Ok, though I like to consider myself as a rather experienced biker I have now a big problem in choosing what bike for my further travels. I will give you a small history so you understand a bit more why this question is asked for the millionth of time here again...

Until last year I had a 1200GS Adv. I LOVED the bike, did 50k on it but since we moved closer to work (=6km) I go with the bicycle everyday... so I had a mighty GSA standing doing nothing in the garage and sold it.

My wife SAID she wanted to come along on my trips, so we bought two DRZ400, prepped and modded a lot and now we are 2 months on our way around Europe and she wants to go home as "it is nothing for me doing this stuff"...

We agreed that I can do my RTW trip(s) alone from now on.

But since I will be traveling alone, I can do it on the bike I want...
Which gives me the problem of choosing between the Suzuki DRZ400 the mighty GSA or a Ténéré 660.

My pro's and con's at this time:

DRZ400:
PRO's: I own it, small, light, versatile, I can do whatever I want with it, I know the mechanics and can repair it myself.
CON's: It gives me a really hard time on my ass!!! I already changed the seat and I have a sheepskin and still hurts like hell after 150 to 200km. And the lack of power on the road; I find it impossible to travel big distances a day 'to get somewhere'.

GSA:
PRO's: had the bike, loved it in every way, luggage system is great, ride is great, comfort is great...
CON's: Heavy! and Expensive, as I don't have one anymore, need to buy one just for traveling purposes.
Did a BMW offroad course with it, so yes I can pick it up by myself and I can drive it offroad... but not as swiftly of course as the DRZ.

TENERE:
I don't have one, never been on one, but I hear so many good things about it that I consider one. I think it's a inbetweener of the DRZ and the GSA.

So, what are you guys thinking? Please no 'hate' responses about these bikes, I am seriously in a conflict with myself on choices.

I am planning on doing Africa and Eurasia with the bike in the coming two years, so yes, long distance driving in some comfort is a must. I know that for pure offroad the DRZ will be king, but question is, am I really going to do every bit of the journey offroad...? Ihonestly don't like the DRZ for on the road... the last thousands of km I've been thinking only one thing: wish I hadn't sold my GSA and was here with the GS. But then the tenere is half the price of the GSA... aaaaaaargh.... advice please!

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In recent years I've owned a 1200GS (85,000km) , then a 1200GSA (90,000 km). I currently have a F650GS twin and a Tenere. The F650GS (and therefore F800GS) are wonderful for higher-speed touring, have excellent fuel economy, and are OK on the rougher stuff, but my travelling bike of choice is the Tenere (40,000 km so far).

Top gear is quite high and you can cruise *all day* at 120-125kph (GPS speed). There's less vibration than on the BMW F twins. Off road is very confidence inspiring. The main criticism I have is that the engine is not tractable. BMW's 650 single will pull from below 2000 rpm, but the Tenere shakes and shudders if you try to pull from below 3000 rpm, so you need to keep an eye on the revs. Typical fuel consumption when cruising slowly is 23km/litre, so with a 23 litre tank you have a range of around 500km.

Probably the best 'out of the box' bike for adventure touring.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Don´t mean to confuse you more, but if you loved your GSA, but think it´s too heavy and expensive, I think you have good choices between it and the 660 Tenere in the middleweight twin class. Won´t get nowhere near the Tenere, nevermind the DR-Z off-road, but still more capable in that environment than streetbikes. Naturally they are built from much cheaper components than a GSA, that for some is a downside, but price difference is also huge. And if you appreciate space, comfort on bigger roads, and ability to carry lots of stuff, they´ll be much closer to the GSA than any 1-cylinder bike. Some of them can offer a range of 400-500 kms on stock tank.

Expensive / inexpensive is also a good point in the context of RTW-trips. Your bike itself will likely be uninsured in many faraway countries, because your domestic insurance companies simply do not offer any policies, that are valid outside the Green Card-countries. Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and possibly South Africa could be the exceptions (can be costly to get comprehensive cover, though). Elsewhere be prepared to lose the bike completely, with no compensation, if something happens to it. How expensive a bike can you stand to lose completely depends first and foremost on how well off you are financially, of course. But I think that is something to think about.

DNA Stage 2 Filter kit (~£80) and MTC single can system (~£180), plus a Power Commander (more expensive, but I bought mine second hand for £120). You could probably get some of the benefit of the PCV with a £10 variable resistor (look for "Kev fuel mod" on XT660.com).

I was stunned how much of a difference this made to the bottom end - at least 1000rpm more usable range.

Ok, so you're not talking an "out of the box" bike any more, but it's not a massively expensive set of mods, and there are other benefits (cleanable air filter, rather than the stock disposable one, and a decent weight saving over the stock exhaust).

Potentially complicates your luggage arrangements if you want to use soft panniers, as the can runs quite a bit hotter than stock. Ways of getting around this though, and some benefits - I've made a new undertray for mine which turns the space occupied by the stock exhaust into storage space. I've also got some plans for utilising the space on the right hand side of the bike which is no longer occupied by silencer.

