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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #31  
Old 15 Aug 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
If you've ever talked to Sam, you will realise hes a very down to earth, humble bloke..

I've read his books and I like them. As far as I know, he never rode a motorcycle before his trips. Nowhere does he proclaim himself a a good rider and I think he was very nervous about the whole thing.

Was using a bike a gimmick !! ? Hmm, I don't think so. Why did any of us start riding ?? Why do any of us use bikes for travel ???

I'm not trying to bait anyone, just making a point.

Anway....

Training IS important but I think experience is worth more than any piece of paper. Training gives you experience and helps you not pick up bad habbits which you usually have to unlearn the hard way !

Casestudy:

I rode with an American girl for 2 months who bought a bike in Chile and pretty much learnt to ride it there. She got her licience in the US about a week before she flew to Chili.

Her riding terrified me and how she made it home alive is a miracle. Me and the other guy I was travelling with had our hearts in our mouths when she overtook long trucks on blind bends, flying over hill crests on her 250 pizza bike at full throttle on the wrong side of the road..That's when she wasnt riding into the back of cars with no brake lights or dissapearing down pot holes. She was a terrible rider and was nearly killed everyday with her terrible riding. We actually had to pull her over and shake some sense into her before we were dealing with road kill.

She is the prime example of PEOPLE NEED EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING before an overland trip. Like MickyD says, many people don't survive the very steep learning curve.

She did eventually listen to us and she made it home alive... She was lucky !!

It IS a free world though (mostly), and people are very free to make their own mind up how they decide to approach things. Theres no point telling someone how to ride, how to train , what to ride etc etc ! The advice is usually water off a ducks back and people almost always end up doing what they originally planned anyway, no matter how daft it may seem to the rest of us with a little more experience.

Back to the XT600..

Like people have said.. It's a reliable "dual purpose" bike. It will do anything and go anywhere but is no master of any ! Cheap, robust, easy to repair and work on and there are loads of gear about for it to make it a very good overlander. It's the VW Beetle of the overland world.

You need to get out there and start sitting on bikes. Get youself to a HU meeting and walk around asking questions and "Trying on" bikes.

Great post Ted !
Very informative and a perfect example of why newcomers need SOME training to obtain roadcraft and survival skills .
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  #32  
Old 15 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by Mickey D View Post
Are you intimating that training is useless ... a waste of time?
Just because a non motorcyclist used a motorcycle as a gimmick to make his writing marketable to make money, doesn't mean it's the best move for a new rider.

Mr. Manicom never rode a bike in his life .... and suddenly he's an expert rider based on his books? How does that work?

Not that riding skills are unobtainable or hard to learn but there are one or two things that can be learned from a course or from an experienced teacher. Who knows .... might save your life!

Manicom survived because he's lucky and made it down the road far enough to learn how to survive. Plenty don't survive. Training and practice merely improve ones odds and better prepare a rider for challenges once out in the wider world.

To extrapolate ... one could say, "why take a test at all? Just go!"

The British tiered licensing system in only valid in the UK. Once out of the country no one cares about your UK license. An Int. DL or passport usually is enough to get you by. I've never once been asked for my DL. Passport, bike papers is mostly what they want to see.


TROLL
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  #33  
Old 15 Aug 2010
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Theres an XT600E on Ebay now for only £1000

That is cheap for a 2002 altough the mileage is a little high. Maybe its been around the world ???

2002 YAMAHA XT 600 E BLUE on eBay (end time 01-Sep-10 22:32:40 BST)

Theres also one with 10,000 miles for £1500

Yamaha XT600 2003 px swap delivery xt 600 on eBay (end time 12-Sep-10 17:08:24 BST)
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  #34  
Old 15 Aug 2010
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Off-Topic

Gentlemen and Ladies(if appropriate), can you all please refrain from taking this thread off-topic. It is not fair to the user who started the thread and it isn't likely to impress a new user too much either.
I am not one who believes in censorship or being authoritarian, but if it does go off-topic again, I will delete any posts within the thread that I feel are off-topic.
Thanks for your co-operation.
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  #35  
Old 16 Aug 2010
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Question

I would use a xt600 or an old tenere. Fuel tank with good autonomy, simple mechanics, only one cylinder, easily lifted in case of falls, good ability to put luggage.

