35 year old road bike vs small dirt bike???
Hi guys,
6 years ago I attended a HUBB event in Victoria, Australia and finally am at a place where I can put the inspiration from those travellers I met to use!
I am planning on riding from the UK back to Australia via the ‘usual’ route of Europe, Turkey, Iran, the ‘Stans (of some description), probably have to go through China, India, fly bike from Nepal to Bangkok, travel through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia before down through Malaysia and the Indonesian islands before heading south through Australia. The route is obviously still very vague at this stage but hopefully gives you a rough idea.
I currently have a 1981 Honda GL500 (pretty much a CX500) and since it came out of a shed where it had been for 10 years and fired as soon as it had fresh petrol and a new battery, I’ve had the idea of riding it back to Sydney. I know that people have done big trips on similar bikes and I’m sure it could do it.
The other option that I have been toying with though is to get a small dual sport/trail (XR250 or 400 type) I rode an XR250 for 8000 miles in Australia, mainly on tarmac and found it to be fine; relatively comfortable and capable of sitting at highway speeds as well as doing the off road stuff.
I don’t like the idea of a bigger trail bike as I think with my ability at off road riding, I’d be pretty much as limited as with the GL500 due to the extra weight.
I am leaning towards the trail bike option as I want to be free to explore side paths and tracks and take little trips off the main routes. From what I’ve seen, for example of some forest tracks in SE asia, I wouldn’t have the confidence with the GL500 at the moment to just set off down them.
I suppose the crux of the question is, on my proposed route, how much opportunity would there be to make these exploratory side trips where I would need a trail bike?
If the vast majority of the riding I would be doing would be fine for the GL (tarmac, gravel, hard pack dirt) it would be cheaper and easier as I already have the bike (and the idea of taking a 35 year old bike amuses me!). I just don’t want to risk spoiling the trip by making it overly difficult for myself by taking a bike that will limit me.
Thanks for any opinions!
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