Category Archives: bike

bike, Photos, Portugal

DCT issue

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The DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) on my Honda started to have an issue. The last few days the gear switching was not smooth and fast anymore and sometimes there was a clicking noise.
I had an issue with it at around 80’000km in Australia and fixed it in Chile, but then I couldn’t switch down anymore when riding in traffic and the motor got warm.

So I thought this was a different issue. I resetted the DCT and it felt better. But soon after the 4th gear got stuck! So it indeed was the same issue: the electric motor for switching the gears was worn out again! Back in Chile they cleaned and refurbished the e-motor, but now at 145’000km it was time for a replacement. I got a used one with about 25’000km on the clock for 200€ (new one would be twice as much).
Everything is smooth again now 🙂


bike, Photos, Portugal

New side panniers

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I bought some new Givi side panniers!
the old ones were bent, broken, water leaked inside and not secure anymore.

it felt like moving to another home 🙂

Thanks RODaventura for organizing the new boxes so quickly.


bike, ElSalvador, Guatemala

New shoes for my baby

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My AfricaTwin needed some new tyres. But they are hard to find in Centro America. Fortunately I got a contact in Guatemala City. He’s name is Cisco and he rides a BMW 800GS. After some calls he found a rear Heidenau K60 Scout in San Salvador and he still had a front Heidenau for his own bike but sold it to me 🙂

So I put on the back one in El Salvador and the front in Guatemala.

I don’t really like those Heidenau Scouts, they vibrate a lot and the front wiggles pretty hard some times. But they do a lot of kilometers, should easily go for 20000km!

Unfortunately my front forks started to leak again! It’s already the 5th time! But fortunately Honda had them on stock! So a quick visit in Guatemala City to replace he seals and I also got some spares for the next time!


 

bike, Photos, Thailand

Motorbike service, replacements and repairs

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Since China, the front forks were leaking oil.
It could temporarily be fixed in Luang Prabang, Laos. But as they didn’t have new seals it started to leak again a few weeks later. No chance to find a descent motorbike mechanic with the right parts in Laos or Cambodia, as they only sell bikes up to 250ccm!


I was looking forward to Thailand to do proper maintenance, replacing some parts and finally fix the leaking.  So I went to the Honda Dealer ‘BigWing’ in Pattaya.

It was the worst Honda service ever!
I had to tell them exactly what to do! They did not have a list of what is to do at the official Honda service intervals! Basically they  just replaced the oil. But didn’t check the brakes or the condition of the bike in general. They didn’t even know the official Honda service booklet!
I then requested that they also clean the airfilters, fix the parking brake and the leaking front forks.
So they took apart the front fender to only realize that they don’t have new seals! And they were not able to put it correctly back together, I had to show them how to do it!
And they didn’t have any spare parts at all, although they sell one AfricaTwin a week! No seals, no chains or sprockets, no brake pads, nothing!


Fortunately the JP Rider shop nearby could organize a chain and sprockets and Oleg knew a tyre dealer in Bangkok (29tire.com).


But I still needed to get the forks fixed! So I got in contact with another Honda BigWing dealer in south of Thailand in Phuket, which ordered the parts and said they will arrive in a week. It took finally two weeks for them to arrive! (they are not shipping from Japan but are produced in Thailand!)

When I finally arrived at BigWing Phuket, they didn’t want to fix the fork that day! I guess it’s too much work for a Saturday… I should come back next week. But they are closed until Thursday because of holidays!
Again I was lucky and found a very good shop nearby called ‘StreetBiker’ which did it right away in two hours. He worked really professionally, had all the proper tools and cleaned every part he got in his hands!


 

 

 

bike

Motorcycle addons

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some usefull stuff I added to my CRF1000 Africa Twin.

  • GIVI crashbars (lower TN1151, upper TNH1144)
    probably the best crashbars for now.
  • GIVI sidestand foot (ES1144)
    already lost in Bosnia… now got one from Touratech
  • GIVI side case racks MONOKEY (PL1144CAM)
    great locking system for adding and removing the panniers without tools, but secured with keys.
  • GIVI side cases Trekker Outback (left 48L OBK48AL, right 37L OBK37AR)
    the 48 litre box is really big!
  • elastic nets for Trekker Outback cases (E144)
    a must have to use the space in the lids.
  • 3x cherry can holders (E148)
    two for fuel cherry cans, one for oil and other stuff.
  • 2x cherry cans 2.5l (TAN01)
  • GIVI top case rack (SR1144 & aluminium plate M8A)
    you don’t really need SR1144, just drill holes into the original Honda rack.
  • GIVI top case Trekker Outback 42L (OBK42A)
    same key as the side cases
  • GIVI small tank bag (EA106B)
    I don’t like big tank bags. this one is usefull for little things like sunglasses and holding the phone/camera/etc while charging.
  • 2x Tool Tube
    one in the back left with tools, one on the front right with some spare parts.
  • Touratech handlebar riser (01-402-5255-0)
  • Touratech head light protector (01-402-5095-0)
    I used to have the makrolon version, but it got dull in a sand storm…
  • Unifilter Air Filter (01-402-0870-0)
    the Australians know how to make solid air filters.
  • Hepco & Becker hand guards (4212994 00 01)
    I like the look of the original Honda hand guards, so I went for these instead of Acerbis.
  • Oxford heated grips (50230000283)
    the original Honda heated grips are so bad, even with the replacement control unit. go for the Oxfords!
  • sheep fur (from IKEA)
    for my sensible ass…
  • Airhawk air cussion (added later in the trip)

these are some spare parts I took with me on the great journey:

  • front and back tubes 👍
  • brake lever
  • throttle cable
  • oil filter 👍
  • fuel filter
  • brake pads (front only) 👍
  • wheel bearings 👍
  • fuses
  • front fork seals 👍 (replaced about 5 times)

the parts marked with an 👍 are the ones I needed on the trip and was glad I had them with me!