Q. Hard or Soft luggage?

A. Well, there's no straight answer as it's personal preference. The type of riding you're going to be tackling will also be a deciding factor.

Our requirement meant that for our trip hard luggage was the way to go. The benefits are they're lockable and more durable for long term riding. Touratech's Zega panniers are aluminum and can be 'bashed' back into shape after a fall, and there have been a few. For more info on panniers visit our luggage page here.

Q. How do you pack the everyday stuff i.e., wash gear, washing powder and useable's.

A. We've learnt that it's best to decant liquids into smaller screw top plastic containers. Whether its shampoo or olive oil for cooking, the containers you buy them in are often to large to pack easily and are designed to look nice on the shelf of your local supermarket, not stand up to hour upon hour of bone shaking sandy corrugations of that desert piste you're hurtling down. TIP: smaller plastic bottle are more robust and easier to pack.

Q. How do you carry medicines?

A. We carry a number of medicinal drugs and generally cut up the plastic and foil strips they're supplied in then decant most into small plastic containers. Make sure you leave some still in the original packaging, should a border guard or official want to inspect. If he or she can't identify what you're carrying they're just as likely to confiscate the lot.

Q. How do you back so much, into so little space?

A. Space is always at a premium, so we use compression sacks to compress as much as we can, tent, sleeping bags, cloths, etc.

Q. How do you pack your clothes?

A. Apart from our riding gear, we carry one pair of canvas type trousers each (these also zip off at the knee to make shorts), two t-shirts, a few pairs of 'undies' and a fleece. To minimize the amount of space our clothes take up and to make for easier packing we use 'compression sacks' which remove all the air from your packing and leave you with a solid block of clothing, which you can then slide into a pannier. Easy...hey!

Q. What's this Carnet thing?

A. Ahhh...the mystery of the dreaded Carnet. or, to give it its full title 'Carnet De Passages En Doune', but who's going to remember all that.

OK that Carnet is nothing more than a document that allows the holder to temporarily import and then export his or her vehicle into a given country.

Q. How's it work?

A. Carnets are issued by Motor vehicle associations in differing countries in the UK it's the RAC (the AA no longer issue) and each one has a differing value depending on the vehicle it is issued against. The carnet guarantees payment of import duties and taxes (of 1to 5 times the value of the vehicle) to a country if a 'temporarily imported' vehicle is not re-exported.

Q. How does it guarantee the payment of the duties?

A. Depending on the countries in which you'll be using the Carnet, the carnet will have an intrinsic value of between 1 to 5 times the market value of your vehicle, yep that means if you're on a shiny new BMW R1150 GS Adventurer, which cost you £10,000.00, and you want to ride through Egypt, which requires the carnet to be 5 times the vehicle value, then you need to prove that you have £50,000.00. in order for the issuing organization to issue your carnet. Scary isn't it! However, before you dismiss the carnet and that dream trip you've been planning, there are a few realities which make the carnet possible for us lesser mortals.

3 legal ways to get your Carnet:

1. Hard cash talks...

Hand over 1 to 5 times (depending on which country/countries your carnet will be used) your vehicles value in real money to the issuing organization, who will hold the 'lovely cash' until you hand them back your correctly stamped carnet at the end of your trip. Problems with this scenario: You'll need the cash for your trip - No interest accumulates on the money being held - Who has that amount of money just lying around...?

2. The insurance scheme...

Insurance schemes are offered (the issuing organization should inform you of their recognized insurers), which allow you to insure the value of the Carnet by paying a monthly premium. In the UK the insurance company is ......... . When the carnets required value has been established the insurer requires 10% of the total carnet value to be paid as a monthly premium for the first year. If you need to renew the carnet for a second year then the premium drops by 50%. So as an example, your bike is a 2 year old KTM 640 valued at £7,000.00 (the insurance company will 'hike up' the bikes real market value) and you want to ride Africa's east Coast Cairo (Egypt) to Cape Town (RSA), Egypt will require 5 times the £7000.00 vehicle value and so your carnet value will need to be for £35,000.00. 10% of your bike at £7,000.00 is an annual premium of £700.00, spread over 10 months at £70 per month. The problem with this scenario is it's just money being thrown away.

