As always, in the winter months I have a lot more time than money.

That's life as a Self employed Motorcycle Mechanic.

I have a relatively limited budget of £2000-£2500 and the months of January and February 2018 to recharge my batteries. I need some sunshine and adventure.

And more importantly, I'm looking for a relaxing trip. I can't be bothered with tons of bureaucracy, paperwork and difficult travel. Gringo Trail bus routes are HELL. I want to bum about on a bike. No extreme adventure selfies are going to be taken on this trip. Backpacking is out of the question because I just can't bare to be without the freedom of my own transport.

What are your suggestions ? There's always great travel ideas from Hubb members.

I really hoped to travel in South America again. Maybe the cheaper Andean countries. But can I get on a bike for that budget though ? Shipping out there is definitely off the cards and flights there and back will probably cost me £1200. Doable ?

Central America ? I've never been.

India is perhaps an option. Cheaper flights, definitely cheaper living and perhaps possible to buy an old Chinese bike and ride South to North ?

USA. Southern States are warm in January right ? The cost of living isn't cheap though is it ? £500 motorcycles about ?

South East Asia. I don't like it. Not my kind of culture. No offence

South Africa. I love the place but bikes are expensive and and it's just not cheap enough. Camping isn't easy there at all.

Australia/ New Zealand ? I think I'd run out of money in a week.



Hit me......

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Its a great idea and I like the way you want to do it. But what kind of bike do you want to ride? Are you happy with a 125 scooter, a 250 dirtbike or do you want something even bigger?

New Zealand - its very easy to buy a bike as a foreigner there. You can camp around both islands almost "everywhere". January and february would be good weatherwise but january is schoolholiday there so campgrounds and other accomodation will fill up fast and prices might rise. But as you have mentioned yourself - expensive.

Cheap Andescountries - aka Bolivia, Peru maybe Colombia, Ecuador? Theres a guy in Peru who seem to have good buyback deals on many types of bikes, also chinese 250 dirtbikes which he upgrades and equipes. He is often posting here on the HUBB. But probably the wrong time of year as it is the rainy season in the Andes at that time of year. But you could always go down to the pacific coast I guess. Northern Argentina and Chile maybe? Uruguay, southern parts of Brasil maybe? Airtickets from Europe to South-America are expensive though, as you have mentioned.

India - would probably be great at that time of year although I belive the northern parts can get quite cool/cold at that time of year. The traffic are horrible though, the pollution, the poverty, the sheer amount of people and traffic can scare the shit out of everyone. Bikes shouldnt be a problem, if you dont want a Royal Enfield - India produces heaps of bikes. The Pulsar brand is said to be quite robust and sturdy and looks like a modern bike at least. Very cheap country and cheap flights from Europe.

Too bad you dont like SE-Asia, it would be the perfect time of year to be there weatherwise. No rain and not too hot. One month i Laos and one month in Vietnam would maybe have been my choice.
Indonesia is great too - and very inexpensive. But january and february are the rainy season down there so not right time of the year.

Africa - never been there so cannot tell.

Anyhow - good luck with your choice.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I'll ride anything as long as my ass survives the journey and it doesn't break down every half hour.

I went backpacking around South East Asia a couple of years ago. I hated it.

It's hard to say if that's because I was backpacking though. And my frame of mind at the time wasn't the best.

I just didn't gel well with the culture, language etc. I felt that I couldn't connect with the locals. Language and culture barrier was just too much. It felt very much "Us and them" as a tourist. I felt like a cash cow and a scam target from dawn til dusk. I haven't experienced that anywhere else in the world to such an extent.

Anyway. I went there a few years ago. I'd prefer some place new.

Andean countries wet season in January ?? I didn't know.

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Hi Ted How about North Africa ? Use your own bike ride or sail down to Spain
And head south from there.

