CarelCronje

Hi guys

So in Desember I wanna take a road trip from South Africa to Namibia and then to Botswana. There will be a fair amount of dirt road ridding during this trip -50%. The trip will be 3 weeks and we are go to sleep in tents and lodges where we can.
Now I wanna know what extra mods can I do to the bike to make this trip?
I've been to a shop this weekend and gave them my list of mods:

1- crashbars
2- better touring screen, thinking of a Puig screen
3- spot lights
4- tank bag
5- gps mount
6- bash plate
What do you guys think, will it work?

Thanks

willmac

Change of tires ?

CarelCronje

Im still looking at the different options of tires

Jokeshopbeard

Additional fuel storage

gatdammit

Buy a Bimmer? Only half-joking

- Hard luggage. If you dump it the stock bags wont last long
- Bar risers. I'm not very tall and I can barely ride this bike on the pegs
- Front suspension. I don't think the stockers are up to 50% off-road
- Driving lamps. Pretty sure there won't be a lot of street lamps and the stock light blows

Tires and fuel are probably most important. If you're conditions are anything like "Long Way Down", they struggled on bikes made for dual-sport.

CarelCronje

Thanks gatdammit, I was thinking about the bar riser today and I definitely give it try. What brand hard luggage can I look at? And what do you think about my list? Sorry that I asking you all the questions, seems like you know your stuff.

CarelCronje

And its not going tonbe that exteme as long way down

monocog007

Not many options for hard bags. Practically none that bolt on.

Pretty soon here I will be attempting to custom-fit some pelican iM2450 cases on either side of the bike.

gatdammit

Hard side luggage requires aftermarket brackets. Fitting a hard top case isn't that difficult. Lot's of those answers with write-up on the forum.

Full disclosure: I've never done any serious off-roading on my Strada. Just been on this forum a looooooong time. User 'Jerdog' is probably the most experienced.

appliance821

A lot of adventure riders do not like hard cases: They can be wide, catch on stuff, break, and can cause physical harm if they catch your leg the wrong way. It's a debate - it'll go on till the end of time.

I'd look at Mosko Moto's stuff link: All Products | Mosko Moto particularly the reckless bags. Unlike giant loop they're not one long tube - they're very clever.

Depending on how much you're carrying , a couple of sealine type waterproof bags and a couple of sets of rok straps works well. I use a couple of sets of rok straps, so one set holds my main bag down, the other holds a smaller bag or a jacket, that I might want to access on the road. It also gives some back-up. The whole set up could be about $100.00 US

The only drawback is heavy stuff would be high off the ground.

A hybrid solution might be a set of something like this: Skyline Saddle Bags | Wolfman Luggage
with the sealine bags (http://www.amazon.com/SealLine-Baja-...waterproof+bag). Keep the heavy stuff in the saddle bags (and easy access water , snacks etc.) and put the tent etc. in the waterproof duffles.

I use sealine, but any boating supply catalog will have a nice selection of this kind of stuff, and it's usually cheaper than motorcycle stuff. The rok straps make it all work.