RTW with Noah on a KTM 690

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by Uller

This is so cool. I'm subscribed.

Noah, If you need a couch to crash on before the border I'm up in Marysville, WA.

FYI if you haven't seen the Pacific NW isn't like the rest of the country. We are still in winter. It still gets down into the high 30's in the lowlands at night and any dirt options are more than likely covered in 10 to 20 feet of snow.

Love the PNW. I will be staying by the coast for most of it. So i am getting used to the rain. I plan on snowboarding Baker and Whistler before heading north. I have to ride Vancouver Island also. Thanks for the offer. I will keep that in mind. As it sits right now, I have a few offers for couches.

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by jtb

Subscribed as well

I'd love to hear about the bike... why you made the choice you did... anything you'd change as the trip progresses as well.

From your map I see you're doing the east coast of AUS... see if you can get inland away from the coast. There are more dirt roads and less of the 'tourist traps' and more 'real' Australians in their natural environment.

Looking forward to your write up! So keep it coming...

The bike. I recently sold a KTM 640. It had 10k miles and i loved it but the vibration was making my hands and feet numb. So i bought the 690. It needed work but i am happy with it now. Here is the list of mods.

-RR Tanks (+2,5 gallons bringing my range to 250 miles easy. I have been averaging about 45mpg easily. 52 mpg through the lost coast)
-RR faring. Wind protection & lights
-RR Radiator guard and protector. KTM made a shitty radiator. It needed to be protected
-Uni foam filter. Reusable.
-FMF Q4 Ti. Get rid of the oven + good sound.
-Dirt Trick ironman sprocket. +1 up front. light, steel, 1 year warrentee.
-Scotts Stainless oil filters. reusable so i don't have to find one in BFE
-duel element grip heaters 44w and 24w. Make my hands toasty. Haven't needed to switch over to the Klim cold weather gloves too often this trip.
-Clean speed break pedal. Didn't want to break the pedal.
-KTM bash guard. Get rid of the plastic. I think i am going to switch it out for the RR with the tank so i can carry an oil change.
-Scotts dampener and 1" riser on the bars. No brainer. I can stand up all day comfortable.
-Baja Design Double stryker LED 2x 10w light. 1800 lumins. about 1.8 amps. 25000 hour life on the bulbs. Plus great for flashing that car that is about to pull out in front of you. I mounted a toggle on the bottom of my left control so i can get it with my thumb.
-Superplush springs and re-valve front and rear lowered 1". Adjusted for the wieght.
-TT panniers (29L and 35L) Frame and rack. Good deal on Ebay for the Panniers. Got the insides and top "lineX'd" to get rid of the Aluminum dust. And my awesome mom sewed me some duffle bags that fit in them perfect. I definitely need to ride standing in soft to keep my from planting a foot.
-TT rear break guard and sharks fin.
-TT front sprocket cover.
-Seat concept seat foam and cover. Makes my bum happy.
-Mefo explorers. Apparently these tires have some longevity. I have 1700 miles and there is starting to be some cupping but not bad. I will be curious to see if i can get the 7500 miles out of them that some people do. The rear is amazing. the front is a little sketch in soft sand and soft mud. Great on gravel, rocks, pavement wet and dry.
-I used deutsch connectors for all electrical connections. Waterproof and serviceable. Even the "Powerlet" for the GPS and possibly a heated vest later. (If i install a headlight switch to free up 55w)
-I have a 20 L roll bag for my tent (Sierra designs lightning lt 2), sleeping bag (western mountaineering down 30 degree), and pad ( Thermorest Neoair or something like that. don't remember the name.)
-I keep all my street cloths a 25 L rollbag waterproof backpack. This comes with me into hotels and such.
-MSR dragonfly. Burns any gas or fuel. I run unleaded. I can carry 3.5L of fuel on the panniers. this is good for close to 40 miles if i need it in a pinch.
-MSR 4L water bladder.
-MSR water filter. need to look which kind it is.
-Steripen UV light. I figure this will come in handy to drink tap water without filtering it.
-Spare fuel pump. CA cycleworks fuel pump installed. I am going to get a spare fuel injector also.
-Tool. Along with the essentials. JB weld, superglue/gripglue, zipties, hose clamps, bolts, connectors ect. wire, safety wire, electrical tape etc.
-Klim badlands jacket and pants. Love them. Ive ridden 25 degree weather and 95 degree weather. all how you later and use vents.
-Shoei hornet DS. Works pretty good. I love a moto helmet and goggles on a sunny day. But i just cant do goggles in the rain. hurts to bad. The DS has been pretty good and doesn't fog up to much. it great to be able to open it and get the air on your face at a stop light or something. Kinda hot in warm weather. Will probably run goggles w/o the shield in dry dusty places.
-Fox bomber gloves for warm. comfortable, knuckle protection, durable and relatively cheap. ($50)
-Klim snowmobile gloves for cold. I had them and they work. they even have a squeegie.
-Sidi adventure boots. They are pretty comfortable and they keep my feet dry. On long days of offroad standing, i feel the pegs through the bottom. Not quite as rigid as they could be. But my feet are dry and warm.
-Redington 4 piece 5 weight fly rod.
-Sony NEX 5 camera.
-Lenovo x220 computer. solid state hard drive. but no cd drive. I'm kicking my self for that because Rosetta stone (russian and spanish) is on a CD. so i have to carry a CD drive separate now.
-Contour HD helmet cam. In case i get the urge to do some film edits or something.
-Garmin GPS map 62st. Im using openstreetmap.org for most of my maps. I'll let you know once i am in canada if its better the the Garmin USA map. No topo when i leave the US unfortunately. So.. I'm still searching for an opensource topo. Google earth is awesome. Nuff said.
-I know I'm forgetting stuff. but it is late and I need to go snowboard at Bachelor tomorrow.

