Caja Sahel

One of the many big questions before we left on this trip was what to take with us. Clothing was fairly easy. After exhaustive research, including a trip to Belfast specifically to visit a clothing shop I settled on a BMW Rallye 2 suit. The suit is modified with Ireland patches on the shoulders and all the armour is removed and replaced with independent motocross armour. This allows me to travel wearing lighter clothes without compromising my safety. The suit also has a removable Gore Tex lining which is a must in the heat of Mexico. Motocross boots tend to work very well as they are both robust and easy to clean, mine are GS1 boots from BMW. One of my favorite pieces of kit are my Alpinestars gloves. They are a variation on the old GP series glove and have a shorter cuff so they feel cooler. The knuckles are also ventilated which makes a huge difference in the warm weather. Pride of place goes to my lid. The relatively new Arai tour cross helmet is simply fantastic. A traditional MotoX helmet with a proper visor works a treat. For the faster road stuff I can take the peak off and for the dusty stuff I can remove the visor and use my Oakley goggles.  

We also brought some tools. A basic socket set and some spanners. Neither of us are trained mechanics so it was just the basic stuff tightening bolts on screens, luggage indicators etc. We also attended a first on scene medical course and are carrying the recommended medical packs. It is one of my ambitions on this tour to return the medical pack unopened. For guide books we´ve been using the trusty Lonely Planet series and taking an occasional look at www.horizonsunlimited.com. Spending this much time on a bike would be unbearable without music. I have a 30GB apple ipod with over 6500 songs, again another wonderful piece of kit that I can´t recommend enough.

Casual clothing was quite simple. All recommendations were for light coloured clothing and lots of pockets. To protect from sun damage and hungry mosquitoes it was recommended that we ware long sleeved t-shirts, so it was off to the local shop for a load of cheap t-shirts and a couple of pairs of combats as well as some new socks and jocks.

While all of the above were from Dublin we decided to purchase the camping gear in Canada as we didn´t want to pay the freight charges or the extras on luggage from Dublin. When we arrived in Toronto we found a store called Mountain Equipment Coop. The people who work in MEC are generally outdoor types and are very proficient with their area of speciality. Tent, sleeping bags, luggage rolls, camping stove and hiking boots for me were all sifted through and compared by the staff who had more questions for us than we had for them! To enjoy this fantastic service we had to become members of the Coop, a simple and cheap procedure that took just a few minutes. Subsequent visits to other MEC stores in Vancouver, revealed that we weren't 'just lucky' in Toronto, the same friendly knowledgeable service appears to be standard in all MEC stores all over Canada.

We also carry a laptop bag with a cheap Fujitsu Siemens laptop and an ipod charger. Because we cant always get access to the internet we also carry a diary for notes.We supplemented this in Canada by adding a Skype phone and laptop speakers. The pictures are taken on a Sony Cyber-shot digital camera. Finally we can't thank the guys in Winnipeg enough for their assistance with the Garmin GPS system, they supplied it, gave us tuition and loaded all the software for us.

The bike is a standard R1200GS with ABS, heated grips, spoked wheels, an alarm and white lenses. We both retro fitted Touratech headlamp covers and a welder in Whitehorse made oil cooler covers for us from some old metal grills. It has to be said, however, that pride of place has to go to our panniers, Caja Sahel Luggage.

Caja is Spanish for Box Pronounced" Ca Ya ".The Sahel is an area of Africa which for the people who make this luggage is an adventure motorcycle playground, its a wide stretch of land running from the Atlantic ocean to the African "Horn". The Caja Sahel Pannier system has been designed and built to operate in these conditions. The Panniers are made from 2.5MM Aluminum which is folded and double welded, that's welded inside and outside. The outside weld is buffed to give a nice clean exterior finish the inside weld remains as is for the added strength that is needed for what is essentially a harsh environment.

After looking at a lot of the competing systems I placed a call to the Caja Sahel company headquarters. After a brief conversation with the CEO of the company I felt sure that purchasing these panniers would be easy an I would almost certainly be able to negociate a substantial discount. After a short trip to the Caja Sahel warehouse and manufacturing facility I soon learned the error of my ways. When it came to haggling I was, quite simply, outclassed by the seasoned Caja Sahel customer service consultant.

Fitting was simple. The luggage was placed with the dealer in Toronto who received on line instructions from the customer service support team back at Caja Sahel HQ and duly put the wrong lids on the boxes and didn´t use enough locktight.

These boxes are huge. Tool box, medical pack, maps, clothing, extra rider equipment, books, religious icons, the keys I lost three weeks ago and a pair of hiking boots all fit with a tiny bit of room to spare. We had a competition to see who could get the most stickers on their panniers. I´m currently winning in both content and quality as red bikes are faster than yellow ones. Everyone knows this.

On the Haul Road in Alaska the bolts started to work their way loose, broke and the luggage started to come away. Even though they were carrying so much weight they didn't bend the frames or do anything unpleasant to the bike. A quick replacement of the offending bolts and we were on our way.

With the luggage being that little bit different they are always a point of conversation with other motorcyclists and its nice to support a company like Caja Sahel. To put it simply if I was planning the trip over I´d get a different tent, bring less stuff, start in a different place, but I'd be sure to use exactly the same luggage. I can´t recommend it enough.

When flying out to Canada via new York I decided to use the panniers as my heavy luggage to check in. I don't know about you, but I`m terrible at  packing. Every time I fly it seems that I have to check in earlier and earlier, so much so that I now feel like a short hop to London is always commenced in the dead of night. To make matters worse I always get very Little sleep as I try to pack the night before. By pack, of course, I mean shove what I think I might need into a bag and make sure I have a credit card to buy thy essentials I have forgotten. This time was no different. As I watched the panniers roll along the conveyor belt in Dublin I wondered if they would be searched as they were so unusual looking and mentally congratulated myself for not locking them. Some time later we arrived at the hotel in Toronto and imagine my surprise when I opened my panniers to find everything neatly folded with a note from the US Department of Homeland Security apologising for having to search my stuff. Whatever agent had opened the bag had to repack the panniers neatly to fit everything in!!

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