Work
Tomorrow starts my last month at work. Coming October, I’ll start using my savings, but my company has kept the door open and I will have the option to do some remote work, occasionally, which should allow me to keep some money coming in, whenever necessary. The benefit of doing a job that has a remote option to it, software developer. I’m not sure that will be an easy option though, if Internet connection is poor, or simply absent, as could energy possibly be too. Plus keeping up with the changes may be hard sometimes… We’ll see. Still one month to go.
Bike
I gave more thoughts to changing bike, possibly looking at a BMW F800GS Adventure or even R1200GS Adventure, or a Honda CFR1000L Africa Twin
(but there’s a waiting list, apparently on that one) but really the prices bother me quite a lot, and I want to try and keep it – relatively – reasonably
low, which the NC750XA does. I could also buy one of these used, but then I’d probably have more burden on the road than with my new NC
. I know I will have issues on the road, that’s a fact, but then why investing $14K in a bike that I may has well make into garbage with time. Will an expensive bike last longer than the NC? Not convinced. Will I feel better “patching” my NC with tape or cheap fixes t
han doing it on a more expensive bike? That’s for sure! (I’ll still hate it, I’m certain…)
So, decision is made, I’ll stay with the NC, and I’ll deal with the tank in the back seat issue, which I believe will be the most annoying one. But as some people commented on the NC700 forums, that also allows you to take a minimal break, and removing 2 bags may not be such an annoyance. I might even come up with a quick method to do that 🙂
Bike Gear
I’ve ordered the top and side boxes for the bike. Givi monokeys: V47 and 2 V35. I also added a top rack for the V47, and a lights kit for the top box too. That should give me some space for packing.
I’m thinking of bringing a small jerry can of gas along (2 or 3 gallons), for the sections where I might have a hard time fin
ding a gas station. I’ll possibly only fill/use it when really necessary, but since it will use the storage space, I might as well carry it around full…
Also bought an engine skid plate, from SW Motech that looked pretty good on Twisted Throttle site
Camping Gear
Been looking at tents, might get a small NorthFace tent or maybe – as a friend suggested – a hammock/tent that can be either hung between trees or put on a ground support. Space here will again be the determinant factor.
I also need a sleeping bag and a foam or inflatable mattress. Not sure if buying a CAD900+ bag standing -40ºC makes sense, but if I go through some desert or down to Patagonia, I may need something that stands very cold temps, and the expense may be worth it. I’ll have to check weather averages along my (not really defined yet) path, and maybe -30ºC or even -20ºC might be enough… Not planning to visit North Pole or Greenland with the bike, that would be far off the trip’s purpose to try to help penguins or white bear get a better life and career… 🙂 As far as the mattress is concerned, I found a foam/self-inflatable “R10” sleeping pad on MEC‘s site that may well give me luxurious comfort 😉 Now if I get the hammock, that may also be totally unnecessary, but maybe still good to have as a backup solution if something gets wrong with the hammock…