No going back now!

My bike is shipped which has sharpened the mind to the reality of little preparation time remaining. The shipping process didn't quite play out as originally planned and I actually dropped her off in Paris, rather than London, which meant a quick overnight out-and-back ferry trip.

All strapped down on the Dover-Calais ferry

As I write this update, I understand she is on route from the drop off point to the main shipping hub where many of the European bikes will be packed and shipped.

The change in shipping planning rather cut short one or two preparations. I got the crash bars fitted and the rear rack, and the updated lowered foot pegs (to try and alleviate the tight braking space on the rear brake pedal), but not everything played out as planned.

The bars fit fine first time, but they then require that I revert back to the standard side stand as the fitting is different. I had one delivered from BMW Germany but it came with the stand only and no fittings. If those bits can be found and arrive in time, I'll take them with me - should be a 10 minute job. If they don't, then I have two choices - either only use the center stand, or remove the crash bars and use the side stand that I know works and fits. My perfect solution would be to add a new side stand, and maybe remove the center stand all together - a couple of kilo's saved - but we'll see how it plays out.

The lowest foot rests do improve the situation with the brake. The angle just means it is more accessible and you can get some pressure on the lever.

Lower and forward pegs are better for braking but compromise the standing position

An unexpected side effect is that when I stand, my natural stance with heals slightly down means my toe impacts the bottom of the float bowl. So it seems my big feet are compromised either way. I can have a comfy standing position and awkward (little or no) rear brake, or I can brake but be unable to find a truly natural and comfortable standing riding position. I don't honestly know - but I'm favouring a comfortable riding position at the moment. I'll take both sets of pegs with me and it is just a two minute job to swap them out, so not a permanent choice.

Other final tweaks included the rear rack with 6 litre bag (see kit part ii blog forthcoming). The bag should be just enough for toolkit, lunch and rain overcoat.

Finally, I added some mounts for the Garmin Nav and a Quadlock for the phone. I also have a 'Tripy' GPS device to fit when I get there so I'm hoping the gap in the middle works for that. No room left for the GoPro, but I found this fits rather nicely on the crash bar instead.

GoPro, Garmin and phone all have a home

Other outstanding jobs? Just two I think. I didn't get time before shipping to fit a mousse to the front tyre, so I will take one with me and I'm assured the local mechanics can help fit it. And I've not been able to source a spare air filter. Not surprisingly, the air filter gets a pretty tough time in the desert and I would like to carry a spare, but I've drawn a blank on the exact model fitted which seems like some phantom K&N one off part. Instead I sourced a pre-filter cover as below, but it was a bit small, so I'll try to pick up a larger one. Between that and maybe a petrol washout of the main filter if necessary, it should be sufficient.

Hair net style pre-filter is a little small - will have to find another

So I think we are very nearly ready. As I type, just 11 days to kick-off.