Wow, girls really get a lot of attention on here!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Get a good XT600 and just adjust the rear shock so that it will be lower. They hardly ever break down from what I hear. I have had mine for two years and just changed the oil, tires and chain.


My 93 XT on a 3,000 km trip. Never missed a lick

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Every where is walking distance if you have the time!

Oh dear I am very quickly starting to feel somewhat out of my depth with all this techno/spec talk – slowly but surely I am trying to learn all things bike, inside and out, but I’m afraid I got lost at “mass and crank inertia”!!?? :confused1:

That’s not to sound ungrateful – quite the opposite – you have to learn one way or another . Ummm – whats a “stock” tank – a name given to a particular sized tank? (learning you see) - hang on, I suppose it would be the "standard" tank - no?

Glad to hear that I have good karma and body language (?!) J

Warthog (apologies for the original misspelling), muchos gracias for the step by step procedure guidance for kick starts - patience is required, which I know is not one of my virtues.

With the amount of peeps talking of the TTR250 I am extremely intrigued, and I am reckoning that could very well be my next purchase (but there is an inner uncontrollable desire to have Honda – maybe I’ll get a cheap XR to have a go on - I need a bike for HUMM in any case)

Can you reinforce the subframe of any bike? And how? At the mo I am thinking specifically about the TTR250

But one moment…….Dave….DR350 for sale? I would be interested. Any pics? Have you already had it lowered? What’s the little’un’s history? I fully concur on the “knack” of kick starts – “whatever” indeed!?? As for converting I heard it was blimmin expensive to get an electric start installed, but have no actual figure – does the cost depend on the bike? Any clues?

Big Yellow Tractor, your comment about the Morocco trip has filled me with a lot more confidence about “keeping up”. Cheers.

People talk of getting their jetting sorted (which I am still to really understand – something to do with mixture in the carb?), shocks, new exhaust, oil-temp gauge, etc etc, but top of my list (other than pink ribbons on the handle bars) is a new seat (I will start to appreciate the important of mechanical mods – promise). Some guys that do tours in Namibia recommended a company called Renazco (and touching their seat, it did almost feel sensual) has anyone used them? Riding an XL for hours on end in Cambodia I realised just how numb your bum can get – i.e. it simply fails to exist – thankfully my backpack was strapped perfectly onto the seat so that I could stand up and then perch on the ruck sack – riding along like I was trying out some sort of riding stunt

Molly Dog, - “I would pick the one that will adapt to RTW travel best...and with gear on it, you can still handle it OK if you have to pick it up or ride it tough terrain.” – good words of advice – cheers. Oh, and I fully intend to spend a lot of time off-roading before I head out. But as for my “partner” carrying most of the weight (he’s a biking partner maybe but that’s it) – that just isn’t an option – its my trip and I want as much independence as possible – it may as well be as though I am going on my own for what I want to achieve from the chosen bike. I will ensure that I pass on your words of advice on the XR-L, and we had in fact already considered this particular “fault” but still our personal list of pros outweighed the cons, for that bike. As for upper body strength – I shall work on the popeye look!

Walkabout, ta for the link on bikes with both starters –that’s exactly what I need to see!

Bloomin marvellous. Cheers guys and gals.

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Don't be scared your life may end,
Be scared that it may never begin.......

Char,
You're on the right lines in interpreting the techie speak: no worries.

You might like the website in here:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...al-stuff-27640
for some information to astound your friends.

There is this page in here as well:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tech/

All good stuff!

ps I used to have that feeling about Hondas, but I got over it after a few years.

Cheers,

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Dave

Mollydog,

I'm not going to pretend that I know a whole lot about Honda trail bikes, but do you really think its reasonable to call the 400 heavy in this context?

I've looked at online specs and dry the 250 is only 8 KG lighter: 108 to the 400's 116kg. In the grand scheme of biking, I think both these bikes are pretty light.

The XR 400 is 3kg lighter than the DRZ 400, and only 1 kg heavier than the DRZ250 which you recommend

Admittedly, 8kg represents a tent, sleeping bag and stove, but still... putting it in the context of its power and reliability for the task at hand, I feel it should not be discounted so easily on this one statistic.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

no your right the XR 400 is not that heavy when you compare it with bikes that have electric start, full lighting gear, rear pegs, multi function speedo's etc etc Honda save a load of weight by not putting any of this on the bike.

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Home of the UK Coast 2 Coast off-road Challenge
www.C2CChallenge.co.uk www.4X4Safari.co.uk

You really need to just try them all out.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

As an uninformed loudmouth thinking something similar to Charlotte (the bike not becoming a woman), can anyone who has used a bike like the DRZ400 long distance comment on the fuel range?

I am adamant I can travel light enough to make it on these smaller bikes...

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The Road To Rio - Locokiwi

With stock tank?

I think I get just over 100 miles with the standard tank on a DRZ E.

well as some other bikes but should be OK if you get the street legal S model,

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Noted! A lot going on with this thread since I was last here! It must be something to do with the good karma and body language in Chars' introduction.

So, all else being equal, I reckon it is a good point to have options for starting a bike, other than pushing and bump starting it in the sand/mud etc.
Here's that list of bikes with both starters:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ic-start-31595

You could also consider the Royal Enfield Electra; sales are up 10-15% in the UK this past year (it gives nearly 100 MPG).
A 500cc single with a low seat height and built for falling over while suffering next to no damage.

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Dave

=> http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...military-32531

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

I'm interested in doing a similar trip and I'm not a big guy so this this thread seemed to be the answer of my prayers. Unfortunately till I looked for the specifications of the bikes. Both TT250 and XR250 have the seat heights above 900mm, which quite much rules them out both for Charlotte and me.

Also, I've looked a bit for second hand ones. On mobile.de, I could find 315 Yamaha 600 XTs but just 1 Yamaha TT250 and this one was priced the same as a 600 XT of the same age. 2004 is the year of the TT250 and there are 185 XTs of the same age and newer there. A similar situation with the XR250 and no at all DRZ250s.

To me this means that these bikes are very hard to find in Europe. Might not be the same in the rest of the world though. Secondly I have big doubts regarding the confort of these small bikes. It's true, I haven't riden one but can anybody confirm that he/she has been going 400+ / day for a few days and that 1 cm thick seat was doing a good job?

How are you suppose to take any luggage on such a bike? ??!! The tail won't probably hold more than 15 kgs. And if you go RTW and you are not on a high budget to sleep every night in a hotel/motel, than you need at least a tent/matress/some tools for the bike/sleeping bag/so on. However to the minimum you are trying to keep it.. it won't be enough. I've checked Louis's website and it seems to me that that Serow has a harder tail that the TTR. She could actually put a topcase on it. Or maybe she had reinforced the tail, in which case the weight was affected. Our colegue is going to ride just a part of the road with a companion, so she'll need to be able to carry all her things after they set apart.

Now... I see that the TTR is 120kg; why not put 27 more kg and get a Suzuki DR650 SE, which is 147kg! It has double the power, you can put proper panniers on it if you need to and you can find many of them for sale in Europe and at half of the price of a TTR (but yes, of course, 5-6 years older than the TTR). And the seatheight is between 845-885. And it might have the gravity center lower as well since it's not that high. That's what I would recommend. Just take one for a ride Charlotte and see how you like it.

Hmmm.. I've just found Louis's TTR. She actually managed to get it ready for a long trip but I have to ride this bike before actually give it a go.