What We broke/ lost/ hurt

We didn’t do too badly at the end of the day. We were surprised that the rear shocks crapped out on us  and we still don’t know why or how that happened. We were lucky with Simon’s injury not being a trip killer for us having happened on Day 5.  To be honest we were expecting a lot more punctures and things to go wrong, but they didn’t.

Our phones did well, but the vibration and the heat definitely got to them. They are still perfectly usable, but the camera didn’t hold up as well by the end. Mine also has the OSM navigation screen burned into the display now 😮

Gear we loved / hated

Hate  is a strong word. We were pretty happy with most of our gear. We had done a decent shakedown with a large portion of it before our trip, so we were fairly confident that it would all work.  A long trip is a good way of deciding whether you would use something again or seek an alternative for the next trip. 

• The Groms –  Not designed for this trip, but they were fun, easy to ride  and brought a smile to the faces of everyone who saw them
• Touch fingetips on gloves – so much easier to navigate with
• Samsung S7 and OSMand+. Waterproof and kept us on track (mostly). Just wish that they weren’t so temperamental with the wireless charging. Simon’s worked flawlessly, mine was so temperamental on previous trips that we had to go the old school usb cable route.
• Coms- cheapie Feedcon Bluetooth with a few mods kept us connected. Someday we might invest in a Senna or Cardo, but for now these were good value for money.
• Vented gear – Revit stuff was really nice and worked well for a bout 90 % of the trip. Would have been nice to be able to zip up vents on cold mornings and when it got colder riding at the higher elevations.
• Enduristan Blizzard Saddlebags and Tornado duffel – Built tough, very minimalist and totally waterproof.  I originally had a Mosko Moto Reckless 40 that I absolutely loved, but there were too many straps and buckles. It sort of worked on the Grom, but didn’t fit the Versys, so couldn’t justify keeping it and got  replaced with the Enduristan gear. 
• Under Armour heat gear tee shirts – totally not smelly after using them for a few days without washing. In New Zealand everyone seems to love the Icebreaker merino gear, but we find that the merino is expensive, and needs more care when washing. The Under Armour stuff stood up to hand washes in motel sinks and survived  washing machines and  dryers.  
• Doubletake mirrors – Never broke and we didn’t need to get tools out to adjust them after a fall.

• Fuel Bladders – We must have been doing something wrong, or got two duds. Regardless, they are not worth the hassle, mess and smell. Will stick to  tried and tested  little red gas cans in future.
• Rain Gear- the Acerbis stuff did their job in keeping us mostly dry, but they were not breathable and looked awful. I totally detested having to put mine on every time.
• Enduristan Fender bags – Even on the bigger bike, these little add on fender bags are a bit of a pain. Very awkward to get in and out of. Not big enough to fit a heavy duty tyre tube in (for when we use them on the big bikes) and the attachment straps work themselves a bit loose. On the  Groms, they sat just a little bit too low, that they occasionally caught the back wheel if we forgot to tighten everything up.