Great Article in the January Bike SA page 114 & 115

Thanks to Simon & his team @ BIKE SA for the great exposure in his mag. Now after 18months of planning and looking for riding partners, had a few call from around the country, lots of interest now in the trip. Maybe because of the heading "Four Old Man To Ride From South America to Alaska" remember you are only as old as you feel.

After 18months of Planning, bike loaded for trip to Cape Town and all out to see it go???

Well after all the planning and organizing the first part of the trip arrived. loaded my bike onto the trailer in Prince Albert and took a slow drive down to Cape Town, a day before just in case I had any problems on the road, meet Tony and Stan at Tony's house, of course Stan. who had arrived the night before with lots of work still be done on his bike, worked on it until midnight to get it finished. Followed Tony over to Zacpak Warehouse were we meet Marco waiting, well the loading went well with all the helpers and in under 2 hours the bikes were loaded, sured and wooden blocks nailed around the wheels , so they could not moved backwards and forwards. Customs arrived check bike numbers and signed off on our Carnets.
The doors were then closed and locked and sealed ready to be loaded onto the ship, first to Port Elizabeth, then onto another ship for the trip across to Beunos Aires

Finally loading day arrived 15th December 2010 and 4 bikes go into container

Packing " what to take & what to leave"

The reality of the trip really  hit home yesterday as I started looking for my  gear and  cleaned the dust off the stored  panniers & put them onto the my bike before it had been an enthralling game, a meditation, and at times an obsession, wondering what to pack and where to pack it. The major departments were Food, Clothing for Summer & Winter,  Sleeping gear, Tent,  Tools, First Aid, Documents and my  Camera. What was needed for the Kitchen part, I  had a gas stove, aluminium saucepan; a tea or coffee pot;  a nonstick frying pan with a folding handle; a stainless-steel plate, bowl and mug; some assorted containers for salt, pepper, sugar, coffee and so on; cutlery, a tin opener with a corkscrew, a  lighter and  an extra water bottle.  Started packing out the cloths and camping gear needed for the trip onto a spare bed.  What do  you take and were do you pack it was the question. How many Tee shirts short and long sleeve one's do you pack, will we be able to wash on a regular basis, space is so  very limited, to much weight then the bike becomes hard to handle, putting it on the side stand is a major problem and if it falls over, how do you pick it up without putting your back out.???
How can one anticipate the unknown? Preparing for the journey was like living in a dream. More than once I realized the absurdity of what we were doing. The whole point and beauty of the trip was not knowing what would happen next, but I could not help myself striving to work it all out in advance. My mind started racing ahead and I conjured up out of my imaginary future, showing me crossing the Andes; Me crossing  the Atacama desert; Me getting blown away by the very high winds down in Patagonia, (Tony heard of winds in excess of 200km's Wow). Me lost in the Colombian Jungle; Me riding over the side of a mountain doing  "The Road Of Death" on a bicycle;
The mystery deepened the more I tried to think  of what next. So I just went on with the packing.

Wow Marco glad you sorted your bike out

Great stuff, hope it's the last of our bike problems, did my 60000km  service in Cape Town, found bearings & seals gone on the drive shaft. Bike was on the lifted all day, when Tony & I arrived to pick-up our bikes they were still working on mine. Well after a few stressful  moments the final bill was presented to me, not to bad I thought for a  full days labour. I then  also  notice that my top box bracket was cracked, took it off only to find that  it was broken in two pieces. Phoned "Stan the Man" to ask if he had any mates in George who did aluminium welding, well he did. Had it welded yesterday and after minus R900 refitted it to my  bike.

Honda preparation for the trip

Hello all,
After fitting the panniers and topbag, we took it into the Karoo for a weekend on dirt roads, making sure everything stayed in place, which it did.
Now the final service, oil change etc. I noticed that it did use a bit of oil, nothing to worry about, but decided to put on new rings and ordered them from England. If they came in time I would replace them, otherwise not. Low and behold, within 5 days the spares were delivered to my front door! So, I started stripping the bike, took the heads off and found the exhaust valves in a bad way and ordered two new ones (from Jo'burg) and should be here on Monday 6.12.2010. Took out pistons, checked the rings, which were still well within specs. After cleaning the pistons I found the rear piston had a crack in it!!! Now I start getting nervous and not because of the sheepskin on my saddle! Luckily Jo'burg has one in stock and will arrive on
Monday as well. So hopefully the plot should be going again on Thursday. Just as well I wanted to replace the rings, otherwise the piston would not have lasted another 5000 km!!
Cheers