via West County Explorers Club: I just came across this 2006 Harley-Davidson XL1200R custom by a U.K. shop called Shaw Speed & Custom. This great looking, mildly scrambler-style bike can be had for about $13,500. Read about it on Bikeexif.com.

Meeting Johno and Craig in the hotel room was a huge relief; the Iran/Pakistan visa problems that had been dogging the whole expedition since we had left in February and were finally resolved. We wouldn’t have to worry about the paperwork for the next country until China and its bureaucratic nightmare. Within a few minutes a detective from the local station arrived at our hotel introducing himself followed by the same words we had come to expect, that we would need a police escort for the next part of our journey through Pakistan. Paul and myself were new to this experience but Johno and Craig had endured this for the past week and were getting sick of the delays caused by escorts. However, all agreed that we should not ditch and run otherwise this could have resulted in the same outcome that the Swiss couple who were kidnapped in the previous week (the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility).

So today we've found a 1969 Kaiser Jeep Commando in great condition, no rust, 4WD, and as a bonus – some cool vintage logos. All of it for less than the price of a new economy car. The Commando is a bit of a runt in the Jeep family lineage, one could even say a bit obscure. However, it's a unique vintage 4WD with lots of character. It's different, and sometimes that's a good thing.

I’ve written quite a bit so far about several of the vehicle and gear preparations for this trip. Now it’s time to cover some personal preparations. Let’s call it a “dermographic mod.” In part, my inspiration came from a 1562 map by Spanish cartographer Diego Gutiérrez (engraved by Heironymus Cock). In researching old-style maps, I came across this one. It’s the Americas as known back in the mid 16th century, and definitely conjures up images of sea monsters in the uncharted waters of the New World’s oceans. I spent quite a bit of time zooming in and panning around this masterpiece, but knew that I would be a bit much for my first tattoo.

Car enthusiasts love a good challenge, don't they? Here's the Official Once-In-A-While-Sporatic-Daily Expedition Portal Challenge, of the Day -

Name this engine, and the vehicle it's sitting in.

Here's a hint: It's exceedingly rare in the United States.

The stock fuel tank on a 2004 Toyota Tacoma is only 18.5 gallons (70 L), which makes for a rather short range given my general fuel economy of between 13-16 mpg. I searched for a good place to mount a standard 5-gallon jerry can somewhere on the outside of my camper or truck, but just couldn’t come up with a good solution for something that would keep the weight forward of the rear axle. Ideally I would want to have that weight down low, but there was quite a bit of wasted space in the gap above my cab and below the cab-over section of the Four Wheel Camper. A regular jerry can is just too big to fit in that space, so I needed something with slightly different dimensions.