Me and the girl were thinking of a maiden flight for the 883 Iron this year, how about crossing from Johannesburg, inland South Africa, to Swakopmund, at the coast of Namibia. Not sure about the actual driving hours, I know its quite a distance.

How would you prepare for such a trip, which camping gear etc would you stick on the Iron? Will it cope in those sort of conditions? What do you guys think? Will probably have to tag along jerry cans too, considering fuel might become an issue as there are long *** straights on the way to Namibia.


Namibia's weather info:

Typical semi-desert - hot days and cool nights. Midsummer temperatures can rise to over 40°C. Winter days are warm but dawn temperatures may drop to freezing.
Along the coast it is cool with low rainfall and fog prevails from late afternoon until mid-morning.
The rainy season lasts from October to April. The rest of the year is dry and cloudless. Namibia averages 300 days of sunshine a year.

 

I may be wrong, but on the the surface it sounds as though some of this route might involve a fair amount of off road or at least light off road travel. I live in Southern California about 10km east of Disneyland, and there is a guy that shows up at a local hangout on a black 2002 Sporty 1200 (which is carburated) that he has transformed into an enduro bike. In fact, he rides over hill and dale on the fire roads to get to Cook's Corner (one of the hangouts, located in the hills of southern Orange County), instead of taking paved roads. The gentleman who owns it is 6'5" or 6'6", easily 110+kg and is in his late 50's; he used to ride speedway cycles back in the day.

I have pictures of it somewhere, but the transformation is basically the stock front wheel wearing an enduro tire, while the rear wheel is a custom laced 17" with a "knobby" rear tire. Suspension consists of 13" Progressive 440 rear shocks to get some additional suspension travel, and the front is a cartridge fork (Ohlin, I think). Brakes are stock with better pads...the bike has an old style "banana" type saddle (like the ones that Sportsters from the early 70's had) to allow him to shift his weight rearward while on the move. I think the bike has crash bars on it which act as engine brush guards, and it is equipped only with mid controls. The bike has a larger fuel tank, K&N filter under the stock air cleaner cover along with drag pipes with baffles in them to act as spark arrestors (we do not want brush fires around here!) The "big mod" is that the bike has been converted to chain drive.

Why he built it:
"No one makes a dirtbike with 1200cc that fits me, so I did the next best thing and made my own."

EDIT: Incredibly, I found the photos...please pardon the quality; I took these with my cell phone camera.

 

If it were me I would take one of these:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/6315/

Wouldn't even attempt it on a non modified basic road bike.

 

Long trips two up on an IROn in our heat is loko dude.
U gna be stopin often leme tell ya. Bought myn in jozi n rode it all the way home 2 the south coast... awesum ride but it'll b awhile b4 i do dat again lol...
its a killer on the ol glutes
Good luck to u

 

I'd say "maybe" on a modified XLR. The Iron isn't made for that kind of abuse.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlq561aT08

 

With the right mods, IE: stiffer suspension, aggressive tires and maybe an oil cooler. It would do it.

Also a good rack setup to carry the essentials if your not bringing a chase truck.

 

KLR 650 or similar would be a better choice IMHO. Cheap and reliable with a few simple mods.

 

The Iron is the wrong tool for the job, by the time you modify it enough for the trip you could buy a bike designed for that environment that would be lighter, longer range, better ground clearance, more suspension travel etc. There is a reason you don't see Harleys in the Dakar rally.
Read this book, it will give you a good idea what you may be up against (also it's just a great read) http://www.amazon.ca/Jupiters-Travel.../dp/0965478521

 

This place in Africa takes its Harley Riding seriously.
Probably not a good thing for garage queens.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON Cross Continent

Cape to Cape 2010 HARLEY-DAVIDSON Africa Odyssey

A Cape warm (Cape Agulhas in South Africa) to Cape cold (Nordkapp in Norway) journey has been undertaken several times on various forms of transport. But never has this epic trip been done on the doyenne of motorcycles – A HARLEY!!! This project is based on the adventure concept dreamt by almost every person who is keen on journeys – to traverse the African continent by road. To then continue along the European continent until the riders reach the Northern lights is truly – a once in a lifetime affair!

The trip from the Southern hemisphere to the Northern hemisphere will be divided into six – legs, with the last leg being run through Europe. With a total of over 26,000kms distance to be traversed this will truly be a test of man and machine.

AA&K HDT will comprise a multi vehicle convoy of between 8 large vehicles together with other support units. This overall trip will last approximately 90 days. At any given moment in time along the trip – either the entire journey or indeed any one ‘leg’ there will only be 30 motorcycle riders allowed on the journey.

The purpose of the journey is to retain the true spirit of HOG/HD – to Ride and Have Fun. H.O.G ® Europe could not have found a more original ‘reason to ride’ and the journey through Africa will take the riders to at least 15 countries on this continent. In Europe the convoy will go through at least 9 countries. Key objectives of the tour are to make this a trip of a lifetime and with the challenge inherent in the project enable people to be part of an outstanding venture and have fun in the process.


Riding Conditions
The roads are graded from level 1 to 6 to help the riders prepare for what they can expect: Type 1 being extremely bad road conditions and Type 6 being the best roads in Africa. Registered users have access to a more comprehensive description, images of these road conditions and where on the route the riders can expect these roads.


•Very bad: thick soft sand - very challenging on rider and the motor cycle
Very bad: mud - very challenging on rider and the motorcycle
•Very bad: very stony or corrugated - very challenging on motorcycle, especially the suspension
•Bad: gravel / dirt roads
•Bad: Severely Potholed, tar breaking up; corrugated
•Good: Tar with occasional pot holes
•Excellent: Freeway or Semi-Freeway/National road; sometimes dual carriageway