TRAVERSE Issue 05 - April 2018 | Page 48

very comfortable for travelling 2up and its 645cc V-twin engine can han- dle the load with ease. We have taken our Strom through plenty of terrains and Daryl even rode the sand dunes in Jaisalmer and had good fun! Its main flaw is its limited ground clear- ance but with a few suspension mods and a more attentive approach when choosing lines off road, the V-Strom has proven itself worthy. On The Road ... We have passed through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. These countries are all differ- ent and simply beautiful in their own way, but we have found one thing that is common amongst all – the beauty of people. We have gone through a lot of ex- periences in the past six months, but our best memories are those shared with the people we have come across from all the different countries. We were invited and hosted by strangers whom we met on the road, we had plenty of bikers who got in touch with us via Facebook and Instagram when- ever we needed help; and we are crossing borders with amazing mem- ories and more friends from different corners of the world. Since exploring Europe wasn’t part of our plan we headed for Turkey as soon as we left Malta. We were there in just five days. We visited Olympos, a gorgeous small village at the bottom of a valley with coastal Roman ruins and plenty of good vibes. We enjoyed roaming around the trails in the surrounding areas. A tube that Daryl had affixed to the bike’s bash plate, got smashed on a rock and after a while, with- TRAVERSE 48 out realising, this completely broke and we were losing tools and parts along the way. Luckily, as soon as we stopped, we saw a car rushing towards us and four guys came out handing us almost all the stuff that had fallen off! Later that day, Kerem, a Turkish biker, whom we had already met, came to our guesthouse with side bags for the front of our bike so we could regain the lost space from the broken tube! Cappadocia is like a magical place coming out of a fairy-tale. Whilst there we realised that we had lost a spare front sprocket. Seeing that it would be difficult to get this part as soon as we leave Turkey, we were ask- ing for help online to try and source another one. Ozhan, a biker who is very active on social media, contact- ed us out of nowhere, found us one