Which Bike to take overlanding on the back of a unimog?
 

Hi There,

I am really hoping i can recruit some experience here to help choose my first bike in preparation for a trip. I am trying to pass my direct access course whereafter i will be using the bike to commute around london. This, however, is all in preparation for a 2 year trip up west africa and south america we are planning.

We are going in a unimog (large 4x4) but after a recent trip i realised what a pain it is to be dependant on a tractor to get you in and out of town and to do small day trips.
It proved great at doing the long distance stuff and carry my cold cheese and beers but otherwise we really need to try and carry a bike on the back.

Please could you help me choose the best bike for the job??
It needs to carry 2 with some supplies/luggage comfortably on day trips, cope with the conditions, be servicable by myself and have spares available but be light enough to be able to strap to the arse of a 4x4.

Finally, is anyone aware of a good system for strapping bikes onto the back of a vehicle.

Sorry for the long message. Any help appreciated.

regards

Serow 225. It has a smaller frame but pretty much same umph as a trail 250 so small and light so easy to load up onto the truck yet capable of doing short trips around town. Also nothing beats a small capacity bike as a commuter in London traffic.

Spotted some recently on this website: Home

Ah...just reread your posting: two up will be a bit of a squeeze. Maybe Honda NX400 Falcon. All depends on how far your day trip will take you.

andy
 

Admittedly I'm biased, but you cant go wrong with venerable c90, slow 2 up admittedly, but wont go wrong, just put heavy duty suspension units of a cg125 on.
to mount on the back of a vehicle, make an adaptor plate that sits under the footrests on the engine case.
A c90 has relatively narrow bars which also may help.

I would probably suggest a Honda XR/XL250 or XR400.

Whilst these are a little small for an overland trip, they would make a good day bike in the city, and can also be wheeled out for fun playing in the dunes or off-road. Both are also (just) large enough for two-up and are reliable and also easily maintainable.

Whilst you could go for a more focused 4-stroke enduro bike, this would mean greater maintenance and more hassle. After all, there are very good reasons why the hire bikes of choice in many second world countries (ie SE Asia and South America) is the venerable Honda 250!

As for mounting kits, I have only seen it down twice and both were German overlanders, so i suggest you search some German unimog sites. Both times, it was a "crane" type arm that was used to raise and lower the bike from the ground.

MY first thought was Honda CT110. Can you get those in the UK? The Serow was good enough to take Lois right through the Americas so that's one for the short list as Bossies said. Weight is probably as important as anything. Not just for getting it into whatever frame you end up with, but how the mounting system handles the rough roads. More weight=more stress on structures. For the occasional day trips etc, you won't need a big bike or lots of space.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

Hi There,

I have a 250cc Serow and love it. Fully fuelled and with a fair few bits of extra kit she weighs in at 129kg, easily loaded on the back of a Unimog, great fun, cheap to run, an ideal partner for the big truck.

I remember seeing a mega piece of German kit in Estonia that had a crane on the back and racks for 2 yes TWO R1150GSA's!

Many thanks for your comments. All very helpful.
regards

Suzuki DR200SE
Tough little bike, probably on par with the Serow in many ways, slightly more power.
Quite small for 2 but if you want some DS capability combined with reasonable passenger facilities you will have to go as big as a KLR650.
A big plus of the DR is the very low weight of 108kg.

Hi there,
I can understand the desire to carry a bike with you but really I'd advise some caution and put to you that the best way to get around town might be a bicycle - way cheaper and no paperwork hassles... On this trip I met a couple who carried a quad with their lorry and it gave them lots of trouble and was never used. For starts it needed a crane to lower it, just as you would with a bike. It came loose on corrugated roads and got damaged - you could face the same hassles with a motorcycle. Then the daddy of all hassles was that both the lorry and the quad were registered in the same person's name and they passed theough Egypt which has a ruling that only one vehicle registered in the same person's name can enter the country at one time. Despite it having a carnet they had to put up a deposit on the border (800% of the quad's value) and then have the headache of retrieving the cash at the border they left from.
By all means take a motorcycle but just bear the above in mind and think about how much it might cost and how much you might use it before spending out on a motorcycle rather than a mountain bike.
Hope that's food for thought. Enjoy the trip.
Cheers
Richard

Ah Unimog, my favourite truck! Four years experience driving them in the NZ Army and (if I had the cash) always my dream of owning one for myself and afford to take it RTW.

Sounds like a fantastic trip in the works!

Need another driver? :thumbup1:


Cheers,
Dave

Unimog add-on
 

For a quick city visit from the base Unimog, I would strap on a xl 250cc or a sherpa 250cc.:mchappy: