decisions decisions

[gibbo996]

Well peeps looking at round world trip next 24 months decisions decisions
what bike well think the BMW GS great bike but to big and lot of weight
for me riding SOLO ! love the KTM adventure its my type of bike

Anyway was looking about £8000 for a used BMW or KTM here in UK !
are parts going to be a problem for KTM world tours ?
Then came along the Yamaha tenere xt and the KLR the jap bikes brand new and half price of a used KTM and BMW look much more nimble and lighter ...

So been riding superbikes last years so now back to the enduro's just looking
at drz400 to get the feel again some green lane fun round the uk !
Well if you have owned any of these bikes on tour please give me your opinion ! thanks for your time cheers .....
Lanco Gibbo

[elnota]

Wow £8000, you are a lucky man.
It's a lot to play with. You can virtually get any bike you can think of for that.
I would save the money for the trip. Spend it on petrol and .

I can recommend this bike, Yamaha XTz 750. Go anywhere, reliable, less weight than the gs or ktm, good on the road,cheap too, you can save some money on the intitial purchase and kit the bike out how you want.
I got mine for £500, trip ready for £950. Even if you spent £2000 on a bike, £6000 will get you a really long way.... I travelled in France, Spain, Marocco, Western Sahara and Mauritainia for 3 months for just under £3000 all-in, including buying the bike.
You could always get the Drz to get back into it, then take it around the world.

let us know what you get...

[sketchybob]

I'm currently scouring the web trying to decide which bike would be best suited to buggering off too.

Shaft-driven bikes appeal to me, for the simple fact that for 3 years all I had was a bike, riding through 3 winters chain/sprocket wear, ever increasing adjustments and cleaning became a pain in the backside.

Having said that though, the Africe Twins look kinda sexy, with a sense of purpose.

When you say the GS is too big, was it the 1150/1200 that you tried, or the 650?

John.

[geoffshing]

Ha ha ha! For £8,000 I'd have to agree with Elnota and buy a cheaper bike and save the rest for either running repairs, longer travels or 'on the piss' during the trip!

Like said before - £2,000 on a reasonable bike or even go to £4,000 and buy some great kit for it in preparation and save the rest. Do you NEED an 8 grand bike? Or just think £8,000 will buy you reliability... cos it won't! An 8 grand bike broken down at the side of the road is 8 grand lump + repair costs. However, a 2 grand bike broken down at the side of the road is only a 2 grand lump but with a pocket filled with 6,000 smiles to help you out! Not such a bad day then really is it!

and on a perso-'anal' note........ I'd go for a Japanese bike XT/XL/DR/etc (I think the 'etc' is a chinese copy, LOL)

Let us know what you do.

[travelHK]

maybe look at what is going your riding style ( more on or off road ) and then pick your bike .

[gibbo996]

Originally Posted by geoffshing

Ha ha ha! For £8,000 I'd have to agree with Elnota and buy a cheaper bike and save the rest for either running repairs, longer travels or 'on the piss' during the trip!

Like said before - £2,000 on a reasonable bike or even go to £4,000 and buy some great kit for it in preparation and save the rest. Do you NEED an 8 grand bike? Or just think £8,000 will buy you reliability... cos it won't! An 8 grand bike broken down at the side of the road is 8 grand lump + repair costs. However, a 2 grand bike broken down at the side of the road is only a 2 grand lump but with a pocket filled with 6,000 smiles to help you out! Not such a bad day then really is it!

and on a perso-'anal' note........ I'd go for a Japanese bike XT/XL/DR/etc (I think the 'etc' is a chinese copy, LOL)

Let us know what you do.

Cheers for the reply looking at a drz400 for some fun over next couple months ! hope to looking at finding more the bike i want by end of summer
i work in the motor trade so will strike some sort of deal !

[gibbo996]

Originally Posted by elnota

Wow £8000, you are a lucky man.
It's a lot to play with. You can virtually get any bike you can think of for that.
I would save the money for the trip. Spend it on petrol and .

