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Comparison between DR650SE/600XT/660Tenere/F650GSDakar/KLR/Dominator - Which one ? :)
Hello friends,
I am in the same dilemma as many others but please bear with me and give me some piece of advice for it is needed and will be greatly appreciated. Even if the post is so long (kind of an article), I have numbered the questions and tried to keep everything organized. I intend to do a RTW, starting end of may 2008, on the following path: E Europe-Turkey-Iran-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazachstan-Russia-Mongolia-Siberia (to Magadan)-Anchorage (I kind off figured out the flight way for this year, there are options)-Alaska-Canada-SUA-W Europe. I am 1.70m, 60kg, 29 y.o., so not a very big person. My current bike is a Yamaha TDM 850. It’s a tall, top heavy bike, I like it a lot and I can handle it on roads. It’s hard for me to lift if I’m tired but than.. that’s 220kg when the tank is full. It’s the second bike I’ve ridden (After the sovietic 125cm Minsk in the driving school, with only 1st and 2nd gear working). I don’t have any offroad experience but with care, respect and trust, anything can be achieved. I assume I will have around 25-30kg of personal luggage (clothes, toiletries-10kg; foto stuff-4kg, camping stuff-7kg, papers&books 2-3kg, food/water – 3-4 kg), 10kg of bike related luggage (spear parts, bike clothing and helmet for me, 1 extra tire, oils and grease) and maybe 2x10kg of canisters with gasoline. This will come to a total of around 50+kg of luggage. Plus the weight of the panniers and bags, it should take me to 60kg. I’ll do my best to lower this 60kg towards 50kg or even lower and I think I can manage. Q1. Do I really need the extra tire? What if I use inner tubes and I take 2 spare inner tubes with me (1front and 1rear), would that be ok? I’ll fix the puncture in the evening and just change the inner tube on the road. Will I find spare tires (17 R, and 19 or 21 F) on the road? I believe so. I would like to take 1 rear rollbag, 1 tank rucksack and 2 AL panniers (or 1 AL topcase instead of the 2 panniers). Q2. What would you recommend? The 1 AL topcase or the 2 AL panniers? The panniers would keep the weight lower but all the things might fit in the rollbag, topcase and trunk tank and the lack of panniers will provide better aerodynamics in open road, and there will be a lot of open road. Will the lack of panniers really help me? How about in off-road? Thus being said this thread has to do with the bike to choose and any other piece of advice. Here I’ve made a comparison between the models I consider of interest for such a trip. The lines were the only way to make it look readable. Maybe it can be useful for other people in the same dilema: Make/Model/Year_________DryWeight Power Torque __SeatH _Tank Honda NX650 Dominator-95-99 __164/167 _43.5-6k __55-5k ___865,liaj BMW F650GS Dakar -01_______177 _____50-6.5k __60-5k ___870,liaj _17.3 Suzuki 650DR SE – 96 ________147 _____43-6.4k __54-4.6k __845-885 Suzuki 650DR RSE-94-96 ______170 ____46-6.8k __56-5k ____885 ____20 Yamaha XT 660 Tenere – 94-96 _169 _____48-6.3k __56.9-5.3k _865 ____20 Yamaha XT 600E – 96 _________156 _____45-5.6k _48-5.25k __855 ____15 Yamaha XT 600 – 03 __________156 _____45-5.6k _50-5.5k ___855 ____15 Kawasaki KLR 600 – 95-01 _____168 _____42-7k __46-47-5k __870 ____14 Kawasaki KLR 650 – Tengai _____________42-7k __46-47-5k __870 ____23 Suzuki DR 350 -94 ____________122 _____30-7.6k _29-6.2k ___900 ____9 Here I go with some pros and cons of each one of them: Honda Dominator + reliable engine, good build quality but nothing at it that would particulary draw my attention. Average all over. Not best or worst on any criteria. Yamaha 660 XT Tenere + has a water cooled engine; probably healthier for the bike in high heat. + Best option for highway, open road and pillion travel after the BMW. + I’ll stay “in the family”; TDM’s engine is derived from the SuperTenere. - heavy – 169 Gg, but rules out the KLR (similar weight) and the BMW(heavier but also water cooled), - 19in front rim, smaller and maybe less suited for offroad than the other