Bike & Preparation

The time spent agonising over what bike to use on a trip like this, can easily end up being as long as the trip itself!....and there is no shortage of advice & models to choose from now that 'Adventure' bikes have become de rigueur!

In my case it was a little simpler as for my trip to Thailand, it clearly had to be a Triumph!  By way of explanation, one finds that as an expat that one develops quite a strong fondness for the mother country and the iconic brands you grew up with, like these ....

Two of those products I was lucky enough to actually had a hand in making for several years.  It's also interesting to note, that the 2 on the left now both have major factories in Thailand and that the most famous of Yorkshire bitters is now made in the Midlands - how time moves on!  Which is why, of course, I needed to buy a new bike for this trip - what impeccable logic!

I was already riding a Thai registered Triumph Bonneville, when when this trip was conceived.
I did consider using the Bonnie for the journey, it would have managed very well I am sure.  The bonnie is a great bike for hot developing countries, plenty of power, a great design, very manoeuvrable and what it lacks in ground clearance and suspension travel it makes up for in low centre of gravity and seat height.
I had taken it down some pretty gnarly tracks in Thailand over the years and even ridden though the Thai floods in 2011 & lived to tell the tale.

However, Bonnie was 5 years old and I had put 50000km on the clock so I decided to sell her and buy something new and a bit more 'designed for purpose'  - so I bought a Tiger 800 XC.

I had ridden the standard 800 in Thailand quite a few times and loved it, the XC for me just looked a little better, had slightly longer suspension and a bigger front wheel (for those inevitable lumps & bumps).  The XC, though, does of course mean you need to sleep suspended upside down  from your ankles for a few weeks to gain the extra leg length required!

And here she is at just a couple of weeks old ...

Now the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted that the 'farkeling' had already started.  At the time of writing, I've already fitted the following in readiness for the trip;

• crash bars & bash plate
• heavier duty hand guards
• heated grips & fog lights
• off road pegs
• gps mount
• semi-auto chain oiler
• pannier frames & panniers
• better screen

Still to come are headlight guard, stronger radiator guard, light weight silencer, semi-off road tyres, folding gear lever.  The top box will be replaced by a roll pack I think - the box is its handy to have for helmet storage & Tesco shopping, but way too high & heavy for a long trip down dodgy roads!

I have only done about 4000 mile on her since new so she should run the course without an major failures.  I will get the 12000 service done jus before I leave so I only have the intermediate oil changes etc to worry about en route.

The Tiger performed faultlessly and also took me on a subsequent trip around the North Coast 500 in Scotland and then down through France & Spain to Morocco.  After 2 years and with 35000 miles on the clock it was time for a change, and the Tiger went to new owner, who was planning a very similar long trip of his own.

I didn't know it at the time but, a move to the dark side was heading my way ......