Hi. I've done all my travelling alone in the past and crossed the Sahara twice (also Asia and Europe) but never on a bike. I've just bought a Honda Varadero 125 VTwin....don't give me a hard time...my biker friends said I need a bigger bike...no I don't...I need range/economy/reliability I don't need to do 100mph.
I'm kitting it out properly and will depart next April/May....firstly for Turkey & then back across southern Europe for Morocco and points south (bit worried about AQITM but that's never stopped me in the past).
Just wondered if anybody else has done a long haul on a small bike?

We did 6 months on 125 Honda Waves in South East Asia from Malaysia up through Thailand into Cambodia and Laos and back down through Thailand into Malaysia to sell them again. It was awesome! We started the trip (in Germany) on BMW 650's but sold them in Mongolia when the cost of shipping was more than the bikes were worth. We loved it. Our maximum per day never changed, with long days being over 300 km and most being between 200 and 300. The bike was perfect for sand and some of our more off road paths (there is no way I would have been able to do some of the stuff in Laos with the 650 that we did with the 125, and although Patrick could have, he agreed that with the 650 it would have been work whereas with the 125 it was just plain fun!).


DSC06425 by sherrielynnm, on Flickr

Comparing the two the only thing I would say is that I would not have wanted the 125 in Russia where we often did over 500 in one day through nothing but trees. But that was more of a seat thing, 300 ks on the 125 and my butt was screaming! :-P

The only other issue we had was that we had to lift the seat to fill up the bike. This drove us nuts as that meant taking all our luggage off every 100 kms.

In terms of what the bike can do however, it did everything we wanted of it and more! It can still hit 100kms when you need it too, and I agree, the purpose of the trip is to see the landscape, not to race through it! (Unless that IS what you want to do, in which case you do need another bike!)

By the end of our time in Thailand the bike even had a dog as a rider!


IMG_0079 by sherrielynnm, on Flickr


Day 253: Mango's Ride by sherrielynnm, on Flickr

It also helps with the temptation to overpack! Patrick had one extra bag with the tent on his bike, and I got everything into that backpack. When we had started my bike looked like this:


DSC01182 by sherrielynnm, on Flickr

Which just goes to show, if you have the space you use it. :-P

Patrick wrote a little about why he liked the little bike here:

Honda Wave – Our Moscouter for Asia

And I am pretty sure that there is another couple on the HUBB who started from the States on 125s as well.

In the end you just need to love your bike! Do let me know if you start a blog, we are back from our trip and I need to live vicariously a little through other people's blogs. :-)

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Books & Blog at: UnleashYourAdventure

My wife and I did a RTW trip of about 25000 miles/40000 km through 15 countries last year on 100cc SYM Symbas. Our story is in the Ride Tales section. There is another fellow doing it on a Honda PCX 125 right now, his blog is here. I never found the story but have heard of a Japanese rider that did it on a 50cc Honda monkeybike. I'm sure others can chime in with similar stories. Little bikes are the only way to go!

I've travelled with the varadero 125 for about 8,000km.
Great bike, a shame i sold mine a couple of weeks ago..

Nevertheless, this baby you can do 900+ on one day!
A truly remarkable 125cc, put some offroad wheels on tha bitch and you can go everywhere!

I've ridden on sandtracks to highways and i loved it.

The ass can start to hurt when you've done 400km on one day but it's only to change riding position and you can sit another 200km.
You can get as much luggage on it as you can on a GS1200, but i wouldn't recommend it, it works fine but still it gets kinda heavy...

