I'm really new to motorcycling and moto maintenance. I passed my test 45 days ago, but have worked a lot on my riding skill, taking on and offroad instruction and doing a 2,000 mile on/off road trip in order to test my gear.

I have a big trip coming up. 1 year: across Northern America, then Siberia, Central Asia, Europe, and Africa. It starts in 10 days.

I've forced myself to do everything on the bike so far, and have called in friends for instruction when needed. The North American section of it (1 month) will be a relatively safe warm up, where I can learn more along the way, and have easy access to spares.

From not knowing how to use the ignition lock properly, I've now:

- Installed all the farkles I'll be using: pegs, barkbusters, skid plate, luggage racks, centerstand, crash bars etc
- Changed the battery, wired up the GPS and powerlet socket on to an ignition controlled circuit
- Changed both tires
- Next, I'll do the upcoming service myself: oil change, chain adjust etc.
- Read through the manual, and stared at the service fiche's, which show how the bike is put together.
- Read this site, and put together a list of tools and spares accordingly: eg. soldering iron, spare links, hacksaw blade etc

I could probably replace the clutch or throttle cables on the side of the trail if I had to (I have a spare cable).

HOWEVER, many of you know 50x more than I do, and half the spare parts and tools that are recommended, I wouldn't have the first clue in how to use: for example, feeler gauges, dielectric grease, shims.

So, my question, given that time is short. Do I carry all this stuff, hoping that if I need them I can learn on the go, or that I'll be lucky enough to find someone who can use the parts, or, just assume that if I don't know how to use the parts, then I have to find a person/place that can fix the bike if something that serious happens?

Thanks

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