Best cheap, wildly available, second hand adventure bike in the UK?
 

All –

Planning a trip next year. Will be heading East (through Europe, the Stans and maybe Mongolia/Russia) and will maybe even ship to South America (TBC).

Will look to travel on a mix of paved and gravel (and maybe even fully off-road where possible). I am competent off-road (albeit only on a 125cc to date). However, I want a bigger engine for the long stretches of boring paved road.

Do not have a lot of spare cash.

With that in mind..

What is the best bike, that is wildly available second hand in the UK, that has the speed for long stretches of paved but also allows me to go off road, that will not break my bank balance.

Ideally the bike will also (in order to priority): be reliable, can be fixed using parts found anywhere around the world, allow for storage, is lightweight.

I don’t care about how it looks.

Thanks

P.S. I will be buying x2 of the bike as I will also need one for my GF.

Whew! That's the Unicorn! :)

We need a little more feedback on REQUIRED as opposed to "nice to have".
Honest Budget? Max size? Minimum? Does your girl friend have height or experience issues?

As Grant correctly states. You're looking for the holey grail.

You'll be compromising one way or another.

I think you'll be looking at something 400-600cc miniumum for the long road sections.

Single cylinder for a more offroad focused trip. Twin cylinder if you're sticking more to tar.

And what do you class as cheap ??

£10,000 is cheap to a guy who usually rides a £20,000 GS.

£2000 is expensive so someone who rides around on Chinese scooters.

More info required.

Cheap and reliable are usually mutually exclusive. If you get old bikes you'll need to go through them with a fine-toothed comb before setting off on a trip, which means more time and money, and new cheap bikes won't have international parts support.

My previous attempts at getting old cheap bikes has usually resulted in spending the same as on a new bike, only to be left with a bike that's still old.

As a general rule, Honda and Yamaha have the best international and legacy parts support. Check for common tire sizes when doing your search, the TW200 is fab but getting back tires is a PITA, same is true for using a road bike with 50/50 tires.

Those requirements are not actually of equal weight. I think your requirements are, in decreasing order of importance:

1) Is within your budget;
2) Is in good condition;
3) Can go offroad;
4) Can do long tarmac stretches;
5) Can be easily maintained in the places where you will be doing most of your travels;
6) You can find two of;
7) Is within your reasonable go-have-a-look radius.
---
somewhere far down the line...
7) Is popular in the UK.

Your best bet in fact is to find something that ISN'T popular in your country, was bought by someone as a mistake, so they never rode it very much and are now selling it at a discount because there's no demand.

I helped a couple of non-EU guys buy bikes in Estonia to go do the Silk Road. They ended up on KLE500s. Is that the first choice that springs to mind? No, it's a fairly obscure twin-pot less-offroady Euro version of the wildly popular KLR650. But they found two of them, in good condition, for not a lot of money. And they had an excellent trip.

Thanks for feedback – appreciated. Additional information:

• Honest budget per bike = £3.5k
• Max size = indifferent but the bike should be able to do c. 75/80mph on tarmac as a minimum.
• Min size = 200cc but large engine size also not a problem.
• GF is a competent rider on and off road and average height for a female.
• Condition is crucial, as we both only know basic maintenance (i.e. serving) and couldn’t buy and then overhaul old bikes.
• I am London based FYI.

Thanks

Such bikes are not popular in the UK.

You'll find ten Fireblades and GS Behemoths for every CB500X never mind a CRF250 or KLR.

I would fix as little as possible in your mind in terms of brand and spec, just take the budget you have and trawl the auction site, Auto trader etc.

Andy

You can buy a nail, and it'll be cheap, but it'll let you down in the middle of nowhere. To some people that's part of the adventure, to me it's a PITA. You're right that you don't need a big bike, and frankly I would avoid the heavyweight dinosaurs anyway. But a bigger engine will certainly make long distances easier, and resist wear and tear better than a small one constantly being held wide open. That said there's a cost implication. I went the 790 route for that reason, but it's not the cheapest and being quite high tech it's not everybody's taste either.

