If your heart is really set on a bike, I.E. You have a fetish for Enfields, Urals, Harleys or Vespas, then seriously consider it. But, talking from experience, the further and longer you ride, the less it will be about the bike itself, and the more it will be about going forward. Whatever you choose, yOu will get to know it soon enough, so personally I don't think what you know should be that important. I think you should really ask yourself about he variety of riding you will be doing, and how much. Then, try to find the bike that will make that as easy as possible - have the bike help you do what you want to do, and not have it fight you.

Are you vertically challenged, then your options narrows quickly, making choosing easier.

If you are riding two up, then you would likely be most happy with a bike with plenty of power and comfort for both rider and pillion. The type of offroad riding You would be doing would likely be limited as well. So two up limits your options further.

If you are on a budget, then options are limited even further.

If you plan to ride plenty of gravel, poor roads and some offroad riding, then options are limited even more.

If you plan to ride alone, will try to avoid offroad except for a short excursion on a poor gravel road every now and then, you are rich, and you are tall, then options are allmost endless, but the 1200 GS Adventure would be at the top of many peoples list.

But, it sounds from where you plan to go, and what bikes you are considering, that a offroad capabilities will be part of your choice. And, the smaller and lighter the bike, the happier you will be... If you are considering The KTM and the tenere, I presume height is not an issue.

For the same power, KTM will usually be lighter than most other competitors. BMW is not bad either. But if you for instance compare A F650GS Dakar with the new 660 tenere, the tenere is both weaker and lighter.

The f800gs is a much smoother and comfortable ride than the single sylinder thumper f650gs Dakar, but it is also heavier and have poorer offroad capabilities. But for long stretches of Really fast riding on sealed roads, then you will get sick of the smaller bikes quickly. But, as you pretty much can cross all of central europe in two-three days before you will slow down, then I think other attributes than +110 km/h riding on sealed roads become much more important on long trips.

I have a f650gs Dakar but would consider a lighter 250 to 400cc for an RTW, partially because my wife would ride her own bike, and having the same bikes would be beneficial for many reasons. But, I've done plenty of long trips, even offroad, with 11hp only, and didn't miss much more power, just a little more would be nice though, but not much before I would be satisfied. More importantly would be large wheels, good shocks, ground clearance, and a custom made seat. Long range is not important either I think, just buy a jerry can when you need it and give it away when you don't. With long range tanks, you tend to fill it up when you don't need it, and they are expensive.

Another benefit of the lighter bikes is economy, across the board.. But they are not very manly... Except if you actually ride the Dakar on a 400cc...

But, let me narrow it down for you. Go for a BMW Dakar/Sertao. Range is ok, weight is ok, offroad capability is ok, highway riding is ok, power is ok, service intervals are ok, quality is good, and it is tried and tested - seems like one of the more popular and desired options by RTWers. There is a lot of great after market stuff for it as well. You won't be worried about it being too small, nor too big.

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