Category: Preparations

And life moves on

As summer continues here in Sweden, my Versys is stored away in Spain together with five boxes containing our possessions and I’m prepping my “new” Swedish registered bike. It is a 2002 BMW F650GS. The very same model I rode in Australia a few years back for the WIMA rally. But the history of me and BMW goes back further than that. I was actually close to getting a BMW years back when I instead got my second Ducati – I test rode a BMW Scarver and my brother was cheering me on wanting me to buy it. I wasn’t ready then, and I would even own a third Ducati before I again contemplated the purchase of a BMW.

The same year my brother died, 2005, I rode a BMW GS in New Zealand and absolutely hated it. My friend and I had both rented a GS and when hers broke down and she got a replacement Honda Transalp that she couldn’t reach the ground on I was happy to swap bikes. But life changes and so does one’s needs and likes. When I at last prepared to leave the Ducati world, the GS was back on my shortlist, along with the Suzuki V-Strom and the Kawasaki Versys. The vote fell on the Versys, as a secondhand GS was more expensive than a new Versys with cases and the V-Strom felt too bulky.

So finally, I’ve gotten myself the bike that I crossed path with so many times and I must say I love it, it is an absolute delight to ride, so light and easy to handle and the engine is so responsive. The engine runs so much smoother than the Versys and the weight distribution is so much better. I wish my brother could see me now.

My Versys was bought with panniers and top case, the only thing I had to sort out was the tank bag. My GS has a small top case and nothing else, so I’m busy getting stuff sorted. I would be happy travelling with just a pack roll if it wasn’t that I will be picking up Christopher and he’ll be pillion for part of the journey. Therefore, I needed to source out panniers for the bike, and to fit panniers I need pannier racks.

The amount of time that has gone in to searching for “the right” panniers and other equipment is ridiculous. In the end, the challenged proved to be the pannier rack, which not only is ridiculously expensive – 3795sek or roughly 400 euros for just the rack if I would order from Touratech! Besides, they have a 3-month delivery time. Instead, I sourced the pannier rack from SW Moto and ordered from Polo Motorrad – the cost was half the price. However, when, after some days, I called asking after the delivery date as they had not provided any, I was told they had a 3 weeks waiting time before they would get the rack into stock, that would be after I’d started travelling.  Following this, I found a Swedish company who would sell the rack and deliver within 10 days, so I bought it from them paying 2750sek.  The rack from the Swedish company has not arrived and no new delivery date has been given, in the meantime Polo has shipped my rack and with a little bit of luck it will arrive tomorrow so I can mount it on the bike. Fingers crossed… I was going to arrange for them to be sent along my route but they shipped much earlier than expected. The panniers themselves are yellow waterproof soft bags from Nelson Riggs and I’m really eager to put them on.

The tank bag is another story. I generally don’t want to spend money on a fantastic tank bag as it could easily get stolen, so I’d rather buy a cheap one no-one is interested in. I have purchased a large tank bag from Biltema for very low cost and I re-constructed it to fit the tank which is made of plastic. All I needed to do was to attach straps to the bag and remove the magnets.

Along with the pannier racks, I’m also awaiting the RAM mount for my phone. It seems impossible to ride while reading maps and street signs after being accustomed to following the GPS – for good and for bad, it saves so much time and effort.

Anything else, yeah, right, my tablet died – but I have ordered one to be picked up at an electronic store along the route.

Less is more

We’ve done some amazing ride outs lately, since Barcelona is wedged in between the mountains and the sea, great riding roads are never far away. One weekend we rode some twisties north of Badalona and towards Sabadell and on another we road towards Molins de Rei and through the natural park, Parc De Garraf north of Castelldefels.

Barcelona is the place to be! Life is good!
Barcelona is the place to be! Life is good!

Since our return to Spain, Christopher has climbed back on to the pillion seat, which he enjoys, but the plan is for him to buy a smallish bike and therefore we have investigated what’s on the market in the 125 – 500cc bracket. Firstly, we went to the Motorcycle Live show in Birmingham last November to try out the bikes on display and gather information, then, in April, we visited the Motoh show here in Barcelona.

Recently, there has been a shift in the market it seems: more and more manufacturers are launching smaller bikes, here are those we were looking out for:

The Suzuki Van Van 200 became an early favourite thanks to its generous seat and comfortable seating position
The Suzuki Van Van 200 became an early favourite thanks to its generous seat and comfortable seating position
The Royal Einfield's Himalayan apealed to both of us, but I, with my long legs, found it very unconfortable wince the dent in the tank was designed for a person with shorter legs, and therefore suited Christopher quite nice
The Royal Einfield’s Himalayan appealed to both of us, but I, with my long legs, found it very uncomfortable since the dent in the tank was designed for a person with shorter legs, and therefore suited Christopher quite nicely.
We tried the Ducati Scrambler 400 - and asked if one could get it with a higher seat. They had never heard this question before and started to explained how the seat could be lowered. So, sadly, not for me!
We tried the Ducati Scrambler 400 – and asked if one could get it with a higher seat. They had never heard this question before and started to explained how the seat could be lowered. So, sadly, not for me!
Honda 500 X - my favourite bike, not even on the list for Christopher but I managed to get myself a teast ride and the engine is so sooo smooooth. I loved it, although the foot pegs would need to be lowered to make room for my legs. Apparently the pillion seat is unconfortable, blah!
Honda 500 X – my favourite bike, not even on the list for Christopher but I managed to get myself a test ride and the engine is so sooo smooooth. I loved it, although the foot pegs would need to be lowered to make room for my legs. Apparently the pillion seat is uncomfortable, blah!
This is the bike my legs are made for... not sure where to put the luggage though. Still, quite intrigued.
This is the bike my legs are made for… not sure where to put the luggage though. Still, quite intrigued.
V-Strom 250, still felt bulky which is what put me off the 650 some years back when I shopped around so ended up with the Versys 650 instead.
V-Strom 250, still felt bulky which is what put me off the 650 some years back when I shopped around and ended up with the Versys 650 instead.
The small V, bike size and weight not much difference to the 650, so therefore not for me. If I want change I'll go for something different.
The small V, bike size and weight not much different to the 650, so therefore not for me. If I want to change, I’ll go for something different.

