Back to the Future.....a taste of what is to come.

Whilst waiting for the paint to harden on my bike, so the graphics can go on. I wanted to share with you some photo's of others who have done similar journeys. They are not from one particular " Overlander ". And are there to give you a taste of the challenges I shall face.

Remember, unlike most .I am doing this completely solo and unsupported. 20,000 km's across 2 continents. 19 countries. Through the Sahara Desert and vast regions of famine. And finding a way through countries like Mali, that are in Civil War. 28 Western men have been kidnapped and beheaded in the region in recent years. I am not undertaking this challenge lightly.

Take a look at the photo's and we can all wait for my fuel tank paint to go hard. ( Tum te tum..)

Solo.......

 No AA , RAC or ADAC here ! You break down, you fix it. You run out of fuel.....you best have brought plenty of water!

Sometimes there isn't a bridge!

Africa is massive.USA, China, India,Argentina,UK and Europe,ALL fit in her.

Different cultures and ways of life. No Tesco or Walmart here.

 One of the modifications  I will be making to the mighty Suzuki Van Van, is the tank. 7.5 lt is ok for green lanes. Not for the Sahara .

Morocco...the Sahara Desert....no back up truck!

 Gravity.......a harsh mistress. !!

After ridding all day in 120 degree heat, pick up your bike and fix it.

 Washing the bike, Africa style.

It's never going to be the Hilton. Plenty of gods creatures to keep you company at night though.!!

I will have the rainy season half way down. I hear it can turn into 1 mt deep mud.

New meets old.

 So MR big BMW GS......is my little, but "mighty," Suzuki Van Van 125 so silly now ? I will lift mine and you can lift yours..:)

But the Sat Nav. says.....

What a snake bit can turn into. Ewan on Long Way Down had a private Doctor. I have a First Aid kit and my fingers crossed.

Enough said...

Gulp.I have no witty banter for that one.

Still nothing..

You've seen some of the obstacles I shall face. This is the sole reason why. To help wounded Servicemen Most of whom have lost limbs.

Not for all the tea in China.

 

Lovely countryside mind..

 All for these guys.

  Not for these guys. I can not begin to tell you how much I hate snakes. But i will do whatever i have to do. :)

Angola and Mali are just two countries that have been in conflict in recent years.

 Nigeria in is another country with a large extremist element. That have attacked, kidnapped and murdered Westerners.I shall however avoid the North of the country.

 There are armed gunmen all across Africa. I read most are friendly. I guess i will find out.

A bit of a stocking filler really and to give a taste of what's to come. I am doing this 20,000km challenge for charity. And funding it myself. Please take a min to donate to the charity for wounded servicemen., Click the charity page  DONATE HERE

Thanks. i fixed the Comment box. Feel free to banter away.

Will

Adventure Bike Rider Magazine are to feature this challenge..

I love the Statistics feature I have with this blog.

So " hi " to the bloke in Bahrain that keeps visiting and the six in China....( there's loads of you guys, so invite your mates) !!!  And "thanks" to the two thousand who have read this blog in the past week.

What a few days! But first things first. I am waiting for the paint to harden on the tank and panels, so it can be couriered down to me from Preston. Graphics.net are busy finishing off the, well,.......the graphics. The new seat is on it's way to me now. Finished in Help for Heroes blue. And with a non slip cover. Ready for my boney backside to chafe it's way down the African West Coast.!!

ABR. Adventure Bike Rider have said they would like to feature this challenge. With a News Room article. Where I will update them as I go along my way. Providing extra exposure for the cause. That cause being wounded servicemen, many of whom have lost arms and legs. Everything to do with this challenge is for them. All the expense, the admin, chasing sponsors, promotion and PR work. It's all so you will say " fair play " and click the donate button.DONATE HERE

One article that has already been written was in wemoto News. They are a national motorbike spare parts company. Nice guys actually. ( I would say that, they sponsor me ) ! Big thanks to wemoto for helping me, giving the challenge a write up. Click here to read it. wemoto News


Now for the really good bit. I have a new sponsor. The Biker Store, in Surrey. click to see the store. The Biker Store   I spoke with Johnathon, the Manager. He said he " got loads of these, " but decided he would sponsor An Idiot Got Bored.. The Slow Way Down. How good is that ? Below is the helmet I am having sponsored. It's a AVG AX8 Duel sport. A brilliant helmet. Very,very light weight, with great ventilation for those scorching African Savannas. And lets be right, it just looks cool !

