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I can't decide what to wear in Africa ? Body armour or leather jacket ! I can't decide what to wear in Africa ? Body armour or leather jacket !
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sub-Saharan Africa Topics specific to sub-Saharan Africa. (Includes all countries South of 17 degrees latitude)
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



Poll: What should I wear ??
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What should I wear ??

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  #31  
Old 30 Sep 2010
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Interesting thread. I've been having a similar (though maybe slightly less agonized) conundrum for my trip around Aussie. I'll probably end up using a pressure suit because I'd like to ride a bit more aggressively this time.
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  #32  
Old 1 Oct 2010
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The armour has already been sent home..

Im MUCH happier in my new Sidi summer jacket and back protector. I can throw it off and off in under 10 seconds instead of 10 minutes. That makes a HUGE deal when you riding through 39c heat in Cairo !!

Sure, it's not as safe as a turtle suit but either is passing out from heat exhaustion and dehydration while trying to navigate the crazy traffic.

Thanks all for the comments.... I WILL be using the Acerbis suit for shorter trips into the wilds.
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  #33  
Old 1 Oct 2010
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Hey Ted, nice blog . Keep it coming and stay out of trouble .
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  #34  
Old 1 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by T.REX63 View Post
Hey Ted, nice blog . Keep it coming and stay out of trouble .
No promises
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  #35  
Old 1 Oct 2010
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Good job Ted & Company! I learned to hire Taxi's to lead me cross town many moons ago. Well worth the cost, IMO. Learn the word for "SLOW" !!!

Can't believe you never used the Taxi technique in Latin America? Navigating Buenos Aires or Mexico City is daunting. Bangkok even worse, there I got a guy on a bike to lead me ... Bought him lunch!

GPS helping at all with this?

And how is your new jacket in the heat, riding in the City?

Ride Safe guys, rubber side down!
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  #36  
Old 2 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by Mickey D View Post
Good job Ted & Company! I learned to hire Taxi's to lead me cross town many moons ago. Well worth the cost, IMO. Learn the word for "SLOW" !!!

Can't believe you never used the Taxi technique in Latin America? Navigating Buenos Aires or Mexico City is daunting. Bangkok even worse, there I got a guy on a bike to lead me ... Bought him lunch!

GPS helping at all with this?

And how is your new jacket in the heat, riding in the City?

Ride Safe guys, rubber side down!
Never needed taxis in South America. The GPS maps I had were great (mapia etc), the road signs were in words I could understand and my Spanish wasn't too bad either.

In Egypt the signs are 99% of the time in Arabic, the driving 10x as crazy and the GPS maps I have are DREADFUL.. I have the T4A maps which are wrong ALL THE TIME and are actually worse than no map at all at times. I also have smellybiker maps on another card which just revert back to the basemap.

I hear these maps get better the further South.. heres hoping.

My trick is to find a place name in English, get a hotel worker (english speaker) to translate it into arabic so I can show it to a cabby and just pay him when we get there. If he drives off too fast, he loses his fare.

The new jacket with back protector is working out pretty well upto now. I'd still prefer having the protection of the Koertia, but on a long, hot trip it just doesnt work for me.
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  #37  
Old 4 Oct 2010
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Ted,
We are hot on your tail and arrive Egypt 24th. I am just sorting out gps mapping at the moment and have smellybiker and T4a. I also have OSM FREE open source maps and they look excellent particularly for Cairo. Don't know if you have them but worth a look if you don't. They may be equally as crap in real life!!!
Cheers,
Robin
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  #38  
Old 4 Oct 2010
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Ted,
We are hot on your tail and arrive Egypt 24th. I am just sorting out gps mapping at the moment and have smellybiker and T4a. I also have OSM FREE open source maps and they look excellent particularly for Cairo. Don't know if you have them but worth a look if you don't. They may be equally as crap in real life!!!
Cheers,
Robin
T4A are useless in Egypt and the smelly biiker ones are worse again. It just reverts back to basemap.

We are currently with a guy with OSM and yes, they are EXCELLENT !! Make sure you have them as you're gonna need em

Im hoping to get them onto my 2610 but I didnt bring a laptop OR the power lead lol.

We are STILL in Cairo waiting for our visas. Its been a week for the Sudanese ones and you cant get the Ethiopian ones without it.

PM me your route and if you need and info, Ted
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  #39  
Old 10 Oct 2010
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Nice trip you do, Touring Ted.

I have tried various manufacturers protective clothing items, at the end, the BMW Rallye suit is probably the best allrounder for our local climate in Johannesburg for all year conditions. In summer it gets hot and you have to keep the zips open, but beats leather.

Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down. Say hi, should you come via Jo'burg.........
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  #40  
Old 2 Jun 2011
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good point
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  #41  
Old 2 Jun 2011
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On reflexion... The body armor was a terrible idea ! REALLY hot and a pain to get on and off.. Great for any shorter offroad trips though.

I'm so glad I didn't take leather too. I bought a thin summer jacket in Barcelona and even in that I was SWELTERING !!!
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  #42  
Old 3 Jun 2011
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It doesn't matter. It never did matter. Believing that it matters (which the Buddhists call "attachment") is indeed the root of all human suffering. Just go.
That is great advise! Lessons learned from experience.
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  #43  
Old 9 Aug 2011
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Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
On reflexion... The body armor was a terrible idea ! REALLY hot and a pain to get on and off.. Great for any shorter offroad trips though.

I'm so glad I didn't take leather too. I bought a thin summer jacket in Barcelona and even in that I was SWELTERING !!!
I wore it for a month trip in the Far North Queensland (Cape York) glad I did too. Oh and you might have heard gets warm up there. 40+ everyday.

Leather, ah that would be funny..
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  #44  
Old 9 Aug 2011
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Hi,

If you want to be save you should not go to africa The clothes you are going to wear also decide what the local people think about you. With big protection stuff you will look as if you have come from mars and will be treeted like money on legs but i realized if you are wearing normal stuff like jeans the locals will be very friendly to you

Travel save, Tobi
Riding the rough west coast through Africa part 3
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  #45  
Old 10 Aug 2011
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Originally Posted by ta-rider View Post
If you want to be save you should not go to africa The clothes you are going to wear also decide what the local people think about you. With big protection stuff you will look as if you have come from mars and will be treeted like money on legs but i realized if you are wearing normal stuff like jeans the locals will be very friendly to you
Good point hadn't thought about that.
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