I have been riding around Europe for the past 6 months. I have throw over saddle bags and a backpack that I attach to the luggage rack.

The 300 rally is fairly tall.
Have you looked at the Himalayan? Low seat height and centre of gravity.
If it’s perfect for the Himalayas it’ll be perfect for Africa

BTW - I’m not sure why picking up a bike becomes the main feature for a lot of people’s bike choice. I’ve been riding bikes for over 35 years and i took up off road riding when I was 50 - I’ve never had to pick up a bike and I wouldn’t call myself a brilliant bike rider - just go steady.

I respect the Himalayan, but it's not for me. Im fairly sure I will only buy Japanese bikes for the rest of my life.

The range on the Versys is amazing. 17 liter tank gives me a fuel range of around 500km. I can use a plastic bottle if I feel like it wont be enough. Not sure what spares I need to take? Maybe a extra clutch cable and some spare tubes. Won't take up to much space.

Don't just consider what is likely to break but also components that require replacement or replenishment which are hard to procure in West Africa. For one thing the biggest issue is finding good quality oil so you need to think ahead for when you are going to get a service on the way down. Tires are also hard to find for anything that is not a cheap Chinese bike.

lolo cochet is a french moto journalist and his friend Amaury Baratin, Africa Eco race malle moto winner and dakar original by motul finisher, took two T7s all the way to Angola before being halted in their tracks by Covid. They had a service done in Dakar where I suspect they had all their components and tires shipped. They used michelin anakee wilds which are not the longest lasting tire. If you choose something like a motoz tractionator GPS you might be able to get a little further before needing a change (You can only get a rear for the Versys 300 I think). They brought extra clutch plates but did not used them, as well as some other items like air filters.

https://youtu.be/Py9OyHUnP_Q

How many spares and tools you need to bring with you depends on how fast you need to travel. If you have time, you can hang arround some place while you order and wait for parts to srrive, if you have less time you can have them shipped ahead to someone friendly, and if you have no time you need to carry everything for every eventuality.

I can attest to oil being difficult to find, especially two stroke oil. But if you have time on your side, and you don't absolutely require the best, you will find it.

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Take the bike you like best.
I'm not being dismissive, but you will be living with the bike for a few months, so take what you are happiest with.

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Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

I have ridden both the Himalayan and Versys and prefer the latter which I suspect will be more reliable. Provided your bike does not have too many kilometers on it before you leave and is fully serviced you should not need too many spares, a couple of oil filters, plugs, cables, break and clutch levers and a pair of inner tubes just in case. Replace chain and sprockets and brakes pads before you leave and they should go the distance.
That is a great mileage from a standard tank, you would not need more on the east route and you can get advice on the road about any stretches where a few more litres are needed in the west.

One thing to consider. If you plan on keeping the bike, for years to come...

Equipping an older bike with new and relatively very expensive gear, might be painful as you know any equipment you sell as part of the bike will depreciate a lot.

If you buy a used bike with garbled you don't need or would like to change, you will have paid a premium for something you won't benefit from as much as you would like. It may put you in a position where you either cannot justify the expense of equipping it the way you would have liked, for a bike you don't plan on keeping... Or, you go ahead on equipping it to a great extent and later find that you keep it longer than you want to because you can't justify taking such a big loss without having utilized it more - only to have to make a new investment.

Therefore, if you don't have any long term plans, then buying an inexpensive adventure ready bike and keeping the mods to a minimum could be the good way to go about it. As the Versys is quite suitable for this job as is, and you already have it, then I would not write it off as a top contender. You probably have all the gear you need to be able to leave as soon as you've had it serviced, collected some spares, and gotten your paperwork in order.

I am in a similar predicament. Buy a used semi farkled up xt660z or a new T7 Rally - which with all the extras would cost me three times as much.

I've also considered the CRF, but find it lacking in power on the smoother stuff. But it is still one of the top runners for my GF (beginner) due to weight, cost and her abilities today. But also here, thinking more long term, she will likely end up with the xt660z.

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Sounds like you want to take the Versys so I’d go with that, don’t forget that where you’re going there a lots of people who use motorcycles for their every day transport and very few will be adventure style ones.

If you’re worried about reliability then how about chopping in your old Versys for a new one then just take service items such as filters and brake pads etc and, perhaps a cable.
It’s a small jap twin - just routine services for 30K miles, if not more

Google Geals in west Africa
A story of 2 guys who circumvented Africa - one on an old 1150gs and one on a new Jap/Chinese 125 bought in Africa. The 1150 had some problems but it was old and the guy hadn’t really planned to go right round Africa so had done no prep. The 125 was trouble free.
It a brilliant read by both riders.

This is what I have done. I haven't upgraded too much on the Versys (just a skid plate and a tall windshield) because I wasn't sure if I will sell it soon.

It is currently the top contender.

I am worried ofc. The Versys only has 20k km right now. But it will probably be closer to 50k before I can start my journey to Africa...

I left home on a KLR with almost 50k miles (~80k km), rode it all over Central, South, and parts of North America, returned home and sold it at just under 100k miles (~160k km). Its new owner is still riding it around my town. It gave me some trouble from time to time, but certainly no more in its second 50k than it had in its first 50k. One distinct benefit: if I'd had to abandon the KLR for any reason, it had by then very little market value.

If I'd owned a Versys, I'd have taken it instead. No matter what you're riding, there'll be times you wish you'd chosen differently and times it serves you perfectly. The real point is to just go...then make the best of it.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

So that will be easy enough to carry over to a new bike. Clearly while riding in West Africa you will need more spares. Will it be enough to accommodate the extra water and parts for the trip?

Another issue is range. Most people I have seen attempt the west coast usually have 500km of range. I believe that is also just for insurance as fuel availability is sporadic. Of the three would I be right in thinking that the versys has the best range? The Tenere needs another 4-5L to get it to 500km, while the CRF 300 Rally needs another 3-4L. I would imagine something like a giant loop fuel bladder would be best as you could stow it away when not necessary.

The Himalayan should be a no go for parts availability vs reliability, in Africa. Power is on the low end also.

As for range, jerry cans will get you there. The T7 got plenty for 99% of the time. Just keep a can for those few legs where you believe availability to be scarce or unreliable.

As for flipflop's comment. You ride any kind of technical stuff with a loaded bike, in the boonies, alone - you must be able to pick up your bike - your life could depend on it. The probability of you dropping the bike on that trip is higher than not. That much said, you can lift a heavier bike than you think - even without having to take the luggage off... with proper technique (lot's of videos out there on it). When it gets tough is if you drop it over and over the same day. See if you can find someone that has the bike you are considering and see if you can lift it - or a bike that is similar. Hard panniers might help in that aspect.

A tall and heavy bike is easier to drop than a lighter bike that you can flatfoot with leg length to spare. At the same time, large wheels, long suspension travel, and high ground clearance will help to keep you upright in the technical bits. Therefore, the tallest bike that you can muster is your best bet. People that say you don't need to be able to flat foot a bike off-road are either really experienced (and forgotten what it is like not to be) or don't have any experience at all except for watching cortically youtubers who manage well.

There will likely come times where you will need to paddle backwards or forwards, or catch your footing when the bike is on the higher part of uneven terrain - maybe on both sides of the bike even (riding on or over a ridge). Just about every adventure bike can be lowered quite a bit through both seat and suspension combined, with negible begative effects. If you end up with an uncomfortable seat, you could always slap on a cushion for the less technical bits, where you will spend hours at end in your saddle and where being vertically challenged doesn't matter much - i e. on smooth surfaces.

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