Getting ready for 'The big year off'... Escaping on the GS

Roberto

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I'm not sure what constitutes 'Going and doing one' but this might be it. I dunno though :confused:
Anyway, I'm taking a year out to go and travel. I've always wanted to do it and so now I am. It all starts with a couple of months around Europe on the GSA, and then off again elsewhere, again on the bike, but destination to be determined..

I've been getting ready over the past weeks and have got together a fair amount.. just reeling off what I've gotten together, it really is quite a bit. Mind, I have enjoyed doing it though :)

Here's my list of bits and preparation I've gotten sorted and done in the past weeks..

Wilbers WESA Suspension (from Revs Racing)
Remap (Hilltop)
Full Service (Motoscot)
Oil Cooler Guard (ex Bryn of this parish)
BMW Headlamp Guard
New battery
DS Protection Raid Box (very nice)
2 new Conti Trail Attacks
New Maps for my Zumo 550 installing them on a SD card so they'll all fit on the bleedin' thing.. and some backup maps on another card..
Large Tank Bag (ex Sadjim of this parish)
Additional Power Socket
Nippy N Fuse Box.. Rewiring all to it, shifting the autocom about.. Etc etc
Power Port (ex Popeye of this parish.. they're great)
Audio System
Coutour Roam HD Camera
Couple of Wunderlich adventure bar bags
Spare Number Plate
A new toolkit, Some spare bulbs and a puncture repair kit

… Then camping stuff..

A Hilleberg Nano 2GT Tent (ex Ballistic of this parish)
A sleeping mat from Go Outdoors
A rather nifty Ortleib Bag (never had one, they're nice aren't they?)
Some tie down straps (a kind donation from Fanum of this parish)
A couple of rather nice ROK Straps
Pannier bag liners (from ebay). Only 34 quid for a set and actually suprisingly nice.
Cheap chair from Decathlon (Looks a bit like a surface to air missile strapped to the pannier. My fat arse will probably destroy it in one sitting)
Camping Gaz Stove (99p from Ebay)
Cartridges for said bargain
Some Rock Pegs
A plethora of camping bits and bobs from the Poundshop (Hey, big spender..)
A Pacsafe Cable lock

.. Then some other stuff..

A spare laptop battery
A laptop ciggy lighter from ebay (cheap, small, nifty)
Spare phone batteries
Spare camera batteries
Additional Toshiba HDD (as the video files from said contour roam will be mahoosive)
A cheap-but-very-useful travel charger
A USB and cigarette lighter multi adapter

Then for me kit..

Shiny New boots
Rukka Xtrafit gloves.

And then all for all the documents..

E111 Card, Travel Insurance, International Driving Permit, Green Cards, a new insurance policy (my old one runs out mid-trip how's that for luck?), maps, a lonely planet Eastern Europe book..

Nearly ready. Counting down the days until Friday week :bounce1
 
Go do one Rob .... power to your elbow :thumb

Enjoy, ride safe. Look forward to the ride report ;)

:beerjug:
 
you are missing the tins of corned beef to deliver to brasov....

I was tipped off it was Pork Pies.. is that info out of date? :aidan

In all seriousness Gavin I was recommended to drop you a line regarding your neck of the woods..
 
Cable ties and duct tape?

Have a cracker of a trip.... you may not enjoy every second of it while it's happening, but you'll miss every second of it when you get back :thumb2


I hope things go wrong for you......







'Cos that's when good things start to happen and the adventure and memories really do begin :thumb2

Big genuine smiles and an open attitude beats any amount of prep. money or expensive bullshit kit or brand labels, hands down! :clap
 
Go do one Rob .... power to your elbow :thumb
Enjoy, ride safe. Look forward to the ride report ;)

Cheers Micky.. good wishes from someone who knows how to go do one eh?

:beerjug:

Cable ties and duct tape?

Check :)

I hope things go wrong for you......
'Cos that's when good things start to happen and the adventure and memories really do begin :thumb2

As you say.. them's when the adventure starts (let's hope for nothing too bad though!) :thumb

Big genuine smiles and an open attitude beats any amount of prep. money or expensive bullshit kit or brand labels, hands down! :clap

I'm totally with ye on that. Be humble, try a few words of the language, smile and be friendly.. and voila! :thumb2
I haven't got too obsessive about the prep, just trying to be sensible, make the bike as nice as possible... and use a shedload of the good tips from the site and peeps here :cool:

Cheers Fellas :beer:
 
I would add a Hi-vis tabbard for breakdown/stops in the dark etc and buy a Breathalizer when you get to France.
Cable repair kit ?
Mosquito wipes/spray.
A shed-load of Euros while they are still available ;)

Have a great time.
 
You only need one thing for an adventure and that's 'permission', which you've given yourself.

Permission to 'go do one', permission to say fuck it I'm off, permission to say whenever.

Other than that, find a little luck and have a ball:clap
 
You only need one thing for an adventure and that's 'permission', which you've given yourself.

Permission to 'go do one', permission to say fuck it I'm off, permission to say whenever.

Other than that, find a little luck and have a ball:clap
What he said.

The best thing you'll find is that travelling alone encourages others to interact with you. Even small groups can give the appearance of being self-contained to the point where people feel disinclined to make an approach. Be prepared for the interest of total strangers, it can be very rewarding.
 
I hope you bought Wet Wipes to take with you :D

Have a great trip and try to keep us posted of your progress.

Phil
 
Trip

I would add a Hi-vis tabbard for breakdown/stops in the dark etc and buy a Breathalizer when you get to France.
Cable repair kit ?
Mosquito wipes/spray.
A shed-load of Euros while they are still available ;)

Have a great time.

Don't for get you'll need a hi viz tabnbard for framnce as they are noe compulsery as is a spare set of bulbs. Enjoy it all and keep a diary of events as you do have a job to remember things when you get back.
Dave GS
 
... and a puncture repair kit

Nearly ready. Counting down the days until Friday week :bounce1

A small £10 Wilko/Morrisons compressor, a puncture repair kit is useless unless to have something to pump it back up :thumb2

Have a good one Rob.... you're clearly one of the ones who gets it :thumb and as Fanum says the the 'bad days' will be the ones that make the trip an 'adventure'

:beerjug:
 
Don't forget an adaptor to allow Micro SD Cards to be read in a standard SD Card slot on your Laptop/Notepad.

External WiFi Antenna can be useful to boost the reception power of your portable PC in camp sites which have free WiFi.

Ride safe and enjoy.

Grey Beard
 


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