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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.
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  #1  
Old 2 Nov 2007
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Wink Bike with a budget
A good friend ( non english speaker)of mine is looking to travel arround Africa and also SA , that will be is first long motorcycle trip when he ask me wich bike to pick for a trip two up and a mid budget ($12000 max fully equipped) I advised him to pick between few model model. ( he is 6F tall,190 pound, wife is rather small ,no clue about mechanic).
1)KLR650 -(+) cheap , easy on and off road,tons of part, easy to fix
(-) maybe not confortable for pillon,slow on HWY

2)DR650- (same as KLR650 with less parts )

3)Vstroom- (+)Molly like it, great review,tons of power,modern bike,confort for pillon++ ,lot of accessorie,fast on HWY,solid engine.
(-)not sure about it Off road,lot off electronic ,injection.

4)BMW650-(+) great bike all arround , ton of accessories,ABS
(-)very expensive ,lot off electronic ,injection, no sure about confort for pillon

The bike need to be available in the US as he will buy it within two weeks and should leave from here for the hollydays.
He will prefere to buy new rather than a bigger older bike ?,his biggest fear is problem that he cannot fix on the road and confort for the pillon.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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any comments
What is going on guys ????, the question is too boring or what , so far I had one private email from one rider selling his DR650 fully equiped because he cannot finance his trip.
My choice will be the KLR because I never try the DR or the DL but other opinion will be welcome.
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  #3  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Buy a bike in SA and save money
Why not buy the bike locally and save some cash. I remeber reading about a great trip using 2 Suzuki TL185's. These small bikes are fully equiped with racks and bashplates, engine gaurds the lot. Also the locals know how to fix them.
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  #4  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Smile Suzuki Bikes
Sorry I dont think they make the 185 cc anymore. But they do have a
TF 125. Small light cheap
DR 200 Bit bigger
DR 650 Full on do anything.
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  #5  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HendiKaf View Post
What is going on guys ????, the question is too boring or what , so far I had one private email from one rider selling his DR650 fully equiped because he cannot finance his trip.
My choice will be the KLR because I never try the DR or the DL but other opinion will be welcome.
Patience HendiKaf, you asked the question just 18 hours ago!

Actually, you have covered the US market pretty well from what I have read about it in here - and it has been written up plenty of times, which I am sure you know.
But the biggest factor is the two weeks limitation; it will be a case of what is available now to buy and not so much "what would he like to wait and see if it is on sale".
And, if you mean that he is setting off at that point on his RTW, then two weeks is not a deal of time to sort out the paperwork, never mind buy the bike.
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  #6  
Old 3 Nov 2007
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Bike choice
Sorry for the impatience, this not for me but for my friend he is so excited that I can't wait to see him getting his bike and start preparing and testing it. The problem within the bike choice is that they will be two up so to my modest opinion anything smaller than a 650 will not be very confortable for such a long trip, second issue is the mechanic , I told him that most the time the electronic doesn't fail (DL650) but if it does or if the injection fail in the middle of nowhere , what do you do??.The bike have to be bought in the US as he will start from here and want to ship it back here after his trip.
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Old 3 Nov 2007
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Two up is a different ballgame!
Now here's a quick two cents worth: of your list, the only bike for two is the WeeStrom - just compare the saddles!
It has been said in lots of other threads that if the passenger is not happy then he/she is going to make sure that the rider is also not happy.

For ideas, take a look at posts made by "Pecha72" - he is travelling now with a DL650.

Cheers,
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  #8  
Old 4 Nov 2007
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I have a F650GS and like it very much but for two up, I think I would should the V-Strom too.
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