Trip preparations underway…
The dates are set, the first pre-trip meeting is over and now it is time to get the stuff prepared. There are so many things to take care of that some times I find myself just sitting in a daze not knowing where to start! But start I must and start I did!
The most obvious item to get ready is obviously the bike. So I went over to Ah Chun’s place yesterday to give my bike a once over. Taking a look at the oil, brakes, chain, tires, lights…and horn. I discovered that my horn wasn’t working on my last ride…so I had it replaced with my backup unit. It is working properly now. I also had a fault on my left rear signal light. This unit was snapped off when I had a fall during one of my off road jaunts…it was still flashing then so I did not get it fixed. Well, it stopped flashing last week. And my rear tire was also getting pretty worn out. Apparently, that tire was a 2002 model…so it has been years since the last change!
Changing the tire turned out to be a mini-adventure. Firstly, I had to choose which tire I wanted to change to. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) there were only three choices to pick from: Dunlop K180, Bridgestone Trailwing TW34, and Shinko SR428.
My original set were Dunlops (first picture above) but I wanted something different. I opted first for the Bridgestones (middle picture above)…but they were out of stock. So I eventually settled for the Shinkos (last picture above). I thought they looked really nice…though I had some doubts about their ability to handle serious off roading due to the lack of knobs. However, I felt much better about them after reading this trip report from a guy (and gal) who rode around South Africa on brand new Shinkos on their TW200s.
Now that the selection was done, it was time to replace the tires. It took awhile to replace the tire due to the absurdly large size. I mean, have you ever seen a dual sport bike with a tire of this size? It is only 14 inches in diameter at the wheel but it is 180mm wide! The inner tube was the same as those used for some trucks!!! In fact, we tried fitting one into my tire but the valve won’t seat fully as it was a little too wide. So I opted to order a new set of original tubes…while using my current set of tubes for the moment.
With that done, it was time to fix the signal light. Because the light housing was snapped, I had to get both of them changed so they look uniform. The actual switch was easy. However, there was still no light on the left rear signal lamp. After trouble shooting for awhile, we decided eliminated the light bulb, the light bulb connector and wire. Which means the problem was further up the wiring. We quickly found the problem once the seat was removed…one of the connectors came loose! So it as a quick fix.
Now that my bike is in tip top condition, it is time to think about the other areas of preparation…PACKING! This is a biggie for me. I have been wrecking my brain thinking of different ways I can get all my gear packed. Here is a quick list:
- External two gallon fuel tank
- Camera gear (Nikon D2Hs, 3 lenses, flashes and mini-tripod)
- Notebook
- 2L water for washing wounds in case of emergency
- Water for drinking
- Spares (spark plugs, bulbs, tubes, oil etc)
- Rain gear
- Clothes
- Toiletteries
- Other essentials
There sure is a lot of stuff to pack on my rather small bike! So if you have an idea how I can get all of this organized on my bike and still have space to sit comfortably for the 2000km journey…please leave me a comment. I sure need all the suggestions I can get!
Want to know how the rest are getting on with their packing? Leave a comment and I’ll get them to write…should be interesting, no?
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fuyooh
i now become a fan club for this site till the touchdown in Tg. Piai.
when u people arriving in tg. piai and what time ?
can i copy paste the trip map, food, restaurant, hotel and all preparation for my future solo trip ?