Planning our next motorbike trip, to the Far East this time, I took some time to verify the tools, parts and supplies I usually take with me. What follows is my all-purpose kit, tested during our now – 8-months trip and throughout 3 major maintenance services. I will also try to describe the purpose of taking additional things that are usually not in the motorcycle toolbox.

I took the matter very seriously. There was a lot to consider, because two basic issues had to be taken into account. One is periodic maintenance checkups – where, in which countries they can be needful?  Where to get parts for them? And the second thing- failures that may happen to us along the way and what their consequences may be.

Thoughts came to my mind one after the other – this is a new motorcycle on the market, there will be a problem with spare parts and service. Facebook groups warnings also gave me a lot to think about, as people were repeatedly saying that this motorcycle must be well protected with crash bars For sure the caps will crack and the radiator will break. Many have had that before…

Well ok, but when I take it all, how to combine that with the pursuit of the lowest possible weight and the assumed budget? After all, we are going to do a lot of off-road riding and every kg matters.

At this stage, I also tried to learn as much as possible about the important conditions in countries we would travel through. For example, I found a lot of information about bad fuel in Iran – polluted and low octane.  And yet my T7 is already EURO 5, advanced electronics and a minimum octane number of 95. Questions arose whether to install an additional fuel filter or not. What kind of filter? And where – on the infusion? What about octane booster? Should I take it or not? These were my headaches at that time …

I finally abandoned my dark visions and let my experience come to the fore. Obviously I cannot protect myself against everything, and if I was unlucky then … I would have time and a head on my shoulders.

Read below what I finally decided.

Tools

Thanks to this, my toolkit is modest. It happened many times that I had to roll really hard, diplomatic battles with a mechanic who screwed in some non original screw “because the other one got lost” and was not going to look for it. “What’s the problem, you take another wrench and that’s it”. You know, you can’t challenge his authority because you’re the client he is the expert!

My T7 toolkit:

Consumables and accessories in toolkit fot Tenere T7

This toolkit allows me to get to the garage in almost any situation, or even come home and take time with the proper repair and replacements. This was the case with a large hole, about 3 cm2, in the clutch cover in the mountains of Bosnia. It was repaired quickly, lasted through the hardships od Dynaric mountains and got back safely to Poland.

Maintenance on the go

I decided not to carry spare parts and consumables apart from air filter fluid. In our motorcycles, we have sponge filters that can be “washed”. You can clean the filter in gasoline instead of special liquid, but you will not effectively replace the soaking liquid. And few garages have it. I also carefully observe the motorcycle, the condition of the brake pads, chain, tires and I try to estimate how long further these parts can go. Based on that, I order parts through the workshop or buy parts in advance and have them with me.

That way I was carrying oil filters and brake pads only across Iran, but not entire 18,000 from home.

Tires – I don’t carry them like I don’t carry parts. Tires are rather hard to get to big motorbikes so consider that you will have to send them somewhere. We recently changed ours when leaving Turkey, practically at the very border, because we saw that they would not survive another country. A week earlier I had asked a friend to buy tires for us in Istanbul (they were available there) and send them to the farthest point of the carrier in Hakkari. There we picked them up and drove straight to the workshop for replacement.

Yamaha Tenere T7 parts & consumables list

Why did I prepare my own replacements list? As I write this entry in April 2023, the Yamaha Tenere 700 is relatively new bike on the market and most independent stores will tell you that they don’t have the parts for it. They will direct you to a dealer, where you will probably wait for original part to be brought in and it could take even more than 2 weeks. Lack of replacements is not real – it’s just that in many parts selection systems used by stores, there is currently no information about replacements or there are errors. It is even more difficult outside the European Union, where this motorcycle is not so popular.

You can use parts outside of the catalog dedicated for this original model. Why? The construction of new vehicles very often uses components that have been used successfully in other models, sometimes for years. Some of these components are built by external companies. For example, the brake systems on the T7 are made by Brembo.

I’ve prepared the list of replacements together with Nikodem from the Kolomoto.pl garage (I highly recommend it) and it is updated if necessary. So if you know that something has changed, something no longer fits, or a new replacement / cool solution has appeared on the market, leave a note in the comment to this article and I will update it. I assume that since you are reading this, you are benefiting from the information here and you are willing to share your own knowledge.👍

Table of replacements to Yamaha Tenere 700 – 2023:

Is it worth carrying extra fuel? Bonus advise.

Few words about carrying extra fuel, because it’s probably a good place and time. I carry two Primus 1.5 liter bottles in Red Mamut mini panniers strapped to the motorcycle. Yes, that’s all, and I don’t see the need for more. These two bottles give us additional 50 km of range, which is an average of 350 km in total.

We needed to fuel up from the bottles 3 times. Once when we actually ran out of fuel, because the station was closed and we had to get back far – 30 km. The second time because of being overoptimistic in the city during sightseeing – we were thinking we’d refuel later for too long. For the third time, we helped a local in need. As far as I remember, there was always fuel within 300 km, even in a hut-store in PET bottles. Even when we were going to the mountains or to the desert. The range of 300 km is really huge, local motorcycles and scooters do not have such a range and they also have to refuel.

Do you share my view on the subject, or do you have a different one? Comment on it. It is worth talking and sharing your experiences in my opinion.

P.S. And it turned out that in Iran there is very good fuel, even sensational and very cheap – about USD 0.07 per litre. Later on I discovered there is a problem with the purity of the fuel in Pakistani Balochistan due to smuggling in plastic tanks.

Have a Nice Ride

Jacek

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