Hello from Wales
 

I'm a new member who lives in Wales. I'm in the very, very early stages of planning to continue my mid-life crisis. Like, I guess, most newcomers, I'm interested in how much it costs to tour by motorcycle. I've read as many articles as I can and watched hours and hours of YouTube videos, but have yet to find information relating to my own position.
Let me start by laying the groundwork. I'm an unhappily married 50-something who's sold the soft-top sports car because it was unfulfilling. I don't own a motorcycle but was an avid enduro rider as a kid. My ambition, which might outstrip my ability, is to ride from the UK to the foothills of the Himalayas. I come from a background of wild camping, including cooking, so this will be my preferred mode of shelter and food.
Now, finances. Unlike virtually everyone I've read about, who are looking for ways to save money for a definite timescale trip, I have a small pension, emphasis on SMALL! This means, ultimately, that I need no savings and time isn't an issue, unless I pop my clogs early! I could take twelve months or five
years, it matters not.
What I'd really like to know, is how much of a monthly budget would travellers consider adequate for such a trip? I won't have my full pension as I will need to finance a bike and riding gear, but would be interested to know what other financial commitments I would have.

I have been going through a similar budgetting process to you. There are various things that you need to put into the mix. Some of these are:

How many miles per gallon do you expect
How many miles per day are you planning on doing (the more miles the higher the cost per day)
How much do you expect to per litre for fuel
What are your "entertainment" and food budgets per day
How many miles do you expect to get from a set of tyres
What are your servicing costs going to be
How often do you need to service the bike
Will you be using a mobile phone en route
How much will the bike be worth - this affects the cost of the carnet
Which countries are you planning on going through - this affects the cost of the carnet (e.g. going through Egypt really bumps up the cost - and yes, I know it isn't on your way!)
Travel insurance - how much are you expecting to pay
Insurance for the bike

No doubt others will come along to add categories I have missed

One thing that may be said is that going on a trip to escape from a situation is not necessarily the best action as the troubles don't always get left behind when you ride off.

Atlasrider did a spreadsheet in Google docs. Here is the link:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...M6tqOQfvHHzPaw

It allows you to input a large number of variables that are down to you and your trip - from mileages to bike maintenance to food and accommodation costs. It then figures out how much you need to save based on what you have put away already and when you are leaving.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the comments. Part of the difficulty is in knowing things like “how many miles per day is reasonable?”; “how much does food cost, per day, per person in the relevant countries?” etc Certainly food for thought in your list though.
As for the last paragraph, I didn’t explain fully. It’s not that I’m “running away” from a bad situation so much as I have no ties holding me back. Added to my financial position, it seems a case of now or never. I’ve had the urge to explore for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it’s now time to stop making excuses for not going.