I'm not sure how to contact sailwesterley direct (not enough replies for pm, yet). Anyway, i've been umming and ahhing about the old "non-us buying bike there and selling" conundrum for a few weeks now and decided not to bother as there are too many variables to go wrong there with the legalities and scuppering the trip before it starts. But now it appears people ARE doing it no probs. Main prob seems to me to be the lack of a choice of suitable s/h bikes - dual-sport in general (checked BC and some Calif sites), and that old bugbear of an address. I mailed some dealerships and although they're eager to sell me kit when i press about registering them they never reply back... hmmm. All i want is a DR/KLR-type bike for 3-4000$ (us/can, whatever), that i can register and insure. I suspect this is going to rumble on... confused!

Thinking outside the box, buy a "done up" german Africa Twin (cheap), ride it to the UK, (test ride) Get it serviced. Then export it to the states, as you are currently doing, and sell it over there. They are begging for Africa Twins.

You (or the buyer) will have to pay Tax and import duty... urghh

Otherwise just "wing it": Buy a cheapie on line, and have it sent to the dealer to be serviced, along with a bunch of bits and bobs then sell it when you leave.

(Alternatively, there are some US bikes on the Hubb that are complete you could buy)

Remember, life is an adventure, I comprehensively disagree with the ethos that you should be familiar with the bike before you ride it.

You will never learn/develop.

You have an idea what type of bike you want, some chaps here will give you a better indication: Buy one, learn to ride it there, thats got to be the purpose of an adventure. Sure you will experience hardship, but thats the point.

Ideal vehicle for Nairobi to Cape Town? Well I've done it in a 700cc Suzuki jeep, A '72 Landrover, a defender, a Bedford MJ, and a Rangerover, guess what they all took a beating and the African roads won!

Expert advice on bikes and adventure from a frickin' Jeep guy! Now that's funny! Your Jeep "adventure" might be a bit different to a bike "Adventure". That's OK, just kidding...all advice is good....now can I borrow yer tow rope and a bit of petrol from one of those Jerry cans?
Cold Beer!! You've got Cold Beer in there!! Oh yes, nice Jeep mate!

You could bring an Africa Twin to the US as a tourist (about $1200 to $1500 shipping) you can ride around indefinitley...but if you sell it, the new owner can not register it in the USA...or at least not without a major hassle. Actually, with the latest laws regards EPA, I don't believe there is any way at all to register a foriegn bike in the US. They've pretty much shut the door.

But it's true, the Africa is worth a small fortune in the USA. Like in the 6 to $8000 USD range for a nice one a few years old. Even an old one will bring four to six grand USD. But the Wee Strom has now pretty much supplanted the mythology regards the old Africa Twin...so you better hurry.

A new owner could change ownership to his name keeping a Euro plate. If the buyer were leaving the US, then this would be OK.

The thing you are missing is that it takes some time to get your new title once you buy a US bike. True whether buying new or used, from a dealer or private party.

If you buy it in advance, sight unseen online, the dealer can do the title transfer for you and have your title ready to go when you arrive. You can buy a bike by just showing up and ride away that minute (using temp title or current title in sellers name). Once a new title is applied for it takes (depending on state) from 3 weeks to 6 weeks. Title could be forwarded to you via Fed Ex. You can use temp title for Mexico, no idea about further south. So there are a couple ways to go here. Really not hard to do. Insurance I"m not sure about.

BTW, there are hundreds of great, near perfect dual sport bikes all over the US. Many KLR's are already set up and good to go RTW. Many right here in San Fran Bay Area. Cheap, nearly new dual sports are common. Mostly DR650's, XR650L's and KLR's. Also KTM's, Husqvarna, MZ and more. Craig's List is your best source. It's all I use to find and sell bikes.

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

I don´t think there is an ultimate choice. It very much depends of what you plan to do, and even so maybe it will be ok for tarmac and not so good for trail and vice versa! I can only talk about my experience.
I started my trip over 2 montsh ago now, on a BMW F650GS.
FOr south america you do not need a 650 engine. Most speed you can do in average will be 50mph if lucky! On tarmac the bike is great. The problem comes off-road. The bike, fully loaded with alu panniers is way too heavy for me, and too tall too which does not help. Every time I have to stop fast on trails, I will put my food down, find no ground, the bike will wobble, and I´ll drop it.

I should have gone for a small 250 or 350 traily bike like a honda serow! I regret my choice. WIth Bolivia looming round the corner I fear I will destroy bike, panniers and frame before I even reach the Salar! And no I don´t carry loads of luggage. Total weight of luggages is 30 kilos which in my opinion, with spares, tools and camping gear, is not too bad.
Ah and don´t even get me started on repairing such big bikes in countries were they only got max 250cc jap bikes!

