Wednesday 1 January 2014

Gear and Bike Revue


Gear and Bike Revue.

Now after having ridden some 52,000km across North, Central and South America this is my take on the following products.
 
Riding gear:

  • Shark Evoline 2 helmet: it is a bit noisy and not light but has served well for this ride, what I do love is the fact that you can ride open face (that I did 95% of the time) or closed.
  • Tour Master transition 2 jacket: was an older jacket that has worked very well. I did have to spray with tent spray on this trip several times for water resistance, and has good cooling options. Very strong jacket but not made to last for a RTW trip.
  • Rev-It Cheyenne pants, not water resistant without the liner, but has served well, even in the hot weather. Well made but just hate to always zip the liner in and out while your standing along the side of the road.
  • Triumph Tri-Tex boots, after some big rains and drying-up they started cracking while crossing the Canadian prairies. They never got better after no matter how much spray or crap I put on them, and was no longer water proof.
  • Tour Master Dri-Mesh gloves, works good for a short while, and then go south, a bitch to put on or off when wet
  • Old long leather cuff gloves, has served for over 40 years and are still my most used pair of gloves and are indispensable.
  • Light leather jacket, was good for going out and can be worn under riding jacket when needed.
  • Icebreaker under garments, had two sets and are the best I ever have had.
  • Long sleeve base gear that can be worn over the under garments or just on it own (layering) and is a must to bring along.
  • Rain gear, Hogg Toggs worked great and was easy to pull on over everything and could also be used as wind break. Did save my ass many times on this trip.

 

Camping Gear.

The hammock with mosquito netting was by far the best sleeping I have ever done, and with a light tarp to cover in the event of rain was great

Jetboil cooking system was fast and an excellent purchase, was also very surprised how little gas it used.

I do need to say that the camping gear was mostly used in Canada and USA and only once in Ecuador. The cost of lodging in Central and South America did not warrant the use anymore, and I ended up giving most of it away in Panama City.


The Bike.


· The Yamaha Super-Tenere was abused, dropped, slammed, covered in muck and it keeps on going. It will need a good cleaning, plus some overdue maintenance done to it, and I will get a new differential seal installed just for good measure. In my books a truly super bike.

· The Mitas E-70 Dakar tires that I had put on in San Diago, California made it all the way to the finish and now have 29,996 km's on them, and are tops.

· The Givi crash-bars and pannier brackets have lived through all of this with just some slight damage.

· The Pelican Cases have taken a beating and are still watertight.

· The Heated grips are by far the best extra thing you can have on this type of ride, was able to ride with just the summer gloves on through freezing cold conditions, what a comfort to have.

 

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