How much $$ would I expect to spend?

[PocketHead]

If you were to ride from Los Angeles to Argentina on a DRZ 400e what would be a good amount of money to travel with? Also what would be the bare minimum?

[Flyingdoctor]

That's a very difficult question. It depends how far you want to do each day (petrol) and what type of accomodation you want to stay in. Will you be cooking your own meals and camping or stopping in hotels and eating out.

You will need to work out a daily figure and then multiply it. Add a bit for maintenance and tyres as well. At best it will be a rough estimate. If it comes out as $50 a day and it takes you 100 days to do the trip then that's $5000. In Europe I plan on £50 a day but in South America you won't need that much.

Search the HUBB, you'll find everything you need on here. Routes, fuel prices, advice on security and interesting places to visit. But you'll have to put the effort in to reap the rewards.

There is an alternative. Take what money you've got, and just go! You'll figure it out along the way.

[PocketHead]

Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor

That's a very difficult question. It depends how far you want to do each day (petrol) and what type of accomodation you want to stay in. Will you be cooking your own meals and camping or stopping in hotels and eating out.

You will need to work out a daily figure and then multiply it. Add a bit for maintenance and tyres as well. At best it will be a rough estimate. If it comes out as $50 a day and it takes you 100 days to do the trip then that's $5000. In Europe I plan on £50 a day but in South America you won't need that much.

Search the HUBB, you'll find everything you need on here. Routes, fuel prices, advice on security and interesting places to visit. But you'll have to put the effort in to reap the rewards.

There is an alternative. Take what money you've got, and just go! You'll figure it out along the way.

Good answer to my terribly open-ended question. I am not the sort of person to just up and go and I have plenty of time to plan so I think I'll make a list of stuff. If you notice stuff missing please let me know!

Initial costs:
Flight to LAX
DRZ
International license


Ongoing:
Approximately 200-300km a day
Backpacker hostels
Eating cereal for breakfast, buying lunch and cooking my own dinner
Tyres (how many km will they last on a dual-sport drz400?)
Servicing the bike, oil changes etc
Activities and admission costs

Also mid way throughout the trip I plan to teach english for a year in either nicaragua, costa rica or colombia so probably need some money to settle.

[thecanoeguy]

just done about half of that trip,why dont you go to the horizons meet at tintaldra ,i ,doing a talk on my trip there from canada to colombia ,lots of other guys worth talking to about bike travel, yes you may start with the idea of self cooking etc but not worth it ,eating out is cheaper if you eat local food, and yes fuel aint cheap after mexico ,and backpackers are not common but hotels are cheap ,depends if you want to live like a hermit ,or socialise ,plety of travellers to go out with on the way i mixed it up a bit you can prolly find a travel ready bike if you start looking ,drz ,not a bad choice ,most popular bike for this trip is a klr 650, as they are cheap as chips in the states and you can get heaps of travel shit for them,i got mine for $1800
cheap aussie dave

[PocketHead]

Originally Posted by thecanoeguy

just done about half of that trip,why dont you go to the horizons meet at tintaldra ,i ,doing a talk on my trip there from canada to colombia , yes you may start with the idea of self cooking etc but not worth it ,eating out is cheaper if you eat local food, and yes fuel aint cheap after mexico ,and backpackers are not common but hotels are cheap depends if you want to live like a hermit ,or socialise ,plety of travellers to go out with on the way i mixed it up a bit and buying a bike in the states is your best option ,way cheaper than here and you can prolly find a travel ready one if you start looking ,drrz ,not a bad choice ,most popular bike for this trip is a klr 650 as they are cheap as chips in the states ,i got mine for $1800
cheap aussie dave

wow $1800?? thanks for the info, how much have you been living on daily since mexico?

[thecanoeguy]

hard to say really but i was away for 6 months and dont really know how much i spent , i guess including splurges around $50 -$80 per day then you have tyres ,chains sprockets cost of getting from panama to colombia $500 -$600 but youwill enjoy it ,dont count on making too much money teaching english,its not like doing it in asia i am home working for the summer in albury and heading back to colombia in april
dave

[Bamaboy]

When I visited Uruguay on a three day trip, I spent about $60.00 per day. 450-500 mile days on an xt600. About $30.00 for gas, $15.00 for hotel and $15.00 for food. We stayed 3 to a room at the hotels and split the cost. So I would say, $75.00 per day would be a good estimate for Brazil travel.