Here's some detailed info on what tools and spares, clothes and equipment
we took, plus what mods I made to my bike for the 2-week trip.
Tools carried :
Between the three of us we took enough tools to do all minor repairs
and adjustments:
- tyre levers, a few spanners, hacksaw, large pair pliers/grips
- the Honda multi-spanner tool and plug spanner which come with the bike.
- half of a 3/8inch socket set with ratchet drive
- a mini-socket set with many Allen keys, screwdriver bits etc.
- 10mm Allen key and feeler gauges (for cylinder valve adjustment)
Spares carried :
- Electrical parts: coil, CDI unit, pulse generator, lightbulbs
front and rear. 3 spark plugs.
- clutch lever and brake lever and cable (adjustable length for clutch
or throttle)
- 3 rear and 2 front spare inner tubes (Metzeler heavy-duty motocross)
- 2 liquid-rubber tyre-repair aerosols , 2 tyre repair patch kits
- plenty of spare nuts and bolts, wire, jubilee clips etc.
- 3 oil filters - air filter oil and filter cleaner fluid
- O-ring chain lube - a couple of O-ring chain links
- spare carb jets
In the end Murphy's Law applied: the only things that broke were
things we didn't have: a rear sprocket (worn out): a clutch perch,
and a front brake pad retainer bolt, which on the XR is rather a weird
shape with two different-sized threads. Also, a sidestand mount broke,
but this was fixed in 10 minutes by a local welder for about $2 ! All the
breakages were on the '92 XR, due presumably to its old age. Amazingly
enough, we didn't have a single punctured tyre in the whole 2 weeks, despite
some pretty gnarly and sharp-rocky terrain. Presumably this was because
we were fairly well-prepared in the tyre-repair-equipment area....
Mods to my bike
- Stock suspension, tyres, inner tubes, drivechain, air filter, and headlight.
- Aluminium handlebars
- 5 gallon (22 litre) fuel tank (Acerbis)
- 44 rear sprocket (stock 14 front sprocket).
- Carrying rack: I took a rack from a Yamaha road bike which I found
in a scrapyard and welded some plates onto it, to mount onto the XR's subframe
using existing bolts: the seat bolts and the rearfender sub-frame bolts.
I didn't want to weld directly on the XR subframe for fear of compromising
it: it looks a little weak (and I am not an experienced welder!) To this
rack I attached a couple of down-rods which held the pannier bags (throw-over-the-seat
type) to stop them flapping up and down when crossing bumpy stuff.
- Stock muffler. However in order to provide a bit more power I removed
the exhaust diffuser/limiter tip from the muffler, removed the snorkel
from the airbox, and installed some larger carburettor jets (68 pilot,
155 main, 1.5 turns out on the pilot screw). This may have been a bit rich
when we got above 2000m altitude, but I preferred to run the engine rich
than risk overheating the exhaust valves. Removing the muffler tip obviously
makes a rather louder exhaust note, but engine decibels is not an issue
with Moroccan police; and in fact we found in country villages which get
little or no motorised traffic that it helped to warn people that we were
coming, and thus avoid surprises and/or accidents. The only problem with
loud exhausts was an occasional mule taking fright.
- I made a headlight protector grille from two layers of stiff wire netting
soldered together and attached to a thin steel frame. It looked a bit of
a botch-job but once I painted it XR-white it looked more or less OK! However
I found driving at night it seemed to reduce very slightly the already
minimal light available from the stock headlight.
- Slight mods to front fender in order to carry two spare inner tubes.
Miscellaneous kit :
- Compass
- disposable camera
- compact sleeping bag
- first-aid kit with iodine, antiseptic wipes, syringe and hypodermic
needle, as well as the usual bandages, sunburn creams, aspirin, diahorrea
medication, rehydration powders etc.
- water-purification tablets
- anti-fungus talcum powder for daily application inside boots (and elsewhere..)
- Lots of cheap BiC ballpoint pens and other trinkets to give to kids
en route
- Water bottles: one very handy handlebar-mounted (Acerbis) 1-litre bottle,
and a couple of very watertight mountain-bike-style drinking bottles. We
bought bottled mineral water but also drank tap water in most of the (smaller)
towns without any adverse effects. Drinking tap water in larger towns such
as Marrakech is not recommended, apparently.
- Michelin map of Morocco, mainly 1:1 000 000 scale but with insets of
1:400 000 scale for some areas of interest. We had no maps of less than
1:400 000 scale and this was a problem in more remote areas, where there
were less people to stop and ask for directions. However if you don't mind
where you end up then you never get lost, that's what I say...
- section on Morocco torn out from the Lonely Planet 'Africa on a shoestring'
guide. It was the 1992 edition so a bit out of date, but it did us fine.
A more detailed guide might be useful if you plan to visit more towns than
we did.
Clothes :
- 1 pair dirt bike pants
- enduro jacket
- Acerbis Zoom chest protector; knee and elbow protectors
- 4 T-shirts, 2 of them long-sleeved for sun protection
- Light cotton trousers and trainer shoes for wearing in civilized places
- 1 pair shorts (can double as swimsuit)
- ultra-light waterproof jacket and trousers