ones. Q3.Can anybody comment on this? - Suzuki DR650 RSE would be similar with the Tenere, but it’s air cooled and about the same size and I think it doesn’t have the compact engine of the SE. Please correct me if it’s not so. KLR + high community owning on it, a lot of aftermath, a lot of advices on it, known faults - underpowered, heavy, no fairings, ruled out by the Tenere KLR Tengai + has fairings - heavy, ruled out by the Tenere BMW F650 Dakar + Powerful, good comfort, water cooled engine, the tank will only require 1 extra canister - heavy, the heaviest out of all of them 600XT + Seems to have some sort of fairings. Q4.Do they do any good? + easier to find one with an already installed Acerbis big tank than to find a SE with such a tank so the overall price of the bike will be lower; good variety to choose from in Europe. Suzuki DR650 SE + the lightest of all (leaving aside the350 Suzuki, which is another class), only 147 kg - no fairings, not to much power, I don’t know how will it behave with luggage (Will a 1994 SE with 40.000 km on board do the job? Of course, it depends how it was used and how it was taken care of but.. as a general rule of thumb, how does it sound to you ? is there something that would generally rule it out?) Suzuki DR 650 RSE + has some fairings and the windshield. Looks better for road than the SE and it’s not that much extra heavy. Q5. what would you recomment between RSE and Tenere? Does the RSE have the compact engine like the SE or not? Q7. How can I differentiate between RE and SE from the photographs? Is there a way? Often people just put DR in the announcement. If it has the windshield than it’s RSE or RS, but how do I leave RE aside? Suzuki DR350 - I think it's to small and can't handle e pillion, can't ride fast enough on the highway and maybe to fragile for the road to Magadan. Q8.Can anybody blow this? - to small and to tall. + very light My bets for now go to Suzuki DR650 SE and Yamaha 600XT but I would very much want to get the Tenere J. I’m a bit scared of it’s weight. Q98. How does it feel? How does it handle off-road? Please don’t tell me to ride all of them and see how I feel. It’s simply not possible. I am offshore most of the time and in the rest of the time I’m traveling and working to make up for the 3 months of holiday that I would be getting. I would even get someone-else to get the bike for me from Germany (I guess that’s where I’ll buy it since there are so many on-line websites with German bikes); they are specialized in getting second hand bikes, they know what the bike would be used for, don’t charge much and even offer some warranty (of course, this won’t help in my trip). So I’ll have to get the bike and than .. “if Mohamed doesn’t go to the mountain, than the mountain will go to Mahamed” (I’m not a muslim, I just like the saying J ). I assume that most of the bikes presented here would be reliable and if maintained will do the job fine. My main issues are: - low weight so that I can handle it in the muddy/swampy Kolima road - good offroad capability (for the same “road to Magadan” reason - decent comfort and speed while on the open road (because I only have 3 months to complete the journey, this including the 1-2 weeks that I would need in Istanbul to get all the visas); I will also have a pillion till Ankara or till Teheran and she needs to have a minimum comfort. It’s just gonna be good roads and highway and we’ll afford often stops, but it should be a bike that would not rule out the pillion if it will have 2 panniers and a rollbag attached.
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Did you ever...
...consider the Honda TransAlp? I own an old one, I mean real old, model 1992, made for the Japanese market so only 400ccm. I am 186 tall, veeeeery lightweight (below 70 kg), but got long legs. So the TA really suits me very well. It is also not that heavy, gets good gas-milage and maintaining it is also no problem - people say that it got one of the best engines (mine has now 45.ooo kilometers on the clock and is still running smooth). I don't know about the new TA model - but.... maybe you want to about this option, too?!?!