I believe that our lives are determined by our decisions, there are not such things as choices.

As the experience or time spent driving, I see it as necessary and good for a correct attitude. Sometimes there is no time to think about a decision. Past experience makes many decisions a matter of attitude unconscious, instinctive. The instinct to drive a motorcycle is different from those instincts to drive a car. Sometimes it's more important what you do not see than what you're looking at. Predicting what may happen is useful, very helpful. This is a difference between having or not having experience. Sometimes only your own safety is in jeopardy. Other times will also be at risk the safety of others. In any case, the decision is yours. You will always be truly solely responsible for your actions and decisions. I suggests that you ask yourself: can you answer for them?
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  #36  
Old 16 Aug 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
That looks like a lot of bike for that money:
£1500 and change for a snack on the ride home - fantastic!!!

Is there some fairing missing from the front of the tank?

Despite being an advocate of test rides over spec sheets, here are some spec sheets...

2003 Yamaha XT 600 E specifications and pictures

Yamaha MotorBikeSpecs.net Motorcycle Specification Database

A better choice than an XR400 if you value your spine and backside
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  #37  
Old 16 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by Warthog View Post
That looks like a lot of bike for that money:
£1500 and change for a snack on the ride home - fantastic!!!

Is there some fairing missing from the front of the tank?

Despite being an advocate of test rides over spec sheets, here are some spec sheets...

2003 Yamaha XT 600 E specifications and pictures

Yamaha MotorBikeSpecs.net Motorcycle Specification Database

A better choice than an XR400 if you value your spine and backside
Yup, fairing air scoops are missing for some reason. Maybe just not put back on after a service.

I paid £1800 for mine in 2006. It was 3 years old with 1500 miles on the clock. It was IMMACULATE !!

It was a good bike and never let me down. It's somewhere in Colombia now. My only gripe is that Top comfortable speed is about 65mph which is slow on the long , endless stretches of RTA 3 in Argentina. 300 mile stretches of road with no bends, scenery, etc etc !

Still, my DRZ only does about 55-60mph.
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  #38  
Old 16 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
the long , endless stretches of RTA 3 in Argentina. 300 mile stretches of road with no bends, scenery, etc etc !
And every inch spent at about 30 degrees off the vertical.

It's a good thing we had to ride back up that country so that the neck muscles on the other side had a chance to develop too: evened me out a bit.
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  #39  
Old 16 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by Warthog View Post
And every inch spent at about 30 degrees off the vertical.

It's a good thing we had to ride back up that country so that the neck muscles on the other side had a chance to develop too: evened me out a bit.
I was very lucky with the wind. Only 2 days was I near Horizontal... lol
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  #40  
Old 17 Aug 2010
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Thoughts from a newbie rider

Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
Training IS important but I think experience is worth more than any piece of paper. Training gives you experience and helps you not pick up bad habbits which you usually have to unlearn the hard way !

As a newbie rider myself, I just want to endorse Touring Ted's point of view. I've had some training to get my Learner Permit - but being out on the road, dealing with traffic, pot-holes, obstacles and who knows what other surprises, it's already clear to me that there's no substitute for experience.

I've got this plan to ride across Africa and I REALLY want to go soon - but I know that if I've got a realisitic chance of making it through alive (literally!) I need to put in some groundwork at home first. My instructor told me that maybe one person in 100 is a natural when it comes to riding a motorcycle - that means that for 99 per cent of us, only practise makes perfect.

So I'll carry on trundling around suburban roads, making my miles, practising good riding habits, building my skills, cos I know that all this will stand me in good stead when finally the time comes to head for the Dark Continent...bring it on!!

Jeanie
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  #41  
Old 17 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by Dodger View Post
I have to agree with Mickey D ,I read it as an endorsement to not take training and I thought it was a pretty dumb comment to make to someone starting out .
Or maybe you are Sam Manicom's agent trying to boost sales of the book?:confused1:
Hi Dod, I thought your remarks above were very very mistaken. Plus to talk about "dumb comment" was not the most pleasant thing to say to anyone. You can sicken people from posting if you behave like this. And that's not good.

Your remarks about him being "Sam Manicom's agent" insults not only Sam Manicom, and the HUBB, but the bloke who you already said made "dumb comments".

