Jos jedan svetski putnik (autorska prava - Chala)

djura · Jun 2, 2006

Video sam ovaj post na, cini mi se advrideru, a onda ga je Chala preneo na motori.hr pa meni pade na pamet da ga smestim ovde. Mrzi me da prevodim evo c/p, procitajte - vredi:

Hi all, sorry for long post.

I admit to being a polygamist where bike websites are concerned. Only 3 ever get to the inner circle though, this one (of course), Horizons Unlimited (you will see why below) and Advrider (well there are a few adventurous strommers there too). I have posted similer to this on all, so appologies if you too are a polygamist and have seen this before.

Well next month I start on my own "little" adventure trip, UK to Australia, the Half-Way-Round-trip (appologies to the LWR, but I recon they only went half-way anyway)

We are currently still in Australia but the bike is on its way by ship (via Panama) to the UK (hope it arrives OK). The car is sold, the house rented and I quit my job of 25 years. My wife has 12 months leave from teaching & she is travelling pillion. We will be away for at least 12 months. We fly out of Aus on 8 April, to Singapore for a couple of days R&R, then onto London for a week or so until the bike arrives.

Our route takes us around UK, E & W.Europe for 5 months, then Turkey (maybe Syria & Jordan), Iran, Pakistan (KKH), India & Nepal. Not sure where after that, depends on time and money.

So what bike? - Suzuki V-strom 1000 (of course)

Is it standard? - No, has the following mods

- Pro Taper bars and barkbusters

- Givi engine guards

- Radguard alloy radiator & oil cooler guards

- Ohlins shock with heavier spring and upgraded springs and damping for the forks (this was needed for combined (bike/luggage/us) weight, the Ohlins is pure magic but so it should be for the price)

- Givi top box and panniers

- Packsafe tankbag

- Scottoiler

- Oxford heated grips

- Michelin Anakee tyres

- 16t front sprocket

- Yellowbox speedo calibrator

- Autocom communication

- Magellan Meridian GPS

- Unifilter oiled foam airfilter

- Secondectomy and yosh box tweaked

Am I sponsored? - I wish!! Not a cent, we have been planning & saving for the last 5 years or so.

Why a Vstrom? - Because I like it. No need to convince anyone here on this site. I think its an under-rated bike for this type of trip and I want to give it a go. Also no one else has done a trip like this on the Vstrom (that I know of - appologies if not true, someone here will be able to tell me for sure I bet).

In reality this trip can be done on any bike and a small cheap one of any brand may have been a better choice for many countries, but a big bike is nice luxury for 2-up with luggage/camping gear for a year. The vstrom power will be much overkill in Pakistan, India and Nepal, but will be very nice in W.Europe. Guess I could have gone for a BMW twin like so many others that have done this same trip, but I just didnt like it as much as the Vstrom - personal choice. My previous bike was a F650 Dakar which I liked a lot, so its not like a had anything against BMW, except the service costs. I also owned a KTM 250EXC (now also sold), so I'm OK with KTM too, but the 950 was more dirtbike than I needed and not enough road comfort for 2-up. Also the price of either of those alternatives would have been much higher, which would have meant longer working/saving before travelling. An older airhead BMW was considered, but I didnt have time to find a good one or to learn how to rebuild one (haha, I'm partly joking, partly serious)

We wont be doing any serious off-road with a pillion and luggage, so I guess I will find out first-hand whether the Vstrom and accessories is up to a half-way-round world trip on all kinds of "roads" - so I can give you all an update on my Vstrom and travel experiences from time to time.

I have organised a Blog on HU but have not started it yet. Can I post a short message here from time to time and link to my HU Blog story? Or is that frowned on? Not sure I will have time and patience to post it twice.

We are starting to let ourselves get a little excited now, although so many things to do -like pack up the house contents. Hope to catch up with a few fellow strommers on our travels.

See ya on the road, or somewhere near your place soon.

John & Alanna

A ovdje su i zapoèeli Blog:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/skillington/

Idite na gornju adresu, slike su FENOMENALNE!!