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I cant speak to all of this but get 2 side AL panniers one big top box is a pain in the wind. A good water prof bag on the back and 2 panniers are grate for travling, also a tank bag with tank panniers will help to center the bike.
Not knowing how much you want to spend on the bike or how much true off roading you will be doing I cant realy help much but know this people have done RTW trips on bikes much less worthy than any of the ones you listed. The DR and older KLR are much them same old tech used for years. cheap and reliable more aftermarket items for them than most bike. If your looking to go off road a lot a light DR or KLR is hard to beat. The BMW F has had problems with its FI in the early years after switching from carburetors in 1999. For some real info on the bike try the chain gang The Chain Gang You dint have the DL650 on your list or BMW R80GS to R1200GS bikes on your list. You may want to do that. My concern is your getting a bike for one road the road of bones the Kolima road. If its that bad gust dont go there. And your doing a RTW in 3 months with a know down time of 2 weeks. You can take the trans Siberian rail to Vlad and ship from there to save some time but still your going to need to be moving. To keep things light and fast go with waterproof bags on the seat and tail. No real food gust food bars. No cooking stuff 1 change of clothes sleeping bag ground cloth no dam pillion you dont have the time/speed to take one. A tarp for a tent but spend most sleeping in a bed eating out of road side places you will not have time for a sore body. Canisters are used all the time for gas many people strap them on the back or on a pannier. I dont like to put them in a pannier because of the fumes if the fumes build up it may start a fire or exploshion. Venting the pannier can be done but its going to leak after that. Also the canister may leak or get hole rubed in to it. just some thing to look out for. But unless your going to be using some realy big ones you still want bike that can get to next gas fill up on its own tank. Fairings and windshield may be need by you more than most RTW gust because your going to on that bike day in and day out hammer down all the way. Fatigue will make you weak and do some odd things like trying sleep and ride at the same time. Fuel Injection vs Carburator depends who you ask. The new FI reset them selfs for the gas and air mix Im told. The carbs can be done by you. BMW F650 have done RTW trips with the funny FI they have not grate but they did it. So have most all makes and models. Tools and spare parts well keep it small as you can replace any thing that looks like it has seen ANY use replace before you go. For tires you will need have spares for any place that dose not sell your bike by the truck load. Like Turkey - Iran - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kazachstan - Russia - Mongolia - Siberia - mabe even Alaska. Add to that some tires are used up faster than others. be open to useing odd sizes for the bike think about sending them to people on the way before the trip. I have a DL650 and even thow it sold by the 100,000's in the USA I had to go to a few places to get a new set when I need it. In the end It not the bike or the kit you will have most problems with its the time you have to the trip in. See if you can get a bit more time off or if they will let you do some work on the weekends now to get a more. Even if you cant make it fave fun in trying to. Oh and take a camera Id love to this trip. |
tyres......
On that route one set of tyres should get you to Almaty no probs, this might be the last place to get them replaced before Ulan Batur. If you are not going off-road deliberately this section is doable on road tyres (mongolia less so!!)
Afraid the only bike I can advise on is the Cagiva Elefant, so no use to you there! |
Hi Maguest,
There are some good replies in here that point out a few relevant facts about your intended trip, but here is my take on your post, following my reading of it. 10 Bikes in your shortlist: That is not such a short list really. Most of those bikes have not been manufactured and/or available for sale in Europe for some years. The newest is the F650GS which went out of production just a few months ago. Can't understand why you have named specific years of certain models, unless you have already found specific bikes on sale. Why is every bike a single cyl? There are quite a few twins that you could consider, including the one that you own at present. A useful summary of key data about the bikes - discounting the 350cc, they vary in weight by far less than the weight of the luggage that you intend to carry. Departing end of May 08: 3 months away and you still don't know what bike you will own, never mind getting used to that bike and doing the modifications and prepping the bike. In the meantime, you are working away from home, so you have even less "free" time available in the next 3 months - yes, you have ideas about how to deal with this, but they rely on other, unknown persons. 3 Months to travel the world: You are flying around most of it, and shipping the bike with you? You want to carry a pillion: On a single cyl bike across 1000s' Km of Europes high speed(ish) roads. On road/off road: Your TDM 850 can do a good job on the road and it will carry a passenger in some comfort. Relate the amount of offroading you wish to do with your 3 month time limit for the whole trip. All up weight: Camping in Europe is a good option for cost reasons alone - thereafter, ditch the camping kit (7 Kg less) - post it home - and go for cheap accommodation. Your pillion will want to contribute to the pannier loading, big time. clothing - 10 Kgs of what? All of the personal protective clothing counts toward your own body weight while riding - it is not in the luggage. Not trying to burst your bubble! Just a few points to think about. |
An extremely interesting thread indeed....
