cgoodwin
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Interested, tell me more.
airhead history could be for sale
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Interested, tell me more.
cgoodwin
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every village in Africa has a welder....and more ingenuity than a college full of engineers over here.
You won't get stuck on most bikes these days
I've seen a broken KTM swing arm drilled, stitched with bailing wire then splinted with two re-bar strips ....I've also seen fork seals improvised out of god knows what (I do actually but I can't say 'cos he'll probably read this and he's still riding around on his Zanussi/KTM
Having said that, I do carry a spare final drive bearing for 11xx's (though again, you can go into any spares shop in Morocco and have a pretty good chance of finding one that'll do the job)
If you want a properly fixable RTW bike, it would have to be a C90, or the Yamaha version.....not only are they such basic old tech machines, but every villager in every village in Africa and most other continents has ridden one, fixed one or knows someone who has.
As Devon said though, it's the spirit and attitude that makes any RTW trip a success.....Ted Simon got it right but sadly, so many people who try it just don't get it and think the machinery is more important
I drove a Defender 110 from London north into the Arctic, south through Eastern Europe, across Turkey and back to London, three weeks later I headed to Cape Town. While the Defender is not the most sophisticated off road vehicle ever built, it like the R80gs is just basic enough to be repaired nearly anywhere on the planet. Had I done tht trip in a new Fj or the ghastly Hummer H3 and experienced any mechanical issue at all, I would have had to apply for citizenship!
That all depends where your real world is my friend. Most of the Baja is remote enough that a breakdown alone can easily result in your demise and in Washington where I am currently based, the same is true. Even if fatality was not the result, leaving your bike and walking out, assuming you did not break a leg, 50 miles or better is not a strong plan. I recently spoke to a German fellow who rode 110 miles on the luggage rack of his riding partners bike when it stranded him in Northern Mexico, it took them 3 days as the added weight bogged the bike down so often. When they returned a week later with a truck, the bike was gone. I just do not trust complicated suspensions and electronically controlled fuel injection off the beaten track.
That said I ride a Ducati around town now and then when I have the R80 taken apart and rode a 1981 Suzuki Katana 1100 all across Mexico, England, France, Spain and Germany before it was stolen parked in front of my houseboat on the Thames. 11 years I rode that back breaking Japanese sport bike designed by a German and I still miss it. I would never have ventured into the bush on it though.
Nice for looking at, but has it been used in anger since it was modified from a mono - to fragile
Wreford,
I may be wrong here but I believe that Chris Emmersons bike is the twin of yours. It was modified from an extended Monolever rear end for competition use. Chris did a write up here http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89049&highlight=lara
As I said earlier in this thread, I agree with most of your sentiment but I still think you are bigging up the risk of travel.
Here is a pic of my trusty Paralever (in excess of 65000 miles without a breakdown) at the start of the 400 mile Gibb River road that crosses the Kimberley in NW Australia. I did a few days slave labour on the Fiztsimmons cattle station 100 miles up the road: 1,000,000 acres and it requires 1000 acres per head of cattle so its pretty barren. Everyone knows it's an easy place to die so people take care. 3 lads had died a couple of years previous to when I was there in 1990: it appears their toyota pick up broke down and they were found inside the truck a full 12 month later even though they were only 10 miles from the station. Even in a remote place like this petrol is available from cattle stations every 100 miles or so along the way. It would not be a good idea to crash into the bush beside the main track as its very unlikely you would found. Is this real world enough?
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That's my understanding - Altough I undersatnd mine was the better bike as it was the 2nd built and had engine by Max Beeker (I think that's his name) at a cost of 3K.
On the mono v para debate:
I've no doubt a para rear end would improve the ride and ability in some situations but you do learn to enjoy and ride around/within what a mono allows.
When you give it some beans at the start of a stage the way the mono jacks up and launches the bike forward gets you in the mood for the rest of the stage.
If you're accelorating hard and you see a bump you just have to ease of the throttle to allow the rear suspension to work
It's lighter and has less points of faliuar
I like the control the drum brake gives me off road - esspecially now Richie Moore has cut and welded the brake lever to the perfect position
An airhaed fitted with para is a like Michael Jackson in the later years - Modifieed to the point off....accutally what was the point !!!!!!!
You don't have to ease off with a paralever
The ally 1100 swing arm is a lot lighter than the steel monolever
and plenty strong enough
The disc brakes still works when wet !
You should have a go on mine...
