Stop the presses

Right, five weeks before our grand adventure is set to kick-off. Pretty much everything has been taken care of and we are putting the finishing touches on some details. But then… Then we are informed that our bikes won’t available! The Yamaha Ténéré is so popular in Asutralia that all have been sold and the next shipment is being held up in… the Netherlands!

Not that Yamaha-Motors Australia is deserting us, quite the opposite. As you are reading this, two Yamaha XT 660 R’s are being transported to Darwin and readied for our trip. No worries there. The change of bikes does have considerable consequences for us. Changing the pictures and descriptions on the site was really the least of our worries. The XT’s gas tank is 8 litres smaller than the one on the Ténéré. Eight litres (2 gallons) may not sound like much to the average motorist, but coming from 23 litres it’s a reduction of over 33%. In Kilometres (Miles) we’re talking a reduction of the range of about 150 Km (94 Miles). That’s a bit of a push, that is…

On top of that, we now have a bit of a luggage problem. The Ténéré has a small luggage rack and fairings over its exhausts. The XT has a very narrow rear end and big, fat mufflers that stick out. No way can we hang our saddle bags over them without damaging the bags and bikes. Needless to say we spend the last week looking for solutions that are both effective and affordable. With help of Yamaha-Motor Europe and Australia, we think we may have found them. Now let’s hope the racks will be delivered on time.

Almost forgot, the really snazzy tank bags we bought won’t fit the XT either. Fortunately our friends at ten Kate were kind enough to take them back. Thanks Jaap, you are a lifesaver.

Stay tuned, new developments are bound to follow!