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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.
Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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Old 4 Dec 2012
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Home made bike
Hi Guys ,
Not sure what is going on in Europe or the rest of the world but in the US we start to see more and more riders building thier own dual sport bike . My friend John did a great one with a 650 Ninja and after few years and thousand of mile on and off road the beast is still working perfectly. I tried it shortly and was very surprised by it, plenty of power and super light , 80M/H or more all day and parts are cheap too. Other rider are building bike from a KLR and versys hybrid and same thing again , great bike a low cost .
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Old 4 Dec 2012
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Building hybrids certainly was popular, just think of all those mix and match Brits such as Tritons and Tribsa's that used to be put together, but between the insurance companies who won't insure them and insidious type approval laws coming out of Brussels that make it almost impossible, building such bikes is getting more difficult.
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Old 5 Dec 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mark manley View Post
Building hybrids certainly was popular, just think of all those mix and match Brits such as Tritons and Tribsa's that used to be put together, but between the insurance companies who won't insure them and insidious type approval laws coming out of Brussels that make it almost impossible, building such bikes is getting more difficult.
+1

We also get more choice than the Yanks, no percieved market for XT660's etc. in the US, or maybe just manufacturers that want to reduce their exposure to the lawyers. Either way there is less need to do those hard to legalise specials.

Andy
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Old 5 Dec 2012
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don't remind me that we have less choice in bikes , its way too painfull everytime I go to Europe I see so many motorcycles that will never make it to the US , and please don't even try to mention 4X4 diesel I guess fuel is still too cheap here
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Old 5 Dec 2012
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This thread is useless without pictures......!!!!!!
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Old 6 Dec 2012
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Originally Posted by electric_monk View Post
This thread is useless without pictures......!!!!!!
And weights!!
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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Well I guess I have to take back everything I said about special building in Britain, it looks like it is alive and umh, unwell?. Anyway you are in luck as it is on ebay with a day to go, unfortunately it is in Scotland which is a little too far for me but happy bidding and don't all rush.
Project Chopper Bobber unfinished spares | eBay

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Old 7 Dec 2012
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I thought it would be great to build a bike to go RTW on. It was great fun to build, but I am having a few engine issues (didn't build the engine myself though, but am probably to blame for one cyclinder overheating, welding the spark plug in place and eating the rings. Am now stuck in Tehran with no access to cash, no access to parts and have been trying to ship the bike to India for 12 days!!

No regrets though, but that's mainl;y because I am too pig-headed to admit that I am wrong, and BMW make good bikes......

there are some pics at www.aclassicadventure.co.uk - can't upload any from here. If you've been in Iran you know why!
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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Originally Posted by mark manley View Post
Well I guess I have to take back everything I said about special building in Britain, it looks like it is alive and umh, unwell?. Anyway you are in luck as it is on ebay with a day to go, unfortunately it is in Scotland which is a little too far for me but happy bidding and don't all rush.
Project Chopper Bobber unfinished spares | eBay
He could easily auction it in Sotheby's as the first Mad Max motorcycle prototype and make much more cash from a cult-film collector.

Quote:
Originally Posted by henryuk View Post
I thought it would be great to build a bike to go RTW on. It was great fun to build, but I am having a few engine issues (didn't build the engine myself though, but am probably to blame for one cyclinder overheating, welding the spark plug in place and eating the rings. Am now stuck in Tehran with no access to cash, no access to parts and have been trying to ship the bike to India for 12 days!!

No regrets though, but that's mainl;y because I am too pig-headed to admit that I am wrong, and BMW make good bikes......

there are some pics at www.aclassicadventure.co.uk - can't upload any from here. If you've been in Iran you know why!
Go to your Embassy and ask for cash. They'll point you to someone with an account in the UK to whom you can transfer GBP and who will give you Rials in Iran.

It happened to my father-in-law with the Spanish Embassy. Worth mentionning his eccentric case: he said to my wife on Monday "I don't know if I want to spend the money on tiles for the roof or travelling to Iran". "Go to Iran, dad". On Thursday he was flying to Tehran with Turkish Airlines, with no guidebook, no Iranian visa and only 60€ in his wallet (but useless Spanish credit cards too; and no time to ask me anything!). Miraculously he got a visa on arrival at the airport, got to Tehran with other Spaniards who paid the taxi (in the plane: "you don't have a visa, are you kidding me?") and the cheap hotel he got it said they would allow him a later payment. The rest is the Embassy story and a daughter running to transfer cash to the account in Spain.
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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Great looking bike Henry , I love the scrambler type approach as they pretty much cover all that you need for a long trip and are a good bike for rider not confortable with tall bike .Sorry guys but I am not putting any spec on bikes since for some of us" its a worthless post" . To me it is great to see that some riders take a road bike and tranform it to a world tourer for a fraction of the cost of a BMW or other expensive bike , it's sometime good to think outside of the box but it may seems too difficult for others. Originally Posted by electric_monk
This thread is useless without pictures......!!!!!!
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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Originally Posted by HendiKaf View Post
To me it is great to see that some riders take a road bike and tranform it to a world tourer for a fraction of the cost of a BMW
Especially if you can have it with a cardan as well!

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Old 7 Dec 2012
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Thanks Esteban you do make other people no even feel like this site is worth to put something on, there is plenty of site to put junk on, please move along .
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