Come on...it looks cool. :)

On top of this great helmet, they are also sponsoring me RST Adventure jacket and trousers. They look fantastic.They were designed to ride from Northern Siberia to South Africa.With various membranes and high end materials. Despite what most people would do,I am not wearing biker boots. As I am on such an under powered bike. ( To grab the public's attention,so they donate ..:)) ) Weight and space are my number 1 concern. I simply do not have anywhere to put personal kit. So I shall be wearing British Army issue desert Lowa boots. Sponsor me anybody ?

Sleeves come off and there are buttons and straps and stuff everywhere. What more do you want ?

Really impressed with these pants and what The Biker Shop have done for the challenge. As soon as all the bits for the bike are back with me. It's Public Relations phase. Where I have to gain as much exposure as I can for this challenge. This challenge doesn't come free!! I am paying for it. It's costing me thousands and thousands. I'm not doing it for my health or because I want to make myself homeless. I am doing it so men and women who have served our country can walk again. 1,600 people a week are reading this blog. And that is Vantastic!! ( see what I did there ?) From all over the world. I will ask you to take 2 minutes and make a donation. Else what's the point of me writing this blog ? If you like what I am doing and who I am trying to help. Click here DONATE HERE Thank you.

The Stig has been busy...

Hi all and welcome...we have followers from Russia to South Africa.

London 2 Johannesburg's own  Stig has been a very busy man. More of that in a sec..

But I wanted to cut straight to the chase and ask a question to you all. Comment box is below. One Carl Froch, the IMF World Boxing Champion Tweeted me yesterday. And re Tweeted this challenge ( Big thank you Carl, if you are reading ). Anyway, as a result, this blog had 400 world wide visits in 24 hours. Brilliant I thought.

But, and yes there is one. The total amount the challenge charity, London2Johannesburg. Help for heroes received was.....zip! Narder. Nowt. Nothing.!! In fact, in the past 5 days, this blog has received over 1,300 views.With no donations.

So my question to you is, what am I doing wrong ? And how can I improve the donations to the challenge charity ? As, whilst I love a challenge and adventure. The whole reason I'm doing all this, is to raise awareness and donations for our wounded servicemen. Most of whom have lost limbs. Answers in the Comments box or e mail please.:)) DONATE HERE click me.


Ok. L2J The Stig..aka Dave. He has been in the paint booth, ( more things I don't understand ), and he has been working his magic.Remember, the bike is going from Yellow to White. So the " London 2 Johannesburg " graphics and "text2donate" number will stand out.

Re introducing London to Johannesburg's very own.........The Stig !! ( aka Dave ). :)

Dave has been busy all weekend sanding down everything and applying fiberglass to the mud guards.

Sorry Dave, I forgot to mention the rear mud guard was a bit of a mess.:)

Rear mud guard being filled with......that stuff that Dave uses.

Brown ..??....going on

Lots of sanding and stuff later.

All primered up and ready for the White paint.

Sanded and getting ready for primmer.

Stigy is good....... isn't he !!

Side panels and two 40mm extension brackets. To raise the front mudguard

WOW Dave....he has made me promise that I will never, ever fall off.!! I agreed to the deal. ( Lol ).

Dave isn't a pro..but look at this finish. And again,I promise not to fall off on this 20,000km ( 50% off road ) challenge.:)

Front mud guard.See the two holes? 40mm bracket will fit there.To raise it higher off the tyre

Look at the difference to before...great job Dave. He is available for jobs.....I will auction his e mail for H4H donations:)

One of the sides......old Dave is a leeeegeeend !!!!

