O.K. I know it`s a crazy question, but I thought I`d ask it anyway! I have an 08 1200Gs and am thinking of doing the PanAm next year and am really confused by people`s thoughts on the best bike to do it on. I`ve been told my bike is not a good idea (if it has a fault I could be 2000 miles from a diagnostic computer!) Do I risk it or buy an older more "mechanical" bike which is easier to fix (not that I`m very good at that anyway!)

Any thoughts would be welcome!

Best bike. This topic is posed a few times a year. And it has same response every time, there is no best bike.

A BMW R1200GS is a grate bike for what it is made for. That it looking nice on the sales floor and get people to buy them. Saying that people ride them all around the world. It is the "go to" adventure bike with more than enof power for any road in the world. There big and powerful testosterone driven monsters. 2 up there hard to beat so I am told.

On the down side there big and powerful. Too top heavy use too much gas. Have final drives that are known to brake and even burn. A pain to pick up after you drop it. There price is nothing to over look. There built for the EU and US market not to ridden around the world. (no bike is)

But it will be fine to take on that trip people do it all the time. It may brake down and need to flown to the US or to South America but any bike that you can not fix and can not get a local repair shop to fix it.(I have never read or seen such a thing but it can happen) You are going to need to fly it to South America any way.

If you wanting to get a bike I think is better for the trip many of the 650ish bike look the stuff. KLR DR DL to name a few. A wise man told me once Never ship a dike you can not afford to lose. Not his exact words but Dr. Gregory Frazier said that. Good idea. Another thing you may want to consider is you do not really need any thing over 250cc less if do not mind the slow lane or miss the fast highways. Getting it on this side of the pond may save you a fair bit.

With the savings from shipping, gas, parts and labor, outfitting, and use on your GS. You can spend more time on the trip and not consern your self shipping GS 2000 miles gust to get it looked at.

XT660X
KLR650
DR650
GS650 (single)

In my personal order of preference for when I go...the exact model will depend on in which country I am living when I start (the yamaha and suzuki is not available in north america and the kawaski and bmw is not avaiable in europe).

sherlock

The best bike is the one you know and understand. The BM 1200's are heavy complex pigs, but better to go with a bike you've got got a couple of thousand miles on than somebody elses lash up you got off e-bay last week.

You don't mention your budget or experience. The 1200 isn't right on paper (what bike is), but if you havn't the time and budget to get a smaller bike and get some practice runs in, the 1200 is going to look better by the minute when all you need to do is sort it's tyres and buy in a few spares.

Andy

Thanks for the input folks! I`m coming to the conclusion that I should sell the 1200 and buy an 1150 or 650 GS and then go on a motorcycle maintenance course and learn to fix it if it goes wrong!