Hi all,
I'm looking to buy my 1st adventure bike and ride it from Spain to Morocco.
I have very little if any off road experience and not that mechanically minded, but hey, who cares about that. It's all apart of the adventure...

I'm 6'2" so no concerns about heights, my biggest concern is comfort and reliability and don't want to spend more than around £6000. In my head I'm thinking 50% road and off road use

Any suggestions tips would be massively appreciated

Honda CRF250, manageable, proven reliability and relatively simple.

I didn't consider that, I will check them out...
Up until now I've been torn between the Tiger 800 XC, African Twin and the Yamaha XT 660. To eat up motorways

Thanks Mark

+1.

We have a CRF250L. Will cruise at 90km/h with ease.

Also consider if it's best for a beginner to start on a smaller bike.

+2! As a novice off tarmac you will not regret taking a lighter more manageable trail bike like the CRF (or a KLX250s) Exploring the back roads and trails will be enjoyable and relatively stress free, and the occasional gravel slide-offs won't be exhausting to pick up.


Plus you could buy 2 within that budget!

I'm taking a Crf250l from the UK to Cape Town next year. There are a couple of guys that I know of that have done the same trip on one. I had a GS 800 but I am loving the lightness of the Honda, especially when picking it up! I have done a few trips on it and it will sit on 65 - 70mph all day. I am only 5'8" so can't tell you about the height question, but it will carry me(82kg) and luggage no problem. Oh and it's a Honda so you will need to kill it on purpose to get it to stop

As a rule of thumb a small bike will be better off road while a bigger one will be better on it, so it depends where your priorities lie. There isn't one that does both well or everybody would be riding it. Most "adventure" bikes tend to be bigger capacity which reflects the fact that however adventurous you are, most of your miles on a trip are probably going to be on tarmac. But a lot comes down to personal taste as well.

Things to consider. Can you get spares? An older bike may be cheaper and simpler to fix but will it also be more likely to break down? What's the seat going to feel like after 4 hours in it? What's your tank range and will it be enough for anticipated between-fuel stops?

There are no totally wrong choices but IMHO I'd say avoid anything too competition based, it may be a bit fragile and uncomfortable. Also avoid anything too big, heavy and unaccountably popular (do you REALLY need the biggest, latest GS?), you're gonna have to pick it up alone in sand a long way from anywhere sooner or later.

FWIW (and YMMV) my choice was the KTM 790 Adventure. Designed as an adventure bike, lightest in its class, 60+ mpg and a tank range of over 400 kms / 250 miles. Good used ones are now coming onto the secondhand market, but like any KTM make sure you keep on top of the maintenance.

Pack wisely the young one!

I made the mistake of packing on small bike like I normally do on big and found out it was too much for little guy to carry and it was too heavy to pickup without unload.

How much luggage are you going to carry? Camping or hotels?
When you say 50% off road - piste or off piste?
No off road experience? - how much / what level of road riding do you have?

When I had no off road experience but over 30 years of road riding every day, I took an 1100gs trail riding in the Alps, took it easy and had no problems - I wasn’t on my own.

If you stick to gravel trails and piste there’s no reason why someone your height can’t take something like an F800gs - you’ll get one in the UK for your budget, not sure about Spain. If you want to do more technical off road a 250 is better - I have a WR250R but the CRFs are great.
Enjoy

The other thing find a class on off-road riding that would be money well spent. That and if you can find local group/places to ride.

With regards to CRF I tried one and was impressed; good overall bike. Complains? the rear spring could be a bit soft and tank small for travel I would l get Rally or if regular CRF get bigger tank and get stiffer rear spring good luck.