Our Bikes
Over the years we have had a few bikes and hopefully one day I’ll get a chance to list them all. For now, here are our current travel companions and a list of modifications, additions and oddities…
Lea
Maria’s trusty 1991 Honda NX250. Picked her up in Germany and took her around Australia and into Canada. Her next trip is that from Vancouver, BC to Argentina and beyond.
An adventure bike from the days when adventure bikes were not a thing yet - they stopped production in 1995 because there was no market for this kind of bike at the time. Most describe her as a FUN bike, and that’s exactly what she is! Not proper off-road and not really a road bike either, she loves tricky trails with her odd 16” rear wheel (19” front) making her super agile. Six speed, water cooled she happily sits on the highway, too, even if not too fast. Up hill and against the wind mean shifting down a gear and taking in the scenery.
Pippa
Aidan’s ratty 2004 BMW F650 GS that’s been his travel companion since we set off from London, UK in 2014.
She belongs to a time before adventure bikes became big, heavy beasts and is relatively light and heaps of fun to throw around off road. Nothing fazes her, so she constantly has to pull over and wait when Lea took a little longer to get up that mountain - perfect photo opportunity.
Yes, she is a GS, but she isn’t the shiny type kitted out with a whole travel budget’s worth of gear. Just the cheap and cheerful basics and home-made mods sporting zip ties and duct tape.
April
April is Maria’s smooth 4 cylinder 2000 Yamaha XJ600N Diversion naked bike that you can turn around on a six-pence piece.
I say smooth, but she purrs rather aggressively at 80km/h, impatient to reach 100km/h or more. She loves to stretch her legs on scenic A-roads and remains balanced and composed, if a little toasty, in slow town traffic.
Honda Hurricane
This is Aidan’s big little toy to play with on our tour around Europe in the summer 2022.
The big CBR1000F is not at all what Aidan originally had in mind for the trip. But he’s since fallen in love with this fast ball of fun. He’s even forgiven her the colour, with the understanding that that will be changed to matte black some day.
This bike doesn’t like city traffic at all and dreams of highways, the bigger, the better. With Aidan in the saddle she’s discovering that twisty A-roads can be just as thrilling a playground.
Lea’s Mods
Spokey Dokeys (because why not?)
Spare zip ties (on the fork)
Braided steel front brake hose (sharpened up braking)
Progressive fork springs (the stock are VERY spongey)
Honkey horn (souvenir from India)
Hand guards (misappropriated from an NX650)
Bicycle speedo (the bike odometer tends to fail and without a fuel gauge I need something to count the kilometers)
USB charger
Phone holder
Smurf (He’s shit-scared and reminds me not to be. A huge part of riding ability is confidence!)
Throttle hand rest (helps immensely if you have carpal tunnel, especially on long highway stretches)
Fuel filter
Iridium spark plug
Sump valve (just open the valve to drain oil - no need to unscrew plug and potentially ruin the easily damaged thread)
Aluminium sump guard (The plastic one the bike comes with is more of a suggestion.)
Crash bars
Painted exhaust pipe (they are notorious for rusting through on these bikes)
Spare levers
Third “leg” made from an old crutch (serves to get the wheel off the ground as the bike has no centre stand)
Top box
Tool roll
Heat shield
Luggage rack (made from balcony flower box holders - nicely pre-angled)
Chain oiler
Off-road type foot pegs
YSS rear suspension (the original is very soft with all that luggage)
Pippa’s Mods
Head light guard (proudly home made)
Gaiters (preventative following unfortunate experience with badly scratched forks)
Spare zip ties (on the fork)
Sump valve (just open the valve to drain oil - no need to unscrew plug and potentially ruin the easily damaged thread)
ABS toggle switch (original broke, need to switch ABS off off-road)
Bats on hand guards (Pippa’s name derives from a bat)
Phone holder
Throttle hand rest (helps immensely if you have carpal tunnel, especially on long highway stretches)
Spare throttle and clutch cables along original (plug n play if the original breaks)
Moved voltage rectifier from behind crash plate to side where it is adequately cooled (That’s where BMW puts them on newer models!)
Lithium battery (much smaller and lighter)
One-sided end can (to make room for tool roll and save weight)
Tool roll
Luggage rack
Chain oiler
Off-road type foot pegs
YSS rear suspension (the original is known to go)
Another bat (well, it looks awesome!)
Sheep skin seat cover (super comfy, warm in winter and surprisingly cool when it gets hot!)
Side stand plate (stops it from sinking in)
