Hey Pimp Yoda,

Lol, see the hornets nest that you inadvertently poked with what seemed like a simple question but ended up being a big stick?

With your long background in bikes and experience in South Africa you are already way ahead of most and when coming down, you will wonder what all the fuss was about.

Are you going east coast? If so, having your brother along will be a multiple blessing, not only to share a once in a lifetime experience but as you say to carry some of your gear!

One route I would suggest if you are going east coast is to go along Lake Turkana instead Moyale in northern Kenya. The route is rougher, and much, much less travelled, but was certainly a highlight. With a truck to carry a lot of your weight and the spare fuel and water, the riding will be easier to enjoy and it is truly is unique corner of Africa.


And last off topic comments:

First, the views held by Mollydog, while sometimes at the extreme, do serve a purpose in that they stir the pot and balance a lot of the preconceptions that exist in the general public. I'm sure a lot of people begin the dream to ride around the world and have in their mind that they have to use a BMW to do so.

As we all know that is not true, many options exist and this thought sort of thinking has to be jarred out of them so they can make a reasoned choice amongst options, sometimes better suited to their specific trip, sometmes not. I can't tell you how many people around the world, with varying levels of experience, would walk up to me and make comments along the lines of "I'm going to ride around the continent, as soon as I get a BMW of course, are you able to get by with your inferior bike?". This became funny after a while, and even funnier after I actually switched bikes and was riding a new model BMW.

Kudos to BMW, this has been hard earned product recognition, based on many years of experience and dedication to long distance and world touring and focused marketing. And comments by Margus and others show this, any business would be proud to have such commited and supportive customers. We should continue to be nice to BMW as well, they are pushing an area that is pretty much a niche to the big guys, even though it is the center of our world. That's probably part of the reason we are so passionate about it.

Plus, the BMW riders and Japanese riders should unite for even more reasons, there is a new enemy in town. As I mentioned before, the most common western bike that I saw in Africa was KTM, and based on my experience, their smugness has exceeded that purported to belong to owners of other brands. Rise up all, the real enemy is not KTM, but the KTM riders (Herby, we know who you are