Southern africa on a budget

[Boske]

Hi all,

I'm looking into doing a 3-months trip through south africa, namibia, botswana and maybe zambia, malawi and mozambique. Starting and finishing in Jo'Burg. I'm a 26 year-old male travelling solo. I have experience with backpacking in South America and South East Asia, but I have never done a trip on a motorcycle.

My budget is 4000€. (airplane ticket not included) Will this be enough?

I'm considering 2 options:
- buy a new Chines bike (Zhongchen or something), 200CC. Costs around 1000€. Try and sell it when I'm finished.
- buy a 2nd hand bike in Jo'burg.

This leaves me with a ton of questions on which I would appreciate your opinions:
1. Are the Chinese bikes strong enough? I read they are quite reliable, and since it's simple mecanics it's possible to fix almost anything yourself or with the help of a decent mecanics. But no need to import new parts. Is this right?
2. What kind of bike can I get for about 1000€ in Jo'Burg. (I suppose that 3000€ for the trip itself is the absolute minimum, or is this not enough?)
3. Has anyone got a rough idea of what it will cost me to buy all the necessary insurances?
4. How do I transport all my stuff: I suppose that carrying my 60L backpack on my backpack is out of the question? I suppose I would need to buy hardcover motorcycle suitcases... How much are those? Ideally I can lock them up, because otherwise I suppose I have a problem everytime I wont to leave my bike unattended for an hour...
5. What kind of risks am I exposing myself to: what if for example I have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest village being 100km away? How long before I see a truck pass by with enough room for my bike in it? I'm planning to bring a tent, but I'm guessing it's not such a good idea to pitch that by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere?
6. How long in advance do I need to book campingsites? Is this the case with all campingsites or just a few of the best ones? It's just that I really hate planning such things...
7. I don't want to sit on my bike every day, I just figured it's the best way of transportation (cheaper than a car, more flexible than public transport in namibia and botswana it seems). Is doing the whole trip (from SA through mozambique and Zambia all the way to Namibia and back to Jo'Burg) too much driving for three months or should I limit myself to SA, Namib and Bots...?

Thank you very much for all answers, opinions, etc.
I really want to do this trip, but I'm expecting it to be either too costly or too risky; in which case I will just go backpacking in Indonesia for three months :-)

Quentin