Just wondering what real RTW riders do? Do you go for the goretex (or similar) lined jacket for waterproofing, or do you wear a non-waterproof jacket and pack a separate plastic waterproof overjacket?

I've not done an RTW trip, but I have done a fair amount of touring over the past few years, and I think either solution has its pros and cons. I could probably list 20 pros and cons for each, but here are the two biggest pros in my opinion...

Goretex - saves you from stop/start rain. Consistently wet riding days and consistently dry riding days are easy to prepare for... but in reality, what you get most often is rain that comes and goes every 20 minutes. In a hot climate, that can be pretty horrible as pulling over every 20 minutes to pull on or remove hot, sticky, plastic waterproofs isn't much fun. What seems to happen most often is that you time it badly, assume the rain is only going to last 5 minutes, and then by the time you realize it's going to continue you're already soaked through. With a Goretex jacket, you're already wearing your waterproofs... just reach down to zip up any vents you've got open, and job done.

Waterproof oversuit - one big big advantage here: as your riding jacket no longer has to be waterproof, it can be a mesh airflow jacket. This helps keep you comfortable on very hot days. Ultimately, no matter how good the vents on your Goretex jacket are, they're not going to flow air like a jacket where most of the construction is mesh.

For that reason, I tend to go with the mesh jacket + waterproof oversuit combo as my theory is this (coupled with a few thermal layers) gives me the greatest range of temperatures I can comfortably ride in. Then I just live with the annoyance of repeatedly pulling over to pull waterproofs on and off in stop/start rain.

But I was just wondering what other riders who have done big RTW trips think is best? I suppose the other thing to consider with RTW trips is that showing up in an African village in a tatty mesh jacket and kevlar jeans makes you look less like you've just landed from Mars than showing up in a big silver Goretex Klim/Rukka/BMW adventure suit!