After listening to your opinions I’ve narrowed my options to Yamaha Tenere/XT and Suzuky DR 650 SE and this one ( a KTM LC4 400 Military). ( DRZ is to high and not suited for a pillion; KLR to heavy; BMW as well, etc). Klaus, DLbiten, Walkabout, I didn’t take into account other bikes like Twins since they are heavier and/or not that suited for offroad use. The TDM is dam heavy offroad. Mollydog, I’ve decided to go as new as possible on the budget so just the XT remained (DR SE's and Tenere's are not produced for quite a while). I could have gotten XTs from 2002, 2003 but a lot more millage for the same money, but I preferred a lighter though reinforced LC4 2004 with low millage and full service history KTM after chatting a bit with PeerG.

Thanks to PeerG for his recommendation in the KTM tech and for the PM help (my bike comes from the same dealer as his; the person I bought it from bought it from the dealer a couple of months ago, he actually bought two, the second one for his wife but she didn’t like riding on separate bikes so they went back both to his Harley.. I assume it’s quite a difference; I bought it from him and not for the dealer because I could get it cheaper; he is selling the second one as well.. so if you are interested drop me a line and I’ll forward you his phone number; he doesn’t speak English).

It’s a tough bike (at least from the specs), a bit underpowered but very well equipped and light for what it has.

Here are the specifications, quoted from PeerG’s thread:
“-------------------------
398cc, 34 hp (detuned for robustness)
158 kg dry (without panniers and topcase)
130 km/h max – limiter
low seat height
main and side stand
kick and electric starter
large battery (from the KTM 950 Adventure)
easily adjustable rear spring
reinforced frame (max total weight 380 kg)
18 liter tank
uses 91 octane petrol, but can be switched to 80 octane
engine protection
handguards
heated grips
12V power socket
KTM tank bag
Hepco & Becker panniers and top case and super strong frame for these
battery charger
extensive manual (explains all the service work)
set of tools (I think all that's needed for the service)
small wind shield
----------------------------“

Kentfallen, the bike is Ex-Army. It’s written on it’s book that it’s the military version and these are the bikes that the Dutch and German armies have chosen (after testing them against F650GS). The bike has been serviced properly and has a service book. The handler that sells them has some trash as well.

So I’ve won the action and spoken with an import firma that will take it from Germany and bring it to Romania (I’m from Romania myself, just living in Norway) and register it there since I won’t have to pay any import taxes or VAT (being in EU now), just around 100 Euros for the identification, inspection, registration and numbers . This will make a HUGE difference in the budget (compared with the prohibitive Norwegian taxes). The import guys will also get spare chains, sprokets, filters, tyres, cables so I’ll be fine with that at good prices. These things will come with the bike. The transport is 500 Euros.

And...excellent news. I’ll have 1 week off at the end of march. Just about enough to service, work and get the bike ready for the trip.

The pillion will come with me on asphalt and not for loads of kilometers so I believe we’ll do fine enough with this bike till Istanbul (where we will part). Alibaba, I’m used with German speed limits, Turkish traffic, South American maneuvers, and less with Norwegian ones (I've never else seen such calm traffic), so I guess we’ll be safe enough in Europe.

Henryuk, I’ll use road tires till Almaty and ship offroad ones there. Thanks for the hint.

After almost everybody’s advice, I’ve decided that I’ll use soft luggage. Ortlieb waterproof luggage will cost me around 100-120 euros (including the rollbag, secondhand on e-bay) or even a lower price if I catch some other brand in good condition and waterproof. I was under the impression that for such a long trip they won’t be suited (since I’ve only seen people doing RTW with hard luggage in my limited research) but I’m glad that several people mentioned it as a real option. I’ll go for it!

Thanks again for your suggestions on keeping it low and for confirming that it’s possible to do such a trip with little luggage.

I’ll take the tent, sleeping bag and mat (they weight 5kg all together and I think it’s well worthed to carry this amount and to have a guaranteed roof wherever you might stop; they are included in the weight calculation under). I have no problems with sleeping in a tent on a rougher surface. I’ve been trekking/climbing and camping a lot.

The point you both brought up with getting a newer bike and the availability of the spear parts is very valid. I’ve looked for spear parts (chain, sprockets, filters) for older bikes and they are definitely harder to find and a bit more expensive than for newer ones. I’m looking now for a 2000+ bike.

There might be some radical changes here but I’m trying to make the best out of the information received from more experienced people.

DLBiten, I think you might be right on the Kolima road thing. It’s the bottleneck of the journey and the main thing that makes me order the bikes by weight and offroad capability. I will consider going to Vladivostok or some other eastern city very seriously actually planning for it. I might be on a much to tight schedule for the Kolima road. So, I’ll see how fast I’ll get to eastern Russia and than decide if I have the time to head up north. I’ll consider this as a bonus for now.

