Going somewhere far starting April 2023
 

Hi there,

my girlfriend (28yrs) and me (29yrs) are going to start traveling somewhere far in April 2023. We will get unpaid vacation for one year and are able to roam around the continents.

Last year we bought two Honda CRF300 Rally (before that my girlfriend had a F650GS and I still have my R1150GS). Since then we put 14.000kms on our Hondas while riding the Trans Euro Trail all over South and Eastern Europe.

Our plan was to go to Mongolia and further but Russia is not (easliy) passable at the moment. And I think this will not change soon.

Now we will start in Canada and see how far we can go in one year. South America would be nice but we do not have to rush anything :)

Since shipping got so expensive we are not sure about taking our bikes to Canada. We could buy some nice used DR 650s or equivalent in the US or Canada and sell it in South America. I do not know how easy that will be but it would safe a lot of money though.

I am looking forward to discuss any topics with you guys here on HUBB :)

See you,
Michael

Hi Michael and welcome to the HUBB,
Good choice of bike and I would not rule out flying them to Canada, I have seen a couple of reports of Air Canada running their deal which has been more expensive than before but not totally ridiculous in price so it might be on again next year.
Other alternatives that start with riding away from your home are trans-Africa or over to Asia perhaps finishing in Australia, you can go a long way in a year.

Welcome Michik!
Anything can happen in the shipping world between now and next April, so keep your options open, and check out the various relative threads in the Shipping section.

You can also buy in Canada and ride south. OR go the other way. There's at least one Canadian DR650 in South America for sale in April last time I looked in the Bikes for sale / wanted forum.
Good luck!

Hi guys,

we are open for all options at the moment since we did not book anything (yet). We are waiting for the interview of the B2 visa for the US which is scheduled for January. That's the only obligation we have right now.

Is it possible to sell a Canadian plated bike in South America?
When having an US bike and title the new owner is signing it but I couldn't find any information about the procedure of doing it with a Canadian bike :)
While researching the Canadian bike market I found some decent KLR 650s for a reasonable price. So this would be definitely our plan B.

Plan C would be traveling to Australia via Iran, Nepal and Thailand with our little Hondas :)

Cheers,
Michael

You could pick up a couple of Royal Enfield Himalayans in Chicago for ~$4,500 US.

https://www.motoworkschicago.com/inv...WRM3LO05R4WC71

Cheapest and easiest way to get your bikes to Canada (at this time) is to fly Paris to Montreal by Transat using Motorcycle Express.
We did it 6 weeks ago - brilliant

I wouldn't necessarily totally rule out Russia and Asia further afield. Russia is a vast country and it's hard to get to various places without passing through at least part of it. Obviously things could change, but as of today they are still issuing visas, and people who have been there are not reporting hostility towards westerners. The biggest problem is access to cash as western ATM cards don't work there any more, and carrying large amounts of cash is risky. Other than that it probably depends on your views on whether the Russian people are in control of the actions of their government, and there are plenty of other countries where the same moral question exists.

If you make it to east or southeast Asia you can find a different way back, that should take about a year.

Giving up a trip across Asia with your own machines to a trip across North America with hastily bought, unknown bikes seems like a major downgrade to me.

Assuming you have German (or other EU) passports (no problems with Iran), you could make the calssic overland route through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India to Nepal and back.

Russia is still open as far as we know, though I appreciate being in Mongolia with a potentially volatile situation is a bit of a worry. Mongolia is definitely worth the effort to visit though.

If Azerbaijan opened, then Central Asia is accessible by two routes (Russia and the Caspian)

I would not plan on Turkmenistan, China or Burma opening any time soon...

Then there is always Africa. Ethiopia has just made it very difficult to enter by vehicle (hopefully this decision is reversed soon), but West Africa is still open.

North America must surely have a lot of beautiful landscapes, but I would save it for when you are old and want some comfort. Asia (and I suppose Africa, though I have hardly been) has much more to offer.

EO

Hi Michael,

same story here, even though the bikes are 250L's and we're still keeping up the plan for the east. Even though Panamericana will be the alternative in case the Silk Road doesn't work out. Would love to be in contact with regards to planning (also German passports) - be it for the Silk Road or Canada and further south.

We are still in contact with Motorcycle Express about shipping to Canada. But Carrie and her team told us that the cargo schedule was not published until April this year. Also all prices are gone from their website. Maybe this will occur in the next year too. Our starting date is now fixed for Mid-April. That is why we have also contacted Motofreight who charges 2200 GBP for a bike from London to Toronto which is not cheap.

Thanks for all your input! We will decide in February which way we will go (Panamericana or Silk Road and further) so we can plan a bit in advance ;)

@guy.brush: absolutely! Just drop a message :)

Options
 

You could buy your bikes in Canada, tour the east coast, fly the bikes to Iceland, tour there, and then the ferry from Iceland back to Denmark.

My thoughts, for what they are worth:

Save North America until you’re older.

1 year is not as long as you think, what about 2 separate trips.

This guy bought a Himalayan in Bogotá and is riding around South America and will sell in Bogotá when finished:
https://adventurebikerider.com/forum...p?f=21&t=52310

Ride down to Cape Town with your own bikes and ship back.

6 months is a good timescale for both (although you could spend years in South America)

Trouble is they are both, ideally, northern hemisphere winter trips.

Or try getting to Mongolia - that’s a summer trip.

Good hunting bier