I've never had a "big"/multi-cylinder bike of this sort, but I struggle to see why you'd need one riding solo. The Tenere will go all day at "Western Europe main road" speeds, and I'd have thought that would be as fast as you're ever likely to go on a RTW trip.

I have had a DR-Z though. Don't think I ever rode it more than about 20 miles without standing up on the pegs. Even if you did something about the horrible seat, it's still a much 'harsher' ride than the bigger single.

I have a DNA stage 2 filter, have decatted the exhaust and have the Kev mod. These help a bit but the engine is nowhere near as tractable as the F650 single.

The other problem with the Tenere in very hot weather (e.g. Africa) is that your left leg gets broiled by the twin exhaust pipes, so some additional heat protection would go down well.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Change the sprokets...15-47 makes a world of difference including the power commander and dropping the 4kg CAT, Have to agree the Tenere is the best all round RTW adventure out there!

Was there much involved in de catting the exhaust Tim?
Am thinking of doing the same as I can't afford a single can.
Thanks

I was stuck for several days in Ouarzazate with suspected tendonitus, so I stripped down the back end and unhooked the exhaust. Full story and pictures here.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Well, after a looooong day of discussions and phonecalls I will go back to my "first and only love" the GSA.

The reason being that my wife still wants do to smaller trips (up to two weeks) and then it will be 2up on the bike. In that case the ténéré scores less than the GSA and she was always happy on the back of the GSA. She doesn't want to drive herself anymore, that's being the biggest problem.

Another thing is that my BMW dealer just got a 2nd hand GSA full option in with only 20k on it and I can get it for a really good price. 2nd hand ténéré's are almost non-existent here in Belgium so it would be a new one and then the €€€ is almost the same as the 2nd hand Beemer...

@ Pekka: keep me in the loop then for next years GS meeting in Finland that you organise, I might just come by this time with a GSA...

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I have a 1991 3AJ Tenere and although I love the bike very much and have become very attached to it, it does have a number of problems when it comes to travelling. In no particular order:

No centre stand. I have a lift stick and can balance the bike on top of one of my panniers but I'm really not looking forwards to the day I have to take the front wheel off at the side of the road.

The front end flexes very badly when carrying a heavy load. It handles very well with just me on the bike but when I strap all my luggage on it's another kettle of fish. I'm wondering whether a fork brace would improve matters.

5th gear pitting. I have just over 50K km on the bike and my 5th is already badly pitted. David Lambeth can sort this out.

Starter clutch. Difficult to find spare parts and the drive gear is now a discontinued part. Fit a kickstart before you set off.

Some routine maintenance tasks are a nuisance. You have to remove the seat and side panel in order to check the oil level.

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I have sometimes complained when people just have narrrowed the choice to a brand (BMW), no matter what, and still have tried to justify it.

Now i can only say the opposite: congrats for finding out the right bike for you after a Well thought análysis. Enjoy the bike of your love, the 1200gs, the right tool for you, as Well as trip.

Happy travels,

esteban

@ Esteban: I don't have any involvement with any brand... ;-) I owned Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and BMW. But all things considered I had most fun for me personally riding the GSA. I also had the 800GS, which I didn't like and I have a F800R which is not what I expected, in that area there are better bikes from the Japanese manufacturers!

Basically you can travel with any bike, no? You just need to adapt to the bike of your choice. I thought the DRZ would be my number one, but now, after 12000km in 53 days I can honestly say it is not. At least not for me. I do have a soft spot for the bike and it will be hard to sell it, but I really do miss some other stuff that the bike just doesn't have.

The decision seems maybe 'quick' but I've been wrestling with it since the last 3 weeks or so everyday when riding... the only thought I had almost everyday was "wish I was here with the GSA" and then you just know what is the right bike and which is not.

But I agree with you, people shouldn't buy X or Y because it is from brand X or Y or because other people tell them to! They have to find out for themselves! Did you know that 98% of the GS owners in Belgium only use their GS for commuting everyday??? But then we can deduct buying a motorcycle from our taxes, that's why everybody buys expensive bikes and sell them again after 3 years; so if anyone ever wants to have a good deal, here's the place to be for 2nd hand Beemers...

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Tim, firstly many thanks for sharing your wisdom here and on other sites.

Is the Tenere suitable for a rider who weighs 100kg? I have read a few reviews that say it is under powered.

Depends what you expect it to do. If you want sportsbike acceleration or to do 100mph two-up, then it's underpowered. In all other reasonable circumstances, it's got plenty of power.

Put it this way, although I'm about 15kg lighter than you, I've done thousands of miles on mine loaded up like this...


(trust me, that's more than 15kg worth of luggage)

... then come home and rallied it against people on KTM 690s...



(Also worth noting, there might be 15kg rider weight difference, but we're both sat on top of 200kg bikes (plus any luggage). 285kg vs 300kg is only 5%)

Basically, I don't see why it would be an issue, unless you have unrealistic expectations, in which case any single cylinder is probably not the bike for you.

Thanks Dash - that's reassuring.