Travel Log Tales - Africa

Where you've been and what you done
Born2Ride
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by Born2Ride »

That's modern bikes explained. Don't get me wrong I enjoy mine with all its farkles but....

On past tours all I worried about was serious mechanical break down as you pretty well could bodge most other repairs to get moving again. Now if a sensor fails it stops and you have limited chance of fixing it without an ECU plug in some where and the ability to obtain said failed sensor. It's a shame there isn't a manual override switch to all the electronics as underneath all the guff it is still basic air/spark/fuel.

Enjoyed that little read, amazing what people come across on travels.
Always an adventure, never a disappointment.
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mark vb
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by mark vb »

Born2Ride wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:54 pm That's modern bikes explained. Don't get me wrong I enjoy mine with all its farkles but....

On past tours all I worried about was serious mechanical break down as you pretty well could bodge most other repairs to get moving again. Now if a sensor fails it stops and you have limited chance of fixing it without an ECU plug in some where and the ability to obtain said failed sensor. It's a shame there isn't a manual override switch to all the electronics as underneath all the guff it is still basic air/spark/fuel.
Too true. Whilst in Patagonia a couple of yrs ago, we came across a chap on a Honda Africa Twin, the modern 1000cc one, that is. He'd dropped it while riding on gravel and this upset some sort of sensor in the vicinity of the air filter. It wouldn't run properly so he had to search out a Honda dealer, which he eventually found far away in San Carlos de Bariloche, who re-set/replaced whatever had failed. What a drag to resolve what wouldn't have been any problem on an older bike!
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gbags
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by gbags »

mark vb wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:08 pm
Born2Ride wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:54 pm That's modern bikes explained. Don't get me wrong I enjoy mine with all its farkles but....

On past tours all I worried about was serious mechanical break down as you pretty well could bodge most other repairs to get moving again. Now if a sensor fails it stops and you have limited chance of fixing it without an ECU plug in some where and the ability to obtain said failed sensor. It's a shame there isn't a manual override switch to all the electronics as underneath all the guff it is still basic air/spark/fuel.
Too true. Whilst in Patagonia a couple of yrs ago, we came across a chap on a Honda Africa Twin, the modern 1000cc one, that is. He'd dropped it while riding on gravel and this upset some sort of sensor in the vicinity of the air filter. It wouldn't run properly so he had to search out a Honda dealer, which he eventually found far away in San Carlos de Bariloche, who re-set/replaced whatever had failed. What a drag to resolve what wouldn't have been any problem on an older bike!
How did he get the bike up to Bariloche? Was it rideable or did he fling it on a truck?
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mark vb
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by mark vb »

gbags wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:01 pm
mark vb wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:08 pm
Born2Ride wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:54 pm That's modern bikes explained. Don't get me wrong I enjoy mine with all its farkles but....

On past tours all I worried about was serious mechanical break down as you pretty well could bodge most other repairs to get moving again. Now if a sensor fails it stops and you have limited chance of fixing it without an ECU plug in some where and the ability to obtain said failed sensor. It's a shame there isn't a manual override switch to all the electronics as underneath all the guff it is still basic air/spark/fuel.
Too true. Whilst in Patagonia a couple of yrs ago, we came across a chap on a Honda Africa Twin, the modern 1000cc one, that is. He'd dropped it while riding on gravel and this upset some sort of sensor in the vicinity of the air filter. It wouldn't run properly so he had to search out a Honda dealer, which he eventually found far away in San Carlos de Bariloche, who re-set/replaced whatever had failed. What a drag to resolve what wouldn't have been any problem on an older bike!
How did he get the bike up to Bariloche? Was it rideable or did he fling it on a truck?
If I remember right, he was able to ride it but it ran roughly. It was a small world - we met his group of 5 in Perito Moreno as they were heading south to Ushuaia and we were heading north. A couple of weeks later we bumped into them in Pucon…. they has rushed down to Fin de Mundo and back up, whilst we had dawdled along, spending a week's r&r in El Bolson. If any of them happen to be looking in on this forum, they will remember this photo. Sorry, thread hi-jack over!
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MotoCP
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by MotoCP »

Tonibe63 wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:43 am Thanks for the thread and the latest update Chris ..... much needed. Often I read ride reports of far off trips and immediately go to the practical questions about finance, time, work, family etc etc but your latest update gives the answer ....... making the most of an opportunity and worry about the money when you get home 8-) 8-) .
There’s nothing on telly tonight so I’m happy to bore you with the background leading up to the trip...

This journey was a burning ambition that we’d had for years.
Growing up, our respective parents had a very loose leash on Dick and I, allowing us to push bike to various youth hostels around the UK (Aged 13 & 14) during our summer holidays.

As soon as we were old enough to ride motorbikes our horizon expanded.

