Whilst we are talking bikes and fixing them. Being a newbie to overland trips I thought I would do a motorcycle maintenance course first, this has changed my mind about what I can and can't fix and although I love my R1200GS I think I will have something a lot simpler. Leaning towards the 200-400 single cyclinder trailies. I reserve the right to change my mind once Ive finished the course. For those new West London Merton College run the courses.

That looks to me as you jump from one extreme to the other !?

10 years ago I had the same thought: I sold my r80 and I bought a yamaha tt 600. I just went from Italy to Turkey, less than a week after I came back I gave it back to a garage for an AT.

yes a single is much easier to fix......... but it is really a pain to your bum

Is this the archeology thread? Seems it started a while back

I'm of the firm belief there is no right answer. Your perfect bike is the one you know. An R1200GS shipped direct from the dealer to Touratech Germany to me would be just as much my idea of hell as a C90 I picked up from a seller called Pizzaguy on e-bay.

My perfect bike is a Triumph ( I've seven years experience of the exact model) that's had the benefit of 12 months use and mods. Sure, no paralever, multilever or flushlever, but I can swap that chain in my sleep. 21-inch front wheels and carbs versus FI, a lot of it is just games of top trumps for the arm chair warriors, it's what you carry in your head on your trips that counts.

I've seen an Africa twin that produced something that looked like tea. Might have tasted a bit oily/anti-freezy though.

Andy

A BMW is a fairly basic engine design. Its not much more mechanically challenging than a single - its just got 2 x pistons. OK, it has a shaft, but odds on it shouldn't need touching (although recently they do seem to be a bit dodgy). Main criteria is to choose a bike that'll suit your needs (& pocket). What riding you aiming to do and how do you want to approach it - hard & fast or at a gentle pace?
Go and take a few "test rides" - only way to be sure

200-400 cc singles ... for overlanding? Only for hardcore and sustained off-road overlanding IMHO. If you're going to be riding many hundreds of miles of sand and mud in Chad, Central African Republic, the Congos and the like, a 400 cc can be a reasonable choice. Some may differ but IMHO 400 ccs would get old fast on your average overlanding ride ...

Riding most anywhere else in the world, a 650 single is the bike of choice for many. Much better / more comfortable / faster on pavement than a 400, better suited for luggage, and yet still light and maneuverable enough to tackle sand and mud. And just as easy to work on. Two cents ...

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http://ridefar.typepad.com

KTM (640 adventure?) frame with a Honda engine. Or anything designed for the Paris Dakar rally (as in, the exact bike you could turn up to the start line with, not a production copy) and then detuned.

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http://bigben.to/ London to....? The big bike annual rally.
http://www.mongolbikers.com 125cc London -> Mongolia.

Two words: "Scary" and "Fabulous"

WOW... Please post more pýctures!!
safe travells,
m.

The bike is now finished and I have sent new photos today to Yamaha Diversion home page, see http://www.xs4all.nl/~kimkodde/ydcn.html
and click on Bike Pictures and Yamaha Diversion Offroad.

See you in Africa!
Skonte

Hi All

One to think about, more and more people are using Imo style computers

You've got all your eggs in one basket if it goes wrong. The fitting to the wheel/fork is not the best I've seen.

Are clocking going to be a safer option even though they are heavier.

Cheers

Julio

Hi Julio

It depends on how you attach the things, I have now been riding for three months without any problems. The trip included approx 15.000 km on rough pistes in West Africa and a lot of rain in Ghana on gravel/mud roads.
Give it some protection, and it will be fine, as long as you choose some quality stuff.
Standard clocks and vajer are also breakable.

Rgs
Skonte

Here is some pictures (bilder) from the trip;
http://groups.msn.com/skonte/vlkommen.msnw
but the text is mainly in swedish, pardon!

Perfect adv bike? for my take have a look here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000303.html

IMO, something that you can shoot when lame without crying into your carnet is always desirable

Farmer Chris

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

I have diven Yamaha xt 600's & 500's, Kawasaki KLR650's, owned a Suzuki DR600,
and I have worked on these bikes.
And I can say without a doubt in my mind that there is no comparison to these bikes and the BMW models.
Starting with the price of parts:
BMW keep all parts available for all models from 1970.
Most parts even though in some cases being more expensive will outlast the parts of the Japanese models by three to four times in most cases.
And most importantly BMW dealers are found almost everywhere.
Most of them will keep most regularly needed parts in stock and if not it will take two days to get supplyed by the main supplier, or three weeks to get the parts from BMW Motorrad in Germany.( This is the case in South Africa and might differ for other aireas.)
To get to the other part of being the perfect touring bike I think you need to add somewhat to the already good design to make it perfect, and the right people for this is HPN in Germany.
HPN built the Dakar Ralley bikes for the BMW factory and on the basis of these models are they building custom bikes dealing directly with thier clients.
The options is so varied that everyone should find a sulotion to thier unique travel problems.
Basicaly these bikes are indistructeble, very simple and have brilliant handeling characteristics.
The motors can be made to produce good power for most comfortable slow tourers or can be turned into power monsters that will keep you hanging on for dear life.
But most importantly they fullfil all the requirements of the first mesage posted in this thread.

Sorry guys, but
if it's really got to be german, I'd vote for an MZ Baghira.
State of the art frame, Marzocchi fork, WP at the rear.
Fix a ktm adventure tank on it and the XTZ660 ténéré engine will take you anywhere.

And for the price of 1 HPN, I'd have 4 brand new motorcycles, as they still produce them.

Even if yamaha engine parts would be harder to find, which I doubt, I'd still be better off because they don't break down in the first place.