Most of the good, middle range simple bikes like the DRZ400 and DR650 are no longer available (except as high mileage antiques) so if you're happy with smaller machines I'd suggest the Honda CRF250/300 Rally. It's light, frugal, not too expensive, got just enough power if you're not in a hurry, decent tank range and benefits from Honda's extensive dealer and spares network.

Don't fvck up your trip by skimping pennies on the bike. You'll be spending thousands out on the road anyway.

Honda Crf250/300 Rally or the L with a long range tank. No they wont do 80 mph but you dont want to ride such roads anyhow. Stay away from main highways at any costs!

The Crfs will cruise easily at 50-60 mph which is their best speed for fuel economy and engine wear but can do 70 mph if needed. Honda are present in most countries and Hondas are known to be very reliable. A 24 k kms service intervals are a good thing when doing long distance travelling. Oil changes a bit more often though.

Crfs wont be great at highway but at country roads/B-C roads, gravel roads they will be great.

Lots of great comments above, thanks to everyone!
An additional point - re your "75/80mph on tarmac as a minimum."

IN THE UK that's reasonable if you ride the M1 all the time, but everywhere else it's far more than you need. MOST people will tell you that MOST of the time you're riding much slower, even with big bikes. Your budget also says small bikes, and small bikes are best on B roads where 50-60 mph is plenty.

75/80mph+ is big bike territory and way out of your budget.

As has been said - we all want one of the bikes you are describing!

They are not to everyone's taste but the Royal Enfield Himalayan ticks quite a few of the boxes you are after. They can, if pushed, do 75mph on a motorway but you won't want to be doing it very long and, unless you are sticking to motorways in the UK and toll roads on the continent, you are unlikely to even want to go at those speeds.

When I went on a test ride of a Himalayan - the dealers round our way seem to be happy to lend them out - I was deeply disappointed in the engine as it was quite "tingly" at 70mph on a dual carriageway. Chris Scott reported that that was the case for very new engines and that they loostened up nicely after a bit and the tingle went - the bike I was on had less than 1,500 miles on it when I had it. So disappointed was I that after about 20 minutes I decided to return the bike early but here was no way that I was going to ride back on the dual carriageway - however once off the big road the bike's true character emerged and instead of taking 20 minutes it took me a good couple of hours to get back to the dealer. So, yes it can do 75mph but it is not too happy to start off with at least but at 50-60 on single lane roads it is brilliant - this is its natural environment and it thrives there, there are quicker bikes out there but this bike was nicely planted and balanced.

Reports are that it is surprisingly good off road with a nice lumpy, low revving engine for trail work.

Price? Try eBay - there are lots for around your budget, they are nearly new, low mileage bikes that shouldn't cost the earth to ready for a trip. Reliability wise there were a few questions about the very early ones but these items have been ironed out and there is not a lot wrong with them.

Whilst I ended up getting a Moto Guzzi V85TT that was more to do with the type of riding I will be doing over the next few years (dual carriageway to/from work with occasional trips abroad - for my big trip I am still thinking of the Himalayan as it is much lighter, frugal, but it will still put a big grin on my face.

here is a choice of bikes
1 bmw gs 650 pd
2 yamaha xt 600
3 Yamaha 660 xtz
4 yamaha t700
5 honda cb 500 x
6 yamha wr250 r
7 honda crf 300 rally

I have owned all of the above and they will all do a long trip, but if i had to choose 2 it would be cb 500 x or 700 tenere:scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter ::scooter::scooter:

Both good bikes but neither of which fits his criterion for price: CB500X min £4k, T700 £7k.

I think an XT660R would fit the criteria perfectly. Or the Tenere if you want more ground clearance (but unfortunately a lot more weight)

The XT660R is a very under appreciated bike. I've just come back from a full weekend trail riding in mid wales on some pretty knarly trails. Deep ruts, big rocks, mud, climbs etc. There was a guy on an XT660R and he did everything that I could do on my DRZ400. He didn't bottom out or fail anywhere. Those trails were harder than ANYTHING I have seen in Africa or South America.

The 660 fuel injected motor is a real peach. It's very smooth for a single, incredibly reliable and efficient and easily pulls the bike along at 80mph. He got DOUBLE the MPG I got from my DRZ.

I owned a 2004 R model some years back and it was a dog. I learned it is the model to be avoided. Yamaha fixed the FI niggles in 2006.

