Tour planning has reached a natural break. Theres 8 months until June 2027 and the shakedown tour is behind us. It’s the middle of October and the next five months will be frustrating. There’s a long tunnel ahead.
We’ve learnt a lot in the last month thiughand weve all made important decisions on luggage style and team equipment. Here’s in update.
One night of camping was enough to optimise our equipment, The 1200 km round trip I did for that gave me amazing confidence in the V85 TT Travel and my luggage setup.
First though, a few negative points about the Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel – the chosen motorcycle. (Full review here)
The V85 needs a little more power for the top end, yes, but that’s not the main problem. The main problem is that it’s not a great mile muncher on the motorway. 120 km/h cruising is possible but 1) that’s actually 110 km/h, 2) it’s not efficient at that speed.
And then there’s the luggage. It both annoys me and worries me. The mounting points might be metal but the panniers are, basically, plastic. The panniers just don’t seem to be fit for the job of Tutti Terreni. Plus, they open sideways. They are basically suitcases that can be mounted on the bike.
Despite that, I’m going with them. They will serve light, camping-only duties and if I lose one to an accident, the equipment will be redistributed until I can find a solution, which would probably have to be a top-box.
Equipment lists have been refined and I realise now that I’m not going to be taking all the desired video equipment, or my Bluetooth speaker, or all the other gadgets that I think I need.
I’ve invested in a small, two season sleeping bag which works well, with a liner, down to 12 degrees C.
It’s incredibly light and small but I wouldn’t like to have to use it at 7 degrees.
Staying on the topic of sleep, and here’s something you’ll appreciate if you’re over 50, the four of us realised quickly that if we’re camping for about 40 nights out of 60, our knees and backs might appreciate something better than a mattress. We’re looking at cot beds. A relaxing chair is also a must.
I’ve got a Tomount cot that works well and if that breaks I’ll fall back to an air mattress.
Tomount cot bed. You’ll hear more about that as we progress.
The complete sleeping system packs down into the larger of the two panniers, along with the tent.
The collapsible chair will sit on the rear rack, which it still free after everything is packed.
Here’s the full luggage setup, detailed in another article. The packing list is being updated here and your input is very welcome on Bluesky.
Route planning and navigation is progressing. After a successful week of offline maps in Calimoto I’m confident that this the setup is going to work well. I’ll use an older Pixel 6 smartphone for that. The Beeline Moto II (review) is now off the list, although, given that it’s so small, I might bring it as a backup.
AI as a route planner?
Having tested it, I have no doubt that an AI charbot can look at my overview map and work out a fantastic tour. But that’s not the aim of this tour. This tour is personal. It’s about four people dropping their wishes onto a map and working it out on a daily basis. We have no commitments, no time constraints apart from the six weeks we’ve given ourselves.
To increase the personal aspect of the tour, the knowledge gained through other people is being used.
I met a biker at Hoek van Holland recently who gave me a tip for Albania. I’ve met people, in my friends network that live in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Greece. I’m picking up ideas all the time and this, for me, is the right way to plan a personal tour. Each waypoint has a personal connection and, when I write or talk about those waypoints during and after the tour, I’m passing that knowledge forward.
You can argue that it will all end up in a chatbot anyway, but even if just a few people from the next generation see that Steve ‘Chippy’ Paine played a small part in their own planning, that’s cool. I’d rather teach AI than be a slave to it.
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