Jammin thru the Global South

[Roughshod]

Bought a t-shirt and contributed. Envious trip dude. Ride safe.

[Jacl-Kampuchea]

Originally Posted by Jammin

Next I need to learn Japanese for my girlfriend and most likely Hindi by the time I get back to India. I highly recommend Michel Thomas and his language tapes, the easiest way to learn a new language

Nice going J.

You have a girlfriend who's happy to wait while you drive the DR up and down the world for a few years?? Well done on that catch

[Ganjora]

Originally Posted by Jammin

@Ganjora: sounds fantastic, Dave, but if I get my Zambian visa, then I'm going to head into there, then Namibia, then SA. If not, then direct to SA. I should find out in a few days...

zambia is stunning - real africa.
rainy season, good luck.

[Jammin]

@Quasenada: hey amigo, yeah, Lake Turkana is one of those special places in the world, so far removed from everything else and such a stark beauty. Yeah, there are some crocodiles and Im sure you could swim, if you dare...

@Roughshod: sweet, thanks!

@Jacl-Kampuchea: well, I just met her during my break in Nairobi, but yeah, she's willing to wait till I finish this trip. She loves riding on the DR

@Ganjora: yeah, man, been dreaming about it for so long and now I get to ride it in the rainy season, oh well, c'est la vie...

[Jammin]

December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12


The old port at Ilha de Mocambique.

I had a rainy ride down from Pemba and covered good ground to reach a nice camping spot on the beach in front of Mozambique Island, the original capital of Portuguese East Africa and an old trading center with influences from the Arabs and Indians. The island is a ghost of its former self but that also means that strolling around its crumbling colonial buildings can be done in peace.

On the volunteer side of my trip, I've joined up with the Muskoka Foundation, which connects overland travelers with organizations in need of skills that the travelers can provide through workshops. I was requested to find out more about an organization on Ilha that could possibly partner with Muskoka and I interviewed Jessica at Azlera's Projecto Oceano, who provide diverse after-school activities for talented youths. Sounds like Projecto Oceano will be a good fit for Muskoka's travelers.

I finished my visit to Ilha de Mocambique by stopping by the old Hindu Temple that's been there since the 17th century. The lone priest was excited to show me around and we had a good chat

I've hooked up Rob again on the Africa Twin and we're heading off down the coast on some dirt roads

[Jammin]

December 15, 2012

Back to civilization after three days of hard riding along the rural Mozambican coast between Ilha and Quelimane Good fun to be riding with Rob; he's better in the sand and I'm better on corrugations and the 700 km (435 mi) route was about half sand, half corrugations and half mud. We rode thru coastal wilderness and thru many small villages with lots of poultry crossing the track; ducks are preferred as when they start crossing, they continue and finish the crossing, albeit slowly, unlike chickens who run across and then cut back. We've been camping on the beach every night, buying some fresh seafood and Rob's cooking it up deliciously. Last night we had coconut shrimp and tonight is grilled fish with lime sanDRina's running great but she's in need of some servicing: the clutch is starting to fade, the chain is near its end and there's a small crack on the frame where the swingarm connects...

[Jammin]

December 19, 2012


Fishermen at Pebane, waiting to see if the new day brings them calm seas.

From Quelimane, Rob and I thought we had an easy day of 500 kms of tarmac to Beira, but nope, the tarmac ended halfway and we had to rush through 200 kms of corrugated sandy roads. It's fun to ride fast over dirt roads but all the bumps take a toll on sanDRina. We reached Beira by dusk and have been relaxing with family friends of Rob's. They put us in touch with a friend who runs a trucking company and his workshop welded up the crack on sanDRina's frame. After removing the seat and tank, I found two more frame cracks, on either side of the airbox. Poor girl is getting tired Got her all welded up, installed new rear brake pads and replaced the chain and sprockets. I've been using JT sprockets for years, so I wrote to them and they agreed to sponsor me Along with enough sprockets they sent me a new x-ring chain that they've been developing, so I mounted that and let's see how it goes. It seems very heavy duty and up to the task.

