Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > Planning, Trip > Travellers' Advisories, Safety and Security on the Road
Travellers' Advisories, Safety and Security on the Road Recent News, political or military events, which may affect trip plans or routes. Personal and vehicle security, tips and questions.
Photo by Ellen Delis, Lagunas Ojos del Campo, Antofalla, Catamarca

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


Photo by Ellen Delis,
Lagunas Ojos del Campo,
Antofalla, Catamarca



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 25 Apr 2002
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Deventer, The Netherlands
Posts: 65
make a bike look ugly?

Hi there,
I'm preparing to take my bike through South and Central America, and Africa.
I bought a nice looking tenere '98. Is it advisable/necessary to paint my bike in a 'less willing' color to make it less attractive? It's now shiny blue with colorful striping.
Please let me know.

Greeting to you all,

Roland
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 26 Apr 2002
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Belgium
Posts: 469
'Painting' it to make it less shiny and attractive......?
Euh, how about riding it? Sounds like more fun to me. Get it dusted, muddy,... Just ride miles and don't wash it. If you put a protective coating on it first you can clean it years later and sell a nice looking bike!

For ex: before the winter hits (Oktober) I clean my bike very good. Put on a protective pruduct (especially against the salt they throw on the roads here in wintertime). Then I don't clean untill somewhere in spring. The dirt that sticks to it actually becomes a protective layer on itself. Rinsing it off daily is no problem.

Just a thought.

Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 29 Apr 2002
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Winchester, Hampshire
Posts: 202
Hi, I thought Yamaha had already done a good job of making the Tenere look ugly. Chris
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 17 May 2002
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Recife, PE, Brasil
Posts: 1
Hi, Roland!

Great idea travel through central and south america, I'm sure you will find wonderfull places.

I live in Recife, Brasil, is nice city with nice places to go, maibe you would like to came down here.

About ugly motorcicle, don`t if is necessary for central america, but for Brasil, if you really want to, just let it dirty is enough.

If you would like to, inform when are you leaving and your plans know some motorciclist groups here that will be happy to receive you.

Good look and take care

------------------
Bráulio Mecchi


[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 19 January 2003).]
__________________
Bráulio Mecchi
bmecchi@hotmail.com
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 19 Aug 2002
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Meinerzhagen, NRW, Germany
Posts: 67
Hi there!
Try getting old gear - meaning - try to get a set of old used plastics - probably in different colours and with heaps of scratches or cracks - you will be happy to come home with a complete nice, unbroken set to put on - and if you throw your bike away you're not all that shocked ;-)

The colourfull mixture of old plastics might be interesting to put on notes of other travellers or something alike - or stickers, or a map of your trip or whatever - you can paint it in one colour first and then add infos, emails, maps, stickers, notes or whatever on the tanks/plastics :-)

Would be a real good souvenir - don't you think???
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 22 Aug 2002
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Richmond, va, usa
Posts: 1
I did the central/south america portion of your trip a couple years ago. a guy that I rode with a while down there had a tenere and had problems getting over mountian passes because of the fuel/air mixture at altitude. I dont have the answer for you, but would advise you to find out how your model performs at altitudes up to 5-6000 meters and what, if any, adjustments you'll need to make. I'd hate for you to miss those rides in the Andes. Luck.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 19 Oct 2002
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Germany
Posts: 140
Hi Roland,

you should drive some dirt roads, that's enough.

But you should never leave your bike alone in or close to urbanisation.
There is always a possibilltiy to put the bike into the "hotel", ROOM; GARDEN OR A GARAGE:

we had NO PROBLEMS ON our trip.
More information on our homepage:

http://www.Die-Motorradnomaden.de

Good luck

Best wishes RalEva

[This message has been edited by RalEva (edited 19 October 2002).]
__________________
Best wishes
:-)
Ralf & Eva

http://www.Motorradnomaden.de
around the world on 2 motorbikes

The homepage has a translation service!!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 25 Oct 2002
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Minneapolis, Mn USA
Posts: 1
I reciently returned from a 5 week cycle camping cruise through Mexico and Belize on
a Harley Sportster. I added a larger tank
painted it flat black and stuck flamming skull decales on both sides.

Quote:
Originally posted by globalkoster:
Hi there,
I'm preparing to take my bike through South and Central America, and Africa.
I bought a nice looking tenere '98. Is it advisable/necessary to paint my bike in a 'less willing' color to make it less attractive? It's now shiny blue with colorful striping.
Please let me know.

Greeting to you all,

Roland
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 14 Jan 2003
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Girdwood, Alaska, USA
Posts: 27
If you have a good looking bike at the begining, it will look like an older good looking bike at the end. Many new models look different from bikes made in the past, and people can tell they have value even when they are dirty. Although riding them makes you think they look less desirable, keeping them covered can help alot. Try starting your trip (with a nice looking machine) using an old light weight oily dirty bike cover. The kind you find on the floor in the corner of a shop that nobody will need. Make sure it looks like a rag and then use it during your travels until your bike has some character. When it is no longer needed, and you have many stories to tell, you can dispose of it easily.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 21 Oct 2003
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1
Check out http://www.ratbike.org/ for plenty of photos and plenty of advice. You don't need to go quite so far as these folks go to make their bikes ugly, but it will give you some great ideas. They also have a tech section with an area devoted to painting your bike.

