[QUOTE=Strife_on_two_wheels;590343 My 'big' bike is an old Kawasaki GT750 which coped with the UK and Ireland Tour without any problems. The bike only cost me £1000 and the 'luggage' was £35 all told. The fact that this setup got me all around the country just fine made me realise that you don't need expensive bikes and gear to travel.

I've still got a massive soft spot for small capacity bikes. I enjoy riding them every bit as much as the bigger stuff. I've seen and read plenty of books and articles of people touring the world or their countries on small machines. So to that end, I've set myself the challenge of building a £500 'adventure bike'. So that's the bike, the mods, any work and parts required, and an MOT for a target budget of £500!

With such a low budget it's a big ask I think, but that's all part of the fun. I recently managed to pick up a 'spares/repairs' Honda CG125 for £300, and I've already started stripping it down. Work is going well so far, and it might JUST be possible to come in within the budget, but we'll see. [/QUOTE]

£35 luggage - luxury!

We started with two cardboard ex army suitcases, a groundsheet and a borrowed washing line. This is the nearest picture I have to what it looked like -
(riding over the Brenner Pass in Austria)





The system even got an upgrade to 'external storage' the following year:
(en route to Rome)




(Yes, it was a looong time ago! They were new bikes back then)

These days you can get some really good cheap soft luggage from people like Lomo, or if you're not brand sensitive and keep your eye out, from Aldi / Lidl

The blue bag in this picture was £9.95 from Lidl. The tank bag was about the same price but from Aldi -



Totally waterproof - something you really do need if you live in Yorkshire

As you can see not a lot has changed in many decades other than upgrading the washing line to a few bungees.

Re smaller bikes, you may have read the ongoing threads about their touring merits littering the pages here. There's a few of us here who enjoy the challenge.

And finally something I should have started with - welcome to the HUBB