avoided if you are going to be alone and a long way from
home.
Team Elephant has a whole store of these tales-of-woe
about overly complex bikes, but I will finish with one
which, I think, highlights both the problem and the ap-
proach you can take to it better than most.
The ABS system on our almost new bike failed in south-
ern Spain. The replacement part had to come from Ger-
many and cost €2,300. Fortunately, the bike was still un-
der warranty which the dealer was eventually convinced
to honour. Despite this good outcome, the problem left
me a little rattled. We were about to cross to Morocco
where a single dealer covered the whole of the country
and my confidence in the reliability of the bike was shot.
The solution was to have some short lengths of brake line
made with the correct fittings to allow an easy bypass of
the ABS unit if it should fail again. I still carry the bypass
kit in the spares box eight years later, confident that the
next time the ABS goes, I can get home without a problem.
Jokers will immediately note that while I carry the kit the
ABS will never again fail!
You can gather from these tales of misadventure that
we have probably been riding a less than ideal bike for the
last 10 years and wondering why we didn't change to some-
thing more suitable. The answer goes to the heart of this
whole question about which bike to have. We ride our too
heavy, too complex, too unreliable, too hard to maintain
bike because it is the bike we own and the bike we like to
ride. We ride it because we have learnt that the adventure
isn't about the bike. We make our own adventures and the
bike is just along for the ride. We accommodate its weak-
nesses and are thankful for its strengths, but we know we
could have just as good an adventure on any bike. A differ-
ent adventure perhaps, but still a grand adventure. MH
Mike Hannan is a seasoned traveller, having covered
most of the world with wife Jo, aboard various bikes.
Mike's books; The Elephant's Tale and High Road Rider are
great reads, exploring the world and themselves. Further
information can be found at -
www.elephant-travel.org
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