Could your trip have been done on a Wing?
 

I have a BMW 1150 GS and am thinking of swapping it for a new Gold Wing when I go RTW. OK, sounds barmy, but hear me out.

I'm 5'10" (180 cm) and for much of the trip I'll have a 6'2" (190 cm) passenger. My very limited experience off road suggests to me that under these circumstances the dirt tracking abilities of the GS will be virtually wiped out. I'll fall off every time the bike goes a little bit past the vertical. I think it'd be easier to keep a road bike upright, purely because of the lower seat. (I once took a ZZR11 two-up up a steep, rocky river bed in the Alps. I don't think I'd have made it on a GS.) So I'm thinking, why not get a Wing, or maybe a 1200 LT? The stereo, comfort, luggage and reverse gear would be lovely. But....and this is where I particularly need the help of the old hands...what bits of the world will be off limits on such a bike? I have already ruled out the Sahara, but would a Wing grind to a halt on the KKH, or what passes for a main road in Cambodia? If not, would a fully loaded GS really cope much better? I want to see Greece, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia, Oz and NZ. Amongst others.

Feel free to advise me to just get better at off-roading - the usual advice is, when in doubt, gas it, right? I'd be happy to do this on an XL250, or perhaps even an unladen GS - but add a gigantic passenger and several cubic yards of luggage, and I think I'll be struggling. Help!

Ask Emilio Scotto, Argentine traveller wich have Guinnes world record around the world on a Goldwing , 700.000 kms since 1985 to 1995.

This is a VERY tough question - with many possible "right" answers.

First off, you can go around the world with just about anything - Emilio Scotto and his Wing, someone else on a CBR900, and on the other end, Tom Smith on a Honda 250 scooter, and numerous people on tiny bikes like Honda 70cc etc. Two American students did USA to Bolivia on a pair of Honda 500/550 4 cylinder street bikes. And of course everything else in-between http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

With a big passenger, have you thought about two smaller bikes, like F650 or XT500, KLR650, or something even smaller/cheaper? What does your passenger weigh? Weight is more important than height.

If it has to be two-up, your height isn't a real problem, it should be adequate for most bikes. Yes, take some off-road lessons! Best thing you ever did, you can be sure - most people skip it thinking they don't need it - they do!

Would a Gold wing be better than an 11xxGS? The GS is a brilliant road bike, and amazingly useable off-"road", while the Wing is unuseable off-road by most people. Remember - you WILL fall down, no matter what you are riding. A RTW bike comes back with more than a few scars.

The Wing won't take a lot of luggage - that's why trailers are so popular for them. This could be a problem for two-up RTW on one. DON'T take a trailer unless you want to stick to pavement only. Most of the time a Wing would be fine - but for the countries you want to see, something with a little off-road capability would be very much easier.

A really good rider could take a Wing into some amazing places - but it seems to me you've disclaimed that level of skill, so you will be stuck on pavement with it.

If you aren't leaving for a while, you may have time to improve your skills, perhaps take the BMW off-road course available in England and Germany, get your passenger up-to-speed with riding courses also, and then think about which bike.

Hope that helps!

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Also think about the weight of the bike, since air-travel, witch unfortunatly is neccecery sometime's, is calculated mostly on weight as I understand.

Maarten

Thanks everyone, very helpful. Not sure of the passenger's weight, but she's very slim so that's a start. I like the 2 bike idea, but she won't do it in a million years. So. Best compromise I think is to put my GS back to standard (it's currently a super moto), stick every conceivable hard part on it, do the BMW off road course plus the odd rally, learn to enjoy being out of control and get used to crashing. Then Wingify the thing with a Corbin seat, Ermax screen, tankbag-mounted sound system, cockpit-mounted Garmin and Al Jesse bags. As you point out, the Wing's luggage capacity isn't that massive. The Al Jesses equal it, so if I then add a 50 litre topbox I'll have a system that's secure, crashable and about as capacious as Wing + trailer. Hmmm, a fun project for the winter!

Air travel is generally based on weight, true, but it is also based on volume.

Most air shippers work on a volume versus weight rule, which assumes a certain weight per x volume. In other words they say that every cubic meter should weigh for instance 50 kg. Unfortunately bikes usually work out to be too light for the measured volume, so end up going on a volume measure rather than a weight measure. So pack VERY tightly, make that crate tiny, and don't waste any space! Uncrated of course is terrible in this regard - I know it's less work, but it is more expensive. Balance the effort to the cost.

You will find it difficult, but possible, to get the bike small enough to go on a weight basis rather than a volume basis.

The physcally smaller it is the cheaper it will be.

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Nick, I think you're right on track! Except for the sound system - heavy and just another electrical gadget to fail. An intercom is useful, we use one, but sound system and the attendant media etc, not worth it. imho... http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

Even the GPS is questionable. You're going to be on some semblance of road all the way, and can usually get directions.

Remember "KISS", and light weight. Two-up, weight is your biggest enemy, especially weight up high. Mount the Jesses low, make sure sure you have the fat ones, and pack only the very lightest and bulky items in the top box - usually camp mattresses and sleeping bags.

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Some additional thoughts:

Concerning air shipment of motorcycles, the 'cube' of the motorcycle is always the ruling factor for freight cost calculations on bikes over 1,000 cc's. Weight is negligible. The only exception to this rule would be if you are paying for shipment on a very small aircraft, such as a Twin Otter or Cessna Caravan.

One advantage of the larger bikes - at least, the Gold Wing and the ST1100 Pan European - is that they don't actually fall over if you drop them. I've owned both, and if you overbalance, the bikes just tip sideways at about a 45º angle. Both of these models are very well proven mechanically - the ST1100 is virtually bulletproof, it's very rare to have a mechanical problem. Both have excellent range with the standard fuel tank - the ST1100 in particular, it will go well over 300 km per tank.

A disadvantage of the larger bikes is that the sheer weight of them can be a real PITA at times, such as when manouvering around in tight spaces. The later model Gold Wings have a reverse, and it's there because they really need it - don't laugh!

I have done a lot of riding on gravel roads on both the Gold Wing and the ST1100, and both handle gravel and dry dirt surfaces well. They are both real headaches on wet, slippery, muddy roads, because you simply can't stick a foot out to correct a slip or slide.

One possible consideration, if you are going to travel two-up, would be to get either one of these two large bikes, then put a small trailer behind it. You could do gravel roads no problems with either of these bikes and a trailer - lots of senior citizens pulling trailers with GW's travel through Northern Canada each summer, on gravel roads there. One of the Iron Butt Rally finishers this year did the haul road to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and back on a GW - in less than 48 hours, yet.



[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 06 January 2002).]