For instance.....

If your bike had a value of £5000 when you bought it; how much extra would you have paid for the that same model if it were fully overland prepared ?

Would it have been worth £7000 it is was professionally 'pimped' ??


Could a base model XT600E worth £1300 be turned into something you could sell for £3000 if it were ready to jump on and conquer Africa on.

Not just a GPS bracket and top box. I mean a real over-hall with some custom made pieces and well educated upgrades based on a bespoke market.


Just out of interest....

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Ted,
I bought a Klr 650c for €1,150, got it overland ready myself and rode through central America on it
Sold it when I got home for €2,500 so it is possible to increase its value but you will decrease the number of buyers knocking on your door

What some consider 'overland ready' I consider 'overload ready'.

For me ;

Engine bash plate
Large fuel tank
Racks for panniers
Parts (seals, spark plug, cables, nuts + bolts, air filter skins)

and a good fettling - done by the rider as they will probably doing any fault finding beside the road so they may as well get to know the bike now rather than latter.

Most of the 'cost' is labor related to the fettling .. as you do that yourself it is simply your time. That does cost, as your probably busy earning money for the trip.. catch 22.

Many years ago I spent a year building and prepping what I regarded as the perfect Elephant Rally bike only to have it stolen a couple of weeks before we were due to leave. The only bike I could scrounge in the time was a little 100cc Suzuki trail bike which I duly thrashed down to the middle of Europe and back.

I reurned it with near terminal little end rattle and although I would have been happy to do the repairs my friend sold it within a couple of days at a 50% profit using the sales pitch "it must be reliable, it's just been to Austria and back" He was Irish as well!

On Ted's question, I'm not sure an overland prep service would be of much interest to me. Planning a long trip (or even a short one) means being on top of a lot of stuff - paperwork, politics, climate, health etc and knowing the bike well is high up the list. Some sort of turn-key purchase, where someone else has taken on the task of overhauling of the engine, chosing the luggage, deciding what spares to take etc would worry me.

If it breaks down and all I know is where the key goes and how to put fuel in where does that leave me in the middle of the Sahara? Whoever prepped it won't be turning up to rescue me. I've no problem outsourcing work but you have to take responsibility, not just take things on trust.

A agree with backofbeyond also.. And I think most people would rather have a go themselves.

However, I do think there is a market out there full of people limited on time, confidence or experience to self-prep.

If there a market for it which could support a small business for Overland ready bikes... hmmmmm I don't think so.
There are already companies out there who've got it covered for custom prep. Zen Overland etc.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Ted
i would love to see a pimped off road grand touring version of my bike - ST1300
Hang on , i think i had one in the 70 s , it was called a C90 with the leg shields removed

I didn't vote

THE most important (IMHO) mod to any motorcycle is its suspension.
For some reason, it features way down the list of 'must haves' after touring boxes, tents etc which is a little perplexing considering the load it will need to carry for a long time and way!

It seems to come down to what 'Adventurizing a bike' really means to each individual. I can't say I like that term for it's over use means it has become meaningless- a bit like ' it's nice' !

A new suspension isn't perceived as 'sexy' as new touring gleaming cases or top box or whatever.

Maybe it would be worth putting up a poll Ted asking what people thought was more important to them?

As always, it is about choice. What is important for one person may not be for the next. Some, for example, may accept/believe their OE suspension will be fine for say 10,000 kms after which they plan to sell the bike and fly home- so would not want to put expensive kit on their steed which they may not get back-
and it may well be fine or it can all go pear shape if they take one too many trails/bumps when heavily loaded- and so on.

With every other type of vehicle modification it's accepted that a modified vehicle is worth less than the sum total of the modifications and the closest you'd get to recouping your investment is breaking the vehicle and selling the parts

I've never understood why overlanders think if they've spent x thousands modifying the vehicle it makes it worth the same amount more than a standard unmolested vehicle

The Charlies will complain when their £7000 XT600E doesn't stop the patch of mud on the industrial estate near Starbucks being a bit slippy.

The "Adventure Ready" rider will still want to get the tank off himself just to find all the electrical connectors he might need to find later when out and about with a bike that's not happy.

Adding a new shock to a second hand bike immediately makes the shock second hand. Prices reflect this.

The "happy" market then is people with more money than time, who already know all they need to know about their bikes and understand what level of added performance they are actually buying.

Sorry, did I just rain on a parade Apologies for my negativity.

I think there is a market for more specific products. A rack to go above the headlight with a maker willing to knock up variations. Means to mount a fuel can. Bash plates with built in tool boxes. If I didn't weld like someone with an engineering degree and knew a decent powder coater that's where I'd start.

Andy

Yes.. Many people do think that. They learn fast though

Second hand bolt ons and fabrications rarely keep their resale value. Talk about depreciation.


Thing is, the actual material cost of a sump guard is about £20 and would take a skilled fab/welder half a day to make from a piece of sheet.

Price in a plasma cutter, TIG welder, grinders, cutters, workshop, tools, clamps, polishers etc etc etc...... then it's HUGELY expensive.

That's why they cost £150-£200. Why Touratech ones cost £300 is another thread altogether

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I'm one of the guilty who's spent a bit of cash 'adventurising' my KTM 690 Enduro. I've done the cheap TTR250 'adventurising' as well and throughly enjoyed making everything myself, apart from the bashplate!

Last year I came into a bit of cash and wanted to treat myself to a KTM 690 Enduro, especially after riding around the Balkans with a bunch of these bikes and being impressed with them.......anyway that's another story!

I paid £5000 for a 11 month old bike with 450 miles on the clock 12 months ago.



12 months on and I've spent over £3000 on upgrades, which in my opinion make the bike better to ride long distance, perhaps over to top for some folk, but hey it's my cash and my bike, plus the only thing in my like that I enjoy spending on. So, here's what I bought:

Bashplate
Disc Guard
Case saver
4kg lighter exhaust
Lynx Headlight fairing with dash
USB Charger(dash mounted)
12v socket(dash mounted)
Fuel mapping switch(dash mounted)
Heated clothing socket(dash mounted)
Garmin Montana(dash mounted)
50W HID's -Dip and fast main beam
EXC front forks
Steering Damper
Tractive suspension pre load adjuster
10 litre twin fuel tanks
Renazco Seat
Pannier frames
Rear rack
Heated grips
Plus a few smaller trinkets!!

Anyway this is it now, well two weeks ago anyway

they are £37.50 for Enfields (Hitchcocks) And I always try to ride overland, not sure the electrics would stand up to a sea crossing

You're a dealer aren't you?

I'm never buying one your bikes!

Jeez.

If you mean me I'm about as far from a dealer as you're ever likely to get. At the time of the Elephant Rally episode I was a biochemist working in a research lab. Spannering is purely a pastime.

My mistake.

I still wouldn't buy a bike from ya, though.