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What sub £4500 bike should I use for riding to Asia 2up? What sub £4500 bike should I use for riding to Asia 2up?
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  #1  
Old 10 Jun 2010
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What sub £4500 bike should I use for riding to Asia 2up?
Hi there,
My partner and I are planning to ride overland through Turkey, Iran to India and then Thailand and Indonesia. We are travelling 2up so what bike would be best placed to take us there? We have a budget of £4000-4500. Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Old 11 Jun 2010
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Hello NOLRCEG,

I am curious to know what NOLRCEG means? As to your question, most people with your budget prefer 660 Tenere, Africa Twin, BMW F650. You will be shipping it from India to Thailand, so smaller is cheaper. I just finished reading a ride report from a fellow who rode with his girlfriend from Beijing to Europe on a Yamaha YBR 125. It got great gas mileage and the fuel injection made crossing the passes in Tibet easier. So anything is possible I guess. Of course his girlfriend was Chinese and used to suffering in silence I imagine.

Cheers,
John Downs

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  #3  
Old 11 Jun 2010
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You really can do that journey on any bike you choose. I did it 33 years ago in reverse (from Australia to the UK), two up on a Yamaha RD350 2 cylinder 2 stroke - probably one of the most inappropriate bikes one could choose - but it did well and then took me down to South Africa solo.

My current travelling bike is a Suzuki AN 650 Burgman maxi scooter. It has taken me through the Australian desert and 2 years ago I rode it from Korea to Italy. I found this a very sensible choice as it is comfortable, has excellent weather protection, large luggage capacity, more than capable of handling high speed motorways and slow speed offroad and is very economical to run. My bike was 5 years old when I took it to Russia and you can easily pick up something similar for around £2000 in the Uk.

There are many options - all will do the job, dependent only on your specific riding preferences.
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Old 11 Jun 2010
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As others have said you can do it on anything but when we did our UK to Cape Town trip 2 up, after several cramped touring holidays around Europe on smaller bikes, having a bike with sufficient space became the priority - we choose a BMW R100GS which seemed to be the only big/spacious trail bike available at the time. I'm 6'2" and not a stick insect and my wife is also quite tall so the space issue may have more important to us than others. The R100GS isn't perfect but we have tried other trail bikes XL 600, DR 650 and XTs of all shapes and sizes and they are all very cramped and dive fiercely when braking which, with an already slippery sloping seat that is too short, makes life hell for the pillion.

Just my view on things!
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Old 11 Jun 2010
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You can get the new style 660 tenere for around 4k now and they are a cracking bike so Iv heard but maybe a wee bit sluggish 2up, You would not go wrong with a Suzuki V-strom, I have the 650 version which has plenty of go and has a reputation for being bullit proof and will do 230miles on a tank easy enough, mine cost £3000 and is an 2007 with 7,000 miles. If the power of that is not enough then there is the 1000 version of the same bike, a little more thirsty on fuel but just as reliable and have plenty of go.
Hope this helps
Cheers
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Old 12 Jun 2010
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Thanks for your comments. I considered the v-strom as it seems like a lot of bike for the money but i heard the 1000 would be a better choice 2up and that as you say its a bit thirsty. I was also unsure about how well it would fair off-road.
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