Stuff to do this week.

Since my UK Tiger has been sitting in a shed, doing nothing for nearly 3 years, the question has arisen - does it work. Well the battery will be dead  so I've ordered a new one, the engine? Well hopefully it will be OK but I've been reading horror stories of seizure and the like. Anyway, having sought advice from others on a few websites, I'm going to perform some needed maintenance before I try to start it.

1. Remove all old petrol & replace
2. Replace battery
3. Remove spark plugs and put a bit of oil in each cylinder
4. Turn it over by hand
5. Put it all back together and press start button

Hopefully this will do the trick. sounds easy, but I've been practising on my bike here. It takes about 4 hours to do all this. The spark plugs have been embedded into the soul of the machine it seems. I felt as if I'd carried out heart surgery. First take all panels off around the tank, secondly remove tank, hoses, connections etc. Remove air box, nuts bolts etc to expose the top of the engine. Now I can see what looks like three plugs, remove them and somewhere deep down a black hole is a spark plug. No wonder I didn't do this before I left last time. Id have never had the tools or the time.

So later this week I set off back to UK for a few days of maintenance and fitting all the bits my bike will need for the trip. 
Some things added, heated grips, hand guards, centre stand (why don't they fit this as standard?), headlight protectors, bigger screen & engine guard. I've also managed to repair the lock on my panniers which I'm taking over as well. I'll take some photos when its all set up.
Today I'm going to replace coolant in the bike here in oz and have a go at cleaning brakes. Better get on with it then Steven ...

Decided to use Triumph Tiger

OK. Now I 've decided. I'm going to use my UK blue Tiger all the way to Singapore then fly to Darwin and pick up my Australian bike. Makes sense really. I don't want to be spending too much on new bike when I have a perfectly good one sitting doing nothing in UK.
It has been sitting gathering dust for nearly three years now. Hope it still works :)

Found some Tyres to fit Tiger

I've come a step closer to using the Tiger on my trip. There are two types of tyre available which will fit my bike. One is the Dunlop D616 which is aimed at slightly off road, 75/25. The other is the MT60's I think they're called. They are fitted to the Ducatti Multistrada and I'ver been told, are OK off -road.
I might try these out in Perth first $550 a set.

 I'm also planning a trip to Europe this year to check out my bike and make sure all is well. Going over to Germany for a week, looking forward to it.

Still deciding on which bike to use

I'm travelling with some other guys who are going from London to Singapore (makes it easier for me to get through China in anycase). Its a tour company called Globebusters who run out of South Wales. I've just been told they are extending their trip to Sydney. So they will be flying to Perth from Singapore and riding North. Funnily enough I will be heading to Darwin and heading south. So somewhere in between we shall meet up again!
Since I have a bike in UK and one here, I've just realised that instead of shipping my UK bike across to Australia, why not send it back to UK and pick up my Australian bike in Darwin. Thats a better idea methinks. Then all I have to do is simply fly straight to Darwin and continue. Now to find storage place in Darwin. They have allowed to ship my bike back from Singapore in any case so why not.
Still waiting to hear how much off road stuff we're doing as the Tigger is not the best for this kind of trail. Ah well better get back to work :(

I'm focussed on the toys first. which bike?

I know hardened travellers may scoff at this but I don't care. The trip doesn't happen if I haven't got the tools to do it with. The bike of course. Well I do have a bike, three in fact but I suspect I will have to find a more suitable ride to suit the off-road sections. I'm lucky enough to have Two Triumph tigers, one in UK and one here in Australia. I also have an off road trail bike, TTR250. Ideally, I'd take both of these bikes and select which one suits the particular road. As if that's going to happen.

For the past 6 months or so I've been keeping an eye on the best bike for the job that also suits me. I mean, everyone and their dog buys a BMW GS Charley & Ewan model with all the Touratech goodies. 
They usually buy the matching outfit, helmet, jacket. underwear and so on. I thought the GS1200 was OK for the job, but it doesn't exactly move the soul. 'Tractor-like' or 'agricultural' are the words I've heard describing these machines.

A motorbike may be a very personal thing. you have a relationship with it, it takes you to where you want to go, it excites you, gets you into trouble, and gets you out again, saves your life and gives you a life. I want a bit more than a tractor please.

So the short list is ... GS1200 (just in case I can't find anything else), Yamaha Tenere1200, Triumph XC800 or my trusty Tiger 1050.
Next move is the test drive. The XC has just been released in UK so will take a while to get here probably, the Tenere will be my first move.