Dream trip through 15 countries with an AJP - PR7 Motorcycle

Read about Peter Renkema's adventure here; we got in touch to insulate his exhaust, and that's how we came across his inspiring story!

I am Peter Renkema and I live in Drenthe.
In 2017, I made the trip of my dreams. On July 1st, I left home for a one-way trip to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia)

The route was almost 16,000 km long and I traveled through 15 countries in total.
This included the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, then Kazakhstan and Russia again, and finally Mongolia. In total, I was on the road for 52 days. All in all, it was a fantastic trip with many impressions and varying temperatures.

How did you find Heat Shieldings?

That's how I found Heatshieldings. In Uzbekistan, it was 42 degrees in the shade. And the heat coming from the exhaust pipe was very unpleasant. The pipe runs under the right foot, which sometimes made my life quite uncomfortable. That's why I decided to apply insulation as soon as I got home. 

The motorcycle

As you might have noticed, it's not your everyday KTM, but something completely different and relatively unknown. It's an AJP PR7. It's a Portuguese company that mainly makes small and light Enduro motorcycles. The owner (Antonio Pinto) had told his R&D department that he wanted to create a motorcycle he would personally love to use. Namely, a motorcycle that can handle trails, be used for travel, and for commuting. They got to work on this, and the PR7 became a reality.

I first saw the motorcycle online and was immediately sold! It's over 40 kilos lighter than my previous motorcycle, has better suspension, and more power. Ultimately, I was so convinced that it had to be a good motorcycle that I bought a new model sight unseen.

My only problem was that the motorcycle was only released at the beginning of 2017. This gave me only a few months to test, improve, and adapt the motorcycle as needed before the big trip. In the end, the motorcycle was so good that I practically went on the road with a stock motorcycle. During the trip, I only had a few minor issues. And I lost 2 bolts due to vibrations. All in all, not bad at all! I didn't even get a flat tire, believe it or not!

As I said, the trip to Mongolia was a one-way trip; I rode the bike there and flew back. The motorcycle returned home with pre-arranged transport. Since this took a while, I had a good opportunity to order parts and do maintenance as soon as the motorcycle returned.

Because the motorcycle was still SO new, the manufacturer was also very interested in how it had performed. So they asked for it to go to Portugal first so they could inspect it. In return, I received the completely overhauled motorcycle back. 

Exhaust wrap installation

Once the motorcycle was back home, I decided to change and improve some things. Part of this was the exhaust wrap. We're about 5000 km further now, and it's still nicely in place. The black color has faded a bit, but personally, I don't find that very shocking.
To get the wrap on properly, I removed and cleaned the pipe. Wrapping it was done in minutes; it really doesn't take much. I chose not to spray the pipe after wrapping it. After all, the wrap isn't cosmetic but a necessity. The wrap also perfectly protects against rising heat and protects my motocross boots and clothing from burn marks.

When the wrap has been on for 10,000 km, I will remove it to see how it has performed. 

Future plans

For further plans, next year I want to go to Morocco with the motorcycle.
The route is now ready, a small 3000km. The plan is to go in the autumn. The motorcycle will be transported to Malaga. I will then fly to Malaga later and pick up the motorcycle there. The idea is to take the ferry to Morocco. 

Follow Peter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wired4adventure

More information about AJP: https://www.ajp-motors.nl/

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