asking bike mod questions
 

End of February and I'll soon be getting a new bike - to go around the planet on. Not being a mechanic, I have a lot of questions about bike mods, electrical upgrades, suspension upgrades etc...

Is there a specific place that these kind of questions can be asked? Should I be looking for a motorcycle mechanic to pay and help plan? I am good with tools and have rebuilt motors - but its been a while. Is there a discussion forum for just this kind of things?

I guess what I'm asking is how best to approach this. I will tell you that the technology I will be travelling with will be extensive and I have been in contact with a University makespace to help with some of these mods.

I will in actuality, be living on this motorcycle for numerous years. Reliability, comfort, security, parts supply, and ability to work on by myself are all critical. No matter what - I plan to hire a mechanic to show and teach me as much as I can learn about my bike before I hit the road. Tire, chain, electrical repairs and more.

Any feedback at all most appreciated.

You have not told us much about what bike, new or used or other details but in my opinion any new bike bought for riding around the world will actually need very little done to it in terms of modification, modern bikes are well designed and built in the factory and many people myself included do long trips on virtually standard bikes with some extra luggage fitted.
There is preventative maintainance you can do to a new bike, I had a new Honda XR125 a few years ago and rebuilt the front and back ends greasing everything as I went, fitting fork gaiters and installing a grease nipple in the swinging arm, something they no longer do in the factory.
If you already have some experience with engines practice at home before you leave, take wheels, forks and brakes off and refit them so you know what to do before you need to do it by the side of the road, youtube can be your friend here rather than paying someone, or come along to an HU meet and speak to other owners.

I don't have my RTW bike yet. In a few months I will be selling my cruser and making a decision. This will give me about a year to get the bike ready. I just contacted a local bike mechanic to get help learning what I need to know. At the top of my list is the Yamaha Tenere 700. And I will be seriously moding anything I get. I'm not just going on a trip - I will be living on this bike for years.

I have been studying intensely what I need and what I would like. For instance - the Tenere has too small a gas tank. I want to be able to make a minimum of 500 km / tank as I will be going into isolated areas, and places where gas is bad. I am concerned about bike charging system as I will be bringing a high level of tech - so I want to either upgrade or add another charging system. Adjustable riding positions - I saw a custom bike that had moveable footpegs and adjustable bars for altering riding position. I want to build custom carbon fibre panniers - and I want to hide the tech and make the bike look like crap. I want to reduce weight as much as possible. Areas that I have researched so far include dual-material sprokets and lighter chain. Have contacted a makerspace at a local university to see if I can get help developing a HUD.

Truth - you are absolutely correct, that I could buy a bike and go. That's not the point for me. I wish to do this my own unique way. For instance, I am a professional musician and will be building a recording studio on the bike, for both writing and producing original material for videos, but also to record grassroots indigenous artists from all over the world - and to help promote them.

The bike will be a musical instrument unto itself.....and this trip will be as unique as the bike needs to be. I have a lot to do, a lot to learn, and I can hardly wait. The first leg of my journey keeps me in north america for nearly the first year which will give me time to work out the bugs before going remote.....

Thus the inquiry.....who can I get advice from. Thanks for the post.

The problem with a big gas tank is that it is bulky and heavy, and most of the time you don't need it. (You want to get off the bike and stretch / drink some water every few hours anyway.) For the relatively few times over your trip when gas stations will be far apart, you can always buy a plastic gas can and strap it to your bike for that stretch - or, if there's no other option, just use a regular large drink bottle, etc.

Do you mean to use that tech while actually riding, so it will need to be charged up continuously? Have you calculated your expected total power draw?

You could certainly upgrade the charging system, but one option would be to have a big power bank constantly charging off the bike, and your tech charging off the power bank. E.g. I have a Telwin Drive 13000 unit that can actually be used to jump-start my car (and certainly my bike), and it's lost maybe a quarter of a charge after sitting on a shelf for six months and then jumping the car four or five times. And it's beefy enough to power a laptop. Think about having something like that to power your tech in a camp - you're protected against draining your bike's primary battery.

Yup, LSL for example makes adjustable rearset kits and bar risers. I ran an adjustable rearset on one of my old bikes (a crappy Chinese one) - in reality once you set the bike up comfortably, you're unlikely to want to change it often. Especially on something like a T700 that already has high, wide bars.

