Will 250cc do for Africa?
Hello together,
reading around in this forum has been really helpful so far and really enjoyable!
For mid 2011 I plan to start my first ever long distance motorcycle trip. It will cover most of West- and Central Africa. Can’t wait for that to happen and really hope, I get everything together by then as planned, including the $$. My question here is: how much would you value the (light-) weight of a bike for touring on expectedly poor quality dirt roads?
What I've got now is a Suzuki DR-Z 250 which runs just great and I love that bike and can do most of it's maintenance and minor repairs myself. I also know how to handle it on and off-road, with or without luggage. This one only weighs just over 100kg (plain bike weight). In Australian conditions (and with good quality fuel available) I never felt it lacks any power and the local speed limit of 110km/h can be achieved without trouble or vibration or too much noise. Mid 2011 it'll have around 20000km on the clock. I really love my little 250 but am unsure if she's tough enough for a long tour.
As an alternative bike I’d have in mind a Suzuki DR650SE, which you get for around AU$8000 brand new. Plain bike weight of the DR650 is 166kg. I know I would love that bike too.
On the plus side the DR650 would offer more power and since it's new, potentially less repairs. While at the same time maintenance and repairs are very similar to it's little sister, the DR-Z250, so I'd still be confident enough to do most of it myself too. On the minus side there are two big points: an extra AU$8000 on the budget plus an extra 60kg bike weight to carry around.
Many people are obviously happy with the DR650 and it's a proven bike for Africa tours. But, for comparison reasons, is there anybody out there with experience with a 250cc bike for touring? Will the engine most likely survive some 30000km in heat and seriously bad road conditions (after starting with already 20000km on the clock) without a need of rebuilding it? Would you see the need for more power than a 250cc can provide?
Cheers,
Marco
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