a tool or for leisure and adventure, we hope to inform, inspire and entertain you in the issues to come.
I vividly remember the day my father gave me my first pocket knife, a proper Joseph Rodgers. I must have been about six years old. I remember with pride how I was trusted by my father with a real knife. I also remember the embarrassment of cutting my finger within the first minute – lesson learned.
A proper pocket knife is not a toy. It’s a tool. It cuts twine, opens feed bags, slices biltong, and should always be within reach when you need it.
But it’s also something more. It carries stories. It does life with you. It becomes part of your daily rhythm.
Look after it properly and it will last a lifetime, perhaps even long enough to pass it on through generations.
A motorbike is much the same. Yes, it’s a machine, but a practical, fuel-efficient way to check fences, inspect lands, move between camps, follow livestock, or get to that windmill that always seems to break at the far end of the property.
On rough terrain, in tight spaces, or when time is short, few tools are as useful as a dependable bike.
But a motorbike is also something else.
In this column, Farmer’s Weekly will explore both sides of the story – the practical and the passionate.
We’ll look at bikes that make sense on farms, for work, commuting and keeping costs down, and we’ll also explore the lifestyle element of riding a bike – the tours, the solo trips, the gear, the characters you meet along the way.
For many readers, a motorbike is not a luxury item parked in the shed for special occasions. It’s a trusted companion; a workhorse during the week, and an escape machine on the weekend.
Like a good pocket knife, it earns its place in your life.
Choose well, ride wisely and maintain it properly, and it may serve you faithfully for decades, collecting dust, scratches, memories and stories along the way.
Whether you’re already riding, thinking about it, or simply curious – welcome aboard.
Let’s see where the road – and the farm track – takes us.
Stand up! Look up! Power up!
