right, as it looks like my trip to balmy timbuktu is on hold for i year i thought i might set my sight on the elephant rally instead (!). ive googled snow chains for bikes and seen whats available, but wondered if anyone has had any experience with the different types, or made their own? if im going to use them on my gs then i think clearence between swing arm and wheel will be a concern. also what tyres work best with them, smooth road biased tyres or knobbly trail tyres? its just the begining of an idea thats all....... karl

Ha! I'm in much the same boat - No West Africa trip this winter (for financial reasons) but I might consider doing the Elephant (again - I've been four times in the past).

The trouble with the Elephant is that you really need two bikes - something big that's fast enough to get you down the autobahn before the snow melts in the spring and then once you arrive, something small and light that you can manhandle on snow / ice. With the exception of the first time I went I chose the small and light option and lived with the slow cruising speed. I've used knobblies and road tyres and not noticed much difference in the snow fields. I suppose being really honest the knobblies were a bit better on/ in snow and a bit worse in rain. They were both useless on ice. What (kind of) worked was being able to get both feet down flat with the bike still upright - so a low seat height is my mod of choice. That's why I've not gone recently on either of my overlanding bikes as the seat heights are way too high for ice use.

I've never tried anything like snow chains on two wheels but I do use them a lot on my Land Rover in the alps in winter. Generally they are a pain in the a*se. Ok if you're off road and going to be on snow etc for a substantial period but on road you arrive at an icy hill so you spend 15 mins getting covered in crap fitting them, drive a mile with them clanking and banging because you didn't quite tighten them correctly till you get to the end of the icy bit and then spend the next hour worrying whether you should leave them on and wreck them on the now perfectly dry tarmac or whether there's another ice field just around the corner. They do work however but you wouldn't want to be doing much more than 20mph with them on.
On two wheels I have seen many chain look-alikes / substitutes / things lashed up at the side of the road. Some of the German stuff available to buy looks very well engineered but how effective it is I've no idea. My approach has been to choose a bike for the conditions rather than try to mod the problem away. I'm only considering 2012 as someone recently offered me an old 100cc Suzuki for nothing and I though it might work for the Elephant.