You want 380 from the bike's main tank? Blimey!

Surely much of that would be better carried low down in bespoke fuel cells - fixed to the bottom of metal panniers for instance?

No I carry petrol for 700km in my fuel tank (440 miles), my previous tank had a range of 500 km (312 miles) but I found it a bit small.
I’m a fan of mass-centralization and like to carry the fuel in my tank, next step would be to build a water-tank in front of the rear wheel.

But I do understand that long range is not first priority for most people.

Boys get your self a cg125, cheap, reliable, economical, parts avaliable anywhere, looks like any other bike in the 3rd world..... you get the point, i dont see any bike which is better than cg125 OVERALL, unless someone can tell me otherwise

One of the most compelling aspects of motorcycles as a travelling vehicle after the viseral experience and ease of manual repair was always the frugal fuel economy. Seeing today's diesel cars that can do 50-60mpg, in silence, meet the latest Euro emissions standards and carry 5 people makes me think that we bikers are our own worst enemies. We are governed by the older Euro standard for motorcycles (let's save the argument of the standard's validity for another thread) and are wasting the current exemption by chasing more power at the expense of economy and usability (especially the sportier ones).

Reviews constantly focus on trendy statistics like power/torque/wheel sizes/engine configuration without focusing realworld factors that make bikes easy to live with, and (like it or not) viable in the future, like mpg/fuel capacity/autogearboxes/safety/lights etc. Motorcycles have been part-hobby/part-real-world for a while now but I worry that in future they may become hobby/museum. When 4star went to unleaded many vehicles became expensive follies overnight and if vehicle emissions were normalised across the western world (via punative taxes/catagorisation) then many of the bikes we know and love just would not be feasible to tax and run any longer. It's time we got our camp in order and focused on fun/practical/economic 2-wheeled transport before 'someone' in government makes that decision for us. With a red pen probably.

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

That’s a big subject edteamslr.
I’m not sure if “Sub-saharan Africa” is the right place to discuss this. What I do know is that I pollute less if I travel one year with a motorbike in Africa then if I stay at home for one year.

Good point. I'll move it. The future of overlanding will be neither a GS1200 nor a CG125 but somewhere in between..

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

I would definately lean towards the smaller bikes, a 200 -250cc. The main reason here is the fuel economy. Most will give you about 400km from 12 liters of fuel.
This weekend I had decided to have a breakfast at the southern most tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas. Took the new toy TZR250 stroker, filled up in Cape Town and I was on the road. Little did I know that the reserve tap does not work. So there I was standing next to the road 10 km from destination - hungry.
Only 210km on a 15 liter tank. Does anyone want to buy a cheap 250? Hope she didn't hear that.

The other consideration for me would be speed. You don't want to be constantly worrying about the trucks killing you while they are overtaking you. Here they are allowed to drive 100km per hour. So the bike needs to do a little more than that to be safer. Most 125cc will do about 100kmph and the 200cc will do 120kmph (4 strokes). As stated earlier by others, once off-road you no longer need to worry about speed as much.

The main thing with touring would be to get yourself and the bike back home again in one piece. Here reliablity, easy parts, economy, comfort come into play.

There are many capable small bikes out there.

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To those who say it can't be done - stand aside for those who are already doing it.

Oh Dear. My 500cc Enfield fails again, it will only do 384 Km on 12 litres of fuel
but good points here and in edteamsirs post.

Interesting Thread.

I'm planning to go around Africa on my 200cc dual-purpose bike and the first thing every non-biker tells me is "it can't be done on a 200cc, you need a bigger bike". My reasons for taking my Skygo GY6 200cc are as follows:

1. less expensive bike - carnet and insurance is cheap. (Bike was R14 000 brand new)
2. parts availability - throughout Africa parts are available (uses universal parts)
3. mechanically simple - use basic knowledge, and if you can't you'll easily find someone who can fix it.
4. Max carry weight is 140kg, I weight 65kg so that leaves more than enough space for luggage.
5. Fully loaded(tent, 10L fuel, 5L water, and all other stuff) I can still go 100km/h comfortable, dropping to 80 on hills. Off-road isn't a problem either.
6. Fuel economy - I get about 30km per liter, so with a 12L tank its 350km minimum, combined with the 10L extra fuel its more that 600km without a petrol station. That's more than enough for me.
7. Safety - Easy to pick up bike or get out of difficult terrain. Your less of a target going through Africa on a small bike.


Only downside for me is the speed, its sucks only being able to go 100 on tar and having big truck going past you (luckily there are back roads, made specially for me). So far I'm very happy with the 200cc, but I see myself riding a KLR650 in the future.

Well, that's just my opinion and ride whatever keeps you smiling.

Safe riding all
Rassie

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He who lives the adventurous life will remain unafraid when he finds himself alone - Raymond B. Fosdick

for what it is worth i have just travelled to bukini faso and back on my own i used a 600 98 transalp super comfort totally reliable 53000 kmiles on clock but to big for me im 66 years had a stroke 3 years ago no strengh in left arm .
Lovely bike on road totally out on sandy piste If doing it again would use 350 dl suz liftable fast enough and good enough. You dont need speed in africa and would have loved to do smaller out the way pistes as for 1200 bm gs not needed in africa . 350 DL would be ideal

Seconded !!

Couldn't have put that better myself.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I went thru this decision making process myself for an upcoming trans africa trip.

I bought an HP2 Enduro: has the boxer engine and shaft drive that I really like. I added some more fuel capacity and with the existing titanium exhaust (as bought) it's still about 50 kg lighter than the GS Adventure.

And it's lighter than a TransAlp, Africa Twin and the big KTM's. Also lighter than the new BMW F800GS.

I did think about a smaller/lighter bike, but my heart wasn't really in it. I had an R80 G/S a while ago and really liked it. I'm a big guy (110 kg) so the extra cc's is nice, and I can pick it up no problem.

If I was going to do more hard core dirt riding a lighter bike might be nice for ferries etc but I'll see what I can do with this bike. But for sure, sand is and will be my Achilles heel. at Least until I get some more km under my tires. Anyways, I'm solo so I don't plan anything really so hard that the HP2 won't be able to handle. The rider is the weak link at the moment...:-}

I think one issue might be it's still quite electronics heavy and thus a bit more fragile and not so easy to field repair (altho less so than most new BMW's). So perhaps the HPN modified BMW's with carbs are the better remote area type bikes. But I have a GS-911 to help diagnose issues. And there's no ABS so that simplifies things a lot. BMW riders seem to get a lot of headaches with ABS.

Alan

i assume thats 380 miles with extra tanks what bike is it

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.