In comparison, the Birmingham show was way bigger than the Barcelona show and displayed a larger range of bikes, from 125 up to 1000-something-silly cc, clothing and apparel in masses. In the Barcelona show there was a strong focus on scooters, the 125 segment and then on larger bikes. Not much in between. However, there was quite a range of e-bike manufacturers, which is something of great interest to us, albeit more for the future than our immediate needs. At the moment, we need something cheap and reliable that can be parked on the street and with affordable insurance.

This 500cc from Benelli looked promising but the seating position was too cramped for my legs, and later investigation found that the weight was 235 (!) kg.
This 500cc from Benelli looked promising but the seating position was too cramped for my legs, and later investigation found that the weight was 235 (!) kg.
UM Xtreet RC, 125cc, 131kg - like many other small mahines on the marked it is based on a Chinese bike but with bits exchanged for better quality parts.
UM Xtreet RC, 125cc, 121kg – like many other small machines on the market it is based on a Chinese bike but with bits exchanged for better quality parts.
UM DSR Adventure TT, 125cc, 117kg -now this could be interesting. Sadly no possibility to try out the seating position but I'll keep an eye out for this one.
UM DSR Adventure TT, 125cc, 117kg – now this could be interesting. Sadly no possibility to try out the seating position but I’ll keep an eye out for this one.
Macbor Montana, availiable in 125 and 250cc. This is a Spanish re-make of the Chinese Zongshien RX, with it's comfy seat and fabolous looks it made it onto Christopher's short list for further research.
Macbor Montana, availiable in 125 and 250cc. This is a Spanish re-make of the Chinese Zongshen RX. With it’s comfy seat and fabulous looks it made it onto Christopher’s short list for further research.
This Hanway Scrambler 125cc was appealing to the eye but the price seemed excessive - almost as much as for a Honda CBF which has a reputable quality..
This Hanway Scrambler 125cc was appealing to the eye but the price seemed excessive – almost as much as for a Honda CBF which has a reputable quality while this still is a wild card.
Volta BCN Forest: one of the numerous e-bikes on the show - I was invited to get in touch for a test ride, which would indeed be interesting.
Volta BCN Forest: one of the numerous e-bikes on the show – I was invited to get in touch for a test ride, which would indeed be interesting.

The original plan, to sell the Kawasaki Versys 650 and instead get two smaller bikes that would serve us better, has by this date been modified. While the Versys is too big and heavy for the city traffic and two smaller bikes would be better, for commuting in and around Barcelona as well as mountain riding in the surrounding areas, I’ve now done the paperwork for the Versys and will stick with it for some time to make it worthwhile. Most of the small and smallish bikes we have looked at are still new on the market and we hope that, with time, we will find them availiable second hand, tried and tested with the newbie issues well documented. Our first step is to find a bike for Christopher, then later on for me. But with the general hustle and bustle in our lives we’re willing to admit that this is likely to take some time too.

 

Prepping for Scotland

We’re getting ready for our Scottish tour and are looking over our bikes, Lazy Cat and Koneko. Having made the vow to learn to do more things on my own, I started off with changing the brake pads as prescribed by the garage in London. Having taken the pads, out I noticed that it wasn’t necessary to change them yet. My riding style is rather smooth and I don’t brake much so the pads are good for a bit longer – I wish I had checked first before ordering new pads but nevermind, now I have them for when I need them.

 

Checking the breakpads.
Checking the brakepads.

We then also checked the air pressure on both bikes. In Sweden, I noticed that Lazy Cat had low pressure in the rear, only 1.9 bar instead of 2.5 plus some extra for luggage, this was surprising. I don’t know how the pressure had dropped that much since the tyre was put on, but of course, I should have checked earlier. Now my new tyre is beginning to go square, which is upsetting. Now I checked it again and made a promise to monitor the tyres better in the future. An even larger surprise was that Christopher’s bike, Koneko, had high tyre pressure in the front tyre and very low in the rear. Quite puzzling but luckily we could sort it out easily using Christopher’s dad’s compressor.

New promise, check tyre preassure often
New promise, check tyre pressure often

Another thing we sorted out was an old crack in Koneko’s mudguard which was glued but seemed a bit weak, so Christopher decided to fortify it. In addition, we also adjusted the clutch on Koneko and tightened the chain on Lazy Cat. Loosening the wheel nut proved to be difficult and it became a family project to get it loosened. The key that came with the bike was bent in the process. A long pipe was brought out to give enough levering power to finally loosen it and, with the help of my central stand substitute, I could then tighten the chain without problem.

Adjusting the clutch on Koneko
Adjusting the clutch on Koneko

As an extra feature, Koneko is now provided with a power socket with the help of Christopher’s dad who is a wizard in electronics and electrics. Now we can hopefully charge all our devices better, bearing in mind that Christopher is bringing his big DSLR camera and I need my laptop for my online university course. We also have a power pack, which will make charging my phone in public places unnecessary and I know that many of my friends will appreciate this.

Lastly, I like to mention and give a special thanks to the guys on the Kawasaki Versys forum who have provided very useful information and, among other things, gave me the idea for the central stand substitute.