If you want to play with carbon fibre, that's cool ;) but carbon fibre is brittle. If you fall over - and you will, on bad roads - you can hit a rock and shatter the entire pannier. Have a look at these, for example: About – TARK - rigid but impact-absorbing.

Interesting. What information do you want to output onto a HUD? Do you actually want it on your helmet, or up high on the bike's instrument cluster?

That's a very good approach.

Great feedback - thanks.

Love the idea of the Power Bank. Already considered that, but keep reading.

I will be carrying a spare gas tank, but what about building a custom tank, like the new KTMs have, where the tank drapes over the sides of the bike, so the weight of the gas is lower on the bike? That's what I will be looking at.

Lots to learn about carbon fiber. I am attracted to it due to weight, but I have an open mind and am certainly looking at alternatives.

HUD - I have been looking at smart helmets - most of them are not - at this time, I am considering smart glasses - they can be worn in the helmet, so mostly hidden. Applications I will be working on are as follows:
Speedometer
GPS
Tire Pressure
Bike temp
outside temp
weather
music playback/radio/news
Gopro control
drone control
Desktop computer - use HUD as the interface to the computer when off the bike - so no laptop but a custom built mini-PC with the HUD acting as the monitor. This will be for video editing, music production, internet, etc.
Other as yet to be discovered applications

I am turning my bike into a musical instrument by placing midi triggers in areas that make sense, footpegs, where knees meet the bike, and on grips. This is to write while riding....when safe to do so. The interface for this will be complicated to achieve and may be too much. But I am exploring it.

I plan to camp a lot. Trying to figure out a way to keep a charge going while stopped so I can do things like video editing, music production etc... Depending on where I am, the plan would be to hit a hotel/hostel/couch surf every 5th day or so - for internet access for upload, and to sleep in a bed...get clean...Here is one solution I have found....

https://www.k-tor.com/pedal-powered-generator/

I have done some really long rides. Here's the scenario - been 10 hours on the bike. Cramping up due to limited movement. Dreaming of being able to lie on my tank, have the handlebars fold down - almost into cafe style, and the footpegs move backwards - relief, a new and out of the wind position.

Having a bigger tank does not mean I will not stop every few hours anyway. It simply means that I don't have to gas up as often. On the first leg of my journey, I am already looking at a stretch of 725 KM with NO GAS. So I will be taking on an extra tank for this loop. Only in Canada could you find such a stretch of road. Its seriously isolated.

But again I will state clearly - open mind. Willing to change plans. Willing to listen to ideas. Only thing that will not change is the fact of the trip itself.

I have found a local mechanic who runs a DIY bike shop. Meeting him tomorrow to start developing a relationship. He is going to teach me how to properly maintain/ repair/ and mod this 2 wheeled home.

For the extra range I was considering just using a set of throw over soft panniers to put over the tank - for example this offering from Lomo - Dry Bag Motorcycle Panniers - Soft (1 Pair).

These have a stated capacity of 30 litres on each side so when you factor in the containers you will probably mean that I would be able to carry 30 litres between the two sides - around 6 gallons - and quite low down and between the wheels so not disturbing the handling too much. When I need the range I intend to buy some cheap 5 litre plastic fuel tanks, add fuel and slip into the panniers - a great deal cheaper and easier than getting a bigger tank and the weight is in about the same place - but only when I need it.

I suspect that given time I could rig a suitable webbing “cage” for fuel containers - again over the tank - so that I don’t even have to use throw-overs.

Interesting idea....worth considering - thanks.

Mike, sounds like a very interesting project - but to answer your original question - who can I get advice from - you're in the PERFECT place and already getting lots of ideas!

I think you're in Eastern Canada? IF so get yourself to the HU Virginia and Newfoundland events, you'll see lots of bikes and learn a ton. If in the West, come to the CanWest Meeting. Guaranteed worth your while. I'll be at that one.

Also of course, spend a lot of time reading this site, check out my own bike build. Note: I went overboard! But I was a mechanic and racer - and we had no issues with the bike in 11 years RTW. And I fully understand your desire for unique and special and working for you.

Number one thing I learned over many years on the road, and running this site and listening to people's stories is that the KISS principle rules - KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE - every modification you make, every change, especially to electrics, is a risk. Always ask yourself the hard question; will this mod mod make it MORE or LESS reliable!? Or is it just cool and I want it?

