6 weeks to go and time is now flying

Along with Spring comes a festive mood and friends emerge from the Winter social hibernation… All of a sudden we are hard pressed to find free time and the “to do” list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter. If anything, it’s getting longer. I solved the problem of feeling bad about not ticking things off the list by adding a big list of people to see before we leave, and so I’m steadily ticking my list but have made myself very busy.

7 weeks to go

Here is a list of things I’ve had done to the bike to get ready for the long trip… Not saying it’s all that should be done or entirely right, just this is what I’ve done so far. The bike (a BMW F650GS) is now 3 years old with 17 000 miles on the clock, which means, things start to fall apart. If I had a new bike, I would not have had to do a fraction of the maintenance that I've done. Unfortunatley, the poor baby has been driven through 3 UK winters, been off road and underwater - and I have paid the price in parts and BMW service fees (that I might add, are pretty steep).

Full annual and 20,000 km service included (some of this I did, some by BMW)

Oil change

New oil filter

New air filter

New fuel filter

Brake fluid change

Top up forks

Spark plug

Change coolant
Additional service work (due to bike not going well) included

Replacing lower exhaust and lambda sensor

Rewiring underneath and to hand controls (due to winter driving, salt and water)

Replaced perished gaskets and seals

Fitted a power plug socket (needs additional converter to normal car charger socket)

New break pads on front brakes

New tyres (Metzeler Tourance) front and rear from Guildford Tyre Co

Rim locks and balancing

Heavy-duty inner tubes

Touratech bash plate for the underbelly of the bike (real pain to get on and off)

Small perspex front light cover from motorworks.com

Crash bars from Touratech

New brake lever (broke mine so not normally need to do)

Gaiters

Metal panniers and frame from Metal Mule

Rear rack also from Metal Mule

New chain and sprocket set

Fitted a Scott oiler

New battery

Home-made radiator cover

Gel saddle by Custom Saddles

Removed rubber footpeg inserts (and promptly lost them)

Replaced BMW clips with jubilee clips

What I think it useful to do, in order to prepare yourself… take the mechanics training course at Merton College if it’s still possible to do it (I believe the course is being discontinued!). Then try doing things at home before you go. Get the service manual (you can find pdf versions on ebay for £5). Buy an introductory motorcycle mechanics book or borrow one from the library if you are new to mechanics.

Remember to be clean and methodical ALWAYS. Make diagrams or take photos so that you know where things were and what order to put them back. Do not just follow somebody’s advice and way of working. Try to learn the correct procedures and ways of checking your work is good, sound and accurate – including the torque settings.

Buy the pieces of tool kit to fit your bike and check you have all the right sizes of spanner, socket etc to fit your bike specifically. The spares and tools add up... as do the additional things you might like to take too, so make sure you have essentials only. By the end of the trip I'll let you know what I actually used and what I should have taken ;-)

8 weeks to go

We have booked our ferry tickets: Dover to Boulogne with Speedferries.com on 8th July in the evening. A final date, time, place - AT LAST. We now know exactly how day one of our travels will be starting. Yahooo.

Our motorcycle maintenance classes are also drawing to an end. The final bits to be done to the bikes are almost completely done.

Looking good and starting to really feel excited. That feeling of REAL is setting in and that "closer to the time list" is becoming all important.

9 weeks to go

We did a test run to the New Forest on the May long weekend. My bike is so heavy the handling is quite different. My feet are flat on the ground - which is good as I can paddle about and need to as its that much heavier for to push and generally handle. I feel like I'm driving a fat boy cruiser.

By now we have tons of equipment and it all seems to be working, except the GPS. I have to still get that sorted out! I mean, it is working - I don't know how to work it and don't have the right software yet.