I see you have identified the venerable DR350 as a possibilty. The problem is that there aren't many good low mileage ones left (around here anyway). Bearing in mind your height and stature I wouldn't forget the DR350's immediate replacement - Suzuki DRZ 400 This is a terrific offroad performer and has the necessary stomp on tarmac too (even if fully loaded). The only place it might get a bit mundane is on high speed motorways. As you know the DR350 was for many years THE no1 lightweight bike for African adventures. I believe that "Mondo Enduro" team used these bikes in the late 1990's for their epic RTW trip. Your proposed helmet a Tour X is enormously expensive! You have better cheaper options? Your post gives the impression that costs are tight (like the most of us), why waste money like this... Whatever bike you finally take, make sure it's expertly and reliably serviced - new tyres (Metz TKC80, Pirelli Scorpion), new air filter, oil change, oil filter, new brake pads, new brake fluid, new chain (gold quality) & sprockets, fork oil, new wheel bearings etc.... Go down the soft luggage route... I know many fans of the DRZ400. It's an excellent, bulletproof, reliable little bike. Whatever you decide, I personally wouldn't go over 600cc's. The lighter the better. Remember how damned stupid those LWR/LWD boys looked to most of us riding those huge overloaded beasts! Don't make the same mistake. If you go with a larger capacity bike then my recommendation is stick to a Yamaha (XT600E/XT660). You can find good low mileage XT's (5,000 or less) throughout Europe for about £2,000 in the case of XT600E's. No need to say anything more about XT's here as their past history speaks for itself... And oh yes, I've got one!!!!! |
DRZ 400 Forum - DR-Z 400 - ThumperTalk
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IMHO going two up through Europe with a small single cylinder bike will not be fun – or safe.
As a rough guide the weight you put on the bike (you, girlfriend, luggage ++) should not exceed the weight of the bike. Check the technical data for the bike. I’m sure you can find single cylinder bikes that fit your need but don’t underestimate how long days wear out the driver and the bike. You will also find that a lot of the smaller bikes don’t have frame (esp subframe), suspension and brakes suited for this task. How many kms are you planning to go? Divide it by 60-70 days and think… You are planning to travel a long distance in short time and need a bike which helps you to do this. |
Just go!
Hi Dan, would like to help you, but there are so many questions and doubts....
The important thing is to set a date to leave! Then everything somehow works out. You should use a bike that was sold a lot and maybe not a new one...they make sometimes strange problems. You should know it a little before you leave. I prefer little bikes, I don´t need 100 horsepower. I did several trips on my xt 600 Tenere(86)but I used a newer engine in the bike. Transalp is also very reliable. Maybe the best bike I think is Suzuki DR 650 SE, but I don´t know if spar parts available all over. In the States they have a lot of KLR 650, good too(and cheap). In USA around 5000 Dollars new... Good luck! Maybe you show up at the 1st HU Meeting in Germany(22.5.-25.5.2008) Jens |
I'm a pillock! I didn't see the bit about a Pillion!
In that case you know you want an XT... |
I found the bike !!!
