So, if the misses and I wanted to jump on a bike and bugger off, how much would we need from investments to get by?

Obviously this is a very open ended question, and will vary from Continent to Continent and in fact, from Country to Country, but wondered on people's views?

The idea being what size of portfolio would one require, or more to the point, what size of return would be required to not stop for financial reasons?

Obviously, a bike is only going to have a limited life span and have to be replaced at some point, and I'm well aware that while you're not making money, you're spending it. Is £1,500 a month realistic for 2 people, 1 bike. Or more likely £2,000? £2,500? £3,000? etc?

Similar thread at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...00-month-61216

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CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

From the basic figures your quoting I'm guessing you'll do just fine ... forever. (however long that might be! )

There are several long and detailed discussions here on HUBB about this.
One is top of page here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-lifestyle-458

Couple more:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...00-month-61216

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...rtw-trip-73070

As you've noted, lots depends on lifestyle, which country and how fast you move. Moving fast can cost more, but settling down in a place with low living costs can be inexpensive.

How much camping vs. Hotels? Are you up for Dorm style "communal" Hostels? (I'm too old for that )
Street food? Pack your own food? Restaurant only? (I do a mix of all three )

Shipping one bike from continent to continent IMO is a massive waste of your hard earned.

Perhaps try what Greg Frasier (5 times RTW) has done for the last 20 years: He keeps bikes in various places round the world. I believe he's got one or two in the USA, another in the EU and I believe one in Thailand. Greg is a Moto Journo so also gets test bikes from time to time.

Some travelers are really attached to their OWN bikes and can't let go, and seem OK with spending THOUSANDS shipping it back and forth. My advice is "get over it". Where possible, buy a local bike (or two bikes if small bikes) and "adapt".

Carry luggage that can be adapted to nearly any bike with a bit of fiddling. Get your "new" bike as well set up as it can be and set out. Once finished riding that continent, either sell it off or store it for another go round in future. In some cases you could live and travel for SIX MONTHS on what you've spent on Shipping costs.

I guess, what I'm looking for is a realistic figure for everything.

That's assuming depreciation on the bike (being replaced every, say, 5 years), insurance (medical and motor), etc etc etc

Obviously it's hard to calculate - I'd be happy enough to do some camping here and there, but would intend to mix it up with some guest houses/b&bs, couch surfing and hotels.

I don't like cooking at the best of times, prefer restaurant food but can (and have!) make do if I need to.

I think the thought of £500 a month is all well and good, except when something big goes wrong and you need to buy a new bike (or equivalent).

I wouldn't wanna ship the bike hundreds/thousands of miles - that's the point of going travelling - to ride the bloody thing!!

So, you OK buying another bike when moving continent to continent?
That's why I brought it up ... because SO MANY travelers DO ship their bikes.
You can't really "ride" 1. Across the Darien 2. From S. America to Africa
From EU to USA.

What's the plan once in Ushuaia? (end of the world S. America)?
Some try to sell bike off ... others ship it ... somewhere. (US, EU, Oz, S. Africa) No matter where you ship, it's going to be at least $2000 usd, maybe more.

I'm with you on cooking. It IS hard to calculate emergencies. But do work cost for a service like Global Rescue. Bike insurance is done locally, country to country. NO one covers ALL countries (at least not at reasonable price)

If you have medical cover at home ... it should provide international cover, or partial.

Best thing to do is get out there and travel. Try things out. See what works.
In a year or so you'll have figured things out. Don't try to plan it all out now.
Can't be done. After a year you may decide you prefer an old folks home or
trailer park!

Sorry, I see what you mean now.

In the case of S America, I'd go down one side, back up the other. Then into USA/Canada, short hop to Russia and then back down again.

I also have shipping contacts who should be able to find a hole for a little bike as and when as a bit of a favour.

Same with Africa, Madagascar may be more tricky, but having a machine you know can be worth a fair bit also.

Anyway, just spitballing at the moment.

Shipping is definitely a major PITA on a long trip. But it´s not always at least $2000 usd and up, not even when you send across the oceans.

An example: my DL650 from Sydney to Helsinki cost me a bit less than 700 euros, and that´s total including everything at both ends. This was almost 6 years ago, though, so add 10-20%. It was sent by sea, and took nearly 2 months to arrive. But this is nearly 10.000 miles as the crow flies.

Also heard a friend sent his 1200GS by air from Buenos Aires to London for less than 1000 euros, by air. This was two years ago.

One problem with shipping is, that there is no fixed price, or fixed anything. Sending motorcycles by freight is so uncommon, that every shipment will be an individual case. Means that if you´d now send the same bike on the routes that I mentioned, it depends on at least a hundred things, how much exactly you will end up paying. And in the case of sea shipment, how long it´ll take.

But of course you CAN do it either way: you send your own bike, or you buy locally. Both methods will have their own ups & downs.

I have pondered this lifestyle for many a year and by all means it's appealing as it gets.

Funding is main hurdle, given one is fortunate enough to have the recourses to liquidate, rent or invest. Finding where to invest is the question. Doing the sums on how much your going to need to do things comfortably and safely depends on the individual/s and the level of comfort you can live with for an extended period. Lets say 30K GBP (50K US) per annum ? That's 82 quid ($136 US) a day, will it be enough for everything? Depending where you are you'd have to invest over a million to get the returns, from a bank anyway.

Visas are a big hurdle, for instance 3 months in Europe, for non residents will fly by (trust me just been the and done that) and you cant get back in for another 3 months! No amount of grovelling will change the situation either!

Shipping a bike in my humble opinion is simply out of the question, time consuming, excessive paperwork not to mention damn expensive. One bike in the EU and one in the US is adequate, get the same model so you can transport the spares, tools and knowledge with you.

Health insurance, bike registration, insurance and upkeep, finding somewhere to store your bike/s, getting from one continent to the next, maintaining communications, phone, internet access ect ect will in total incur considerable expense.

A solution of sorts,

If one could afford to purchase a couple of relativity inexpensive properties and turn them into homestays, B&B's, backpackers, campgrounds or small hotels (I'm stumped for an accurate description) the benefits and rewards may well be worth the considerable effort.

For example a property in Spain and one in Central or South America, (all 3 ?) you can apply for business visas which are longer and multiple entry or permanent visas, you will have a permanent address to register and insure vehicles, accommodation and a workshop ect ect. Furthermore you may well get a reasonable return out of it and better still, be able to claim some of the expenses incurred for maintenance, upkeep, depreciation and maybe even some of the travel and bikes and consumables ect if you run tours. Given your choice of location I don't think it would be too hard to get hold of a Hubber or 2 to run the show whilst aboard either. I'm considering taking the leap and bringing a dream to fruition.

Those are very good rates! But that might not be the average price bikers pay :confused1:

From "stories" we hear, Man! some real nightmares. Like bikes that never show up, luggage missing, and damage. Not to mention the usual PITA paperwork and dealing with endless officials stamps and 4 carbon copies! Also, many times prices are just CRAZY high. Like you said, totally hit or miss.

But for $700? ... well if I found that deal ... I'd take it! Thing is ... we never know for sure how it will work out until we get out bike back on "the other side". Easier said than done in some cases anyway.

If time is not critical, then LCL seafreight is actually quite cheap. The ocean freight itself costs next to nothing, but the costs come mostly from the sending and receiving end....
...And if/when the shipping agents know, that most of the people, who send bikes overseas, haven´t really got a clue how it all works, that´s bound to ´up the costs´ as well......

Really an area, where doing your homework well pays off.