Monday 5 May 2008

Honda transalp in the Preseli mountains

Here we go here we go here we go... Bought my bike on Saturday and 5 hours later I was up in West Wales testing out my GPS, entertainment system and the bike. Turns out they all work very well except for maybe my choice in music!.

The bikes a 2005 Honda XL650V Transalp with 30k miles on the clock. Apart from an alarm the bike is completely standard and in very good condition with only a couple of scrapes on the bar ends.

Jenny, as she will be known from this point on (Named by Aileen I think), is a confidence inspiring bike. I felt so sure of my own ability on this bike that it made 70-80mph through the twisty welsh lanes feel slow and easy. If anything maybe a little too easy so it was time to find out if I would have the same confidence when riding off-road which I most definitely did not but here are some pictures just to prove that even an idiot like me can green lane with a bit of luck.































What I like about those photos is that they could be anywhere in the world! After reading so many blogs and looking at so many pictures of what other people have done it is really nice to see a photo of my bike on the rough stuff and upright!


Now for the technical stuff. The modifications I need to make before I leave:

Panniers:
Crash Bars:
Screen:
Some kind of charging system for my phone/GPS/Camera:
Hack off part of my exhaust system (for more MPG):
A proper METAL sump guard:
centre Stand:
Touring tyres:
Extra fuel tanks (at least 5 more likely 10 litres):
And more probably. I will update this post as I get the stuff done!

 
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