My 2 cent worth

I rode a DR200 from Cape Town to London up the east coast last year. (24000km) No problem mechanically. If I did it again I would go for some thing a litte bigger, as most road are (95%)tarmac.

A big + for smaller bike are they are easier to throw in a truck or boat and squeeze in to the hotel lobby.


Soft panniers I would go for the dr250

Hard pannier drz400 /650

i hope this help, and have fun

This is the reality of the fallacy that magazines and 'explorers' are sometimes a little dishonest about. These long distance trips are mostly about road. It is in their interest to keep these places exciting and inaccessible in order to sell articles. Flame me by all means but I'm just saying the routes people take, from what I've seen, are by and large the same whether they're on big bikes or small ones. On my next trip I'm hoping to change that.

ALSO - if you take a small bike you probably don't have to worry about the hardpannier, softbags arguments ! That alone is a good reason

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

Wow, I must say I am very positively surprised by this thread. Thanks again for your comments and sharing your experience with me newbie!
Also thanks to Mick for the link to the Trans-Africa page on the TTR250, sounds like a great trip and certainly will keep me busy for a while.
Totally agree that on many trips most of the km will be done on decent quality roads, most likely on my planned tour too. Without going into too much detail on my plans here - the tour will basically go from Capetown to Tangier (Morocco) via central and west Africa. The company I'm currently working for in Sydney is well involved in development aid projects and has offices all over these countries. My plan is to stay 8 months in Africa using these offices as way points to relax, get stuff sent too, connect to locals and keep in touch with the world outside or even earn some travel money if needed. The fact that I will most likely travel by myself in between these offices (my friend is still deciding but it doesn't look good) puts the reliability of my bike high up on the priority list. Also the route will lead me through areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the other Congo and Cameroon - countries which are famous for awful roads. Therefore a lightweight bike is just as much on top of the priority list because it will need to go through muddy tracks, corrugation, creek crossings etc. and will very likely be dropped a few times. Whereas I wasn't so much concerned about the lack of power of a 250cc the reliability issue was something I was totally unable to assess.
All your comments are really helpful here. The option to put a bit of preparation work into my beloved DR-Z250 and use her for touring seems more and more a viable option now. Packing light has always been on my cards anyway, I learned that from some overland bicycle tours. Soft panniers therefore seem the way to go with my 250.
At the end of this year (when summer is back) I'll do a few multiple day camping trips with a few friends in Australia, going on quite a few unpaved tracks in National Parks. That'll be a good test if it all works out I guess.

Cheers again,

Marco

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no risk - no fun

Regardless of the bike you decide on, have a good trip & let us know how it goes.

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My photos: www.possu.smugmug.com