Preparation – Is my Yamaha T7 truly suitable for my trip through Africa?
I soon came to realise that it only required some small modifications. The bike needs to be able to withstand a fall without becoming un-rideable, as the availability of a breakdown service in the middle of Africa is clearly unlikely! I also need to ensure that with the additional luggage I’ll be taking the Yamaha T7’s handling would not be negatively affected, especially off road. So, after purchasing the Yamaha aftermarket Engine Crash Bars and Rally Sump Guard I contacted http://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk in Northants to help me complete the bike set up. The first job was to fit their uprated aftermarket rear suspension spring to compensate for the extra weight being carried and ensuring that I would have some additional adjustment available, should I need it. This would also prevent the front end from feeling like it wants to ‘wash out’ when going into a bend off road, a problem that I noticed when riding the standard bike fitted with the Yamaha panniers.
Fitting more robust handguards and foldable rear-view mirrors was next on the list, also supplied by Rally-Raid. One fall, with the standard handguards and mirrors fitted, would likely break the master brake cylinder handlebar mount, something that I wanted to avoid. Therefore the bespoke BarkBuster hand guards were fitted along with the Rally-Raid foldable mirrors.
Finally after much deliberation about the most suitable tyres to use for the trip I opted to stick with the standard Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres as they seem to be best suited with the newly uprated rear suspension.
Now my Yamaha T7 was ready for its first African Adventure!
The Route - Having spent hours on the internet, researching on line forums and contacting fellow adventure riders who had completed similar trips, I started to put together my route through Africa.
The first step was to simply identify the start and finishing points of my trip, at which point the real preparation began. Being clear on which road to take whilst traveling is important, as getting lost in an environment that is particularly challenging e.g. lack of water, fuel, dangerous animals and lets not forget hostile areas, all need to be taken into account before I start
traveling through Africa.
So the types of questions that I needed to answer include; where are the fuel stops, where is the overnight accommodation located, how far should I travel each day, what kit should I take, what places do I want to visit on the way and what areas would be risky to travel through?
Having gathered the information required I decided on a route that starts in Nairobi and takes me out to the coastal town of Mombasa, then down through Tanzania via Arusha, before moving south to Malawi. At this point I plan to follow the east side of Malawi Lake to Nkhotakota before cutting across to Zambia via Chipata and then down to Victoria Falls. After a short break I then plan to cross over to Botswana at the Kazungula boarder and ride down the east side of the country through Francistown to Gabarone before entering into South Africa.
The final part of my route will take me from Gabarone to Bloemfontein and then to Lesotho before heading south to Cape Town via Port Elizabeth. The estimated mileage would come in at around 6,500 miles to be completed over 8 weeks - that’s 8 weeks on my one with no back up!!!
To simplify the navigation on this trip, I have pre programmed the route into a Tom Tom but I still have the flexibility to adjust the route along the way, as it makes sense to be better prepared in advance when traveling alone.
Transportation – With my Yamaha T7 fully prepared a and my African Adventure route planned, the next step is to obtain a Carnet (Export Documentation) and then arrange to air Freight the bike to Nairobi. I contacted https://www.carseurope.net to provide the Carnet and http://www.motofreight.com to arrange the transportation of my Yamaha to Nairobi and back from Cape Town. Both were relatively easy to organise. The team at Moto- Freight were particularly helpful, suggesting the best port of entry and departure when working out where I start and finish my trip through Africa. Initially I wanted to start the trip from London but wanted to avoid travelling through Egypt as the Carnet fees are extortionate. This would have involved riding from London to Genoa in Italy to put the bike on a boat to Djibouti and then ride through Ethiopia, but the cost of the boat trip was almost as much as flying the bike from London to Nairobi. Plus there was a high personal risk in southern Ethiopia near the boarder crossing which I would have to take, I decided to take Moto-Freights advice and start the trip from Nairobi.
Almost time to go….. So with the bike preparation, the route planned and the transportation organised, I am ready to go, flying out on the 20th January, at which point the real adventure will begin!!!!
What will I encounter along my route? Will I be chased by lions or simply get lost and run out of fuel….You can find out with my regular posts throughout the trip.
Good luck Ashley! Carlo