Oldtimer:

I just read your last post (above) and your reference to travelling to Iran.

Although I really like my ST1100, and have travelled quite a bit through lesser developed countries (Poland, former Yugoslavia, etc.) on it, I don't think I would ever consider riding it in areas like the Middle East or rural Asia. It's a big, heavy bike - once it starts to tip, so long, it's gone, you can't stop it. It's also not well suited to off-pavement use - hard packed dirt is OK, but wet mud or sand is just plain suicide. Plus, you would have no hope at all of finding any kind of parts for a ST1100 outside of Western Europe. Heck, I rode through Portugal last year, went into a fairly large Honda dealer, and they had never seen one before!

I think for a RTW trip, or even a half-RTW (UK to Asia), I would choose a much lighter bike, probably one of those BMW things with the two-cylinder engine - the ones with one cylinder sticking out each side. That design has been around since the old King died, and you probably would not have as much of a problem getting parts for them. Heck, it's sometimes hard to find tires for a ST1100 in major cities, because they use an uncommon tire size.

Plus, with a simpler, much lighter bike, you wouldn't have to worry about taking all that "Tupperware" (the fairings) off whenever you wanted to service the bike.

I know there are people who have done RTW's on big Harley dressers in the past - but they have also had deep, deep pockets.

PanEuropean

[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 17 February 2004).]