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Ahhh Maria, but will people listen? Can I use this as a quote to all the people agonising over a GS1200 or 990 KTM or........? A small bike will go ANYwhere a big bike will go, but a big bike can't go where a small bike can. And that can include up the steps into your guesthouse front door. I think there is a bit of people choosing with their ego and not their heads in there as well.
And how many people would have said that your GS650 was a small bike back home before you left? I have heard lots of good things about the Kawasaki Super Sherpa too, if you can get a bigger fuel tank I think it has a great future as a travellers bike
2003 Kawasaki KL250-G7 Super Sherpa specifications and pictures

Kind regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Sorry to hear that Maria, I have just got shut of my f650 for that exact
same reason. My advice would be sell it -- buy a cheaper smaller bike
and spend the rest that's left over on treats for yourself

Maria,
Save the day - get the saddle sculpted and reduced in height as much as you can bare and see if you can get a bit of height added to the soles/heels of whatever boots you use to ride.
Then slide forward and off the seat to whichever side of the bike you expect to put your foot down (I guess you know all this already but it is never too late even if you have been out there for two months).
After that, keep hanging on to those bars and "wrestling" with the balance of the bike - don't ever give up on it (until it is really decked)!!

That will be a Yam Serow BTW

Good luck,

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Dave

and eating while riding can't be helping matters

Very well spotted scrubs!!!

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Dave

That's a very brave admission Maria. So I guess Lois has it right?

Small bikes is what I'm constantly preaching to macho guys for riding off road. I've seen plenty of tough guys come into dirt riding, think they need big power...they buy a 650 to start, and in a year after lots of tears, crashes and injuries, they sell if off and never come back to a dirt bike. Shame. Doesn't have to be that way.

Listen, since you're down there and changing bikes is probably NOT in the cards....why not let's all figure out how to make your bike better for you.

First off....you're partner's gonna have to step up and take on some of your load...or maybe ditch the hair dryer and liter bottle of your fav shampoo!?

To me, 30 kgs. is quite a bit. I would have a hard look at your gear. Are you really camping all that much?

OR...have you thought of selling off your Alu hard bags/racks and going to soft bags? That would lose about 10kgs. 10kgs. is HUGE.

But the main thing that I would look at is lowering the bike. Like one inch at least, maybe a bit more depending on how tall (or short?) you are.

Dog Bones
The rear link "Dog Bones" can be shortened (I think...or is it lengthened?)
anyway...whichever.This should allow you to lower the rear end by an inch or more easily. Yes, you will have a bit less ground clearance but unless you are riding aggressively off road, you will never miss it.

You need to keep the bike balanced...so that means the front has to come down an equal (or near equal) amount too. Do this by simply raising the fork tubes up in the triple clamps by about one inch. Easy to do: loosen triple clamp bolts, raise tubes equally left and right. Do not over tighten bolts on Triples.

You can also back off spring preload a bit. Don't go too far. If you soften preload too much the bike will wallow around at speed on the highway. But by backing off the preload (rear is most important) when you sit on the bike it will "sag" (technical term) down more....so you're feet will touch down sooner.

Yet another thing you can do is to have someone skilled modify your seat. Pleny of talented upolstry shops.Scrape off some foam at the front and on the sides. Many times seats splay your legs outward because they are too wide in the front, making it harder to reach the ground. So make the seat not only LOWER but narrower. Mostly in front/middle of seat.

NOTE: anytime you come to a stop, you need to scoot your butt up forward as far as possible. This will allow getting your feet down on uneven surfaces with less drama. Also, pick your spot to stop. Always use your LEFT foot to reach the ground....right foot on brake. So find a curb, ridge, high spot,
berm, rock, what ever to perch on. Get it? I've done this my whole life because I'm a shrimp...and I've adapted...so can you. Another important trick is to get over to one side (left) and scoot your left butt check off the seat to allow your leg more reach. YOu probably use this one already. Works great,
looks funny!

That's about all you can do when on the road. Any machinist worth a crap can MAKE new Dog bone links for you. Use the old ones as a model and find out about what length you need to make them. When you see them you will see how simple they are.

Figure out correct length by removing the dog bones from the linkage and move rear of bike up and down and mearsure to know what you need. Much easier than it sounds. Any City or large town could have a good machinist.

Once the bike is lower your life off road will change.

Remember Patrick's first rules of riding in the dirt:

1.Where you look is everything. Never look a meter in front of you...look way out down the trail/road about 10 or 15 meters. If you focus on that evil rut right in front of you...you will drive into it and crash...guaranteed.

A. Learn to read terrain and anticipate, pick the best line. What's under you now is secondary to what's coming up. You will amazed the difference this will make in your riding...but you have to continually remind yourself to look far ahead. Never look at ruts, you will crash.

2. Breath. Many riders when in stressful off road riding simply hold their breath. Totally unconcious. Leads to arm pump and exhaustion.

3. Stand up. You almost always need to be standing. Get used to it. You will ride better, have better vision and make the tough stuff easier. Relax your grip on the bars.

4. Keep your speed up. Going too slowly, especially in rocks is recipe for disaster. A bit of speed will see you through. Work up to this. Always push for more speed. It will make you better, safer and stronger. The throttle is your friend.

Good luck, I hope things can be improved !

Patrick

Old man Rodney on his KTM 950S in Utah. Former professional Flat Track racer, Master's Class Cross Country Champ. (66 years of age)

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

My experience tells me that seat height is a far more important factor than the weight of a bike in terms of ease of handling and confidence. The ability to get both feet solidly flat on the ground does wonders when coping with all kinds of mundane and not so benign situations including slow speed urban complications. Try backing a bike, especially a heavily loaded one, up even a slight incline if you're on tip toes. You may well need someone behind you pulling.

