Hi everyone,
Having been looking at this site for some months now I've decided to "do it".
Being 55 I've decided to have a mid-life crisis...didn't feel like one coming along so I thought I'd have one!
After spending countless hours reading all the postings here and looking into the complexities and simplicities of actually doing a bike adventure, whether it be RTW, the Americas, Asia, Europe, etc, and the costs involved I have decided the cheapest for me would be to start in Europe.
After buying bike, shipping costs, air tickets, etc, I would have about 5,000 euro's for what would be an open-ended adventure.
Being in Australia (Sydney) many of you may think this is not the case BUT...being a pom, (English living in Aus) and having UK passport I don't have to consider visa's etc and also because, if necessary (more than likely!!) I could get work to subsidise travel costs AND...if all comes unstuck, would only need 100 pound to jump on Ryan Air anywhere in Europe to get back to UK!
I plan to travel around Europe for....as long as I feel like, I don't have any time constraints.
I have looked at HelpX, a website for travelers where you can exchange your labour and skills for food and accommodation and when necessary, find some (paid) work.
I'm thinking of getting a KLR650 and fitting it out here and shipping it to a yet to be decided port in Europe. Is this a good choice of bike for Europe?

If anyone has any advice or "tips" they could pass on, that would be great.
What I really don't want is people telling me I'm MAD!!....I know I am and telling me so isn't being informative!
I hope to be in Europe by...April??

Thanks in advance for any advice you may give and if you're in Europe after April and you bump into me I'd appreciate it if you don't notify local mental health authorities!!!
Thank,
Ian