Jens, I’ll leave between 26 and 30 of may, the planed date being 28 of may but I have to allow some flexibility. I have now 5 days off from work of at the end of march. My plans are to buy the bike and import it in the next 3 weeks so that I can work on it in March. Thanks for the invitation. I’ll concentrate on the trip but if everything is sorted out before, I’ll give it a try. I might leave from Romania and not Norway (I’m from Romania myself, just live in Norway) so than I won’t be able to make it to the reunion.

About the weight of the luggage. I’ve made some more exact calculations (down to the weight of the toothpaste) and this is what I came up with: 35kg total permanent extra weight (incl the weight of the bags, 4l of watter and 3kg of food) plus 21kg (weight of the 2 full plastic gasoline canisters when in use) sometimes. For most of the time, just one will be full, I’ll only use the second one in the far east and Alaska (and maybe not even there if I see the fuel consumption is very reasonable; the 18l tank is quite big).

Now my problem comes. What do I do with the 2x10l canisters with gasoline? I’m thinking of attaching them somehow to the tank-rucksack and caring them each at one side of the tank. Otherwise, I’ll have to make some sort of net system to attach them to the back of the sidecovers. It would have been easier to strap them on the back of Aluminium panniers but how do I do it with the soft ones? The canisters will be plastic so I’m even thinking at termically deforming them, closer to the shape of the tank. Anybody has any idea? A photo of a successful attempt maybe?

Another solution would be to keep the racking system (probably around 2kg of extra weight) and attach the soft luggage to it and the gasoline canisters at the front or back of the side racking system. They will be easy to attach to the rack with a rope or net.

Can anybody recommend some tank panniers? I couldn’t find any on the web.
Can someone recommend a cheaper helmet? I could get an Airoh for 160 Euros (louis.de) but the Arai is about 270Euros if I buy it directly from Japan and they are supposed to be the best.

And today I was lucky enough to get a set of MEFO explorer tires. I've seen reports of them going as far as 17.000 miles. Anybody has used them? How much have you got out of them and in what conditions?

For my sake you can drive whatever you like, we all have different priorities.

Congratulations with the bike and good luck!

Some of the bikes are also used as escort vehicles for convoys. These don't go offroad and are therefore in pristine condition. Mine is the same, no scratches!
Congratulations again!

Hi,
Just joined up on this site and at present sizing up bikes for a trip from SE asia to Europe. This is a really interesting bike amd would appreciate any further info ..in English if possible on this bike
cheers

Just my comments – haven't read all the replies yet but can answer some questions…

RE panniers I would go with side boxes to keep the weight low – much better. Weight high up and behind you seriously affects 9at least my) off road riding – panniers and extra fuel below the fuel tank don’t bother me.

Re the extra tyre I would break your choices up into 2 camps either multi purpose tyres which will fit 17/18/19/21 e.g. the tkc 80's or Pirelli mt21's which will last a long way (many '000 miles) or enduro tyres which will only fit 18 and 21 wheels and last maybe 500 maybe 1000 miles on road at best – obviously excellent for mud though but the limited range may mean you have to carry them as a spare set – I think this is what Mondo Enduro did to cross the Darien gap though personally I would not want to carry spare tyres!

For long didtsnce stuff re punctures I would prefer tubeless tyres due to less chance of punctures, pressure can be lowered more safely off road for better off road performance. I would bring one spare lightweight (not heavy duty) innertube in case the tyre cannot be repaired for a puncture – a 21 front will work in an 18 or if your tyres are 19/17 the 19 will work in the 17. (and probably vice versa)

Re bike – don't forget the Aprilia Pegaso which is v.similar to the BMW 650 but significantly cheaper – a good condition 97-99 model could be had for less than £1000 and won't de-value much with the mileage you may put on (as it was cheap to start with)

Some BMW 650's get exceptional fuel consumption upto 90mpg so this could save a lot of cash and extend fuel ranges significantly – do a bit of research on BMW sites but 70mpg seems an average for 2004 on fuel injected bikes while most others in your list will probably get 50ish (other people correct me if you know more here) with the possible exception of the DR350 which because of the small engine may get 60 or 80mpg. (treated gently) also the DR350 is probably one of the most robust bikes in your list as long as it is treated well – they are all old now. I wouldn't worry about it breaking. What about it's replacement the DRZ400 – a very nice bike light, torquey exceptional off road the only question is could it cruise OK at motorway speeds and you would have to make a screen yourself.

RE carrying extra fuel – yes fuel cans carried below the panniers (or behind them) or below the tank would keep weight low – better than the extra weight in the tank and cheap. Check ground clearance if mounting them below the panniers though.

Helmet don’t forget the Airoh version of Arai's tour X helmet – it's about £100 so £200 cheaper than the Arai and I found it to be good though the shell is plastic and there's some whistling of wind through the peak at 70mph+ I don’t know how the Arai compares.

Luggage – as mentioned soft luggage is cheap and takes falls better but if I had the cash would now probably go with lockable alloy ones – that way you can park the bike up or leave most of your stuff on the bike of you go into a hotel/bnb and not work about it. With soft luggage you either have to stay with the bike or carry everything everywhere which is a real pain.

Sounds like a wild trip. If you make it thru Montana USA home of Glacier and Yellowstone park let me know, I have mechanical, shipping and a place to stay for world travelers. Here are some sources for KTM parts in USA. West Fargo, North Dakota – Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Trikes, KTM, Kymco, Motor Trike, Triumph, Dealer, Sales KTM Parts, KTM Accessories, KTM Motorcycles, KTM Gear KTM Parts Search My advice for making a fast trip is to have some sort of water/camelback water supply for the heat and electricaly heated garmets for the cold. Check with Mollydog for electric underwear info.

How Did It Gooo Man??? Did You Do It All???? !!!

I'd be willing to bet he never made it out of Europe on that KTM 400 before something shut him down. Bad choice for long distance touring bike, IMHO.
KTM have way too many issues, things come out of no where to ruin your ride. Revving that thing on fast Euro roads will eat it up in no time.

If the ride was ALL off road, like trails, then fine, KTM would be good. But he is going mostly on roads, at least until Russia. It won't make Russia.

I'm sure that is why no further word from OP.

I'll be damned, sounds like the OP, Maguest, did do it after all - see post #45 in this thread and this site a trip to the moon

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My SmugMug

Damn! That's pretty impressive. But Mapquest claims doing 1000 Kms. a day across Canada (on average). In real money that's 650 miles a day.
On a 400cc KTM! Uh Huh. Tell me some more BS!

For 4000 miles? That's six days, at 650 miles per day. Uh huh, sure.

If this is true then this guy oughta be in winning the Iron Butt for his class of bike.

Having actually done 650 miles a day, for four or five days straight, I have personal experience with it. No, I wasn't riding a 400, but I've ridden several other 400's in dirt and on street.

This guy must be Superman is about all I can say. Doing 650 miles a day he would have to be averaging about 80 mph (probably that is over the top speed of the bike) unless he rode all night ... out there with the hundreds Moose, Deer, Elk, Skunks and God knows what else. If he went that fast, he must have got a lot of tickets. Canada is loaded with Fu-ck-nut RCMP with radar. You cannot go fast in Canada, and that is that is the bottom line. (don't ask how I know! suffice to say it was costly)

So, for me, this brings the whole event into question in terms of veracity.
If this part is BS, then it's possible the whole thing is BS. (??) I'd love to read a ride report .... with lots of photos of course.

Curiously enough, he didnt do the Road of Bones though, that he kept saying he needed the bike for in the planning stages. Just straight across the Trans Siberian Highway. Maybe he was worried about the reliability of the bike after all?

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Hey Walter

Recently read the fantastic BAM Road RR you did on ADVrider - that was a truly EPIC trip you, Tony and Terry accomplished . Am just starting on the Road of Bones RR and expect it will be no less epic than BAM. I also plan on reading your Tokyo to London Project that you and your mate James did on 400cc Transalps. As a Transalp (600cc) owner myself, I look forward to seeing how it's little brothers did! Did you write a book on TLP?

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My SmugMug

The KLR 652 can suffer from speed wobbles and shimmying front wheel. That has put me off them for life.

The F 650 GS Dakar has a first gear ratio that is too high. It means even in road traffic conditions ; especially noticed when I wasin slow moving Spanish traffic in town centres, on always has to feather and slip the clutch. It becomes awkward. That must be a real problem off road.

I spoke to another BMW rider; but the 800cc version. He said it was the same (a lot of feathering the clutch in slow traffic).


Even though the Dakar is heavy; it still "catches" air. When you can get it too around 160kmph/100mph it can feel very light at the front from time to time; that makes take a deep breath once in a while. I never seemed to have that problem on the KLR 652. However by then I was worried about speed wobble; that was my priority! the speed wobble and front wheel shimmying on the KLR could get so bad ; it was clearly visible by friends following in a car behind me.

However going back to the F650 GS Dakar, it is the only bike,that I have ever ridden; where I can ride it all day long; and still stand up and feel good at the end with no aches. So thats a bike thumbs up.

I have had both of those bikes. I have not had or ridden any of the others you list.