|
23 MARCH 02 - VISA ALL THE WAY TO THE USA Today sent off Visa Applications for
22 MARCH 02 - NAILING DOWN THE PARTS LIST After numerous telephone calls from the GS riders on the Nick Saunders World Expedition asking me what spares am I taking, I thought it was time to "Nail Down my Spare List" so this is what I have to date:
Just some of the spares Many thanks again to Ron Simpson for donating for Monika's Bike a new Remus Exhaust System and a Y piece and MRA Screen for Sir Alex. SPC have also promised to supply us both Ohlin Suspension and after hearing about the roads in Kazakhstan the sooner they arrive the better.
11 MARCH 02 - FINAL ELECTRICAL MODIFICATIONS Having now fitted the panniers I shall return to Lee Bastins just before the Start of RWT to have the Electrical Inverter fitted and to have Battery Disconnect socket fitted !
11 MARCH 02 - STAGE ONE - VISA APPLICATIONS. At last, and ahead of schedule we have started the visa process. Yesterday we applied for the Russian Visa Invitations, $280.00 for two, which we except to receive via fax within the next 14 days. When we receive our Russian Visa invitations, we will then apply for the Baltic's, Kazakhstan, its our intention to get the Mongolia Visa whilst we are in Russia. We couldn't imagine being more happy than we are right now. Isn't life great, when you have something fantastic to look forward too?
08 MARCH 02 - JESSE BRACKET MODIFICATION Look what we are doing to Monika's Sponsored 650 GS ! Well done James for fabricating a new bracket for Monika's GS. The modification allows the Jesse Luggage to fit with the Remus Exhaust.
08 MARCH 02 - SPC Today I got home to find Bill from Ocean BMW - Plymouth had a left a message on the phone for me to contact him. As they are located only five mile up the road, I decided I would ride up there to see what was up. I arrived on site to see the usual community of happy faces of staff and riders alike, most of which were huddled around the new adventurer discussing how great it looked. I located Bill at the parts desk and asked why did he want to see me. He replied " We know you are leaving shortly and we wanted to give your bike the once over to make sure things are in prime condition and that we would also like to change the front folk seals and alternator belts, its best to be prepared !! What can you say to that! I know I have said it on numerous occasions but the thing that will stay with me and Monika the longest, the thing that we will never forget is how helpful all the dealers have been, and how supportive BMW GB and the world of BMW of our dream. I was speaking to Paul BARRAT at Autocom the other day, and I told him of SKY TV interest in our trip and that we are to meet Geoff Mead (SKY NEWS) in Moscow in early June 2002. He said to me "I bet all the people that have turned you down for sponsorship will be kicking them selves now" ! After a brief pause, I replied "I cant think of anyone that has turned down, everybody we have approached has been fantastic". Sir Alex is booked into Ocean BMW this coming Wednesday. I was pleased to hear as I left the premises, but not in the least surprised, that Ocean BMW Plymouth had won an award for the Most Improved Dealership in the UK, Many thanks again to Gordon Ferguson, Bill, Peter and the mechanics - Ocean BMW and Ron Simpson, Miles and Steve at SPC BMW and Shaun and Kevin at Rainbow BMW.
07 MARCH 02 - SPC
06 MARCH 02 - JESSE LUGGAGE Arrived home today to find out our Jesse Luggage had finally arrived from Arizona, and was waiting for us at Plymouth Airport. Without much hesitation and at rapid speed we shot across the city like kids waiting for Santa, and collected our prize luggage boxes. After a few snags caused by us mixing up both bikes securing brackets, we finally completed the fitment to Sir Alex. Jesse Luggage is the Premier Luggage Systems for today's overlander, you may pay a premium as they are individually crafted but the best things in life don't come cheap.
