Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > Ride Tales, Trip Reports and Stories > Ride Tales
Ride Tales Post your ride reports for a weekend ride or around the world. Please make the first words of the title WHERE the ride is. Please do NOT just post a link to your site. For a link, see Get a Link.
Photo by Stephan Hahnel, Kradwanderer, in Northern Argentina

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


Photo by Stephan Hahnel,
www.krad-wanderer.de,
in Northern Argentina



Like Tree11Likes
  • 3 Post By Jean-Pierre
  • 1 Post By Grant Johnson
  • 2 Post By Jean-Pierre
  • 1 Post By Jean-Pierre
  • 3 Post By Jean-Pierre
  • 1 Post By Jean-Pierre

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 4 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Panamericana en KTM890 adventure

Hello,
i traveled solo on my KTM 890 Adventure from France to Montevideo ( Uruguay ) sea shipping of the bike . Rode down to Ushuaia ( Argentina ).
Headed north along chilean Patagonia up to Arica Chile.
Drove to Bolivia thru Tembo Quemado border up to La Paz ( Bolivia ).
Went to Cuzco ( Peru ) , visited Macchupicchu.
Went to Lima ( Peru) had the first maintenance sequence at Documoto Repair Shop ( KTM autorized ).
Continued north up to Ecuador ( touchy border crossing ) and Bogota (Colombia ).
Crossed the Darien Gap by air transport to Panama City.
Went along the Panamerica thru Central American countries, Costa Rica , Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala.
Continued north thru Mexico up to USA Texas border Ciudad Acuna- Del Rio.
Had the second maintenance sequence at KTM autorized workshop.
ride the Texas State down to Browsville Texas.
Rode up to New Mexico Albuquerque, had to check the bike due to starting problem at KTM Dealer.
Headed to the 4 corners region , Navajo Land and west to Flagstaff Arizona.
Had the third maintenance at GOAZ KTM dealer.
Continued west to Death Valley and then north Est to Zion , Grand Canyon North Rim, Brice Canyon, Moab ( Utah).
Continued along the Rockies to Grand Tetons, Yellowstone.
Rode up to Browning ( Montana ) and to the canadian border stayed in Calgary ( Alberta).
Went along the Alaska Highway , Jasper, whitehorse, Beaver creek, crossed the border to Alaska ( USA ).
Rode the panamericana up to Fairbanks.
Made my way back to Calgary along the Circle Road ( Stewart - Cassiar ) via Boya Lake, Meziadin Lake , Smithers, Prince George, Jasper.
Stayed in Calgary and flew back to Paris (Wesjet Bik’Air Program).
40 000 km , 5,5 months road trip.
accomodations: campgrounds and youth hostel dormitories
heating: self cooking and local cantinas
main troubles : front wheel sheeming , hard cold start.
main driving difficulties : south america gravel roads, tracks , weather conditions

I prepared this trip with on line ressources , Horizons Unlimited as one the main source.

issued a travel carnet on «myAtlas Panamericana en KTM « plateform:
https://www.myatlas.com/Kalliste/la-...icaine-en-moto
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure

Last edited by Jean-Pierre; 3 Weeks Ago at 16:48.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 4 Weeks Ago
Grant Johnson's Avatar
HU Founder
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Dec 1997
Location: BC Canada
Posts: 7,293
Great trip!
Do you have any photos? Anything specific you learned to pas on to other would-be travellers?
__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.

------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 4 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant Johnson View Post
Great trip!
Do you have any photos? Anything specific you learned to pas on to other would-be travellers?
Yes i will provide material for travellers and answer questions of motorcyclists on HU.
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure

Last edited by Jean-Pierre; 4 Weeks Ago at 13:34.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 4 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Road trip global planning

The Panamericana en KTM Road Trip was the longuest , farest and most costly of my motorcycling «*career*». I am 67, motorbiking since age of 17.
I made many trips in Europe, north africa. I went from Paris to Dakar and back, solo with a Yamaha 1200 YTZ supertenere as a preparation to the Panamericana project.
I decided to downgrade the motorcycle, weight and power, to 900 cc, and choose the KTM 890 Adventure against a criteria grid : cost, type of roads, fuel consumption, etc…
The project had some mandatory limits to respect: travel duration 6 months max, total budget enveloppe ( including 20% margin for contingencies).
All the preparation and planning, trade offs, lists of actions etc… handled on a single Excel file of 45 sheets.
first step:
global cost estimate and duration faiseability.
main concern was costs of transportation Europe - Americas - Europe, transportation Colombia - Panama , motorcycle insurance, personnal travel insurance and assistance, accomodations type
second step:
decide to travel North to South or South to North.
I selected South to North considering that with the time the bike and the pilot conditions will deteriorate, thus it is better to ride the «*easiest countries*» at the end of the trip.
third step:
define the starting and the end dates of the trip
based on the climate data / country the best compromise i found was mi-january to mid july.
with objectives not to face temperatures under -5 celsius, avoid rain season in equatorian en tropican latitudes, avoid snow in the rockies.

next was the detailled trip planning and in parallel the choice of the motorcycle luggages and gear.
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure

Last edited by Jean-Pierre; 4 Weeks Ago at 16:48. Reason: typo, addendum on climate constraints
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 4 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: BKI, Sabah
Posts: 286
Looking forward to your detailed report.

Thanks for sharing!

Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 3 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Thumbs down Road Trip detailled planning

i built the detailled planning based on some principles:
max 500 km per day
no riding at night
1day break every 6 riding days
2 days before and 2 days after each motorcycle main transport ( sea and air )
1 full day for each motorcycle maintenance sequence at workshops
drive only on identified road and tracks ( mandatory for my insurance )
avoid areas classified «*red*» for security risks by the french foreign affairs website ( mandatory for my insurance )
estimated riding time = google maps estimate + 2 hours
first step:
I draw the itinerary along the Panamericana highway from Ushuaia to Fairbanks on a paper map
Added loops dedicated to areas of interest ( ie Altiplano )
Added liaison sections , Montevideo to Ushuaia and Fairbanks to Calgary not part of the Panamericana but needed for the transatlantic transfers.
second step:
verify the consistency with the project constraint «*total duration*» including 10 days buffer for contingencies.
I had to delete many foreseen stays / visit at interesting places.
define the location of the 2 motorcycle maintenance sequences at 15000 km and 30000 km according to the KTM owner manual: Cuenca ( Ecuador ) and Laredo ( Texas).
based on this first edition of the detailed planning i performed a risks analysis to list the events that may bring not to achieve the roadtrip:
extreme weather conditions
motorcycle break down or accident
health problem / sikeness
major security problem ( theve, kidnaping, assault)
i defined risk mitigation actions and escape routes back to France from each country.
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure

Last edited by Jean-Pierre; 3 Weeks Ago at 16:38. Reason: Added risk analysis
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 3 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Luggages and gear trade off

The luggages and gear are a significant additional weight on the motorcycle manoeuverability, fuel consumption.
Luggages:
I had a long experience of hard top case and side boxes ( aluminium).
I decided to stick to my hard top case in order to have a «*secured*» box during the trip.
I looked for side soft bags and choose Givi GRT 709 with lockers.
I sticked also to my soft tank bag ( Givi …)
and up with a luggages total volume of 116 liters , 20 liters and 5 kg ( empty ) less than my previous set up !
With the volume set , i switch to the apparel and gear choices.

Gear:
Selecting the gear for this trip was quite challenging due the amplitude of successive climates to deal with, dry/ humid/ cold / hot / calm /windy, high UV , rain…
By principle I wear motorcycle approved protective gear boots, gloves, trousers, vest, belt , helmet all the time whatever the climate is.
My choice , after comparison and road tests was to bring 3 gear sets instead an integrated multilayer gear:
summer set : vest, trousers, gloves, boots
winter set : vest , trousers, gloves, boots
Rain set: vest, trousers, over gloves, over boots
Combined with mérinos wool underwear and socks , it provides with a wide range of flexible combinations to cope with the weather.

Next I worked out the accomodations
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 3 Weeks Ago
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: France normandie
Posts: 22
Working out the accomodations

In the Road trip Excel file, added an excel sheet for each place where i was to stay according to the detailed planning, about 160 sheets.
For each location i searched with google maps, campgrounds and hostels.
I selected as nominal a campground and as back up an Hostel to manage weather conditions or other constraints.
Preferred were the accommodations with secured parking for the KTM.

I collected key data address, phone number, email, whatsapp, price per night , distance to motorcycle workshop ( where maintenance work was foreseen), place to park safely my KTM
I cross checked with others sources , HU, Overlander, Booking , Hostelworld, RbnB…
For key locations , arrival and departure of motorcycle transportation, break days, a special attention was made to safety and access to points of interest.
I secured the key locations accommodations with direct contact email or WhatsApp on the motorcycle parking topic.
This first round of accommodations selection ended up with a 60 % campground and 40% hostals ( incl some RBNB) ratio.
From this it was mandatory to add camping equipment tent, sleeping bag etc…

It appeared that the availability of the selected accommodations could be limited during local vacations periods. Thus i had to list for each country the holidays dates ( ie Holy Week in Central America) and summer vacations etc..
I decided to plan the accommodations reservations ahead enough, specifically for key locations and for USA State parks and National parks campgrounds, in a dedicated Excel sheet.

In parallel i was preparing my 890 KTM adventure for the trip
and figuring out maintenance, spare parts and tools need.

This is next …
__________________
✌️
KTM 890 Adventure
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 6 Days Ago
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Sep 2024
Posts: 4
Amazing trip!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!

Inviato dal mio LM-K510 utilizzando Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 4 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 4 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


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Never go on an adventure ride without these 10 things Grant Johnson Equipping the Bike - what's the best gear? 9 20 Apr 2023 01:53
390 Adventure - first impressions Wheelie KTM Tech 6 4 Jun 2021 10:44
The Ideal Adventure Motorcycle deelip The HUBB PUB 10 15 Jan 2017 23:07
Hellas Adventure Raid 2016 Meletis Motorcycle Events around the world 3 22 Jan 2016 13:56
The Meaning of Adventure WarthogARJ HU Travellers Meetings - UK 3 17 Jul 2012 23:31

 
 

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

ALL Dates subject to change.

2024:

  • California: April 18-21
  • Virginia: April 25-28
  • Germany Summer: May 9-12
  • Québec: May 17-19
  • Bulgaria Mini: July 5-7
  • CanWest: July 11-14
  • Switzerland: August 15-18
  • Ecuador: August 23-25
  • Romania: August 30-Sept 1
  • Austria: September 12-15
  • France: September 20-22
  • Germany Autumn: Oct 31-Nov 3

2025:

  • Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025!
  • CanWest: July 10-13 2025
  • France: September 19-21 2025

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...

Adventurous Bikers – We've got all your Hygiene & Protection needs SORTED! Powdered Hair & Body Wash, Moisturising Cream Insect Repellent, and Moisturising Cream Sunscreen SPF50. ESSENTIAL | CONVENIENT | FUNCTIONAL.

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 08:56.