Guys,
here is the bike! KTM 400 LC4 MILITARY EDITION!!! 1.HAND 6776 KM BJ.06/04 bei eBay.de: KTM (endet 26.02.08 17:16:38 MEZ) I just won the auction. I'm extremely pleased now .. gotta party for a few hours. It's a German Army KTM, 400cm LC4 engine, reinforced frame, 6700 km on board, 2004 year of fabrication, has panniers and tankrucksack.. 158kg weight. Heated grips, 18L tank, I'll come back with the reasoning. It's happening. !! |
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There is another thread in here about that bike - I think it is in the KTM tech forum - you don't have to "reason it" with me! Good luck, |
I don't know anything about KTM's but I must say it looks pretty well looked after for an army bike. I can't help but thinking that you would never see a British Army motorcycle being flogged off in that fantastic state! The British Army RLC / Royal Signals riders normally ride the things into the ground. The last time I looked the MoD was selling a load of knackered old Armstrong 500's and was replacing them with Harley Davidson 250's. I understand that the Special Forces guys (SAS, SBS, SRR) now often use Motorcycles and Quads too.
Are you 100% sure it's ex-army and not just a standard KTM painted Green? Or perhaps a bike originally prepared for Army use but never actually used for that purpose. Not being able to speak the lingo, I'm not able to make out any detail on the Evilbay page. I wish you well. It appears to be a fine buy and looks pretty good to boot... Stay Safe. :scooter: |
I found the bike !!!
Guys,
here is the bike! KTM 400 LC4 MILITARY EDITION!!! 1.HAND 6776 KM BJ.06/04 bei eBay.de: KTM (endet 26.02.08 17:16:38 MEZ) I just won the auction. I'm extremely pleased now .. gotta party for a few hours. It's a German Army KTM, 400cm LC4 engine, reinforced frame, 6700 km on board, 2004 year of fabrication, has panniers and tankrucksack.. 158kg weight. Heated grips, 18L tank, I'll come back with the reasoning. It's happening. !! |
Yes, heard you the first time.............
...........or maybe you have bought 2 of them? :rolleyes2::thumbup1:
Here's that other thread about the bike:- http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...military-32531 When you have got your hands on this bike, if you can add any more information about the bike, how it performs etc etc, I am sure we will all be very interested. ps How are getting it from Germany to Norway, as a matter of interest? Cheers, |
Details on the bike and new questions
After listening to your opinions I’ve narrowed my options to Yamaha Tenere/XT and Suzuky DR 650 SE and this one ( a KTM LC4 400 Military). ( DRZ is to high and not suited for a pillion; KLR to heavy; BMW as well, etc). Klaus, DLbiten, Walkabout, I didn’t take into account other bikes like Twins since they are heavier and/or not that suited for offroad use. The TDM is dam heavy offroad. Mollydog, I’ve decided to go as new as possible on the budget so just the XT remained (DR SE's and Tenere's are not produced for quite a while). I could have gotten XTs from 2002, 2003 but a lot more millage for the same money, but I preferred a lighter though reinforced LC4 2004 with low millage and full service history KTM after chatting a bit with PeerG.