04 MARCH 02 - AUTOCOM I must admit I have a soft spot for Mr Paul BARRAT the Managing Director of Autocom Communications. Paul and Autocom were the first company to offer us support before the Sahara Trip and we have remained in touch ever since. A fellow biker, well almost, as he rides one of those foreign green Japanese imports, but each to there own! We just know he is rooting for us to do well and enjoy the experience. The purpose of our visit was to have Bike to Bike communications fitted which was straight forward as it plugged straight onto existing unit fitted under the tank.
What a difference bike to bike has now made to our driving experience. We can now happily chat away at speeds exceeding the speed limit, and at ranges of nearly 2 miles apart. This will now make a massive difference to our trip, and will be a valued addition to our safety arsenal.
04 MARCH 02 - PASSPORT OFFICE NEWPORT Talk about taking liberties ! Only 10 days ago Monika was a Czech Citizen! not that it makes her a bad person, but as you can see from the pictures below of Monika looking like she beat the cat the to the cream or should I say she beat me to obtaining two passports. My passport was with DVLA for the processing of my new driving licence and the passport office would not issue my second passport until they had sighted my first. So the moral of the story is always report your driving licence lost well in advance of your second passport application.
25 FEB 02 - PASSPORT A second passport is crucial to the success of a prolonged overland journey. To be have a spare passport could be the greatest addition to your manifest for reasons all to obvious. Secondly, you could require the assistance of a Visa agent and it would be advantageous to let the agent have your spare passport to obtain visas whilst you continue your journey. Visas could be dispatched to you at a time mutually beneficial to both parties without any unnecessary delays to your trip. You have to remember that some visas can only be obtained a short time before entry into a specific country and some countries will insist that your visa can only be obtained from your country of origin which more than justifies the time and effort it takes to obtain that second passport. To obtain a second passport legally is not as simple as you may think. First consider the reasons why you want one, as the passport administration will not readily issue a spare passport to every nomadic biker who applies. Apparently Pilots and overseas business men take priority, assuming they can confirm their employment with a letter on headed company paper. The support document you may require if you intend being honest and forthright which is an alternative to the BLAG approach, more on that later is to follow your application up with the following.
THE PASSPORT BLAG APPROACH A common way experienced overlanders obtain second passports, is to say your passport is with you visa agent or a foreign embassy and is being used to obtain a future visa. Unfortunately for reasons beyond your control you have to leave the country tomorrow and its imperative you issue me a spare. It is possible to obtain a copy within four hours if you visit one of the numerous passport offices in person.
23 FEB 02 SINUS - IRON TIGERS VLADIVOSTOK Today I received a nice email from Sinus, a ex member of the Iron Tigers Chapter in Vladivostok Russia. The Iron tigers have a tremendous reputation for being friendly to transiting overlanders, we look forward to meeting up with Sinus and members of the Siberian motorcycle club.
23 FEB 02 R1150 GS Accessory Looms - LEE BASTIN Lee BASTIN goes were other sparkies wouldn't dare ! I have had my electrical with list for some time, but finding somebody prepared to carry out the custom electrical work was another matter, and now after a two day strip at Lee BASTIN Work shop (Home), Sir Alex is raring to go.
