I´m not going to take a stand on the eternal does-size-matter issue....but I´ll say that part of the decision might hinge on how you define a major trip. Mine is currently at 50,000 km and I am still a long ways from home. There is a big difference between this distance and 8000 km.

I will also say that when I run into riders on light bikes--250, 400--they generally complain a lot. The last one I hung with for any period was last heard from trying to figure out why she kept busting spokes despite being lightly loaded and half my size. But when I read posts from them on the web, they are almost universally enthused. I don´t know what to make of this, but I´m sure it means something. Perhaps.

Mark

(approaching Belem and the Amazon River crossing)

In my humble opinion a 250 would do the job at a push (if you picked the right one) BUT you will be much wiser to pick a dependable/simple trail bike around 600cc size. Stick to a simple bulletproof model. For Africa stick to a single cylinder if possible, anything complicated will be nigh on impossible to repair in African roadside workshops. Spare parts will also need to be considered.

I'm biased a bit but the number 1 SUPREME adventure bike in Africa is the Yamaha XT600 (any version is fine). A more modern XT660 is probably almost as good. You can still find immaculate low milage examples (XT600E) in the UK for around £1,500 - £1,800 mark. Remember that the XT series of bikes have won more Paris/Dakar rallies than almost any other bike (including BMW's).

If money's not a problem perhaps consider a current model BMW or KTM. These are rather highly strung machines compared to an XT. African roadside mechanics may struggle fixing them whereas they will know the XT very well. Older Boxer BMW's which are simple and robust are hard to find in good nick these days...

If 600cc is too large for you why not look at a venerable Suzuki DRZ400? A lovely little offroad machine capable of so much.

Remember that you will need to haul round a lot of heavy kit and a 250cc may run out of puff and wheeze or start protesting (reliability problems)...

Forget HUGE 1200cc bikes for African adventures - they will do the job but will be heavy cumbersome and not much fun.

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

I'll chip in with a comment that does not relate to any specific bike but to the notion that modern, technically advanced motorcyles present a repair problem when travelling in Africa or Asia.

All of the third and semi third world countries I've visited are well populated with late model Toyotas, Mercedes, Peugeots etc, all stuffed with chips, sensors and other electronic wonders. These vehicles are far more complex overall than the average motorcycle and somehow they get maintained and repaired. I remember a motorcycle and scooter repair shop in Vietnam with glass booths enclosing white coated mechanics fiddling with computer monitors.

You surely won't find one of those shops in the middle of the Sahara but you won't find one in the middle of the Mojave or on the Dempster Highway either. That's what telephones, tow trucks, patience and, unfortunately, money and UPS are for. The idea that you can't get complicated stuff fixed in faraway places is, perhaps, a tad overblown. Many people seem to invest a great deal of effort (and often quite a lot of money) rebuilding older, simpler bikes in the interests of simplicity and reparability but you have to wonder if a modern, much more complex but very reliable bike (and many are amazingly reliable, especially the Japanese brands) wouldn't make more sense. It would seem to be about balancing probabilities.

normw

250'll do ya fine mate.

I rode an RD350 Yamaha (2 stroke twin road bike same size as the RD250) throug Africa back in '78. No problems with subframes breaking even with carying a 50 litre plastic fuel tank and 10 litre water tank on the back of the bike along with all the rest of my gear.

That was in the old days when just about all of the Sahara was sand tracks and what a lot of fun it was fishtailing in deep sand for over 3,00kms.

The year prior to that I had ridden it two up from Singapore to the UK.

I still have the RD in the garage (stiil goes) after I shipped it back home from Mombasa but I did seize the mongrel of a thing in the main street of Nairobi - crossed too many rivers and sucked a truckload of water in to the crankcase which resulted in intake ports in the piston skirts disintegrating 1,000kms later - rebuilt it my hotel room, easy peasy - but that's another story.

