Hi folks,

I am planning a trip next year to do London to Everest, yeah!!!! Its gona be epic!!! Lots of planning to do!!! Starting with choosing the best bike for such ride. I want a middleweight bike, so, I have 3 bikes on my mind to choose. First, the great New Yamaha Tenere XTZ660, second, the reliable BMW F800GS and third, the new Triumph 800XC.
I tested all of them and I had the following results:
Tenere: A bit too tall for my height (5"4) but we can get a kit to lower it down... anyway, bike looks great, well built, extreme reliable, but the single cilinder vibrates a lot, is quite uncomfortable for long journeys, your hands and arms get completely numb after few miles, this really annoy me, I am not sure if I can get used to it.
BMW F800GS: very confortable, two cilinders make it more smooth, smart, reliable as Tenere, very good looking and lots of good accessories available to built the bike for such journey. I was very pleased testing this bike, my impression was really good.
Triumph 800XC: for me, the winner in confort, power and smoothness, the three cilinders make a big diference, the bike rides like a street bike but it is an adventure bike, the torque, the driving position, everything was superior compared with the two preview bikes. I would pick this one for my trip, BUT... is a Triumph... Its a bike that doesn't sell all over the world like Yamahas and BMWs, mechanics around the world are not familiar with this brand, I rarely see people traveling around the world using Triumphs...

My question here is: even with all this Triumph issues, I really like the bloody 800XC, but, can I rely on this new Triumph generation? What you guys recon? Should I forget the Triumph and choose between the 660XTZ and F800GS or not?

Thanks guys!

J

XT660Z, no question.

1. Cheaper.
2. Simpler - can service with virtually the kit that comes with the bike.
3. Most reliable.
4. Lightest and most rugged.
5. Longest range and largest fuel tank.

DOI - XT660Z owner, bought after extensive research for similar trip and also considered those bikes.

Trumpet - too heavy and too new; Beemer - about as reliable as a DC10 and half as trustworthy.

I love the Tenere and in fact it cruises at 80 mph with on problem; vibes do not bother me. Cruise at 65-70 for best economy, but it will shift if you are in a hurry.

Love it.

I totally agree
I have just bought one for my ride from the UK to Thailand this year and then onto AUZ/NZ 2013, very simple bike, super reliable, had few problems with rectifiers on the 2008 model, and its basically only the cush rubbers that seem to be a bit of a issue with some bikes{riders}. As for vibration i have no problem with the bike since i fitted the hand guards, maybe not as fast as the other two, the speed limit to me is fast enought.
They also seem to keep their price very well.

Eric

Hi, i own and am a big fan of the Tenere but have also considered the other bikes you mention. Offroad the Tenere wins easily and has excellent reliabilty and the big tank with excellent mpg can acheive 300+ mile range (from previous ride reports into that region long tank range is essential).
BMW good road bike but i didn't like it off road, small tank.
Triumph is a bike i have never ridden but for a long road trip with some easy offroad would be a good choice. Andy

I looked at the same bikes recently and I also found the Triumph superior over the other two so I bought .....an Africa Twin, 30% of the price, at least as reliable, probably alot more so, Honda, no complex electronics, is serviced all over the place, 2 cylinders very comfy. Lots of kit available but inessence you don't have to add all kind of expensive kit because it has been designed for the job. The Beemer and Triumph have much less protection in the standard outfitting. Adding kit will be extremely expensive too. The AT maybe not as sexy as the newer bikes but that can be changed too and you will still keep a heap of money in your pocket.

Good a very good one, only 22K km for E4000,-

Cheers,
Noel

I agree 100% with you Noel, and I bought an Africa Twin last year too, 1998, 12k miles, like new! But I realized that it was too big and too heavy for me, I am not a big bloke, just 5"4, 70kg! So, I sold it few months ago... I need a middleweight adventure bike, thats why I am looking for those 3 ones.

cheers,

I'd have to (partially) dispute this.

You can service practically anything on the bike with a very simple toolkit, but it's not the toolkit Yamaha give you - you can't even get the wheels out with it.

Otherwise, entirely agree with you.

Alright smartypants, you need a 23mm spanner and some feeler gauges as well, but otherwise my statement is correct.

