Double hard bastard

**inlinefour** · 27th May 2005, 17:33

Would have to take a dense person to think that they would get a bike through that...

**Wolf** · 27th May 2005, 21:32

Originally Posted by XP@

it is approx 18,000 kms so at an easy 1000km/day 18 days.

Is the Aussie speed limit significantly greater than 100kph? 1000km at NZ legal road speed is 10 hours in the saddle - if you don't have to slow down for anything.

Depending on the terrain and obstructions (like cities) you'd be pretty lucky to average 70-80km/h assuming you're not exceeding 100kph on the open road - assuming that is the Aussie limit and you don't want to spend all your travelling funds on propping up the Australian economy...

Personally, I take rest breaks to allow blood flow into the nether regions occasionally so if you add even two hours and you don't drop below 100km/h, you might manage a thousand k's in an "easy" 12-hour day...

You're a definite double-hard bastard, XP@, I'd hate to follow you on a hard ride.

Of course, it depends on the bike - 6 hours to Palmerston North from Hamilton is a "hard" ride on the LS400... and you eat dinner off the mantelpiece for the next two weeks...

**Jantar** · 27th May 2005, 21:56

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

That is quite a big ask. I'm pretty keen. How bout we start small and ride around the coast of NZ both Islands...... maybe this coming Summer????

Huh??

Yep, already planned for that. I'm looking at taking my wife for a NZ tour late october or early november. I'll post more closer to the time.

**Wolf** · 29th May 2005, 14:49

I bought a copy of Ted Simon's "Jupiter's Travels" and I'm now rereading it (last time I read it I was late teens/early twenties).

Ted rode a 500cc 1970's Triumph "Tiger Hundred" road bike 60,647 miles on his journey, encountering some of the worst "roads" on the planet - road suspension, contact-breaker ignition, road tyres, synchronised twin cylinders (a "single" split into 2 halves

) and heavily over-laden.

Ted was also not a particularly experienced rider when he started - he had scarcely got his licence when he embarked on his 4-year journey.

I figure a modern dual-purpose on/off road bike - with proper off-road suspension - would handle the varying terrain better; modern engines with CDI are more reliable (I doubt many factories these days would bugger up installing a seal as the Meridan plant did with Ted's Triumph); a proper twin would run smoother and proper choice of tyres (either 2 sets or a compromise) would improve handling off the tarmac roads.

Ted had a lot of spills that he probably would not have had if his bike's suspension, balance and tyres had been better suited to the tasks he was attempting - his descriptions of some of the roads sound more like trials courses or MX circuits than means of getting from A to B. He also had issues that he would not have had with a more reliable vehicle.

Ted also didn't have access to stuff we have now - light, compact thermal wear that's warmer than wool, modern gel batteries that don't require battery acid or water, modern plastics that don't shatter (unlike his fibreglass panniers), GPS navigation systems - the list goes on.

Even a 1980s BMW R80G/S "Paris-Dakar" would be an improvement on Ted's street bike; any modern Motard or Paris-Dakar-equipped bike would be great for handling the worse bits of the route as well as the tarmac.

These days it would be possible to lessen the chances of a lot of the problems Ted faced on his journey. It would still not be easy, you'd still have to ride fantastic distances, negotiate terrain that will challenge your bike (and your ability to handle it) and overcome other obstacles - language, border checks, officious and corrupt Iranian cops, etc - but you could at least remove a lot of annoyances with modern equipment.

I see no reason why a relatively experienced rider should not be able to perform a world tour on a decent off-road-capable bike with modern kit - look what Ted Simon achieved back in the 70's on a street bike.

**XP@** · 29th May 2005, 16:06

Originally Posted by Wolf

I bought a copy of Ted Simon's "Jupiter's Travels" and I'm now rereading it (last time I read it I was late teens/early twenties).

Ted rode a 500cc 1970's Triumph "Tiger Hundred" road bike 60,647 miles on his journey, encountering some of the worst "roads" on the planet - road suspension, contact-breaker ignition, road tyres, synchronised twin cylinders (a "single" split into 2 halves

) and heavily over-laden.

Ted was also not a particularly experienced rider when he started - he had scarcely got his licence when he embarked on his 4-year journey.

I figure a modern dual-purpose on/off road bike - with proper off-road suspension - would handle the varying terrain better; modern engines with CDI are more reliable (I doubt many factories these days would bugger up installing a seal as the Meridan plant did with Ted's Triumph); a proper twin would run smoother and proper choice of tyres (either 2 sets or a compromise) would improve handling off the tarmac roads.

Ted had a lot of spills that he probably would not have had if his bike's suspension, balance and tyres had been better suited to the tasks he was attempting - his descriptions of some of the roads sound more like trials courses or MX circuits than means of getting from A to B. He also had issues that he would not have had with a more reliable vehicle.

