I want a portion of this blog to cover the preparation for the trip, as I've found it quite challenging at times to sort and sift through all the info on the 'net to get to the really good/useful pieces of advice.

I have so many questions swimming about in my head -- carnets, bike and medical insurances, working from the road, scorpion bites! The list seems endless from here ...

So to start -- right now I'm still in the process of farkeling the bike. In the past month I've added:
crash bars
centrestand
heated vest controller
tool tube
top box
HID headlights
LED taillight
new windscreen
tankbag

I'm sure this list will continue to grow :)

Today, I took public transit out to buy some luggage from Dual Sport Plus down in Stoney Creek. That was a good 2 hours of travel just getting there.

But what a lovely shop they have! It's almost a truism that motorcycle riders are a friendly bunch, and the shop owners, Les and Catherine are really wonderful. Because I had to carry the big boxes on the bus, they offered to give me a ride to the train station.

Catherine and I got to chatting on the ride back about KLRs and long trips. She confided that she shared my reluctance to take my KLR on the highways, but that the fork brace I have on order will make a huge improvement to the stability of the bike once installed.