FRONTIERMOTO
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A loaded adventure motorcycle with a dry bag strapped over the rear, parked on gravel high ground with snow topped peaks behind

01 Frontier Index

Ride

An organised collection of guides and articles for riders, from us and from professionals in the motorcycle industry.

Section
01 / Ride
Guides
20 listed
Topics
13
Updated
24 AUG 2026

01.1In this sectionField 014

A forested escarpment with exposed rock cliffs dropping away to a wide wooded valley under high cloud

Field 014

Route feature Old Naivasha Road, Kenya 11 AUG 2026

The escarpment in wet season

Ninety kilometres from Nairobi to Naivasha on the old road, and why the descent is the only part that matters.

The old escarpment road is shorter, quieter and more interesting than the highway. In April it is also the reason riders end up in the ditch at the third hairpin. Here is how the surface actually behaves once the rain starts.

Distance
92 km
Surface
Tarmac, broken shoulder
Descent
700 m
Riding time
2 h 40 dry, 3 h 30 wet
Fuel gap
48 km
Season
Long rains, March to May

Read the story

01.2ScopeStatic index, not a filter

Maintenance, repair, buying guides for bikes, PPE, tools, navigation, first aid, packing, safety and security across terrains and weather, plus sport insight from Dakar and MotoGP and history from Kenya and broader Africa.

Covered in this section

MaintenanceRepairBuying guidesPPEToolsNavigationFirst aidPackingTerrainWeatherSafety and securitySportHistory

01.3Ride readyRun before a long day

CL 01

Pre-ride check

Two minutes, cold, before the engine starts. In this order because each step tells you whether the next one matters.

  • TyresPressure by gauge, then look at the tread and the sidewall for cuts and embedded stones.
  • ChainSlack at the tightest point of rotation, not wherever it happens to be standing.
  • BrakesLever and pedal travel, then fluid level if the reservoir has a window.
  • LightsHead, brake, indicators. Brake light on both the lever and the pedal.
  • FluidsOil level on level ground, plus any leak that is new since yesterday.
  • FastenersAxle nuts, sprocket bolts, anything you or anyone else touched recently.
CL 02

Weather and terrain readiness

Judged the night before, then again at the door. A route that is fine in the dry may be a different route entirely.

  • Rain windowWhen it is expected to start, not just whether it will rain.
  • SurfaceMurram sections turn to clay quickly and stay that way after the rain stops.
  • River crossingsSeasonal crossings rise fast and fall slowly. Ask locally rather than guessing.
  • HeatMidday on the equator is a fatigue problem before it is a comfort problem.
  • LightWork backwards from sunset and add an hour of margin, not ten minutes.
  • AltitudeA cold, wet descent after a hot climb catches riders dressed for the start.
CL 05

Emergency contact preparation

Prepared before the ride, because none of it is possible to arrange afterwards.

  • Route sharedOne person who knows where you are going and roughly when to expect you.
  • Check in timeAn agreed time, and an agreed action if you miss it.
  • Local numbersStored offline in the phone and written on paper in the bike.
  • MedicalBlood group, allergies and conditions, somewhere someone will find them.
  • PowerA way to charge the phone that does not depend on the bike running.
  • Offline mapDownloaded for the whole route before you leave signal, including the return.

01.4Service intervalsTarmac against murram

ItemTarmac MurramWhy it differs
Chain clean and lube 800 km 300 km Dust turns lubricant into grinding paste. Clean, do not top up.
Engine oil 3000 km 2000 km Heat and low average speed both shorten this. Filter every second change at minimum.
Air filter 6000 km 1500 km The single largest difference between sealed and unsealed use.
Tyre pressure Weekly Weekly Adjust for load, not just for the sticker figure.
Brake pads Inspect 5000 km Inspect 2500 km Grit accelerates pad and disc wear together.
Spark plug 8000 km 6000 km Read it before you replace it. The old plug is a free diagnostic.
Valve clearance 12000 km 10000 km Noise is a late symptom. Measure on the interval rather than waiting to hear it.
Fork oil 20000 km 12000 km Rough surface work is what actually consumes damping performance.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column. These are working intervals for the region, not a substitute for the manufacturer schedule on a machine under warranty.

01.5The first ninety secondsSEQ 01

Position and visibility come before the machine. Every time, including when the fault seems trivial.

  1. 01

    Get off the carriageway

    Push the bike fully clear of the lane if it will not run. A partly clear bike is a hazard, not a stopped vehicle.

  2. 02

    Make yourself visible

    High visibility on, hazards on if fitted, and a warning marker back up the road further than feels necessary.

  3. 03

    Stand off the road

    Not between the bike and traffic. Uphill and behind a barrier if there is one.

  4. 04

    Check yourself, then the pillion

    Adrenaline hides injury. Do this deliberately before you look at the motorcycle.

