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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  • 1 Post By Gipper

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  #1  
Old 11 Jul 2016
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Best bike for Europe/Asia trips & riding with friends?

Hi all.

I am looking at purchasing a new bike very soon, prior to thinking about doing a UK to South Korea & UK to Europe trip I was looking at the following:

SV 650
MT 07
XSR 700

However, I am assuming there not the best bikes for long distance, so with that in mind what could you recommend?

Requirements...it needs to be a tall bike, I am 6ft 1inch and I find a lot of bikes just wreck my knees. I am comfortable paying about £6,500 for the bike.

Thanks!
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Old 11 Jul 2016
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Location: Saltspring Island,Canada/Poole,UK
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Welcome to the HUBB

To be honest, ride what you WANT to ride, make sure it is comfortable for your seating position and inseam. Don't get pushed into thinking that you have to ride an "Adventure" bike - unless you are trying to ride a remote route over rough terrain its overkill.

Test ride as many bikes as you can until you find one that feels right to YOU.

Within the 3 bikes you mentioned look at known faults (check out bike specific forums),mechanical weaknesses, how easy is it to service and check valves (for you to do) and Id be looking at ground clearance (when loaded) - especially on the SV with its exposed oil filter. As a minimum I would be fitting a basic bash plate to any bike - they also come in handy when you ride your bike up the front steps of a hostel or hotel

Its a good idea to rack up a few thousand miles on any new bike to 'iron out' any problems before your trip, avoid buying it and setting off straight away!

As lots of people have demonstrated on RTW trips, you can ride nearly anything, nearly anywhere.
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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca
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Old 12 Jul 2016
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