I recently sold an old '89 DR600 and now have an '04 TTR 600 RE Yam. The Suzuki was a much tougher bike, all round!

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...a/DEC08007.jpg

My TTR is a good old lump, and I am currently having a great laff on it. The reason I got the TTR is that its a lot of bike for not much ££££'s. I paid £1900 for mine, second owner, 4000 miles, new tyres & MOT. I've started "modding" it now though.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...wakz1a/TTR.jpg

Its also a nice basic air cooled motor (same as the early 90's XT600) so easy to fix.

Gissa shout when you're on the road & we can meet in Salisbury (halfway) and do some of the Tank Tracks !!!

Im getting spoilt for choice..........thanks for the responces.........would love to meet up pigford and do some lanes but im afraid in a few weeks or so im moveing up to Scotland:scooter:So it,ll be a long way to go for a days laneing.....but when im visiting family and i come down on the bike i,ll be sure to take you up on that offer......before we lose all the lanes...:(

http://img7.travelblog.org/Photos/11...n-Desert-0.jpg

I know it isn't a 'typical' adventure bike, but I cannot recommend the Honda CG125 highly enough. In my opinion it was perfect for Africa, and I wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere.

You can get a good one with a lot of change left from 500 quid, it is childs' play to fix, it is bulletproof, it doesn't attract as much attention as bigger bikes, it is difficult to crash, but easy to lift if you do. It's frugal (120mpg), and will run on anything, it is good for shorties, but spacey enough for my 6 foot frame. It's perfect.

Birdy

Love it.....think in todays world with all the techno and keeping up with the joneses we do lose sight of how much fun you can have on something like that....:thumbup1:whats the top speed fully loaded?????and how would it fare climbing at altitude?

Hi Birdy,
the bike is only a tool, and the trip itself what its all about, good on you,
cheers Michael

The little Honda would be a great choice, as spares are so eadily available, not that you'd ever need any!!!!

The top speed, is around, *cough*50Mph*cough. That is downhill with a backwind. The altitude knocks a fair bit out of it, especially if the road is steep. There were points in Ethiopia where we found ourself cruising at less than 10mph up hill, in first gear, overheating reguarly and having to stop.

There wasn't one place we managed to find in Africa where consumables weren't available within a days ride. As for major breakdowns, they can pretty much all be fixed with a hammer. The only actual work we needed was a new rear hub and bearing assembly. The bearing went, and we kept on riding until the heat fused the bearings and melted the hub. We didn't have to buy a new one, we just got it fixed by a guy with a welder for a silly small amount of cash.

Simon Gandolfini also used one of the newer CGs, which are almost as cheap and probably even better for the task.

Birdy

I started overlanding on a R1150GS, on which my girlfriend and I clocked up 7500 miles in Argentina and Chile: mostly road, but some gnarly tracks and dirt roads too (especially to an off-road novice as I was and still am, really...).

That got written off in a prang and I got a little Honda XR 400R. I thought this perfect overlander, albeit only fit for one person (I now have a sidecar outift for trips with my girlfriend: more stalbe and can carry our dogs too). Light, relialbe, excellent off-road and punchy enough for tarmac, but for me, it really was not the best choice: prohibitive service intervals and a seat designed by the Spanish Inquisition.

I now have a Honda Transalp 600. Nowhere near as good off-road as the XR, not as light, but doubltess capable of getting me to my destination at the other end of a stony mountain pass. For me it seems a great choice: my first full day's ride was 1000km and I was not overly tired and i was still able to walk....

My point is this: Once you've decided on the type of trip, distances and terrain you are likely to spend most of you time on, then you can narrow your choice of bike, but in my experience, comfort is paramount.

No matter how competent a bike is off-road, on-road, wherever, if you are not comfortable your enjoyment of the trip and your willingness to be diverted to this spot or that will be grealy affected. IMO, road handlung is secondary: as long as the bike has some off-road pretentions you should be fine: after all it is not a race:it's a trip, so cutting edge enduro is probably overkill for most of us.

HTH

Have my eye on a XL 600 L Honda if im correct?????and intend to ,,,If i win......Strip the whole bike and engine to learn inside out.....I had to decide on one bike as it was just driveing me insane with all the choice....