Riding 600cc and smaller around the world

[Lowrider1263]

I've read so many stories how riders decide on what size bike they need to do that big adventure, it's down to choice, where you intend to go, I keep reading I will need to site on a motorway for my first stretch so I'll need a decent size engine but then when I get there I need it to go off road.
Decisions are based on the first leg, I've used a big trailie like a bmw 1150 gs to do some fantastic trips, I did a tour last your halve way though my trip I did a 36 hour enduro on the big trailie then continued touring, hard work but that's the way I wanted to do it,
What I've found traveling on big bikes each leg of the journey becomes a way of getting a to b
Using a 600 seems to put me in a different frame of mind, it's not a case of when I get there, how, I don't want to travel on highways to much, I'm looking for picture post card routes, when the road runs out I'm glad I decided to take my 600.

[ta-rider]

I used a 600cc Transalp to ride around Africa. It was the right choice. There is no need for a bigger bike anywere but in third world countrys it is importend to ride a bike wich is easy to repair (no computer stuff) and has a easy to welde steal frame etc.
To ride around South America i bought a 125cc bike. This was perfect too because most of the people there ride this type of bike so spare parts are easy to get if needet and you dont look like money on legs but become easy contact with the local people if you ride the same bike they own.
Also in Asia the 125 bikes were the right choice. Cheap to rent (5$ day), easy to repair and easy to ride offroad with :-)

[xfiltrate]

Don't know about around the world but we have ridden most of South America, Europe and Turkey. In Europe it seems size matters, the fasionistas who wear BMWs latest touring outfits and ride a couple hundred k before going home and then going out for tapas at a local bar, ride big bikes, really big bikes and I can't figure out why ....

We bought 2 new BMW G650Gs in Spain for the price of one big BMW and rode them from Spain to Turkey and back and look forward to doing it again on the same bikes in the near future. There are BMW dealers everywhere in Europe, and in Istanbul, and BMW does honor their warrantees - including overnight hotel stays if needed. Through western Europe, the Balkans Greece and Turkey our 650s were the perfect size and motion.

On the other hand, the great distance between BMW/etc dealers in South America is a problem and riding a BMWs announces your wealth especially if you are riding foreign plates....and if you really want to do the back roads Hondas like our NX400 Falcons are the way to go. Our Hondas were manufactured in Brazil and parts are easy to secure in country, whatever South American country, so yo don't have to deal with sourcing problems and customs if parts have to be shipped. We rode 55,000 K with no mechanical problems worth noting.

Enjoy the photos of our bikes - we are currently at our ranch in Flagstaff, Arizona on Route 66 (You"ll come) and 9 out of 10 bikes passing by here are Harleys - who would have guessed? Hunter S Thompson the famous author and journalist with SA experience would have.....

xfiltrate & rosa del desierto Eat, Drink, and ...

[backofbeyond]

If I had to choose one bike for solo travel it would probably be a 600. This year I've travelled on a 125 (UK to Italy), 600 singles ( UK on my CCM and east coast US on a KLR) and I'm currently on the west coast of the U.S. on an uber cruiser (1800 GoldWing). Each of them has good and bad points but the 600s are probably the least worst - for solo travel anyway.

Xfiltrate - anywhere I should see in Flagstaff? I'll be there tomorrow if I can survive I40 from Gallup.

[xfiltrate]

backofbeyond, I am sure you have survived your ride from Gallup..... I just sent you a private message with my telephone # at our ranch in Flagstaff Give us a call hopefully we can meet.

xfiltrate....

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by xfiltrate

Enjoy the photos of our bikes - we are currently at our ranch in Flagstaff, Arizona on Route 66 (You"ll come) and 9 out of 10 bikes passing by here are Harleys - who would have guessed? Hunter S Thompson the famous author and journalist with SA experience would have.....

xfiltrate & rosa del desierto Eat, Drink, and ...