Not a bad idea. It would have to be west coast wouldn't it. Can't say I fancy the European leg of the trip in Jan and it also rules out all the mountains in Morocco. :/

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Rode some bikes.
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If you have not been to India before I recommend you do at least once Ted, you will either love it or hate it but either way it will be a memorable experience.
They don't have Chinese bikes in India but do have Indian ones usually built in collaboration with a Japanese partner and are close to Japanese quality but Chinese prices.
Starting in the south and working your way north would be good that time of year as it starts to warm up around then.

not necessarily, I was up in the atlas mountains a couple christmases ago, and while it gets very cold at night up in the mountains, the days were quite pleasant with full gear. Here's the weather where I was staying:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/ma/im...eather/1585014

edit, and for India you can check prices of new bikes here: https://www.bikewale.com/

I backpacked on the West Coast in 2012. Mumbai, Goa and Karnataka. I had a good time. I was jealous of the travelers on their Enfields though.



Cheers, I'll look into it

I wonder if I could get a lift with my bike to Southern Spain.. I don't like the cold

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Did some trips.
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Hi Ted,

2500 Pounds is not that much for a flight and two months, but doable.

My suggestion. Bolivia.

Maybe you recall my offer? Need to get my AT rolling again.

A flight you can find with AirEuropa from Madrid to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Shared taxi to my place is about 5 Pounds.

All the best picking your holiday destination.

Saludos
mika

PS:: Its summer here.

East Africa to as far south as you wish. Or: Central America starting in the US, where bikes are cheap and plentiful. Two months sounds about right.

Europe and Morocco are too cold at elevation. The Andes would be fine (contrary to statements above), but airfare and bike purchase would eat up your budget before you got started. You don’t like SE Asia, and it’s getting hot anyway that time of year. The whole northern (Himalayan) tier of India is socked in by winter. And the southern tier of the USA is generally far from warm in winter unless you limit yourself to FLorida, southern Texas and along the border to California....which sounds altogether unpleasant to me, besides rather boring for riding purposes. You haven’t really lived life to the fullest until you’ve been trapped by blizzards in some place you don’t want to be, like northern Alabama, the Texas Panhandle, or Arizona’s Mogolon Rim.

Nothing to say you can’t spend your entire budget in 5 or 6 weeks, is there? Or are you determined to get away for as long as possible? Less time means more money per day, which could open a few possibilities, like West Africa.

Hope that’s helpful.

Mark

Yes Mika. I have not forgotten about the AT and your kind offer. I was going to email you.

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__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Great info Mark. Time is not in stone. Cash is though. I could drop down to 6 weeks if the trip was worth it. But I'd rather not. I like to get my times worth out if the cost of a flight. January, February and even March is too dam cold and miserable in the U.K for me. And I don't have any work on. So it makes sense that I spend it somewhere warm and fun instead of spending half the day trying to defrost my spanners.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I've also been kicking many of the same elements around for a while now. I want some sunshine, minimal research / planning and something a bit more than fly / flop.

Looking at the possibilities:

Europe - done it to death this year and everywhere is either cold or closed in Jan / Feb.

North America - again, been there earlier in the year (it rained) and it's too expensive for my budget. This time last year a US friend suggested a winter bike trip down to the Yucatan but I didn't fancy the week riding down from the NY area. It's not an option this year as he's recovering from surgery.

South America - never been as it's never really appealed and the research / organisation needed would be beyond my no stress and no steps into the unknown for this trip mind set. I don't really want to start off with some uber haul flight either which cuts out Oz. If I went there I'd feel kind of obliged to do the rounds of my wife's friends / family which, while it would keep the cost down, isn't really what I want to do.

Asia - either too cold, too far or too frantic or some combination of them all. I've enjoyed the bits I've been to but not this time. India is still a blank on the map for me but I've said to my wife we should go there together and she'd be a bit pissed if I went off on my own while she was at work.

Africa - SA is a possibility. I've just completed an on line course from the University of Cape Town so it'd be nice to visit but, like India, it's on the "we'll both go" list so probably not somewhere for this winter.

