well if the question is 'how did you decide' rather than 'what would you ride' I'll chip in two cents.....

First big trip I knew naff all about bikes, so I picked up a copy of 'biketrader' and looked for something suitable looking for around 2 grand. I ended up with a Cagiva Elefant. Too big for a solo short-arse, too unreliable for a long trip with a mechanically incompetent rider. It was awesome.

Second trip I had no money and wanted something funny. As I was working delivering pizza I got an old pizza bike for 200 quid. It was awesome.

This trip I wanted something visceral and old-school. I built a Metisse. It breaks down all the time, goes through chains like nothing else but makes me laugh everytime I kick it over. We are having a great time!

Whatever you choose you will have a great time, and there's no point regretting your choice as long as it was YOUR choice, just get on with it!

For early trips I chose a certain brand based on it's reputation, the fact it was in Chris Scotts book and because I could buy all the bits I just knew I needed via mail order.

Next I went with a Triumph Bonneville and an Enfield because they lacked the exact technology that I couldn't handle myself on the first bike. I'd learned to do without a lot of the mail order bits and but still made a few.

I now ride a Weestrom because the performance is pretty much OK as delivered. I'm concentrating on buying petrol not shiney bits of aluminium or a warm corporate feeling or taking the thing to bits to try and make it perfect. The Wee is an overweight cheapo bike with poor suspension or a decent ranged, efficient, reliable, do-anything type depending how you look at it.

My next bike will be a decision between my urge to just put the keys in and ride (Gleestrom or CB500X) or my desire for something a little more involving (Enfield Bullet or a real Britbike classic). If my aim was serious long term travel, free of annual inspections and time constraints I'd get a 125.

When I started I would indeed spend hours worrying that bike A had a 19 litre tank but a 19-inch front wheel while bike B was 21-inch but only 12 litres. I hope I'm over that and will work round whatever I decide to do with the bike I bought months before. When you find yourself a thousand miles from home with a 40 mph bike, or trying to get a ton of 1200cc behemoth through waist deep mud the temptation is to try and buy a teleporter. I think experience shows that giving in to this just changes what you can do easily.

Andy

Love it.

Ride what puts a smile on your face - the rest doesn't matter.

Then get a Yamaha XT660Z - brilliant overland bike.