London to Sydney - changing a steamer into a dual sport

[tomski]

Hey All,
Inspired by one of the forum members I decided to start a separate thread...my mate (on a ktm 990) and I (on a 98 tiger) are riding from London to Sydney in or around October this year.

To achieve this I want to mod my tiger to make sure I can sustain the journey so basically, I want to make it lighter change the wheel setup and possibly other bits and pieces...the ideas I have so far are:
- 21inch front wheel
- removing original cans and replacing by lighter versions (shaving off around 15kg I believe)
- improved guards/bars, protection etc
- 12v charging
- improved lighting
- possibly modding the rear sub frame (though i like the way it is)...
- possibly suspension uprate...

As such I would like to ask if there are any other things to be considered/done and also any helpfull hints on the above as I'm not sure how to do it at the moment (thought will obviously research)...

I shall post my progres along with photos on here so look out for the first mod (not sure which yet) soon :)

[Bob Tosi]

Well Im no expert here so Mustang will be jumping in soon I bet.  What I have done is just make sure everything is well maintained.  Good tires are a must.

But what I've found is my 98 just runs in the dirt really well the way it is. It is a handful which you need to get used too but is a very do able as a dual sport.

[akendall1966]

You don't mention if you already have one,  but center stand. Also again if not done fix/upgrade the known weak points, coils, crank sensor (+spare).

Maybe consider some things to make maintenance on the road easier... in line fuel filter in an easy accessible place, pre-filter on the air box again that is easy to remove and clean to avoid clogging the main filter in dusty areas.

[Rocinante]

I like the fre-filter idea for the airbox. This is a mayor concern when travelling on dusty roads. In South America, I used a K/N-filter but not anymore - now I stick the the Triumph filter. It had the strange ability to suddenly stop letting air through, and it took a long time to realize that the semi dirty air filter was the reason the bike didn´t run properly. It still seems strange, but three times during our trip the same thing happened and cleaning the air filter solved it.

You can also turn the intake snorkel over, maybe cut it a little to be able to turn it, to get it out of the direct air/dust/dirt stream from the rear wheel. I heard of someone who made a hole through the side panel and turned the snorkel to point almost vertical, accessing the outside air. Maybe make a hat on it to avoid dropping things inside.

I would be hesitant to replace the rear frame for a long trip like yours. The original frame is solid as rock, after it was reinforced in 96-97 (the earlier frames were weak), and you will carry a lot. My KTM rear frame is definately weaker in that respect, made of light weight aluminum as it is.

If you add engine protection and a centre stand, you will be adding a lot of weight. I didnt have a centre stand, and still don´t, but carried instead a one arm jack for puncture repair/tire changes. That jack could be a simple rod of sorts, with the ability to be locked tight to the swing arm or below the engine, so that either the front or the rear wheel is in the air supported by the other wheel, the rod and the sidestand. I´d love to have a light weight, well working centre stand though, but the original is wide and low, in addition to heavy, and didn´t suit me.

I travelled with engine protectors but wouldn´t do it again. As mentioned they add weight (The Thunderbike bars add a lot), and I´m not convinced of their abilities to protect. In case you go down the guards will transfer all the strain to the points where it´s fastened to the engine. I have gone done with and without protectors (don´t ask) and in my opinion the bike distributes the impact very good by itself. If you add front side panniers they will take some of the impact too.

For weight distribution, don´t go with the largest possible boxes. If it was me riding solo, I would go for a set of cheap - but solid - pelican boxes, front side panniers and a nice and small tank bag. Riding solo you can also use the pillion seat for luggage - point is to get a balanced weight distribution. If you know you are going to hit difficult gravel or dirt, you can wear a back pack to take some weight of the bike.

Replacing the original exhaustwith a 3-1 is highly recommended. It reduces the weight about 9-10 kg, and since most of the weight of the original exhaust sits high up in the mufflers, you will have an additional benefit in a lower centre of gravity.

But remember that the biggest impact you´ll make on weight reduction is in the luggage. We were two people on the bike and carried about 60 kg of luggage. Horrible, if you ask me now. So kill your darlings and think versatility all the way. Can the liner of your jacked be used seperately on a bar visit? If not, drop it and bring a sweather instead. The regular pants should fit under the riding gear so you don´t have to carry an extra layer. Etc etc.

If you want to read about my over farkling and preparations ten years ago, read here:
http://rocinantestravels.com/pan-am/pre ... grades.htm
Most of it is farkling, so be warned, a lot of it unnecessary too, but fun when I did it.

More later
Dag

[Rocinante]

Lights: I highly recommend these which I have now:
http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/5224/

Very powerfull, and increases your fingerprint a lot for oncoming traffic. I have connected them to the high beam through a relay and also kept the Denali switch on the handlebar. Ideally I would have three options not two; on all the time, on with the high beam only, and off. Someone who knows how to set that up?

