Long Trip planned, need help

[Cloud Wolf]

Can you remember how much the panniers cost you or should cost me? Also as far as engine spares go, found a full MZ ETZ 250 engine for sale for £25 near me, will go pick it up next week, speedo cable has just been replaced, that just leaved throttle and brake cables, will also take spare rear shoes, fron disc and cylinder i think. Also should i set out on knobblies or buy/take some with me? how does everyone else do it?

[zimm]

havent got a clue what i paid for the panniers and top box mate .. it was 10 years ago .. lol .. was just an idea..

you'd be surprised how far you can get on road (not track style) tyres, but a compromise would be road legal trials tyres .. feck knows how long they'd last on tarmac though, and they'd be somewhat pointless if they were shagged by the time you needed them. In my (outdated?) experience on/off road tyres are just a bit crap everywhere, so best avoided. FWIW its possible to get the pegs down on an ETZ .. wobbly, but possible .. lol.

met some blokes in the Gambia who had ridden there across the sahara on Honda C90's fitted with knobblies off a kiddies MX'er, they just carried em strapped to the panniers then changed them over when they hit the desert... dont forget big tyre levers and new tubes though !

David Walker (paris peking banger rally) can tell you what the score is re visa's etc for china .. it can be a little tricky taking vehicles across the border without proof that you arent importing it permanently.

[Cloud Wolf]

yeah was thinking about strapping knobblies to the outside of panniers. Already have a cross mix on the rear wheel and it holds up pretty well on the road and off road, was quite surprised, yes it is possible to get knee down, was surprised how far it cranked over when i rode it back from my friends farm, but obviously didnt have my sliders on at the time (would have looked like a bit of a tit). Was thinking about finding out some contacts who know about visa's and also had planned to spend a day in london going to different embassies which will be nice and boring but oh well. but like i said before any1 think they are up to welding pannier brackets? Thanks for the input so far guys. Oh and what do you think of these?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=011
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Akito-Desert-Moto ... m153.l1262

[zimm]

akito stuff isnt exactly top quality when it comes to fit and finish but is fairly robust .. in a "looks decidedly second hand after a week, but still looks like that after 5 years" kind a way.. I used one of their textile jackets every day for 4 years and crashed in it twice .. i think the cuffs started to wear out a bit .. but that was it .. gave it to the mrs and she lost it somewhere .. in a word, recommended

thought about throw-over fabric panniers ? far quicker to remove from the bike if you need to park up in a dodgy area and can double as hand luggage

ive had the same set of expandable oxford sport panniers for 10 years (and over 100,000 miles of use) now and they still look like new .. which is great as they were second hand when i got them ok, they arent 100% waterproof, but you just put your stuff in a plastic bag.

[Cloud Wolf]

Will go for soft panniers as a last resort mate, wanna try to get the hard ones first, got nowt else to spent this summers pay on, so gonna make this trip the best i can, and the best gear i can afford should help towards comfort safety and ease over the trip.

[zimm]

got nowt else to spent this summers pay on

you not heard of beer ?

[Cloud Wolf]

Lol i'm a barman, i serve enough pints to my regulars to not want to turn out like them.... Also i dont like the taste of lagers or bitters, can just about drink a mild though, its always either a pint of cider if i'm just in for a short while, or im on the spirits if its a heavy night, nice and costly but at least im not sick from the taste

[Caz]

re tyres - try something like the metzeler tourance or similar; it goes off road surprisingly well on the R1200GS.
Look at OEM fitments for bikes like the BMW, R1200/R1150 GS, KTM adventure (or whatever its called)etc etc

/Caz