Hi all,
My friend (also a girl) and I are planning a year long motorcycle trip a few years from now through Central and South America. Taking only one bike would be loads cheaper and in ways safer (one bike to buy, one set of parts/tools, one shipment between continents, one gas tank, one to park, and if we had two bikes and one broke it takes two to push so we would be screwed) but we have heard from a female with motorcycle experience that one would be impossible. We are currently both inexperienced and have not attempted to take the other pillion yet, but would appreciate the advice early in the game. We have the time to build strength if that is the main issue.
Related issues: - We are fairly short. I am 5'4" and she is 5'2".
- We will pack light, but a year is a year and our bike/s will be loaded.
- Our trip includes some time offroads
- Stopping every time it rained would be inconvenient.
There are lots of questions within this! Any advice or stories you can add to the discussion would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Katia

In Cambodia and Vietnam I saw entire families loaded up on
C90's and 125's.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Having two small, light-weight bikes is much better than having one big heavy bike. If one of two is broken, you still can ride and find some help or continue the journey as a pillion. Also, about pushing one big heavy bike is harder than pushing two small, light-weight bikes. (I know because my better half would be happier to push her own small bike than our BMW R1200.)

2-up in a small light-weight bike for long distances could be hard sometimes. (at least for me) Especially, when you need speed and accelaration like when overtaking trucks etc.

Cheers,
Ozgur

Same as the others - I would have thought it better if you both had a bike each.
If you have identical bikes then its easier to carry spares, if a bike breaks down you have another to seek help etc.

Off-road (depending on what you actually mean by that) two-up is difficult. One of you will do a lot of walking. See here for an example: The Golden Triangle Rider :: Chiang Mai to Mae Sot the direct route - NOT

On sealed and good dirt roads it depends on you and your bums only. You can try that out at home.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Can it done? Yes and more than likely already has been. I dont like it but some do. 2 up RTW has been done I dont see why 2 females cant do it.

Try not to ask the "average" person if something can or can not be done. I once asked a self proclaimed grate world traveler if I can ride to northern California in a day he said no no bike can go that far that long and certainly not me (I did) then I asked if it possible to ride all the to TDF he said yes the trans american highway runs all the way (it dosnt it stops in the darien gap) As far as world travel when asked about where he has been its been within 20miles of the US border he will not drive his car in Mexico because his car will be be stolen he will robed and killed and Mexico has no parking lots (hay his words not mine) He thinks having a passport is big deal even if its 8 years old and dose not have a stamp in it. (funny he got to go to Hawaii hes a US citizen)

People like to think there somehow there better than you and if they cant do something there is no way you can do it. Call it human nature or ego, your friends and family are not going to be any better. Just go and call them a week or so before you go tell them your going and wish them well. This is what I do. Stops the "you cant do that no one can" and the non stop "its too dangerous" my personal most hated "you realy think you can do it" said as a statement not a question.

My advice (dont know where you are coming from mayby USA as your using feet and inches)
Take a few riding workshops. most show how to ride slow working on skills and keeping the bike up (more valuble than it sounds) and a off road course
Get some kit road gear, offroad armor and a helmit rain gear, no use getting hurt get some good stuff not cheap junk, it your skin.
Get 1 bike used and beat up and cheap as you can and get some miles on. Flog that poor bike beat up on road and off your looking to increase your skill and know what you can and can not do on a bike. Ride in heat, cold, rain test your self your gear and skills. Half way around the world alone 100s of miles from anything is no place to find out you need more water in the heat than most people.

Now I cant see why you cant go 2 up and many bikes have been used to do gust that. My short list BMW R1200GS big heavy expensive versatile more and more people use this to RTW every year. Suzuki DL line the 1000 or better the 650 cheaper than the BMW and gust as versatile it may be a bit tight on the 650 and will not have the power of the 1000 but for most of the trip it will do just fine.
2up on a overloaded bike is going to hell in the dirt any off road and your gust asking for a fall. If you must go 2 up off road work on this before you go.

If you can try to get 2 bikes that are the same and gust ride that way. tools and parts will be the same and If there is problem you alwas have the other bike to fall back on. Then you can go with much lighter cheaper bikes like the DR650 and drz400 from Suzuki the KLR650 from Kawasaki or the RX by Honda. Or if you want to try something different gust get a bike down there and ride that. (may have problems crossing borders with a bike from down there so look out for that)

IMO, it can be done, but is not an optimum way to have fun for any inexperienced riders, regardless of being male or female. The equation of two inexperienced smaller people, with luggage for a long tour and a bike that can carry the people and the luggage is hard to solve.

You would very likely do fine if you had a smaller bike and just the two of you and almost no luggage, but it's hard to travel for a long length of time and be that lean as you mention. Not to overgeneralize, but when anyone asks, I think the initial assumption is that two bikes are usually a better way to go, but of course that changes given a specific situation.

There are some posts from on Ozzie couple on HUBB who are currently in Indonesia two-up on a Honda CT110. They say they are enjoying their trip, but I doubt it includes much of what I would call off-road.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

IMHO, get a bike and both practice solo and two up.

The same light amount of gear spread over two smaller bikes is going to work a lot better than on one heavy bike especially off road, plus if the worst happens you can take parts from both to make one good bike (you should try for two the same if you go that way).

