Prep for 650 dakar in sahara
 

Hi. I am going from Ireland to mali on a gs650 Dakar and would like to know what spare parts to bring'bike prep'anything that breaks'ect'ect. I have some offroad experance [clubman enduro] But never overlanded and would love to hear from anyone who has experance with a dakar in the sahara. THANKS Peter.

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I've got no Sahara experience but a little Dakar experience. Off the top of my head, I'd carry at the usual replacement bits and depending on the number of km and year of your bike, I'd consider carrying the kit to replace the seals on the water pump and perhaps a new voltage regulator.

You might check out www.f650.com for more (read: better) advice. Great site for the 650 owner!

Cheers,
Gerry

I had a GS (lower than a Dak) on my Sahara tour last year and it did not miss a beat and was thrashed for 4000km but still got the best mpg.
Handguards he could have done with and also a proper bash plate - not that carbon fibre touratech thing. Lost his centre stand too but like I say, GS is low.

Did that BMW school thing once (didn't help!) and I reckon a 650 Dak would be a dead nice machine for overlanding - comfier than a KTM - something that is often overlooked on the long ride.

Chris S

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Author of Sahara Overland and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, among other things

http://www.sahara-overland.com

Chris... was that a carb'd F650 or a FI model? I've heard a lot of varying opinions that the FI should be avoided but I've never heard of anyone who had real problems with the fuel injection. I do recall a comment about trying to not run out of gas which I believe came from your review but ... could be wrong obviously!

Any reason to think a modern, FI-black-box-equipped dualsport is problematic for travel like those described here??!!

Best wishes from the deserts of AZ...
Cheers,
Gerry
PHX AZ

The school was on an injected Dak - I did Libya once on a carb Funduro - a pretty horrible engine in the desert..
(http://www.adventure-motorcycling.com/report/scd.htm).
Not sure what an F1 is - early injection?
I believe that running out of fuel on injected BMs is not so bad as to require bleeding (as it is on a diesel).

Chris S

I believe I meant to say FI as in fuel-injected. Cheers,
Gerry

Hi Chriss,

maybe a silly question, but why is the carb F650 Funduro such a horrible machine in the dessert? Is it due to the heat? And if so, is there something you can do about ir apart from buying another bike?

Hope to hear from you,

Jef