As the book's tag line states “The essential guide to preparing a bike for the journey of a lifetime”, it cannot get any simpler than that. After a foreward from Grant “Horizons Unlimited” Johnson, including an introduction from the author himself, it even has Austin “Mondo Enduro” Vince himself giving a few words too, all good stuff from the guys’ who’ve been out there and done it, the hardback book then proceeds to give a brief history of adventure travel throughout the ages. With wonderful photographs of pioneers’ past bikes from Max Reisch’s 1933 stunning 250cc Puch to Paul Pratt and his Triumph Thunderbird all giving a sense for what has past and laying open the taste of things to come.

Split into eight chapters from “The modern adventure motorcycle” to “Choosing a motorcycle” and with luggage systems sections to personal equipment information and two case studies that give an in-depth analysis of “Pre-departure modifications” too, also, a personnel account of the times and tribulations of two wheeled adventure.

“Choosing a motorcycle” is an interesting spec’ driven analysis of thirty-nine bikes all ready and willing to get the job done and is, so far, up to date that it even includes the new Yamaha’s XT 660z Ténéré and its sibling the 1200 Super Ténéré to old-hands such as Suzuki’s DR-Z400S to Kawasaki’s KLR 650. Chapter eight is for those Rally Raid enthusiasts and gives an insight into this sport and with great pictures and information of Rally Raid machines and the necessary extras needed to build your own.

It can feel a little biased in that its contents leans, favourably, toward Touratech and BMW, while there are many other brand names to consider too, “Building the ultimate Adventure Motorcycle” takes the most popular and obvious and exploits their potential to explore this avenue of wanderlust. We see accessories, gadgets, tools and all the vital and important and necessary survival equipment that one needs here.

With information of who, how, where and what you will need to get yourself going. It is, and feels very much like, a Beginners’ Guide to adventure biking and does give some vital information, tips and advice to those wanting to find out more on this genre and lifestyle, and why not, there are other books out there too, and this is just as competent. Its got it all; tents, tools, boxes, bikes, web sites, GPS and much, much more; “Building the ultimate Adventure Motorcycle” is a worthy adversary to all that is out there and worth a look. Robert Wicks' large hardback 176 page book is for those who want to travel far & wide on two wheels but on the level of a novice, an introduction so to speak, where then you would expect to up-grade to the hardcore such as Chris Scotts' “Adventure Motorcycling Handbook” for example.

“Building the ultimate Adventure Motorcycle”, printed by Haynes, is a relatively simple book, well put together and not at all shoddy nor is it amateurish and is respectful of its subject; tonnes of great colour photographs and miles upon miles of good advice that can only bring encouragement, adding it to your collection will, and can, only enlighten the way for that incredible journey...give it a go.

Made in Germany by KAHEDO, the “Universal toolcase / Zega Case”, which comes in both brown or black, that can attach itself to numerous bikes and their respective cases, panniers and rear racks. This tiny and extremely strong case is made from Teflon-coated Coradura which is both water-repellent and dirt-resistant and is as hard as nails against the elements, this bag can weather-the-storm indeed.

It comes with four straps to tie it to said box and comes with two incorporated belts for securing the tools once inside the case and can be risen by another four inches. With a volume of 6 to 12 litres of volume it can take many a tool, waterproof or wind-up radio etc and this brings its size to l35 x w18 x h15/h25 cm if its load requires, as too, it comes with a handy side pocket and extra external D hooks and a luggage net. Strong, weather proof (and proven while riding the French storms, it’s contents (bread-rolls) were still bone-dry), durable, practicable and good looking too boot. Well recommended.

This portable Re-Wind radio is simply a superb piece of travelling kit. As it says on the box, batteries are never needed, and it is all done with the help of an in-built power unit that only needs to be re-wound, for one minute a month if the internal “Battery” is fully charged to keep its functions running in perfect order.