Also, connect the two main lights low beams, so that both lights are on when dimmed down.

The original shock blew in Costa Rica and was replaced with an Øhlins which is very nice and still is in perfect shape. I think they stopped making them though, but other people here know more about it (Mustang?:)).

Dag

[tomski]

Hey all thats some fantastic information....I already have a center stand but thanks to your suggestions here is my list now:
- 21 inch front wheel
- inline fuel filter
- pre air filter and maybe a snorkle
- 3 into 1 exhaust
- lights (additional and setup the originals)
- panniers..I already built a set of panniers for the givi racks I have, they are from 40mm ammunition storage boxes...a bit on the heavy side so considering something else...
- battery volt meter and 12v marine plug
- shocks raised...and springs repclaed for stiffer ones....i like the idea of raising them as I'm quite tall at 6'6
- luggage...few things to sort out there


The list is growing :)

[tomski]

BTW Dag, what an excellent write up!!!

[CoolHandLuke]

Ideally I would have three options not two; on all the time, on with the high beam only, and off. Someone who knows how to set that up?

I have a 3 way setup.  You need a diode from the main beam line to the +v of the relay that turns on the accessory lights.

When I rewired my bike, I used a motogadget M-Unit to replace the standard fuse box, relays and flasher unit.  One of the benefits of this unit is that the dipped lights are switched on automatically after the starter has been pressed (once the bike has been started and you need to restart it, the unit automatically turns the lights off prior to cranking).  Consequently, the light switch on the right hand side was no longer needed, so I used this to control the accessory lights (off, on with full beam and, on).

[Rocinante]

Keep em coming Tomski. It´s nice to dive into this matter again.

Coolhand, thanks. That´s what I thought. I guess I can find a a diode at a car electric shop.

[harre]

You've already have gotten some good advice. A few notes from Harre:
- Heated grips.
- All tools necessary for wheel removal.
- To make simple pre-filters: drop a foam filter in each snorkel. Move cap to the unused side when the first one is dirty.
- Bring spare coils and a P/U coil.
- Take a look at the Trax alu panners, works well with the Givi rack with an adapterplate.
- I have the SW-motech center stand and it works well. Highly recommended.
- Maybe a higher screen. Powerbronze seems popular, I have a modified MRA, that works really well (tilted 10 cm forwards + slight bend of the top 5 cm), but not as stylish as the Powerbronze (or Secdem-Bagster).
Pics. of my red Steamer with Trax and MRA sceeen here: http://tigertriple.com/forum/viewtopic. ... &start=160

[Nick Calne]

Looking forward to seeing the bike all tooled up and ready to go.  Post some pictures!

Also very much looking forward to seeing the proposed route, post it up on the 'up and coming' section.

Oh and good luck.  8)

[tomski]

Some fantastic advice here...I will definitely post pictures of build progress and the final result when done :)

I've already got a few mods which include the scott oiler, a very tall screen (which is great for me height), center stand and givi top and panniers (also have the ammo boxes which I will use I think instead of panniers but also will review the trax alu panniers)

At the moment the bike has a 180 rear and a 120 front wheel (modded by previous owner) so its very sporty/roady and I need to change that into a 21 front and a normal 140/150 rear...

FYI our proposed route is as follows:

London - Turkey - Iran - Pakistan - India - Nepal - Bangladesh then ship over to Thailand - Cambodia - Laos - Malaysia - Indonesia and either straight to Australia or East Timor and to Australia

We are planning to do this in under 90 days so hopefully that will be sufficient but we shall see enroute...

[rybes]

i got a mate who rode fromlondon to mongolia on a cbr1000 ya gunna have fun mate

[Jaythro]

I think You be better also looking at improving fuel mileage ??

There a few threads about this Tank range is all important and the ability to change filter or carry out maintenance is a must

I can do a clutch in a R1150GS at the roadside or a final drive bearing or I can disable a cylinder to allow me to limp somewhere

Read about getting the carbs outta a "Steamer" before you go anywhere!

[Rocinante]

Read about getting the carbs outta a "Steamer" before you go anywhere!

This is a must. Train to avoid disturbing the rubber on the mid cylinder when mouting the carbs again. This can be no fun at all along a windy road. But with exercise in advance, you´re much better off.

Do some tyre changes back home as well, using the tools you intend to carry,  if it´s new to you. And speaking of tools for puncture repair, this is what I´d bring:
Two tyre irons
One small air pump
Puncture repair kit

I´d drop the bottled repair stuff, but have little experience with it. It seems sensible to use it if you know you are getting a new inner tube in the next town, but otherwise just fix the hole roadside.