I'm not sure yet what I want to use. I am keen on the 125's myself for some reason, but not sure if it is the best choice for this particular trip. At first I thought that a sidecar motorcycle would be best because a friend of mine may come. Then considering their cost and limited availability, an old XT 600 or a tenere seemed like the best option. I ride a 76' XT500 in rough weather, so I'm quite familiar with their many quirks.

I do all my long-distance traveling on a cbr125 which I have come to love. Extremely underpowered but its a fun challenge! I would love to put knobbies on it and ship it over for the rally, but its just too much money and trouble. While I'm used to a 125 on Canadian roads, maybe its not enough power for the Sahara? In most cases, smaller is always better in my opinion, but the desert will be a whole new animal to me!

If I were to buy a bike and license it for 3 months in Germany, what would be the price difference from a 125 to a 600?

Here are some pics showing my current adventure machine. Its doing the exact opposite of what it was designed to do, but it continues to hold up well! From Regina, I have been all through the rocky mountains and through the northern U.S. But school always keeps the trip lengths to a maximum of 2 weeks, which is why I'm taking the whole 4 month semester off next time around!