Hello AGAIN Mr Mollydog, your thinking way too offroady here, I am taking the wife with me on the journey and in no way will I be skimming the wash board tops and certainly not anything at great speed. I will however be doing logging roads, off the beaten tracks when it feels right, off the main road river locations etc etc you know the score but the sort of stuff you wrecked your Duke on ???? No thanks not on a RTW trip...
As for the panniers , you would have to pick one up to realise just how surprisingly light they really are.
With reference to MotoEddie's post, my bike is so far removed from a standard K75 its only the engine issues that relate and final drive.
Anyhow, there's a new build i'm starting that would get your juices flowing and again it involves fabrication intervention. It's a cracker and only 3 of them exist so far, 2 in the states and 1 in the UK..... Watch this Space..!!

Can't' wait to see what you come up with!

BTW, my Duc WAS on a forest service road! Granted, it was in bad condition, even the paved sections were brutal. I could not avoid one the millions of Sharp edged Pot Holes (in shade) and nailed it at 40 MPH. BAM!!

Thought I'd broken my spine! ... or at very least bent a wheel or cracked the frame. No damage (except to me!)

You've probably done more RTW travel than I have ... but in my mostly USA/Mexico/Centl America experience I find that the dirt road that can start out nice and easy can somehow transform into a nasty nightmare.

Bad corrugations can happen anywhere there are UP HILL sections, not so much when flat. California is ALL Mountains. UP DOWN UP DOWN ... all day.

Water Crossings? Deep Sand? Rocky Tracks? These conditions are everywhere and can sometimes get tough and sometimes can't be avoided if you want to go off road.

And what about Mud? Sometimes you can't avoid it either ... even on roads that are normally in good shape. I struggle in mud on my DR650 and could not make some on my former VStrom 1000. (mud jammed front mud guard ... wheel would not turn and jammed up around hugger/swingarm too. Once free, I had to turn round.

Your new boxes are works of art and I'm sure as light as you say. Problem is
once you LOAD THEM UP! Now add on a tail box, tank bag.

One Baja ride years ago a couple of KLR guys were over packed, using Alu Boxes. They really struggled even in relatively easy sections. On that one Baja ride we had a Chase Vehicle following along or taking alternate near by tracks.

On DAY 2 of this 14 day ride BOTH KLR guys off loaded their Boxes into Chase truck. Lucky for them the Chase truck showed up each night at our motel. Even KLR's get heavy and I'm thinking that K75 Brick is no light weight power plant.

In EU perhaps off road Forest tracks may be maintained. In much of USA and
for sure California ... they can be a bit nasty on a street bike.

Going slow helps of course but sometimes it's good to maintain some momentum, depending on your gearing and terrain.

My Ducati has such HIGH gearing that doing super steep up hill 90 degree switchbacks on super loose dirt I nearly stalled it. Slipping the clutch not easy on this super grabby clutch with about 1/2" of engagement range.

I did not fall ... only solution was to speed up hope I don't tuck the front. Don't think I could have managed it TWO UP. Low gearing a BIG plus for any UPS and DOWNS of any consequence. We rode on 9% grade yesterday and the Duke Hyperstrada (and me) suffered. Lets see the new bike when you can!

This should be in the Honda section but just answering your intrigue here....


Basically been itching to get back to off-roading and have for some time fancied a midrange parallel twin engine instead of a 'Thumper'. Went on ADVR and found my answer.... Honda CRF500L


I have bought a 2016 CRF250L donor bike with light rear end damage and also a brand new CB500F flood damaged bike to source all bits for conversion (Water level never reached engine so fine).


This project is getting fast tracked because I need IT in my life

So with the luggage system over half way finished I thought i'd pop the seat and tank back on to get a rough idea of the finished look....

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Beautiful colors!
But man, that Ray Gun thingy poking through the screen is really gonna hurt if you're launched over the front and it catches you between the legs!

YOUCH!

Should be a good Sport Touring set up!

Is the deathray an eye-level light, raised air intake or actually something to melt David Essex impersonators while Richard Burton does the commentary?

Andy

Haha..... Nice try, actually it's the intake for the butterfly valve but also works with moths when night time riding....!!