On the paperwork front, I got my Zambian visa approved! It's taken months but finally I get to visit my childhood home in eastern Zambia From there I plan to ride through Namibia and enter South Africa towards the end of January...

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Jammin

December 19, 2012
They put us in touch with a friend who runs a trucking company and his workshop welded up the crack on sanDRina's frame. After removing the seat and tank, I found two more frame cracks, on either side of the airbox. Poor girl is getting tired Got her all welded up, installed new rear brake pads and replaced the chain and sprockets. I've been using JT sprockets for years, so I wrote to them and they agreed to sponsor me Along with enough sprockets they sent me a new x-ring chain that they've been developing, so I mounted that and let's see how it goes. It seems very heavy duty and up to the task.

Hey Jay! Glad you got the repairs done! Any chance of any pics of the frame cracks pre and post welding? I'm interested to know the vulnerable areas, specially the one near the swing arm.

How many Kms. did your previous chain go for? Brand?

Surprised your clutch is worn out again. When did you replace it last time?
Was that done in Austria or Europe somewhere? How many miles did it last? Stock Suzuki clutch plates .. ? or?

We hear of very few clutch failures on the BIG DR thread or on the DR forum. I guess the big load and riding lots of technical Mud/Sand tracks takes its toll on your clutch. I recommend Suzuki replacements as I've heard a few negatives on EBC plates.

Good luck, hope your bike makes it! Sandrina should be bought by Suzuki and enshrined in their Historical Museum in Japan! (I'm serious!) No one has done what you've done on any Suzuki (Austin Vince included!)
Buena suerte!

Whats the plan once you reach S. Africa?

[Jammin]

December 12, 2012



Guess where I'm sleeping tonight, Mom? In our old house in Chipata, Zambia!

My family and I used to live in Chipata from 1983 to 1991 and this was the last house that we stayed in. I crossed the border this afternoon and it felt different this time. It wasn't the excitement of entering a new country, but the joy of coming back home I rolled into Chipata, a bustling town set amongst beautiful hills and decided to go by our old house and see who was living there now. Turns out that it has become a guest house (motel) and the best part is that I am typing this from my old bedroom! which I have to pay $25 a night for now :/ Things are expensive in Zambia compared to her neighbors, but the price is worth it for a major trip down memory lane

Thinking about my family and childhood friends...

[OldPete]

Wow!

[WeazyBuddha]

Cool beans !!!

Not often one gets to go back to houses we used to live in.

[Jammin]

Hey Grifter, I'll post pics of the crack and welding once I get to Lusaka. After I welded her up in Beira, on my way to the Zambian border, I hit a huge pothole right after a bridge and that cracked the frame again near the place where the swing arm joins the frame (the bolt head area). Sucks, but I'll take frame cracks over suspension failure anyday I'm glad the dog bones or the shock mount didn't break but the load got transmitted to the frame.

Previous chain actually didn't last that long; only 9,300 miles. It was a DID V8 chain (o-ring but not x-ring) that I bought in Bolivia and mounted in Addis Ababa. Its short life might be the riding that I put it through: Turkana route, 1 year of Nairobi city riding and some serious off-roading thru Tanzania and Mozambique. It started showing kinks before I abused it on the coastal roads, we went thru many huge bumps and I'm sure that stretched it out. This JT chain is x-ring and so far, so good. I've got a spare RK chain in case it gives up early.

Clutch, yeah, it's a strange issue. When I'm struggling thru deep sand (like a river crossing) or wet mud, I think it heats up and doesn't engage properly and acts like a slipping clutch. I have to adjust the clutch cable to get better engagement and then after it cools down, it's back to normal. But I think it's nearing its end in a few thousand miles. I mounted this set in Nairobi, 7,365 miles ago, EBC HD plates. I've got a spare set of fibre plates from Barnett.

If only I could pick up a sponsorship from Suzuki, then I'd love to use OEM parts, but otherwise, it's too pricey compared to aftermarket...

