Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

If you've ever talked to Sam, you will realise hes a very down to earth, humble bloke..

I've read his books and I like them. As far as I know, he never rode a motorcycle before his trips. Nowhere does he proclaim himself a a good rider and I think he was very nervous about the whole thing.

Was using a bike a gimmick !! ? Hmm, I don't think so. Why did any of us start riding ?? Why do any of us use bikes for travel ???

I'm not trying to bait anyone, just making a point.

Anway....

Training IS important but I think experience is worth more than any piece of paper. Training gives you experience and helps you not pick up bad habbits which you usually have to unlearn the hard way !

Casestudy:

I rode with an American girl for 2 months who bought a bike in Chile and pretty much learnt to ride it there. She got her licience in the US about a week before she flew to Chili.

Her riding terrified me and how she made it home alive is a miracle. Me and the other guy I was travelling with had our hearts in our mouths when she overtook long trucks on blind bends, flying over hill crests on her 250 pizza bike at full throttle on the wrong side of the road..That's when she wasnt riding into the back of cars with no brake lights or dissapearing down pot holes. She was a terrible rider and was nearly killed everyday with her terrible riding. We actually had to pull her over and shake some sense into her before we were dealing with road kill.

She is the prime example of PEOPLE NEED EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING before an overland trip. Like MickyD says, many people don't survive the very steep learning curve.

She did eventually listen to us and she made it home alive... She was lucky !!

It IS a free world though (mostly), and people are very free to make their own mind up how they decide to approach things. Theres no point telling someone how to ride, how to train , what to ride etc etc ! The advice is usually water off a ducks back and people almost always end up doing what they originally planned anyway, no matter how daft it may seem to the rest of us with a little more experience.

Back to the XT600..

Like people have said.. It's a reliable "dual purpose" bike. It will do anything and go anywhere but is no master of any ! Cheap, robust, easy to repair and work on and there are loads of gear about for it to make it a very good overlander. It's the VW Beetle of the overland world.

You need to get out there and start sitting on bikes. Get youself to a HU meeting and walk around asking questions and "Trying on" bikes.

Originally Posted by Mickey D

Are you intimating that training is useless ... a waste of time?
Just because a non motorcyclist used a motorcycle as a gimmick to make his writing marketable to make money, doesn't mean it's the best move for a new rider.

Mr. Manicom never rode a bike in his life .... and suddenly he's an expert rider based on his books? How does that work?

Not that riding skills are unobtainable or hard to learn but there are one or two things that can be learned from a course or from an experienced teacher. Who knows .... might save your life!

Manicom survived because he's lucky and made it down the road far enough to learn how to survive. Plenty don't survive. Training and practice merely improve ones odds and better prepare a rider for challenges once out in the wider world.

To extrapolate ... one could say, "why take a test at all? Just go!"

The British tiered licensing system in only valid in the UK. Once out of the country no one cares about your UK license. An Int. DL or passport usually is enough to get you by. I've never once been asked for my DL. Passport, bike papers is mostly what they want to see.

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

Theres also one with 10,000 miles for £1500

Yamaha XT600 2003 px swap delivery xt 600 on eBay (end time 12-Sep-10 17:08:24 BST)

Originally Posted by Warthog

That looks like a lot of bike for that money:
£1500 and change for a snack on the ride home - fantastic!!!

Is there some fairing missing from the front of the tank?

Despite being an advocate of test rides over spec sheets, here are some spec sheets...

2003 Yamaha XT 600 E specifications and pictures

Yamaha MotorBikeSpecs.net Motorcycle Specification Database

A better choice than an XR400 if you value your spine and backside

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

the long , endless stretches of RTA 3 in Argentina. 300 mile stretches of road with no bends, scenery, etc etc !

Originally Posted by Warthog

And every inch spent at about 30 degrees off the vertical.

It's a good thing we had to ride back up that country so that the neck muscles on the other side had a chance to develop too: evened me out a bit.

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

Training IS important but I think experience is worth more than any piece of paper. Training gives you experience and helps you not pick up bad habbits which you usually have to unlearn the hard way !

Originally Posted by Dodger

I have to agree with Mickey D ,I read it as an endorsement to not take training and I thought it was a pretty dumb comment to make to someone starting out .
Or maybe you are Sam Manicom's agent trying to boost sales of the book?:confused1:

Originally Posted by Caminando

Hi Dod, I thought your remarks above were very very mistaken. Plus to talk about "dumb comment" was not the most pleasant thing to say to anyone. You can sicken people from posting if you behave like this. And that's not good.

Your remarks about him being "Sam Manicom's agent" insults not only Sam Manicom, and the HUBB, but the bloke who you already said made "dumb comments".

It's not the right spirit, if you'll take the hint.

Maybe you had an offday or a bad headache, and that happens sometimes.

Good roads anyway!


edited for clarity and brevity

Originally Posted by garmei

You need to RIDE MORE.
Now, to the OP:Some humble advice coming from my 2 years (and 2 bikes) worth of riding experience is that you may not choose the 'right' bike first time round no matter how much research you do. Also, as you develop your riding skills, it is quite likely that you may find yourself being swayed towards a certain style of riding/bike.
For example, I bought a bandit 600 and envisaged myself going on a path towards streetbike riding. After a while I realised I wanted to do some overlanding too, but I really loved the thrill of going fast. After those two years I knew excactly which bike was perfect for me and went out and bought a ktm 950.
When I bought the bandit (which was actually an engagement present...ohhh) I was convinced that I would have this bike forever, but in reality it was never the 'right' bike.
The upshot of all this BS is buy something cheap, readily available and dont set your heart on finding the right bike straight off. Chances are you'll want something different after a few rides anyway.
Good luck