I can recommend this bike, Yamaha XTz 750. Go anywhere, reliable, less weight than the gs or ktm, good on the road,cheap too, you can save some money on the intitial purchase and kit the bike out how you want.
I got mine for £500, trip ready for £950. Even if you spent £2000 on a bike, £6000 will get you a really long way.... I travelled in France, Spain, Marocco, Western Sahara and Mauritainia for 3 months for just under £3000 all-in, including buying the bike.
You could always get the Drz to get back into it, then take it around the world.

let us know what you get...

Thanks for advice yes it is alot of money must be getting posh in my old age ! lol

[Ekke]

Keep in mind that the more expensive the bike the more expensive the carnet. Like others above I would suggest a less expensive bike (a BMW F650GS single is light, cheap and reliable) just to keep the carnet price manageable.

[pecha72]

Good point about the carnet price.

And now that we´re already talking about money, can you insure an expensive bike for every country in the world?

If not, then it´s good to have something that you´re financially prepared to lose completely, should you be struck by bad luck.

And even if that didn´t happen, this kind of travel tends to take its toll on vehicles, so a new, shiny bike probably won´t remain that way for long. Not a bad idea to get something that already has a few scratches, so you can get it at a lower price. New scratches on top of the older ones cost less.

[TurboCharger]

All excellent and valid points that I agree with even if I didn't listen to this logic when I bought my ex-demo 1200GS in 2007... still going strong after 2.5 years and 60,000kms although the price tag was high.

I probably would have had a lot more peace-of-mind vis-a-vis insurance and replacement cost with a cheaper bike given that I never hand insurance (and still don't), but my thinking in chosing the bike 3.5years ago that would take me 1/2 way RTW was more like this:

"I want a bike that I feel confident riding in every situation, that is comfortable for long hard rides, that is capable and strong enough to handle 2up riding with luggage and that I enjoy to ride. I am no mechanic and will never be one so I want something that is reliable and easy enough to maintain for a pen-pushing, keyboard-tapping IT Geek."

For me at least I found the GS to inspire riding confidence and a good workhorse.

But XT, KLR, Transalp and Africa Twin are all just as capable. For me the most important thing was to get to know my bike before leaving. Whatever your decision, you are the one that needs to ride with it every day so keep that in mind. The $$$ (or ££££) is the first thing you forget so an extra £1000 for peace-of-mind is more important than any insurance IMHO.

[henryuk]

Originally Posted by TurboCharger

I am no mechanic and will never be one so I want something that is reliable and easy enough to maintain for a pen-pushing, keyboard-tapping IT Geek."

I too am a keyboard tapper and knew nothing about mechanics until I went on a bike trip, needless to say I am fairly proficient with engines etc now so don't let what you don't know put you off.

Africa Twins are a bit on the lardy side for me, as an owner of several big twin adventure bikes I'd say go for a light jap single! My next big trip will be on some sort of ex fast-food delivery bike for comedy value

[Tiffany]

I think everyone has their gut feeling about what bike they want to ride, or what sort of style, so it's very much personal choice.

You mentioned the availability of parts possibly being a factor, if push comes to shove (and it has on occasion with me)and you need parts, there are usually several options, if original parts are not available:

a)sometimes local alternatives are used - I had something out of a Toyota once, and parts from Russian cars fitted on my BMW.

b) you'll find that in the more remote areas, they tend to repair rather than replace, sometimes these repairs won't last a long time but enough to get you to a major city.

c) final resort you can just get the parts sent via DHL to wherever you are in the world.
I got a part sent out to me in Outer Mongolia last year.


Good luck and have a great trip.

[gibbo996]

Originally Posted by Ekke

Keep in mind that the more expensive the bike the more expensive the carnet. Like others above I would suggest a less expensive bike (a BMW F650GS single is light, cheap and reliable) just to keep the carnet price manageable.

Yes was thinking about the carnet great point