Sure the KLR is a perfectly OK bike, and cheap. But to buy one so that you have a bike that a street-corner mechanic in "deepest, darkest Africa" can fix is a fantasy.

Several years ago now I rode across Russia with a group of 7-8 people; most on GSs, one on a KTM, and one guy on a GSPD. Guess which one broke down? The GSPD...and after the very-experienced owner spent a few days attempting to diagnose the problem, had new coils shipped to Siberia, etc., it still didn't run, and he had to ship it home from Irkutsk, while the GS/KTM riders rode off into the sunset.

I'm not interested in another "what bike is more reliable" pissing match--all bikes break--but the point is that often when it's broken, its broken, and a well-chosen/prepped modern bike is less likely to break.

Very experienced? Maybe not?

All bikes can and do break. But there is a difference between
a 25 year old GSPD and a well prepped 2 year old GS. Same with a KLR, DR, XR-L or F650. A 20 year old high mileage one IS more likely to break down. A new-ish example ... even though it's an OLD design, will most likely do fine.

OK, chief, whatever you say.

As I thought I made very clear in my post, I'm not arguing about what is more likely or not to break down--I'm saying that if an older bike breaks down, chances are good that a shade-tree mechanic in Russia (much less deepest Africa) won't be able to fix it.

only saying that an air head GS is a fairly simple bike to work on. Can only be a few things. Could be something with diode board or stator ... or broken wire somewhere in the harness, bad switch, faulty ground or intermittent short? Been there, taken apart on the side of the road ... in the dark. Coils rarely fail on air heads.

Oh, crystal clear! But wouldn't it depend on what the fault was on the bike?
One good thing about common, older bikes is sometimes parts are around or can be borrowed from other bikes. If the fault is a relatively simple one ... a local guy might get lucky, no?

If the piston's seized or it's sucked a valve or you've busted the case ... you're done. But sometimes it's just a blocked jet, torn diaphragm, bad switch, shorted wire, crud in fuel, clogged filter,
bad wheel or steering head bearing, broken cable, cracked frame ... sometimes the local guy can help with these minor issues .... Sometimes not.

Early in this thread I posted a pic of a KLR broken in half. Did you know that guy had a local welder in Baja weld up the frame? He put everything back on the bike, rode it back to USA. He then bought a used KLR frame, transferred everything over ... then rode the KLR back to Mexico, continued his trip.

It was a month long interruption ... and cost some money, but the welding was cheap and much cheaper than a truck ride up to the border. (1000 miles)

Some local friends here crossed Russia in a Ural side car rig. It broke down many times and locals always got it going. They were hit (rig mostly destroyed), bought all new parts for like $500, had it rebuilt. The girl is Russian ... lives here in San Fran Bay Area, so language was no problem. They had the ride of a life time, by their account.

From reading Walter's ride reports I got the feeling there are a few decent mechanics in Russia? Dunno. Africa? I think you're on your own there ... but you never know ...

Yes, but it is pretty much the same with modern bikes...

Sure, and maybe a unicorn will show up with whatever parts the locals don't have...

Great story. GuiltyParty did pretty much the same somewhere rather more remote than Baja, with his Triumph 800xc, which I suppose counts as a modern bike: Going Walkabout on an 800xc through Russia & Central Asia...and maybe beyond... - ADVrider

I usually stay out of "my brand of bike is better than yours" conversations, but....

In the 90's I had a R100GSPD, and found it too heavy for what I wanted to do. I decided to buy the best street bike of the Japanese dual sports, which, in my opinion was the KLR. This was in 2001. I have used this bike mainly for trips, I use other bikes for daily transport. Currently, it has about 83,000 miles, maybe 2/3 of those south of the US border in various Latin American countries. It has puked two of the OEM rear shocks, I now have a Progressive brand unit, so far, so good. The only other significant failure was the speedo drive gearbox in the front hub, and a loose baffle in the muffler that restricted airflow (try diagnosing that one). I have done some prophylactic maintenance, like wheel bearings, clutch plates, water pump seals, and the infamous doohickey, but I have never had a serious breakdown on the road. I reshimmed the valves at 8,000 miles, and have checked them several times since then, but never adjusted them.

Does any of this make it a "better" bike than anything else? It all depends on what you want. I ride very conservatively when far from home, so horsepower per cc means nothing to me, and if I need more suspension, then I am going too fast. I understand carburetors, so a fuel system breakdown doesn't hold any terror for me. If I understood EFI better, maybe I would prefer that.

I am curious what kind of longevity people are getting on the more high strung bikes, KTM 690 enduro and the like. I know someone with a CBR1000R who has 100,000 miles, and the engine has never been apart, so I suspect it can be done.

The KLR has been a good choice for me. Knowing what I know now, I might have chosen a XR650L, just because there are so many more Honda dealers in Latin America.

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america

so with far less experience in RTW'ing than many of you, i'm still gonna chime in here with what i have observed in 30 years of riding all manner of beasts.

simple = better.

electronics are fantastic until they take a shit.

i have two fairly simple bikes, a dr650 and a dl1000. both ARE bulletproof, until they are not. but there is no doubt amongst those that know these bikes: the dr650 is light years easier to diagnose and likely cheaper to fix.

the dl1000 is fairly reliable as big efi bikes go. it has it's known issues and those have fixes. but every once in a while, one pops up with a problem that confounds the "experts"--the dealers, those that truly know the machine, and the masses that have ridden it for many years. sure, all of them get fixed eventually, but at what cost? after how long?

compare to the mighty dr. old skewl, carbed, thumper with just about no electronics (does the cdi count as electronics?). no ecu. no fidigity, persnickety efi. no fancy anything. when they breakdown it's a matter of usually one of two things: carb/fuel issue (as in that damn in-line fuel filter), or the stator. no water pump issues. no ecu issues. dead basic. dead simple. and dead cheap.

if someone freighted a dr??? out of mongolia because of a broken carb needle, well, i dunno what to say, except maybe they shouldda taken a basic moto mechanics class before riding off into the nether-lands.

old and basic, but they are also tried and true.

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'07 DL1000 '08 DR650