The BIG Ride Epilog

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The BIG Ride - Epilog.

After making our way North to Vina del Mar, where we washed the bikes and prepared to ship them home, the three of us left, then made our way to our shipping agent.

A couple of months later, our bikes arrived home here in New Zealand which kinda marked the end of a fabulous and remarkable adventure.

Here are some observations…..

Total distance : 40,050 km’s.

The circumference of Earth at the equator is 40,075 km, but from pole-to-pole — the meridional circumference — Earth is only 40,008 km around. This shape, caused by the flattening at the poles, is called an oblate spheroid.

Border Crossings: We crossed 19 borders in total, not all of them easy….

Fuel Consumption : Average 5 Litres per 100 Km’s. 40,000 kms divided by 5 = 800 litres of fuel at an average cost of $1.90 litre = $1520.

Time on the Bike:

Average speed 48 km per hour.

40,000 kms divided by 48 = 833 hrs.

Divided by 6 hours per day = 138 days riding = 19 Weeks = 4.92 Months

833 hours multiplied by 60 mins = 49,980 minutes x 60 seconds in a minute = 2,998,800 seconds

Just imagine what could have got wrong in one of those split seconds….

Tyres: We used three sets of Continental TKC 70 tyres.

Oil Changes: 4. On average at 10,000kms



Riding Gear:

Helmet: HJC Rapha Full Face Flip Up. (Darbi Accessories)

This is a very light weight, comfortable and versatile helmet, however under the day to day stresses that we put this helmet through, it struggled to meet our demands over such a long period.

The visor / chin action was very high maintenance and it was lucky that we had taken plenty of replacement parts with us.

With 138 days riding we would have put the helmet on and off on average 5 times a day = 690 on/off actions.

Boots: Sidi Touring. (Darbi Accessories)

These boots proved to be an excellent choice, priced right, comfortable, light and totally waterproof.

Scott Waterproof over Jacket and Pants. (Darbi Accessories)

These were another excellent choice as they were flexible, reasonably firm fitting and 100 per cent waterproof.

X-Bionic compression under gear. (X-Bionic, Germany)

This is the first layer of defence to keep the body temperature consistent in the hot and the cold.

This under gear was worn every day, and is designed to keep active muscles under compression, keep cool parts warm and hot parts cool.

Riding Jacket: Pharaoh (Luis in Germany)

This Jacket is fully ventilated, with full armour and very comfortable.

It is totally NOT waterproof, so needs a good over jacket (as above) when the weather deteriorates. We ride mostly in hot humid weather, so this again was and excellent choice.

Riding Pants: Pharaoh (Luis in Germany)

These pants are fully ventilated, with full armour and very comfortable.

They are totally NOT waterproof, so needs a good over over pants (as above) when the weather deteriorates. As we ride mostly in hot humid weather, this again was and excellent choice.

Heated Jacket: (ActivHeat USA)

This was probably the best decision I have made in regard to Riding clothes.

It’s not something you use every day (for me anyway) but boy when you need it, it’s just fantastic.

This means that that you don't need many layers under your riding jacket as the temperatures drop and we had the extremes at both Poles…..

This jacket comes with very fine ‘’Lady’ gloves that plug into the lower sleeve of the jacket and are also heated with a seperate controller and slip inside my waterproof gloves.

Gloves: (Alaska Leathers and Klim Snow Mobile Gloves)

I bough a good pair of brown leather gloves while at Alaska Leathers in Anchorage and they pretty much did the trip, even through Central America in the hot sticky conditions.

The Klim waterproof gloves once again proved themselves in wet Central America and also the cold and snow we encountered in South America.

The Seat: (Mods by Rosco)

I bought a ThermoRest inflatable sport cushion and glued it to the underside of a short cut sheepskin. So with just a small bit of inflation, there were no pressure points to annoy me.

Luggage;

Andy Strapz soft Panniers was again a very good choice and they stood up to the task with no faults and are totally waterproof with the bag liners.

I removed the passenger seat and locked a Bags Connection tank/tail bag in place that I took each day to the hotel with everything I needed for the night.

Tank Bag:

This is a Bags Connection and has a snap Lock Ring system, so was very easy and versatile to attach and remove for refuelling. I kept my personal things in here along with my camera for easy access.

Thermos.

This was a in a permanent holder attached to the right pillion foot peg.

In cold weather it was filled with hot water in the morning and cold water in hot weather.

During hot wether, I always had cool fresh water to drink or to clean a visor.

I could not drink from one of those Camel Packs, with your water confined in a plastic bladder and would get warm during hot weather.



So, would I do it all again ?? NO - But I would love to do some sections of it for sure, but I am so over Border Crossings and Speed Humps!!

The big bonus was meeting some extraordinary people along the way, that made all the other frustrations just go away, many I am sure will feature in our lives in the future.

Costa Rica, Columbia and Ecuador are well up there on my ‘hope to return’ list…so stay tuned.



This year has been a bit quiet on the motorcycle adventure side so far, but trust me we all needed the rest period.

Resting is done and we have bikes on the water heading to Chile for our next Tarmac Tour, so I had better get onto a Blog for that.

Cheers,

Rosco

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Photos

There's always one!!
More cheep accomodation, hahaha

Dos Amigos
Poodle and String.

Good cheep accomodation.
Our Cabin at Salto del Laja

Roger
We met up with Roger from the USA whom I rode with in 2005 along with Curtis, as he was riding around South America and heading back to the USA the way we had come...Good luck Roger

Good to be home.
This was taken at String and Petal's new house.

Comments

[سئو]

i like it thanks for your post
i like it thanks for your post i always hope to have one

[Tom Zed]

Cheers!
Great stats, with figures applicable anywhere. I chuckled on SIDI Touring boots comments... I hate mine; stiff, uncomfortable and certainly NOT waterproof. Each to their own, for sure. I have just recently imported my bike from NZ to Queensland and am planning to ride the "Big Loop" next year, @20000 kms. My mate has done it twice and I have read Mike Hide's (R.i.P) three books on his rides in NZ, AU and the USA. Cheers; T.Z.

[Rosco p]

Sidi Boots.
Hi Tom, thanks for your comments, be sure that the boots are Touring Boots with velcro closures, as these have been 100% waterproof for me, we are not talking about the heavier 'Off Road' style with the snap clips, as I know they are not that waterproof. Hope this helps and trust you have a safe ride around Australia. Cheers, Rosco