Best choice for a budget adventure bike for Silk Road
 

Hey fellas, next May me and the wife are planning to head out on a journey from Turkey to the Stans and Back, and I'm eyeing a decent cheap bike that will get the job done. We don't have lots of money (for the bike itself) so we are looking into some older second hand options, and so far these have caught my attention. We will 2UP and I have some driving experience in SEA but nothing too crazy (2-3k km mostly asphalt and tarmac with some gravel and dirt roads in Laos), so I consider myself a beginner driver. We are based in southeast Europe and want a Japanese bike in any case, due to preferences and part availability.

With that in mind, here are the choices we have found on acceptable price.

- Honda CB500 (1998 to 2001 models available)
- Kawasaki KLE500 (2003)

We just want something that will get the job done - many people here ride great machines, but i've seen what an indian or vietnamese family of 4 can fit on a honda dream, and I have also seen people cycle for thousands of kilometers, so I'm pretty sure the trip can be done with a budget bike as well.
70% of our budget is for the bike and 30% are set aside for modding/improving once we get to Iran and have cheap parts available.

Any tips and recommendations welcome!

The Honda CB500 1998-2001 is a roadbike with 17/17 wheels. I took my motorbike license on that model. I wouldnt have used that bike on such a trip.

Why not a Transalp 600? Its a two cylinder bike with 21/17 wheels - thus it handles dirt roads reasonably well? Or a Yamaha XT600, Suzuki Dr650? They should be in the same price range I guess…..