It's not the right spirit, if you'll take the hint.

Maybe you had an offday or a bad headache, and that happens sometimes.

Good roads anyway!


edited for clarity and brevity
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  #42  
Old 17 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by Caminando View Post
Hi Dod, I thought your remarks above were very very mistaken. Plus to talk about "dumb comment" was not the most pleasant thing to say to anyone. You can sicken people from posting if you behave like this. And that's not good.

Your remarks about him being "Sam Manicom's agent" insults not only Sam Manicom, and the HUBB, but the bloke who you already said made "dumb comments".

It's not the right spirit, if you'll take the hint.

Maybe you had an offday or a bad headache, and that happens sometimes.

Good roads anyway!


edited for clarity and brevity

Denis you have a very strange point of view ,please read Dave's reply and you will realise that the message was received in the spirit that was intended.

Perhaps you are bored or dispirited ,go for a nice bike ride ,it'll pick you up .
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  #43  
Old 17 Aug 2010
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You need to RIDE MORE.

Now, to the OP:Some humble advice coming from my 2 years (and 2 bikes) worth of riding experience is that you may not choose the 'right' bike first time round no matter how much research you do. Also, as you develop your riding skills, it is quite likely that you may find yourself being swayed towards a certain style of riding/bike.

For example, I bought a bandit 600 and envisaged myself going on a path towards streetbike riding. After a while I realised I wanted to do some overlanding too, but I really loved the thrill of going fast. After those two years I knew excactly which bike was perfect for me and went out and bought a ktm 950.

When I bought the bandit (which was actually an engagement present...ohhh) I was convinced that I would have this bike forever, but in reality it was never the 'right' bike.

The upshot of all this BS is buy something cheap, readily available and dont set your heart on finding the right bike straight off. Chances are you'll want something different after a few rides anyway.
Good luck
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  #44  
Old 19 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by garmei View Post
You need to RIDE MORE.
Now, to the OP:Some humble advice coming from my 2 years (and 2 bikes) worth of riding experience is that you may not choose the 'right' bike first time round no matter how much research you do. Also, as you develop your riding skills, it is quite likely that you may find yourself being swayed towards a certain style of riding/bike.
For example, I bought a bandit 600 and envisaged myself going on a path towards streetbike riding. After a while I realised I wanted to do some overlanding too, but I really loved the thrill of going fast. After those two years I knew excactly which bike was perfect for me and went out and bought a ktm 950.
When I bought the bandit (which was actually an engagement present...ohhh) I was convinced that I would have this bike forever, but in reality it was never the 'right' bike.
The upshot of all this BS is buy something cheap, readily available and dont set your heart on finding the right bike straight off. Chances are you'll want something different after a few rides anyway.
Good luck
Well I have to agree with the above I have been riding for years 30+ & my first bike was a BSA & since then over the years my style & types of riding i do has changed, which in turn means my bike had to change.

I am not a off road person but would suggest anything between 250 & up to 650 depending on trip & route will give you a good choice of bike.
the main thing is Practice riding in all weathers I have my IAM ROSPA gold (back flips), but i did them cos i wanted to, I love riding full stop practice makes perfect & no one will ever be perfect at riding, you can have a perfect ride.

Go out get a bike & ride enjoy then when you have enough ££ then decide on bike etc go dooooo it

good luck on your ride
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  #45  
Old 19 Aug 2010
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Almost any bike will sort you out for gaining experience. An electric start XR250 or TTR250 would be cracking bikes to hoon around on and you'll get back roughly what you paid when you come to sell. Or maybe a CB500 or equivalent.

Training is good, no point practicing being bad at something. Even top sportman still have coaching sessions.
"a smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others"

Over the years, I've done a few training days with enduro and MX riders and I learnt a few very useful techniques. Also bloody good fun for not much money.

I also did a Bike Safe day run by the Met Police. Surprisingly useful training in hazzard perception and self preservation and once again, a lot of fun.
This was when I witnessed the worst case of "sorry mate, I didn't see you"; a car pulled out of a side road and T-boned the instructor's Pan European. Yes, It was bright white with dayglow orange bits all over it and the word Police dotted about.

Get your test passed, get out and about and enjoy.
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