Sell 3 good bikes - for one stinker?
 

In my garage/on Ebay at the moment, I have an 05 Ninja, an 02 DRZ, and an 02 XT prepped to the eyeballs. As well as a dog of a 106.

I can realistically get £7000 for the 3 bikes, and about 50 pence for the car, which is an awful lot of world tourage paid for. The only problem is if I sell all of them I would be walking -and this would take a long while RTW.

So....I keep looking at C90s, of which there are dozens available for way under a grand.

I keep looking at JoeC90s' pics and posts, and thinking how plucky and brave the little Honda looks. Am I working on the typical Brit 'support the underdog policy?' Or just sheer bloody minded nostalgia?

My big question though - It is an obvious money saver to buy the bike itself - BUT - does the meagre fuel consumption equal less road costs? Or does the time lost as a reuslt of the slothlike cruising speed negate this?

I love the idea of a bike having no consumables that cost more than the loose change you tip out of your jacket, and one that can be carried by a small girl if it refuses to start. From my limited travel experience, I also know that there are more shitty mopeds in the world than people, so it might be easier to integrate with locals in less affluent parts of the globe?

Ideas? Condemnations? Wake-up calls? Offers on a Dave Lambeth prepped 2002 XT with Touratech luggage and an Acerbis tank? Anyone want to nick their grans C90 for me?

Thanks

Happy Riding

Joel

If you want to go completely bonkers, what about this:

BSA ARIEL 3 TRIKE SCOOTER on eBay, also, BSA, Motorcycles Scooters, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 18-Apr-08 14:52:02 BST)

Personally, I'd feel very vunerable on a C90 but I might consider a trip on a basic 125 or 200, still cheap, good fuel consumption, little extra power and carrying ability, aren't Honda CG125s made all over the world now?

Thinking sideways for a second, why not do the Mongol Rally in the 106? That'd be mad enough.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Woh, that is one of the single most repulsive things I have ever seen! It makes Kerry Katona look positively paletable. It also has too many wheels for my liking. I've never seen the point of a trike - all the worst bits of a bike, and all the worst bits of a car, without any of the good bits of either?

The CG125 had also factored in my wonderings, but it doesn't have the pull of the Cub for me. It also seems to hold its value quite well, I couldn't find any decent ones that were cheap enough to make their godugly design half attractive. The extra horsepower would definitely be a boon, I haven't been on a 125 for years, and I have never had a moped, so maybe I need to get on one to re-tint my rosey specs.

The Mongol rally in the 106? The 'getting to the post office' rally is adventure enough in that beast. I let the neon turquoise go faster stripes, pink and orange upholstery, and 'Mardi Gras' moniker blind me to its innate shitness. 500 bucks, it runs on nothing but love and it only steers slightly to the left. Anyone for a sale? Haha.

Joel

character...
 

I think it would really depend on your character as regards the C90.... personally i wouldnt enjoy the proposition for several reasons... firstly i enjoy alot of the actual riding during overland trips, thats one of the big reasons why i do it! and secondly it opens up all sorts of logistical probs that would get on my nerves (although i hugely admire the people that do use them for travelling) the likes of which would be, lack of speed and therefore distance you can cover when you need to and amount of stuff you can carry with you.

The big advantages of one would be availabity of spares (in alot of places anyway) and maybe more empathy with the locals... but surely... if you have a good well prepped XT that you know... isnt this the obvious choice, you have it already??

Regardless, i am sure you would enjoy a trip on either, best of luck.

William

Joel - I'm interested in your XT, can you give me a few more details as to what's been done to it?
How much are you asking for it?

Thanks

David

Go the C90, you good thing!

Regards

Nigel in NZ

'Go the C90, you good thing!'

I like that, with a moped you have to f**k the reasoning and go with undistilled enthusiasm. Simple, yet elegantly put.

As for the XT, I only put it in my sign off as a throwaway bit of nonsense, but if the right offer comes along I could be persuaded to part. It has had everything you could think of done to it.

Touratech boxes/rack
Bashguard
Acerbis tank
Brushguards
All bolts replaced with less cheesy ones
Springs replaced with stronger ones
Engine guards
18 inch rear tyre (both tyres almost new Michelin Deserts)
Hardcore tubes
Renthal bars
Scottoiler
Stainless pipes
Alu rims
Stainless spokes

11000 miles, two previous owners. Thud thud thud thud thud. Lovely.

If it were a car, and I were a chav, I would describe it as 'maxxed.'

And I am considering a C90....

Joel

LOL, I think I'd rather ride the Ariel that Kerry Katona.

I tend to agree with ktmwill - the lack of speed when you might need it to cover distance - rainstorm, undesirables, Kerry chasing you with a lustful glint in her eye, paring down your kit so you don't overload the bike, and so on, could be frustrating.

Plus have you factored in maybe paying more for lightweight kit like a stove, sleeping bag and tent than just settling for Millett's own which would negate the cheapness of the actual bike.

A few other suggestions: A few years ago, Bike had a journo who flew out to India and hired a bike for several months, a 125 I think, and went all over on it.

Or if it's not important to do everything on one bike, why don't you fly out where you want to go and buy local, then you're bound to be on whatever the locals are using.

Anyway, I'm just an old softy, last trip I took was in a car (and it was only Scotland).

Make mine a small one...
 

Yeah, you are right, because on the face of it, that's what you need for a moped. But there are some very good reasons to moped it too.

I learnt my biggest travelling lesson from a young 21 year old German guy who had spent 18 months riding to NZ overland through Asia. Oliver Cams stayed with me for about a week, and just said one morning "I think I'll move on today". That's the way he travelled. About 2 months later he was back, accepting the open invitation I had given him. I asked him where he stopped that first night after leaving my place.

His answer? "Loburn. I stayed there two days". I know that means nothing to you but it's about 30km from my house.

"But why did you only go 30km?" I asked in a puzzled voice.

"But it was a really nice place!" he answered in an equally puzzled voice.

And he was right. The river that runs through Loburn is very pretty and I have stopped there myself for a coffee under the willows many times since.

To me, travelling is about the experience, not the distance. In 100km of travel, you can go past 5 places worth stopping for. I know from experience that you are more likely to stop and smell the roses when you are riding a small bike, because:
1) You don't have to concentrate even a 1/3 as much at 70km/hr as you do at 110km/hr so you can afford the time to look about a bit.
2) At low speeds, everyone is more inclined to stop rather than say to themselves "Next time"
3) You can literally differentiate the smell of the roses from the other smells at slow speeds!

5 hours averaging 70km/hr is 350km per day.In many countries that's an ambitious target on ANY bike. Most long distance travellers would be lucky to average that over their trip. Sure, the guy on the 650 KTM have done that 350km in an hour less than you, but you will have a less stressful time, and so probably won't be any more tired.

And it goes without saying that the costs of buying and riding a small bike are much less so your savings go further, and dare I say it, your impact on the environment is less. This applies to your impact on the social environment too.

I'm the first to admit that riding a powerful bike is fun, and I keep several bikes just for that. I even race a couple of bike regularly and with some success (NZ South Island champ in one class two years ago), but for a travelling bike, mine's a little 'un.

Of course I'm not everyone.....but like I said, there ARE good reasons to ride a small bike too.


Regards

Nigel in NZ

. America, bikes are more money. But I've heard 125 Honda's are reasonably priced in Brazil. (they are made there).

Get any bike and take a ride. Bikes come and go. I'm up for about 50 at this point. If you don't like one, sell it off and get another.