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You could just get on a plane with your credit card and passport and buy or rent everything you need when you get there. That includes the bike, riding gear, etc. etc.
Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, 6 hours! Which bike is right for me? How do I prepare the bike? What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers! "will save you a fortune!"See the trailer here!
So you've done it - got inspired, planned your trip, packed your stuff and you're on the road! This section is about staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure. And crossing borders, war zones or oceans!
On the Road! is 5.5 hours of the tips and advice you need to cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Tire Changing!Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
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Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
"It has me all fired up to go out on my own adventure!" See the trailer here!
Meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or across Asia! They will encourage you, share their experiences and advice on how to do it!
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Ride TalesPost 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.
I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!
Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland
Hey gang - riding London to Cape town starting January and looking for some company.
Awhile back I go the idea into my head to strap a surfboard to my motorcycle and ride around looking for waves. Like this:
After a fair bit of fiddling and research, a more solid plan formed to tackle Africa. On December 29th 2012 I'll fly from California to London to meet my beloved DR650 and head south across Europe and down the west coast of Africa. I'd like to circumnavigate the continent in about a year or so, in search of good waves and good times. Route will be something like this:
The plan is to take about 6 months riding from London to Cape Town beginning in January. If all goes well enough, carry on up the east coast, give the surfboard away to some kid in Tanzania, run up Kilimanjaro, cross the Middle east, and back to Europe. Maybe another 6 months for the return.
This is me:
I'm 36, working as an environmental scientist in Santa Cruz, California mostly trying to solve water pollution problems. I've felt overdue for a trip like this for a long time now. During the past two years, I got myself a bike, learned to ride it on the road and in the dirt, bolted tons of crap to it, learned how to fix as much stuff as possible, lurked on the HUBB, watched Mondo Enduro at least 23 times, and set off on a few short motosurf adventures along the california and Baja coasts (see bugsonmyboard.org).
I'm currently finishing modifications to the bike, getting shots, arranging shipping, organizing a Carnet, and learning what a pain in the arse it is to get a visa for Angola.
I've harangued friends for years trying to get them to come along, but they reckon its a bit of a nutty idea… which is where you come in. Ok, it is a bit of a nutty idea, but you're on the the HUBB so you must have a high tolerance for that kind of thing. Looking for anyone headed my way in January who might want to team up. So..….who's in? :-D
How refreshingly mad! Your trip is way off my crazy scale, but if I can help with anything on your arrival in London let me know. Got spare room and workshop about 3 miles from Heathrow.
How refreshingly mad! Your trip is way off my crazy scale, but if I can help with anything on your arrival in London let me know. Got spare room and workshop about 3 miles from Heathrow.
Thanks for the invitation muppix! Careful.. I may just take you up on that..
A gentle warning - the rainy season hits Nigeria/Cameroon around February/March. Try to get ahead of it, though the rainy seasons are much less predictable now. Ideally you would leave Oct/Nov (i.e.: now) to get the best of the seasons as you go.
Arriving in Namibia in May/June as the rains end down there will be quite good though. Best animal viewing is June/July/August/Sept and maybe October in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa etc (winter dry season).
What the weather is doing makes a HUGE difference to your trip....
Good luck!
(and try not to have any schedule or plans or arrange to meet anybody on a certain date. The most stressed traveller in Africa is one with a timetable, schedule or a plan! ;-)
Oh, and the surf is pretty crap all down the west coast until you get to where the Great Whites hang out!
Excellent advice, thanks roamingyak. I think that I'll hand around surfing in Morocco and Senegal in Jan and Feb, should hit Nigeria/Cameroon around April...hopefully I will avoid some rain (?), but sounds like prime time for mud.
Oct/Nov does seem to be the most common time to be heading south. The trouble for me is that the best surf season in the north is Nov-Feb and in the south June- August, so that is the reason for my timing.
I would suggest leaving the surfing for another trip to honest. The surf is not so brilliant that it's worth enduring months of rain and mud for. I understand the addiction to it though!
Go and enjoy Africa, fly back to Morocco another time to do some surfing.
Travelling in the dry seasons is 5 times nicer than travelling in the rainy season (though its also nice to experience some rainy season as you will in Gabon/Congo as it rains all year round there!).
