Prepping for Round the world help please.
 

Hi All,
We are prepping two XTR's for our trip and although we are not new to big trips we are new to XT Ownership - had ours 8months.

Any one got any advice on spares we should take apart from the usual service items?

We are replacing fork seals before we leave, any idea how far OE seals should last?
New brake pads all round, new chain and sprockets.
Re-pack all bearings and clean and grease all electrical contacts etc.
Full service before departure.

Spares that we plan to take are,

1 x spare K&N filter each
3 x oil filters each
1 x set inner tubes each
1 x set cables between us
1 x set brake pads between us
1 x spark plug each
1 x set leavers between us
1 x set wheel bearings between us
1 x reg/rect between us
Misc - fuses,nuts and bolts,cable ties,duct tape,rad weld,liquid metal etc etc.

Does the XT have any seals - gaskets - relays or any other issue that crops up over high mileage?

Bike one is on 8000 miles and bike two is on 3000 miles and our first eg is to OZ so about 15000 miles needs to be factored in.

Also how strong are the stock wheels - any probs?

Thanks in advance every body.

Paul and Angie

crossing deep water seams to be a problem air box snorkels quiet low .maybe change the handle bars and get a louder horn

Cheers Tricky, done the bars, Renthals and the horns are on our very long TO DO LIST.

Thanks for the reply, i will research the snorkel thing.

Just make sure to check all the nuts and bolts before you leave and also every week or so. Did some off roading in mid England over easter and had both the bolts that hold my RHS exhaust remove themselves and therefore bye bye exhaust.

I just had my RHS fork seal let go at around 38k miles. Ive done 4 full days off roading, plenty of wheelies and alot of fast/rough riding so i think they should last long enough.

The wheels are ok but not the best, as long as your not racing along they will take the knocks and rattles ok.

The engines, clutch, gears etc all seem ok the main problem i had with mine have been electrics and bearings in the wheels/rear sprocket.

Depending on the amount of off roading your planning on doing i would either bring another set of front pads ie 1 set each then a set of rears between the two of you.

Apart from that the usual, bash plate, foldly brake and gear levers, new rubber and plenty of petrol. Done:notworthy[1]:

My fork seal went at 20k so I also fitted fork gators while the forks were off to protect the seals better. Most off road bikes have them, they came from M&P and were a cheap investment I think.

Thanks Max and Bart, the folding leavers and fork gators are both solid ideas and i will do both.

Great news on the longevity of parts, if we can get to OZ without needing much work it will be a big load off.

Thanks

Paul and Angie

ps we will post our bike prep details with pics in about a months time.

if you.ve got wheel adjusters stripped down blast some cavity wax up inside the swinging arm its a bit of a rust trap on the xtr.s if you can get it wurth sells cavity wax in standard size arasols sit it in some warm water first and it.ll spray better good for all the non seen bits as well like under the tank and sump plate

Tape or cable tie your spare cables on to the existing ones, saves time if you need to do a quick roadside swap and you can remove the damaged original at your convenience, also stick a bit of solder (you can melt it with a lighter/match) and some heatshrink tubing into you tool kit.

I don't know if this applies to everyone who does long trips, but I'm going through the rigorous process of safety wiring most bits on my bike. I've done it on all my sport bikes, not the XTR though.

http://www.sportrider.com/suspension...ues/index.html

All advice is good, thanks

Hi,

We're currently 7000km into our trip on 2 XTR's and agree with everything above. We've found the bikes to incredibly tough despite a few drops and being hit by a cab!

I'd recommend some Barkbusters id you haven't already got them. They're really very strong, we got them and didn't bother carrying spare levers.

I'd also advise upgrading from the stock bashplate as the stock one's rubbish.

If you can get hold of some Slime to stick in your tubes, I'd definitely do it.

And as has already been said above, loctite your bolts, particularly those on any pannier frames etc you might attach as they will rattle themselves loose surprisingly quickly!

I'd also look at padding the seat as we've found it's not the comfiest especially after a few hours in the saddle. Seat hawks are apparently good but bloody expensive, personally I'd opt either for some sort of gel seat or simply get a sheep skin. (we're about to get them for ours) - you can even get them in the living hell that is Ikea if you're brave enough to venture in!

Other than that, the bikes are practically bullet proof and you certainly won't regret your choice. Get in touch if you want to know anything else.

Good luck!

Thanks Bob,

Yes we have Barkbusters fitted and Metal mule bash plates. Great minds think alike - we have bought a black sheep skin but not made our covers yet.
Good nod on the locktite on the racks - i had forgot to do that. Do you know what mpg you averaging ?
Do you have a blog? what is your route?

Thanks again


Paul and Angie

On my england trip i averaged between 60-78mpg all depending on city or open motorway traffic all day. got 78mpg when i filled up and just spent the full tank on the motorway at 65mph.

with the k&n air filter and the iridium spark plug i do about 15-20 miles before the fuel fight goes on( comparing with the original air filter and plug)

Radu I do 130 miles before the light comes on,, 15 to 20 is really bad.. what size o tank have ye,, are ye sure its not a fairy liquid bottle painted up...

ha :lol: ha, i do 15-20 miles more then with the normal filter and spark plug, which i think is so-so for london (about 120-125 miles/tank before the light goes on)

Thats better............ :typing[1]:

Hi Paul & Angie,

Sorry for the incredibly late reply - a combination of excuses but mostly my crapness!

To answer your questions, we tend to get about 30km per litre (sorry we're runnnig mettric as once you leave the UK it all is) fully loaded which doesn't seem to change much weather cruising on tarmac or in the dirt on mountains so our light comes on at about 260-270km giving us a little over 400km to tank (we also carry a plastic 5 ltr jerry can for those places where we need it.
Our route is UK - Turkey, Caspian Sea - Stans - China - Pakistan - India (where we currently are) Nepal - SE Asia to Singapore and who knows where after that!

And yes, we have a blog, feel free to have a look and pepper with questions you might have. It's motoventurers.com