Thanks for all the interest so far. I look forward to meeting as many of you crazies out there as I can. I welcome all tips and suggestions. Best twisties, scenery, restaurants, towns, cities, fishing holes, ski towns, woman, bars, beers, wine, coffee, etc. etc. etc. Chears

Once I get to MN in July I will be at my house for about 3 weeks. Any changes, additions, subtractions, to the bike and gear i will let you know. that will be abou 9k miles into the trip and 11k on the bike.

[jtb]

Thanks for the details!

I will be watching VERY closely how the bike performs for you during the trip as the 690R is at the top of my list... mind you I won't be in a position to buy a bike for 12-24mths, so in the mean time I'm doing 'research' (that's what I tell my wife when she asks "Are you on that stupid motorbike web site again?" )

[Skyclad]

Noah, for the Cd's that you carry with you, I would recommend that you just copy the entire CD onto your hard drive then install the program from there. It's a little faster running, and more importantly, you don't have to carry the CD and external drive around the world with you.

Looking forward to following your progress. Have fun and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

[gunnerbuck]

Originally Posted by RoninMoto

Love the PNW. I will be staying by the coast for most of it. So i am getting used to the rain. I plan on snowboarding Baker and Whistler before heading north. I have to ride Vancouver Island also. Thanks for the offer. I will keep that in mind. As it sits right now, I have a few offers for couches.

Around what date will you be to Vancouver Island? Some of the off pavement sections on the top half of the Island are still snowed in as of last weekend... The temps have finally warmed up a bit so I expect the lower lands will be open in a week or so.. If you get to the Northern part of the Island give me a heads up and I'll join you for a coffee...

[Meatn'taters]

In! Travel safe.

[Digger Deep]

Good luck with your journey. Consider a bit more of Africa if time and funds permit.

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by Digger Deep

Good luck with your journey. Consider a bit more of Africa if time and funds permit.

I have 9 months in europe/africa (august to may before russia). I am actually looking for someone or a group to travel with in africa. dakar would be good to get to.

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by gunnerbuck

Around what date will you be to Vancouver Island? Some of the off pavement sections on the top half of the Island are still snowed in as of last weekend... The temps have finally warmed up a bit so I expect the lower lands will be open in a week or so.. If you get to the Northern part of the Island give me a heads up and I'll join you for a coffee...

Start of may. I will hit you up. Maybe you can show me some stuff on that 640.

[Bob]

Awesome Adventure, I'm in.

[gunnerbuck]

Originally Posted by RoninMoto

Start of may. I will hit you up. Maybe you can show me some stuff on that 640.

If things work out I could ride down and meet up with you Mid Island and then take the path less traveled north... I'm sure that at least one of the dirt routes will be open by early May...

[mickd]

well i am in on this one i am in brisbane so when your doing the east coast of australia and you need a place to sleep etc let me know, i could sort out a ride in the local bush for you with some other inmates if you like,or you could just crash out for a few days by our pool and have a few beers

all the very best mickd

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by gunnerbuck

If things work out I could ride down and meet up with you Mid Island and then take the path less traveled north... I'm sure that at least one of the dirt routes will be open by early May...

Sweet. I will keep in touch.

[RoninMoto]

Originally Posted by mickd

well i am in on this one i am in brisbane so when your doing the east coast of australia and you need a place to sleep etc let me know, i could sort out a ride in the local bush for you with some other inmates if you like,or you could just crash out for a few days by our pool and have a few beers

all the very best mickd

Thanks bud. It will be late 2013 when I get to australia.

[Motomochila]

Hey Noah, did you mount up the passenger pegs I sent? Sorry the came late, they were in my shipping dept collecting dust. Hope you got them in time.