If you have any questions, send a PM

And good luck mate!
(Put up some pictures on the bike )

I have just bought a Honda XR 125 with thoughts of travelling to Mongolia on it next year, I have previously done all of my motorcycle touring on BMW R80GS's which I still have but after a couple of tours on a bicycle thought I would give a small bike a try.
Let's not forget our small bike to far off places guru, Ed March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPne...feature=relmfu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDOOT-T2gKo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6f5...feature=relmfu

Thanks for that guys....wasn't expecting such a quick response. You've confirmed my thoughts....big is not necessarily beautiful.
Frankly I'm not impressed with big bike fuel economy. Why do all you big bike fans put up with such poor fuel economy?
Anyway, I'm just looking for a little adventure (I'll be 66 but fit when I start nxt year) and sleeping under the stars again (I do have a tent)....I've done with the rat race...a little wilderness is beckoning.

Don't know really i'd just bought a big bike cause i'm 18 next year and want to show off

But also cause as i said i live in sweden and it takes a lot of time to go down to europe as it is, being able to push 120km/h with no problem is seen as a perk.

But i surely can see myself buying a 125cc again!

maybe not seen as small, but my Enfield is 182 Kg, does 95 ish Mpg and i do more miles per day on it than I used to do with my BMW r80rt.

the not having to stop for fuel and a more comfy ride is responsible. It will trundle along at up to 60 mph about 100 Kph easily, after that vibrations start to come in..

The low seat height combined with a low centre of gravity and small turning circle all help to make it very manoeuvrable

The beauty of your choice of bike is the twin cylinder design (for such a small engine) - the 125 V twin should be well able to keep up with, for instance, my 225cc single cyl XT225 Serow

"Just wondered if anybody else has done a long haul on a small bike?"
There are quite a few threads in the HUBB on similar lines; you will find them easily enough, but here is one of the more recent ones, just as a "for instance".
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...2-cbf125-64115

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Dave

Thanks again to everyone who's taken the trouble to give me advice. I tried to "personal message" a couple of you but wasn't allowed due to having no "post record",,,,my Son doesn't call me a Computer Dork for nothing!
I'm getting the bike ready and ordered my Givi pannier set (would have preferred aluminium but they're just too expensive), I've got a Vango Banshee II tent and all the gear I need....I won't be packing anywhere near the max load Honda recommend but I'll still be self-sufficient.
I've been to some pretty remote (and by todays standards dangerous places) but have never had insurance in my life but with the inevitable wear & tear on the old bod I think I might make an exception this time.

Hey there, there is not a special bike only for travel...Only the bike you eant to do it with it..

Check this gyu here
http://danilo-moto.com/

is a friend...

Did Africa earlier this year on a Honda c90, and then London to Mongolia on Sym 110cc Supercub. Easy, cheap and very do able.

Went around southamerica on a 125:
Diavortrag: Die Welt da draussen ist auch HD

This question reminds me of an editorial I read in a motorcycle mag many years ago. The writer was a young man invited to see a new CB750 at a Honda press demo in Sydney, Australia. He asked to take the bike out for a test ride, and rode for about an hour north of the city, and then pulled over at the side of the road to stretch his legs. As he stood there, he thought "This is nice bike - and it's big enough to handle a trip all the way around Australia."

Just then a young Japanese woman pulled up on a Honda Cub 90. She had all sorts of bags and gear strapped on the little step-thru. The writer spoke to her, and found that she spoke enough English to tell him that she was doing just what he had been thinking about - riding around Australia, only on a 90cc bike, starting out of Sydney.

He shook his head. "Good luck," he said. "You've got a long, long journey ahead of you on such a small bike."

"What do you mean?" she answered. "I've gone all the way around in the last few months, and this is my last stop before I get back to Sydney!"


You can ride around the world on a small bike, it'll just take a little longer.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

My thoughts entirely Bruce. I've crossed both Africa & Asia on foot in my youth and just need something to help me up the hills (tried to get to Tesco on my cycle recently and nearly needed emergency services as it was at the top of a hill! ;-))! I'm looking forward to just taking it easy and , once again, not knowing where I'll be sleeping the next night. I'm fed up with mismanaged capitalism, need some wilderness and need to do this trip whilst I can. I'm setting up a website and will post progress but don't think I'll be matching some of the epic journeys you guys & girls get up to on this site. Good on yer.