Nop, matey, still riding a xt 600 as i did to tour your magnificent continental isle, fits perfectly my size and weight. She got a bit unfaithful tho this year, and got more problems than my belgian buddy travelling on a chinese bike bought in Paraguay.

I wouldnt recommend as well using those bikes for a couple, but as specified in the previous post, you can buy TWO of them for less than the price of the transport of one bike from Perth to Chile. This gives you much more security, since if one bike is in a bad mood, you still have another one to call for rescue. Twice as much room for the sheyla garde robe as well. They also consume very little gas, half what my 90 s cute japanese horsey is suckin', gas budget is not a negligectable feature any more, paid more than 2 dollars a liter in the north of Argentina this year, a day like so many when gas stations couldnt deliver any more. Oh, did I mention the pure pleasure of riding a 270 kg bike sinking in the mud after a big rain, the lighter bikes will at least allow you to actually get out of those unconfy situations,

I surprisingly saw chinese bikes passing me on dirt tracks in the mountains. It certainly has to do with the driver knowing perfectly the environment, but still an evidence of good maneuvrability off roads.


Chinese bikes have bad rep, are maid out of cheaper metal, but japs after ww2 had bad reputation as well. The quality and reliability is improving every year, this is why I recommend to buy new bikes.

Just watch the bike of that brazilian guy who crossed the amazon while almost all shiny bikes foreign travellers take the boat. Shiny all aluminium paniers heavy bike?

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1001969

Nice brasilian pictures!But that is not a chinese bike......its a classic 1977 Honda CG 125 made in japan.......
Honda MotorBikeSpecs.net Motorcycle Specification Database
We hope that chinese bikes will be of better manufacture.Some products that are imported to south america from china are really poor.Some better.But the low price segment is crap.Maybe making it an extra adventure.The main problem is the parts.As they are made by a few manufacturers in china and comercialized under fantasy names for the importer you never know who the manufacturer was......then the chase beguins......

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America is a nice continent,not a country.All people who lives in this continent are americans.Discover it in peace!

Hola Amigo,
I am on a KLR 650 model 2009 bought from Cali, Colombia and riding around South America now. Great bike, ugly and no nonsense. Just fuel and fire up. It gets you to places in all conditions that I have come across, rippio road, mud, volcanic ashes, desert, windy and with a possibility of towing power ( I had travelled with a scooter Yamaha 125 from Ushuaia who had power loss problem and close to tow him to the nearest town).
You just cant go wrong with this bike.

Chris,

My name is Justin, me and my girlfriend (who is also 5'5) are planning a year long trip through South America starting in mid November. Are plans are to fly into Santiago. We are still looking at different options but are leaning towards a honda 125. The CGL pro seems like a good option and if the XR is short enough I would prefer a dual sport. We are thinking new versus used but haven't ruled used out yet. This will be my first bike trip and my girlfriends 2nd. It would be great to hear how you guys are preparing.

Thanks!

So long as you can get parts for your bike, you'll be fine.
I'm on a 21 year old XT. Most parts are compatible with the newer models but when my starter clutch gave up, I was waiting for six weeks for one of the parts to be sent from Japan and I had to get the other machined locally because it wasn't available anywhere.
Getting parts machined in South America is much easier than you think it's going to be but if you can source parts locally then so much the better.

A recent CG125 is probably a very good option.

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If your girlfriend is getting her own bike why don't you both buy the same, like Yam XT250's? Nimble and good on juice (with bigger tank), mechanically simple and parts availability is very good and not expensive.

I elected to ride a new Suzuki DR650 from Texas to Tierra del Fuego and it has been a great bike on both the highway and dirt. However, it may be bigger and heavier than you'd like. Prior to my trip I owned a Yamaha xt250 and now believe that it would have been a great bike for the trip. The Honda xr250 or xr125 would work as well. I'd also consider a Yamaha YBR125. It's a little more of a street/city bike but I believe it could handle the trip and is probably the most ubiquitous bike in S. America next to the Honda Wave 125.

The trip can be accomplished on any bike. Maintenance, breakdowns, finding parts is all part of the experience that puts you in a situation to interact with the locals and experience the culture. Hopefully it's the reason why you want to travel. Start getting excited and enjoy it. You'll have an amazing adventure.

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