What goes into preparing 2 Sports Bikes for a 20,000 km trip? It is primarily on asphalt, but nevertheless, a roadtrip is a roadtrip. Having sports bikes means that you don’t have the luxury of a good posture and space like you would have on adventure motorcycles. Obviously, solutions can always be found; thankfully, this time we had help.
Let’s start with luggage. For the Ninja H2, we are thankful for Bikebiz Australia in Sydney from whom we picked up the H2 and also who helped us in making a pannier solution for the H2, on which we will be mounting semi-hard side panniers. Along with that, we will have a Ventura tank bag with suction cups so that it doesn’t scratch the beautiful paint. And I will also be wearing a backpack from Point 65 Sweden and this one is in chrome to match the Ninja H2 paint itself.
The Ducati 1299 Panigale that was given to us by Ducati Australia & Fraser Motorcycles was a little more different. In fact, the H2 did not have a stock solution, but the 1299 Panigale had one from Ventura and they are one of the world’s best luggage manufacturers based out of beautiful New Zealand. They provided us with a rack solution with a bag for 1299. But on the 1299 the Ventura rack is there and the Ducati tank bag is there. We found one set of side panniers to fit on it, and of course the rider, Sunil, will be wearing a Point 65 backpack, this time in red to match the Panigale.
Let’s move on to navigation, which is very important. The purists will say that you can also still use paper maps and Google maps. I don’t want to use my phone on the bike, because I don’t want it to get dirty or be under the sun for too long because it is my only point of contact with the rest of the world. So I prefer GPS solutions, which use RAM mounts. And we were glad to be assisted by Hurtle Gear who helped us out with RAM mounts, especially for the H2 and the Panigale. We are using Garmin Zumos which are waterproof. In cities where there are tall buildings these GPS’ sometimes don’t work so then we have the option of using the phones.
Next is something that is part of the communication and navigation system package. The Bluetooth communication devices from UClearAudio. We got a dual pack from them, the UClear AMP Pro. Sunil and I have mounted them on our beautiful AGV Pista GP R Carbon Fibre helmets. I didn’t want to put anything on the helmet, but some things are necessary. These devices can also be linked to the GPS or the phone and we can hear on the go audio directions.
Next up is protecting the bikes in case of a fall. For which we have fitted the H2 with frame sliders from Evotech from Hurtlegear.com.au, front and rear spindle protectors and we also have radiator guards. We got the same for the Panigale as well. We also have two Puig Screens from Online Racing Spares ORS Australia, and we are thankful for that as well.
While preparing we decided to utilise the H2 in a better way, because the engine of the H2 is similar to the H2R, but it is severely restricted. I wanted to do this trip on something which is off the charts. 210 HP is the stock H2 figure, but Bikebiz helped us out to reflash the ECU and fit in an Akrapovic slip on exhaust, and the dyno runs showed it to produce 242 HP at the rear wheel, which roughly is 270 HP at the crank. Which will go up when the bike is actually being ridden on the road with the ram air coming into effect. In fact, we were further able to add another 10 HP when we changed the stock air filter with a performance filter. So it should actually produce around 260 HP at the rear wheel HP, which is around 290 at the crank. This is still less than the H2R, but I don’t think too many bikes will be anywhere near this on the road as far as power goes. Nevertheless we aren’t looking to race or even drag. Maybe a little bit!
We are also thankful to Track Pro Australia. They have given us Eazi Guard and Eazi Grip products. Eazi Guard is very important for the Ninja H2 because it is a thin clear film which will protect it from stone chips and other wear and tear, which is bound to happen when riding 20000 km around Australia. I hope to get the Ninja H2 back with the paint almost new. It is after all very special paint. Ergo fit handlebar from Kawasaki was also used to raise the height of the handlebar by 20mm, which makes a crazy difference in terms of comfort over a distance.
Other preparations also include preparing ourselves, our bodies, and although the ideal scenario would have been if we were doing yoga every day. But I am keeping around 15 minutes every day for exercising, either after the ride or before the ride every morning. So yoga for 5 minutes, 5 minutes stretching, 5 minutes freehand strength training and that is the maximum we can afford to do on this kind of riding regime every day.
Preparations also included getting the right riding gear. Dainese and AGV supported us. Dainese has given us beautiful 2-piece leather suits with AGV Pista GP R helmets, which are ultra-light. People say it is only for racing, but when we are touring on such motorcycles, the extra weight of the helmet can be a disaster. And this is one of the lightest helmets I have put my hands on. And my helmet, the AGV Pista GP R Project 46 is special because I love Valentino Rossi. He is the idol for me as far as motorcycling is concerned. I think he is almost the same age as me and still treats every race as if it is his first race.
Other things which we will be using in this trip are road microphones; one of them is the filmmaker kit which allows us to wirelessly record using our cameras the audio and that means freedom to move without wires while talking.
We have Airhawk seats which will hopefully prevent a sore butt. How will that go? We will let you know! We also have Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tyres fitted on our bikes, which have great grip.
We are using Sony Action Cams and mirrorless cameras, the Alpha series and the RX100 which can shoot super slo-mo videos at 960 fps. Along with that we are also using HP Spectre laptops, which is one of the lightest and fastest laptops in the world. This means saving of space, which is extremely important for a trip like this.
Preparing for the trip also included optimising how we shoot, how we store our data, categorize and back it up. There are very many things which go into a road trip like this. We are also carrying a portable battery operated air pump along with a puncture repair kit.
These are some of the most important things which have gone in preparing for this trip.
And of course the most important thing is preparing oneself mentally. In the first couple of days, you just get into the groove and once the rhythm comes in then kilometers start rolling and it seems like nothing. Which is important since often there will be 1000+ km days on this trip and we don’t have cruise control on the bikes, not even mechanical ones.
Thank you so much guys and see you on the road!
