How much gear and spares?
 

I`m planning a route from Vladivostok to Europe through places like Kazakhstan and Ukraine as well as Russia and Europe. I`m keen to keep weight to a bare minimum.

Is it really necessary to take spare tyres for example? My bike is a DR-Z400 with brand-new factory-fitted Bridgestones. Is adequate just to take spare tubes and patches?

And what about new sprockets and chain? The bike is new and the route I`m taking is probably not more than 20,000km.

Is it feasible to get by with only a gearsack and a light backpack worth of luggage?

I`d appreciate any advice on these questions.

Hai,

I don't think you'll need to bring extra tire's. It depends a bit on the sort you use, MX-tires wear faster on tarmac then dual-purpose. In europe all tires are widely available.
The same goes with the chain and sprockets.

I would not travel with a backpack... it's very very tyring. better to use lugage-rolls and some sort of side-bag's (soft or hard)
Anyway, make sure the lugage is attache good and does not move around.

Have a safe journey

Maarten

hi,
i also plan to travel through ex-ussr
there's not much there if you have mechanical problems
think about spare parts, maybe tyres, if you blow one
don't carry something on your back !

i will have a big bag behind me on the saddle attached somewhere to the bike

safe travels

Hi there,

You should make sure that the sprockets on your new bike are steel, NOT aluminum! Suzuki tried to make a lightweight Dual-Sport bike and it's likely that using aluminum sprockets was one method they chose for keeping weight down. Aluminum sprockets will last only a fraction of what a good steel sprocket will. Krause Sprockets have a good reputation, but any steel sprocket from a major manufaturer will be sufficient.

As for the chain, my XR650L chain only lasted me 12,000 miles (almost exactly 20,000 km) of abuse before it exploded - and I knew I was pushing for the last 2000 miles. If you don't have room for an extra chain, BE SURE to carry a spare section of chain with masterlinks on either end and a chain breaker so that if your chain breaks, you can fit that spare section in. But most importantly, keep your chain well-oiled - you can never oil it too much.

My stock steel sprockets, on the other hand, looked like new after 12,00 miles even after a lot of dirt riding.

On my XR, the chain sliders on the swingarm and in the chain slider that drops down in front of the rear sprocket both wear out quickly. I get about 4-5000 miles out of them, and letting the chain grind through the bolts or the swingarm is clearly not an option. I would bring extras of those or send some to a location you know you'll be passing through, cause you certainly won't find replacements those easily. They're small and lightweight, so mailing them would be cheap and carrying them wouldn't take a lot of space.

Also, it's very dangerous to ride with a backpack full of hard objects. If you crash, spare parts or tools could puncture your back. If you must ride with a backpack (which you shouldn't do as mentioned above by Maarten, it's very fatiguing) only keep spare clothes and other light, soft objects in it. Ideally, it should be light enough that you barely feel it on your back if you wear one at all.

Best of luck! Have you fitted an aftermarket seat? That stock seat looks awfully painful for extended trips!

Wright

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Wright Bagwell
http://www.geocities.com/wwbagwell/

Wright, what would you use to oil youre chain with when you can't find anything that looks like the stuff we are used too?

I carry a small plastic bottle of used motor oil with a flip-top nozzle when I'm out on the trail for an extended period of time.

I'm sure that real chain lube is better, but I really don't want to carry aerosol cans on my bike with me. Too much chance that the cap will get knocked off and squirt out all the lube. Besides, would you really want to carry several bulky and heavy cans of chain lube through remote sandy or muddy places where your chain is going to get most severely abused? You'd have to take a whole lot of chain lube!

Anyone have a more clever solution?
Wright

Hai there,

I mounted a scott-oiler. For those who don't know it: It's a reservoir with chain-oil which automaticly oils the chain when the enigine is running

There is a "magnum" reservoir which is mounted behind the licensplate.

To make it bomb-proof I have put the (plastic) oil-line in a aluminium tube and made the moving bend (from frame to rear-fork) in a RVS-flexibel water-hose. (looks just like RVS-flex-hose, but costs only 1/10th of it http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif)

I don't exactly know what the "milage" is, but the manual say's 1000 Km on the normal reservoir (the magnum is 4 time as big I think)

Filling is easy and clean.

Maarten

Maarten,

Sounds great but I find the scottoiler rather exspensive. Also I have heard it gets clocked up when used off road. And can you refill the reservoir with just anything or only one kind of oil? The ones I have seen had to be refilled with expensive removable reservoirs.
Can't we get it more simple?

Hai Pieter,

The scott-oiler can be filled with just about anything... (oil would be best http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif)
But... you are right, it's rather expensive for such a simple device.
I have heared there is an other brand, but don't know what it is.
Getting clogged during off-road seems unlikely to me, but I have no real experiance with it.
I do often see the oil-line hanging loose on off-road bike's, this is why I made it bomb-proof.

I guess you could make something like it yourself.. it's a simple concept.

Drive safe

Maarten

Scottoiler or similar isn't that expensive really - cheaper (?) than a chain & sprocket set & I've had 20,000 miles on a F650 & it had a lot of mileage left in it! Never clogged with mud. Use it with any engine oil. Fill & forget.
You could take a rear tyre but even in the middle of nowhere you should be able to find something to fit a 400 trailie. Especially as you seem to be heading towards civilisation - by the time it needs replacing you should be able to get something.

Cheers
Tim

In dusty (off-road) conditions it's better to use no oil or grease.Keep your O-ring chain dry in that conditions.

Freek (NL)

has anyone heard of a `loobman` oiler? its very simple and basic.it is just a small plastic bottle of oil you ziptie somewhere handy to get to while riding.from it is a thin tube going down to the chain like a scottoiler.as you ride along, you squeeze the bottle a little and it oils the chain. its about 20GBP here i think, but its so simple i would think its easily made.

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dave

We used to - waaaaayyy back when long before o-ring chains - use a small plastic bottle that Suzuki made for 2-stroke oil on their mx'ers, and a gas tap (or any inline valve) in the line which went straight to the chain. Just adjust the tap to the right position to get the right drip. Fiddly, and if you got it wrong you'd empty the tank in an hour onto your jacket...

Cheap and effective. But I think I'd pay for a Scottoiler myself...

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I'm intrigued by Freek's suggestion of running the chain dry in dusty conditions. When I worked on a station in Australia, we ran all the agricultural bikes with dry chains - I was told by the station-owner that the chains last longer this way.

Has anyone else tried this?

I've ran an o ring chain now for 18000km without oil as I was always off road in the dust. It's still in good condition. Now and then I clean it with parrafin/kerrosine and oil it only when the bike is in storage to stop rust.
The bike is a 125 2 stroke but this doesnt make any difference, when in the dust, oil turns to grinding paste.
Scott oilers are good for the tarmac and worth the money, I get about 800km on the standard oil container, less in the rain when the flow rate has to be turned up. Highly recomended!
Andy