Hello Nigel and Kitty

Wow, congratulations on your decision. I know that you thought long and hard about it.
I would first like to apologize for not writing you guys sooner to thank you for your warm hospitality in NZ.

On another note. Remember Melie's Suzuki DR 200. The little princess has 45000 klms on it and has no signs of stopping.
So far we have:
Replaced battery
Replace headlamp
Replaced front brake pads.
Replaced original chain and sprockets
Replaced frt sprocket fastening bolt (fell off!)
Adjusted the valves once.
THATS IT!
The bike burns about a cup of oil every 4000 klms.
Melie has crashed the thing more times than I can count ( I would have quit riding long ago if I crashed as much as her in the first few months). The bike has no crash damage, I repeat the bike has no crash damage. Not even the mirrors or turnsignals

We attribute this to the soft saddlebags that we used. The bags and the flyweight of the bike saved it everytime. Sure the bags got torn and ripped off the straps etc, but We are certain that had they been alum boxes Melie and the bike would have faired ALOT worse. Nigel, I know that you know the whole bag vs box issue, but for a learning rider that often puts an errant foot down at inopportune times, a solid piece of box is much less forgiving. Topboxes are nasty things if you decide to let go of the bars and the bike wants to travel a few more meters on its own. We had a small top box made out of cordura and put a smaller sealable plastic type lunchbox inside it to protect our goodies.
I learned to sew as well.
The weight was reasonably well balanced and required no rear rack. We never cracked the rear frame.
The dr200 never had crashbars for the engine, and it was skinny enough that we felt they weren't needed.
Handlebar protection is needed. THey also keep your hands out of the windchill.

A few points to ponder:

vibration, yes but not as bad as my new KTM. Foam grips, good padded gloves, rubber dampened footpegs and the seat.
Would adding a bit of weight to the flywheel/magneto help?

Electrics, enough watts to run heated grips with headlight on. Can headlight be turned off?
Is there an oil filter, at least a magnetic drainplug? We never had any overheating problems, but we are 4 strokers with 800 ml sump.
Melies bike was asthmatic before we found a drill to open the airbox.

You may need to put some kind of snorkel on the baffle to keep the bike from drooling goo all over your stuff.
Drum brakes last 2 days short of forever.

Economy of motion. Hmm got me there. They could be a bit thirsty at speed. 2 stroke oil can be found almost anywhere. I wouldn't worry too much about carrying liters of the stuff. You want to be as light as bearably possible.

We were very impressed with Melie's bike. If it wasn't for my ego, I would say it was the best touring rig that we came across in SE Asia. The power was good enough to maintain 95 kmh throughout Australia. I didnt even change stock gearing.
The bike was a bit hard to accelerate to a floating speed on the loose sand and took some flogging. Melie said she would have liked a bit more horsepower then(after she beat my Dr 600, a Dr 650 and an 1150 to the top of Cape York!) We never overheated it. Long steep uphills at altitude with head winds took a bit more patience, but we were still passing trucks.

Be very careful about the security of your machines. They are much closer to what us 'common' people use and a lot more desirable than that big intimidating fuel injected digital whatzit 1000 that don't have a kickstart. Theft could be an issue.

Frankly I had been dreaming of taking Yamaha Dt 175s around the world for the same reasons as you two. I think it is one of the most practical bikes you can ride. You will never turn your back on a road because your bike is too big and heavy.

Anyway, I am starting to ramble. Let me know if you have any questions.

take care,

mike and melie