Martijn,

yes, as i noted the spring of rear suspension was too weak for the high load we put onto it - it kicked itself into maximum position often going through potholes. But in the end it brought us home without any problems. Sure i'd recommend to put Öhlins or Wilbers with stronger springs any time too after what we experienced going more than Gross weight allows. We had absolutely no problems with the front stock Showa suspension though.

About the frame - did you had TT Hard Parts installed, the frame reinforcement kit? It's absolutely essential for R1100/850GSes doing offroad or full of lugge, costs almost nothing indeed.

As for battery - yes, we put new battery on before the trip.

Fork seal - i replaced the dust seals lately with fresh ones because the old ones were detoriarated a bit, i think this was maybe the reason your's - sand or mud got past the old dust seals into forks and damaged the oil seals. After the oil seal is broken sure replace both oil and dust seals. The dust seals on all forks on all bikes are the most important in long-term, they keep the fork's working space clean from dust and mud. Even better is to use complete fork protectors, available from Touratech.

Had no problems with fuel filter, though had a spare one just in case with me.

Cheers, Margus

[This message has been edited by Margus (edited 23 September 2005).]