The type of spares depends on how long the adventure is going to take, type and condition of the bike, etc.
If it is a big modern bike then it is less likely that you will find spares in Africa.
If I were you I would take spares like spare light bulbs, chain and sprockets, tyres or inner tubes, clutch and brake levers, clutch cable, some bolts and nuts, some wires and fuses.
It is true to say that failures can make the trip looks like a great adventure, but they can ruin a trip.
Few wisely chosen spares and tools shouldn't be like carrying another bike with you, but they can make the difference between a great and probably once in a life time big adventure and horrible one.
The locals in Africa don't ride the same kind of bikes as we do and they ride few miles to a place of work on cheap easy to fix Chinese bikes...they live there and know there, but you might be doing hundreds of miles a day, therefore might need spares that most likely won't be available in Africa.
In Mali I had a problem with the radiator fan and got a replacement in a few hours from an old scrapped branded big bike for £10, brackets didn't match but cable ties did the trick. For 10k miles I didn't need to use any of the other spares I was carrying.
In Nouakchott a traveller had a problem with a water pump and had to DHLs new one from Spain and waited for days to have it delivered.
Be prepared to have a spare for the items that are most likely to fail (not a radiator fan though).
Good luck.
Last edited by schenkel; 14 Jan 2015 at 12:01.
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