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Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

Thanks for your opinion again, guys, much appreciated! It seems, what is being singled out as the potential weak spots of taking a 250 to Africa is the trustworthiness not so much of the engine but more of the other components with markhaf mentioning the spokes again. Also my DR-Z250 handbook has a warning in it saying that the bike is not designed to carry luggage. As reason for that they state the effect of luggage on the handling of the bike. I never carried more than 15kg on it so far but couldn't feel much of a difference in the bike's behaviour, even on trails. But it certainly puts another testride with more luggage on the plan. Probably the weight of luggage has a greater effect on a light weight bike because it plays a bigger part in the overall weight. We'll see.

So if we would conclude that the engine of my 250 is strong enough and reliable enough to do the job (seems like other 250cc travellers have had no major problems with that) the next step would be to identify potential weak spots (e.g. suspension, wheels), swap these for tougher parts and we'd have a proper touring bike? I'll also have a closer look at my workmates DR-Z400 and it's frame to compare tube diameters and geometry and see, if Suzuki downsized the frame for the DR-Z250.

The other thing coming up about bikes with high tech components - personally I'd rather not take any of those. But that's a personal choice. It's true that nowadays you probably get replacement parts sent into every corner of the planet. But I guess that will surely cost. And if something needs to be worked on, it's more likely that on a simple bike I could either do it myself or get it done by non hightech-savvy local shops. The three bikes I'm trying to decide between (DR-650, DR-Z250 or DR-Z400) would all be rather simple single cylinders anyway.

There are literally hundreds of reviews for the DR650 on the web, most of them pretty positive. Similar for th DR-Z400. But almost no review of the DR-Z250, the bike I've already got. Drives me kind of mad. But maybe it also means something...

Thanks again to all of you,

Marco

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no risk - no fun

Yes you can do it on a 250cc many have and are doing it now. I am also one of the few that had a GS1150 and sold it because it is to heavy, don't get me wrong the GS is a great bike if you are using a freeway and have a ton of luggage, but on the dirt roads and sand and rain, you will be crying sooner or later when you get stuck and 2 of you cannot lift her, if you like to suffer no problem. I used to have a KL175 and a PE250 when I lived there and both these bikes performed well riding in all sorts of terrain, the PE250 had more oomph,2 stroke! After my GS I bought a VTX1300 cruiser, once again only for good roads, I have also sold that. Now I have a Little Honda 150cc bros Brazilian made, that I keep and use in Mexico when i am there and have also just bought a Yamaha XT 250 back here in Canada! What a great little bike i just love it , I only have soft luggage for it and do not overload. Remember it's not the size of the bike on the road it's the type of person that is riding it!

My girlfriend and I are on 2 xt 250's. So far we have done 30000km trouble free around SA. We intend on travelling from UK to Japan this summer. We cruise at 90 km all day long, sometimes as fast as 100km ahahaha. We even drove the bikes up a Volcano to 6000m.

Anyways we enjoy the freedom of a little bikes for bush camping and things but they are not for everyone.

Journey around the world - Home

Cheers Dano

Very impressive trip, Dano!
Getting more and more convinced that a 250 is a good choice for light weight touring. I'm really seeing my bike with new eyes now.
Also sent an inquiry to the 'Safaritanks' guys here in Oz if there's an option for a bigger tank. They do one for the DR-Z400 but there's nothing about the DR-Z250 on their website. My current tank takes me 200km max, definitely not enough for Africa.

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no risk - no fun

Why not? There will be lots of stretches where there is fuel every 200km.

If you're worried about fuel range tie a 4litre plastic jerry can on the back, or even easier/cheaper use plastic coca cola style bottles as needed. They are indestructable, don't get affected by petrol and fuel station nozzles fit in the hole. To make them easier to tie on the bike, put 2 in a plastic bag and then tie them down.

