There are several basic rules for doing motorcycle repair on the road in Africa.

#1. Getting parts and tools on the road is a pain in the ass.

#2. Getting parts and tools on the road is a pain in the ass.

#3. See rules #1 and #2.

Having a decent place to work on the bike is often the least and the most you can do - a friend’s front yard doesn’t hurt either

Here’s a bike shot in said front yard minus the seat and side panels.

Bearing that in mind, when trying to do a car rebuild in South Africa, you’ll find that Kawasaki’s rebuild kit (with all the necessary gaskets and o-rings) in a little plastic baggie that can be had for 20 bucks doesn’t exist and needs to be ordered separately - which only takes 4 weeks!

But if you’re adding an accessory socket, and you bring all the stuff with you, you can install it(and hopefully not electrocute yourself) in a half hour or so.

Here’s some pics of the accessory socket I added - I decided to add it directly to the battery and not switch it off the ignition in order to be able to do lightweight charging while the bike is off. Note I also have it running loose running it up and under the gas tank and coming out over the top without being strapped to the handlebars so it can rest inside my 18 liter tankbag (not shown.)

Next installment will cover swapping out the throttle push cable and puncture repair, and hopefully will NOT cover head gasket replacement, thrown rods, or destroyed rims.