I would RTW on a 2006+ model without the slightest hesitation.

They are also great value. Although the prices are climbing now.

I decided to pass on two Ténéré 660s because both of them wanted to shake my fillings out at anything over 50mph - were they both defective?

A shame because apart from that and the weight I really liked them as a road bike.

It's still a single. All singles are a touch vibey with no other cylinders to balance them out. I've owned or ridden nearly every single out there over the last twenty years. It's by far one of the smoothest. And its one of the most powerful (non competition) motors too. The only way a manufacturer can reduce it is by putting a very large balancer on the motor. Which reduces power.

Unless you're over-revving it in every gear, I can't see how it would loosen your fillings. Although people who come from multi-cylinder bikes do tend to over-rev singles. Could that be it ?

I've never liked the Tenere. It's way too big and heavy for the motor. Although it gets down the road okay. At that weight you'd be better off with a Transalp etc.

I think they both had balance shaft problems or something; I know the 660 has a fancy self-adjusting system but some people had problems with the engine mounting bolts stretching. The first one I tried was rough and rusty so I didn't put much thought into it, but with the second one (a 2010 one that looked perfect) the vibration was far far worse than I experienced on the XR400 I had at the time, or a rough old XT600 that I subsequently borrowed ... the second Ténéré was from a dealer and when I took it back they tried to fob me off saying that that's just how big singles are.

I didn't look at a third one.

There are plenty of reasons a bike vibrates when it shouldn't. They sounds like rough old nails. I'm so used to riding singles now that I'd fall asleep on anything else.

doh:rofl:

I don't agree that you are looking for a unicorn.

Any 225-250 cc Yamaha or Honda Dual Sport will do - even an older two stroke with carburetor and a cickstart. Many of them have been thrashed arround, but then again, they can take a severe beating as long as they get serviced.

Look for an older bike that has done less than 20.000 kms on an original working speedo, and that has had its tires, sprockets and chain replaced less than 5000 kms ago (will save you a bunch). Preferably also newish brakes and serviced suspension (but now you are pushing your luck). Find a bike that has been dropped st low speed once or twice, and which came away from it with cosmetic damages only - has a dent or two in the tank, some scratches to the plastic and paint (not down to bare metal as that means dropped at speed), and maybe a cracked plastic panel or two that you could easily weld, maybe even a tear in the seat - but that otherwise looks to be in decent shape and that is entirely original/stock. Bikes with unoriginal decals, plastics, handlebars, sprockets of different size than original, exhaust, cylinders, full of cool stickers from Redbull or the likes... those bikes have usually been owned and ridden by bike beaters (think wife beaters).

Measure the compression, check that everything works (not too many things to check), check that the front and rear wheel lines up and that the wheels are round and straight. Brake check. Check oil level, color and smell (has it been getting service). Check spark plug. Faded paint means stored outside - which is not s good thing.

Immediately upon buying the bike. Change all fluids and filters (including suspension and brakes). Change the plug. Google common failures to your model and buy spares (fit the new part and bring the old as a spare) - and off you go!

Buying an identical bike for your GF would be ideal, but really isn't that important - buy the bike that she enjoys the most for her, and likewise for yourself. If she is vertically challenged, then know that it is possible for the smallest of us to learn how to ride the biggest bikes - even off road.

Proper ammount of practice is required to ride a tall bike. Going on a 50.000 kms trip is not conscidered practice - at the end of it you might not be any better than when you started. Riding 30 kms in a single weekend though, all of it tailored and compressed to maximize learning off road as vertically challenged - that is proper practice!

Whatever people will tell you - anyone can learn to ride a tall bike in the rough - but you have to practice smart and hard. It is easier for a tall person to ride a tall bike ofcourse, but that does not mean that a shorter bike for a short person is the better compromise - often yes, but far from allways (an obstacle in the road doesn't care if the bike has low ground clearance, small wheels and short suspension travel).

Lowering the suspension a couple of centimeters front and rear, and shaving off the width and height of the seat a tiny bit - can both be done cheaply with very little adverse effects to the bike's offroad capabilities - but may make a big difference in the rider's ability to handle the bike.