Advice for *cringe* my own Long Way Down?

Though before I start I would like to point out that this has been all that non-biking people have said to me in recent weeks:

"Oh, so you're doing a Ewan then are you?".

No I am bloody well not doing a Ewan, he nicked it from other people first so if I'm doing an anyone I'm doing a Ted Simon or a Mondo Enduro type deal

With that all over, haven't been on here in a few weeks due to work but wanted to start a planning thread for anyone to chip in with valuable advice. I'm also posting on www.horizonsunlimited.com to get the help of the experienced overlanders crew but I wanted to stick something on here as well as I know a few names/who to trust/what you lot are like a little better. Besides, I'm sure some of you have done some proper touring in your time as well!

So, the plan so far is as follows. I'm 22, have just graduated and as such I have few ties to anything in particular and I'm floundering when it comes to a 'real' career. So now seems the perfect time to bugger off and do the trip of a lifetime on a bike before mortgages, family (assuming that happens of course ) bog me down. Ted Simon has been a great inspiration so far, and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook by Chris Scott is in the post. The idea is to ride from the UK down through Africa and then deciding at the bottom (Cape Town) whether to ship the bike anywhere else e.g. South America. I've already done some of Asia (teaching in China, travelling in China, HK, Vietnam, Thailand,) so Africa is the biggest unknown/challenge I can pick. Of course, this is all a little ephemeral and non-specific so I shall put down what I know/think/am wondering so far:


* The Bike:

- Seeing as sand riding is a high probability I am steering clear of the large capacity bikes due to weight, and am looking more in the 600cc range for a balance of weight and power.
- Have test-ridden a Yamaha XT660R following the positive reports from Damon L'Anson's altitude record in the Himalayas, though it still seems unproven in wider circles due to being relatively new. Was impressed though.
- Rode my Dad's old 650GS Dakar, would feel comfortable on it, not sure if I can justify the extra premium cost associated with buying a Beemer though. Not ruling out other avenues, KTM (again cost a problem), more reading to be done.
- Have ridden his 1200GS enough to be confident this is too unwieldy.


* Skills:

- Have been riding on roads since I was 17, had a 125 Varadero, then my SV and have covered nigh on 35,000-40,000 miles in 5 years due to the bike being my only form of transport. I feel this is experienced enough to feel confident of making a trip, though with much to learn of course.
- No off-road riding experience as yet, and I think it would be foolish to leave without some. Thoughts are to pay for off-road days or to buy a ratty old thing to do some greenlaning on. An important factor here is that a £100, £200 or whatever cost of a day's course represents a good chunk of time in Africa on the projected budgets on the overlanders website. So any cash spent here is 'worth' a lot of travel time as it were, as such I'd like to minimise it and I don't think I'll be lucky enough to afford the luxury of the BMW off-road course for e.g.


* The Route:

- This has become shaped more and more by the advice on the FCO website which tends to suggest staying away from countries on the South-West coast of the 'bump' as I think of it (the main headland at the top of the continent) and in the centre of the 'bump'. This would include places such as Niger, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Congo etc. The route therefore seems forced into a similar on to Ted Simon's, i.e. North-West Africa first, Morocco, across the top through Libya to Egypt, down the East side and then able to move inland further down the continent. I need to do more reading, and will double check all advice to ensure it is reasonable rather than unnecesarily cautious.
- It seems the principal 'safe' route which leaves little other option.
- This ties in nicely with my girlfriend who has just left for her year abroad (as part of her degree) in Morocco. So that would be my first stopping point and I could spend some time there with her and exploring the area.


* The Money:

- Currently working odd, manual jobs through an agency. Only £6 an hour which isn't mind blowing but it all helps. With the overtime I've usually been working I'm getting about £300 per 5 day week (started 2 weeks ago).
- Rather than sitting here working a dead end job for ages to afford it all (which nearly killed me last time I did it) I have some cash invested for such an occasion. It should amount to approximately £6000, to which I will then be adding a number of months of work, however long it takes to plan really. I envisage this being anywhere from 4-6 months. So an approximate total of £6000 + £5400 to £7800 = approx. £11.5k to £14k. This is before buying any bike. Judging by the costs of an XT660 atm I could, if I must, sell the SV and the difference, if any, would not be vast. Or I could use some of that cash to buy the bike and keep the SV for when I get back.


* The Work:

- From my previous experiences of travelling, though admittedly not under my own steam, I know that I can get fed up of constantly moving on, packing up, etc. etc. In other words, I am likely to want to stop from time to time, partly to rest, partly to make local friends and soak up the culture of a region in a way you cannot when you are only passing through.
- Therefore I plan to work in any number of ways while I am out travelling. The principal option is to teach English. I have a TEFL certificate and 6 months experience of solo-teaching classes of 70 13 year olds in China. My thought is that I could apply for local teaching positions if/when I decide to stop somewhere. Although I do not expect to make money from this, from what I have read so far and my experiences in Asia, I could expect to be given food and accomodation. In other words, though not earning I would not be chipping in to the cash reserve, I can stop for free and benefit the local schools while getting to make friends and explore one area in a little more depth.
- Volunteer work on any number of other schemes would also be a viable option.


I guess that is it so far, I am currently spending most of the time when I'm not working reading instead. Just soaking up any and all information I can, on bikes, budgets, visas, vaccinations, countries, so that I can think it all through when I'm at work (which requires no mental exertion so I can still perform fine ).

