Since returning from the lake, I have been able to catch up on my postings to the site, and made a few changes to the route map page, downloading a set of maps that rather than show my entire planned route on one map, are separated by continent… This should make it a whole lot easier to see where it is I am planning to ride…
I have also managed to update the Bike & Gear page, and have finally listed all the kit I am carrying around the globe… I will also download a few photos of the way the panniers and other luggage has been loaded…
The Big Fella has also had an opportunity to “take a break”, and yesterday had his oil changed ! Yup, did it all myself… Do I hear a few gasps from the folk who thought I couldn’t do it… Actually, it is probably the simplest thing you can do on a bike… In my case it was four bolts to remove the bash plate, and then remove the sump plug, and “Bob’s your Auntie”… (Assuming he has breasts…!)
With not a BMW technician in sight, I do the oil change myself !!
Francis and the Big Fella, February 2008...
Francis and the Big Fella, March 2010...
Then Francis the gardener, got busy with the hosepipe, and together we gave the bike a thorough cleaning… I parked the bike on the exact spot it had stood in when he had performed the same task in 2008… Deja vu… No ?? We cleaned the panniers, ridding them of the corpses of insects collected from three or four countries… We pottered about happily for over an hour, and as a reward, I offered Francis a ride around the garden…
“Eh… No Bwana… This machine is too big…!!” was his reply, his eyes darting about in his head as he shook it from side to side… I took the bike into town to refuel, and on my return, saw Francis standing by the garage with a hopeful look on his face…
“Have you changed your mind, Francis…?” I asked.
“Yes, Bwana…!”, and with a hop, skip, and a jump, he clambered up behind me. We roared off down the driveway, and then around the neigbourhood for a short while… The only sound that came out of his mouth was a strange “chirping” like noise… I gave the throttle a sharp twist and saw his feet come up past my elbows, as the Big Fella rocketed down the road… On our return to the house, he jumped off the bike and jabbered non-stop to the carpenter, for a full five minutes… Clearly it was something he would never forget…which gave me a good feeling…
After parking the bike, I sat down to plan the next leg of my ride, which would take me through to Rwanda and Burundi, via Tanzania. I sent an email to Steve Luker in Dar-es-Salaam, inquiring about the state of the roads in central Tanzania, and one of his replies had me a little concerned…
“Manyoni to Singida has a few dirt sections but is otherwise mostly tarred… Do not attempt this road after dusk without armed escorts…”
My planned route from Lilongwe to Kigali in Rwanda...(2450 km...)
Mmmm… An interesting development to say the least…!! I thought I only had to worry about northern Kenya and parts of Sudan…!! The alternative route would add another few hundred kilometres to my ride, and another night out in the middle of nowhere, so I have decided to chance my original route… I checked to see where fuel could be bought and worked out how often I must refuel… I can only hope that the info I have is accurate, and will not have a repeat of the Namibia fiasco, where all my maps showed fuel at Witvlei, and when I arrived there, I found that the service station had closed four years previously !!
Today I will pack all my gear onto the bike, and hopefully tonight Peter will bring the tyres I have been waiting for, so that I can find a place to strap them on as well… That should be interesting !! The tyres left South Africa a few days before the Easter weekend, and the driver has probably had to contend with a few unforeseen delays, such as the odd party in Harare and perhaps some horizontal entertainment in Tete… The truck arrived at the border yesterday, was cleared through customs and will be offloaded here in Lilongwe during the course of the day…
With the spare shocks I am carrying, and now a set of tyres, 20 kgs will have been added to the weight of the bike… I had hoped that the bike would get lighter, the further I traveled !! I have already ridden over 13 500 km on the set of Anakee 2’s that I have on the bike, and will need to cover another 4 200 km before I have them changed in Nairobi… I have achieved this mileage due to the advice of Steve Eilertsen, of African Long Distance and Off Road Riding Academy, who explained that tyre pressure was one of the most important factors which I needed to consider, when trying to get as much life and distance out of my tyres as was possible.
I will upload a separate post detailing Steve’s advice later today…
© GBWT 2010
key to all this is: never travel with armed escorts. I learned this long ago. They take too much time talking and cleaning their guns. They’ve become so complacent that often there is NEVER any conflict, unless one is carrying large cargo of items that are easily sold through the black and white markets in Africa. But mostly they smoke cigarettes, through plastic bags into the environment and have no respect for peacekeeping motorcycle humanitarian evangelists.
As for the problem of carrying 40 kilos of questionable cargo, and we know these are not the types of kilos that unwelcome bandits are looking for on Tanzanian backroads. No it maybe a shock to you that the road, while dirt in sections, might be okay with your suspension and if you are careful with your tyre pressure I don’t think you’ll have any punctures. But if you must retyre, do it with grace and style in the way that I’ve come to expect and notice from the Dark Destroyer: Motogypsybiker.
Ride safe and remember: you can shock the monkey. errrr baboon, but don’t you dare feed it.
I also like how you’ve taken liberty with your spelling and perhaps hinting at your political leanings as you discuss your Michelins. Anarkee? God Save The Queen!
Ok… Anakee…. Better ??
But can you punish the monkey, and let the organ grinder go…?