I've been poodling about on bikes for about 20 years now, and my wife has just caught the bug and is working her way through the L-plates. We're having an absolute blast together! We've also hatched a plan that we'd like to ride together from our home town of Adelaide to Darwin, then across to the East Coast and make our way back home, wherever possible along byways rather than highways. I'm mostly a city rider with occasional trips to the Flinders Ranges or Coonawarra and obviously my wife has less experience. We're looking for some advice on what type of bikes to get that will take us comfortably on the trip. We're realistically about 18 months out, so we've got time to get into riding shape and get used to new bikes. Do we go the big BMWs? Thoughts and advice in general would be gratefully received.

4 simple 'rules'

1. Go light
2. Go small
3. Go cheap(er)
4. Go far

Go-od on ya for venturing out! Happy times ahead!



(I'm giving in a couple of hours before someone comes along saying you absolutely need a Teutonic behemoth weighing in at a quarter of ton, plasma fuelled with induction couplings etc ...)

500 to 650 cc
Something simple, and easy to maintain

You don't "need" a big BMW. Any 500cc or more bike will do but, if you can afford it, a BMW is in my opinion, a very good, reliable and very comfortable touring bike.
I ride a R1100GS and it is the best bike I ever had (and I have had many bikes) I is a fine bike on the German Autobahn, but I also enjoyed it very much on dirt roads in Morocco.

If a GS is a little to big, try the R (the naked) model. A few years ago, on a trip in the US, I rented a BMW R850R and rode about 4000 km in a week and it was great.

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Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl

Get the bike you fancy. Gold star, Enfield bullet, C90, Harley, they've all done big trips and the riders loved them more than any 650-1200cc identi-kit charlies adventure bike. If you fancy the bike on the front cover of the touratech ccatalogue that's the reason to get it, not some story that involves the risk of not being able to use one pannier lid as a heliograph while BBQ-ing on the other.

The trick is to know what your weapon of choice likes and does not like.

Andy

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

If you've been riding for 20 years then why are you asking us for? If you live in Adelaide then you know what to expect from the Australian bush, just buy what ever you like being seen riding and get with it!!!!

Or catch a train.

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I once ruled the world, till mum told me it was only the garden!

Happy to share my experience with my bike on long and not so long rides.
I ride a 2012 DL650 and other than the seat height being a little high for us vertically challenged for city riding, the bike has performed exceptionally well on long distance interstate roads & on days of riding on unmade roads. I believe there is a low seat option, but the bike is well priced to purchase, light & easy to manage, fuel efficient & easy to do basic maintenance.

Bike - Light and low. And the same bike for both of you.

Limit your riding distance. Say 400 km per day. You don't want to do 1,000km per day so don't. This means you don't need a big heavy large capacity touring bike. By limiting your distance you can stop anywhere and look around. And you don't need to do 100km/h either.

The biggest comfort factor on these trips in not a wind screen .. it is the seat! If that is uncomfortable .. change it. All sorts of options here ..requires money but it is worth it.

I've toured on a bicycle, a 175 two stroke, 250 - 650 singles, twins, a triple, fours etc .. all were good trips. If someone says you 'must have this'... walk away. There are lots of options, I'd pick the one that the wife physically likes best. Get a test ride in even around the car park.

I'd not worry about what brand and the dealership coverage in remote areas. The fact is that in remote areas there are not dealerships .. even for 4WDs .. you make do with what is available, same as the locals. The more remote the area the better the locals are at fixing stuff. Whoever you buy off .. get the spare parts guy on side so he/she can send you parts by post quickly, even if he has to source secondhand parts for you. If they cannot do that .. buy elsewhere? Or at least find out who is best to get parts for your bike (in stock or very quick to get in), sometimes this is overseas!

Hi Winnie,

Agree entirely,as far as the DL 650 is concerned.Long range,more than 400 km per tank when riding conservatively,low cost,versatile and reliable bike and easy to lift when things go wrong.But most riders will tell you,I never dropped my bike.
The motto of the biggest Australian or maybe southern hemisphere motorbike club Ulysses,about 27 000 members,is just: grow old disgracefully
But there is a hitch,minimum age for junior members is 40,so no spring chickens aso.

Cheers from Busso.

R.M.

Gday all,

apologies for the delayed response, been dealing with some stuff.

Really good advice all, and a lot to take in. I think the general message of just understanding the type of ride we would be doing in terms of distance and road type and getting a bike we both feel comfortable with and can manage within those parameters is the key. Looks like we need to get out and do some serious test riding! We're heading up to Arkaroola in early May, and hoping this will give us a lot of important info about preferences etc prior to planning out the big one. Once again, thanks everyone.

I'll buck the trend a bit. I have an R1200GS Adventure. Having ridden nearly everything else as well from 125 dirt bikes to Goldwings; I have to say that the 2014 BMW R1200GS Adventure is simply the absolute pinnacle of design, engineering, and manufacture. One of the truly amazing things about it is as soon as you hit about ten miles per hour, that 600 pounds handles more like a little 250. I still cannot imagine how they made something that size and weight FEEL so light and handle so nimbly, it truly astounds me! An awful lot of mass and power, but so easily handled.
One of the people who got to ride in the "One World, One GS" was a girl from the UK who appeared to be quite petite, she clearly had NO problems handling the big GS. From the video, I'll say she is a most excellent rider and clearly had total control of the bike!

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Submariner
Life Member DAV
BMW MOA member
BMW Riders of Oklahoma