Thanks to PeerG for his recommendation in the KTM tech and for the PM help (my bike comes from the same dealer as his; the person I bought it from bought it from the dealer a couple of months ago, he actually bought two, the second one for his wife but she didn’t like riding on separate bikes so they went back both to his Harley.. I assume it’s quite a difference; I bought it from him and not for the dealer because I could get it cheaper; he is selling the second one as well.. so if you are interested drop me a line and I’ll forward you his phone number; he doesn’t speak English). It’s a tough bike (at least from the specs), a bit underpowered but very well equipped and light for what it has. Here are the specifications, quoted from PeerG’s thread: “------------------------- 398cc, 34 hp (detuned for robustness) 158 kg dry (without panniers and topcase) 130 km/h max – limiter low seat height main and side stand kick and electric starter large battery (from the KTM 950 Adventure) easily adjustable rear spring reinforced frame (max total weight 380 kg) 18 liter tank uses 91 octane petrol, but can be switched to 80 octane engine protection handguards heated grips 12V power socket KTM tank bag Hepco & Becker panniers and top case and super strong frame for these battery charger extensive manual (explains all the service work) set of tools (I think all that's needed for the service) small wind shield ----------------------------“ Kentfallen, the bike is Ex-Army. It’s written on it’s book that it’s the military version and these are the bikes that the Dutch and German armies have chosen (after testing them against F650GS). The bike has been serviced properly and has a service book. The handler that sells them has some trash as well. So I’ve won the action and spoken with an import firma that will take it from Germany and bring it to Romania (I’m from Romania myself, just living in Norway) and register it there since I won’t have to pay any import taxes or VAT (being in EU now), just around 100 Euros for the identification, inspection, registration and numbers . This will make a HUGE difference in the budget (compared with the prohibitive Norwegian taxes). The import guys will also get spare chains, sprokets, filters, tyres, cables so I’ll be fine with that at good prices. These things will come with the bike. The transport is 500 Euros. And...excellent news. I’ll have 1 week off at the end of march. Just about enough to service, work and get the bike ready for the trip. The pillion will come with me on asphalt and not for loads of kilometers so I believe we’ll do fine enough with this bike till Istanbul (where we will part). Alibaba, I’m used with German speed limits, Turkish traffic, South American maneuvers, and less with Norwegian ones (I've never else seen such calm traffic), so I guess we’ll be safe enough in Europe. Henryuk, I’ll use road tires till Almaty and ship offroad ones there. Thanks for the hint. After almost everybody’s advice, I’ve decided that I’ll use soft luggage. Ortlieb waterproof luggage will cost me around 100-120 euros (including the rollbag, secondhand on e-bay) or even a lower price if I catch some other brand in good condition and waterproof. I was under the impression that for such a long trip they won’t be suited (since I’ve only seen people doing RTW with hard luggage in my limited research) but I’m glad that several people mentioned it as a real option. I’ll go for it! Thanks again for your suggestions on keeping it low and for confirming that it’s possible to do such a trip with little luggage. I’ll take the tent, sleeping bag and mat (they weight 5kg all together and I think it’s well worthed to carry this amount and to have a guaranteed roof wherever you might stop; they are included in the weight calculation under). I have no problems with sleeping in a tent on a rougher surface. I’ve been trekking/climbing and camping a lot. The point you both brought up with getting a newer bike and the availability of the spear parts is very valid. I’ve looked for spear parts (chain, sprockets, filters) for older bikes and they are definitely harder to find and a bit more expensive than for newer ones. I’m looking now for a 2000+ bike. There might be some radical changes here but I’m trying to make the best out of the information received from more experienced people. DLBiten, I think you might be right on the Kolima road thing. It’s the bottleneck of the journey and the main thing that makes me order the bikes by weight and offroad capability. I will consider going to Vladivostok or some other eastern city very seriously actually planning for it. I might be on a much to tight schedule for the Kolima road. So, I’ll see how fast I’ll get to eastern Russia and than decide if I have the time to head up north. I’ll consider this as a bonus for now. Jens, I’ll leave between 26 and 30 of may, the planed date being 28 of may but I have to allow some flexibility. I have now 5 days off from work of at the end of march. My plans are to buy the bike and import it in the next 3 weeks so that I can work on it in March. Thanks for the invitation. I’ll concentrate on the trip but if everything is sorted out before, I’ll give it a try. I might leave from Romania and not Norway (I’m from Romania myself, just live in Norway) so than I won’t be able to make it to the reunion. About the weight of the luggage. I’ve made some more exact calculations (down to the weight of the toothpaste) and this is what I came up with: 35kg total permanent extra weight (incl the weight of the bags, 4l of watter and 3kg of food) plus 21kg (weight of the 2 full plastic gasoline canisters when in use) sometimes. For most of the time, just one will be full, I’ll only use the second one in the far east and Alaska (and maybe not even there if I see the fuel consumption is very reasonable; the 18l tank is quite big). Now my problem comes. What do I do with the 2x10l canisters with gasoline? I’m thinking of attaching them somehow to the tank-rucksack and caring them each at one side of the tank. Otherwise, I’ll have to make some sort of net system to attach them to the back of the sidecovers. It would have been easier to strap them on the back of Aluminium panniers but how do I do it with the soft ones? The canisters will be plastic so I’m even thinking at termically deforming them, closer to the shape of the tank. Anybody has any idea? A photo of a successful attempt maybe? Another solution would be to keep the racking system (probably around 2kg of extra weight) and attach the soft luggage to it and the gasoline canisters at the front or back of the side racking system. They will be easy to attach to the rack with a rope or net. Can anybody recommend some tank panniers? I couldn’t find any on the web. Can someone recommend a cheaper helmet? I could get an Airoh for 160 Euros (louis.de) but the Arai is about 270Euros if I buy it directly from Japan and they are supposed to be the best. |
MEFO tires
And today I was lucky enough to get a set of MEFO explorer tires. I've seen reports of them going as far as 17.000 miles. Anybody has used them? How much have you got out of them and in what conditions?