I recall that the LWR cameraman (out of necessity) switched to a Russian 250 at one point. The two stars of the show continued their tortured struggles through the muck on their GS Adventures while the cameraman merrily sailed along. His explanation, I believe, was that he just put his feet down and padded along...no problem.

In my opinion a feet on the ground seat height combined with a low overall centre of gravity are much to be desired as design elements and will compensate nicely for a multitude of weighty sins.

Norm

Buy the KLR - reliable, easy to fix, loads of parts from Cananda to Argentina.
It does not not win any beauty contest that's for sure.

Buy it in the USA - you can buy one the same afternoon you arrive from the
UK, it real is that easy!

It seems totally wrong to me to have offroad bikes with seat heights so tall the rider has difficulty to reach the ground. To have a bike so heavy you cant pick it up. To have a bike that for practically any breakdown you need to phone for a tow truck back to the main dealers for repair.
All the old Brit bikes had low seats, low centre of gravity and were practical transport. They also handled well. They suited their environment of the time.
Nowadays bikes are consumer 'white goods' they are meant to be thrown away when they fail, you wont find many working vintage post 1990 bikes when they are that old, they will have been recycled into coke cans.
Why the change ? Mainly marketing hype, and it is the riders who pay.
EFI and engine management is done mostly for marketing, as is the huge horse power that these technologies allow. Seriously, how fast can you ride legally? In the UK there are so many cameras about that you wont keep your licence long if you habitually exceed 80mph. That takes less than 25hp.
I note with interest that Ted Simon fixed his Triumph when he broke a piston in Egypt and carried on to South Africa to get it repaired in a dealers. Yet the LWR team had to abandon one of their BMWs (despite having factory trained technicians witha van load of spares) for brake fault. So a broken piston on an old Triumph is less hassle than an electrical fault on a BMW. And most other 'modern, never go wrong, but scrap it if it does' bike. Do not give me the argumentthat they need EFI for emission control, it simply is not so. EFI is needed where you want to extract maximum power, but that is not 'needed' for touring. Enfields new lean burn engine meets and exceed the Indian (most strict) EEU and USA regulations, so if they can do it I am sure the Germans and Japanese could figure out how also. Maybe atthe same time improve their mpg to something like teh Enfields 75-100mpg. no need for 43 liter tank then.
Look at BMW. When they went from Carbs to EFI the power jumped up from 60 to 100+bhp. The mpg if anything dropped. But who really needs more than 60hp for touring. Of course if you into a competitive sport where you need all thh power you can get, then EFI is the answer, but having to pay many £100's for a black box instead of £2.50 for set of points is a charge too high in my opinion.
The high seat heights are mostly a result of the switch to wet sump engines (cheaper to manufacture) which allows the manufacturers to put all the works (engine, gears and clutch into one casting ) cheaper to manufacture, it also totally negates ALL the improvements brought about by modern oils, as the engine contaminates the gear oil and the gears chew up the engine oil. (shared same oil). This is why cars get 10k miles out of engine oils, and more than double that out of gear oil. Basically we are being sold a lie. So whats new? Perhaps saddam hid all his weapons of mass deception in all those little black boxes for which we have paid so dearly?

but, thats normal if we wan·t to believe that, we live in a "democratic world" !
Hear - Hear - Oldbmw ,( remember the lovely big ice creams of the past? Look at the ones our kids are "begging" for now)?---- (even if we should have different ideas about the : WHY?
Rights of the sources of production for the labourors/users. (for everybody actually but not like now,--- in equal proportions, or something intellectualy sensible , and Not like bloody now, where some make a 50.000.000 dollar a year wage for executing their pleasant hobby, or 100·s of times more, destroying the lives of millions of Youths/ blacks/ muslims,or blue eyed people (Nice persons) )! Or do we prefer to choose the "Opium for the people" (sheep) share, that makes Beckhams,O·neals, or even Arm/ drug dealers (not to be compared MORALLY with sport idols,( cause they just can·t help it)(cheap laughs),on a big scale) to be our heroes/ models to be imitated:confused1:. Take your hat off boy; this is a powerfull and rich man!!!!
Thats the way our societies work or is·nt it????
Global, powerfull movement is needed, even if these do not lead to any moves,exeededly great for the better, remember The Beatles: it·s getting better all the ti-i-ime,---- it could·nt get much worse!
THAT IS WHY I believe that "love and peace" and the good old Hippie days were a little closer to "a good idea".... it could·nt/can·t get much worse!?
Or what do You guys think?
PS: Please do Yourselves a favour and STOP looking for these things, the existence of which, " powerfull people" continuesly try to convince us, with little drawings on a piece of paper !!!!! (my son of 3 years of age started to believe that there were tiny people in those trucks)!
Love and peace,
Dan

G·day again.
Sorry for being
Well to tell the truth, I do·nt think there is any topic more ON topic? :confused1:
Whatever You say "guvnor".
Dan