Ted also didn't have access to stuff we have now - light, compact thermal wear that's warmer than wool, modern gel batteries that don't require battery acid or water, modern plastics that don't shatter (unlike his fibreglass panniers), GPS navigation systems - the list goes on.

Even a 1980s BMW R80G/S "Paris-Dakar" would be an improvement on Ted's street bike; any modern Motard or Paris-Dakar-equipped bike would be great for handling the worse bits of the route as well as the tarmac.

These days it would be possible to lessen the chances of a lot of the problems Ted faced on his journey. It would still not be easy, you'd still have to ride fantastic distances, negotiate terrain that will challenge your bike (and your ability to handle it) and overcome other obstacles - language, border checks, officious and corrupt Iranian cops, etc - but you could at least remove a lot of annoyances with modern equipment.

I see no reason why a relatively experienced rider should not be able to perform a world tour on a decent off-road-capable bike with modern kit - look what Ted Simon achieved back in the 70's on a street bike.

It is easier than you think...

I met a petitte young german lady who took her brand new transalp to the german border in the back of a friends truck, cos she had no licence. Then started to ride, I met her in NZ.

Also, unless you really go looking for it, most roads are negotiable on street tyres. on a rtw trip there may only be a few that you need your TKC80's for. Same can be said for carrying massive tanks. from memory, there are only a few places in the world where you have more than 450kms with no option for petrol.

**Wolf** · 30th May 2005, 16:20

Originally Posted by XP@

Also, unless you really go looking for it, most roads are negotiable on street tyres. on a rtw trip there may only be a few that you need your TKC80's for. Same can be said for carrying massive tanks. from memory, there are only a few places in the world where you have more than 450kms with no option for petrol.

Yeah well, Ted Simon's journey was in the 1970s and roads the world over have changed - increases in the number of vehicles have forced the upgrading of a lot of roads here in NZ.

There would still be a few areas where the roads are crap - Sjaak Lucassen's video clip shows some pretty extreme roads where I'd rather ride a Road-Trail than an R1.

World Tours starting from New Zealand would take a bit of effort - you can't ride very far before having to put your bike into a shipping crate and send it overseas - and we're not just talking riding onto the Dover-Calais ferry.

World tours are best started in UK/Europe - you've got so many countries laid out before you and you can gain access to the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia for the price of your fuel and a few ferry crossings. From here you'd have to travel to Australia or the USA.

Nearest place would be Australia and then up through Indonesia, Singapore Malasia, Thailand etc to gain access to Africa, Middle East and Europe.

I wonder what the chances are of getting a boat to ferry a bike and rider accross the Bering Straight from Kamchatka to Alaska... might be a neat way to get from Europe to the Americas without long sea voyages or flights.

**XP@** · 30th May 2005, 17:01

Originally Posted by Wolf

Yeah well, Ted Simon's journey was in the 1970s and roads the world over have changed - increases in the number of vehicles have forced the upgrading of a lot of roads here in NZ.

There would still be a few areas where the roads are crap - Sjaak Lucassen's video clip shows some pretty extreme roads where I'd rather ride a Road-Trail than an R1.

World Tours starting from New Zealand would take a bit of effort - you can't ride very far before having to put your bike into a shipping crate and send it overseas - and we're not just talking riding onto the Dover-Calais ferry.

World tours are best started in UK/Europe - you've got so many countries laid out before you and you can gain access to the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia for the price of your fuel and a few ferry crossings. From here you'd have to travel to Australia or the USA.

Nearest place would be Australia and then up through Indonesia, Singapore Malasia, Thailand etc to gain access to Africa, Middle East and Europe.

I wonder what the chances are of getting a boat to ferry a bike and rider accross the Bering Straight from Kamchatka to Alaska... might be a neat way to get from Europe to the Americas without long sea voyages or flights.

If the dream came true then it dosent matter where you start from cos you will end in the same place :-)

starting an RTW from NZ, you would prob be best putting your bike on a boat to chillie in late october, tierra del fuego for christmas, then head up the americas for a year or so, ship over to the UK, then head on down via asia or africa to oz then back home.

Spend some time dreaming in www.horizonsunlimited.com

**crazylittleshit** · 30th May 2005, 17:04

Originally Posted by MSTRS

I know it's *only* a Yamaha - but a bloke could be charged with abuse doing that

There must be a law against it

**bungbung** · 27th August 2007, 13:36

I stumbled across the pic from the first page today on the interweb googled Sjaak Lucassen and found this thread.

I thought I'd dig this thread up.
If you've seen it recently, sorry
If you haven't, enjoy.