Kit-tastic - Road Test

Twelve days in, how is the kit holding up?

The bike, is running well (touches wood and gives offering to Bavarian Motor Gods). It is comfortable to ride all day long burning just a small amount of oil.

The luggage system is working well. Easy to pack and unpack. The Metal Mules look a bit more rugged now following a couple of "incidents" back in Montenegro.

Temperature range so far has been from 8C to 26C. Combinations of down jacket/heated vest/merino T-shirts have kept Deefor warm or cool as required.

Tool kit has been used in anger a couple of times (minor tweaks and to fix Patrick's GPS mount) and has passed the test.

Coffee maker was christened yesterday in a shady spot by the side of the road. Not quite up to Mrs Hutchison or Mrs Atkinson's standards, but good anyway.

The electronics have not done so well. The trusty Pentax camera which has survived every adventure since the Atlantic met its end in Greece (broken LCD viewfinder) and was replaced in Istanbul.

The screen of the Kindle also didn't survive being dropped. A replacement is on its way via Watlington, Chengdu and Kashgar. Thanks Susie.

A couple of things have needed repairing; trouser buttons and sunglasses but nothing major.

So far, so good.