Paralever vs. Monolever. Oilhead vs Airhead.?

[tmentzelo]

Hi all, this is something that is now driving me bonkers.

I understand that every bike is suited to a different purpose, and that many bikes perform well in some areas, but sacrifice performance in other areas.
However, after spending hours and hours reading posts on BMWs, I can't decide on which type of bike to go for.
I am looking for something that will eat up gravel and dirt like there is no tommorrow.. long term.
So many people tell me no to go for the paralever bikes, as there is rideability and reliability issues with them. Others tell me that the monolever set up is inferior to paralever.
Some people say that the airheads are the way to go. Keeping the cooling system simple is important to me, but the oilheads do not seem to suffer reliability.

If anyone can sway my opinion more in favour of one setup, I will be very gratefull. I'm heading over to Germany in early October to buy a bike (for a Euro-road trip), and if it meets my expectations, I will ship it to Canada to outfit for a North to South America expedition, and hopefully a RTW trip in the near future.

Thank you for your time. If I have failed to find these arguments in other posts, please don't hesitate to redirect my attention there.

-Tommy