Big bike VS small bike...

[jim]

Ive always travelled on a fairly big bike- my Yamaha Tenere has served me well on over 60 000km of mostly rough African roads and until recently I never really thought very hard about why I had chosen to ride such a big bike. Recently I rode India on a 350cc Enfield and started to think about the travellers I have met over the years riding anything from a 50cc to a 350cc and I really think that my next big trip will be on a 200-300cc bike. I mean if youre going to be riding rough roads solo in very remote places why ride a 230kg bike? I can barely lift my Tenere if it falls loaded in sand and certainly could not lift a 1200cc BMW. People say you need the power for sand, or you need the speed to cover distances or absurdly you need a big engine that wont let you down ... My experience is that unless you are riding tar roads you cant go fast safely, in thick sand you only need the power if your bike weighs 230kg (!) and big engines give more trouble than small ones. Also in Africa at least you're much more likely to find parts for a small bike that a big one. My personal theory is that we, and I absolutely include myself in this category, have succumbed to the cult of bigger is better and cooler and the future of long distance motorcycle travel will be on small efficient light bikes which dont cost a fortune. What do you think?