Accident report: drunk bodaboda riding

25 June 2023

Madagascar Moto Tour

1 September 2023

So, my bike was on urgent sale for a short period of time last month and as most of you might know, it's hectic selling this kind of bike around here, with most people being jokers and some seem serious only to disappear last minute. I almost gave up on selling the bike and keeping it for my son 🤠 to use in the future ..buuut fortunately or unfortunately last weekend, I received a call from a prospective buyer, who is a renowned offroad biker in Malindi and he seemed very interested with the bike. We had a 30minutes phone call talking about bikes and the closing caption of the call was him asking me to drop the bike in Malindi and he will buy it! (maybe he also wanted to test it's mechanical condition😅) I hesitated because of one, that's a long way from Nairobi and two, I needed guarantee that he will buy the bike if I rode it all the way..he is a mature guy and he agreed to send a small downpayment and fuel for the trip.

All this talk happened around 9pm while I was preparing for bed! aaand I was like what the heck! why not wake up early in the morning and ride the bike to Malindi for the sale? I was also yearning for a long ride. I usually keep my bikes serviced and ready to go anywhere I wish, any day, anytime. So I was pretty sure the bike would have made it to Malindi with nothing to fix or adjust. I made my mind and decided I would leave early in the morning, and so I set my alarm ⏰ for 5am and went to sleep.

The google map view of my trip from Nairobi - Malindi

SGR locomotive 🚂 viewing at Emali Town..also stopped to inspect the bike for faults before I gunned the highway..note my removed front fender chilling on the back.

Next morning I was up by 5am and ready to go out a few minutes to 6am. I parked my small bag with drinking water, some tools and a 5litres jerrican to fill some back up fuel ⛽ with me (just in case). I left the house at 6:17am.

I live around Kamulu, Kangundo road and I first fueled the bike with KShs. 1000 and 600 goes to my fuel jerrican, this is done at Lake Oil-Kamulu. I head my way and since I had not ridden the bike for like a week, I noticed my front tyre was low on pressure and briefly stopped at Total-Kamulu where I hurriedly added some pressure and immediately started my journey. A few kms to Ruai town I met a drunk driver who was driving in the middle of the road and he literally forced me off the road. I stopped for a while and said another prayer since chaos had already started and was yet to hit Mombasa road which is always chaotic 😔.

All went well until I got to Machakos junction and my front fender looses a bolt and I briefly stopped to remove it since I didn't have an extra bolt with me 🔩. I resumed my journey and when doing long rides, I usually have a tendency to identify and follow a vehicle moving at good speeds to avoid being bullied on the road by trucks and matatus, I noticed a Volvo saloon car that was doing well and decided to follow the lead. All went well and I decided to stop at Emali town to top up my fuel tank. Time then was exactly 7.04am and I felt I was doing just fine. Next stop was Makindu town, where I decided to stop and fix my front fender since it was poking my back from the way I had tied it on the back of the bike. It was fixed successfully and I headed out. Next stop was Kibwezi town/junction, where I stopped and topped up fuel again ready for the long stretch ahead.

I met a mhindi with a classic rally car, a Datsun SSS that he had bought in Nairobi and was taking it home in Mombasa, he was doing crazy speeds and I decided to follow him for back up from the crazy trucks and imported car drivers who were forcing me out of the road on numerous occasions, we only stopped at Man Eaters where we both took some photos for the views and stretched my back kiasi and we left, the mhindi was now doing more than 180kph and at some point I lost him 🤣.

I was smiling in the helmet considering the trip and the bike was fine so far at that time..I have done that route several times before but while driving.

I stopped at Rubis Voi and topped up some fuel again. At this point the weather was giving me a scare since I got rained on from Voi 🌧️to Maungu, visibility was very low and I reduced my speeds. I was rained on and off in three different instances but at Mariakani the rainy weather disappeared and I stopped for some fuel and asked for directions.

Pitstop at Rubis service station at Voi

View of the palm trees and that coastal breeze

approaching Kaloleni town..at this point nlikua njaa kama burukenge mwitu

I branched off somewhere at Mariakani where I was told the road passed through Kaloleni and would join Mombasa-Malindi highway. It was a narrow but smooth and curvy road with beautiful views, though some random potholes. Stopped at Kaloleni to adjust my chain since it felt loose and was making some noises, the locals filled the garage to admire the bike, also the mechanic asked for 10bob only for the chain adjustment works and I was shocked since in Nairobi I would have gotten a very high figure 🤣, I paid him 300bob, he was so happy that he decided to wipe my dirty bike 😂. While all this was happening, I bought an energy drink, removed some of the gears I had on because of the slightly warm weather and I researched about the remaining route to Malindi, which now seemed close and easy.

Off I went and pushed the bike through the Mombasa-Malindi highway where everyone seemed to ride a boda or tuktuks, they were everywhere and I reduced my speed, also It seemed like I was almost getting to my destination so I decided to enjoy the views.

Stopped near Malindi and called my guy for directions, he was shocked 🤯 since he didn't expect me to show up that soon, he thought I was joking. Time was around 1:20pm and after a few minutes, I arrived in Malindi town where I met him and his son, he welcomed me like a brother 😁, took me to a swahili restaurant for some biryani, cold juice and pilau since I was starving.

the Kawasaki with his new bro..or siz

I requested him to take me to the nearby beach (I love 'beaches'🤣) where I enjoyed the view of the white sands and ocean, the wind and we headed back to his shop where we finalized the bike sale deal. He also helped me book a bus ticket to Nairobi with the BusCar office nearby, the ticket confirmed my bus was leaving late night, so we went back to his shop where we wasted time with bikes talk until late in the evening (when real bikers meet there is always good times and lots of laughs, with jokes hapa kule). He kept me company until late night, when he took me to the bus stop, we bid each other goodbyes and I boarded the bus with my now lonely helmet and gears in hand 😭. I will surely miss that bike and rides I've had with it. Had plenty of life, power, low mileage and major reason I trusted it for that journey.

The bus trip was perfect and slept most of the way, arrived in Nairobi the next morning and that's how I capped off my abrupt riding trip to Malindi.

Malindi beach ⛱️ where I went to take some photos for future reference and pia ya kutumia mama watoto asiseme nimeenda na yengs

Breathtaking moment at the Malindi beach..Insanos Kenya is a Kenyan chapter of an international Brazilian bike club with chapters in more 30 countries around the world

Points to note

I spent around Kshs. 6500 in fuel the whole trip. The bike was a clean, beautiful Kawasaki Vulcan VN400, liquid cooled and had serviced it a month before. I maintained speeds of between 120kph and 150kph while distance covered was 570kms.

Mombasa road is rough at random points past Makindu. The road is always chaotic for bikers since most transit truck drivers and import vehicle drivers are always impatient and will push you out of the road without disregard to your safety. Also, if it's your first time on that road, make sure you have some fuel reserved, especially if your bike doesn't have a fuel gauge like mine. (random fuel stations along the way). Always prepare for any kind of weather, like on this, Nairobi and its environs it seemed dry and hot but I was rained on past Voi. Otherwise, if you trust and maintain your bike like it should be, you will likely have a beautiful ride all the way.

Check out used bikes on Soko ya AMD