If your arms get too tired winding then leave the power to build up with its solar power system and away you go. With functions as a clock, a bright and competent 3 LED torch, headphone jack, internal light, DC In/Out socket to charge a mobile phone, if needs be, via a USB and a OFF and ON switch underneath the unit to completely turn off the whole system to save it energy and more.

The whole unit is large enough to fit into your whole hand and feels strong and sturdy enough to manage a long, or short, trip to the Lakes or Lake Como and the two controls for on/off - volume and tuning are protected by a design that encases them around the unit itself, a nice little touch.

The look of the unit too is both practical and strong feeling and as a whole, again, it is a very nice piece of kit, no worries for batteries just the choice of how you want to keep its power charged. Priced around the £17.95 mark, and can be found on particular web sites, it may feel a tad too much but, in general, this will be reimbursed, in time, with its selling point of “Batteries Not Included”.

Without doubt BMW’s Sport helmet has to be the worst helmet I have ever purchased. I decided to buy what I thought was a good brand and make of helmet (as I’d previously had a BMW helmet before, but not the Sport) but it didn’t take long before I realised that I’d made a grave mistake. The noise from the chin vent is astounding and uncomfortable and there is an accessory that comes with the helmet that slides around the chin area to help prevent noise/turbulence, yeah right.

The visor, when in the semi open position, rattled more than a rattlesnake’s backside on heat. The padding inside is so badly designed that the top most pads insisted on vacating the premises whenever the mood took them. The air vent, just off centre to the crown, came off for no apparent reason, and said vent is now permanently open.

All this for around the £270 mark, it may have been more but I’ve really lost interest, but even the £270 is still an extortionate price to pay for this noisy, cheap feeling made rubbish. Leave well alone. You’ve been warned.

The first thing that takes hold of you is just how tall this bike is, it’s extremely daunting, at first, and can take a little while for both rider and bike to jell into perfect harmony, then, without warning the height issue seems second nature and you’re enjoying the added benefits of the 895mm seat height. With this issue of height comes a rather short OE screen and this can have the wind hitting you at chest level, and above, so a quick call to Metal Mule and one taller and convenient screen later the problem is solved.

With this bike comes a practicable fuel tank (23 litres) and can, depending on riding style and route; Motorway, A, B or minor road taken, the fuel range can vary from a pleasant 225 to a satisfying 320. This is where the (2008) XT 660z Ténéré shows both its greatness, and too, its weaknesses. Fantastic as a minor road runner but as soon as any serious motorway distance beckons it becomes flatter than a pancake and its legs feel so short of breath to the point where you feel you are certain it is screaming for you to turn to those country lanes it so loves, putting both bike and rider out of misery. Maybe the OE catalytic converter exhaust system and some tweaking in its lungs need apply here to prevent it from feeling like a rock in a monotonous wind tunnel.

Being a single here, the rear wheel cuch drive (aka bushes, damper) seem to only last some 3000 to 5000 miles (steady riding here, no off-road work and both wheels on the ground too) before they need replacing. A weakness, again, for those RTW types who may decide on this model, beware the rather quick deteriorating bushes.

The suspension, and the seat, is just beautiful and with mileage anything up to the 250 mark, in one sitting, there is very little, if any, numb bum, bliss, top marks here. As too are the brakes, they are fine, even when fully loaded with Metal Mule Skinnies and Top Box, but a replacement of the standard brake lines to a set of HEL lines also do the bike justice, and they look so much better than the OE lines.

As for the sticky stuff, I have put another set of MICHELIN SIRAC’s back on and they are superb and hold up against both sunny days to extreme Swiss thunderstorms, very pleased here.

I have had no concerns as to wiring, rectifier’s et al and as the bike is some 12, 500 miles old within a two-year period (no winter riding I.e. Salt). It’s well travelled (South of France and Switzerland) and has had to suffer rolling Alpine rainstorms, excessive Italian heat and it is still holding its own and I’d recommend it wholly as a bike of jack-of-all-trades and it certainly isn’t the master of none, but just leave the motorways to the shaft drives…