Whither the kickstarter???
Whither the kickstarter???
I think that's almost the most important deciding factor on any bike I buy for long journeys to far-away places.
Other than that I think it's been answered.
Except:
carry jump leads - in the UK you can get them lighter and smaller than for cars, designed for motorbikes.
Before you depart, learn to bump-start your bike, especially on level ground (there's not always a hill). I find a lot of youngsters are completely unable to do this, but I'm lucky, having learnt to do it in the 60s when road-races started with a dead engine.
But you have to remove all the luggage and gizmos (well, I do), to make it as light as a 750 Norton!
Finally, I've only recently started using gel batteries (they're a bit new to me!) and have been told if you let them discharge a significant amount (maybe through an alarm) they won't last very long at all.
Anyone have any views on that?
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