Roll on a few years, I was cleaning my dusty Transalp one day as Dick came strolling down my parent’s drive after returning from a month long back packing trip around India whilst I’d been trail riding in the Pyrenees for the second year running.
I threw him a copy of Fast Bike magazine that featured Neil Pidduck traveling through Northern Africa.
I said “If he can do it then so can we”.

From then on, our beer fueled pub chat always turned to the big trip as we dared each other to say ‘Come on, lets say fuck it and go’.
It was five years later before we put things into motion.

Travel lust was keeping me awake at night, then a sudden redundancy and change of employer who I had no respect for, was the tipping point.
Dick was also fed up with his job so over few Friday night beers we agreed the time was right.

Looking at the whites of each other’s eyes to check it wasn’t just beer talking again, we shook on it and set a date of early February to beat the African summer heat.
The five month lead time went very quickly as we searched for suitable bikes and got our shit together but the hardest part of the whole trip was behind us - the commitment!

I had a bit more baggage to sort out than Dick, as I’d just finished renovating a small cottage and my girlfriend was due to move in after securing a local job, so she was a bit shocked when I broke the news after she’d just handed her notice in to her current employer in Chester.
To be fair I’d been straight with her ever since we met saying I’d be leaving to travel at some point so I said “Don’t try and stop me hun. It’s only for six months. You can pay me rent to cover the mortgage and look after the house”.

We struct a deal that she would fly out with Dick’s girl friend to join us for a week’s beach/safari break (that proved useful as they brought a new front wheel rim and spokes for Dick’s bike!).

Just a couple of weeks before departure, I nearly bottled it due to the lack of finances. I knew the savings I had wouldn’t get me far but my dad offered a life line and said;
“Your bloody well going. You’ve been talking about it for years so get a credit card and I will pay the monthly charges. You will easily get work when you get home so you can pay me back then”.
I settled the financial debt within a year of returning but will always owe my dad for his help.

On returning home the girlfriend confessed that she was heart broken when I said I was leaving and when asking her dad for advice he replied “Darling if you love him, let him go”
We got married two years later and to this day she’s quite relaxed about me heading off to ride through South America at some point in the future now our daughters can look after themselves.
Last edited by MotoCP on Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by MotoCP »

mark vb wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:42 pm Thanks, Chris I wonder what bike you'd take for that trip if you could do it again now (notwithstanding virus issues, of course)?
I’ve owned an Africa Twin RD07 (like yours) for fourteen years and always thought It would be a great travel bike when family commitments allow.
However after putting 3k happy miles on my T7 since I bought it last Summer, that would be my 1st choice (with a bit more fuel capacity stuffed into my Mosko Moto panniers).
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by Hall »

The xt600 tenere with the 28 litre tank would be my bike of choice as long as you upgrade front and rear suspension, silicon seal the airbox, older than the tenere that you used 😉 no lecky start but if you sneaked up on it she always started even when hot ,I used to swop the front sprocket for road and off road and fitted irc vulcanduro tyres I finished 1 trip with both tyres punctured and filled with road side rubbish ,thank god for big cable ties holding the tyres on

Ps do not replace the tyre ,balancer weight and rim locks together ,it looks to a bumpy road even tho it wss smooth
Aka "jkay"
Tonibe63
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by Tonibe63 »

MotoCP wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:14 pm
There’s nothing on telly tonight so I’m happy to bore you with the background leading up to the trip...
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Loved the explanation, inspirational 8-) 8-) 8-)
thanks for that.

Bikes were out of my life by the age of 21 as mortgage, marriage and management jobs took over. By 30 we had kids, a bigger house and bigger mortgage which required a bigger income :roll: .
Now still married, kids also married with children/mortgage and my parents now sadly departed.
We've had 10 years of the European and Morocco bike trips and I feel ready for going further afield but Wife is happy to stop at home with grandparent duties 8-) . Fortunately a mate has a similar loose employment situation to mine and is ready for another bike so I'm going to try to broaden his horizons. South America has had my attention for the last year and I know an Italian guy who was born in Brazil .......... :? .
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
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mark vb
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by mark vb »

Chris, did you come across many other m/cycle travellers as your trip progressed, and what sort of bikes were commonly (or indeed uncommonly) being used?
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Re: Travel Log Tales - Africa

Post by MotoCP »

Tonibe63 wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:56 am
MotoCP wrote: Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:14 pm
There’s nothing on telly tonight so I’m happy to bore you with the background leading up to the trip...
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Loved the explanation, inspirational 8-) 8-) 8-)
thanks for that.

Fortunately a mate has a similar loose employment situation to mine and is ready for another bike so I'm going to try to broaden his horizons. South America has had my attention for the last year and I know an Italian guy who was born in Brazil .......... :? .
Sounds like your halfway there mate.
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