YOUR NOT MAD! your just finally opening your mind to (imho) the greatest way to travel!
you may be suprised how easy european travel is (unless you start heading way east), and if your not planning to head off road too much, i would actually pick a bit more of a road orientated bike. the roads in Europe are pretty damn amazing (from a world perspective), and you would be more comfortable on something a little less (for lack of a better word) aggressive.
if i was to ride europe i would do it on a bonneville, or old bsa. but if you want comfort and reliability, f800gs, vstrom maybe.
i'm sure plenty of people will have opinions on the bike type...
just think what sort of riding you will be doing then, ride as many bikes as possible, and then find what suits you and your plans.
you will have a amazing trip what ever way you do it, so just do it! ignore the nay sayers who are simply jealous they can't do it.
you will have a ball

Hi Ozranger,
Thanks for tips on Bikes for Europe. I thought of getting something like a KLR because I wouldn't be restricted to further traveling should the opportunity arise.
I like the KLR/V-Strom/transalp style of bike...I'm 196cm tall and think I'd be better on a "tall" bike. But your thoughts on trying several types are well noted. Thanks.

Ian

Hello Ian and welcome, If you are on a tight budget I would suggest something like a Honda CB500 twin or a BMW F650, either can be had for under £1000 the Honda as little as £600 will buy you a reasonable one, are economical, will cruise at 70 mph and are cheap to insure. Don't forget to get a European health card, the replacement for the E111.

Hi Ian,
From what I have read KLR's are pretty uncommon in Europe so spare parts might be an issue.
You mentioned shipping costs but didnt say if you would be shipping from Oz or the Uk. If you only have 5K euros after initial costs the shipping is something you could save heaps on by buying in the Uk as mentioned above.
+1 on the used Bonneville. Its loves the tiwsty's, has enough grunt and you have a good range of luggage options. Only down size is a smallish tank at 16litres or so.
With "only' 5k I guess your country selection and wether your camping or not will determine how soon you have to work.
Enjoy!

Definately not mad! I'm in similar group as you, mid fifties, dual passport holder and Australian based. And last year i did atrip like you discuss and used a KLR 650 which I found fine (although within reason any bike you like riding will be fine).

I live just north of Sydney but usually work and stay in Sydney 2-3 nights so if you want to meet up for a one night feel free to pm me.

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Martin

finally back on the road again


http://awayonmybike.blogspot.com/

Insane idea.

Buy the bike in the UK and save shipping costs - also cheaper to buy here.

Ride around Europe and sell when you are done.

DS

Hi Ian,
Good to hear of your intent to go for it and do a motorcycle adventure, I'm sure you will get the bug and be wanting to make it a part of your life.

I'm down here in Tasmania just south of you a bit, and I go to Europe each year generally around May, though this year (2013) I am leaving Oz a bit later than usual, and landing in France end of June, mostly because I have found the weather to be better from June onwards, especially if your on a motorcycle.

I guess if you land over there in April you will have time to sort out a bike and do all the necessary paper-work stuff, before heading off.

Like you, I too stand 196cm tall and I really wanted a bike that would not be too small, so I was suggested to look at the Yamaha TDM850 or 900. We really don't see these bikes down here in Australia, but they were quite popular in Europe.

I bought my TDM850, a 2001 model from a French web-site a bit like ebay, called leboncoin.fr. The bike was and still is in top notch, only had 30000 km and paid around 3200 Euro for it.

I like that I can really load the TDM up and it handles very well, it was built for just the sort of touring I do, up and down the Alps again and again and handles the gravel just fine too. I take camera gear, laptop, other electronics, camp gear, including for cooking, a good range of clothes and then there is always room at the end of the days ride for a few s or a bottle of nice wine and a baguette strapped to the back too.

One thing I like with having bought it in France is that you only do registration transfer and there is no yearly registration like we have in Australia. The transfer cost me 84 Euro and is based on engine capacity.

The only thing I need to do each year is assurance as this also includes third person liability. I have my assurance with AXA and it is about 300 Euros per year, and also covers third party property, fire and theft.

Make a file of any insurance history you have here in Australia before you go. I needed to show a minimum of 13 years of insurance history, just a simple one page statement from AAMI and I was able to obtain the maximum no claim discount of 50%. I was and am happy with that.
Also, with AXA, on the back of the assurance certificate it shows me which countries I am covered in. I was surprised to learn that I am covered in most of Europe, Russia included, so with this I am able to pretty well go anywhere as long as I have Visa's for those countries not covered in the 27 Schengen country list.

All up, the yearly costs of owning my bike in France is a half the cost of owning my Austalian motorcycle.

I'm not sure how things work in the UK in this regard, but I thought it would be worth mentioning just to give you an idea.

Anyhow, keep in contact if you are over there and on two wheels we could catch up some where in Europe for a nice cool .

I think you're going to have one hell of a good time, so good on you for wanting to do it.




Paul

P.S. The mental health authorities would have caught up with me already if there was a problem.

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