  5. 05

    Fix your position

    Note where you are precisely enough to tell someone. Nearest marker, town, junction, direction of travel.

  6. 06

    Then diagnose

    Only now. The machine has waited this long and will wait another minute.

01.6If the ride has stoppedSEQ 02

Work down this list in order. Steps one to three matter whether or not any recovery service is available to you.

  1. 01

    Safety first, always

    Get clear of moving traffic, make yourself visible, and check everyone before you check the machine. If anyone is injured, contact local emergency services immediately. Frontier Moto is not an emergency service.

  2. 02

    Fix your location

    Road name or number, direction of travel, the last town you passed and roughly how far back. A screenshot of your map position is worth more than a description.

  3. 03

    Describe the machine

    Make, model, approximate weight, whether the rear wheel turns freely, and whether it can be rolled or must be lifted.

  4. 04

    Describe the fault plainly

    What happened, at what speed, what it sounded like, and what it does now. Not what you think is broken.

  5. 05

    State your safety status

    Whether you are somewhere safe, whether you have water, whether it is getting dark, and whether you are alone.

  6. 06

    Then request

    With the first five ready, a request takes under a minute instead of a frustrating ten.

01.7Guides19 listed

Road craft

Reading a matatu before it moves

The signals that come three seconds before a sudden stop, and the following distance that makes them useful.

FrontierIn preparation

18 AUG 2026
6 min

Roadside

The first ninety seconds after you stop

Position, visibility, then the machine. In that order, every time.

FrontierIn preparation

16 AUG 2026
5 min

Route note

Nanyuki to Archers Post, surface report

Where the tarmac holds, where it does not, and the last certain fuel before the northern stretch.

FrontierIn preparation

14 AUG 2026
6 min

Diagnostics

It will not start, and it is almost always one of five things

A sequence that finds the fault without removing anything you do not need to remove.

ProIn preparation

12 AUG 2026
9 min

Packing

Packing for three days on a 150 cc

Weight low and forward, and what stays home when space runs out.

FrontierIn preparation

10 AUG 2026
6 min

Technique

Braking on loose surface without locking

Rear bias, progressive input, and why the front brake is not the enemy on murram.

FrontierIn preparation

09 AUG 2026
8 min

First aid

A riders kit that fits under the seat

What is worth the space, what is not, and what you need to know how to use before you need it.

ProIn preparation

06 AUG 2026
8 min

Sport

Dakar lessons for dusty riding

What rally navigation and pacing teach the everyday murram rider.

GuestIn preparation

05 AUG 2026
7 min

Maintenance guide

Chain service intervals when the road is dust

A drive chain on dusty roads does not fail from lack of lubricant. It fails from lubricant that has turned into grinding paste. The fix is not more oil, it is a different schedule.

Frontier

04 AUG 2026
7 min

Planning

Building a fuel plan around the longest gap

Plan for the gap you cannot avoid, not the average distance between stations.

FrontierIn preparation

02 AUG 2026
7 min

Tyres

Pressure, load and heat on a long day

The pressure on the sticker assumes one rider and no luggage. You are rarely either.

FrontierIn preparation

31 JUL 2026
6 min

Night riding

Glare, unlit vehicles and the speed that fits your headlight

If you cannot stop inside the light you are producing, you are riding faster than you can see.

ProIn preparation

30 JUL 2026
7 min

Field report

What a boda stage already knows

Riders who cover two hundred kilometres a day on the same machine develop diagnostic habits that no manual teaches. We spent a week listening rather than explaining.

Frontier

28 JUL 2026
11 min

Sport

MotoGP braking, translated for the road

Why professionals trail brake, and what to leave on the circuit.

ProIn preparation

26 JUL 2026
6 min

Weather

Riding out a downpour instead of through it

Twenty minutes of shelter against two hours of reduced grip and zero visibility.

FrontierIn preparation

25 JUL 2026
5 min

Maps

Offline maps that still work with no signal

What to download before you leave, and the failure mode that catches people at the border.

ProIn preparation

21 JUL 2026
6 min

History

Boda culture and the Kenyan commuter

How working bikes shaped maintenance habits across the region.

FrontierIn preparation

20 JUL 2026
8 min

Load

Carrying a pillion who has never ridden

A ninety second briefing that changes how the bike behaves for the next two hours.

FrontierIn preparation

19 JUL 2026
5 min

Electrical

Charging faults you can find with a multimeter

Three measurements that separate a dying battery from a dying regulator.

GuestIn preparation

17 JUL 2026
8 min

Entries marked in preparation are planned and drafted but not published. They are listed so the scope of the section is honest rather than to imply a page exists.

01

Market

Used bikes, tools and gear.

02

Shop

New spares, accessories, oils, kits, nav and audio.

03

Workshop

Service, inspection and recovery.

01.9Field notesOne email, occasionally