One of my favorite ideas is to use simple and cheap luggage, in particular, large ammo boxes and most anything you can get from a military surplus store is dirt cheap, extremely rugged, and often times even has rubber gaskets for waterproofing.

I like http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ for online window shopping, but you should find a local military surplus or you will eat up your savings in shipping costs.

Best of luck,

Jarred
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 28 Oct 2003
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany
Posts: 9
Just ride your bike as we did with our new BMW GS Models, they were black as we started in Alaska, but now they turned into yellow-grey in Peru. Just don`t clean it and lie to the people about the value. We put also some plastic tape on the windscreen and somewhere else, so it looks like something was fixed. Always store in Garages or Cocheras or so as we did, gives you a better sleep. Most accomodations have it.
We´re riding the PanAm and just did the Cordillera Blanca. Go there, but there rough passes about 4000m altitude. So check how you can adjust the injection, there was no problem with the BMW GS engine. Also exciting is around Chachapoyas!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 28 Dec 2003
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: SC,USA
Posts: 31
I had friends that used to spray paint expensive bicycles ugly, drab colors, to 'theft' proof them...and it worked.
Thieves would steal the pretty $300 bike chained up next to the 'ugly' $2000 bike!

For a motorcycle, with paint and bodywork in good shape to start with, I think dirt and stickers are the route to go. With any luck, and barring any mishap, at the end of your trip you can remove the stickers with a hair dryer, some elbow grease, and maybe some WD40.
Maybe a little strategically applied oil to attract dust on certain body parts would help?
Does anyone remember the article in a US moto magazine maybe 10 years back about the guy who rode a Honda XL through South America, and who would find all sorts of religious symbols and good luck messages scratched into the paint of his tank whenever he parked it unattended? I think Honda has it on display...and gave him a new tank in return. I guess this is something you wouldn't like to find on your new GS!
__________________
<A HREF=\"http://www.BanditAlley.com\" TARGET=_blank>

www.BanditAlley.com</A>
[url http=http://banditmotorcycles.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/index.php]DR650 BBS[/url]
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 6 Mar 2004
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 25
Tenere is een prima fiets, gewoon niet meer wassen of op de sloop die zijpanelen vervangen voor een paar gelijmde oid.
De bergen kan een probleem worden aangezien de tenere daar niet goed tegen kan, dat wordt horten en stoten. Er is een tenere site in nederland waar ze er wel topic over hebben. Wellicht ken je de site al (ben ff de naam kwijt maar google moet jekunnen helpen. Ik heb zelf jarenlang een Super Tenere gehad, het is wel een olieboer en rijdt niet echt zuinig maar verder is de ST super betrouwbaar, heb je al een corbin zadel op het oog? Standaard zadel wordt echt een probleem op de lange afstanden.

Succes,

Marco
__________________
My kingdome for a bike
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 23 Oct 2008
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: london
Posts: 57
shiney harley

I am just leavin for the states, gonna buy me a harley and ride to ushuaia, gonna cover my bike in dust `and dirt(naturally), and keep a bloody good eye on it!
Anyone else (apart from Pete and kay Forwood) done this on a harley? I would be glad to hear your stories!
Dan
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 24 Oct 2008
farqhuar's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Oztralia
Posts: 646
Quote:
Originally Posted by harleydan View Post
gonna buy me a harley and ride to ushuaia, gonna cover my bike in dust `and dirt(naturally), and keep a bloody good eye on it!
Dan
Don't worry about the dust if you're going to ride an HD Dan, they're ugly enough as it is!

Garry from Oz.
__________________
Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


 
 

Announcements

Thinking about traveling? Not sure about the whole thing? Watch the HU Achievable Dream Video Trailers and then get ALL the information you need to get inspired and learn how to travel anywhere in the world!

Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's the list of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now
, and add your information if we didn't find you.

Next HU Eventscalendar

HU Event and other updates on the HUBB Forum "Traveller's Advisories" thread.
ALL Dates subject to change.

2024:

Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!

Questions about an event? Ask here

HUBBUK: info

See all event details

 
World's most listened to Adventure Motorbike Show!
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)



Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance.

Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.

Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.

Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!


 

What others say about HU...

"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia

"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK

"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia

"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA

"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada

"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa

"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia

"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany

Lots more comments here!



Five books by Graham Field!

Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook

"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.



Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!

New to Horizons Unlimited?

New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!

Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.

Susan and Grant Johnson Read more about Grant & Susan's story

Membership - help keep us going!

Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.

You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.




All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:45.