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- - RTW on my xt660z in lots photos & a few words... ( https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=18174)

Ecuador and the equator

from Ecuador to Columbia

read the fine print...

Loving the photos Paul - what a trip!

You asked about some recommended bike mods - but I'd say yours is well sorted for overlanding as it is - good combo of locking hard luggage low down (for security away from the bike), and a rack on the back for soft bags...

Scottoiler is handy (although I have never bothered with them), as is the centre stand - saves having to improvise when tyre changing etc.

I see you had a problem with your hand-guards - fwiw, they do look like a BMW set... If anyone is looking for a recommendation, personally, I like the Barkbuster Storm guards - they have a metal spine plus nice deep shields to keep the weather off you. That said, the KTM plastic ones are a very good budget (all plastic) option, and can be fitted with the stock bar-end weights too of course.

I think the only upgrade I'd make is perhaps some larger footpegs? - personally I like the IMS Superstock pegs (which I fitted to my rally bike), although previously I had Pivot Pegz fitted for my USA trip, and they worked well too.

One other thing people might want to consider is foam grips - they really do help with fatigue over long distances, even if they feel a bit 'remote' initially... That said, if you are sticking to your 200 mile per day schedule, the stock [rubber] grips are going to be fine, and you can use heaters with those as you say. As for replacements - I hear good things about the Pro Taper grips that have lots of little squares on them - meant to be very comfortable.

Oh, and Super-Sprox rear sprockets seem to last forever - I jst had a look at mine that was one the bike for 5000 miles on Heroes-Legend (a lot of sand!), then another 2000 miles after that and it still looks like new!

Looking forward to your further updates!

Jenny xx

PS. if anyone is interested, I found you can run 100w headlight bulbs on the Tenere with no problems at all. However, an equally impressive mod is to alter the wiring so the low beam stays on when you switch to high beam (wouldn't necessarily recommend that with 100w bulbs mind you!) - I think GLUGo did a how-to on here somewhere?

If you want auxiliary lights, I like the Vision-X Solstice LED lights - very well made, compact and bright... go for the spot version, or perhaps one of each to supplement the headlights...

have a look at my mod and upgrade thread a few of your answers/ suggestions are on there ... http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=18703

i did run a scott oiler but i took it off, not impressed, it would be great for around town on roads, but on sand, dusty, dirty roads it makes dirt stick on the chain and increases chain wear dramatically

i used JT sprockets, i got 35,000 miles on my front and around 24,000 on the rear

Ah, didn't realise it was a different thread... I was distracted by the pretty pictures!

Jx

watch this space there are hundreds more to comes, or is that thousands...

so this'll be lunch in Columbia then? Yep! this guy lived on hill side and he had a small lake in his back yard with the fish in it, and on the roadside he was also the chef

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...1030510-X2.jpg

sadly from the previous nights torrential rain my camera was damaged and even though i was taking lots of photos only some of them came out (new camera ready for me in the states so i wasn't going to buy on in central america

this is a normal sight in Columbia because of the rain, good thing is they are very quick to clean up landslides, this one though i was there first

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...1030507-X2.jpg

anyone up for riding this?

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...1030504-X2.jpg
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...armenia-X2.jpg

...and small wildlife

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...1030515-X2.jpg
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/RidingRTW/c...1030523-X2.jpg

great photos,nice trip:) how many miles have you passed on this journey?
it seems to me that you are planing to pass through croatia?