UK to Autralia

[dragothesiberian]

Hi All
Well I have been thinking about this trip for years! but now I have finaly made up my mind to do it, this is day one of the quest to find out how to do it! a couple of basic questions to start if thats ok

1. Is the bike ok, an st1300 (done Europe on it easy) but overland to Aus?
thinking more about the type of roads we may encounter rather than bike itself.
2. what is the best time of year to start from the UK?
3. Is there a best route for riding two up?
4. How much time should I allow for the trip
5. We are both in our early fifties we don't speak any other lingo, are we being stupid for even attempting it? we have done a fair bit of traveling the normal way, the only thing we have got going for us is we have been riding bikes for thirty years two up and i have 25 plus years a motorcycle mechanic.
Cheers for now
Rob.

[Walkabout]

Hi Rob,
I might as well kick off the thingie.

As for your questions, take a look around the threads in here, including the ones that are getting discussed right now - some of your questions are being chewed over frequently, in some cases - like "which bike" - it is a neverending story.

ST1300: why not - big, comfortable, good for two-up etc etc. But stay on the asphalt, obviously!
It depends on what sort of riding you want to do - daily distances etc etc, so keep reading.
Depends on "why" you are travelling: Nick Sanders is about to set off on his last (so he says) RTW, again on an R1 (he did 3 in one year, all on an R1, just a few years ago).

[pecha72]

We're in Indonesia now, started from Europe, travelling 2-up on a Vstrom650.

1. Is the bike ok, an st1300 (done Europe on it easy) but overland to Aus?
thinking more about the type of roads we may encounter rather than bike itself.

Sure the bike is ok, very reliable I'd think, but maybe a bit heavy sometimes. Freighting such a big bike will also cost more, especially if you go by air (and you will most likely need to freight it between India/Nepal and Thailand, because you cant go to Burma (or you can try doing China, but that'll be expensive).

2. what is the best time of year to start from the UK?

We started in 9th October (From Finland to Germany, then down to Greece, then Turkey). Weather got a bit cold in eastern Turkey, but otherwise it was actually quite nice, and steadily warmed up until it was steaming hot in southeastern Iran (that was around mid-November).
It does get very cold in Turkey and Iran in midwinter, so better go through before that.
Then think about the rainy seasons in the tropics; and also that they will be the other way round in southern hemisphere. We've actually hit the Indonesian rainy season quite hard, with lots of rain and floods in some areas. Would probably be much nicer (drier) to ride here in June/July.

3. Is there a best route for riding two up?

Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India is quite ok 2-up (surprisingly maybe the worst roads we found were actually in India); and there are some places in India where you'll probably wish you had a lighter bike with more ground clearance!
Thailand and Malaysia have excellent roads. Indonesia is a bit of a challenge, but if you stick to the main roads, shouldnt be a big problem (may get a few new scratches to the bottom of the bike, but after India they wont matter!) Havent been to Australia yet, so cant comment on that.

4. How much time should I allow for the trip

We allowed 6 months, but are now feeling we should have at least 2 more months. Depend on how fast you want to go on. Anyway there is so much to see and do, probably cant do it all on one trip.

[Chris D (Newcastle NSW)]

Robert,

Try to attend some HU gatherings during the year, you will meet people that will be very helpful in your planning. Hope all goes well with you. Have look here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/meetings/UK2008.php



Cheers

[AussieGuy]

I'm in the early days of planning the same trip mate. I'm planning on riding either a F650 Dakar or 1150 GS Adventure. I guess the main thing is now sorting through all the threads and fine the right information applicable to your own trip.

[CornishDaddy]

Hi there Drago!

We're currently planning the same trip but in a Land Rover. Obviously you will have a lot of different issues to us, but route planning will be pretty similar. You can have a lot at our website for route details, but the main hurdle we are coming across is whether to go through China or not. Going through China is an expensive option that will involve an large amount of paperwork and organisation. I think we are most probably looking at £2-3k jsut to pay for the papaerwork for a 6 week trip through China.

You other options are to ship from (maybe) Bangkladesh through to Thailand (or even Oz). Or the other route, which I haven't put much thought to, but Chris above is doing, is the back door route through Russia and maybe South Korea and down.

Perhaps there are other options, and I'd be interested in hearing them, but that seems to be the biggest sticking point.

Obviously you also have big questions such as (my answers in brackets) do I go through:

Russia (yes)
Iran (yes)
Pakistan (yes)
Iraq (no!)
Afgahnistan (Maybe)

Anyweay I have been pondering most of this for 2 years now, and still don't have final answers, the reason beibng that most of it has to be decided in the last six months. Doesn't stop youdreaming about it before that though!

Feel free to email or PM me if you have any questions

Cheers

[KennyE]

Hiya Drago,

I'm just about to embark on my journey from the UK to Australia. I have just posted a reply on the following post:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ch-route-32021

Good luck with your planning. I have had great fun organising this trip and am really looking forward to the fun part!!!

Kenny

[dragothesiberian]

Hi All
Thanks for all your replies,it's a start!,at this stage it all seems mind boggling not knowing were to start! but we are definatly going to be knocking on my brothers door in Brisbane.

cheers all
Drago