I'm not much bigger than you and can ride the likes of my Bonneville (when it was solo) or a BMW F650 two up off road. My pillions have varied between guys bigger than me who sit on the back like a sack of spuds to my Fiance who's my size but you don't notice. With Karen it's fine we've done miles of snow and dirt, with my mate Mic (the sack of spuds) it can be a nightmare to get onto a muddy camping field even with 15 years riding experience. I prefer to ride without a pillion and would be wary of a trip two-up where I'd planned to leave the tarmac.

Considered a sidecar? Not for everyone but solves some of your issues.

Andy

Hey! Great idea. A sidecar could do it all.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

A 3x2 really means buying a Ural, so you have reliability/quality issues unless the guy who set it up was really A-1 with the things. If you go this route, get a brand new 740 from a reccomended dealer, not a 650 from e-bay. The only real alternative is a BMW R-75 or Zundapp, the last one of which I saw for sale was advertised at €40,000 and was of course 60 yeats old. Some German companies do add-on's but they look like potential sources of problems once you start making holes in BMW swing arm drives etc. Better to stick to a 3x1 IMHO, they work just fine.

Chair set up is an art and is best done by someone who knows what they are doing but isn't that hard, it's mostly just string and tape measures. Getting the lead, toe-in and lean out right is fairly easy so long as you know the rough settings from a similar outfit, it's when your's is the only Hayabusa-Ural in the world you'll thank yourself for going to a shop.

Anyway, this is looking totally , so I'll leave it there unless there is interest in this option, in which case it's probably due another thread, where I can cover such subjects as suitable places to put ones cocktail cabinet, fitting snow chains, dog harnesses....

Andy

Hi Katia
Sorry it has taken me so long to notice this thread and reply to you. It does seem to me that there are not that many women who have travelled two (or three) up on a bike. I have done it for two and a half years on the road.

You talk about not having much experience of bikes, you've got plenty of time to practice before you go, when Becky (my best friend) and I set off we had only been bike riding for two months, with our first trip going to India. We continued on to Australia and home through Africa.

We travelled on a BMW R80GS - we easily got all our stuff onto the bike with the BMW plastic panniers and a top-box (we didn't know about tank bags!).
Obviously you guys are too short for that model of bike - I am 5'6". But I think you can easily travel two people on the BMW F650GS - they can be lowered to suit your height.
but, I only know about these two bikes, I am sure there are other makes/models that would also be good for two of you.
It is probably a bit scarier doing the off-road style stuff with two of us on one bike but when the rivers, sand or mud got too deep, one of us would walk through the tricky bits- and Africa was far worse for these conditions than the Americas.
I would recommend doing as much riding together as you can from the start so that having a pillion rider does not feel odd- though after a week on the road you should be fine anyway.
We had so much fun- lots of chatting and laughing over the intercom and encouraging each other when the riding was tough. Changing over riding on the back regularly means you get less tired and also we used to nap on the back in the afternoons.
There were even three of us on the bike for a couple of days in India when my sister joined us!

I love travelling two up on one bike- definitely much cheaper - fuel is always your biggest expense, especially with the current prices.
We did meet several other bikers who were pissed off with each other because of taking wrong turns and losing one another - impossible for us.

I have also travelled the length of the Americas on the R80 as well as a couple of shorter Europe and Africa trips two up on the 650.

any questions PM me or ask here.

good luck

Tiffany

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Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Hi Katia,

I have two Belgium (ladies) friends travelling in South America right now on one bike BMW 650. If you need any more advise or information just let me know and I will put you in contact with Pascale.

Carol Duval

I realize this thread is more than a year old, but in case people are still reading it... two on a bike in developing countries can work. My husband and I toured Eastern Europe in September 2008 on one bike (Honda Africa Twin). We camped half the time (we would have the entire time, but it got too wet). Traffic all over -- when there was traffic -- was crazy, secondary roads in Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia were not good, and in Albania, sometimes the use of the term "road" was questionable. And it worked out fine -- mostly because my husband is an amazing motorcyclist.

Photos of the Eastern Europe trip.

-- Jayne

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Jayne Cravens
transire benefaciendo - travel & do good

Hello,

Ken Duval saw your post & sent me this. We, my gf & I, travelled through Chili, Argentina, Boliva & Peru, during 6 months on a BMW F650gs (20.000 km) and to answer your question...perfectly doable. Organisation is important, luggage, who does what, etc. Only thing is that I was limited on weight & roads to handle when you are that heavy & somebody on the back. Am not a tall person. I don't know how much expierence you have, or both have, but if not too much, start with the easiest part of the trip and you will gradually grow into it. You learn a lot on the road, it is a fantastic experience. My partner had never (only 2x) been on the back of a motorbike, never been on a motorbike holiday & she loved it, scared from time to time off course because there are not always 'roads'.

In 2003, during 9 months, I rode alone through Australia & New Zealand (40.000 km), (where I met Ken & Carol Duval :-), so I can compare...alone on a motorbike or with the partner on the back. Both situations do have, off course, positif & negatif issues. The fun of riding is higher when you do have your own bike, with a pillion you are limited, have more responsability, etc.

My partner doesn't ride a motorbike, but if she would, i would choose to take 2 motorbikes ; has disadvantages but also advantages.

Any more questions, don't hesitate to contact me,
Cheers,
Pascale

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New Zealand, Australia & Tasmania - 2003 - 40.000 km on my own
Next: South America - sept 2008-march 2009