What is needed on a motorbike trip?

That's a very common questions between bikers and what a biker bring with him on the first trips is always wrong.
I'll just consider the practical part of the motorbike, all other aspects as gear, clothing and "survival" will not be taken into account.
It is not a simple question and before trying answering it, it is necessary to answer other questions:

- Where am I going to ride? What will I be able to find in these places for fixing my bike?

There is a big difference if you are planning to ride on the military roads of Val di Susa or riding the BAM. In the first case, you will find yourself in a road where few vehicles pass per day, there is mostlikely a network for the cell phone and  spare parts can easily be found, it will only be a matter of waiting/looking. Then there are many different insurances, some of them will also bring the rider and his broken motorbike home. Easy and good life.
In second case, riding somewhere in the middle of nowhere, the closest fuel station might be 200 km away and no simple spare parts are available at it, such as a light bulb or a inner tube. You are on your own.

- What am I able to fix on my bike?

Ask yourself this question give a true answer to it. A lie might cause problems to the trip later. There are many tutorials on YouTube, they help a lot but you have to get your hands dirty in order to be sure if you are able to do something.

Once these question have been ansewered , you will be able to set up everything you need.
In my case it is simple: I will be in the middle of nowhere so I will have to do everything by myself.
So here it comes the first real questions: What is everything?

I consider everything , all works that are included in the normal maintenance schedule of the veichle  plus all things that could break and be easily replaced on the road (Like a puncture in the tyre or a broken clutch cable).

Maintenance schedule of the XRV650 according to the manual.

The Maintenance schedule is very helpful as it allows to organize the maintenance in a long trip, so that it is possible to organize where the engine oil will be changed, etc. By doing this nowadays you can check online if the engine oil and oil filter are available where you plan to change it, etc.
So in my case I'm planning to do big maintenance in Oš, where a fully working workshop is available.
I still have to evaluate everything, for example I don't know yet if I will bring tyres down to Central Asia, if I will organize some or find anything down there.

After this small excursus, let's see which spare parts I will bring along with me:
- 2 front inner tubes
- 1 rear inner tube (In worst case the front inner tube can be fit into the rear wheel, but not viceversa)
- A tube repair kit
- 1 tension rectifier
- 1 ignition coil
- 1 CDI
- 4 spark plugs (For a big Maintenance in Magadan)
- 1 clutch lever, 1 brake lever, 1 gear lever
- 2 joints for the final drive chain
- Set of fuses of the bike
- 1 clutch cable, 1  carbs On/off cables
- 1 spare fuel pump (I'm looking if a repair kit is available)
-  All bearings of the wheels
- Smaller jetting for the carbs
- 4 rear spokes + nipples
- 4 front spokes + nipples


Then in Maybe following parts:
- Brake pads (I have to check availability)
- Oil filters (I have to check availability)
- Engine oil (For swamps on the BAM road in case water into the engine)


Also some consumables:
- Motorex offroad chain spray
- Cleaner and Oil for K&N air filter
- Radiator seal
- Iron wire
- Duct tape
- Various cable ties
- Electrical wire

All the mentionet spare parts are useless without the right tools:
- Air pump by KTM, with electric pressure gauge (it is also very practical for the pressure in the forks)
- 3 Levers for tyres (By Buzzetti)
- Right hand side stand, for dismounting tyres
- Swiss army knife
- The original tools of the bike (They are heavy duty) plus some add ons for ISO screws (Like a 13 mm wrench). With the original set plus a set screw, the original bike can be dismountled for reaching the vavles of the engine. I will check all tools late this year when I will do the maintenance.


It is very important to work on the motorbike with the same tools that will be on the road with you, otherwise you might find yourself in troubles (For example you won't be able to remove a wheel from the bike if it  had been tightened with a bigger tool).

A lot of stuff. It is very important to organize in advance for a trip like this!
Then by knowing the bike, screws can be replaced in order to make it even more easy for the maintenance: the less tools the better!