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Congratulations with the bike and good luck! |
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Congratulations again! |
KM400 LC4 Military
Hi,
Just joined up on this site and at present sizing up bikes for a trip from SE asia to Europe. This is a really interesting bike amd would appreciate any further info ..in English if possible on this bike cheers :Beach: |
Just my comments – haven't read all the replies yet but can answer some questions…
RE panniers I would go with side boxes to keep the weight low – much better. Weight high up and behind you seriously affects 9at least my) off road riding – panniers and extra fuel below the fuel tank don’t bother me. Re the extra tyre I would break your choices up into 2 camps either multi purpose tyres which will fit 17/18/19/21 e.g. the tkc 80's or Pirelli mt21's which will last a long way (many '000 miles) or enduro tyres which will only fit 18 and 21 wheels and last maybe 500 maybe 1000 miles on road at best – obviously excellent for mud though but the limited range may mean you have to carry them as a spare set – I think this is what Mondo Enduro did to cross the Darien gap though personally I would not want to carry spare tyres! For long didtsnce stuff re punctures I would prefer tubeless tyres due to less chance of punctures, pressure can be lowered more safely off road for better off road performance. I would bring one spare lightweight (not heavy duty) innertube in case the tyre cannot be repaired for a puncture – a 21 front will work in an 18 or if your tyres are 19/17 the 19 will work in the 17. (and probably vice versa) Re bike – don't forget the Aprilia Pegaso which is v.similar to the BMW 650 but significantly cheaper – a good condition 97-99 model could be had for less than £1000 and won't de-value much with the mileage you may put on (as it was cheap to start with) Some BMW 650's get exceptional fuel consumption upto 90mpg so this could save a lot of cash and extend fuel ranges significantly – do a bit of research on BMW sites but 70mpg seems an average for 2004 on fuel injected bikes while most others in your list will probably get 50ish (other people correct me if you know more here) with the possible exception of the DR350 which because of the small engine may get 60 or 80mpg. (treated gently) also the DR350 is probably one of the most robust bikes in your list as long as it is treated well – they are all old now. I wouldn't worry about it breaking. What about it's replacement the DRZ400 – a very nice bike light, torquey exceptional off road the only question is could it cruise OK at motorway speeds and you would have to make a screen yourself. RE carrying extra fuel – yes fuel cans carried below the panniers (or behind them) or below the tank would keep weight low – better than the extra weight in the tank and cheap. Check ground clearance if mounting them below the panniers though. Helmet don’t forget the Airoh version of Arai's tour X helmet – it's about £100 so £200 cheaper than the Arai and I found it to be good though the shell is plastic and there's some whistling of wind through the peak at 70mph+ I don’t know how the Arai compares. Luggage – as mentioned soft luggage is cheap and takes falls better but if I had the cash would now probably go with lockable alloy ones – that way you can park the bike up or leave most of your stuff on the bike of you go into a hotel/bnb and not work about it. With soft luggage you either have to stay with the bike or carry everything everywhere which is a real pain. |
North America KTM
Sounds like a wild trip. If you make it thru Montana USA home of Glacier and Yellowstone park let me know, I have mechanical, shipping and a place to stay for world travelers. Here are some sources for KTM parts in USA. West Fargo, North Dakota – Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Trikes, KTM, Kymco, Motor Trike, Triumph, Dealer, Sales KTM Parts, KTM Accessories, KTM Motorcycles, KTM Gear KTM Parts Search My advice for making a fast trip is to have some sort of water/camelback water supply for the heat and electricaly heated garmets for the cold. Check with Mollydog for electric underwear info.
