It’s season seven on the Itchy Boots channel, and her adventure has taken her all the way to Liberia. The mud trail between Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire went from bad to worse as the roads were caked in mud.
Noraly started out in the jungle, which was “fantastic.” However, things went awry pretty quickly. In the span of just three episodes, we see her Honda CRF 300 Rally go from totally fine to totally not-so-fine. The conditions she encountered severely burnt the clutch of the motorcycle and you can probably tell by the sheer amount of mud caking the trail.
What’s even wilder is that several cars, trucks, and even fellow motorcycles found themselves stuck in the emulsion of mud and clay. At this point, Noraly was able to get the help of some locals to help get her bike through. However, it was clear that the Honda was on its last legs at this point in the trail and that getting it through would cost it dearly.
I cannot stress how horrible the trail was and how much the bike had to be pushed out, waddled, and clutch-slipped just to keep it going. At this point, Noraly was also worried about pushing the engine too hard trying to get it unstuck, and trying to keep the engine cool enough to survive the ordeal.
It’s also quite sad to hear that some of these trucks have been stuck for weeks to a month in the mud.
While Noraly made it through, the CRF immediately showed signs of wear and tear. Burnt clutch plates, unfortunately, but it was no one’s fault. We see the bike continue to soldier on even with its wrecked clutch. Thankfully, Noraly made it on paved roads, but the clutch didn’t. Stranded on the side of the road, Noraly was rescued and towed to the next town.
The transport continues from there, as the bike needs to be transported 570 kilometers (about 354 miles) through the border and into Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
In the final episode, Noraly thankfully gets the help that she needed which included new parts, new clutch plates, and a bunch of other replacement parts. Now back on the road, the adventure continues for Itchy Boots!