2001 F650 ST / 18k miles for Africa Trip?
 

Hi all,

I'm planning a north/west Africa trip starting this September and am looking for a bike (short timeline I know).

I want something around 650cc, reliable, and not super heavy. Those are my main criteria. Not looking to go off road much if at all, just dirt roads. Looking to pay < 3000 euros, all said and done. Transalp seems pretty ideal given its low cost and reliability.

What do you think about a 2001 F650 ST with 18,000 miles? I know the ST is for street, but how would this hold up? I have a somewhat limited timeline, and the market in which I'm looking (Ireland; donedeal.ie) doesn't cough up a huge amount of bikes every day. The 650ST is one of them. Any thoughts and advice welcome, I'd really appreciate your perspectives!

Thanks!

It´ll be impossible to say without seeing the bike. The conditions depends on two things first and foremost: How it has been ridden, and how it has been maintained. It is 14 years old, so any neglect during that time could take a heavy toll.

I think a Transalp might be a good choice as well, and those are available in the EU. I once met a couple of Aussies in Malaysia, and they´d bought two 650 Transalps in the UK, and were on their way back home to Oz on them. They´d payed less than 1000 pounds each for the bikes, and had by that time covered +20.000 kms on them... Those bikes DID look a bit beat up, as they´d ridden thru Central and South Asia for example (and one of the guys once described his Tranny as "a heap of s*it"!!).. But it was a fact, that bikes costing that little, had taken them that far. I dunno how their trip ended, but I guess they took them all the way to Australia.

If you plan to leave next month, then you sure are in a hurry to find a suitable bike! And also I think North Africa right now is one of the more challenging places to go to, from political and safety point of view (but I´m no expert on that region, in any case you will need to do your own homework on those). Good luck!

" I have a somewhat limited timeline, and the market in which I'm looking (Ireland; donedeal.ie) doesn't cough up a huge amount of bikes every day."

A rhetorical question i.e. it does not require an answer.
Why restrict your search to one website?

Look at Gumtree and Ebay (the latter own Gumtree) to name two alternatives.
Also, search on here for the poster "wheatwhacker" (maybe spelt "wheatwacker"?) to read about the bike service that he provides.

Here's one type of search:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/search

Thanks for your input! I've read quite a bit about the Transalp- it does seem to be one of the cheapest and most reliable options.

In the end I decided to pass on the BMW in favor of a TT600RE.

Thanks for your suggestions. I am indeed using wheatwhacker's service; Martin has been very helpful.

I hadn't thought about checking Gumtree (I thought that was a South African site). Didn't have much luck with Ebay unfortunately, maybe I should have checked it out more. Anyway, I found a bike for the trip on Donedeal, so very excited.