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How Did It Gooo??
How Did It Gooo Man??? Did You Do It All???? :)!!!
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No News Is Bad News
I'd be willing to bet he never made it out of Europe on that KTM 400 before something shut him down. Bad choice for long distance touring bike, IMHO.
KTM have way too many issues, things come out of no where to ruin your ride. Revving that thing on fast Euro roads will eat it up in no time. If the ride was ALL off road, like trails, then fine, KTM would be good. But he is going mostly on roads, at least until Russia. It won't make Russia. I'm sure that is why no further word from OP. |
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Damn! That's pretty impressive. But Mapquest claims doing 1000 Kms. a day across Canada (on average). In real money that's 650 miles a day.
On a 400cc KTM! Uh Huh. Tell me some more BS! :smartass: For 4000 miles? That's six days, at 650 miles per day. Uh huh, sure. If this is true then this guy oughta be in winning the Iron Butt for his class of bike. Having actually done 650 miles a day, for four or five days straight, I have personal experience with it. No, I wasn't riding a 400, but I've ridden several other 400's in dirt and on street. This guy must be Superman is about all I can say. Doing 650 miles a day he would have to be averaging about 80 mph (probably that is over the top speed of the bike) unless he rode all night ... out there with the hundreds Moose, Deer, Elk, Skunks and God knows what else. If he went that fast, he must have got a lot of tickets. Canada is loaded with Fu-ck-nut RCMP with radar. You cannot go fast in Canada, and that is that is the bottom line. (don't ask how I know! suffice to say it was costly) So, for me, this brings the whole event into question in terms of veracity. If this part is BS, then it's possible the whole thing is BS. (??) I'd love to read a ride report .... with lots of photos of course. |
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Hey Walter
Recently read the fantastic BAM Road RR you did on ADVrider - that was a truly EPIC trip you, Tony and Terry accomplished :thumbup1:. Am just starting on the Road of Bones RR and expect it will be no less epic than BAM. I also plan on reading your Tokyo to London Project that you and your mate James did on 400cc Transalps. As a Transalp (600cc) owner myself, I look forward to seeing how it's little brothers did! Did you write a book on TLP? |
The KLR 652 can suffer from speed wobbles and shimmying front wheel. That has put me off them for life.
The F 650 GS Dakar has a first gear ratio that is too high. It means even in road traffic conditions ; especially noticed when I wasin slow moving Spanish traffic in town centres, on always has to feather and slip the clutch. It becomes awkward. That must be a real problem off road. I spoke to another BMW rider; but the 800cc version. He said it was the same (a lot of feathering the clutch in slow traffic). Even though the Dakar is heavy; it still "catches" air. When you can get it too around 160kmph/100mph it can feel very light at the front from time to time; that makes take a deep breath once in a while. I never seemed to have that problem on the KLR 652. However by then I was worried about speed wobble; that was my priority! the speed wobble and front wheel shimmying on the KLR could get so bad ; it was clearly visible by friends following in a car behind me. However going back to the F650 GS Dakar, it is the only bike,that I have ever ridden; where I can ride it all day long; and still stand up and feel good at the end with no aches. So thats a bike thumbs up. I have had both of those bikes. I have not had or ridden any of the others you list. :mchappy: |
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