Electrical modifications to the bike as follows:
ELECTRICAL SUMMARY The accessory loom comprises of 6 waterproof 2-pole auto connectors, 1 car lighter socket with dust cap, and a waterproof fuse holder fused at 20 Amps. The two rear connectors are tied to the pannier frames allowing connection of accessories in the panniers or on the rear seat. Two more are located behind the tank, on top of the air filter, one is for the Autocom kit and the other is spare. And the last two are at the front, one is routed up to the handlebars for the GPS and the other is under the instrument housing and is spare. Finally, the car lighter socket is held to the left hand fairing frame by a pipe clip and Velcro tie The main backbone of the loom uses 25 amp rated cable from the battery to the lighter socket and to the junction of the rear two auto connectors. The 6 auto connectors use 16 Amp cable solder spliced to the main loom and sealed using adhesive lined heatshrink tubing. The whole loom is covered by PVC sleeving with all joints and ends sealed with adhesive lined heatshrink tubing. The fuse holder and 20 Amp fuse are for short circuit protection only, all accessories connected to this loom should be fused to the appropriate rating. The DIN type accessory socket has a loom of it’s own, again it uses 25 Amp cable, has a 20 Amp fuse for protection, and is sleeved with PVC and sealed with heatsrink. The reason this loom is separate is that it will be used to connect the 12v DC to 230v AC inverter which can require a large amount of power, in this case the output is rated at 300 Watts continuous. Inverters are, by their nature, very inefficient and use a large amount of power at 12 Volts to produce a small amount of power at 230 Volts. For example: At 230v a 100 Watt bulb uses about 435 milliamps (0.43A) but on the 12v side the inverter requires 12 Amps (about 150 watts in for 100 Watts out) which would, in a very short time, pull a bike battery’s voltage down below that required for the inverter to run. Of course you’re not likely to want to run a 100 Watt light bulb off your bike but there are other bits of kit, such as most laptop chargers, that require the same amount of power which means they can only be used with the engine running. In the case of a laptop you’ll have to charge it during the day while on the move with the inverter in free air to keep it cool, better still charge it in the hotel. The jump start connection is simply a pair of high current (110 Amp) high quality cables, one connected to the live terminal of the battery and the other to ground via an engine bolt. The other ends are terminated in a special high power connector which mates with a similar one connected to a set of jump leads. This arrangement can be used to jump start the bike from a donor vehicle or to provide a connection to jump start another bike. Notes on jump starting: Connect bike to jump leads, start donor vehicle first and then connect leads. Leave donor vehicle running at high idle for a while to boost bike battery before trying to start, this will help with the initial power serge created by the starter motor. After starting bike disconnect from donor vehicle first before unplugging the jump lead connector.
ELECTRICAL LOOM
Diagram - Lee Bastin
23 JAN 02 JAPANESE CARNET AUTHORISATION REQUIREMENTS Entry by bike into Japan can be extremely difficult, especially if you want to ride your bike on entry. Failure to not notify the Japanese Automobile federation in advance could well lead to you having to import the bike as baggage and then not being allowed to ride it.
21 FEB 02 DOCUMENTS (Russia and Siberia continued last update 22 Feb 02) (Route) Please note; International Driving Permit (IDP), expires after 12 months, if your trip exceeded this period submit second application form with payment, to Touring Section RAC. At the end of the 12 month period, Email Su Collins giving current location and she will forward it to you.
20 FEB 02 CARNET COST VERSUS ROUTE We have a Carnet budget of 15 K which is to be left as a deposit with Barclay Bank. As you can see below the carnet costs rises as we travel the world so the aim is to devalue the bikes value as we travel in proportion to the % rise each year thus maintaining budget. Year 1- 200% of bikes value (Japan) Year 2 = 300% of bikes value (South America) Year 2 / 3 = 500% of Bikes Value (India and Egypt) The cost for each bike will be either 50.00 (5 page carnet - valid for 1 year), 55.00 (10 page) or 65.00 (25 page) plus bank guarantee fee of 35.00 (unlimited) or 45.50 (limited guarantee) plus each 4.00 ICMV, IDP forms
20 FEB 02 PAPER WORK / LOST DRIVING LICENCE AGAIN !! Eureka ! Monika's bike paper work arrived at 0715 am and 0735 both sets of paperwork were sent off to the RAC / DVLA / BARCLAYS BANK. (IDP, IVP, CARNET). I could of submitted my paperwork some time ago, but we are a team so is everything is done together. At last we have now started the paper work. We both only have one more injection to go and that is the final rabies jab. You will be pleased to know that the aids test for both of us came back negative. I was fairly confident I did not have aids as I have consistently increased weight with time, hardly the symptoms of a Aids. You wouldn't believe how unlucky we both our. We have both lost our driving licences three times in the past four months. The good news is should we ever find them again it will be handy to have spare copies for the trip ;-) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
