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AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 109

SAFETY OVERSEAS

go overboard — two straps will hold any

backpack in place. And don’t waste your

time with net-shaped ocky straps. They’re

totally useless.

Finally, before heading off on your

adventure, invest $1 in a ChapStick. Unless

your lips are properly lubricated, the wind

will leave them parched and dry and you’ll

fi nd yourself constantly licking them

instead of concentrating on the road.

NAVIGATION

Navigation is detrimental to safety when

travelling in remote or foreign regions,

where a wrong turn could lead to a bad

neighbourhood or a nature reserve, or

private land where motorbikes aren’t

allowed. Or you could just run out of fuel

and be forced to leave your bike in the

middle of nowhere and pray it’ll still be

there when you return.

To ensure you make it from A to B, ►

As most of my adventure riding takes

place in warm climates, I wear an off -road

helmet most of the time. Even though

they’re practical, I’m not a fan of dual-

sports helmets that combine motocross

and street styling as they tend to have

too many plastic bits and bobs that are

easy to break. I love Shoei’s VFX range,

but at $600–$800 they’re a bit too rich,

while M2R’s X2.6 is 80 to 90 per cent as

good for half the money. Made of carbon-

fi bre, Kevlar and fi breglass, the X2.6 is

lightweight and well vented, making it

ideal for long rides.

You’ll also need a good pair of goggles.

Old-school framed goggles will do the

trick, but they’re fi dgety things and

require constant readjustment. Ergo, I

swear by Dragon NFX frameless goggles

with anti-fog-treated lenses and UV

protection that signifi cantly improve your

vision at sundown or in the rain. If your

route climbs a mountain pass, even in the

tropics, you may suddenly fi nd yourself

freezing cold. To ward off the shivers, I

always carry a full-face silk ski mask and

lightweight merino wool thermals. They

cost twice as much as polyester thermals,

but synthetic material isn’t very good at

breathing and quickly becomes rank and

foul-smelling with sweat.

Proper positioning of your luggage

is essential to ensure your bike remains

balanced. There’s nothing more

convenient and comfortable than lockable

hard-case panniers with inner liners. But

panniers can become problematic and

break if you head off -road. And they’re

not really suited to smaller bikes. That’s

where a simple luggage rack and ocky

straps come in to play. There’s no need to

“B e aware that highways in poorer countries have to be shared

with tractors, motorised rickshaws, horse- and bullock-dawn

carriages as well as antiquated trucks and buses”

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