AvVida

“I remember vividly we were in Huascaran National Park in Peru. We’d been riding on some amazing dirt roads, with barely any other vehicles, through the mountains and snaking up to the top past some small lakes. We could see a wall of rock in front of us with an opening just wide enough for the road. As we passed through the doorway, the valley floor just opened up in front of us. All around were snow-capped mountains. There were the most amazing roads full of switch-backs off to our right and at the foot of the valley was the brightest blue lake. We stopped and just stood on the edge taking in our magnificent surroundings. It was truly spectacular and a place we will never forget.” – Suzie Bostock

Suzie Bostock and Kelvin Prevett hail from Bristol in the United Kingdom where they met in 2012 through a “mutual love” of motorcycles. “Kelvin started riding motorcycles off-road from the age of eleven on a Honda C90. He then got into motocross when he was thirteen, starting on a big wheeled Kawasaki KX80. He continued racing into his late teens along with his elder brother. Later on, while working for the British Military, he was able to take part in some enduro races on a stripped down military 350 cc Harley Davidson which he absolutely loved.” It was only in 2010 though, after having done all of this, that he officially passed his road license test. Suzie, on the other hand, started riding motorcycles when she was eighteen. “I got a lift home with a co-worker, and I was hooked! Both my parents had been into bikes, so this helped matters. I managed to get myself a second hand Suzuki GN125, and that was my main mode of transport. I only learned to drive a car ‘officially’ about eight years later.” Suzie’s rider education happened oppositely around to Kelvin’s because she’d only ever rode on the tarmac until about a year before they set off on their travels in 2017. “I thought it was essential for me to feel more confident riding off-road to be able to explore the countries we’d be going to.” Armed with Kelvin’s trusty old KDX 125, she took the first steps and started practicing. “Then with the help of friends Mo and Rob, I joined the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) and upgraded to a 2004 Honda CRF230F. This improved my confidence a lot.”

For many would be travelers, there are often a plethora of excuses. “For us, the main perceived barriers were our careers and money. A common misconception is that by leaving your job, you’re setting yourself up for career suicide when actually I think the opposite is true. I never thought I’d be granted a career break but I managed it, and we both feel like travel has helped us grow as people. As for money, we saved like crazy and made some big sacrifices like increasing our mortgage by quite a chunk and sold our sports bikes, our van as well as a lot of other belongings. For other people, barriers might be kids or pets. However, we now know many people who decide to take their kids or dog with them, or not have any at all to travel more freely.”

The spark to set off on their current adventure was a combination of several things. “Kelvin had never ridden his bike outside of the UK until early 2012 while on a trip with his friend Marcus. He loved it, and we decided to go on a trip together in September that year to Spain. Every year after that we went on at least one two-week trip. We talked about making a bigger trip and started saving, making changes, but we didn’t have any specific plans yet. We wanted to have the time to enjoy traveling instead of rushing through each country while on a schedule. We also wanted to spend more time together, which in our ‘normal’ life use to only be weekends.” However time went on, but one evening while enjoying a meal with a friend, she matter of factly asked; “so when are you going on your big adventure?” “That was the kick up the arse we needed. A week later we had booked a one-way ticket to Colombia. After that followed several conversations with Kathy at Motofreight to sort out getting the bikes there too. Once you book that flight, you have a real goal, and that truly helps to get you going.”

To make their dream a reality Suzie and Kevin sold their “tricked out” CBR1000RR and GSXR750 to buy DR650’s. The sale also paid for the upgrades and shipping they needed to get their bikes ready and into South America. “We kept a close eye on eBay and also put the word out that we were looking for a couple of DR650’s. We managed to get one, and I took it on a test run to Italy with Kelvin on his Husquvarna 450. I loved it, and we were lucky to find another one on our return as the DR is hard to come by in the UK.” The choice to go with DR’s was due to weight, simplicity, and cost. On the plus side, they are also dual sport, so well suited for the type of traveling they would be doing. “We didn’t want a complicated bike that needs a laptop to fix as that’s a tad hard to find in the back of beyond. We wanted the same bike so we’d need one set of tools. Also, it’s not an overly tall bike or too difficult to lower which is very important for me.”

Riders report that challenges on the road more than often comes about when one of the riders are tired or not feeling well. Because this duo chooses to travel slow and have no fixed agenda they can stay put an extra day or two and rest up. That being said, one of the most challenging aspects to their adventure thus far has been the number of breakdowns on Suzie’s bike. Not only costing them a lot of time but also a fair deal of money resulting in a shortened trip. Mechanical issues aren’t the only obstacles they’ve faced though; “I think I’ve been the one experiencing more of the ‘difficult’ moments, purely because we choose the road less traveled and the terrain can be challenging for me on a loaded DR650. The one time which sticks out most in my mind was traveling to the Dakar Rally in Lima.” For this, they needed to get to the Pan American highway and had to cross through some mountains to get there. The tarmac roads only option selected on their GPS’s turned out to be a bit of an overstatement. “Normally we prefer dirt tracks. However, we had a Dakar to catch so we came out over the top of a mountain and there it was. A snaking road was going across the mountains and plunging deep into the valley below.” Despite having started as a nice gravel and dirt track, it quickly turned into sand. “The route was stunning, but in the space of 37 mi / 60 km, we dropped from over 9850 ft / 3000 m almost down to sea level. The trip to the bottom involved several rest stops, two falls, overheating and a dose of anxiety especially as the road was narrow, with more sand on the corners and little room for error.”