3. The bank guarantee (this is how we acquired our 'shiny new Carnets')

Like scenario's 1 and 2, decide on the value required of the carnet, based on the value of the vehicle and the countries it will be used. Important 'HUGE' tip: You (yep, just lowly non-expert you) provide the valuation of the vehicle. Naturally you may feel inclined to value it a little on the 'low' side! It's worth mentioning that we've now (as of Dec 2004) crossed 40 international borders and not one of them have questioned or even looked at the value of the bike. The poor army/customs official sitting in his hut on the edge of the Mauritanian Northern Sahara is unlikely to have a clue as to the 'real market' value of your motorbike. Deposit the required sum in a interest bearing savings account for a agreed fixed term and have the bank issue you a letter of guarantee, which you in turn hand to the appropriate Carnet issuing organization. The bank will charge you for issuing the letter of guarantee and of course for the guarantee itself.

Q. So, do you really need a Carnet?

A. The jury's still out on this one, but our view is that if you have some extra time and money then having one isn't essential. A friend of ours has just ridden the North West Coast of Africa (where carnet's are meant to be essential) without a Carnet. So it can be done.

...Just bear in mind, if you choose not to use a Carnet then you must be prepared to endure longer waits at borders while someone sorts out all types of other paperwork for you to fill in and of course be prepared to 'stump up' ludicrous bribes, either to get past the customs guard or for him/her to simply fetch the shabbily photo-copied temporary import form, which you will need to fill in triplicate. Without one you are just presenting an opportunity for someone to make your life harder and or more expensive. Would we travel without one?...NO!

Q. OK, so I've got Carnet, how do I use it?

A. Each page of the Carnet provides for the temporary importation of the vehicle into one of the countries mentioned (and not the deleted ones) on the back cover of the carnet itself.

On entry to a new country, the customs officials detach and retain the importation voucher for their own records. They will also sign and stamp the importation voucher, which is retained inside the Carnet itself.

When you leave the country, the customs official will stamp and sign in two places, one is on the same voucher as was signed when you entered and which is retained by you and the other is the exportation voucher, which is torn out of the carnet and retained by customs. As you cross into your next country the process is repeated and thus you are exported from country and imported by the next and so on.

Q. How do you manage with one passport and so many countries?

A. We have two passports. You won't find it publicized (in the UK) but it is not illegal to have two completely separate passports. AS long as your a 'Brit' and you can justify why your applying for a second passport it should be no problem. We had a letter written by a company owner, which explained we'd be moving between several African countries and that often our 1st passport would be away from us for visa applications for days or weeks and that we would still need to retain an additional passport as proof of ID as we crossed other borders. We received our second passports 3 weeks after submitting our applications.

Q. What size & type of tent do you use?

A. We use a four season 4 person tent, which is much larger than we've traveled with before. Our advice is if your trip is going to last 12 weeks or more then get a decent sized tent, that way you can use front porch space for cooking or just storing all your wet gear when the weather takes a turn for the worst. If your traveling with a partner it can b e a good idea to give each other some space occasionally.

Q. What do you sleep on?

A. For all our trips in the last 9 years we've used 'Thermarest' mattresses. They self inflate and are thermal so protect you from cold ground. They're also pretty hard wearing. We bought our first thermal rest's 9 years ago and we're still using the same ones. They roll up very small and when they need a clean we just use a hose pipe and soap, inflate them and wash them down.

Q. How much cookware do you cary?

A. We know we could carry less but living for years on one pot cooking isn't realistic, well not for us anyway. We have two different sized (small) stainless steal pots with lids and one medium sized (15 inch) non-stick frying pan. We also have a wooden spoon, which we cut 2/3 of the handle off (easier packing). A can opener, a bottle opener and one sharp cooking knife and that's it.

Q. What do you cook on?

A. We use two MSR Multi-fuel stoves, they pack down small, weigh next to nothing, but importantly will burn almost anything; petrol, gas, meths', diesel, etc.

Generally we just pour an amount of petrol from one of Lisa 's auxiliary fuel tanks, pressurize the MSR canister and we're ready to cook

Q. How do you you power torches or other electrical gear?

A. All of our electrical gear from electric toothbrushes to head torches to our camera gear all runs off AA or AAA re-chargable batteries. We have 8 sets of batteries and so always have a set charging, normally off one of the 12v sockets from the bikes. UniRoss make some very high capacity Ni-MH batteries @2350 mAh and with a high speed charger only take an hour to bring back to life.

