Originally Posted by craigwake

I did africa on an 08' F800GS and from yorkshire UK round trip covered 12000 miles. Plenty of off road riding, even a prang in Burkina which she survived admirably.

Mine had the following extras fitted:
- Barkbusters
- Full MetalMule Pannier Kit - VERY strong (worth the £)
- AdventureSpec Crashbars
- AdventureSpec Heavy Duty Sump Guard
- Good Screen (not standard one its pants)
- DiD xlink Chain (standard BMW one is pants)
- Heavy Duty Tubes
- ScottOiler - Rubbish dont bother.

Couple of points to watch:

- Top hose on radiator (right side) is too short out of the factory and it is a warranty fix - works itself loose and leaks

- Sh*tty fuel will cause unwelcome bike stalls, but rare even on 76 octane rubbish out of a bottle the bike performed well if a little spluttery.

- Carry a spare rear (and front if you can) sprocket. When travelling through sandy zones, do not over lube the chain without getting excess sand off as it will act like a grit paste and wear your sprockets out in 1000 miles. As i found out....

- Handlebars are prone to 'shift' very easily if dropped. Which you WILL do - its a heavy bike.

- Don't turn off ABS in the wet.

- Carry all the tools or you will end up somewhere having to make them! I have a full list of what you are likely to need. PM me.

- TKC's dont last for sh*t on tarmac. If you're doing mainly tarmac and some light offroad use metzeler tourance.

- She's too heavy for too much sand work realistically.

- NEVER overheated, even when low on water in the sahara at around 40 degrees.

Hope this helps and good luck,

Craig