Acerbis handguards. Built with a thick aluminium strip through them, very handy for saving the levers if the bikes go over. Very ‘world traveller’ & much cheaper than a BMW

Plus Oxford heated grips. I bought mine about 23 years ago when I was a motorcycle courier & they still work - a shining jewel in the festering cesspool of Oxford build quality.

Move your mouse over the blanked bike parts to see them, wheee! Then click to read some info about how they’re modified & why, hmmmm.

Rear number plate. Custom ordered with small characters, a Grandfather logo inlay and our website logo along the bottom. Very nearly legal in some countries... maybe...

Not that it matters much when you’re travelling on plates that no-one recognises anyway, “GB” doesn’t mean much to anyone outside Europe.

Seat. Carried from Mexico to England & back for re-foam, gel insert & new cover. Sadly it turned out a bit too firm so we get a bum battering plank ride instead of the glorious bum cuddling we’d hoped for.

Rack made to carry luggage on our trip round the Northland peninsula of New Zealand on 1 bike. Wonderful Haksore Customs creation from metal scrounged from an Auckland commercial estate on a Sunday, then joined with pop rivets & cable ties as no welder was available. It now lurks under the rear of The Luggage waiting to do it’s thing when released.

Extra rear lights, stop lights & indicators - cos you just never know when that brain dead, blind homicidal moron with a bad hair day is accelerating behind you...

Well actually, quite regularly it would seem, no wonder hairdressers are on the Australian Govt. long term skills shortage list (it’s true - look it up!)

The Luggage. Hundreds of hand rivets, weeks of design & build time, about 1/3 the cost of buying luggage including all the extra lights & wiring.

It’s not sapient & doesn't have hundreds of legs but it is a top place for stickers & a great conversation starter wherever we go. It has become a souvenir & a tourist attraction in it’s own right.

Oh yes, we also put stuff in it!

Aluminium crash bars. Kindly donated by Pete (the other 1/2 of Haksore Customs). Obviously home-made by someone who could weld Ally really well, unfortunately not quite man enough to take 325 kg of bike when it goes over. It saved the engine but bent & cracked in the process, so  I’m not sure what will happen if it takes another bash.

Straps. Bog standard ratchet straps. A bit  too long but otherwise ideal for their purpose. They act as the weak point if the bike does fall, allowing the box to break away rather than grind into the road - put the box back on, re-tie where the strap broke & away we go!  Also a lot cheaper than a BMW.

Mudguard. Modified by dropping the bike on it before we left, then fixing it with pop rivets & offcut steel plate. That gave up in 2006 on the horrendous Peruvian roads, where it was fixed with a couple of 6” door hinges bolted together slightly offset, still working fine today. Marvellous!

Map holder.  The finest ziplok bag (family size) lovingly sellotaped to the tank provides a handy (almost) weatherproof map bag. When the sellotape gets wet enough time & falls off or the ziplok bag gets snagged & holed, just bang on a new one! NZ supermarket large pick n mix bags are a good source of free ones....

LED brake light. High level, high intensity - again for that brain dead, blind, homicidal moron with a bad hair day accelerating behind you...

 

Fog light. For that brain dead, blind, homicidal moron with a bad hair day accelerating behind you in zero visibility (& they do)