Hi all,

Rather major decision here that I politely request your help with.

My girlfriend and I are planning a RTW trip at very short notice. Due to international disruptions, whether and previous destinations that we have already seen we are taking a bit of an unorthodox route.

I have 13 years of riding experience from commuting, touring, track racing in Super sport races to motocross races and enduro riding but could definatly do with any tips from previous experiences.

The route in short is basically;
Uk to USA by freight.
New York, Down the eastern coast to Florida, across the southern and central states, Nevada and Texas, to the West Coast, up to Portland and into Canada. Maybe divert to Alaska and then through southern Canada, Calgary to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Maine and back to NY.

Then we will meet the bike back at UK and proceed through
France, Swiss, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Czech Rep, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China ( Visa permitting ), Nepal, India, Bangladesh ,Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and back to Australia, then think about never coming back.

Now with America, Europe and most other places, with enough money to buy 2 bikes in succestion, I would easily settle with a nice big, comfy tourer by Honda or BMW and buy another trail/adventure bike when hitting Asia, however I am not Donald Trump so I need to pick a bike that will do the business not only with Emma as pillion, but handle the gear and the terrain that ‘off piste’ adventuring allows.

I have done some research and there are a few questions I could do with some insider’s knowledge on;

1 – Big or small. Is a smaller bike capable of what I’m intending to do? I back up the idea that more is always better and will run the engine under less strain if a bigger engine is the choice. We are talking 600-800 or a more preferable 1000-1200cc.

2 – I understand that Honda’s can be fixed by anyone, anywhere, anytime so this is obviously a benefit. I have had a few Honda’s and as everyone knows they are solid, probably only bettered by BMW, however how do the other manufactures get on?

3 – The big one. BWW, BMW, BMW (GS1100 etc….. I can afford one, I’d like one, however they are £2-4000 more than other makes, they can’t be fixed as easily and are expensive if anything goes on it.

Fuel tank size and MPG is another obvious big one with 100's between fuel stops.

Any experience or advice is warmly welcomed.

Thanks

Rob