New Zealand RTW and back on a KTM500exc.

head and valves were ok? amazing.

Valves cleaned up fine. Head had less hours than last time and cleaned up great as well. ( I replaced the head on last rebuild) I made sure Steve knew that if he saw anything he thought might need doing to just do it so I trust him when he said they didn't need replacing. I did do the valve springs though. Lucky because the valves weren't cheap either.

So the head you have now has about 30-40,000km on it? Should be good for another 30-40 yeah?

Yeah.....fingers crossed and positive thoughts.

My packing solution for my motor.
Seemed like the cheapest and easiest option. Shit now I think about it I should of thrown a couple cold ones in there.
I put a latch on the lid and will tape the crap out of it. I did pack it better than in the photo with the motor in it before covering it.
I used some spray foam and sprayed it into some freezer sandwich bags on the sides and gaps.
Maybe I should put a roll of tape in it as well so if they open it they might get the hint to tape it back up. Ha.

Looking good....when will you ship it and get back to traveling the world?

I shipped a motor across the US like that. It worked well! Good luck!

Should be by the end of the week and beginning of May.

The motor has been shipped!!
There have been so many times while travelling when I have been surprised by the kindness of strangers towards me.
Whether it's been taking me into their home or giving me a piece of fruit none of it goes unnoticed and it is a big part of this journey and becoming bigger as I've gone along..
This week I had a huge act of kindness happen to me when someone ( Rick) heard a podcast I had done with Bendmotorcycleadventures and found out I was going to have to ship my motor back to Georgia.
He contacted me and said he would take care of the shipping and costs involved once it was packed.
All I can say is thank you doesn't seem to cover the kind gesture. It's so appreciated and the thought someone would do that for me is worth as much or more than the cost savings which were not small.
If anyone knows Rick Lieberson from Portland please buy him a beer next time you see him.
He is on here but I'll leave it up to him if he want's to chime in.
Rick in the Photo.

That is very cool!

Making the world better one act at a time! Can't wait until you are riding again...I bought my 500 because of this ride report, just back from it's second Baja trip and loving it.....

Glad you are happy with the old five hundy. I can't wait either.

Sorry for coming back to this topic now as I’m playing catch up in the thread, but my pinch of salt on this issue...

I love the build quality of nomad especially the aluminium parts and I support the company they were very attentive and I appreciate the focus on supplying what we adventure bikers need, and the manufacturers don’t equip, and the quality that they have which is top notch ... the alloy plate designs and finish, led lights, switches all great stuff.

but ...

I had exactly the same problem with the buffeting on a adventurised 701 I rode through TET last summer and interestingly with the same Krios helmet as Aaron is using. So much so that I spent a good portion of my time standing on the bike. And I’m not talking about on the dirt actually on the paved stuff. I tried adding a clip on deflector to the top of the fairing but didn’t help. I think the fairing is simply designed with a rake that is too vertical, but could be solved by raking back it’s angle. I actually preferred bare helmet in wind to that buffeting. Granted that issues such as driver and seat height, load etc can have an affect so it’s not that easy.

The other issue is that it’s a bit of a pain to take apart the fairing, for example for access to electrical connectors. Swapping the screws with quick releases on rubber mounts on the fairing itself would help...

So even though fairings look cool they really need to be tested at road speeds to make sure they add comfort.

But again I am a fan of the nomad adv products just trying to provide constructive feedback. In fact if they come up with a luggage rack for the 2014-16 model exc 500 I wouldn’t hesitate to get one once I find my bike [emoji6]

Yeah, a lot of variables...

I am 6'1", installed nomad adv kit on my 2016 6 days 500 exc. Tall Seat Concepts comfort seat. X2 shoei helmet. I get very little buffering. A lot less than the naked bike, in my case. I have taken it up to 100mph, with great comfort...

I have never been able to tolerate any fairing on any bike. Buffetting just ruins the whole ride for me. Even with a street helmet on my GF's CB500X I removed the windscreen entirely for a recent longer trip. I'm 5-9", fwiw.

A while back I built a rally-looking setup for my Beta 525 (poor man's 500), and made the screen really tall and adjustable. The problem was that by the time it was tall enough to work, it was majorly in the way for technical off road riding.

Now I just bear the full brunt of the (smooth) wind and try to stay off of the highway....

I really love the look of rally bikes, but agree that their fairings must mostly serve to protect the instruments. I suspect the riders absolutely hate transfer sections...

^ I agree, I hate fairings and screens with a passion. Never been able to find one that works for me, now I'm over it and prefer my bikes naked .

So the good news is the motor made it to Tbilisi. The not so good is that even that the motor belongs to me or not they want me to pay import duties on my own motor which is technically still considered to be in the country. So it's been stuck in customs for a couple days and I'm still yet to find out an amount on what they want.
A few emails have been sent back and forth and even a great one from the bike shop there saying I was a tourist and had needed to take my motor to another country to get it repaired and sent back to their shop to fit for me before I left the country.
Reply to that was sorry it is an unusual situation but the law ..bla bla X amount of kg's bla bla. X value bla Lost me at that point so it's not right but F all you can do except wait and see how much they want to take and how long to process.
But hey I have some time up my sleeve and fingers crossed they don't get silly on the amount.

So it's 18 percent of the invoice for the motor but I explained 3 times on the phone to the lady there that there isn't a invoice because I own the motor and I didn't just purchase it.
Her reply .. oh yes that's right but please supply invoice .
Because it had 2500 on the packaging for insurance purposes they will charge 18 percent on that and also 18 percent on the amount it costs to ship. They still want a invoice for 2500 though so I'm thinking of supplying them the invoice of parts installed which was a bit over 2400 my cost so we'll see what happens.
Oh they also need letters now signed by myself and one from the bike shop saying it's my motor
At least there is some lines of communication open.
I can just picture lots of paperwork going in circles with stamps getting put on them from everyone involved.
In the meantime I'll keep playing the game and dreaming about the day I hear the old girl fire up.

Sounds like your motor is on her own special adventure. Hope they are treating her like the lady she is!

This is an interesting side effect of using race bikes for travel. I bet in the next few years we'll have more reports of people flying around with their motors in the middle if RTW trips. Aaron is kind of a pioneer, but Paul is jumping on the bandwagon, and others are clearly inspired.

I have used my RFS for long trips, but nothing big enough to require significant engine work in the middle of the trip. I just do the work after getting it home, and then it's ready for another 8k mi or so without further attention.

If enough people start doing this maybe a standard method of motor transport and re-importation will emerge, with wisdom on which countries make it easier, etc....