While preparing the Wee-Strom for a (up to 6 months) overland trip, 2-up, I´d be glad to hear some more experienced riders experience and comments on some issues (or if indeed they are issues, or not!)

- Subframe; has anyone had any problem with it? I think I cannot avoid loading up the bike quite heavily, with alu panniers, top box, pillion rider,
possibly even something on top of the panniers. This must put quite considerable stress especially onto the subframe. Im expecting to ride some
bumpy roads as well, and though I will naturally try to go very easy on them, as this is not an enduro bike, nevermind when carrying such load,
Im afraid its going to take some serious beating somewhere along the way..

- Suspension; as standard, and while riding 1-up, or with my lightweight pillion, its quite adequate though not perfect, but I havent tested it under a heavy load at all.
Do you think I´d be better off, if I changed the rear stock unit (or maybe front as well?) into something thats made to carry more weight? This is an area that I have very
little experience of, so pardon me if I havent understood everything correctly.

And if some changes are recommended, could changing the spring(s) only be enough, or you´d need to change the whole back unit (or whole front forks)? Changing all these must be getting quite costly, too, so I dont want to do it, unless its really necessary.

Im planning to go 90% on main roads, not looking for the tricky stuff, and expecting to go very slowly when we have to. Still, if the standard suspension is near its limits already, when the bike´s loaded (I should be able to see this for myself, too, once I get the panniers fitted in a short while) then I´d figure it will considerably affect riding comfort for the both of us. And if the suspension will start to bottom up in every small or a bit bigger bump, then it will probably put more stress onto the subframe especially, and all over the bike as well. Wont be good, if something cracks, or bits and pieces start to fall off along the way... a guy from Finland actually had a subframe crack on his 640 Adventure when going to Vladivostok, right in the middle of nowhere in Siberia, big problem - and he was riding alone!

The DL may be a nice touring bike, but it surely could use some more ground clearance like, say, an Africa Twin (Ive naturally got the bashplate fitted, wouldnt go without one!)

People seem to be doing some big trips on this bike & the 1000-version quite succesfully, so hopefully theres someone who can share their information.

All ideas, experiences, recommendations, and possibly also some estimates of the costs, would be warmly welcomed! We now have about 2 months until we should hit the road.