About

4 Bikes 4 Singapore

In January 2012, the three Taylors, (father, son, and daughter) and friend, John Byett,  are heading through Africa from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, on Kawasaki KLR 650 motorbikes, and from there, heading north and east, ending up in Singapore four months later.

JOHN BYETT was brought up in Bulawayo, (then Rhodesia-now Zimbabwe), studied in the U.K. and has worked in education for the past 30+ years, and is currently at the Cape Peninsula University of  Technology.  He is married to Carol and has two children.  His love affair with motorbikes goes back a long way, and he has been a commuter on motorbikes for a long time.

MAL TAYLOR was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and lived  in Canada from age 7.  He was schooled there, and studied chiropractic in Toronto.  He returned to South Africa in 1976, and has been practising in Rondebosch, Cape Town for 30+ years.  He is married to Sue, and has four children, two of whom are mentioned below!  He has ridden motorbikes more or less since age 19, but in four months in 2012 will probably do half the kms. that he has in the last 40 years!

JULIAN TAYLOR was born in Cape Town, schooled at Rondebosch Boys Junior and High Schools, and before starting university at U.C.T, did two years of youth ministry in Gauteng and Swaziland.  His undergrad studies were in Physics and Mathematics, his honours in Astro-physics, and his masters in Physics education.  He is currently teaching at Waterstone College in the south of Johannesburg.  He has played double bass in a band called “Palms Up”.  He began riding motorbikes while at university, and was the inspiration behind this  trip, as he loves travelling, and dreaming big.

Shan Taylor was born in Cape Town, and finished school at Westerford High.  After two years in the U.K.and travels to Europe, China, America and Canada, she studied a BSc in Sports Science at Stellenbosch University, and completing her honours in Biokinetics.  She is currently in East London, doing her internship.  She started riding motorbikes when she was 17, and has used her bike largely for commuting to classes in Stellenbosch.  Shan also showed her mettle by riding solo from Cape Town to East London, much of it in roaring, buffeting winds.  This was a distance of over 1000 kms.

Who says bikers can’t have fun…?

We all graduated up to the Kawasaki KLR 650’s and have really enjoyed riding a dual purpose bike with a bit more power than we’d had before.  They are simple in their design and very comfortable in their handling.