Decisions, decisions.

[ElDirtyPaco]

I know these types of questions have been beaten to death on these boards but I have to ask.

I am in the early pre-planning stages of an Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego ride and I'm in need of dire help. I say early pre-planning since I'm shooting for a departure date sometime in 2009/10 due to personal commitments.

My primary issue at this time is picking what bike to buy.

I am fairly young so comfort is not that large of a concern but price is. In addition, I should mention that I have never owned or ridden a motorcycle and my technical skills are somewhat limited. While I can't say I'm able to do an oil change on a car, I have changed brake pads so I'm confident that with a little effort and a lot of trial and error I can learn. Based on this criteria I plan to buy an older, learner bike that I can learn to ride and take apart during my planning stage and if possible, take with me for the ride or upgrade to a newer edition of the same model. I figure this will give me the skill to ride and the know-how needed to jury-rig the bike in the case of an emergency. I've narrowed the list of potential candidates for bikes based on these requirements to the following bikes:

1-KLR
2-DR650

I'm also considering the BMW F650GS but this would be more of a long term investment due to cost and I'm not too confident on fiddling with the electronics.

NOTE: I also have an errant thought that has been festering in the back of my mind. There is a local '77 goldwing for sale and they're asking less than $1k but the bike doesn't run. This seems like a good fixer upper and would provide plenty of flavor for my trip in the choice of vehicle but I'm not sure if it is up to the task. I'm not intimated with having to fabricate racks/pannier for it if I can't find something to fit and it is a tourer so I might not be too bad. I know the route through central/south america tends to be mostly paved, does this bike sound like a viable opion?

Any input that you can provide would be fantastic and welcomed.

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"Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken." -- Frank Herbert