more expensive.
A few weeks after our desert/tyre drama we got an email
from a friend on a brand new top end bike who was fur-
ther south in Peru. The battery had failed, the size was
unique to the model and it had to come from the dealer
in the capital. He was quoted $US80 for shipping on top
of $US400 for the battery. This is not unusual. In these
countries only the rich can buy bikes like these and those
folks don't care about the price. He was able to solve this
expensive problem by buying a small car battery from a
local auto shop, fitting it into one of his panniers and wir-
ing it into the bike. In the end he found a $US40 solution
to a problem he shouldn't have had in the first place. As a
bonus, the bike had never cranked so well!
The problem of the exotic extends to all aspects of the
bike right down to the fasteners. If the bike has many dif-
ferent sized fasteners of different types, then you will need
to carry many more spares and a wider range of tools. If
special tools are needed to do simple maintenance (like
a special oil filter tool) then they will add to your load. In
addition, special tools needed for advanced maintenance,
such as a clutch replacement, are an unwelcome but nec-
essary load. Our bike has only one engine management
computer and we were able to find a second-hand unit at
a wrecker which we carry as a spare. More modern ma-
chines, however, have much more complex electronics.
Problems associated with them are difficult to diagnose
without the equipment, expensive to replace and best
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