The motorbike and the driver
THE DRIVER :
Mikel Etxebarria, domiciled in Louhossoa, born in Bayonne in 1967, radio journalist.
Spoken languages: Basque, French, Spanish, English, German (a little), Russian (training).
Voyages carried out: Germany, Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Walles, Holland, England, Ireland, Italy, Corsica, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Rumania, Sweden, Switzerland... and all the provinces of the Basque Country!
Last tour realized: The North Cap, 10 000 kilometers in 3 weeks. This travel was accomplished with a racing motorbike (Suzuki RF600R) which entered more than 100 000 kilometers before the departure. 9 months of preparation were necessary to achieve this project which proceeded without incident nor hitch. Moreover, the final budget was very near to the estimated one. Only trouble, the factor adventure had somewhat disappeared. A larger project was necessary : here started the idea of the Worldtour.
THE MOTORBIKE :
It is the most important tool of the tour. Taking into account the longevity of each stage and important changes of the conditions (with 10 miles kilometers of not tarred tracks), the choice of the motor bike was the most considered decision. Here the criteria which determined the type of mounting:
- High daily Mileage
- Important motorway Stages
- Tracks not tarred on a great part of the tour (10 miles km)
- High Autonomy (little station gasoline in Asia and Alaska)
- Reliability and maintenance (few garages in Asia and without equipment adapted to the motor bike)
- Comfort (position of control, safety, luggage...)
After analysis the choice was clear: the motor bike was to be Trail of great cubic capacity. The motor bike, a BMW GS 1100 was acquired in November 2005. In the vast current market motor bike, few models are as well adapted to this type of adventure as BMW GS with Boxer engine. Indeed, this motor bike joined together all components necessary to accumulate the km on all types of coatings (motorways, small mountain roads, degraded roads, tracks, sand...). Reliability is also one of its principal assets. This is very important to carry out a voyage in all confidence and without stress (one cannot feel pleasure if one does not rely on the machine). Another element determining in the choice of the motor bike is maintenance. This motor bike proposes solutions completely adapted to the adventurers: - the Cardan joint (with this system one obtains a considerable reduction of maintenance and an ideal protection on the muddy or ensablées tracks). - accessibility to the mechanical parts to carry out basic maintenance. - the possibility of adapting to octane numbers lower than the normal, reduced the mechanical problems related to the use of a gasoline of bad quality
THE EQUIPMENT :
The filing space is limited to 2 side satchels, a back bag and a bag of tank. The material of camp-site is envisaged: bag of bed, tries and mattress. Obviously of good clothing of motor bike and for the remainder (with regard to the accessories) there will be place only for the bare minimum. For the maintenance of the motor bike, good tools and certain spare parts are planned. To facilitate the location a system GPS will be assembled on board.