BTW - my STRONG recommendation is to avoid fiberglass and carbon fibre - way too hard to repair in the field, and as noted earlier by anTyx, very brittle. Personal experience with fiberglass on boats makes it a big no-no for travel. Plastic boxes are brittle too - both shatter on impact. Aluminum dents and bends a lot, but doesn't disintegrate. It's also usually repairable adequately at the side of the road, and a welder found almost anywhere can make big fixes, or just find a fresh sheet and bolt it over, or pop-rivet or screw it together.
FWIW - when I built my bike in 1986, there were no aluminum saddlebags available, just plastic and fiberglass. I MADE aluminum boxes in preference to both.

Anything custom is harder to repair than buying a standard component off the shelf.

I look forward to watching your progress!

Mike, be sure to subscribe to the thread to keep an eye on responses!

Your bike and your story are amazing! Virginia may be possible, but Newfoundland is a really long trip - maybe a test ride for my new bike in the spring.

Rims - I never thought about the rims breaking from weight and bad roads!

Tech has really changed since 2002. Better and lighter gear, clothes, materials and computer tech. But I really appreciate the KISS advice - and will of course ignore it to some extent....KISS,, Keep It Special Sister...but honestly, having a backup plan for tech is critical. Ok, so I got my HUD and after 20,000 clicks it dies - I still have a speedometer, GPS, phone etc....

Maybe soft panniers is the way to go. Your bike is HEAVY! Nearly 1000 LBS minus crate of course! How did you pick it up after a spill?

Someone said that the best security they had used was a bike cover. If you can't see it, not worth stealing.

Your expanding back case is a total must do - I'm stealing this idea, cause you are so correct - helmet and jacket always in the way.

One thing I am most certainly building is a spill stick. A device like a car jack that I can use to help put the bike upright without having to unload it. I gorilla camp and once ended up in a deep sand pit alone just a dusk. Dropped the bike and could NOT get it straight (was going to say could not get it up)....so I am designing one that will work for my bike.

I got a lot of work to do on how to keep recording and computer gear cool, waterproof and help minimise vibration. I saw one guy who simply use a big pelican case stuffed with foam cut outs for everything.

Soon, I am going to start planning everything in public on youtube - to show this whole process to others.

People - I am 61 years old. In excellent health and physically fit. I am in the process of extracting myself from my current existence. Planning, thinking, dreaming, working on all of this makes me as excited as a kid - and I can taste my first day when I see the white line going by and will NOT reach that point in the trip when all paths lead back, cause I'm never coming back. Not here.

Thanks Grant!

Keep in mind the effort and cost of doing all that - how many days on the road and how much time ultimately wasted? It's all a tradeoff - and you're the only way that tilt the scales.

That's with BOTH of us on it, and a full 40 litres of gas. We could easily pick it up AFTER we took off the topbox.
And yes it was heavier than I'd like. Or recommend!

Agree 100%

Worked great, just be careful on the thickness of the ally - ours was 1/16", and 2mm would have been better but not available here in '87.

Done and dusted! See KeithGear for his Dirt Napper adventure bike recovery kit - just ordered one for a friend. Looks like THE answer! I'll be testing it soon.

WHITE boxes is the main thing, other than that don't worry about keeping it cool, it will be fine. The difference inside a white box versus black box is staggering. Insulated from vibes - very delicate stuff goes on the tank, which is already rubber mounted and has a massive vibration damper called gas, then put a tank bag on and you're set. The rest, I just put in a lightly padded bag - typical camera or laptop bag - and then in saddlebag with a 1/2" of vibration foam underneath and called it a day. No issues with a laptop and camera gear RTW.

You're welcome!

R1200GSA hexhead with a sidecar would be my suggestion
as the platform to begin with.

Older tech but not too old.
Three wheels to take the weight and gear you are taking.

Hell you can put a 120ah deep cycle in the sidecar. Build sidecar body for stuff not people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Doing too much off road for a sidecar......but thanks for post.

Of course sidecars can’t go off road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2IuOnkTHK0

Lots of sidecars go around the world one, two or three up - covering both on and off road sections.

I've got a Lomo 40lt duffle and it's great. I tested it in torrential rain for hours on end and my kit was dry as a bone inside