HTH
Chris

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TBS.com

From a european perspective some people reading that will be terrified by the thought of fuel in coke bottles and plastic bags but they'll just have to take your word for it (and take on board that it's not to be attempted in countries where it would be illegal to trasport fuel in an unapproved container). I find the biggest problem with coke bottles for fuel is that if they're hit they can develop pin sized holes - I just tipped a 1.5ltr one over in my garage to notice a fine jet, almost invisible, coming out of it.

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Find out details of my 2011 trip to Siberia on a lightweight dirtbike:
www.brighton2expeditions.co.uk

Buya Ikhaya
My wife and I did London - Cape Town in 2007/08 (Feels like yestrerday) on 2 XR250's. Light, easy to handle, more than adequate speed as most places you can only go 70-90km/h anyway. Just gets bit scary in southern Afrcia where traffic starts moving much faster than you.

Many previous responses on various threads specific to this topic.

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If there's a will there's a way so I will anyway!
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The lighter the better.I weigh more than 110kg with simple amount of luggage I have never used needed more than 250cc around Asia and plan to use xt or crf250 in Africa too. I grew up in South Africa and have been riding since age 10.....
Helped more riders with big bikes up and out of mud over years than I care to remember
Go light go right. no shyte!

I've done my share of travelling on unsuitable transportation (as well as suitable). I've done Cape Town to Nairobi on a classic 200cc Vespa PX scooter with 10" wheels - easy.

I've also done the 9000km Budapest to Bamako Enduro Rally with two scooter buddies, ending in Guinea Bissau - on the very same scooter - unassisted, carrying all tools, parts, gear and half a change of clothing... a lot of pistes under construction, off-road... Not so easy, but still enjoyable and lots of fun.

Would I do it again? Yes!

Would I do another? No! I would take the most suitable bike I could afford. I would advice others to do the same... unless they have some perversion they just have to get out of their system.

I think that a 250cc like a Yamaha WR, or the like, with some mods, can make an ideal bike for any part of Africa or traversing it... if you plan to take the occasional scenic route or do a lot of offroading. If you plan to stay on the main roads, then a bigger adventure bike would be more enjoyable. In my opinion, a comfortable twin would be best.

As for minimum mods on a 250 dual sport:

• Long range tanks
• Radiator protector
• Bash plate
• Strengthened sub frame, on models where these are known to be weak
• Metal panniers, lockable. (There is an endless discussion of soft vs hard. It is my opinion that for crossing Africa in particular, hard is best).
• Center stand
• Comfortable seat
• Hand protectors (i.e. barkbusters)
• Windshield
• 12 V sigaretter socket, possibly also a USB socket
• Phone and Navigation holders
• Camel toe on sidestand
• Upgrade any model specific weak points

Other upgrades are in my opinion unnecessary luxuries for most riders - the nice to haves that often end up not warranting the money and effort. In some cases, mods can come to bite you in the ass or make life cumbersome. If you are wondering if you need it, it is likely you don't - you probably don't have the experience level to get the most out of it (i.e. expensive shock upgrades). For most, the priority should be: reliability, safety, simplicity, keeping as much stock as possible and change only things that really makes a big difference, save money for off the bike luxuries... and in that order.

My dream bike for a satellite trip in Africa would be the likes of a Husqvarna 701 Enduro. For crossing Africa it would be something like a Yamaha WR250. For an RTW it would be a Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports with the DCT gear box and wheelie control.

But a classic Vespa can do the job.

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Blog: www.bamakobyvespa.no
My Youtube Channel

I don't know if they are here on HUBB, I met an ozzie couple in Dakhla who were traveling on two beaten up Kawasaki 250's all the way from South Africa... They looked the business, the kind of bike you can leave parked and no one would steal it.
One more thing to consider is that Yamaha and Kawasaki are much more popular in Africa than Suzuki, so you would probably find parts easier for those. Still, if you already have the bike, your decision is very simple.

My wife is riding her XT250 from Cairo to Cape Town, then onto Sth. America.
Bomb proof and never missed a bit, currently in Kenya.http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...1&d=1296276097

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....rather Die Living.....than Live Dying !
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