Grasshopper FX: The foldable touring bike
Mods from the factory
Pinion C1.12 gearbox up front – single chainring out back
Headrest
Rear airshock
Beefed up front suspension
Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres
My Mods
Changed the gearing, reducing the size of the rear sprocket
Strengthened the side stand
Added the veltop canopy which required extending the rear stay
Added bar ends to give me more mountable space for mirrors, gps mount, horn and aux switches for the electrics
Created (rough as guts) dashboard mounts for Cycle analyst, watch, light switch and phone
Added towball mount
Created a modular frame to enable rear CIGS solar panel to sit atop the trailer securely but able to be broken down for shipping
Attached CIGS solar panel to top of the Veltop canopy
Added two MPPT solar charge controllers to feed the solar to the battery
Mounted the handlebar bag on the lower side rack to hold the batteries
Added an Abus Bordo alarm 6000A to the boom
Lighting – front light, two red blinkies (K-lite) to the back of the trailer and rear light/radar (Garmin Varia RTL515) to the centre of the reflective triangle
Added USB outlets to charge the various extras
A Blog post covers more tweaks I made while in Australia
…a few images of add-ons
The big items that make up my “conveyance”
Useful tools
Accommodation, Storage and Safety
I have had to purchase a few things but have many camping items I have acquired over the years.
framed and light
I usually use trekking pole tents but for this trip the frame is going to be more useful as I can picture myself on hard ground out in the open pretty often.
Gear storage solution
A work colleague – Murray, gifted the panniers to me and they fit perfectly. They come with a waterproof cover and I will add a Nylofume bag inside the main compartment to ensure the contents stay dry.
Satellite messenger
I have had my unit for a few years now and it has proved itself worthwhile for keeping in contact with folk while out of cell coverage.
This will provide my primary comms unit for the trip as I post an “I’m OK” daily so the folk at CAP are kept appraised of my welfare state. A side effect of this is that folk can keep abreast of where on the planet I am at TrackMe.nz
This is my weapon of last resort should I find myself in a life threatening situation – alerting CAP that I need assistance urgently.
I am a bit of a gear junkie which means I have more bling than is necessary and have enjoyed marshaling items for all the parts of the journey ahead.