Update: Bike Modifications

A couple of people, who I think may be considering buying Husqvarna 701s themselves, have asked me about what modifications I have made to my bike.  I've split the following into "essentials", "good for this trip in particular" and "aesthetics".

Essentials

• Lower Gearing.  I've put a 48 tooth Supersprox sprocket on the back, but either by going down at the front or up at the back, I needed to tackle the too-tall first gear.  It gets in the way of hill climbs and technical riding, and is especially unhelpful when trying to engine-brake down steep hills.
• Hand guards.  I used Cycra Pro-Bend.
• Stiffer spring.  Depends how much you weigh, but I got an 85 Nm shock spring from Rally Raid.  I didn't actually get this until just before this trip, but it transformed the handling and I wish I'd done it sooner.
• Wings Exhaust.  The OEM one weighs an absolute tonne and gets hot enough to melt the indicators.  Wings is cheap, light, looks great and extremely good quality.  Great customer service too.
• Perun Moto rack, heel guards and rear brake master cylinder guard.  I also have the subframe reinforcing kit but I'm not sure how much of an issue that really is vice the KTM 690s of old.
• Flatlands Bash Guard
• Heated grips.  Important for me, not so much on this trip (!) but green-laning in the UK mid-winter! I used the ones that come with an element you install under the grips - Symtec?
• Kriega drag handles front and rear.  They fit well to the rear rack.  I also have two of the Kriega rack loops fitted anyway, they work for hooking general stuff to as well as a smaller bag when I'm riding in the UK.
• Tyres.  TKC80s just don't work in the mud at home - they get blocked quickly and run on in turns.
• ABS Dongle.  Permanently turns off the rear ABS, leaves the front enabled.  Otherwise you have to manually turn it off to both wheels every time you switch on.  Keeping the front but losing the back is an excellent combination for steep, loose descents with switchbacks.
• Clutch Lever from Husky 450 (or any other smaller bike in the range).  It's a Magura fit and there's a switch in there for EFI which means lots of third-party levers don't work.  The 450 lever is slightly shorter though, and cheap at £15 or so.

Good For This Trip

• Nomad Adv Navigation Screen/Tower.  Good to keep the wind off, even more useful because it puts the speedo, switches, lights and GPS at eye level when standing or sitting.  It's a real pain to navigate when standing off a GPS that's handlebar mounted - I know, because that's where I had it fitted before.
• Rade Garage auxillary tank.  Gives an extra 6.5 litres of fuel, which takes my total distance to 400km (almost!)
• This also mandates fitting a K&N air filter, which comes with the kit.  I haven't noticed any particular advantage or disadvantage in power, but I wasn't paying close attention.  In theory, it's louder too, but again I haven't really noticed.
• Rally Raid pre-load adjuster.  Not essential for normal riding, but because I'm adding and taking off the luggage - and will be when I get home - this makes it easier to tune the rear shock.  Otherwise you have to strip the whole shock to adjust preload.
• RokStraps, Ortlieb bag, Kriega luggage, various rack-loops.  Very personal to individual, but I really like this lot, even with the problems I had with the Overland 30s.
• Mapping Switch.  I've had it since new, but I'm not sure it's essential.  Without it I would (controversially) leave the bike in Map 2 (Low Power) the whole time.  I don't know if that actually chops the total power, but it certainly delivers it further round the twist-grip, which means that in combination with running a higher gear and using the clutch I can mask my lack of finesse on tight and technical sections.  I do find it nice to flick back to Map 1 (Normal Power) on the road: it makes hairpins more entertaining, and motorways more bearable because less throttle-twist is needed owing to my lower gearing.

Aesthetic - not essential in any way, but pretty!

• Various official Husqvarna blue bits - I got the rear disc protector, ignition cover, brake step plate, oil plug, oil-filter cover.  I also got two blue bolts to cap the rear-view mirrors, which I've removed.  I don't like the brake and clutch master cylinder covers - look a bit weird to me.
• Shift Manufacturing Billet Fuel Filler and Cap.  I think they've changed name to Vanasche Motorsport now.
• Shift Manufacturing Billet Case Saver.  Does serve a practical purpose in theory, but also just looks nice!
• Wings Exhaust Carbon Heat Guard.  It really isn't any lighter, and I probably wouldn't order it fresh, but I got it with the exhaust at the time.
• Removed various bits: wing mirrors, chain guard, rear foot pegs.