I wish Honda produced the 400 Falcon for sale in USA. Great bikes, a nice compromise, great S. America bike. I owned a street legal XR400, also good but lacked street legal amenities of the Falcon.

Hunter S loved anything with crazy power! I hung out with him on a movie set some years ago ... he wanted to ride my then ZX-10 Ninja. Since he was already half drunk (at 10 am) I declined his request.
But his depth of knowledge about all things bikes was surprising.
What a character.

So true about the ALL Harley parade throughout the Southwest in Summer.

I see more and more riders shifting to smaller CC bikes. Lots of good 250's doing RTW. If you want to explore off the beaten path ... lighter is better, IMHO.

Originally Posted by backofbeyond

If I had to choose one bike for solo travel it would probably be a 600. This year I've travelled on a 125 (UK to Italy), 600 singles ( UK on my CCM and east coast US on a KLR) and I'm currently on the west coast of the U.S. on an uber cruiser (1800 GoldWing). Each of them has good and bad points but the 600s are probably the least worst - for solo travel anyway.

Xfiltrate - anywhere I should see in Flagstaff? I'll be there tomorrow if I can survive I40 from Gallup.

Even though I love the new 250's for now I will also stick with a 600. (650 actually) My DR650 splits the difference nicely between the big bike comfort/speed and little bike off road ability/fun. At just 324 lbs. dry the DR is quite a bit lighter than the KLR ... and "FEELS" much lighter when off road. It's also strong, fast and reliable.

Fuel economy is only weakness and here the 250's rule. Also, I'm recently intrigued by the Honda CB500X ... fitted with
Jmo's Rally kit. Good potential for a versatile travel bike at reasonable cost. My DR650 is at 65,000 miles now so looking for replacement. Another DR?
Honda? Some 250? Dunno!

[xfiltrate]

Rancho Los Rosales
Route 66
Flagstaff, Arizona

Mollydog, well, my friend need I tell you that you certainly rev up my RMPs
with your meeting and knowledge of Hunter S. Thompson, creator of Gonzo journalism, world correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine and South American correspondent for The Nation, friend of several U S Presidents and many notable author's and journalists of the 60s and 70s.... and author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" etc etc etc

Molleydog Was it on the set of his book made movie "Hells Angels" that you met him?

Although tempted to begin Q & A about Hunter here and now, it would be better for us to meet on the thread entitled "poets without borders" here in the HUBB PUB so I don't completely take over this thread and then get in trouble once again with the censors and loose my opportunity for an honorable discharge.

Hunter got in trouble or was falsely accused of getting into trouble as a teenagers and was given the choice by the court to join the military - where the judge said he would be "straightened out" or go to jail.

He opted for the Air Force and after scoring incredibly high on whatever test thrown at him was selected for "radio school" yep right...... anyway, he was smart enough get into trouble enough with his commanding officers to be reassigned to Eglin AFB, Florida, where I was attending elementary school. Dad was in between overseas assignments and Hunter - after a multitude of lies about his former journalistic career - was assigned to the "Command Courier" Eglin AFB's newspaper as the sports editor. His superiors, being duly impressed by his off the chart test scores,
gave him all the rope (let him run his own show) he needed at the Courier to hang himself.... not surprising he was drunk when you met him -

Somehow he managed an early honorable discharge from the AF instead of years in the brig. Upon vacating the base, he did toss a wine bottle into the guard gate and injured an airman, and as sports editor he had the story of the whole incident printed in the Courier, much to the chagrin of the base commander and his placement officer, who immediately checked himself into the base's psycho ward. Hunter has left tracks like these everywhere he went.

OK enough of this hijacking of this great 600cc thread. Anyone interested in hearing more about Hunter S Thompson from myself and hopefully molleydog should tune into the "poets without borders" thread HUBB PUB

Give me a couple hours to get my thoughts together. C YAAAA at "poets without borders"

xfiltrate Eat, Drink and write....

[moggy 1968]

These look like an interesting development on the smaller bike theme

https://www.facebook.com/27053534968...type=1&theater