Haha, maybe I'll continue in a few years and get to Japan and then I'm sure Suzuki will park sanDRina in their museum

I'm thinking I'm done with the African part of my journey once I get to South Africa. I'm waiting to hear back about my Pakistani visa. If that doesn't come through, then I'll be looking into shipping directly to India

@OldPete: and I rode here on a Suzuki DR650

@WeazyBuddha: I know, I'm so glad the house is still standing cause when we lived here it was already an old colonial house.

[Jammin]

December 22, 2012


...back at Hillside Primary School. I did half of 1st grade here and then got shipped off to India for boarding school.

Nostalgic day in Chipata. I didn't need GPS to show me around; my mental maps lead me to the agricultural research station in Mskera, where my dad worked, with our first house nearby. I then rode towards the Malawian border with images of family evening drives in our Nissan Bluebird listening to music...

Some things change, some things stay the same. The Barclays is still at the corner and Indian merchants run all the shops but there's 3G mobile coverage and a flood of cheap second-hand cars from Japan. In some ways Chipata's just another regular African town, but memories paint recollections and smiles :)

The let me cook in my Mom's old kitchen but the power went out last night and the stove is all electric. So, I setup my camping stove in the kitchen and used my Mom's garam masala and made a sardine curry

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Jammin

Hey Grifter, I'll post pics of the crack and welding once I get to Lusaka. After I welded her up in Beira, on my way to the Zambian border, I hit a huge pothole right after a bridge and that cracked the frame again near the place where the swing arm joins the frame (the bolt head area). Sucks, but I'll take frame cracks over suspension failure anyday I'm glad the dog bones or the shock mount didn't break but the load got transmitted to the frame.

Previous chain actually didn't last that long; only 9,300 miles. It was a DID V8 chain (o-ring but not x-ring) that I bought in Bolivia and mounted in Addis Ababa. Its short life might be the riding that I put it through: Turkana route, 1 year of Nairobi city riding and some serious off-roading thru Tanzania and Mozambique. It started showing kinks before I abused it on the coastal roads, we went thru many huge bumps and I'm sure that stretched it out. This JT chain is x-ring and so far, so good. I've got a spare RK chain in case it gives up early.

Clutch, yeah, it's a strange issue. When I'm struggling thru deep sand (like a river crossing) or wet mud, I think it heats up and doesn't engage properly and acts like a slipping clutch. I have to adjust the clutch cable to get better engagement and then after it cools down, it's back to normal. But I think it's nearing its end in a few thousand miles. I mounted this set in Nairobi, 7,365 miles ago, EBC HD plates. I've got a spare set of fibre plates from Barnett.

If only I could pick up a sponsorship from Suzuki, then I'd love to use OEM parts, but otherwise, it's too pricey compared to aftermarket...

Haha, maybe I'll continue in a few years and get to Japan and then I'm sure Suzuki will park sanDRina in their museum

I'm thinking I'm done with the African part of my journey once I get to South Africa. I'm waiting to hear back about my Pakistani visa. If that doesn't come through, then I'll be looking into shipping directly to India

Thanks for the detailed info on bike maintenance Jay! Looking forward to the pics of frame cracks and weld repairs.
First I ever heard of JT making a chain! COOL! An X ring, in any case, should out last any O ring chain by about 20% to 30%. Good luck with it. I've done 25K miles on several DID VM-2 X ring chains on my DR and Vstroms.

Neither EBC nor Barnett get very high marks for clutch replacement clutch plates on the DR650. But hey ... do the best you can with what you can get hold of.

Suzuki don't sponsor riders outside of racing ... perhaps they need to look at changing their marketing strategy and get into this game? They seem oblivious to the ADV travel thing other than some lukewarm updates to their long in the tooth V-Stroms.

Rubber Side Down ... Head in the Game! Stay safe ... we're all following along ... even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes, we're with you.

[crashmaster]

Hola Jay! Good to hear from you amigo. Wow, still traveling, and epic stuff at that. Amazing stuff from Africa, keep on keepin on amigo.

Vin