KRTW, I would like to offer some advice on your healthy obsession of weight and your unorthodox approach to resolving it. There has been offered all the great advice already on this thread and I think your about there with bike choice. My default bike as an alternative to building the 'K' bike was indeed a GS800 P/twin.
What I would like to say is this, swopping frames, replacing for carbon fibre components etc is a bad idea. When you start messing with what the OE manufacturer has spent millions on with R&D then your on a road of hurt. It will cost you valuable time and unnecessary expenditure. If $5k is your budget for a donor bike before you start modding the shiz out of it then think double if not triple that if you get carried away, trust me I've built many specials over the decades, save your loot and keep it standard...!!!

It sounds like you will be taking quite a lot of tech gear for recording this trip so I'm guessing 'Hard Luggage' for protection and security yeah..??

I've looked at this device and am looking forward to hearing from you what you think. For an older solo rider, basically a must have....Thank you.

To save weight, dont mod your bike, bring LESS STUFF.

Works every time!

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Alaska 2014: Hotel Budget ZeroXmas in Death Valley, New Year in Urique

The dark art of packing light!

I envy effective practitioners!

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Yup - but I'm not just going on a camping trip...The bike itself weighs 500 lbs....the bike will virtually be my home.

I'm spending lots of time, researching, listening to (and here I promote the HU video's - great investment) video's, and other people's experiences...But in the end, this is MY experience....getting weight off the bike counts. Cause not one thing is being overlooked, or researched....and this entire process is a gas! Fun!

Clothing - light weight - quick dry - only what's needed - extra's can be bought everywhere in the world.

Camping - quality - lightweight and small - I want to tent a lot, and am considering a tent larger than I would like (and expensive) for two reasons...I'll be living in it, working in it - and this tent includes a cover for the bike itself.....which means packing in the rain, no issue, and more importantly, the bike is hidden. But again, I have not purchased, as I continue to research options.

The most weight will be my tech stuff which is extensive. Every device will be re-packaged for weight, and protection. And I'm not going into all this - you'll have to watch the videos when I start actually building them. To get an idea of what I'm up to.....here's a small hint - I just purchased a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB - for use on the bike.

Thanks for the post - I appreciate every single idea.

Last night I went to a concert in Nottingham, UK. The concert was really good. It was sooo good to see live music again - not my preferred genre - but so good to see music being made again. SWMBO was in the orchestra and they were all buzzing afterwards. Apparently it was the first live music event in the region for months - everyone was very sensible, keeping their distance and virtually everyone was wearing a mask throughout (except the players when playing).

It can be done, its not the same, but it is a start - and I think that that is going to be true for many aspects of life going forward for some time - we will do things differently, but we will still do them, albeit differently, taking into account the new circumstances. One step at a time.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

In my area we are on a second lock-down due to massive increase in Covid cases and deaths.....Happy for your concert...and what this says to me is that things will change, but not in the same way, at the same pace, around the world...

I have started wondering what my own band will be doing for the next while. There are no gigs. And LOTS of venue's for bands have closed, and more are dying....Even after this, it will take YEARS for this industry to recover....

I'll be on the road by then.

Lot of other industries in a similar situation. I’m currently on my first out of area trip since March (UK to France) and it’s shocking how few people are travelling. I doubt there were 50 people on the Dover ferry - probably closer to 1000 in a normal summer. The hotel I’ve just arrived at - 3 guests out of about 100 capacity. Even on the main routes all you see are local cars. I’ve been travelling this route for 15yrs and never seen it like this

Wow, your bike is really underpowered - you could have walked it in that time

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.