Jebel Hafeet - one of top 10 best driving roads in the world

[tod.branko_imp]

Covid cases in the UAE dropped to 3 digits some time ago, and the government decided to cancel many of the restrictions that were in place for over a year now, one of those was to remove checkpoints at Abu Dhabi border and allow free transit. Obviously we seized the opportunity and rode to a place in the middle of the country called Al Ain, which is home to a very weird rock sticking out of the sand, that is Mount Hafeet. With approximately 4000ft height it's hardly the highest mountain anyone has ever seen, but as it is sticking out surrounded by the desert it's very prominent, and road to the top is an epic 11-ish km (7.3miles), proclaimed one of 10 best driving roads in the world by many publications. And I tend to agree.
For me it was a 500km ride to and fro, one would think a long ride for a 7 mile blast - trust me, it's worth it. And this was the first time I went there with the CB1100, and boy oh boy did I love it! It has got torque for days, pulls uphill so seamlessly without any need for a downshift, and it makes it steady and smooth, a dream really.

A few pics from the way. Pics of the road are not mine, just downloaded some aerial shots to give you an idea of what's it like.

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

 

[Rocky_imp]

WOW, what an amazing road

 

[Hovmod_imp]

WOW!

(speechless)

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Cool Tod.

You can do that mountain all day, well, more than a couple times at least to get a decent fill. Any sample flicks from the CB1100?

 

[the Ferret]

Nice road Tod!

 

[Whoops]

That looks like an amazing road. Your comet fairing looks great too.

 

[misterprofessionality]

gotta love a ridge runner. those and coastal clif runners. if more roads were like that more drivers would be paying attention lol.

 

[tod.branko_imp]

Cool Tod.

You can do that mountain all day, well, more than a couple times at least to get a decent fill. Any sample flicks from the CB1100?

Yup that's how most people do, just go there and ride up and down a bunch of times until they get dizzy, at some point in the day the scared car drivers and tired cyclists become a bit too much. Or like today, it just gets too hot to be fun.

And no flicks unfortunately I made an amateurs mistake and had nowhere to mount the GoPro. I will repeat the run again in the next two months and revisit this thread with the link to a cool video.

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

 

[Nachodaddy]

Covid cases in the UAE dropped to 3 digits some time ago, and the government decided to cancel many of the restrictions that were in place for over a year now, one of those was to remove checkpoints at Abu Dhabi border and allow free transit. Obviously we seized the opportunity and rode to a place in the middle of the country called Al Ain, which is home to a very weird rock sticking out of the sand, that is Mount Hafeet. With approximately 4000ft height it's hardly the highest mountain anyone has ever seen, but as it is sticking out surrounded by the desert it's very prominent, and road to the top is an epic 11-ish km (7.3miles), proclaimed one of 10 best driving roads in the world by many publications. And I tend to agree.
For me it was a 500km ride to and fro, one would think a long ride for a 7 mile blast - trust me, it's worth it. And this was the first time I went there with the CB1100, and boy oh boy did I love it! It has got torque for days, pulls uphill so seamlessly without any need for a downshift, and it makes it steady and smooth, a dream really.

A few pics from the way. Pics of the road are not mine, just downloaded some aerial shots to give you an idea of what's it like.

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

Thank you for the pictures. What headlight are you using? The Comet fairing is perfect.

 

[peterbaron]

Branko, you are killing me with this lovely serpentine road and pics!!!!!

 

[pdedse]

That looks to be so much fun! I love the sunrise--or is it sunset? photo with the CB backed by palm trees.

 

[peterbaron]

Branko, don't be surprised if a bunch of members with their CBs show up at your door on a hot day to:biker::biker: with you

 

[max]

Thanks Tod, that's some yummy trip report, someone knows how to take good pictures there that could work in even a brochure.
We are lucky to have you do this in such a nice part of the world and yes, gopro stuff would be even better.
Made the mistake years ago to visit the race track where Giacomo Agostini ( yes, AGO ) rode his six cylinder machines around the track without a camera, big mistake because the footage of him is very rare...sigh.

 

[tod.branko_imp]

It's definitely sunrise. Because of the heat we start early, I left home at 4am, met with the crew an hour later in Dubai, and we continued south Sunrise caught us half way there, had to stop and snap a few

@Nachodaddy my headlight is an ebay special, no name, I've shared the link for it before somewhere, it's for CB900F Hornet, but it's a perfect fit for our bikes, plug and play, no splicing necessary, and seems so far to be of a very good quality. It is also a huge upgrade to the stock halogen headlight, it works really well.

To everyone's comments about the Road Comet, I'm very happy with it as to the looks and the added benefits of windblast protection. I wanted to say it wasn't a perfect fit, the bottom was difficult to attach as the horns are kinda in the way and there is about 1/4 inch gap between the fairing and where the bolt and nut meet so I had to find a longer bolt and create a spacer (basically I put 5 washers together) to fill up the empty space so that the fairing wouldn't bend or crack.

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

That road looks spectacular tod. And I'm sure you have some killer views from the top. Thanks for sharing.

 

[tod.branko_imp]

Branko, don't be surprised if a bunch of members with their CBs show up at your door on a hot day to:biker::biker: with you

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Branko, don't be surprised if a bunch of members with their CBs show up at your door on a hot day to:biker::biker: with you

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed
PB will be coming before this Christmas bringing his new old CB1100 Deluxe.

 

[peterbaron]

Branko, don't be surprised if a bunch of members with their CBs show up at your door on a hot day to:biker::biker: with you

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed
PB will be coming before this Christmas bringing his new old CB1100 Deluxe.

Everyone is welcome, we love guests

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed
[url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB will be coming before this Christmas bringing his new old CB1100 Deluxe.
:hello:

 

[Whoops]

Do you think we can arrange a round trip cargo container and flight on Groupon?

 

[tod.branko_imp]

Not sure if Groupon does these things

In reality, as riding season here is when it's winter practically everywhere else in the Northern hemisphere, one could ship the bike by sea in November, fly over a month later and do a 10-15 tour of UAE and Oman, and then ship the bike back to their respective country in time for the riding season. All it takes is time an money, so for those who have enough to spare it's definitely feasible. Those who have even more time and money could take the ferry over to Iran and ride north to the Caspian and mess around Azerbaijan and Georgia, even Turkey, those are some really nice countries for riding. And before you even think about it, I'll tell you - it is safe. Contrary to what media may make you believe, these are countries with some of the most hospitable people you'll ever have a chance to meet, and as far as the bureaucracy goes, as long as your papers are in order and you have an ounce of patience you'll do just fine.

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed