Good on you for taking this on. :bowdown:
And no you're not crazy, the people who think that are just jealous!

Do you have any pictures of your bike set-up for the trip?

 

Congratulations!!!. You are not crazy. You are enjoying with your bike as much as you can. I wish I had enough time and money to ride more than I do.

 

Epic, a trip like that is on my bucket list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Scanned through a few of your instagram pics. Amazing! Care to share a few details about what gear you used? Windscreen, bags, racks, etc...

 

:coolpics: Wau - 20k on 9T, one trip - that's something! Respect. Thanks for sharing - really great pictures!

 

Details

So Unfortunately i can't edit the original post for extra detail so i will do a new one:

i'l start with a list of all/most of the gear i used and maybe a small review

Bags:
All bags are from SW-Motech

-BLAZE H saddlebag
love these things but woldnt recommend for such a long trip. one week or weekend use, they took a serious beating i'm surprised they made it home

-Yukon 130 strap tank bag
ive always hated how tank bags look but after using one i 100% understand the usefulness i totally love this one 100% waterproof it held all my electronics and i rigged it up with a SAE cable so it was charging all my devices while on the road.
note: side pockets are swimming pools once it rains and the stitching between the base and the zipper came apart on the last day of my trip and the strap system did end up scratching my paint but anyway what was i expecting? for my bike to be in mint condition after 20k km

-Drybag 350
Awesome!!!

-Drybag 260
Zipper broke after 2 weeks, stuff still stayed dry anyway

-Unit Garage LUGGAGE RACK
too small for passenger and bags i had to build something that attached to this rack and extended it, pics below

Honorable mention:
-Quechua ultra compact 10L
-Trek 500 3L water pocket
this combo were just things i had at home before the trip and i never expected them to be maybe the 2 most important things on the trip and that they would make it to the end. If you are wild camping water is THE most important thing!!

Comfort
-TRAVELLER PILLION cushion
Helped my girl manage from 150km days to 250km and more. unfortunately it died after 3 weeks of use.

-Wunderlich handlebar elevation
more upright sitting position relly helps on the long runs and i prefer the position on a day to day

-Wunderlich Touring Screen 70th ROADSTER
i really don't like screens on bikes the reason i love my bike so much is because the front is so naked and pure, but this really makes a difference on long runs and rain - i had it installed at Wunderlich shop in Germany during my trip because they didn't have it in stock when i started and their town was on my route.
Note: the turbulence created by this is deafening, will look into other options for future trips.

-Wunderlich handguards
these and heated grips i manged to do the whole trip with my summer gloves, i had initially planned to get winter gloves during the trip

-Throttle Rocker
best 10€ spent in my life

Protection
-SW-Motech Crash bars
wish i had installed them sooner as i crashed once and had to replace an engine cover in Italy


Accessories
OptiMATE CABLE O-29
Ran this under the tank and attached to the handlbars, then had an SAE splitter rigged onto my tankbag so i would just quicly connect it when attaching or removing the tank bag
SAE 4 way slitter
Optimate USB Chargers

Quadlock phone mount
this thing is awesome!!!
Originally had the handlebar mount but with the GPS and the tankbag there wasn't enough space so i had to put it on the mirror (also had to remove my rizoma mirrors and use stock for the tip)

TomTom Rider 450 GPS
i have mixed feelings about this. i know i could not have done it without it because phone GPS is just not reliable.
If it were not for my smartphone with an active internet connection and the mydrive app i would have struggled a lot with it. basically i was not touching the thing and just controlling it with my smartphone. every time i tried to use it directly its just so slooow and not user friendly. I work in the tech industry and i believe that for that price and the tech we have available today this thing is just light years away from what we could achieve.

SPOT Gen3 GPS tracker
my mommy was happy that she could track me live and that i had access to emergency response even if GSM signal was not working. Also helped me make that awesome route map

Tires
Michelin Road 5
Did 10k with rear and 14k with front, would have done much more if i was solo all the time and if we haddnt hit such huge heat in Corsica and the alps in july.

now for some pics

this is my custom home made luggage rack, at its unfinished state i cant find pic of the finished product, made of wood fully covered with black duct tape and held in with 2 u shaped screws and butterfly screws for easy removal if that makes any sense

fully loaded with passenger

socks drying on the flat twin

NordKapp

 

This is truly amazing!
Which part of the road trip you liked the most? North or South or....?
Did you ran out of gas at some point?
Are you starting to see wear on the bike after the trip?

 

Well both north and south are stunning and have their pros and cons.
i was a bit unlucky but also i couldn't plan it another way. But i was in the south/central Europe in July when it was too hot and i was in the north in august when it was already starting to get cold and very wet, also a breakdown in Norway that pinned me down for 2 weeks ,parts that needed shipping, really put me even more behind in schedule.
But Norway is truly stunning, breathtaking views at every corner its a completely other planet and the quality of the roads are just top noch.
The disadvantage of Norway is that its so expensive you really need to play that wild camping card, but that keeps you away from meeting other people so i would really recommend doing it with friends. As solo it ca be a bit difficult, unless you budget going to campsites every day.
Then the East is awesome because everything is quite cheap so you can find a bed and a meal for cheap and also you are saving money because gas is also cheaper.

if i needed to recommend this would be it:
Central southern Europe i would recommend May June or September sticking to camp sites and avoiding that July August heat and overcrowded campsites in the more popular places.
Northen Europe (scandinavia) August wild camping with a camp site every 3 days for a well deserved warm shower. If you are with friends, camp sites often have small cabins that can host 4 people, split 4 ways its a good price for the region 4 bunks a table and kitchen roof and heater. but there is nothing like pitching your tent on a beach in a fyord and fully embracing the nature.
Eastern Europe i would say July August as its when its more tourist crowded and you can make more encounters. around 4pm google camp site or open booking.com and for sure you will find a more than reasonable offer, often breakfast included.

As for running out of gas, i was warned by several people about Finland that in some places it could get difficult to find so i just filled the tank every time i found a village with gas. But mostly because i had the TomTom that is showing you real time the next gas station on your route i never felt in any risk of running out of gas and i often took it to the reserve light.

As for wear on the bike, yes the bike took a beating rust on the exhaust some salt stains and scratches on the paint. its actually at the BMW dealer and they are negotiating with BMW for the exhaust line rust as i mentioned it was not acceptable for a bike that is under 1.5 years old from a premium brand like BMW to rust like that. but they started to give me BMW mumbo jumbo that i didn't use BMW branded care products etc... ill have more news on that next week.

 

Fantastic. Congratulations!

 

Incredible!!! How do you manage to book maintenance service in BMW dealer ? IT is easy during trip?

You bring your own oil to refill when necessary ? Or you buy in gas station?

 

I booked maintenance on the go, started calling dealers one week ahead on my route.

for oil i had a 1L bottle always with me and topped up whenever needed and purchased a new one when my bottle ended. kind of hard to find 15W50 oil around so i always ended up going to a BMW dealer to get it.
In Norway it was a bit hard but i didn't have a choice! Breakdown and Service period happened at the same time and i ended up staying pinned in the same town for 2 weeks waiting for parts so the garage had time to do the service. I would recommend calling at least 2 weeks in advance or even booking the whole thing in advance but then that would put you in a schedule and that was not the point of my trip. And i would recommend against doing it in Norway (pricey!!!!!!)

Originally i was supposed to do the 10k in Italy and then the 20k in Latvia but on my way to France from Switzerland 800km i noticed the oil was really low when i arrived so i went to a BMW dealer to ask and they suggested i did the 10k maintenance then (6000 km) so they could take a closer look. all in all everything was fine and these engines just drink oil (i would say 1L per 6000 km or less). But the whole thing bumped my maintenance periods down by 4000km.

 

Hi XiZeL,


Congratulations on your trip!


Here are some touring tips from me for the R9T:
Wunderlich hand guards are wonderful and don't look too bad. Even better with heated hand grips - I fitted the R&G but if you have the money get BMW.
I lowered the exhaust by an inch and then could fit proper hard panniers - in my case (pun!) vintage Krauser Starlets from eBay.
The Givi AirFlo adjustable screen is really good and, as it says, is adjustable so you can enjoy the hot air and hide from the cold air. It's not listed as fitting the R9T but you just need larger jubilee clips.

The Hepco and Becker rack is OK - I used it to mount a Givi Maxia 56 topbox which is very big but also strong, secure and good looking. You can wire up the brake lights too and also fit a rack on top for extra stuff.
My R9T doesn't use much oil!
(Hard luggage can be locked which always gives peace of mind.)

 

Hi Nick

thanks for all those tips, i checked out your profile and found some pictures of your setup but none with the hard panniers. I have so many questions because basically my conclusion of my trip was that if i had to do it again i would get a top case and hard panniers. but i need to keep the possibility to carry a passenger.

I will message you directly with my questions because i intend to do much more traveling and i don't intend to change bike any time soon or ever

thanks

 

Hi XiZeL, here are a few photographs for you of me, the wife and the Black Baron.

 

thank you so much that is awesome, exactly what i'm looking for.

how is the comfort for the wife with the side cases?

 

My hat is off to you sir! I couldn't do a trip like that without cruise control.

 

believe me the throttle rocker really worh the 10€

ive also read that the cruise control is really good add on and not so pricey actually.

anyway the whole point of my trip was alos to push my limits and step out of my comfort zone, its incredible how far we are able to push ourselves, really makes me believe that we are capable of anything we set our minds to.

 

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

 

She was fine. No problem as they didn't affect her.

 

Ahh!!! Also In Biarritz, next to Pyrenees (West side) near to Spain border is "Wheels and waves" festival ... Planning a long Trip probably is not easy to include festival but...Never I was but I think is very interesting.

https://youtu.be/-oX-Zu8675M

 

We're heading off from Ireland to Poland in July next year via Berlin and other places not yet decided, to go to a Rammstein concert. That should be fun.

 

How dare you not to take a trip of such kind on a GSA?????

:laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:


seriously: great trip and proof that beside 25.000$+ bikes there is true Adventure.

 

the rider makes the adventure not the bike i saw such diversity of bikes on the road even on a nineT i felt i was taking an easy option.

 

Respect XiZeL!

Impressive route!

 

Awesome. I can't believe that luggage solution held up!

 

a few more weeks and it would not have.
sidebags were really damaged and tank bag literally fell apart on the last day 150km away from my parents home. duckt taped it together and made it home :wavetowel2:

 

Quick update:

i received the stuff i sent to SW motech back:

they have replaced:

- Blaze H Saddlebags
- TRAVELLER PILLION cushion

they fixed the:
-Yukon 130 strap tank bag


Even tho i think that tank bag is absolutely awesome i'm a bit disappointed they fixed it instead of replacing it as i was looking to sell it and get something a bit smaller

i will be selling the saddlebags and cushion as i will be moving to a different setup:

-Holan racer panniers
-and a custom touring seat that i still yet need to research the best options.

 

Hi XiZeL, really nice to read your post and see some pics. You mention in your first post that you had 2 breakdowns; what happened? Was one the incident you mentioned in Italy? Am curious because I have a Pure and am looking at some tours, albeit much shorter than you did (purely because of time constraints).

 

Excellent thread, I really enjoyed reading that, so thanks for sharing @XiZeL.


Like @wff, I'm also curious about hearing more about the breakdowns.


atb, Gareth.

sorry for the delayed answers
the 2 breakdowns were minor.

first was in Norway, one of the fork seals broke, the thing is that they didn't have any stock in Scandinavia so it took 2 weeks for them to get the parts. BMW warranty got me a rental car for 10 days for free so i explored the lofoten islands while i waited to get the bike.
Second breakdown was a fuel leak in Latvia, also a broken seal in the line. i had already a tire change scheduled in Riga and they fixed it then. and gave the bike her first wash in 2 months on the road. i couldn't recognize her

 

You mention you’re looking for a new touring seat; have you looked at the Sargent? Am considering it myself as I struggle to do more than a couple of hours on the stock seat.

 

XiZel, Congratulations on that trip!

 

Excellent thread, I really enjoyed reading that, so thanks for sharing @XiZeL.


Like @wff, I'm also curious about hearing more about the breakdowns.


atb, Gareth.