First time traveller

**Dougster** · #1 9 Sep 2004

Would it be posible to travel from south africa to spain on a bmw 650 gs (not the dakar) my gs is the 2004 model are there any conversions i need to do to the motorcycle

**Timo** · #2 10 Sep 2004

The question is probably more around which route you would take, but people have certainly done the trip on much less dirt-worthy machines then yours. Lots of F650 machines have done long overland trips, and gone RTW.
As to modifications search the previous postings on this site and lots of discussion will come up. There is also a good discussion group on F650 BMW's at:
http://www.f650.com which is an excellent resource for information on your bike.
Generally, the GS650 is considered a good pick for adventure travel one-up.

**Dougster** · #3 10 Sep 2004

thanx timo will go and have a look at the site

**hunternielson** · #4 30 Oct 2004

Hi Doug,

I'm quite sure you'll be fine with your F650... I've just ridden to N. Ethiopia on a Dakar. If you've got the bucks, it's rewarding to replace the fork springs and rear shock...very rewarding.

Otherwise, I'd e-mail Jim under the Yamaha pages in the HUBB. He's from CT, and failed to get into Egypt. Egypt doesn't take SA carnet I guess. Anyway, contact him for some advice. Otherwise, I guess you could put your bike on a ship in Djibuti (yes you can ride there with no problem from Ethiopia) to get around Egypt.

Cheers,
Hunter

**Dougster** · #5 3 Nov 2004

Hi Hunter
Thanx for the advice i will look into it. I have also heard that i must increase the size of my front sprocket, any coment.I will be going to Zambia and Malawi in December it should be a good time to test it thanx Doug