This section is aimed to summarize a few facts from the trip in
order to help future riders in their preparations. I had myself
only ridden motor bikes for less than three years and had up until
one year before heading off no mechanical skills.
Preparations and equipment are also highly individual choices
and this is by no means the absolute truth but simply what worked
well for me and a few suggestions based on experiences during the
trip.
Bike
KTM 640 Adventure 2005
2 Metalmule 31 liter panniers
Garmin Zumo GPS with Touratech mount
Big chain with padlock on luggage rack
"Clean" pannier
Bottom layer:
Thin drybags with
5 T-shirts
5 Underwear
5 Socks
Long thermal pants
Long sleeved thermal shirt
Thin trekking pants
Middle layer:
Panasonic CF-W5 Toughbook laptop in neoprene case wrapped in:
Fleece jacket
Pair of jeans
Thin drybag with cables and chargers
Top layer:
Lonely planet guide book
Plastic folder containing passport, bike title, temp import and
insurance (stuff police wants to see)
"Dirty" pannier
Bottom layer:
2 Spare standard innertubes (front / back)
Toolbag
Spare oil
Middle layer:
Spare parts
Medical / toilet kit
Robust trainers containing
Hair trimmer
Soldering iron (no one from start but bought 3 to fix electrical
problems)
Multimeter
Top layer:
Book
Bike clothes insulation layer with winter gloves
Tools
Torque wrench with sockets for oil bolts
Allen keys
Screwdriver
Polygrip
Chain braker
Syringe with hose for clutch bleeding
2 Tyre levers
Leatherman multitool
7 - 13 mm keys
KTM T-tool
40 cm hose for frame oil change
Feeler gauge for valve inspection
Suggested bike tweaks
These are modifications that I did on the road or I missed and
noticed others have done and that I would do before a second
trip:
Install reusabled oilfilters (no need to hunt KTM stores)
Pushbutton fork bleeders and neoprene fork protectors (to prevent
fork oil leakage)
Get a steel rear sprocket, std aluminum only lasts about
10000km
Rethread upper luggage rack bolts from M6 to M8
Use ultra heavy duty innertubes (no flats!)
Separate hold for rear mirror (so not to brake expensive brake
fluid cylinder when you brake mirror)
Electrically heated grips for cold weather
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Service needed
Roughly every 5000 km you need to do this or get to a mechanic to
get it done. You can find good tutorial on http://www.advrider.com
Change tyres (front might last a bit longer)
Change oil
Check and adjust valve clearance
Check loose spokes (more often if offroad)
Clean airfilter (more often if offroad)
Clean / change sparkplug
Other things you also may have to do:
Bleed forks (daily! so get push button bleeders)
Change brake pads
Change fork oil if it starts leaking
Reverse bleed clutch
Also good to learn:
Kick start
Change carb needle for high altitude
Basic operation of the engine
Change ignition cycle for low octane fuel
Spareparts
Chain
Back and front sprockets
Light bulbs
Fuses
Sparkplug
Oil filters
Small oil filter gasket
Valve inspection gaskets
Copper oil plug washers
Brake and clutch levers
Brakepads
Mixed screws, bolts and nuts (M6 & M8)
Crimping connectors
1 meter wire
Helmet cam system
Archos 504 Recorder
2 Archos helmet cams (first broke after 7 months)
1 Extra battery (first burnt out after 6 months)
Archos car charger under bike dashboard
(charger broke early on by vibrations but after fixing the problem
and filling the circuit board with epoxy it worked well for the
remainder of the trip)
Medical kit
Originally brought big kit but lost it and never replaced it fully
since pharmacies are everywhere. However useful to have is:
Charcoal pills for bad stomach after exotic street food, works
better than imodium
Pain killers (paracetamol or if you can get hold of kodein based
stuff which is stronger)
Wound disinfect wipes or small container with alcohol / ionide
Altitude sickness pills like Dramamine (only cures symptoms) or
much better Diamox (Acetazolamide) which makes you acclimatize
faster)
Leukoplast tape for blisters
Standard toiletries (toothbrush, shaving stuff, bodywash, travel
tovel)
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