Q. what type of helmet is best?

A. Again, there is no 'best', only what works for you. For long term over-landing, flip-face helmets are a good idea and is what works for us. A good flip-face helmet saves a lot of hassle at borders, checkpoints and routine stops. Before buying a new flip-face make sure that when the visor isn't in place, that you can still fit a pair of MX goggles.

Q. Have you lost your bike keys yet?

A. Not yet, but we have a system. We each have just two places that our keys go. Our bike key and others are all fitted with a mini karabiner, which clips onto a cord around our necks or onto a hook on the front of our riding jackets. They don't go anywhere else ...Listen, for a 'professional loser of 'stuff' like me (Simon) it has to be fool proof.

Q. What do you ride in?

A. All our riding so far has been using the 'Hein Gerricke' Rally suits, which have been brilliant. Loads of zipped vents for when it's hot and a removable Gore-Tex liner for when it's not so nice, so far it's kept us 100% dry, even in the heaviest of downpours. The jacket also has a 2 litre water carrying pouch built into the back, enabling us to keep hydrated whilst on the move.

We don't ride in jeans or 'normal cloths', as we try to keep the few cloths we do carry for when we're off the bikes, otherwise we'd simply look like 'shit' all the time.

Q. What's the most important piece of advice about borders?

A. Most borders and police checks are just routine and aren't a problem, however the best advice we can give is simple ...don't be in a rush, shake hands readily and easily and if all else fails, smile, you'd be surprised how far this can go.

If you do find yourself at the wrong end of an officials attention, try to bargain it out and don't take it personally, it's not, its just the system.

Q. What were the first modifications you made to your bikes for the trip?

A. The first few mod's we made were some of the easiest. We put on handle bar risers, which elevated the bars to make standing riding, when off-road easier and more relaxed. The side benefit is that by lifting your hands higher in proportion to your shoulders in normal seated riding, places more emphasis on your shoulders and stops tension building around your upper back and shoulder blade area. Well it has for us anyway.

Q. Have you changed your exhausts?

A. Yep! We knew we'd have no choice but to change the exhaust as the majority of countries we'd be riding in only offer leaded fuel. Catalytic converter (which both our bikes had) don't mix well with leaded fuel. In changing to an aftermarket system we also saved ourselves a few KG each, as the BMW systems are not the lightest in the world.

Lisa uses a Sebring system and I, until recently was using a Remus silencer with a straight through connecting tube. Now fitted to the bike is a hand built system by a firm in Cape Town called 'Torch', who have managed to built a lighter silencer and have raised the position of the silencer.

Q. Do you use auxiliary lights?

A. We try hard not to ride at night but occasionally we get caught out. We have fitted a pair of extra lights to the R1100GS...and wow, these things are bright.

We were sponsored a set of Hellas new Xenon lights prior to our leaving the UK and they have been brilliant. The have no light bulbs, so one less thing to break and they're pretty small and compact so minimizing the possibility of damage to the glass frontage from flying stones or debris in the road. These thing run at 25,000 volts and require converters to be fitted to elevate your bikes 12v up to the required power, but when these things light up, you feel like a 2 wheeled light house.

If you want a set e-mail Barry or Keith at SED Ltd (lighting specialist in the UK) at sed@anetonline.co.uk

Q. The BMW indicator lights are pretty long have you broken may sets?

A. Prior to leaving the UK, we'd both been through a few set, well enough to know that they needed adapting or changing completely. Here's how we did ours.

Cut the entire 'stalk' from the standard blinker light and then buy four of the special screws (the ones with the rubber bushing in the centre) that hold on the bash plate of the R1100/1150 GS. Attach the flexible bolt to your blinker light and the other into a drilled hole where you want you blinker light and then wire up as usual.

Q. Where do you store spares and extra cables?

A. All our spares for both bikes are stored in a water-proof roll bag on the back of the 1100GS. However, the extra cables are different.

If a cable goes and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere with the temperature soaring, you don't want to be hanging about. We've simply zip tied our spare cables, right alongside our existing one (pre-routed) so when they're need, installing them is simply a case of attaching both ends.

