You know what... I'm really thinking about doing the way round, instead doing London-Everest, I would do Everest-London.

Get a flight to Mumbai (which is quite cheap from London), buy a Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc there, than, get the road to Everest, and than, come back home riding! I think it will be much more interesting, cheaper (don't need to ship the bike back and an Enfield will be much cheaper, easy to fix and definitely more classic to do such adventure than a Yamaha Tenere!).

What do you think about it folks? Do you know anyone who has done this before?

Cheers mates!

Joas

The great thing about Royal Enfields is that you can easily perform roadside repairs any time any place. The downside is that you have to perform roadside repairs any time any place. I distinctly remember talking to a couple who did something similar to what you're thinking about. They flew to India, bought two Royal Enfields and travelled around Asia. Both bikes lost their mirrors on the first day, they just fell off, and random parts just kept vibrating loose and falling off each day

All joking aside, it's absolutely doable. You should be apt to do bike maintenance yourself because with a Royal Enfield you will have to sooner or later. It will get you back home though, no worries there.

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"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting GERONIMO!"

If you have concerns about the Triumph, get yourself over to the Triumph RAT forum and ask around. I have a Sprint and no experience of the 800, but the word seems to be that modern Triumphs are very reliable indeed.

Tiger - Triumph Forum: Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

never been a fan of beemers, ever ? love the xt had 5 3 months ago bought a tiger 955 with a few glitches but getting them sorted triple motor is bullet proof as with the 800.
just been messing on it really only done 5000 miles in 3 months and it just keeps going, thought i would not make a distance bike but am inclined to think again ?
a few mods first getting the front wheel laced to a 21inch rim, just recieved hagon progressive front springs which will help the front handeling, found a place in stowmarket that will custom build me a rear dialiable shock ( about £300 ) think i am going to give it a go next year fancy London to everest - Nepal - South India ?

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Of All The Places in the World to Get Stuck
Up Youre own Arse has to be the worst

Just gone through this. In the end I bought a Wee-Strom, I need euro capable 2-up and efficient not RTW. If I did need RTW I'd have gone with the Ten. I'd agree with a lot of the comments above, but the big thing that put me off the Triumph in particular was the dealers attitude. There were actually less open to the idea of riding further than Starbucks than a BMW dealer I know from experience are a right bunch of "they all do SSSSSsssir" type idiots. They knew I'd ride the bike and didn't have a 3 month old R1200GS to trade (their showroom was full of those) and just weren't interested. They offered 75% of what Suzuki bought my Bonneville for against a new bike that would have been 50% more. If the too big, too new, too expensive Tiger did break I think you'd be better calling Japan for help than Hinckley and if you had a trade in you'd be glad of the extra petrol money.

The comments on the Bullet made me smile. The frequency of simple fixes in my experience is infrequent. Two clutch cables and a loose wire in two years, actually less time on the hard shoulder than some BMW's I've owned. If you can tune your mind to 30 mph instead of 45 and understand pushrods and carbs, this would IMHO really add to the Everest to London experience.

Andy

I've got a Triumph 955i Tiger. It's 11 years old and has 50,000 miles on it.

I've never had a bike this old with so many miles, in such great condition. The build quality is very good and it just feels quality.

I've never had a more reliable bike and I've had 50 bikes in the last ten years.

If the new Triumphs are built as well as the original Tigers, then I'd be happy to take it RTW.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I've sold the Sprint now, and got a F650GS instead. It was the same 955i engine as yours, although in a slightly different state of tune. It was an awesome motor, useable from city commuting to blasting the autobahns with equal ease. The only issue I had was oil consumption, which I believe is a problem with some of the 955 bikes (not sure about the 1050s). With high-speed use, it was drinking a litre every 1000 miles, less with more moderate use. Although Triumph argue that this is 'within acceptable limits', I would say it was unacceptably high for a modern bike. My XT (30k hard miles, 800 bodging owners before me) uses precisely zero litres between changes, so it can be done.

I would think twice about taking that bike on a RTW trip just on the oil issue, but if yours is a good one (luck of the draw, I think), then I would agree - brilliant motor and excellent overall build quality. Triumph have got it right, pretty much.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Wow.. that is high.. I have read people experiencing this. It tends to be a lottery. The general consensus (aka forum talk), seems to suggest an over gentle running in period and/or the type of oil.

