Braaping Kiwi

“I’d done a little trip to Laos and Thailand where I had rented bikes and traveled around. Then when I got home to New Zealand, I decided to move back to Oregon, where I’d previously lived. Then it occurred to me, what better way to get there than to ride a motorcycle. After that, once I’d arrived back, I couldn’t stop looking at Google maps. So I thought why don’t I head to the top of Alaska so I can say I went from the bottom of New Zealand to the top of the Americas. That’s when it turned into what I call my ‘Forrest Gump’ journey. After reaching the top of Alaska, I rode back down to the States and then decided why not ride it around the world and back to New Zealand.” – Aaron Steinmann

“I think reaching Deadhorse at the top of the Dalton Highway in Alaska would be right up there as far as some of the special moments go that I’ve had on my travels. That feeling of finally seeing the road end, of me reaching as far North as I could go on the continent. It was a stunning day, and one of the longer days on the bike as instead of staying there, I did a ‘turn and burn’ back to Coldfoot. Even the whole ride back was full of memories of the people I had met and the different roads I had taken to get to that point. That ride back also turned into a little bit of a race with some guys on BMW’s, which was fun. I remember feeling so sorry for the bike as at one stage I had her fully pinned doing about 100 mph / 160 kmh trying to put a gap on them thinking holy crap she’s made it this far and now I’m going to pop the thing!”

New Zealander Aaron Steinmann has been riding his “thumper” around the world since 2016. “What was I doing before the trip? Well, I was working and saving my butt off for the trip!” Besides making it from point A to point B without a breakdown, learning about the countries history and meeting as many local people as possible has been some of Aaron’s top priorities while on his travels. “It wasn’t important for me to ride alone, but it was important not to go just because I didn’t have someone else to travel with. So far I’ve done more than 64 000 mi / 102 000 km through forty-four countries on six different continents.”

“When I was in Morocco I had a GPX file for a route over a little mountain pass to a town I was heading to instead of taking the ‘official’ road. Unfortunately, when you are doing a RTW you don’t always get to pick the best time of year to be in a particular country, I was there in summer, and it was sweltering. I figured it was only 37 mi / 60 km so it wouldn’t take me very long. Around 6 mi / 10 km into it, the dirt road turned into a first and second gear single track. The going was slow, and when I finally got to the other side, I looked at the map and realized I’d missed the turnoff. So, I headed back and for the second time I missed it, or perhaps it wasn’t there. At this point, I’d been out in the sun for a few hours, and by now, I was starting to feel the effects of it. I found a clay hut which was empty and sat in it, trying to cool off feeling the first stages of heat stroke.”

“That’s when I realized I had only a few mouthfuls of water left. I was pretty damn mad at myself for not carrying more water and was having trouble deciding whether to turn and go all the way back to the road. That would have taken quite a while, but at least I knew the way. Or should I try heading back up the pass to look for the turnoff? Knowing that if I couldn’t find it, I would have struggled to make it from there back to the road. In the end, I decided to play it safe and go back the way I knew. After about twenty minutes, I came across a local that was dropping a tin can on the end of a rope down into a well. I would have liked to say that it was the best tasting water I’d ever had, but honestly, it was brownish and tasted like dirt. I had a few mouthfuls, filled up my water bottle and made my way back to where I started with my tail between my legs, but with a valuable lesson reinforced.”

Aaron got his KTM the old fashioned way. “I went to the bike shop and bought it.” And the reason he chose a smaller dual sport over a traditional ADV sized machine seems to have paid off. “I wanted something I could take off-road and go exploring on a BDR or TET while really enjoy it without having to worry about it getting stuck and not being able to pull it out by myself, or dropping it on myself if I crashed alone and not being able to lift it and free myself. I’ve had dirt bikes in the past, from the old KDX200, a CRF250r and XR250’s. The 500 EXC seemed like the best bike out there, for me, and quite importantly it’s a bloody good bike for wheelies!”

