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Suzuki van van 125? Suzuki van van 125?
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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 Hendi Kaf, in Cambodia

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


Photo by Hendi Kaf,
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  #1  
Old 23 Aug 2012
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Suzuki van van 125?
Anyone tested the Van Van 125 for long trips?

I was looking at the van van for green lane riding and maybe for the Mogol Rally one day (restricted to 125cc bikes only!)

I was thinking it could actually be a good bike for short riders. No need for mods as seat is only 77cm. Small fuel tank but still a capacity of 150 miles....

Any one own one? Feedback welcome !


Cheers,
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  #2  
Old 24 Aug 2012
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Used to have one - loved it. It was designed for off road stuff anyway. Low, easy to ride, fat tyres. A bit underpowered and on the heavy side for its engine capacity (IMO) but that was on the road, and anyway, what it lacked in nippability, it made up for in just being great to ride, and the nip factor was only a drawback in London traffic, not for travelling around on. There is a thread over on advrider written by two Romainian girls travelling round Europe on van vans. Quite interesting. As for fuel, carry cans. That's what I always do and managed fine doing that on a recent trip acoss EUrope and Asia to Mongolia on a Chinese scooter. Plenty of room on the VV to stash stuff too.
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  #3  
Old 24 Aug 2012
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Riding Across Europe - 2 girls, 2 Suzuki VanVan's, 12 000km - ADVrider
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Old 24 Aug 2012
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thanks guys, I found the thread.

Nice looking bikes, I am sure it can hold well on dirt roads. I've done travelling on big bikes and they are just too big and heavy for me in reality. Small is the way to go in the future. Shame they don't do a 250 or 350 version of the VV!
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  #5  
Old 21 Sep 2012
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size doesn't matter!
Quote:
Originally Posted by maria41 View Post
Anyone tested the Van Van 125 for long trips?

I was looking at the van van for green lane riding and maybe for the Mogol Rally one day (restricted to 125cc bikes only!)

I was thinking it could actually be a good bike for short riders. No need for mods as seat is only 77cm. Small fuel tank but still a capacity of 150 miles....

Any one own one? Feedback welcome !


Cheers,
My wife and I did Oz - UK and she was on an XT250. Don't let anyone tell you its too small!!! You might want to take a spare trye and tube to Mongolia though......

Enjoy!!
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Old 22 Sep 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maria41 View Post
thanks guys, I found the thread.

Nice looking bikes, I am sure it can hold well on dirt roads. I've done travelling on big bikes and they are just too big and heavy for me in reality. Small is the way to go in the future. Shame they don't do a 250 or 350 version of the VV!

I've seen pictures of Japanese market 200cc Van Vans, but I've no idea if they're exported anywhere else.

These guys have ridden down and round the Alps for the last couple if years

Van Van Alps Adventure 2010
Van Van Alps Adventure 2011

I reckon they'd be great for the Mongol Rally, light, simple and they've got that fun element too.
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Old 2 Oct 2012
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Dave drove one to ulanbator and is now on the way back to irland
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...985#post391026
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  #8  
Old 29 Jan 2013
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hi. i have tested the suzuki vanvan extensively. i drove it up through scandanavia to nordkapp then accross russia, down in to mongolia and back via kazakhstan and eastern europe to england. it took 7 months and around 27,000 miles. there were 2 of us. we drove on average 6-7 hours each day at 40 - 45 mph. it is an amazing machine, it never let me down once and it will go places you wouldnt dream of trying to take a big numb bike! the carrier rack was pretty shit and snapped a few times but then its only meant to hole 3kg and i had about 10 on it. big tyres are good, you can run them half inflated and you dont feel the bumps, i would also recomend putting v-rubber tyres on, theyre more aggressive. the front tyre will finish the trip, the rear 20,000+ miles. we were getting around 140 - 150 mpg, we were only expecting 90! a windscreen helps with mpg's aswell, as does a larger front sprocket. you might want to put a support bar on the rear of the frame, i took off my rear foot peg and attatched it to there and my frame stayed strong, my friend didnt bother and his frame snapped. take a jerry can, 5l at least. take a few spark plugs and put slime in your tyres and you wont get a single puncture!

have fun,
Jono
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  #9  
Old 9 Feb 2013
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Suzuki Van Van. London to Johannesburg.
Hi guys.

New to the forum.So excuse my newbee ways. I have just bought a Suzuki Van Van K3.I am an ex soldier,who is doing a challenge from London to Johannesburg,some 15,000kms.I depart London on 3rd August.(Mountain of admin still to do).Visas,Carnet de Passage,insurance cards and so on. I am doing it solo and unsupported in aid of our wounded servicemen. Most of whom have lost their arms and legs.

Its been in the planning stage for some months. I have now a Help for Heroes webpage. And the H4H team are looking at featuring the challenge on their main website.As soon as site maintenance is completed.(end of Feb apparently).

If anyone has any pearls of wisedom,.help,donations and banter are all welcome.
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Old 9 Feb 2013
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London depart Saturday 3rd August 2013. 15,000 kms.to Johannesburg.
Check out my Help for Heroes page guys.

London to Johannesburg by 125 cc motorbike!!

Cheers

Drop me aline.Id be interested in your thoughts. And yes,i know its a mad challenge.
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  #11  
Old 9 Feb 2013
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Suzuki Van Van
Hey there, LondontoJohhanesburg!

Well I for one will be following your adventure with great interest. The Suzuki Van Van is the bike I'm looking at to do my own trans-Europe/Africa trip:

New Year, New Adventures… � Jeanie Davison

I love the look of the Van Van - it looks rugged and fun, and I'm sure it'll cope with the mileage and varied terrain. I'm drawn to it cos it has bags of character and is a kind of "off-road" (if smaller) version of my current bike - a TU250X.

Do keep us posted on how we can follow you eg website, Twitter or website.

Good luck with the preps and the fundraising, too - Help For Heroes is a fantastic cause.

Jeanie
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  #12  
Old 12 Feb 2013
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The van van was my first bike and...


It was awesome, struggled with hills sometimes but it; looked mega, was goood fun, very forgiving, and so much fun, was also almost impossible to drop because you can just catch it (most of the time).

The only problems with it have pretty much already been mentioned, the rack was fairly flimsy, and the spark plugs are defiantly a necessary spare. I also remember the mirrors being a bit of a pain sometime.


But very small issues for such a great bike,



I'm going to do a big trip on a small bike soon so I say go for it!

All the best
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Old 18 Feb 2013
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My blog site
You can laugh at my exploits and giggle at my lack of HTML knowledge...no idea how to upload a background colour...here i am.

Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Stories - LondontoJohannesburg


Will
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  #14  
Old 21 Feb 2013
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Hi,
VanVan is a great bike I made on it Riding Across Europe. It took me 48 days (12 000km). Here you can find some pic's from my adventure: https://http://ridingacross.com/?page_id=9
and my blog

If you have time and you like "cruising style" (not to hurry) it's perfect

all the best,
Weronika
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Old 21 Feb 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LondontoJohhanesburg View Post
You can laugh at my exploits and giggle at my lack of HTML knowledge...no idea how to upload a background colour...here i am.

Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Stories - LondontoJohannesburg


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