Mine hasn't burnt a drop since I've had it. And I ride it like it should be

I wouldn't take mine RTW either. For a start it's too heavy and top heavy at that. As a road bike and a tourer though, I LOVE IT !!

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I think 'lottery' sums it up. Bike magazine had one on long-term test ( I think a 955 Tiger, but not certain) and thought that modern bikes didn't need the oil checking. They ran it dry and wrecked it, and Triumph weren't too pleased. Bike argued that a modern bike shouldn't use that much oil (and I agree). Triumph responded that a competent owner should check the oil in any case (and I agree with that too). But then Triumph tried to argue that one litre per 1000 miles was an acceptable (and even an 'industry standard') level of consumption. I call BS on that. I have owned a long string of old, knackered, neglected bikes in my time, but I have never had a bike that used oil at that rate.

To be fair, that rate of oil consumption was achieved 2-up on French and German motorways, moderately hot weather, and cruising for the most part between 90 and 110 mph. In normal use, it used about half as much. I posted a query on the Triumph RAT forum (mainly US-based) and got a variety of responses from 'mine uses none at all' to 'mine uses more than yours, but it's a Triumph and that's the price of character'.

If yours is a good one, it's a keeper, as it is possibly the best real-world road-bike motor I have ever had - with the possible exception of Ducati's awesome 992 cc Desmodue V-twin. But 1 cc of oil per mile travelled was a deal-breaker for me. I realised that for the next extended trip I would need to plan for oil supplies as well as everything else, and it would be easier to take the oiltight XT instead

(Funnily enough, it seemed to use less oil, and run better, with semi-synth rather than full synth. Full synth ruined the gearchange.)

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Thanks guys for so many replies! But I finally had my decision, I'm not going to take a BMW 800GS, or the Triumph 800XC, nether the Tenere XTZ660! I am gonna take the Suzuki DRZ400! It's much lighter, only 119kg (dry), almost no electronic apart the starter, easier to fix and find parts and finally, very reliable. That's the right machine!

By the way, any tips for it?

Cheers,

Joas

Wade through the threads in here is one option for information:-
Suzuki Tech - Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB

There's been some recent discussion about the various models sold in different markets; the concensus was that you do not want to buy the enduro "E" model which is too specialised (for which I mean highly tuned with a weak subframe as the main points) for overlanding.

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Dave

I rode one UK-South Africa in 10/11. I know it inside and out.

My website has most of the info on the prep I did.

Touring Ted - look for 'DRZ Prep' on the menu.


The ESSENTIAL things to do are..

Loctite the stator and pick-up bolts.
Fit 'case savers' to the engine cases (cases are cheese)
Change oil every 2-3000 miles and check it OFTEN. It only takes 1900cc.
larger tank. Clark 15L gets you about 200-220 miles. There is a HUGE 28L Safari tank available too but it's expensive.

Apart from that it's a VERY reliable bike. Don't expect anything more than 60-65mph though.

And PACK VERY LIGHT - I can't stress that enough. It's not a touring bike and the suspension and engine won't thank you for dragging the kitchen sink along.


There is a lot of stuff you can do for "uncorking".

Removing the PAIR valve, removing the carb solenoid.
You can also jet and fit a Scorpion exhaust for more BHP.


If you have anymore questions, feel free to PM me



HOWEVER........... If I was doing the trip again, I'd of gone with the XT660Z Tenere. 20,000 miles was just too much on a DRZ400 for my ass. lol

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

First tip is dont kid yourself about the weight. Thats the E model, which you would not really want to take adventuring as it has no subframe, no instruments, lumpier cam, only runs on high octane fuel and is not street legal.

The normal S version of the DRZ is 133 - 134 kgs dry.

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Da ! Emphatically.

And it's weight is HIGH. Rides with less graceful balance than my considerably heavier KTM 950 in the tight, slow stuff.

The FCR carb and the slightly higher compression are a drag for RTW and crap fuel. Especially the FCR in colder times or higher elevations.

The S/SM are much better & easier for your goals, IMHO. And the suspension components on the SM, at least the front forks, are much better.

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Orange, it's the new black.

And that's before you larger tank, radiator guards, screen etc.

But you might end up doing that to any bike.



Still, it's pretty lightweight compared to most.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.