Suzie and Kelvin have made “quite a few modifications” to their twenty two year old 1996 DR 650SE’s. The first order of business in the navigation of turning these dual sports legends into real adventures bikes was the fuel range. “We originally wanted the 30 L Safari tank, but it’s over double the cost of the Acerbis 6.6 gal one. Some people fit dual taps, but we’ve not had any issues with just one fitted.” For filtration, they run Guglatech Fuel pre-filters. “We’ve been on the road for nineteen months and filled up at some questionable places, and to date, we’ve not had one single fueling issue, it even filters out water!” Electrical upgrades include Stebel TM80 horns, Gamma Tronix voltmeters, and Ricks Motorsport uprated 250w stators. They also removed the starting interlocks for their side-stands and clutch levers so less could go wrong. Optimate USB chargers were fitted on the handlebars along with SAE outlets under the seats to power the air compressor and other accessories. The main headlight bulbs have been switched out for LED versions. Also fitted for some extra lumens, are Aurora 12w LED spotlights. Navigation in turn by turn fashion is handled by a duo of Garmin’s and Iphone’s. “I use a Garmin Montana 610 GPS, and Kelvin has a slightly older 600 model. Both are great do it all GPS’s. Kelvin has had his one for many years, and its seen plenty of abuse.” All of these are in turn mounted by RAM mounts of various configurations. “They are a great addition and reduces some of the vibrations on things.”

Other modifications on the two steeds include; Wider chrome-moly foot pegs on lowered mounts along with Warp 9 short levers. Kelvin’s ride features Acerbis hand guards, Protaper bars and a set of Warp9 bar risers along with a Warp9 fork brace. Suzie’s bike has “cheap” handguards, wider bars bought in Colombia and SW Motech bar risers. Both bikes run Precision Motorcycle Racks. Luggage and storage are handled by two sets of ATG soft panniers. “They are great panniers at a fair price, although we got them second hand for free off our friends Michnus and Elsebie of PikiPiki Overland. The panniers had over five years of continuous over-landing use before we got them and are still going strong. We originally had SW Motech Dakar panniers which fell apart in no time at all.” Up front rides two Enduristan 3E Tank bags. “These are great tank bags, although we had faulty ones to start with where the velcro came off the top. Eduristan’s customer service was fantastic, and they replaced both bags straight away. I use it for our main camera, so it gets multiple uses a day, and it’s still going strong. Kelvin, on the other hand, fills his one with too much junk, so he’ll probably go for a slightly smaller version like the Enduristan 4x later on.” Also from the Swiss outfitter are a set of bottle holsters, fender bags, and the versatile XS Base backpack. “These have been great, totally abused and still going strong.”

The suspension is handled by Wilbers with uprated fork springs and rear shock. Both bikes have a universal KTM headlight. “We got them off eBay, and so far they have been fine, although would like more light; hence why we fitted additional spotlights.” A Husqvarna TE450 front mudguard is fitted on Suzie’s bike. “With the headlight mod and this, it totally changes the ugly front end of the DR, although I stole it off Kelvin’s Husky, so he wasn’t happy.” Both DRs have a Honda ST1100 windscreens that have been drastically modified to get fitted. “We got these for free from a friend. They are great for the DR once modified and has a lovely vent which you can close when it’s cold.” Both bikes have a cheap mesh seat cover to aid cooling and shedding water. “They are perfect, although not so great in the cold as the wind tends to cool your butt a little too much. Kelvin did have a sheepskin cover. However, a friendly hostel dog ate it!”

Engine mods run the list of a removed snorkel, opened up airbox, aftermarket mufflers, and header pipes, case savers, countershaft seal retainers, Mikuni TM 40 carbs pre-jetted for their mods, EBC clutch and Trail Tech universal fan kits. Gearing has also been altered to a 14 / 44 final drive. Outfitting the machines has mainly been Kelvin’s domain, although Suzie professes to be “getting more into things.” Planned upgrades include; Suzuki RMZ 250/450 front forks along with a Scotts steering damper and a simple navigation tower, manufacturing some pannier racks, and fitting Warp9 TDC inspection plugs and starter motor cap to kill the dreaded “roaster noise”. Kevin, being a self-professed “tinkerer” would like to have a go at grafting on KTM 400 EXC swinging arms with no linkage. “If that isn’t enough he also wants to fit a rear fuel tank / subframe from a 450 KTM. He also plans to try a Lectron carburetor upgrade at some point as it has no jets and adjusts itself automatically.”

Their current adventure has covered over 18 650 mi / 30 000 km so far in four different countries; Colombia for six months, Ecuador for three, Peru for seven and Bolivia for five months. “We like to travel slowly and truly explore the countries we’re in, especially the back roads that most PanAm travelers don’t go anywhere near. We think we’ll do another 12 500 mi / 20 000 km or so before we plan to finish this trip in July 2019. Hopefully by going into Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Southern Brazil and eventually shipping home from Uruguay.” That is if Suzie’s bike doesn’t have any more issues!

For more of Suzie and Kelvin’s adventure check out their website or follow along on Instagram.

Images by AvVida and Michnus Olivier of PikiPiki Overland.