The 500cc single did get some upgrades from her factory finish to get her ready for the long road. Up front Aaron fitted a Motominded BD Ultimate pro headlight, Renthal Fatbar, Barkbuster hand guards, fold away levers, and a Scotts steering stabilizer. These lead into the 5.3 gal / 20 l fuel tank and the Seat Concepts saddle. To make things easier, Aaron also fitted a set of oversized pegs, robust brake and shift levers along with a handy grab rail. The Haan wheels feature a cush drive hub for the rear with a brake disc guard fitted for the occasional rock strike while exploring those mountain tracks. Installed for clean gas flow is an FMF Q4 silencer along with a PowerBomb header. “I’ve slowly been adding things along the way, so I think I have it covered now, but I wish I had put the Scotts Steering Stabilizer on sooner!”

“The downside was always going to be the reliability. I was constantly being told of the racing pedigree of the bike, and even the salesperson tried to steer me away from it when I told him what I was going to do. As it turns out with a crapload of oil changes and some kind words each morning, with a pat on the tank, it wasn’t a real issue as I got 40 000 mi / 67 000 km out of her before I did the first top end rebuild.” Apart from a few clutches and two top ends, along with a bottom end rebuild at the 102 000 km mark, the bike has performed better than expected. “I didn’t have to do the top and bottom end the second time, but I did it for my peace of mind before I started on crossing the Stans, Mongolia, and Russia. The great thing about my bike is that it’s a simple dirt bike, so it’s easy to work on. Oil changes are super quick, and things like changing the brake pads or clutch are quick and easy as well. I did get someone else to rebuild the motor though.”

Tires though has been another ballgame all together on this gravel slaying machine. “I chew through them in no time at all. At a rough guess, I’m probably at around thirty front and rear sets over the last couple of years. At times I can squeeze another 930 mi / 1500 km out of a really used set if I have to, but I’ll change it if I’m able to get wherever I’m at. So far I’ve had a pretty good run out of the Pirelli M21 and the GoldenTyre 723, although I’m not a fan of the front. Often I don’t get given a choice, and I take what I can get in whatever country I’m in at the time. I’ve gone through a bunch of TKC80’s because of that reason. The front lasts okay, but one time I only got 1550 mi / 2500 km out of a rear in Alaska. As soon as I’ve put a new one on I’m looking at the map trying to work out where I’ll be when it’s worn and if I can get one there. I could always get a 70/30 tire that lasts a long time, but that would look shit on a dirt bike, so I pay the price. Right now I’m about to put on the MotoZ Tractionator RallZ, and I’m hoping for a good distance on that.”

Initially, Aaron was worried about making it through borders while in South and Central America. This fear was reinforced by the fact that he didn’t speak Spanish and was unable to ask for help or directions. “I would always try to get there first thing in the morning with the attitude that it was my mission for the day. So if it took a day, it took a day. In the end, it never did, so I was always happy to be on the other side. Once I did have to ‘grease the wheel’ so to speak at the Puno border from Bolivia into Peru. The border officer kept giving me a reply of ‘document no good’ which turned into ‘I make document good’ as he rubbed his fingers together. So after some good old greenbacks were exchanged, he was all smiles. Then once he had made the paperwork ‘all good,’ he even came out to take a photo of us together by my bike.”

As one might expect, packing options are limited on an enduro machine like Aaron’s 500. “I use the Giant Loop Coyote bag with one of their top bags. I also run a couple of possible pouches connected to it where I usually store my oil. I mostly prefer soft luggage because I don’t need a rack, and I don’t like my luggage being wider than my bars. I can cut through traffic easily, and it fits through doorways, which opens up more accommodation options for me. It also pulls off so quickly, so my bike does the Clark Kent to Superman move in no time going from an Adventure bike to a desert/woods Rally bike in just a few minutes. When I was in Turkey, I went out riding with Dakar finisher Serkan Ozdemir for a day. He also rides an EXC, and like a typical overlander, I pulled up with my bags on. Within a few minutes, my bike looked just like his, Ready To Race. There wasn’t any racing though as he’s got me well and truly covered on that part!”

For more on Aaron’s journey follow him on Instagram. All Images copyright Aaron Steinmann.