Those of us at the older end of the age spectrum who have been biking since their teenage years will have started out on bikes hardly distinguishable from steam engines and will probably be comfortable stripping things down at the side of the road - because if you didn't know how things worked and how to fix them you'd probably spend more time at the side of the road than you'd like. Reliable in that context probably only meant having to fix something once a day rather than three.

With modern machinery - F.I., Canbus electrics etc you may never have to exercise those skills. It'll just keep on going, day in, day out. In fact you may never have to break out the spanners at all. Someone with no mechanical skills at all could set off and not worry. Why would you need repair skills if the bike never goes wrong? I can understand that. A reliable, modern bike that I can depend on. I set off, I ride, I get there. That's what I expect, that's what I want. Isn't it?

So why would I choose to go off on a long trip on a bike that stands a good chance of going wrong. Isn't life complicated enough? Well, I do it because I can. Fuel injection and don't touch it - fine, carbs and strip them down when I'm sold a white spirit and vodka mix instead of petrol - equally fine. The only "not fine" bit is when vapour recycling means I've never smelt petrol so can't tell I've been sold creosote instead and I don't know how to clean the mess out of an injection system because I have no background in bike mechanics. Or (more likely) when I drown the thing in a river and can't get the water out. The fact that an old bike is more likely to suffer some problems en route because of its design limitations doesn't put me off - I've spent years fixing the things and have a reasonably good knowledge of how things work and what can and can't be done.

Old bikes may be a bit of a nostalgia trip but they can also be interesting, anachronistic and challenging (even if many of them now are not particularly cheap). I'm not saying the bike makes the trip but there has to be some bike - rider interaction otherwise you might as well take the car or fly.

this chap went to India on his enfield and it was also a 53!

http://www.overlandtoindia.co.uk/