That leaves me with East or West Africa. I'm still mulling over what transport options I would have if I flew into, say, Nairobi, whether I could get hold of a bike or whether I'd be looking at public transport. We were there in 1990 or 91 but on a package deal which didn't give either much time or much flexibility and it's been on my return list for some time.

West Africa similarly has a legacy list of places I'd like to go but didn't have the chance last time round. A cheap charter fight to The Gambia would get me there easily enough but many of the places I've revisit shortlisted are a long way from there so I've been reconsidering the ride there route.

The trouble is you don't really kick off Eurowinter until you're south of the Atlas - Agadir, say and that's a reasonable trip in its own right from the UK. Can I face a week of rain and an endless number of Med towns that look like Margate (i.e. closed) until I get there. And then do it again on the way back? Riding back to the UK through a miserable looking Europe would probably undo all the benefit I'd gained. The ride there, bury the bike in a sand dune and fly back option is very enticing. I really ought to come to some sort of decision but as usual I'll probably leave it until the last moment and do whatever I can that requires no planning.

Couple of weeks ago I was in Accra, talking to a guy who imports used Japanese dual sports direct from Japan. He had some 250s and ~650s that looked pretty good for under $1500. He seemed pretty solid, and I know his mechanic as trustworthy from a previous trip. There's your ride. West Africa can be cheap if you're paying attention (or not so cheap, if you take your eye off the ball).

The other bit: I once shared a bike briefly, shipping it into Cuba and then out to Mexico. Could the two of you share a bike--first one, then the other take possession? You can transfer ownership legally in Ghana, buy ECOWAS insurance covering all the neighboring countries, and deal with the usual hassles just as on any other trip. When you're done, re-sell the bike....or store it, and maybe I'll buy it from you on my next trip to that part of the world.

Just stirring the pot here. Let me know if you want contact information for my friend in Accra.

Mark

My partner Ferdie and I do something called the grand idea. One grand (£1000) 2 weeks including bike hire. The bike hire eats up a lot of the budget but it means we don't have to travel far overland which is not possible with work time constraints for us.

I'm sure if you were to buy a bike and live off sarnis rather than cafes like we do then your budget should be fine.

In feb we flew to Chaing Mai (£380 return) and rented CRF250s for £18 per day. I don't know the legalities of buying bikes in Thailand but there is a foreign bike owners fb group for thailand. Accommodation was £6 in guesthouses, and street food £1 per dish. The grand included overnight train to BKK, 3 nights in BKK and 3 nights on beach island. We explored lots of off road tracks on the Burmese border and the Elephant Trail, Stayed away from Pai, and the hippy lonely planet merrygoround

In Sept we flew to Marrakesh with Ryanair. Flights are from £80 but we pissed around and paid £250. Bike hire was £35 per day for XR250s. We saw C90 style bikes for sale brand new for £600. Accommodation was more expensive but as we flew and had no checked baggage, no camping gear but bush camping would be fine. Total trip with nice hotels and bike hire for 10 days was £1000.

We have booked a return flight to Cusco in Peru for £680, and renting bikes again. Total cost for just over 2 week trip would be £1500.

If you've done India, I'd suggest Nepal. Guesthouses are £2 per night, Dhal Bhat from less than £1. Not as intense dirt and noise wise as india except in Kathmandu, and scenery is stunning, people are friendlier. You could easily spend a month exploring the country, a week down in the jungle (Bardia national park is nicer than touristy Chitwan), then based out of Pokhara you can do two trips up into the High Himalaya to Muktinath and Manang. From Kathmandu you can go up to the Bhutan border. The weather is fairly mild in Jan, but chilly up high, but no snow on the roads/tracks. Pokhara or Kathmandu would be good places to buy bikes but Nepali plated bikes cannot be taken into India without a very expensive Carnet, so probably better to buy an indian bike in India, you can take an Indian bike into Nepal for 30 days and pay a smallish tax to do so at the border.

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