Well there you go.A picture may paint a thousand words. But Dave, aka The Stig paints a Suzuki Van Van !!
Brilliantly !!!!!! These Van Vans are just great little bikes ( Suzuki where's the cash ? ) It just reminds me of a little terrier. Yapps away, wags it's tale and scurry's about for ever and a day. Talk about the little underdog being asked to fight above it's weight.There is something good about that. And I cant wait to go on this epic adventure and challenge together.

Well,that's all folks. For now. Remember,who we are doing this for. Our brave servicemen, who have lost arms and legs.! My efforts are worthless, without your kind words, support and donations. Don't leave it to someone else.Please make a small donation today .click DONATE HERE 

This is why I am funding and doing this 20,000km solo challenge

Will

Suzuki RV 125 Van Van Transformation

My Army mate, Dave, is  preparing the tank, side panels and mud guards for painting. He is also making brackets and doing a spot of welding. And other things I do not understand. Chances are, Dave is a Wizard or Druid or something. But I am very impressed. The bike is going to be all white. Ready for the " London 2 Johannesburg " logo on the tank. Daz, at Graphics.net, is also putting on the Union Jack and South African flags, blending into each other.

Can you see what it is yet ? Two that Dave made earlier. They are extension brackets for the front fender. To raise it off the front wheel by a further 40 mm. This to give all that lovely African mud some clearance. Whilst I am  going down the West Coast of Africa. The Rainy Season will kick in on route, for about two weeks. Rock hard mud tracks can turn into meter deep bog, over night.!!

There is an account on Horizons Unlimited of a Landrover getting stuck in 1 meter deep mud. The " Overlanders " having to abandon the vehicle. And had to live with the local tribesman for 40 days !!! Until the rain stopped and the bog returned to drivable dirt! Lol. There is no way they'd put up with me for 40 days.....I have got Justin Bieber on my i pod to motivate digging me out.

Front Fender bracket fitted, you can see that it will lift it up above the tyre. But still will clear the frame when steering .( Hopefully ).

Yep...it's Dave's hand working some magic, wizardry. Thingy ma jig.The fiber glass needs some work, so yet again, Dave is sorting that out. You might be wondering why we are making the bike look so good. When it's going to get dropped about 80 times on it's journey south. The reason is, when the bike is " Help for Heroes " logoed up. I shall be returning the favour to my sponsoring companies. Such as Suzuki Haslemere. Ask for Mark in Sales or Tom in Service. Say I sent you. Click Suzuki Suzuki Haslemere  After I have done the Press Release, I shall be poodling to the given sponsors. Meeting the local paper, and getting the Mighty Van Van and the challenge cause, in the public's eye. Placing the Mighty Van Van at the center of all the photos. I just hope people understand how much effort is going into this challenge. And throw their hat into the ring. And donate a few pennies. If you like what we are doing and who we are helping. Click my charity page. Help for Heroes.

Guess who  this is ? He's London to Johannesburg's Stig !!  "  Some say.............."

You tell him he's not the London to Johannesburg Stig !!!

The Stig . Aka Dave, ( or is it ), has been doing some more prep work on the fenders.

Rear Fending getting filled and sanded ready for primer and then top coat of white paint. The bike will look great when Dave has finished. Once all  the graphics and new seat have arrived. Complete with non slip Help for Heroes blue cover. I shall put it back together and get the pics up on this blog. Then its Public Relations time.Getting the papers, and TV outside sponsors premises. taking the bike and my Pop Up Help for Heroes banners to bike events. Asking the folks to " text WALK to.." donate a fiver and running around with my collection tin.



If you have an event that you would like us to attend. Use the comment box or e mail me.Dave will be on hand with his blow torch to assist with motivating donators. " And on that bomb shell.........".

To chuck a tenner into my charity pot click here. Help for Heroes  YOU will make a difference.