2kickaround
Puppy
We are currently crossing Africa on two XR600R motorbikes and want to give a special shout out to Lars and Dux on this forum. Without @Lars putting us in touch with @Dux, we would never have met the magic mechanic, and without his help we wouldn't have made it this far on our journey!
What tips do you have for long distance foreign travel? We are always looking to expand our knowledge. Please respond to this thread with any thoughts. Cheers!
10 things we've learned riding 15,000 km across Africa
1. Have your bike and gear sorted before your trip. Our bikes weren't dialed before we left and we paid the price with 2 engine rebuilds and 1 new carburetor. This added a lot of time and expense to our trip. Bring your tried and true gear. Our latest and greatest sleeping pads popped numerous times. It was also difficult to find the fuel for our camp stove from home.
2. Pack everything for the "big" trip and then ride for a weekend. See what you use and afterwards separate everything into two piles. One for wants and the other for needs. Get rid of the first pile..that's what you take. Otherwise you end up shipping stuff home or give it away.
3. Realize most normal items will be available everywhere in the world. Don't pack a year's supply of toothpaste. Even motorcycle tires are challenging but can be found in far off places. Don't carry too much food. A few day supply is usually enough when supplemented with good local cuisine.
4. Have your electronic gear sorted before you leave and test everything. Our tablets don't have enough storage for all our pictures and video plus it's hard to find reliable wifi to upload to a cloud. A small laptop would be better. Also, trying to connect a GoPro to a helmets intercom microphone is an example of something you don't want to have to do on the road.
5. Practice repairing a punctured tire before your trip. We fixed flats with wild animals around in the dark. You want to be efficient to make it faster and not cause too much stress. Also, bring a compact bicycle pump. New age electric pumps are not reliable and they're heavy.
6. Invest in comfort. Bring the best boots. Not only for safety but also because you wear them a lot. Maybe splurge on a helmet if you can. Both our helmets are nice but the more budget one is a lot louder and not as aerodynamic. Above all, have a damn comfortable seat setup.
7. Route plan. We've used google maps, maps me, and in our case tracks for Africa. It is best to consult multiple resources when route planning. We also use a paper map since online maps can be unreliable. Maps me sent us through a winery in the middle of nowhere. IOverander is an amazing tool for route planning. A local SIM card can be useful as well, but we went through 6 countries without one. Overall they make life easier, we just didn't deal with it.
8. Intercoms are great. Not only to communicate but for music, podcasts and audio books. Riding up to 14 hours per day it's nice to have some entertainment.
9. The lows will be low, but the highs will be very high. i.e. Illness, injury, breakdowns...to incredible landscapes, fascinating cultures, interactions with exotic animals etc.
10. Take the trip. There were a ton of reasons not to go, ignore them as much as possible. Most of the things we worried about haven't happened. Only the things we never thought to worry of.. so why worry.
Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.
Check us out on on YouTube and please subscribe if you want to follow along!
https://youtube.com/c/2kickaround
Or Instagram @2kickaround
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!). And respect for your badassedness in having to kickstart those big thumpers.