Q. Is it better to fly or ship bikes?

A. How big is your budget? We shipped the bikes from Cape Town, South Africa to Buenos Aires in Argentina, due to the high cost of flying. But given the chance we'd have flown.

The big benefit of flying opposed to shipping is speed. Generally the bike is loaded onto the plane, flown to the destination and unloaded within a 24-36 hour period. If you're talking about shipping, time is usually in terms of weeks not hours.

The unloading proccess is also particulary less painfull. With air-frieghted business the faster the turnaround the better the profit, so the faster they can unload the plane, and in your case your bike, the happier they are. Shipped frieght business just doesn't work that way. It's not unusual for a ship to dock and take days or weeks to unload. Perishable cargo is unloaded first and then other high priority cargo. Unless you er...financially encourage the right offical to prioritise your machine, it's going to be fairly low on the priority list.

Note

TIP: We nquired to the ship owners to the possiblity of getting on board the ship with the bikes....on some kind of wokring passage deal. Knowing full wel that this had been done in the past.

We got back a resounding 'NO'. Since Sept 11th all Ports are cracking down on security and working passages are no longer allowed - well TransAtlantically anyway.

Q. Who did you ship to Buenos Aires with & why?

A. We spent quite a few weeks in Cape Town talking with the various shipping companies and finally chose KUEHNE + NAGEL, a well known global shipping firm. At the end of the day they offered us the best price and provided the best reassurance of the bikes getting to BA safely. We'd been warned of the various problems of shipping and a major benefit offered by K+N was that they operated offices at both ends, in Cape Town and BA. Generally the fewer seperate companies that are involved in the transporting of your bike the less it's likely to cost you and the safer you'll be. For us being able to hold one company accountable through the entire process had a good deal of appeal.

K+N offered us another benefit we appreciated. Every internet post we read and conversation we'd had re: shipping had left us with the warning of hidden costs. Remember a hidden cost can just be an additional service that is mandatory and just not mentioned on the departure side. Low and behold when your bikes gets where it's going you have all the additional 'destination charges' that double your original estimate. K+N confirmed all the destination charges and allowed us to pre-pay them in Cape Town. We also liked the idea that we were dealing with the shippers direct and not using an agent, who may make things a little easier but who will also cost you more and of course who will deny all responsibility if things go wrong.

Useful adresses & contact info:

Q. What are destination charges?

A. These are charges levied by the recieving dock and freight transporter once your machine gets to its destination, A destination charge can also be a goverment charge...there seems to be an endless list of these.

Heres a list of the official destination fees given to us prior to departure by K+N and the cost to us in Rand. If you have additional charges then I'd question them. When we got the quote back from K+N we were 'gob-smacked'

Q. How is the shipping charge calculated?

A. The actual shipping charge is calculated by the shipper either by weight or volume depending on which is higher.

We were charged at 140 Rand per cubic metre, which came to 910 Rand per bike.

You should request for a written quote and when comparing costs between companies make sure that they include all of the destination costs such as agent handling charges, unloading charges, import customs clearance fees (ie. import taxes and duties as well as any customs ordered inspection). If you manage to get a quote for a global sum make sure it states the cargo being shipped, from where and to what destination as well as state what the quoted price includes, such as 'includes ocean freight charges, export documentation, customs clearance, express mailing of documents to agent (if they use one)' but if the quote does not inlcude destination charges it should state 'but does not inlcude destination charges'....then ask them what they are and if you can have them included and pay them in advance! See above section.

TIP: A standard wooden crate you use for shipping will be 2.5 metres long, 1 metre wide and 1.3 metres tall.

This is a total of 6.5cubic metres. This is the same size as the crate your local dealer gets their new bikes delivered in, whether they're Honda's Yamaha's or BMW's.

Q. Who crated your bike and what kind of bike preparations did you make before shipping?

A. We crated the bikes ourselves. We simply rode the bikes down to the docks, to the address given to us by K+N, built the crates on site, rolled the bikes and strapped them down.

As far as bike prep' goes we did very little. We'd read that the bikes were meant to be completely drained of fuel, oil, etc and that the battery was supposed to be disconnected and packed seperately. At the dock side no-one asked us