Just wanted to post it all up really, for one it helps me take an objective look at how far I've got (not far really ). But I would welcome any and all tips you may have, I'm sure there are considerations I have not yet thought of and that in some areas I am being a little naive or even arrogant (my guarded assumption that I'll be able to pitch up anywhere and teach for instance). Thanks in advance for anything you guys and girls may have to offer

Duncan

p.s. apologies if that is an unreadable wall of text, I tried my best to categorise it!

Hi Mate

Hoping to do this type of thing in the future myself, although it will be a road trip in America, and Canada. Also going to tour Europe, again just on the roads.

I can't give you much advice, except look at this website

http://www.advrider.com/

Great website with lots of info. I will give you fair warning though some of the people on the site have attitude problems towards..... well anyone really.

Hope it helps. Personally I trawl through the website on daily basis looking at all the forums.

Korben

I haven't done any big trips like this, so can't really offer advice on most of the subjects. The only thing I'd like to say is re: the off road day. Are you planning on really riding "off road" as in amongst trees, on footpaths, etc. or just badly maintained dirt/gravel roads? If the latter, I think you could probably get away with just having a bit of a play on these sort of surfaces on a friend's off road bike (or even your SV). I regularly ride my SV on a gravel road and have ridden other non-offroad bikes (including a goldwing with a pillion on the back!) along rock strewn dirt tracks without any mishaps. I wouldn't for one minute say I was good offroad (and indeed I'd like to do an offroad day at some point), but I am at least confident on pretty much any "road" I'm likely to encounter, even if it means going at a slow pace. One thing I'd also practice is river crossing. I've only done it 3 times, so again am no expert, but at least I know I can do it when I have to.

Another thing you didn't seem to mention was mechanical work. What sort of level of ability do you have when it comes to servicing/repairing bikes? Are you planning on carrying spares/consumables and (an added to) toolkit with you? Personally, I'd probably buy a set of basic spares (brake lever and pedal, clutch lever, indicators, pegs) and switch them all out with whats on the bike. The purpose of this is twofold- firstly you know how to do it/what tools are needed and secondly, you know the spares all work/fit the bike (I would keep the originals off the bike as the spares to take with me on the trip).

Originally Posted by Korben

P.S. Your link ain't working proper

Ta, corrected. New to using links

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

Are you planning on really riding "off road" as in amongst trees, on footpaths, etc. or just badly maintained dirt/gravel roads?

Tbh, I don't know yet! My route planning isn't quite that detailed yet. I certainly envisage a good deal of the latter, but I'm also hoping to get what I'd call some 'serious' off-roading done if the opportunity arises. Dune riding, that sort of thing. So I was going to go down the route of a dirt bike so I could crash it, slide it, jump it, in all get used to a style of riding I've never encountered before without risking my road bike and before it really matters and I can't make mistakes i.e. when I'm out there. Done gravel on my SV too, don't think I'm confident enough to risk it at speeds that would give me any sort of skill practice, too scared of the repair bill!

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

Another thing you didn't seem to mention was mechanical work. What sort of level of ability do you have when it comes to servicing/repairing bikes? Are you planning on carrying spares/consumables and (an added to) toolkit with you?

Darn, I knew there was a bullet point, or star * point as they turned out to be, that I had forgotten to include. In short, I know bog all. I know that before I go I shall need to know a tad more than that. I was initally thinking of putting myself through some mechanic night classes or similar, though initial research shows these to be rather few and far between these days. My Dad is useless at mechanic stuff so I can't learn from him. I had also wondered about asking a local mechanic if I could watch him, though I'm not sure whether I would need to pay to cover the cost of being a nuisance in the garage/even whether I'd be allowed to do it.

I know that I will need to be able to do: Puncture repairs, fitting new tyres, chain and sprockets for starters, and know the bike inside and out like I've never had to do with a bike before. Spares will be carried, though full choices will be further down the line once I've actually got the right bike and the mods I want on it (like a 2-in-1 system and/or a bash plate if I get the XT660R). So far I've read about the sorts of things people take on the website, some stuff seems common, others not so. I think tubes, tyres, throttle/clutch cables, batteries are usual.

Cheers for the replies so far

wow that's quite a marathon post there!! Nice to hear about your plabns though

I'm currently planning a trip on XT660R over to Nepal next year and have a few friends currently riding through Africa at the moment. Oh, and I share your frustration at the Charlie & Ewan thing!!

You're onto the right info sources for advice, so I'm not going to try and go through all of your questions. A few tips though:

- Definitely definitely go to the Horizons Unimited UK meet next year (beginning of July I think), it's a great source of inspiration and help

- Trans Africa does call for a bike towards the dirt-orientated side of things, as the roads can be a bit iffy. BUT bear in mind you're gonna have a decent amount of luggage most of the time so you're not going to find it quite as easy to hoon around while that's on the bike, especially when it comes to picking it up off the floor! You need something that will cope with the extra weight, which dirt bikes tend to be less well adapted for. An XT would be a good option, or a 400+ dirt bike with a stiffened rear subframe. If cash is tight i'd definitely go for the XT600 rather than the new 660, since it's cheaper and Acerbis do a bigger fuel tank for it as well. We're only using the 660 as it's fuel injected, which is important at the high altitudes that we'll be visiting.

- an off road course is a nice to have, but otherwise you can get the bike and try out green laning for free. Or just go and learn en route. I know girls who've just passed their test 2 months before they left and had no off road experience, and they were fine. That said if you have the ££ then the general consenus is that it is worth doing.

- Don't underestimate the cost of the equipment aside from the bike! I have a budget spreadsheet from 2 friends who are currently riding across Africa on XR250s (not a recommended choice of bike BTW!). If you PM me your email address I'll send it onto you, as it gives you a very good idea of costs.

Enjoy the planning!