Try to allow about 9 months for the west coast, as just getting all of the visas can easily take up over a month of your time.
PS: If you don't like Sharks, will you like the thousands of snakes, scorpions, spiders, worms, biting insects and weird shit that comes out during the rainy season? It's a lot safer camping in the dry season!!
[...]The most stressed traveller in Africa is one with a timetable, schedule or a plan! ;-)[...]
Good one! I`m shure i will remember this sentence
But i will try to see my "plan" more as a concept:
Some weeks more or less...
@GaryUnguided: sounds like a nice trip! Here is a nice graph (thx to mike rutter), in case you want to avoid the rainy season.
I would also suggest, to see the whole trip as target, and not to set the main focus on the surfing. But it is a special plan, if you do it, you can tell afterwards - where the unknown surf spots are.
I have done the same experience with friends - have done with them trips in Laos and so on - but for the bigger on (Transafrica) - they dont want (to long, to expensiv (to stop working), to many kilometers and and...).
Then i plan the trip for myself - and after a short while my Girlfriend wants to join I had`nt ask her, for such a trip...
I would suggest leaving the surfing for another trip to honest. The surf is not so brilliant that it's worth enduring months of rain and mud for. I understand the addiction to it though!
Go and enjoy Africa, fly back to Morocco another time to do some surfing.
Travelling in the dry seasons is 5 times nicer than travelling in the rainy season (though its also nice to experience some rainy season as you will in Gabon/Congo as it rains all year round there!).
Try to allow about 9 months for the west coast, as just getting all of the visas can easily take up over a month of your time.
PS: If you don't like Sharks, will you like the thousands of snakes, scorpions, spiders, worms, biting insects and weird shit that comes out during the rainy season? It's a lot safer camping in the dry season!!
No way dood! In another life I spent 5 years hauling surfboards around the world on plains, trains, and buses. I've found that surfing (or any mission really) adds a lot to travel experience. Its a way to connect with people (surfers are everywhere), a reason to get off the beaten track, and just something to do while you're waiting for weird and cool stuff to happen. As was mentioned, I think that a mission can be like a schedule in that the key is not to be so rigid or focused so as to miss all the cool stuff that wasn't on the plan.
That said. Riding in the rain sucks! And the comments here have caused me to think a bit harder about my schedule. I was looking at this great sheet that 'JamminJay' from AdvRider put together to see how dry I might be able to stay - very similar to Surfy's above, buy arranged via my route. My path would be similar to the one that Jay has drawn...looks very difficult to avoid rain in CAR, Congo , and Cameroon..
Gary
Would you consider down the east coast on the way down? if so I would be interested in joining you. I've done a fair bit of adventure riding; last trip was 2 months across south america (nov/dec '12). I'm live in Dublin, 50, good company... blah blah....
Don't surf, but I could mind your clothes on the beach!
Gary
Would you consider down the east coast on the way down? if so I would be interested in joining you. I've done a fair bit of adventure riding; last trip was 2 months across south america (nov/dec '12). I'm live in Dublin, 50, good company... blah blah....
Don't surf, but I could mind your clothes on the beach!
Damn! no dice for me, but thank for the invite Brian. Timing for me this year only works if I head down the west coast first and I'll probably ditch the board somewhere after Mozambique....
We did part of the West Coast Africa 2010-11. Saw some cool spots on the way. Its going to be a blast (as long as you time things well with the rain). Plenty of sites you can visit on info (including this one).
We posted a load of FAQs on our trip - you might find it useful.
We live on the coast 100km North of Cape Town.....pop in and visit - we have a couple of surf spots and West Coast of SA has some epic spots.
Safe travels and may every day be a glassy one ;-)
Sounds like a cool trip. Looking at your map you should pass right by us in Central France (Loire valley) near Blois. If you need a place to crash you are very welcome. Camping in France in January will be a bit iffy. Might be very cold. Local wine always freely available. Mulled wine might be good idea in January! I could probably be persuaded to accompany you down through France for a few days.
Good luck, look forward to hearing more about the trip....love the idea.
how are things going? I'm on ferry to Northern Spain on 3rd Jan and will go to Marocco via Portugal, then on to Western africa.
Drop me a line if you would like to meet up...i'm on an XT 600
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
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.
"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™ 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!
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