I think you will be surprised
You don't have to ease off with a paralever
The ally 1100 swing arm is a lot lighter than the steel monolever
and plenty strong enough
The disc brakes still works when wet !
You should have a go on mine...
I think you will be surprised
I know you're right but since I've owned a mono I've become blinkered in my views and have started smelling of wee
Airheads are great for tractoring up climbs but there are times when the mono rear end hits a step and because you have the power on it will kick out and lose traction or bounce sideways - When i use the 1150 offroad you can be very subtle with how you match power, traction and terrain.
cgoodwin
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Your world is what you make it my friend, seems to me to be a long way to go to get to an adult petting zoo, but if one is into that sort of thing.
You are missing my point, or perhaps you have not missed it but love to argue semantics. I am not saying that venturing off road on a paralever will instantly kill you, your friends, your family, your postman, even people who owe you money.
I am simply stating that I believe that despite "Shaft Jacking" the early Monolever bikes are superior to newer electronic paralever bikes as back country tourers in their simplicity, durability and ease of repair. "Every village in Africa has a welder", few have TIG welders and I can patch up an old boxer with coke cans, bits of radio wire, rebar, duct tape (Go fast tape) and some epoxy. If the factory smoke escapes from the newer electronics, it is nearly impossible to get it back in and TIG welding a magnesium transmission pivot point with oxy acetylene and a coat hanger is more difficult than you might imagine, and that for these reasons, the early basic monolever bikes make better off/road tourers.
No one (as far as I have read) has called you a wuss and while one may question your motivation for going so far afield to spend time with farm animals, I must say well done! 100 miles between fuel stops and not a motorway service area to be found. Not having ever been to such a fearsome place I Googled “Gibb River road” as should you. The first link is titled “The Gibb River Road- A Kimberley Adventure That Anyone Can Tackle” looking through their site it seems to be a place of legendary harshness, until 2000 when the road was widened to two lanes of gravel and bitumen. From the site linked “The trip is still touted as one of the last serious adventures in Australia, a drive through a very remote area where all sorts of dangers loom, an undertaking that requires guts and four wheel driving experience... Well, not any more! There is absolutely nothing to be nervous about”. That said looking at the fuel stop map it seems that there is fuel available in 200K and 300K increments which would tend to make one a little nervous compared to a walking adventure in the Cotswolds. Looks like a lovely trip though.
You might really enjoy the Baja, great riding beautiful scenery and almost none of it is occupied. You can beach camp most of the way and the Sea of Cortez is so rich in life that starving would require some real stupidity.
judge
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You did all that on a Paralever
? Are you nuts?? It could have killed you with its razor blade sharp, spinning like a mad-axe drive shaft just inches away from your flesh, tearing at the bevel drive walls 
I'd say you're a hero but clearly you're a reckless fool who risks life and limb by living on the edge by daring to ride a Paralever and laughing at the extreme risks involved
I haven't got a clue what you are on about cgoodwin but I am fairly confident, whatever it is, you are wrong
You did all that on a Paralever
I'd say you're a hero but clearly you're a reckless fool who risks life and limb by living on the edge by daring to ride a Paralever and laughing at the extreme risks involved
I was young and thought I was invincible Judge. Though I was not totally reckless: I rode the last 300 miles of the Gibb River road over 3 days with total rations of 8 pints of water and 2 packets of Rich Tea biscuits wrapped in my sleeping bag to stop the biscuits breaking
Shep
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I was young and thought I was invincible Judge. Though I was not totally reckless: I rode the last 300 miles of the Gibb River road over 3 days with total rations of 8 pints of water and 2 packets of Rich Tea biscuits wrapped in my sleeping bag to stop the biscuits breaking
Real men would have took Jacobs Cream Crackers
Real men would have took Jacobs Cream Crackers
Real men would have stood on the pegs for most of the track, I sat down and paddled my feet for large sections of the road: I wasn't worthy of Cream Crackers
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So, is this bike coming up for sale or what ? 
Real men would have stood on the pegs for most of the track, I sat down and paddled my feet for large sections of the road: I wasn't worthy of Cream Crackers
And marmite
So, is this bike coming up for sale or what ?
Shredded Wheat............is what Beefy reckons
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So did this bike ever sell and if so what did it end up going for?
No it never sold. I think Si did put a thread on here having decided to do a big rebuild. He has repainted the tank and the frame is still awaiting painting. He has soda blasted the engine and gearbox . unfortunately there have been some problems at work and he has not had as much time to get on with it.
When my RT project is finished......
When my RT project is finished......
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