That is why I added the word 'virtually' into the sentence.

If your route has any amount of off tarmac in it you would probably be better with a single rather than the multi's. I have no experience of the tenere but by all accounts it is a very capable travel bike and this is the bike I would choose from your list.

Another option would be a bmw Xchallenge. While it doesn't have the same tank range as the tenere as standard, the money you would save on purchase price would allow you to but either an Xtank or the Touratech auxiliary tank and give you cash left over for your trip. You also get a bike with better suspension and fuel economy.

I do like the Enfield idea though.

So why does every thread about X-Challenges I see on forums talk about upgrading the suspension then?

Plus a 14mm hex to remove the front wheel.
Why don't bike manufacturers provide a proper tool kit as standard?

My choice in order of preference would be
1. Tenere
2. F650GS single or Dakar
3. G650GS single or Sertao
4. F650GS twin
5. F800GS
6. 800XC
7.
8.
9. Bullet

If you want to buy a bike in India and ride it home, look at what the locals are buying, Honda Hero and the like. Only about 160cc but as fast as a 500cc Enfield and far more reliable.

__________________
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But we did get the varadero Honda,it's a thousand cc but ive had one for 11yr's and all ive replaced is chains /sprockets one set of fork seal's ,and a fuel lift pump(about $120 aus) so honda all the way for me .I agree the vibing handle bars on some bikes just ruin the ride.Ive owned a lot of yamaha's mostly good ,service seams to depend how good your local shop is.I have mates with triumph's mixed reports some very good some friday arvo bikes ,soon traded.best of luck with your choise,Noel

IMHO that you should stick with your pick of the Triumph. I wouldn't worry too much about the availability of mechanics who might familiar with the specific brand, in developing countries big bikes are usually fairly rare so a person is typically happy to just find a mechanic with any previous exposure to any large foreigner bikes.

Usually most people leave with an attitude of self sufficiency, bolstered with a few critical spare parts, a repair manual, a bag of tools and some basic mechanical skills. Actual mechanical shops or availability of parts enroute are a total bonus.

Some people notice vibration, some don't. You can mitigate with some aftermarket solutions (eg. bar snake, bar ends, etc.) but based on your comments, sounds like it's an issue for you so you may want to avoid singles unless you can find a solution that works for you.

If a Beemer, I´d go look for an good-as-new F650 Dakar. Rock solid stuff if an Africa Twin is oversized for you; excellent mileage, great weight distribution.
Cheers
Chris

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I just picked up my 3rd BMW in 4 years (I put a lot of milage on them), all of them 2nd hand - I like other people to fight BMW to have the illnesses fixed before I get them.

I am not BMW biased, nor any other brand, I have a short list of things I want, and pick the one which gets the most check marks. I was looking at the XT660, and it is very interesting, but the one thing which kept me with BMW was that, I'm 6'3" and 110kg... if I would live closed to interesting parts of the world I would have picked it, but unfortunately I have ~1000-2500km to my favorite vacation places, which means lots of transit.

But I think that all vendors produce lemon bikes, does not matter which brand, they all sometimes produce something which will cause lots of tears, and the only thing one can hope for is that one is close to home when it happens.

Over the years there have been lots of writing about what is the best thing for a RTW trip, and most people disagree on what it is. Only thing I've concluded is that I pick what I want, and live the consequences (and I unfortunately do not have the option to do a RTW). BMW have produced some really excellent bikes like the R80/R100, or Honda with the TransAlp/African Twin, or Yamaha with the XT series. Unfortunately these days bikes are stuffed with electronics, which makes things complicated, and due to the the hunt for HP the vendors have produced bikes with more and more HP (which most people want), instead of providing something which is easy on the fuel, not too heavy, and easy to maintain without having a computer at hand.

I think lots of people where kind of disappointed when Yamaha came out with the 1200... lots of people had hoped for a 800 V2, build in the same way as the XT660 - I for one was one of them...

For any serious travel (meaning very far a way from home) I would choose something like the XT660, or maybe an 2000-2003 Transalp... and leave my F800GS at home...

btw. I had 3 interesting years with a Triumph..... not impressed at all

Casper