We are a Romanian couple of architects: Ionut, riding the bike and Ana, bickering in the back. Fuelled by Sir David Attenborough's documentaries, an Achilles tendon rupture and past travels to Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and South-East Asia, here we are, daring ourselves to make a dream come true. We've been thinking about this trip for two years and preparing for it for one and, after another freak motor accident that postponed our departure by over 9 months, we finally loaded our Yamaha Tenere motorbike in a van and left Bucharest on the 11th of June. A car broken down and a two-day "cruise" by ferry from Livorno to Tanger later, we begin our trans-Africa biking adventure with a warm up month in Morocco.



With over 6 years of riding under my belt, mostly on street bikes, this time I have chosen the Tenere for our 2-up RTW trip, knowing that there is no perfect bike, only the will do do something like this. The soul of my first totaled Tenere is alive in the current motorbike, after I did an engine swap to a newer, but with higher mileage 2010 machine.


The first Tenere had just arrived.

GPS mount and weather proof case.

First Tenere outside our garage. Custom Leo Cans just mounted.

Supersporx. Scottoiler injector. In the meantime the new bike has a touring Scottoiler and a custom dual-injector.

Upgrading the suspension to Hyperpro Combo kit. Thanks to HYPERPRO





Alu short brake and clutch lever.

Unifilter foam filter.

The CRASH.



The second Tenere just arrived. The soul of the crashed Tenere in the back, days from being transplanted to the new one.

The bike has the following mods/ upgrades:
- front + rear steel braided brake hose
- high Givi windshield
- GPS mount + direct battery charger with backup system
- custom-made radiator protection
- G-IT aluminum engine shield + crashbar combo (from AdventureSpec)
- MK3 pivot pegs
- Unifilter foam air filter
- Kev mod (from xt660.com)
- Renthal Dakar fatbar with KTM plastic handguards, alu short brake and clutch lever and rallyride foam grips
- Hein Greike tankbag
- custom made dual Leo Vince SBK exhausts (with custom dB killer)
- 14 tooth JT front sprocket
- touring Scottoiler
- custom rack for aluTech 41l cases
- Hepko & Becker Gobi topcase
- 150W inverter for gizmo charging
- Hyperpro suspension upgrade (front progressive springs with 15W oil and rear progressive spring)
Also we carry loads of tools and parts, along with a change of knobbies for later. Fitness preparation aside, we are geared up with these essentials and geeky things:
- The North Face Roadrunner 3 seasons lightweight tent
- The North Face Twin Peaks -7 degrees resistant 2 person sleeping bag + MSR silk liner + Mammoth self-inflating mats
- MSR stove for cooking, stainless steel pot, knife, 2x petzl + extra torchlight, binoculars, machete, compass, MSR pactowels, compression + dry sacks, water filter + purifying tablets
- foto: 5DMKII + 20D bodies, 24 f/1.4, 70-200 f/2.8, Sigma 10-20 F/4-5.6; Polaroid Pogo printer; 13" Macbook; GPS
- first aid kit (sterile bandage, scissors, sterile needles + anesthetic, bethadine, Baneocin, Clartec antihistaminic, Malarone, diarrhea pills, calcium, rehydratable powder, antibacterial gel, Siddhaleppa ayurvedic balm for pains/flu/insect bites, thermometer, 50% DDET mosquito repellant, 50+ sunscreen, eye drops, antibiotics, aspirin, Ibuprofen, talc, medical tape); moto wear: Arai Tour X3 + Shoei XR1100 helmets, Rev'It Offtrack jacket + Sand pants and Turbine ladies combo with Gaerne boots; other stuff: 3 tshirts each, swimming suit, moto socks + gloves, cotton Thai pants, slippers, 1 pair shorts each, 3 pairs knickers each, scarf, 1 bed sheet (very useful for picnics and as sun/wind shield), sunglasses, spare of clear visor for rider, lots of GPS maps, PDF books and guides. In Mauritania we started carrying a 5l jerrycan with gas and a 5l raffia-insulated plastic can with water (hint from locals). Usually we bushcamp, or stay in campings when in cities, from time to time stopping for a refreshing night or two in a auberge. We eat where the locals do, in markets and street food stalls and restaurants, but we love to cook when fresh produce is available. 7000km into the trip, we had little maintenance and servicing to do: a change of oil, change of chain (freak thing, a fairly new one, it got stiffer and stiffer with o-rings falling off), replacing the chain safetypin (fish-pin fell possibly due to offroading).


Bushcamping in Rabat.

We miss our kitchen.

Our mule heavily loaded.

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Into the World // Riding Africa
over 40000km // over 30 countries
2 people // one bike
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