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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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  #1  
Old 24 Apr 2008
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unimog escort/drone!

hi people!!
1st post so be gentle please.
i have a 1200gs which was supposed to be the basis of me on a trip.
having since hooked up with one of those lady type people, who strangely wants to come potentially rtw too, trip has changed a wee bit. ie we are now going in a unimog camper
BUT for many reasons such as escape vehicle if mog gets well bogged mid sahara, shopping or sight seeing trips where mog may be a little large, or just riding for a change, i like the idea of hanging a bike on the truck

so i need some offroadability, two up easily, but minimal luggage required, low seat, numpty reliability, light means easy vehicle mounting .

what bike?

c90 may still allow escape on most terrain, or carried/pushed on bad sections. 650gs may be better, but heavy. xr400 (i think? no expert on model numbers) ideal if it could be 2up

cost isnt biggest issue, but cheapness helps with carnet and tokens!

any help gratefully appreciated!!

j
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Old 25 Apr 2008
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I'd get one of the camper van mags and start talking to the advertised suppliers. My dad (currently in Spain , the Lucky whatsit) is the expert, but he looked at hanging bikes on the back and concluded the limit was something like a CG125. Wanting to use the bike for more than a trip to the shops he ended up with a trailer.

Andy
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  #3  
Old 25 Apr 2008
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250cc trail bike WR250R TT250R XL250Degree DR250
all have two up ability have electric start have offroad ability and have decent ignition system for security.
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Home of the UK Coast 2 Coast off-road Challenge
www.C2CChallenge.co.uk www.4X4Safari.co.uk
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  #4  
Old 25 Apr 2008
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I've been trying to find a link to a web site I read recently, but can't. It was about a couple who did the same thing. Eventually the rear of the body/chassis gave then trouble and they had to abandon the idea.
If I find it I'll post it.
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  #5  
Old 25 Apr 2008
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wahaaayyyy!

thought i smelt funny or something, noone was replying, but now three lovely people have!!!!!!!

ta much

the unimog is not a normal type camper. it currently has two spares on the back which i'm told weigh 150 kgs each! they get there with a pulley type arrangement from the top of the roof, from which i could hang a bike

or i could bolt some sort of rack to the front bumper, which would make it more balanced weight wise i think. i did see in a uk 4*4 mag years ago a mog camper with some type of bike plus sidecar attached to the bumper somehow, a roof mounted winch used to get it up!

a bit ott tho

ill look into your suggestions thankyou.

one other thing could be monkey bikes, since these could go inside, and one each would fit in the little "shed" it has. am i right in thinking these were used/considered for army use? would kind of be offroadable with fat tyres? but be a little scary sitting that low in a developing world rush hour!?

or even one of the current crop of cheap imported big kids little scrambler maybe 80cc type things. not sure about reliability tho?!
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  #6  
Old 25 Apr 2008
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If it were me I would go with two C90's, that way she can enjoy riding when you are out cruising around as well. Or like you mentioned two cheap imports, I wouldnt worry too much about quality on those because any third world place can repair those. I think you were on the right track with just mounting them to a rack on the front, easy on easy off, put a cover on them to protect them from the elements and you are good to go. If you make it too much work to take off then you will use them less and less.
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