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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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Photo by Carl Parker,
Always curious Tibetans,
Tibet, China



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Old 12 Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by martheijnens View Post
Comparing BMW with Japanese bikes (Honda, Yamaha), the BMW is a bit more reliable (...)
Huh? Really? My impression is quite the opposite. You mention the upsides of Japanese bikes for overlanding, namely spare parts availability and responsive dealerships. My impression is that the Jap singles in general seems more reliable than the BMW's too.

NB: I haven't read or seen any test about this issue (I guess it'll be impossible to conduct such tests), so it's just my impression after having had an F650 and currently riding an XTZ, plus reading a bit here and elsewhere.
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Old 12 Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by indu View Post
Huh? Really? My impression is quite the opposite. You mention the upsides of Japanese bikes for overlanding, namely spare parts availability and responsive dealerships. My impression is that the Jap singles in general seems more reliable than the BMW's too.
I agree. And also, my impression is that BMW overall, reach out to riders and help much more than any Japanese company I know of. But I'm new at this, just been riding them 40 years.

I've seen BMW cover older bikes out of the warranty period. *(they need to .... since they tend to have more problems!).

Look, the Japanese have been building small, reliable singles for 40 years. They have raced the WHOLE time. Does this tell you anything? When was the last time BMW won anything?
And how many singles have they built? All I can say, its a good thing Rotax built the F650 engine (early ones). Once BMW took it over, some problems came along, no? Rotax are doing really well, witness Aprilia and the new Buell.

The Japanese always are doing serious R&D and evolve their bikes quietly, based on what they've learned from racing and winning. They don't care about BMW (BMW represent less than 3% of total market share world wide) .... but they live to beat the other clan, uh, company. The Samurai culture lives on!

Patrick
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Old 12 Aug 2008
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I own a F650GS and loved my bike & vowed that I wouldn't replace it for the world. I've spent alot of money getting my bike adv. ready. So when my wife and I committed to do an extended trip, we had to decide, 1 bike or 2 & whether we stick with what I had or try something completely different.
We settled on a DR650 for her, cheap to pick-up, parts & accessories cheap in comparison to a BMW. Easy to maintain as I am not that mechanically minded and I find this bike simple as well. I have been sold on this bike, so much so, we are getting a 2nd one soon. There are many other options similar to the DR.
Imagine how much you could save and add time to your travels!!
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